Plague of Tyrants

Chapter 5: Fallen

Chapter 5: FallenIt was a bad idea and Mantuan knew it.

Brenddel argued that even if the Outlander ship had left, it couldn't have gotten far. Mantuan knew it was a risky idea flying in the dark, especially with the shadow fin creatures always listening for their airship rotators. But Asa had been hurt, so Mantuan didn't argue. He knew that Asa had become as much of a son to Brenddel as the fierce Firstman had been to Mantuan.

Brenddel took the large airship that Asa had named The Justice. Mantuan took The Shield. Since the young king had named the largest airship, the idea had caught on. A few of the older pilots still called the ships by their numbers, but unofficially all the airships now had names.

The Outlands were the farthest distance from their kingdom in this part of the world, and so unexplored that the entire area was not on any maps, but they knew the general direction the ship would be heading. Mantuan wondered briefly what they called their own lands; they surely weren't called the Outlands if you lived there. Brenddel just thought of what he'd do to them when he caught them. Brenddel had been working on his anger, trying to find ways to cool it, but was having trouble with those practices at this moment. He popped a bit of chocolate in his mouth, but it didn't help.

Since his trial, Brenddel felt he had a new personal mission to undo all the bad acts he had committed. Many believed that Trunculin was the only person responsible for the bad things done in the dark, but Brenddel knew the truth. Trunculin had warped him, true enough, but Brenddel knew very well the things he had done. He would spend the rest of his life trying to live up to the new man he wanted to be. But now someone had hurt Asa. The anger was like a fire he kept stoking in his chest. I need it now. I will put it out after this is done, he told himself.

The two airships kept in sight of each other but were far enough apart that they could search a lot more sea. Even in the dark, they could see much. The moon was high, its light untroubled by clouds. There were many islands big and small in the vast seas between their kingdom and the Outlands, but Brenddel wagered they would not try to find a safe port on some small island. In half a night's time, they couldn't have gotten too far. The fastest watership was only half the speed of any airship, and they had left in a hurry. They were definitely running.

The Outlander ship would be running dark as well, no lights aboard their ship. The moon's light helped, but the airship had the added advantage of height. They could see each other clearly in the distance from their own lamps, all lit, with a signal man on duty aboard both airships for messages. They had already spotted several fishing ships, out for delicacies that were best caught at night. Brenddel's spotter thought they saw a large sailing ship, perhaps a smuggler, but it was too big to be the Outlander ship. It slipped away into the night. They focused on finding the Outlanders.

Brenddel kept all the men on lookout. They were looking for the ship, but two men also scanned for shadow fins. Brenddel knew some of his men called them the old name from stories, Jhalgon fish, even fin monsters. Whatever you called them, Brenddel had no time for them tonight. But the moment I stop scanning for them, a fin will pop out of the water, attached to a monster, Brenddel thought.

One man was in the nest, a large basket on the top of the floating section of the airship they had added to a few in the fleet. It was much like a basket high on a watership, but instead of standing above sails, the man stood on top of the floating part that lifted the deck. The experiment had been successful, with an even higher view from the top of the ship. The nest man called down, “Watership! Watership ahead!”

Brenddel already had his spyglass out. He told the signal man to inform Mantuan. Mantuan saw the signal and headed The Shield toward the position of The Justice, which was nearly over the watership. Brenddel saw the crew working busily onboard the Outlander ship by moonlight. The back section was a long empty deck, and there was a lot of activity. They must know it's over.

The Outlanders were lighting something on the flat part of the deck. As they worked, Brenddel could see the objects being lit were many different colors, round and almost delicate looking. They were beginning to float off the deck. Two dozen or more delicate and colorful round objects took flight, the wind guiding them toward The Justice. Brenddel could see that they were small, no bigger than the gas lanterns that hung from the airships, like round lanterns made of paper. It was still full dark, only a few wisps of clouds beginning to wrap ribbons around the moon. The colorful lanterns glowed softly as they floated up into the night.

Brenddel was mesmerized by the floating balls of soft light as they got closer to his ship. The paper lanterns were blues, greens, and some as red as apples. He grew more concerned as they got closer. They reminded him of the strange sea creatures that floated like a blob of jelly, and he remembered that those jellied fish had a nasty sting. These people have killed his men, blinded Asa. They could not be trusted.

Brenddel ordered his own lanterns put out, to run dark. The order was given to climb in height as well, out of range of the floating lights, just in case. One lantern floated close by.

He looked at the small arrow gun strapped to his wrist, which had become his good luck charm on the airship, after killing a shadow fin with it not long before. He had a theory and shot a bolt from the arrow gun at one of the paper lanterns. It exploded. Damn! Just like that thing in Asa's room, he thought, as dozens more floated his way.

The large floating section sat above the flat open deck. The four heavy ropes that secured the two sections together strained as he ordered the pilot to turn hard left, and the other men to fire at the weapons with small arrow guns attached to the railings. A few exploded harmlessly, but many were still floating closer. Brenddel knew how easy these new weapons would tear the canvas that held the gas. Once it escaped, there was nowhere to go but down.

Their height was matched by the floating lanterns, the wind aiding them in their hunt for the airship. By now there were dozens. He could already imagine the floating gas escaping his airship as a red paper lantern exploded near the front of the floating section. Another exploded directly under the deck, catching the wood on fire.

Then more exploded, some hit by his men's arrows, others on their own. The effect was the same, a deafening bang, thick smoke that hung in the air, making it even harder to see.

His airship was going down. Brenddel grabbed his shoulder. Damn, he thought again. No time to test it. Another lantern exploded when it hit the floating section and Brenddel knew that the airship was lost. Brenddel saw several men blown over the railing by another explosion. He knew there was no hope for them. They were hundreds of feet over the water. At this height, they may as well have been landing on stone.

Brenddel saw Mantuan's ship coming towards them. Too far, he thought. The Justice was falling fast. He looked around at his men still left on board. Another paper lantern exploded only feet from him and blew him into one of his own hanging lanterns, gashing his head. Before the darkness took him, he grabbed his shoulder and then he was falling.

Mantuan saw the flashes of light around Brenddel's ship. But he could not see where they came from. Brenddel had signaled that he'd found them, and he was clearly under attack, but what were the floating balls of light, and where were they coming from? They looked almost like giant fire bugs from this far out. He saw the effect they were having, though, popping all around Brenddel's ship.

The Justice was going down. All of Brenddel's lanterns were out, but with each colorful explosion, the airship was lit for one horrible moment after another. Each flash showed the ship falling lower and lower. It was like a dream, where a man might blink, and every time he opened his eyes, the monster was a few steps closer. In this living nightmare, each flash guaranteed the ship was headed for the cold dark sea.

By the time he finally got to where the airship must have gone down, nothing was left. The clouds rolled in as well, hiding any moonlight that might have helped. There were bits of paper still floating, and they were able to save three men from drowning. But no Brenddel. Mantuan kept the ship searching, but when two of the rescued men were in danger of dying, he was forced to turn back for the kingdom.

Mantuan stood at the back of his airship, still frantically scanning the water for any sign of Brenddel. Since the dark truths had come out, he and Brenddel had become like father and son again. He had heard of people surviving a plunge into water from a great height. But leaving now, with hours of flight back to the kingdom, and hours back the next morning to continue the search, no man could survive that long in the freezing waters. Not even the fierce Brenddel. Mantuan though of how far he himself had fallen from an airship and survived. The truth slowly sunk in that Brenddel was not as lucky.

One thought echoed through Mantuan's mind on the way back, amplifying and growing darker.

My son is dead. The Outlands will pay.