Chapter 13

Levi pushed as hard as he could.  His leg burned bright with pain, but the debris lying upon his chest finally gave way and fell to the side.  With the weight from his chest gone, he took a moment to catch his breath before finally struggling to his feet.  One step, however, reminded him of the gash in his leg and he stumbled down to his knees once more.  He wasn’t going to be moving for the next few seconds, so he decided to survey the area.

The ground was littered with debris, shattered pieces of wood and metal strewn about.  A few small fires burned in the grass, but the Iron Dove had been mainly dependent upon its engines for flight, with only small, enclosed hydrogen-filled balloons to its credit.  These, he recalled, had gone up somewhere about twenty feet of so from the ground.  The flames had completely enveloped everything, filling his vision with nothing but.  It was a hellish scene; one he hoped he could soon put from his mind.

The ship itself was, of course, in a multitude of pieces.  The initial explosions had damaged the hull integrity to the point of no return and the fall and subsequent collision with the earth hadn’t helped anything.  A few chunks could still be identified as the vessel and Levi was actually resting upon what appeared to be a small section of the deck.  The pirates had known how and where to place the bombs, though, that much was obvious.  The efficiency was simply too great to be coincidence.  They had survived, though, so that was something.

Well, Levi had survived.  Looking about, he realized he couldn’t see anyone alive.  He did see, however, one of the crew members draped across a section of railing, a shard of metal protruding from his gut.  It exited at an odd angle and Levi couldn’t place where the metal had come from.  He didn’t want to really dwell on that, though.  Nearby, he located an intact beam of wood and grabbed it.  Standing once more, he leaned hard on the wood, using it as a crutch.  One way or another, he couldn’t stay where he was; the end of the deck was down in a fire.  It was only a matter of time before it spread.

His body ached and his eyes and lungs burned as he moved away from his particular pile of debris, the soft ground below his feet feeling strangely foreign.  Coughing, he once more tried to scan the wreckage for survivors.  Just as he was about to give up hope, some motion out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.  Limping as best he could, Levi finally found Simon sitting on the ground, his back leaning against the doorway that had, until recently, led into the bridge.  It led nowhere, now; it was simply embedded a foot or so into the ground, slightly ajar.  Simon was simply staring at the burning wreckage of his prized airship, a pistol – Levi wasn’t sure where that had come from – resting in his lap.

“Simon,” Levi tried, instead doubling over in a fit of coughing.  Then, clearing his throat, he tried again.  “Simon, are you alright?”

The man continued to just stare straight ahead.  His index finger played lightly across the grip of the gun.

“Simon.  Wake up, man.”  Simon just shook his head.

“They were good men, Levi.  And she was a good ship.”

“We don’t have time for this.  Get up, we need to find Abigail and I can’t do it by myself.”  Simon didn’t move.  “Mourn later, now get up!”

To add emphasis to his words, he threw a small bit of wood at Simon.  The projectile smacked into the side of Simon’s head, the pain seemingly bringing him back to the world of the living.  The man’s head snapped around and he quickly threw the wood back.

“Bloody hell, brother, what’s your problem?”  Simon struggled to his feet and dusted himself off to no real effect.  “Alright.  Find your girlfriend and then we need to get ourselves a plan.  Doubtful anybody’s just going to drop by and help us.  Maybe we’ll try to walk back; that’ll be fun.  But first things first.”

They spent the next twenty minutes moving through the junk that was the Iron Dove, Simon doing the majority of the work as he appeared to be relatively uninjured.  Simon knocked things about with his wooden crutch to no real end and mentally kicked himself for all of his recent failures.  He had been charged with protecting Quincy and the pirates had taken him like it was nothing.  In a sense, he was also meant to watch over Hank.  It was hard to say, at that point, what had even happened to the poor boy.  Levi knew he didn’t have the mentality required to survive very long in pirate captivity.  Last but not least, he was supposed to protect Abigail.  And here they were, standing in the middle of nowhere, bits and pieces of a wrecked airship lying scattered about, with no sign of her.  He was doing a fantastic job.

Finally, he heard Simon’s voice cry out some ways away, saying that he found her.  Limping with surprising speed, Levi weaved his way over to where his voice had come from.  His heart could have exploded right then as he saw Abigail return to consciousness.  She was covered in dirt and ash, and she was scraped up a bit, but otherwise she appeared to be in relatively good condition.  Smiling, Levi dropped to his knees before her and took one of her hands.

“Hello, Abigail.”  It was all he could think to say.

“Hello, Levi.  Simon.”  She smiled at them, weakly, before releasing Levi’s hand and standing wobbly.  She looked about, blankly, before shaking her head.  “How did we survive any of this?”

“Most airships don’t just plummet out of the sky,” Simon said, rubbing the back of his head.  “The airbags along generally keep you in the air for quite some time.  The explosions tore rather large holes in the balloons, I’d wager, which is why we fell so fast.  Then, of course, the balloons themselves when up in flames so we fell a bit.  Busted up the ship, but we’re not too bad off.”

“What about the rest of the crew?”

Levi and Simon both simply shook their heads.

“Oh.  I see.  Well then, I suppose we should gather up supplies, yes?”

Without waiting for a supply, Abigail turned and started digging through the rubble, looking for anything useful.  With a shrug, Simon started doing the same.  Sighing, Levi proceeded to walk as best he could around, hoping that something would be laying there requiring no digging to access.  Throughout his searching, he managed to find a Lee-Enfield rifle, an ammo bag – containing the wrong type of ammunition for the rifle – and two sacks of bread.  All in all, it wasn’t much and Levi felt a little disappointed.  When he finally got back with the others, though, his hopes were a little higher.

Between them, Simon and Abigail had managed to find two backpacks, a few blankets, food of various sorts, a couple of guns, a spotting scope, some dented water tins, and even a chest containing spare clothing.  Levi supposed that they’d at least be able to make it a few days before supplies became a problem.  With a humorless laugh, Abigail walked over and placed something upon Levi’s head.

“Your hat, sir.”  Levi couldn’t help but smile.  He liked that hat.  “That’s about all, though.  I’m sure there’s more if we want to keep digging about, but that doesn’t strike me as a terribly good idea.”

“No, you’re right.  We don’t want to be stranded out here for too long.  We need some sort of game plan,” Levi said.  “Their Mercury was angling toward that bush over there before we went down.  If I had to guess, I’d say that’s where they’re holed up.  If we made our way to the river and somehow…”

“Wait a second there, brother.  What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about that Periwinkle Gang.  Now if we can build a raft…”

“You want to go after them?  Is that what I’m hearing?”

“Well, of course.”

“Are you completely daft, man?  They just stormed a ship full of trained fighters, took those they pleased, and then destroyed my poor baby without any real trouble.  And you want to go charging in to save the day?  That’s completely ridiculous.”

“Quincy and Hank are my responsibility, Simon.”

“And my men are mine.  But I’m not delusional enough to think that I can assault a pirate stronghold with a few rifles and good intentions.  I say we figure out a way to get home and then we can tell the Guard where these flower boys are settled.  I’d guess they threw everything they had at us today so the Guard would be able to handle them fairly easily, I’d wager.”

“Unless, of course, the Guard is still busy with all of that Devilfish nonsense,” Levi pointed out.  “They’re going to be stretched thin as it is and that’s assuming nothing else had happened in the past few days.  It could be ten times more dangerous down south than it is right here.”

“Well that would be a shame, because this isn’t a terribly safe place the moment.  But we’re not running into a pirate camp.”

“Three people would have a very good chance of slipping in, releasing everyone, and getting out again.  Less likely anyone would have to get hurt.  Now imagine if the Guard was bearing down on them, what do you think they’d do?  They’d use their prisoners as shields.  It’s not a good picture.”

“And neither is us swaying from the bow of an Abascal bush by our necks, which is what will happen if they catch us.  You do understand that, right?”

“Does anyone even care that I’m standing here,” Abigail asked, almost offhandedly.  Simon and Levi looked at her in confusion.  “I’ve simply been standing over here while the two of you decide where I’m going to go next.  We’ll I’ve had it, gentlemen.  Levi, storming a pirate camp is probably suicide.  But Simon, there’s little chance we’re going to actually manage to walk back to Walton Harbor from here.  It’s what, two hundred miles somewhere to the south and west?  Are we even sure where we are at this point?  I believe they took your navigator.”

“They killed Old Will, actually.”

“I’m sorry.  But still, we’re going to have to do something and I think that heading toward that bush over there is the best thing at the time.”

“But… and what if I say no?”

“Then we’ll leave you here,” Abigail said rather matter-of-factly.  “But it would be best if you came along.  With Levi’s leg, we won’t be able to carry all of this stuff without you.”

Simon simply stood there for a moment, and then spared a glance at Levi, who was grinning.  Shaking his head, he shrugged and walked over to the pile of loot.

“Looks like I don’t have much of a choice.  To the pirate den and certain death it is!”

“That’s the spirit,” Levi said with another chuckle.

They remained near the wreckage for the remainder of the day – a few hours all told – and slept in a small portion of the airship that was still intact.  Levi slept fitfully, his leg constantly waking him as it remembered that it hurt.  It was annoying, at best, but he managed as best he could.  The following morning, they all woke early.  Simon and Abigail both looked tired and he knew that he looked no better.  It appeared as though they obviously hadn’t slept well, either.  Regardless, they packed all of their things into the backpacks and a bag they found and had set out roughly north and east.

The plan, at that point, was relatively simple.  About five days north was a river.  More specifically, it was the Upper Snake River; the northern branch of the Snake River which explorers said split hundreds of miles upriver and joined together again hundreds of miles downriver.  It was a ridiculously wide thing, on par with everything else found in the Reach in terms of size.  Surprisingly, though, it was a relatively calm river with gentle currents that could casually be rode like most of the Rivers found back on Key.  Actually, the southern branch, or the Lower Snake River, was just a short ride south of Meadowshire and many of the wealthier inhabitants had boats there.  Unfortunately, the Upper Snake was considered too far north to be worth the trouble of visiting, so it was unlikely they would be bumping into anyone.

This river did, however, run within a few miles of the bush that they intended to visit.  As such, they planned to ride the river to shorten their trip by a good bit.  Huge, sturdy cattails the sizes of trees were generally known to grow in places along the river’s banks and would be providing the basis for their raft.  They would then sail down the river, get off near the bush, walk the rest of the way, sneak in, free the prisoners, maybe steal an airship, and make their escape.  It was all very simple, indeed.  Simon, however, wasn’t exactly fooled.

“This is ridiculous,” he often said as they slowly made their way through the grass north.  They moved slowly because of Levi’s leg; something that he hated but there was little to be done for it.  “‘We’ll just go to the river and build a raft.  It’ll be fun!’  What a fantastically brilliant attack plan.”

Levi and Abigail paid him little mind, though, as they pushed on.  They talked little, despite Simon’s occasional outburst, as they all struggled in their own way to put to order the recent events.  Levi was, perhaps, the most outwardly morose.  Breaking into a pirate camp with a wounded leg, a woman, and a questionably sane former soldier: that was more than just ridiculous.  But he couldn’t just sit around and do nothing.  He had a mission to complete and, so help him, he was going to do it or die trying.  He owed that to Quincy and Hank, in the least.

Abigail, though, was a mystery to him.  The more they moved north, the more she seemed to take charge.  She asked fundamental questions concerning bearing, pace timing, and where the best place to camp would be found.  She also issued most of the orders, insisting that they take a break every hour lest something even worse happen to Levi’s leg.  As far as outer appearances were concerned, she seemed calm, composed, and resolute.  She couldn’t be enjoying her situation, though, Levi was sure.  She was supposed to be in North Mine by now treating cuts and diagnosing the flu.  Instead here she was tramping through the grass toward a bunch of pirates.  No, Levi just didn’t understand her.

Simon, though, he could understand.  The man was angry; Levi had seen the signs often enough to know.  He swatted at anything over knee height with his saber, refusing to go around anything.  He was angrier at the pirates than Levi and Abigail, though, Levi knew.  Simon wasn’t the kind of man to be outdone in anything and he never liked to lose.  Levi recalled Simon getting into a fistfight with a superior officer and two other airmen after a late-night poker game lost him more money than he had liked.  He accused the captain of cheating and had subsequently gone over the table at him.  Simon didn’t like to lose and this was possibly the biggest defeat he had ever experienced.

The day passed with little incident, other than when Simon accidentally stumbled upon a tolag rabbit nest and child-sized rabbits went running everything.  He had wanted to shoot a few, just out of spite, but Levi had convinced him that they needed the ammunition.  They spent that night lying out upon their blankets under the gloriously clear night sky.  The stars, all strangely foreign yet conforming, shined through the night, providing a fair amount of light despite the missing sun.  That night, Levi ironically dreamed of those stars.  He recalled the first time he had seen them, the first night he had spent out on the fields of Franklin Reach.  Things had been a little simpler, then.  No pirates, no trains, not many airships.  Just a giant, empty world: the grass, the bushes, and the stars.  He slept well, all told.

He was startled awake suddenly, however, by Abigail’s scream.  Jumping up, he completely forgot about his leg and it cost him.  He felt the wound tear open, felt the blood start to warm the area.  Pulling himself up again through the pain, he grabbed the Lee-Enfield rifle that he had kept close and hopped forward. 

Not thirty feet from him were two rock birds.  They were large things, as far as birds were concerned, with a wingspan of about fifteen feet or so.  They were a dirty red in color, marking them as females, and their feathers looked slightly oily or wet.  They had their beaks down in their two supply bags, eating through their sparse food stuffs.  Gasping, Levi hopped a bit more forward, waving his arms and screaming.  As he did, Simon scrambled up beside him, pistol in hand.

“Bloody birds,” Simon said, aiming his pistol.

“No!”

Before he could do more, though, Levi fired, clipping one of the birds in the wing.  With a horrible screech, the bird wheeled into the air, the supply bag clutched in its talons.  The other bird followed suit by grabbing the bag and taking flight.  Cursing, Levi balanced his weight on his good leg and took aim with the rifle at the already wounded bird.  He fired and missed horribly.  He worked the bolt quickly, expertly, and fired again to similar results.  Angry with himself, he wobbled slightly and tossed the rifle to Simon.  With similar expert skill, the former airship captain fired, dropping the bird.  He shot at the other one but by that time, it was too far away.

“Fantastic,” Levi said, looking at Simon.  “At least we’ll get one of our bags back.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault you missed.”

“But it’s your fault I had to shoot in the first place.  Don’t you know anything about this world you live in?  When startled while eating, rock birds do what?”  Simon’s face turned indignant and he looked away.  “That’s right, they grab it and run.  If we had simply got their attention, we could’ve probably made them leave without the food.  Or, at worst, we could’ve shot at the same time.  But no.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.  Lay off.  I’ll go get the bag.”

“Might as well bring some of the bird back, as well.  We’re going to need the meat.  I’ll start the fire.”

“Right…”

They spent the next few hours cooking the bird’s leg and taking inventory of what they had left.  The bird had gotten away with the majority of the ammunition they had left, minus that already within the weapons, and about half of the food.  Now they were going to be lucky to make it to the river before running out.  Simon, who was covered in blood and looking more annoyed than ever, busied himself with collecting everything they had sitting about, while Abigail attended to the reopened wound on Levi’s leg.  She said it was looking good, though he had no idea if she was telling the truth or not.  Luckily she had managed to keep hold of her small medical bag, so he figured things would be fine.

The sun was already well past its zenith by the time they actually got on the move again, much to Levi’s chagrin.  They only managed to put a few miles behind them again, as his leg made him move even slower than the day before.  Abigail insisted that he drank plenty of water, which he neglected because their tins were running a little closer to empty than he would’ve liked.  They were going to have to either find a spring or dig for water soon.  He really didn’t feel like digging.

That night, they settled in once more under the open sky.  The clouds were more prevalent this time, though, and most of the stars were obscured.  Levi was tired, though, so he really didn’t much care.  He did, however, make sure the bags were close by, closed tight, and secured to the ground as best they could.  That’s all they needed, he thought; to lose the remainder of their supplies.

With these thoughts rolling around in his head, Levi slowly, steadily, and gratefully slipped off to sleep.