“What did you just say, Shade?” Charm said in a very serious voice, all trace of hysteria gone. “Did you just say you didn’t look at the bloody floor plan of this gods-be-damned fortress before you flew us in here?” he added, his voice rising once more.
“The chanting had a nice rhythm to it, could you switch back to that please?” Shade replied as the doors to the throne room exploded from their impact. Shade leaned forward again and had to turn the ship on its side to avoid the support pillars that lined the center of the room. He scanned the area ahead frantically and realized with a sinking feeling that he wouldn’t be able to turn around with the way the pillars were lined up. There simply was not enough room to maneuver. He let out a heavy breath and fired the guns once more, praying the compound had time to react and that it was strong enough to blow a hole through stone. He had tested it on metal and wood before, but never stone. He fired several more times for good measure and felt Charm move up beside him.
The rogue sat down heavily in the co-pilot’s seat and stared with a slack jawed look on his bloodless face as the wall loomed closer. He was breathing heavier the closer they got and Shade wondered if he was going to hyper-ventilate by the time the impact came.
“Shouldn’t it have caught fire by now?” Charm asked quietly.
“Yep,” Shade replied casually, his gaze locked on the wall, willing the ammo to work.
“If it doesn’t soon can you turn around?” he asked in the same quiet voice.
“Not a chance in hell,” Shade replied and fished in his pocket frantically. With a slightly shaking hand he pulled a bent cigarette out and lit it. Ahead of them the wall burst into flames and Shade let out a nervous laugh. “The real downside here is the rock debris could tear a hole in my ship or damage a wing too much to fly,” he muttered around the cigarette and inhaled deeply.
Charm nodded slightly and pulled a flask from his pocket. “Amazing that when it truly looks like I’m about to die I’m not nearly as scared,” he whispered and took a long pull from the flask. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and started to offer the flask to Shade, but seemed to realize at the last moment that he didn’t have a spare hand to accept it.
“That’s the point past fear, Charm,” Shade replied and felt his breath catch as the wall neared. “I’m not quite there yet, but sure as hell wish I was,” he added, feeling his stomach knot again. Another nervous laugh escaped his lips and he thanked all of the Aspects that the former residents of Eldagar had been vain enough to build a throne room this obscenely big. Had this been the Morcaillo house they would have already been splattered on the wall and gathering flies.
“I don’t really hate you, you know that, right?” Charm whispered.
“Good to hear. You might soon enough though, so I’d wait on adding anything sentimental to that statement,” Shade replied. The flames on the wall rose again and the entire fortress seemed to tremble before the world exploded into fire and raining stones. Shade cringed as the first of the debris hit the spell hawk hard and the ship shuddered in his grip. He tried to swerve from the path of a large chunk of stone but there wasn’t enough time or room. The impact resounded through the ship as the view screen went dark. Shade swallowed heavily and tried desperately to remember exactly where he had seen the brief glimpse of daylight in the wall.
“Well at least we won’t see it coming,” Charm said dryly, staring at the black screen before them.
“There’s the spirit Charm! Way to find the silver lining!” Shade cried with another laugh. From the corner of his eye he saw the rogue brace himself and realized he was doing the same. With an effort, he forced himself to relax. “You are the best pilot, prove it,” he whispered to himself and guided the ship to where his memory told him the opening should be. Long seconds passed with both of them holding their breath before Shade let out a nervous laugh. “We cleared it,” he whispered.
“But how are you going to land the ship, Shade? You can’t scry directly outside of it because of the Barllen on it,” Charm said, his moment beyond fear apparently fading.
“I’m still working that out, Charm, but don’t worry, I’ll come up with a plan,” Shade replied and guided the ship straight up. It was the only direction he could guarantee held no obstacles.
Charm let out a quiet groan at the mention of a plan and fell back into his seat. He turned his head toward Shade and sighed. “So, how do we trigger the goblins? That was the one part of the plan that I wasn’t really sure about,” he said quietly apparently deciding that was a better topic to think on than flying blind in a ship at high speeds.
Shade pulled a small glass globe from his pocket and held it up for Charm to see. A single drop of red liquid rested in the bottom. With a deep breath Shade wrapped his hand around the globe and smiled at Charm. “I’ll send the magic through this liquid. It is from the same batch I used on the goblins so it should transfer the magic well. If all goes as planned my magic will pass through this link and into the globes that I fed the goblins. When the spark of fire from my magic touches the oil I fed them …,” he paused and shrugged at Charm. “Well then we have a mess that I’m not paying to have cleaned up and a whole lot of dead goblins and Blights.”
“And if all doesn’t go as planned?” Charm asked with obvious hesitation.
“Then my theory of sending the spark though the link failed and I’m going to blow my fingers off my hand. Which will most likely result in my jumping out of my chair screaming in agony and you will have to land the ship blindly,” Shade replied with a smile.
“I’ve never really been religious but I think I’ll pray now,” Charm said with a firm nod.