“Well, it was part of the plan. It just wasn’t a part that I told you about,” Shade replied and smiled as his spotlight finally landed on what he was searching for. “There, do you see that?” he asked, pointing toward the view screen where a jumbled pile of debris could barely be seen.
“Yes, but I have no idea what I’m seeing,” Charm snapped back.
“That, my friend, is the remains of the Stormrider, one of the Merrodin battleships,” Shade explained happily.
“And why do we want to find it?” Charm asked, his tone dubious.
“Because the Merrodin ships were all lined with Barllen and we need a lot of Barllen,” Shade replied patiently.
“The idea of having Barllen on a ship that functions off of magic does not seem like a good one Shade. Just off hand, I would say that would be insane,” Charm said, looking over at Shade with an expression of extreme doubt.
“I’m not actually going to bring it on the ship. I’m going to drag it out of the water with towlines,” Shade said, his eyes roving over the ship remains.
“Why do we need Barllen?” Charm asked.
“Because one of Eldagar’s best defenses was a set of runes that prevented anything from entering the city by sky. You can leave in a spell hawk. You just can’t arrive that way. For our plan to work we have to be able to access the city by air. Installing a Barllen trim on my ship will cancel those wards,” Shade said as he rose from his seat, leaving the ship to drift slightly in the current. “I’ll be right back. Just have to check the chains. It looks heavier than I guessed it would be. I kind of thought the wood would have rotted away by now. It’s been ten years.
“If you install a Barllen trim on your ship, won’t it drain the magic from the ship?” Charm asked as he rose to follow Shade.
“No, because I’m going to have it on lead struts. Lead blocks Barllen,” Shade explained as he lifted a hatch near the back of the ship. Looking back at Charm he smiled reassuringly. “Have a bit of faith. I really have thought this through. If I hadn’t there is no way I would have ever trespassed on Oblivion’s borders. They really are touchy about visitors you know,” Dropping down to sit on the flat of the ship’s floor he dangled his legs into the hatch and bent over to check the weight of the chains below. Originally they had been added for lighter lifting but he thought they would hold.
“Won’t the lead add too much weight to the ship or unbalance it?” Charm asked, his tone more thoughtful than doubtful now.
“I’m going to balance it out by adding more weight to the rear as well. I’ll have to have a thin layer of Barllen on the wings too. All total, I’d say I’m adding about two thousand pounds to the ship’s weight but it shouldn’t be anything I can’t handle. All spell hawks fly off of the mage’s strength. The stronger the mage, the faster and tougher the ship. I’m a strong mage, Charm. This will work,” Shade said without bothering to glance up. With quick confident hands, he arranged the pulleys and the chains properly and examined the hooks for a last time. He wouldn’t get a second chance at this. The Lords of Oblivion didn’t take kindly to thieves and they would consider this robbery. Though the ship was worthless to them they would still consider it their property. Trespassing was bad enough in their eyes. To trespass and steal would have every Harvester in their control swarming his ship, not to mention their notorious hatred for Morcaillos. It was doubtful that they would take into consideration that he had left his house and so technically wasn’t Morcaillo.
“Are you sure that will hold a ship?” Charm asked, eyeing the hooks and chains. He seemed more interested than skeptical now and Shade simply shrugged in response. Easing himself down on the other side, Charm examined the hooks with a practiced eye. “Good metal, it’s strong,” he said lifting the hook and testing the weight.
“I have no idea how much a water logged, half rotted ship weighs,” Shade admitted.
“Well, we really only need the railing right? If I remember correctly, that’s where a majority of the Barllen on the Merrodin ships was.” Charm dropped the hook and looked back up at Shade with a raised eyebrow.
“There was some on the hulls as well, to keep the ships balanced, but a good portion of railing should be more than enough,” Shade replied.
Nodding, Charm rose again. “For railing those should hold. For the entire ship, I’m not sure,” he said.
“I’m really not insane. This will work, Charm, I promise,” Shade said as he rose and dropped the hatch back into place.
“There is a fine line between madness and genius. I think you dance along that line Shade,” Charm said with a smirk.
“Ahh, but I’m an excellent dancer,” Shade replied with a grin and moved back toward his pilot seat.
“We shall see,” Charm said, quietly dropping down into the co-pilot seat.
Shade gave a slight nod and smiled faintly. “Yes, we will,” he mumbled and took the controls of his ship once more, carefully guiding it over the wreckage. This was the touchy part, getting the hooks to fall where he needed them to, despite the current, and ensuring they caught hold firmly. Despite the confidence he had used with Charm this was the first time he had ever actually had his ship underwater. He doubted the rogue would find that knowledge reassuring, though, so he kept it to himself. Moving one hand slowly over the pulley control he eyed what remained of the railing below and tried to take into account the distortion of water as he released the hook. A loud grinding came from the back of the ship as the heavy chain dropped. Frowning in concentration, he moved the ship forward slowly and felt the hooks catch. Smiling, he glanced at Charm and began to guide the ship up slowly. The tension on the chains slowly increased and he felt the drag on his ship push past what he had expected. The water began to cloud more as the wreckage shifted in the silt.