Sajani Tails

It's not possible to give a bigger spoiler for this book. It's the biggest shock scene of the story and that's why it was used to pitch the novel. I didn't feel like I needed to show off much on this one, so it's still pretty rough. There already are a couple minor things that have to change as the story concept has been fleshed out. Since it's mentioned in the prologue of the first book, I'll give a small measure of relief to readers that might have forgotten: Chass doesn't die here.

*

      The explosion came from the port side of the Wisp and nearly threw Sajani into the memorial wall. As the ship began to list that direction, she rushed out the room, taking the next two ladders in a single leap each. As she was running, swirling lights started up from what she’d always thought were empty spaces on the walls and a loud horn’s raspy call went out every few seconds. Her final steps showed a gaping hole in the torpedo room wall. The area was filling with smoke, but she couldn’t see any signs of fire. Ms. Tess met her just outside the helm with Filo at her side. “Status!” she shouted. The ship was now leaning a good twenty degrees port side and she could feel it accelerating in its downward descent.

      “We’ve lost most of our propulsion, steering and buoyancy systems,” Tess responded. There was a deep cut over her right eye and she had it mostly closed. “Fillo…”

      The gnome took over with his squeaky voice a little higher than usual, “Shield and cloak runes are barely holding, captain. We need to shut them down to save energy for the stasis rune. With what’s left, impact is at most in five minutes.”

      That was bad. The Wisp seemed nearly invincible and now a single hit… “Do it,” she shouted. The wind rushing through the area as the ship continued its near freefall almost drowned out her voice. “Tess! Sound general quarters! Filo, get everyone off the lower decks!”

      The first mate pressed a rune near the wall and the loud chime calling for general quarters sounded through the bulkheads. Filo pushed past her to get to the main deck as she turned and looked for her Master Gunner among the chaos of the torpedo room. “‘fang, get your people topside,” she shouted. “But first I want a full spread laid down near where you think we’ll impact. Leave nothing in the spills.” That would clear some of the enemy troops that might be waiting for them and clear the ship of anything that might be volatile… Ginger… the spark might have some things that needed to be jettisoned as well. She started towards the workshop and could barely hear the Master Gunner’s response.

      “Aye, captain,” ‘fang yelled back, “I’ll handle the firing.” Raising her voice still louder she shouted to the rest of the crew around her. “You heard the captain. Get to the main deck!”

      The spark wasn’t far. Right outside the workshop she met Ginger and Danil heading her way. “Captain, I tried to repair the rear propulsion and steering, but…”

      How would he have done that? She squelched the thought. No time. Looking right past the two she could see the communications device through the doorway. If the elves discovered they had access to that… “Ginger,” she said urgently, “I need you to get rid of the communications device and anything that might explode on impact, then get to the main deck.”

      Danil turned back, but the spark faced her directly and tried to grab her shoulder. The ship wasn’t listing any worse, but there didn’t seem to be any chance of slowing. “The buoyancy runes are…”

      “If Filo can’t fix them, neither can you!” She snapped. “Jettison those things and get to the main deck. There’s no time.” The horn, the wind, and the flashing lights were starting to hurt her head. She left the two other wolves and looked down the gangway. Filo must have already been through there. The hatches stood mostly ajar and there was no one in sight. She’d trust the gnome had done as asked and headed for the top deck.

      Chass met her as she cleared the last hatch. “Fillo just arrived. He says he thinks Tess stayed at the helm.” The huge gray wolf had his brows deeply furrowed and his ears laid back flat.

      Sajani steadied herself by placing her hands on her second mate’s shoulders as the ship quickly righted itself and overcorrected: leaving the ship now listing to the starboard. “There’s some power left to steering and buoyancy,” the copper wolf responded curtly. Most of the crew was now on the main deck. She took a few steps, still leaning heavily on the massive wolf next to her who seemed to have some instinctive way of keeping his balance.

      Chass was wobbling as he used his feet claws to maintain some traction. “Captain,” he shouted above the noise. He didn’t finish as the ship tilted its bow down sharply and began moving faster still. Most of the wolves in sight managed to keep their footing, but a few were only stopped by taff rails and spells.

      Harg’s voice somehow managed to be heard over the sirens and wind. “All accounted for, Captain. Tess, Ginger, and ‘fang are ‘low deck.” The leader of first squad was standing protectively over one of the cannoneers whose uniform had small patches of blood springing from it, like red poppies on a gray field.

      Her and Chass turned back towards the rear hatch when Tess spoke to them. “Rudder control was so strained, I turned it off completely,” she reported.

      Ginger approached from behind her. “Buoyancy, yaw, and stasis are the only runes functioning.”

      The lookout at the bow had just enough time to shout, “Brace for impact” before the stasis took effect.

      As the Wisp crashed into the ground, Sajani could feel the protective magic surround her. Wood could be heard splintering and breaking and grinding as the ship ground itself into the rocks and sod below. Sajani guessed that the lowest deck wouldn’t survive the strain.

      Chass was right before her and she could tell from his eyes that they shared the same thought: ‘fang wasn’t on the main deck. She might still be in the torpedo room. The stasis seemed to be holding fine. Losing one crew member in this crash would be a difficult but still minimal loss.

      The ship stopped moving about the same time the copper wolf was released from the protective hold that was on her. She started a war howl and was answered immediately.

      Her crew was looking at her expectedly. Their expressions spoke volumes. The elves would pay dearly for this. They might have neutralized the proverbial cannon, but they left a full stock of gunpowder.

      “Set up a perimeter!” she shouted to Ms. Tess. Scanning the area, Sajani was unable to see past the smoke still rising from her ship, but she knew instinctively that, even with the dirigible that shot them out of the way, there were more than enough elves in the area to give them a fight. Odds were stacked heavily against them.

      The main deck and the weather deck of the Wisp were still intact and mostly level. Her crew was taking up defensive positions at the taff rails: their rifles at the ready.

      A loud and agonizing howl of morning penetrated her thoughts. Chass…he must have gone below deck while she was distracted. She answered the new warhowl that arose just as the first shots could be heard from their enemy. It didn’t sound like there were many assaulting them.

      There was a loud snapping of wood and a feral growl that seemed to come from below the deck. Harg’s cry was almost like a slap on her muzzle, “Cease fire!” he shouted. “Cease fire! We don’t want to risk hitting him.”

      Sajani pressed herself towards the railing and peered out in time to see her second mate charging the enemy with nothing more than his dagger and a slat of wood in his hands. The elves were all shooting at him, but the bullets burned away before reaching him. It took the copper wolf a moment to realize: the wood Chass was holding must contain the ship’s shield rune. There wasn’t enough arcane energy left to protect the ship, but apparently there was enough for the huge wolf’s purposes. “Belay that order!” she shouted, “Fire at will!”

*

      Chass rushed down through what was left of the passages of the ship. Down the three ladders leading to the helm, he stopped and looked out over the railing that separated the two areas. The glass from the helm was all over the floor and he could tell his feet had been cut. He didn’t care. Leaping over the railing brought him directly to the ground. The bottom of the ship had been completely worn away on impact. “‘fang,” he shouted. “Prasille!” The absence of his dear friend should have caused sorrow, but instead it caused rage. He let out a howl of mourning that wasn’t answered and leaped back over the railing. Vengeance and death were the only paths that stood before him now. He’d embrace both willingly.

      Entering the helm, he turned to find the wall of runes still mostly intact. Claws were ground into the area around the shield rune and pulled the slat of wood on which it was engraved from the wall. Nails came loose on one end and the other snapped from the strain. Perfect. The second mate turned to face the outer wall and kicked with all his strength. Normally, such an action would have damaged him more than the ship, but between the damage that the crash had caused and the anger glowing in his soul, the wood splintered. He charged shoulder first into the breech and found himself outside.

      The ship had landed near a forested area and the ground was covered with thick green grass and ferns. The elves before him seemed slightly shaken: they should be. That many kilograms of muscled and angry wolf bearing down on them was more than enough to frighten most experienced soldiers. Now they’d see the monster they always thought he was. It’d be the last thing many of them saw. With his massive dagger in one hand and the board with the shield rune in the other, he set into his enemy.

      To their credit they held their ground. The first he faced tried to rise and use his rifle to block the knife as his comrade swung her weapon down on Chass’s shoulder. The block had no effect as the wolf’s dagger sliced through metal and flesh. Using his other hand, the wolf smashed the board into his other opponent’s head. Both went down. The angry vykati could see bullets dissolving as they hit his shield and smiled. It wouldn’t last for long, but he’d take out as many as he could and perhaps protect his friends that had lived.

      As he fought the next set of soldiers, he could see many starting to leave their positions and head towards him. Some were lost as they were hit by the bullets from the Wisp’s crew. The rest fell to either his dagger or his board. There was no way to count the number he’d slain. At first, he didn’t care.

      But it wasn’t his nature to be angry. It wasn’t in his soul to seek vengeance on such a scale. Slowly grief began to replace fury and he wept slightly as the shield rune at last failed and the bullets of his attackers finally brought down the huge vykati they called “the monster.”

You can read another spoiler here: http://sajanitails.com/index.php?/archives/8-The-Aftermath.html