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The BloodVaine EpicChapter 47: Bourne Onboard
Caimlin was concentrating, trying to contact Lord Void via teleharm. It wasn’t the first time he had tried. He, and every other Dragon Master had been trying ever since the attack. Some, like him, tried to contact Lord Void. Others tried to reach Jarvick and Drock on the Dragon Master island. Some were even trying to get a hold of Targon in whatever corner of the globe he might be in. But all had failed. It was the same every time. Caimlin would close his eyes and go into teleharm, trying to reach Lord Void. But each time he tried he would be stopped. Two bright eyes would appear in the midst of the darkness. Bright blue eyes in a pale face. And then the pain would hit him. It would jolt him out of the teleharm and leave him with a migraine that lasted for an hour.
This time however, he was making progress. Nothing was interfering. Soon he would tell Lord Void of the fall of his fortress. He would tell Lord Void how the dragons attacked their masters. He might also tell him about the loss of his trusted aid Del Grakken. Caimlin had not found the general among the wounded and assumed that he had died in the attack.
The teleharm was connecting now. Lord Void was answering...
The four ships had landed on the still fairly frigid Fright Knight section of Kingdom Isle. Survivors from the two Knight’s Kingdom territory flooded in as the Bulls distributed much-needed supplies. Old squabbles were forgotten, and the three crippled factions would not forget for a while that the Bulls, a faction considered dead by many, had save three once-powerful factions from the brink of destruction.
While the Lone Falcon, Jack Craft and Trevelayn directed the distribution of food and blankets, Barbod and Reno talked quietly in the captain's cabin of the Bull’s Revenge. Many tales passed between them for hours on end, for they had not seen each other since Shing-Shokon’s airship had crashed, many, many months ago. The matter that caused both men to frown was when Dale was killed by Majisto. Barbod had been informed by Bjarn before the Bull King left Drullen Bell Keep that Reno had killed Dale, but Barbod had never really believed Bjarn. Now Reno told Barbod the story of Dale’s ghostly reappearance through Reno’s sword, and the drama the ended in Shainya believing and forgiving Reno.
On board the Arklyndellys Vulondur, Lord Void sat hunched near the helm, clutching a cloak about him, keeping out of the way, hoping to stay unnoticed. He did not think anyone from the Bull ships or anyone on Kingdom Isle knew of him, but he was certain that Reno would alert Lord Barbod to his presence. Lord Void shifted. He felt so useless. He had spent so much energy to free the three from the Pendants, and just now his strength was returning. He was physically fit, but without major magical ability he felt unprotected. He had always relied on magic to aid him, but now he was equal to Reno Regga in magical ability until his Mana recharged.
Suddenly he clutched his head, shocked. He was receiving a teleharm! Quickly he activated the connection.
My Lord!
Caimlin, is that you? What is it?
My lord, you have been betrayed, the Fire Breathing Fortress is now ruled my Del Grakken!
Lord Void did not get angry, he just went deadly numb, and not because of cold.
Explain. Now.
Del Grakken has joined with BloodVaine, milord. He coordinated the attacked that killed the Classic Emperor!
Tyco...why have you taken so long to report this?
BloodVaine has laid down a blanket of static, none of us could get through until now!
None of us?
Not all of us are loyal to Del Grakken or BloodVaine, milord. We still follow you.
The immenseness of my appreciation of your loyalty cannot be described, Caimlin, I thank you. I thank all of you.
Lord Void meant it, and Caimlin could tell.
Where are you now, milord?
I’m on Kingdom Isle, in the company of Bulls, Knight’s Kingdomers and Fright Knights. Long story. We might have a solution to get rid of BloodVaine, but never mind now. You better go. Contact me when possible with updates. Good luck Caimlin, you are a true Dragon Master.
Thank you, milord.
Lord Void cut the connection. He had to think. Fast.
Jack stood at the railing of the Rose Marie, his normally cheerful face bent into a scowl. The Gynthaunt emissary had slipped away while the crew were helping refugees, without even a parting word. Under the Lone Falcon’s supervision, the eerie spirit-box had been wrapped securely and stowed in the strongbox in the captain’s cabin. No one particularly regretted having it hidden away, least of all Jack himself.
“Aye, that thing can go over the side for all I care. Jack-me-lad, they’ve given us a box of spooks to play against a sorcerer. It likes me not.”
Jack felt a sudden sickly tightening at the back of his throat, and coughed. His mouth was suddenly dry and tasted of burned metal.
“Brix and blox. Now what?”
He turned his gaze upward, and his scowl deepened. Above him, the Arklyndellys Vulondur still hovered, tethered to the masts of the Rose Marie. Though he had been itching to have a closer look at the flying craft for hours, they had been too busy up until now.
“Aye, Jack-me-lad...sure as summer before winter, somebody up in that birdie is doing magic. Me thinks Barbod’d want to know who...hey! Peter lad!”
Jack gestured Peter McSornley over from the stern, where he had been talking to some of the sailors.
“Jack? What's going on?”
“Peter, I think it’s time you and I had a look up in the seagull yonder. We’ve had it clinging like seaweed to the ship for hours now, and I want a closer peek.”
“Like seaweed? How could it be like seaweed if it’s up there?”
“You’re missing the point, lad. Up you go.”
Still somewhat confused, Peter began to climb the rope ladder, with Jack following.
Peter clambered onto the deck and helped Jack up after him, who looked like a child in a candy shop. Jack ran his hands along the sides of the Arklyndellys Vulondur murmuring delightedly while Peter explored the controls at the helm. The young Bull experimentallycredit check monitoring pressed a button and the Arklyndellys Vulondur lurched upwards drunkenly at a horrifying speed.
“Fool!”
Lord Void jumped out of a corner and grabbed the helm, adjusting the controls frantically, trying to regain control of the craft. The Arklyndellys Vulondur sped upward faster and faster until it had entered the cloud cover. After being enveloped, the airship began to move laterally, but in which direction no one could tell. After many tense minutes, the Arklyndellys Vulondur finally floated down again, allowing the three persons to observe the land below.
“Brix and blox!” cried Jack, “I’ll be a blue-bellied baboon if that ain’t the Yellow Castle!”
Peter gasped. Lord Void swore.
“Those are Dragon Masters and Falcons down there! Tyco, Classic LEGOland has been invaded!”
Lord Void snatched the controls and had started to pull the Arklyndellys Vulondur into the clouds again when his head suddenly buzzed, a teleharm was attempting to connect. Lord Void instantly completed the connection, thinking it was Caimlin. However, a completely different voice filled his head.
Greetings, Lord Void of the Dragon Masters.
Who the megabloks-?!?
I have no time to explain. My name is Bourne, I am an Earth Mage. I have detected the disruption to the Mana flow, and I have discovered many things, including that you have been ousted from your own faction. Quick, bring your airship to the edge of the Neverwood, I’ll meet you there...
Bourne severed the connection before Lord Void could reply.
Lord Void snapped to Jack and Peter, “You two, whoever you are, grab hold of something!”
They did so without asking questions, and Lord Void guided the Arklyndellys Vulondur downward, steering toward the mighty stretch of thick trees called the Neverwood. Lord Void argued with himself in the minutes spent rushing through the air, debated whether picking up this Bourne was a good idea. After disputing both the pros and cons, he decided he had no other choice. If this Bourne fellow was a friend, perhaps he could somehow hide the Arklyndellys Vulondur long enough until Lord Void could get it far enough away from BloodVaine, and if Bourne was an agent of the dark necromancer, then Lord Void, the Arklyndellys Vulondur and the others were already shifty-bricked.
The Neverwood loomed up at them, and Lord Void decreased speed until the airship just barely touched the tops of the swaying trees.
“Drop the ladder!” cried Lord Void, thought there was no need, because the rope ladder was still hanging over the side, for Jack didn’t have time to reel it in before the Arklyndellys Vulondur took off.
The three persons waited in silence for a few minutes before the Arklyndellys Vulondur tipped slightly to port. Someone was coming aboard. Lord Void tensed. If he had chosen wrong, he and the others would be dead within minutes, for he still have very little magical power to protected himself.
A figure appear, draped in brown, carrying a staff in one hand a clutching the ladder in the other. A bow and quiver full of arrows were strapped to his back. All three of them, Jack, Peter and Lord Void, had a vague sense that someone more than human had just came aboard, for a strong feeling of Mana surrounded this cloaked being. Lord Void felt uncomfortable. Even if he had been a full strength, he would have thought twice about battling this person. Bourne may have the approximately the same amount of magical power that Lord Void had, but Bourne seemed to have ten times more experience then Lord Void, thought he looked barely out of his teen years.
Bourne looked about approvingly at the craft on which he now stood.
“Most impressive,” he commented, “I congratulate you, Lord Void, on acquiring such a fine craft. It is a shame you have not the power to cloak it, for I fear if we remain here longer we shall be detected, if we haven't been already. But now matter, I will quickly remedy that.”
Bourne closed his eyes for a moments, and stood absolutely still. At first, nothing happened, but then suddenly the floor beneath the Earth Mage began to fade, until it is was completely transparent.
Jack murmured “Brix and blox…” and Peter let out a startled cry.
“Quiet!” Lord Void hissed. He knew this was powerful magic being preformed, and great concentration was needed.
The transparentness spread until it covered the entire length and breadth of the Arklyndellys Vulondur, so it seemed the companions and other loose cargo were suspended in midair. One by one the cargo also disappeared, as did Peter, Jack, Lord Void and, last of all, Bourne.
“Brix and blox! I can’t see a thing!” Jack’s voice penetrated the silence.
"That’s because no one can see you, or sense you by any magical means.” came Bourne’s voice.
“How...how’d you do that?” asked Peter, who sounded very shaken.
“Everything ever created, from trees to beer to Black Flacons to yourself are made of tiny little beings. I simply convinced all of the millions of beings to exist only in the Mana flow, and not in the real world. In other words, we do not exist except where no one else can reach us for the moment. BloodVaine could tap in here and destroy us, but that is not likely. Lord Void, you know how operate the Arklyndellys Vulondur’s controls without seeing them?”
“Yes, but I can’t pilot without seeing where I’m going!”
“Just do as I instruct you to do.” Bourne proceeded to issue instructions, which Lord Void obeyed without protest. After a while, Bourne said, “We are far enough away now, we are over Kingdom Isle.”
Suddenly the Arklyndellys Vulondur appeared around them, and they could see again. Ignoring the moans from Peter, Lord Void adjusted a few knobs and lowered the airship until is was hovering just above the still-frosty grounds of the Fright Knight territory. As Lord Void secured the Arklyndellys Vulondur properly, Lord Barbod, Trevelayn, the Lone Falcon, Gib, Marus and many others rushed forward, all demanding an explanation to the Arklyndellys Vulondur sudden exit.
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