Shadowrun - Earthdawn - Mother Speaks (10 page)

Stone ground against stone, and the blow knocked me back to J'role and the dark woman.

Lighting cracked through the air. The mountains glowed momentarily with myriad colors. "Twilight Peaks!" J'role shouted. "We must have reached Twilight Peaks!"

I nodded. Water drenched my clothes, covered my face. A chill set in, and not just from the water. I had never met any of the crystal raiders who made their home in the huge mountain range, and had little desire to.

"We've got to get the ship away from here!" I shouted back. “Get- everybody to the oars!

I'll take the wheel!"

J'role shook his head. "Two people on the wheel! I'll come with you!"

He turned to the woman and made a motion of rowing, then pointed to her. I pointed toward J'role and myself, then to the aft castle, then made the gesture of holding the ship's wheel. She stared at us with surprise, but finally nodded and started down the stairs.

J'role and I made our way along the deck, gripping ropes set into brass hooks along the walls of the castle. A bit more work brought us to the aft castle. We climbed the stairs and I grabbed the wheel. I lost track of J'role for a moment, and panic coursed through me as I thought he might have been swept overboard. But he reappeared, now with ropes in his hand. Working quickly, he lashed our hands to the wheel. There we stood, my right arm crossed under his left; our hands close, but tied to different spokes.

"I love you!" he shouted.

My heart fell. He had no sense of proportion. "Shut up!"

I saw oars extended out from the sides of the ship. Fortunately we had pulled them back inside hours earlier at the suggestion of our seaworthy companions. Otherwise they would have been crushed against the mountains when we crashed. There were only a dozen or so on the oars, however, and I did not know what chance we had with such a weak crew. But the oars that could be manned were, and I saw them sweep slowly through the air.

J'role and I began to turn the wheel. Even our combined efforts, no matter how well meaning, seemed incapable of preventing a shipwreck. We pushed all our strength into turning the ship to starboard and away from the mountains, but it seemed to no avail.

"More!" J'role screamed, less, I think, to me than to himself. We finally forced the wheel to move an inch. It was only an inch, but the success brought forth a laugh from the both of us. We pushed harder and harder, and finally moved the wheel enough that a visible change could be seen in our direction. The grim gray shadows slid slightly to port. We had traveled close enough that I could make out cliff faces and cracks in the stone.

Then a horrible wind rushed up to the ship and lifted us up suddenly. For a moment J'role and I left the deck, our feet floating inches above the stone floor. When we came back down, the wheel spun suddenly, driving J'role to the deck, with me on top of him. I heard a sharp crack, and J'role screamed in agony as the bone of his forearm shattered and pierced his flesh.

I struggled to get up. My efforts dragged at J'role's arm, for we were still lashed to the wheel. He screamed out even louder. I hesitated, not wanting to rip his arm apart, but knowing that if I couldn't pull the wheel back we were doomed.

J'role cried out in horrible agony, but I had no choice. After more of his terrible screams, we were standing once more. The wheel turned easily now, and I smiled with great relief, for it seemed for one delightful instant that the winds had died down enough for us to get better control of the ship.

Then I realized the wheel moved too easily. The mechanisms connecting it to the rudder had snapped during our last encounter with the winds, and we no longer had any way of controlling the ship at all.

A crack of lightning illuminated the air. I looked up. A mountain face loomed before us like an angry parent rushing to slap a child.

PART TWO

My Passions Take Form

1

We smashed into the mountain with the aid of one final, massive wind. The ship rose into the air, lifted as if on a giant wave of water, and crashed against a cliff face. The impact threw me forward, slamming me against the wheel. J'role cried out in pain once more.

I lost all sense of balance as the ship dropped, scraping along the cliff as it fell. My wrists, tied to the spokes of the wheel, nearly broke as the ship crashed into the ground.

Sudden stillness attacked my senses. Happy that I was still alive, yet terrified that we had landed on the top of a strange mountain, far from home, far from my children, I found myself weeping, my tears mixing with the rain. I didn't really know where I was, and had no idea how I might get back to those I loved.

I looked down at J'role and saw that he had passed out from the pain. The sharp, shattered bone looked pale and glowing even in the darkness of the storm. I worked quickly to untie my bonds, then leaned down to help J'role.

Within moments some of the other slaves joined me. They were full of questions, but when they saw J'role's injuries, they quickly helped me bring him downstairs.

We cleaned the wound and set the bone. We had no questors of Garlen present, so we could not heal him. I searched through the ship, slamming open cabinets and drawers and checking small boxes, desperate to find a potion or salve or any kind of magical means of curing him. I found nothing.

I did not know what else to do, so we carried J'role to bed and spread a blanket over him.

A fever had set in, and it seemed more than likely that he would die before the night was over. He had lost so much blood, and we had no way to properly treat his injuries for the other sicknesses such wounds encouraged.

When I went to look for the others, I found the rest of the slaves had gathered in the ship's galley. We had eaten earlier that day, but in small clusters, all over the ship. Now everyone had gathered in a group, with our oranges and corn and peppers carefully placed in silver bowls, bits of dried meat on plates, and wine held in metal jugs. As I entered, the little conversation taking place broke off into silence.

I nodded to them, uncomfortable, and took a seat.

Everyone took food and ate quietly, the silent meal cloaking us in comfort. We were, oddly, a family, bonded through trials of misfortune over the past few weeks, and especially by the successes and failure of the last few hours.

We decided there was nothing to be done until daylight. We posted watches. I went to sleep.

I awoke with a start. No motion. No wind. No sound of rain. Everything seemed wrong.

I propped myself up on my elbows, then looked over the edge of my bunk. Wia still slept.

When I placed my feet on the floor, I found it cool. Golden, morning light cut through the room's portal and formed a perfect circle on the wall.

Thoughts of J'role rushed into my head. His wounds! I gave out a gasp at the memories of the night before, and rushed out.

One of the group, bronze skinned and still strong, stood by J'role's bunk, holding water to J'role's lips. He kept his eyes shut. I knelt down beside him and placed my hand on his forehead.

His eyes fluttered open, and he turned slightly to look at me. He smiled weakly.

"Alive," he said. A matter of declaration.

"Shipwrecked."

His voice cracked. "But alive." He took pride in any victory, even if others might see it as defeat. He once said to me, "There's enough that grinds us down each day. We've got to acknowledge anything that seems like good news."

The man got up and left the room. I took his seat.

"I'm dying?"

"No."

"Releana. I'm the liar."

The statement stunned me, so I said, "We've got to find you help."

"On a mountain?"

"If we're on Twilight Peaks ..."

"Excellent. We might be able to get some help from troll barbarians."

"They're not barbarians," I said quickly, though I had never met any of the crystal raiders.

J'role closed his eyes. "Yes. Whatever." His face contorted with pain. Then he relaxed slightly. "Releana," he said hesitantly, and opened his eyes. I felt he was on the verge of saying something significant.

"Releana!" someone shouted from above deck. The cry carried panic.

"I'll be back." I gave him a peck on the forehead and rushed out of the room.

2

As I ran through the corridor, others were awakened from sleep by the cry of my name.

Each one looked startled and sleepy. Each let me pass and then followed. I realized I had become the group's leader. When exactly had that happened? My crew followed up the steps and out onto the deck.

Dozens of trolls dressed in armor made from gleaming crystal approached the ship off the port side.

The ship had landed with the deck nearly perfectly level with the ground. A huge fissure ran through the foredeck, up along the forecastle, and over the sides of the hull. It seemed that if the airship had suffered a hull breach, it would sink just as a sea vessel would. The ground around the ship was barren, and covered with small rocks and a few boulders. The mountain we sat on continued far above us, and I became dizzy looking toward the peak.

Around use stood many other mountains forming the Twilight Peaks. Beyond the gray mountains grew the jungles of Barsaive, now nothing more than a blur of green.

The trolls stood still and silent, gathered in tight clusters. Each stood about eight feet high, with horns growing from their foreheads, and large teeth protruding from under their lips. Their bodies bulged with muscles, and there seemed a kind of exaggeration of masculine qualities about them, in the females as well as the males. From their stance and build, it seemed they could do little but bash things.

For the most part they wore thick furs for armor, and a few had robes or cloaks fashioned from tapestries they'd acquired on their raids of the lowlands. However, many also had the astounding crystal armor that had made the trolls so famous.

Their crystal armor did not cover their entire bodies, as I'd been led to believe from the stories I'd heard. Instead, most of the thick, colored crystals grew from the fur or cloth armor. Sections of crystal armor covered the shoulders of some trolls. Others had shields made of crystal. A few had breastplates strapped on with thick strips of leather. And there were weapons made of crystal as well. Spears, swords, maces. The colored crystals Were smooth and shaped with many facets. The sunlight struck the magical weaponry and arms and shimmered deep reds, twilight blues, jungle greens, and other colors.

The trolls stopped their advance a few hundred feet away, taking up positions behind boulders and tucked into huge cracks in the cliff.

I tried to think.

I failed.

Around me my crew shifted. I noticed that they had gathered the swords taken from the Theran sailors. Good. That was good.

We were outnumbered, under armed, under muscled, still weak from our slavery. That was bad.

I wanted very much to turn around and foist responsibility for the next few minutes on someone else. But I had seen leaders panic at the moment of crisis before, and it usually meant defeat. I was the leader. Being the leader meant being alone. I had to make a decision. I had to do something. That's all there was to it.

"Greetings!" I cried out. My voice sounded weak.

A huge troll, monstrously large, a dozen feet tall, at least, stepped forward. He carried a crystal sword as tall as me, which glimmered ice blue. Heavy fur boots covered with crystal shards covered his feet. Crystal bracers made of hundreds of facets covered his forearms. He wore a giant fur cape.

Four trolls flanked him, each armed equally well.

I had little doubt that those five alone could kill us all. The other thirty or so would have a good time watching.

"Greetings!" I shouted again. I wondered if the trolls spoke Throalic.

The massive troll stopped and stood as solidly as any rock. The words from his mouth were Throalic, but broken and uncertain. "You. From stone ship?"

"No!" I replied, hoping against hope that it was the answer that would bring a quick end to the threat of violence.

The five trolls turned and looked at each other. After a short discussion, the leader asked,

"Where stone ship warriors?"

"Dead."

"Dead?"

"Dead."

"How?"

"We ... we killed them. And some elemental air creatures attacked the ship." The troll looked at me, curious. "Elemental air creatures?" I repeated. Still they looked confused.

One of the trolls, an old fellow with a few strands of white hair growing from his bald head, stepped forward to whisper into the leader's ear. I realized with a start that the troll wore the robes of a magician. The patterns on it showed jungle vines winding around one another.

The old troll and the leader exchanged words, and then the leader turned to me and with surprise asked, "Trecka?” He pointed to the sky and repeated the word.

As that was the best I thought I could do on the matter, I nodded my head and said

"Trecka."

The troll's eyes opened. "Where trecka?"

"Dead."

"Who killed Trecka?"

My companions, gathered around me in a semicircle, pointed to me.

This bit of news had a great impact on all the trolls. They stepped forward as if to get a better look. "You?"

Their disbelief bothered me, and I placed my hands on my hips. "Me!" Then I jabbed my thumb at my chest. "I killed trecka!" It was only then that I remembered that I hadn't actually killed the monsters, just driven them off. I decided it wasn't a subtlety worth trying to communicate at the moment.

They stared a while longer, deciding whether to believe me or not. Finally the leader said,

"Get off our mountain." With that he turned and started to leave.

"Wait!" I called. I had no idea how to climb off a mountain. I didn't know if anyone else in the group did either. And J'role was in no condition to travel in any case. We needed help.

He turned, his massive, fleshy face crinkling into deep cracks. He stared.

"We ..." I gestured to the others. "We need help."

This seemed to interest him.

"What you need?"