“It’ll be a cold day in the nine hells before I let another Shagornan elf crash my ship,” the Arch-mage Havelock said and climbed out of his hammock below deck of the flying ship the Unsinkable III. “Rock, Chip! Go up top and wait for me! The rest of you lot, save the ship!”
Heavy footfalls proceeded the two stone golems emerging from the darkness. The golems’ only facial feature were squinted slits for eyes, a sharp nose, and a straight line for a mouth, all carved into the stone of a rough-hewn, oval-shaped head. Their bodies appeared to be large, sand-colored boulders fused together.
The only difference My-re could discern between the two was the golem Havelock called Chip was a few inches smaller than the one he called Rock. She was glad someone was taking charge. While she preferred to stay below, it didn’t look any safer here, than above. The port side of the ship had been peeled back by striking ground and caught in a vortex in the Storm Crags, deep in the Rirorni Empire. She could see the passing earth outside through the gaping hole, as the ship continued to turn in circles.
Havelock reached the ramp leading up. As the golems approached, he touched each and a large, clear soap bubble encompassed them. Throwing the double doors open, a deluge of rain poured from the black sky above. They emerged above deck and the water bounced off their bubbles. It didn’t give any indication they would pop easily. As the Shagornan elves followed, Havelock also touch each and a similar bubble formed around them.
“I’ll take an extra strength bubble please,” My-re said in mirth, but deep down serious about the request.
“Are you joking? No, my dear. Unless, you don’t like to breath. You’ll need air to pass through the membrane,” Havelock said chuckling and shaking his head in disbelief, as he touched her shoulder.
A clear soap bubble surrounded My-re’s body. Viewing through, the world shimmered a little and things seemed stretched a bit, but otherwise normal. Also, the world outside was a bit muted, but she could still hear. Walking up the ramp, she expected it to pop due to its fragile nature, but it held as she entered the rain. The wind blew hard, but went around her. She spotted Vomarian Fae at the navigation wheel with two other elves, haggard looking, hair blowing wild, and soaking wet. They were using the modified gladiator large shields as partial cover as they were fighting against the navigation wheel. They were standing agape watching the encased elves rush to different parts of the ship unhampered by the storm raging around them.
“What in the nine hells? How did you get that surrounding you?!” Vomarian Fae bellowed through the sounds of the storm gesturing to her.
“Havelock,” My-re said pointing to the approaching arch-mage.
Touching Vomarian and the other nearby, exhausted looking elves struggling at the navigation wheel, a bubble surrounded and protected them from the elements.
“Thank you very much! You never said you could do that!” Vomarian Fae bellowed in anger, but due to the membrane it was a bit muted.
“First, you are very welcome. Second, you didn’t ask,” Havelock replied.
Shaking his head, Vomarian asked, “Can you do something about this storm?”
"Nope."
"Can you put a bubble around the ship?"
“Even I have my limits, so you’ll need to break the ship from this spinning vortex you sailed us in.”
“I didn’t sail into it intentionally,” Vomarian replied.
“I’m not blaming you. Rock and Chip can keep us off the ground for a time, but it’ll put undue strain on the wheel. You’ll need to get us out of this crag before the wheel breaks and crashes the ship. I won’t thank you for that,” Havelock said and motioned for his two stone golems to take the wheel. The two creatures seemed to manage keeping the Unsinkable III from descending any further, but the ship continued to circle in the chasm they were in.
“How much time before the wheel breaks,” Vomarian asked.
“Given the strength of my golems are exerting and the nature of the wood, which is quite strong I must add. I’d say, given the strain already, factoring in wind velocity—“
“How much time!” Vomarian interrupted.
“Ten minutes. Fifteen tops,” Havelock said.
“What?! We’d be lucky if this storm dissipates in several hours,” My-re said.
“Will these bubbles protect us if we crash,” Vomarian asked.
“Nope,” Havelock replied. “And I must say I’m a little hurt, as even asking that question implies you are not going to try and save the ship.”
“Of course I’m going to try and save the ship!”
“That’s the spirit!” Havelock exclaimed and continued, “I knew I made a good choice making you captain.”
For the next few minutes, My-re watched as the Unsinkable III continued to circle. Wreckage from the ship outlined the tempest’s form. The golems held the massive wheel in place, Vomarian looked helpless as a leaf blowing in the wind, and Havelock acted as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“What can we do?” My-re asked Vomarian.
“I don’t know. If the storm lost some strength, we could try and break free. There’s no telling when that would occur. At this point we’ll need some massive luck factor to get out of this,” Vomarian said.
That didn’t sound good. They were going to crash. There was nothing she could do. Touching the bubble's membrane, My-re agreed and doubted it would survive a direct impact. If they did somehow live, they’d be in the middle of the Rirorni Empire, surrounded by hostile natives and nature, with no transportation. She looked to Havelock hoping he was getting ready to cast some massive spell at the last minute. Sweat formed on his brow. He was nervous. She cursed to herself for whistling into the wind and the possible cause of their current mess. No, that was stupid thinking. A very insane idea then jumped into her head. She found herself walking to the ship’s bow. The elements continued to battle against the vessel and her bubble. Remembering what Havelock said two weeks ago, she cursed. Ignorant sailor superstitions and their omens. Sighing, she pulled her shirt off over her head. Fully exposing herself to nature. There she stood in her modesty regardless of a few nearby elves noticing. The next minutes passed slowly, like reading an hour long total parry scum match; line-by-line.
“The storm is weakening!” called out a voice from the crow’s nest. “Look at the debris in the tempest! A gap’s forming!”
My-re cursed in surprise in the Rirorni native language of Rathiri, which roughly translated to ‘procreate with oneself’.
“We won’t catch it!” Vomarian Fae shouted then paused, “Rock and Chip on my signal, turn her into the storm!”
“Hold on!”
“Full throttle now!”
The Unsinkable III lurched around hard as the wood wailed in vehement protest. My-re and the crew latched onto the nearest, solid object. Anything left on the deck not bolted down flew off the ship. The howling wind pushed relentlessly against their bubbles and threatened to break. The ship remained stationary, trying to move forward, but trembled from side-to-side. Cracks formed. The ship was breaking apart.
The gap approached. Like a boulder from a catapult, they were thrown from the vortex. The Unsinkable III flew with tremendous speed through the air and high into the sky. Looking over her shoulder, My-re saw the edge of the Storm Crags behind them. The ship’s momentum slowed. It hovered for a moment then began to fall. Rapidly.
My-re’s stomach lurched into her chest. They were in free fall. She heard frantic muffled shouting. There was nothing she could do, but hang on. She closed her eyes and prayed to the gods of the plains to save them. She didn’t want to die.
The downward momentum reversed and her upturned stomach launched into her nether regions. The Unsinkable III leveled off, but still flew at a frightening pace.
“Brace for impact!” Vomarian Fae shouted.
The ground was rapidly approaching. My-re glance to the aft section of the ship. Rock, Chip, Vomarian, as well as Havelock fought against the navigation wheel. Looking over the side, they were only a few feel off the ground, but still traveling at a high rate of speed.
Like a stone skipping across a lake, the Unsinkable III hit the earth and bounced. Each time they all flew into the air. The bubbles absorbed the shock. The ship struck the ground hard and stopped. My-re flew forward. Like a game of children’s marbles, the entire crew was bouncing around the upper deck. All their bubbles popped as they came to rest.
Slow to pulling herself up, she found some sore muscles she didn't even know existed before. The ship had landed in an open plain of wild flowers and tall grass. It stretched as far as the eye could see. As the crew recovered, My-re noticed her shirt-top. Fortunately, it was still within the bubble when it popped. She retrieved the garment and quickly dressed. Pulling her shirt down tight, she walked to the navigation wheel with as much dignity as she could muster.
“Any landing you can walk away from,” Havelock commented and brushed his hands free of the situation.
“No truer words, but it’ll take two weeks for repairs. She’ll still fly won’t she?” Vomarian asked Havelock.
“Of course she will,” Havelock scoffed. “We’ll be back to using the mere dragons Koma, Kata, and Kukki, not to be confused with a cookie, to track down Araminth in no time. However, there’s just a gaping hole on the ship’s port side that should take priority so that none of the-“ Havelock continued, but was interrupted.
A loud screeching came from the mere dragons below deck. They rushed to the port side of the ship. All three dragons darted from the broken hull and into the field of wild flowers.
“Koma, come back!” My-re called out in panic.
The mere dragon called Koma stopped, turned its maroon colored head towards her, and then back to the open field and its escaping companions. Another screech emanated from Kata, the largest of the three. Koma scampered off and soon all were lost in the Rirorni plains beyond.
My-re sighed. Then to her surprise, she heard Vomarian curse in Rathiri. The Rirorni swear roughly translated to a phrase meaning to ‘procreate with oneself’.