Chapter 33: Racing Toward Calamity

  Alariel wasted no time guiding us back to her house. When we arrived, she didn’t bother going in, heading straight for the airship docked in her yard instead.

  “We should go straight to Solitair,” she insisted. “There is no time to waste.”

  “And then what?” Primith asked. “The last time we were there, they were in the process of evacuating. Even if they are gone, we still have your grandmother or this Donn character to deal with. What we need is help. Then we can go in prepared.”

  “I don’t like it,” Alariel shot back, looking fierce. “If any of them get their hands on that relic, the entire planet will become a bloodbath…or worse.”

  “We can make a pit stop in Albion,” I said, coming between them. “You can take one of the other airships.”

  The thing I didn’t tell her was Albion may not have enough mana to restore the others. That was something we could worry about once we got there. The trip back was quiet. Alariel kept to herself while Isa went below deck with Nax and Zelle to catch them up on things.

  That left me alone with Primith and Bori. The kid wanted to make a bird monster that could fly alongside the airship. The problem was, we were going too fast, and Bori’s birds could only fly so far away before she lost her connection to them. Every time, they blew away and Bori shrieked as they disintegrated.

  “Do you want to solve a puzzle, Daddy?” she asked after failing for the tenth time.

  I was hoping she’d go easy on her old man when I remembered something. I held up my good hand with the green swirl embedded in it.

  “Do you remember the Deductus Cube? This is what’s left of it.”

  She reached out and traced her finger along the swirl before pulling my hand in for closer inspection. She even sniffed it.

  “Does it hurt?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “No. I don’t know if this is another puzzle or the reward for completing it.”

  “What does it do when you run mana through it?” Bori asked.

  “It…uh,” I hesitated, realizing I’d gone to bed rather than exploring the new puzzle. “I’ll try that now.”

  The swirl glowed when it came into contact with my mana. I explored a bit by making things out of stone. It was tricky since I was used to using Cornerstone for everything. The stones that came from the swirl were green.

  That, by itself, didn’t mean much. The problem was, it refused to obey my commands. I tried making a simple chair, but the mana poured out of me like a soft serve ice cream cone. The result was a green stone coil. It was like the swirl took over and caused my magic to form a random design. Or was it random?

  Bori seemed to notice too. She kneeled beside the coil and touched it. “Did you do that on purpose?”

  “No,” I said. “I was trying to make a chair.”

  “Try it without the swirl,” she suggested.

  It was easier to push mana through Cornerstone than trying to work it around the swirl. My second creation came out perfectly, a stone easy chair that actually reclined.

  “Not like that,” Bori instructed. “Do it with the other hand.”

  She seemed more invested in the puzzle than I was. I followed her directions and made another chair, pushing mana around the swirl. It was challenging to avoid it completely, but I pulled it off and made something passable. While it wasn’t as solid as cornerstone, it could still hold my weight.

  Bori examined both chairs before coming to a conclusion. “You’re better with your stone hand than you are with you normal one. Let me try to use the Deductus Cube.”

  Before I could ask what she meant, she took my hand in hers and channeled my mana through it.

  “Hey!” I complained. “That tickles. Don’t go using my mana without my permission.”

  She stuck out her tongue. “Sorry, Daddy, but I have to test it properly and we both know I don’t have my own mana right now.”

  Bori frowned when the same green coil came out. “I don’t understand. I was trying to make a monster.”

  I looked at our collection of green coils. “That confirms it. This is another puzzle.”

  “Hmm,” Bori rubbed her chin thoughtfully, looking comically cute as she mimicked a puzzled adult she’d no doubt seen somewhere. “I’ll have to think about it. You keep trying.”

  She climbed up to the crow’s nest, leaving me to sort out the pile of springs we made. I was no closer to figuring out the mystery of the swirl when I was done. Perhaps Deductus could tell me more about it…or…

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  “Hey Iris,” I called out, hoping she was in a generous mood. “What can you tell me about the god of logic?”

  “I can tell you he won’t solve your puzzle for you,” she hissed from her tattoo. “Ask the other mortals if you want help.”

  That was an idea. I looked around and discovered the only one on deck was Primith, who was at the helm talking to Sir Lamorak. They were eating.

  “You should try this,” Primith said between mouthfuls. “Sir Lammy makes a mean barbeque.”

  I took the offered plate. It looked like beef, but I knew there were no cows on Gaia.

  “What is this?” I asked, sniffing it. The smoky scent made my mouth water.

  “I substituted ruffalo for your world’s cow,” Sir Lamorak explained. “You should find it similar.”

  If memory served correctly, it was a cross between a ram and a buffalo. I shrugged and took a bite. Just like well-cooked brisket, the meat melted in my mouth, accompanied by the pleasant smokiness of Gaian wood.

  Primith held out a bowl of red sauce and grinned. “Try the barbeque sauce. I only told him a few ingredients. Lammy invented his own Gaian flavor.”

  I couldn’t help myself. Before I knew it, I was eating with Primith and a very curious Sir Lamorak.

  “What do you think of it?” he asked. “Should I add this to the menu at Camelot? Is it a worthy replica of the Earth cuisine?”

  “It’s good!” I exclaimed as I the meat fell apart in my mouth with every bite. The sauce was slightly more bitter than what I was used to, leaving a pleasant aftertaste that made my nose tingle.

  But I wasn’t just there to eat. I was on a mission. “Hey, Primith. What do you think of this?”

  She looked at the swirl on my hand and rolled her eyes. “I think I have just the thing for that.”

  Before I could elaborate, she reached into a purse I didn’t know she had and withdrew a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer. I had to pull my hand away when she turned the bottle upside down and held it out.

  “Um, I don’t need that…” I began.

  Primith smirked. “Relax, it doesn’t hurt. It just feels cool to the touch and will get that stain right out.”

  “No,” I couldn’t hold back a laugh. “I don’t want you to clean it. I want you to help me figure it out. It’s the Deductus puzzle cube.”

  “Oh,” she said, taking a moment to put the hand sanitizer away. “I don’t know. What have you tried so far?”

  “I tried running mana through it,” I replied, pointing at the coils littered around the deck. “Bori couldn’t figure it out either.”

  “Well, if that kid can’t solve the puzzle, you might be in trouble,” Primith mused, rubbing her chin. “Hm, well, you tried mana, but have you tried anything else?”

  “Like what?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s green. Maybe that has something to do with plants. I can make some if you like.”

  I had to wait while she hastily finished her food and washed her hands with the hand sanitizer. Then she bent over and touched the deck. Vines sprang through the floor planks and coiled around her arm.

  “Give me your hand,” she said.

  The moment our skin touched, a vine ran itself across my palm, tickling me. The swirl didn’t respond.

  “Oh well, it was worth a shot,” Primith sighed, retracting the vine.

  To my surprise, there was no damage to the deck when it was gone.

  Sir Lamorak cleared his throat and pointed up at the sky. “The sky is green. Perhaps the puzzle has something to do with that.”

  I frowned. “How do we test that?”

  The burley knight shrugged. “Couldn’t tell ya.”

  To test his theory, I instructed the pilot to fly the ship as high as possible and lowered the shield for a moment. The moment the air hit me, I knew I couldn’t leave the shield down for long. Not only was the air up there thin, but it was also freezing. I let it run over my hand for a moment before reactivating the shield. Once I caught my breath, I looked down at the swirl. Nothing changed.

  “Do that again, Daddy!” Bori squealed from the crow’s nest. “That was so fun!”

  “Maybe later,” I called back non-committally.

  Fortunately, the airship hangar loomed in the distance. We had arrived.

  “You don’t expect these things to fly, do you?” Alariel asked with a look of shock when she saw the other two airships.

  “They will when I restore them,” I replied.

  “We don’t have time for that,” she groaned. “I need to get to Solitiar. Look, we can take yours and…”

  “Watch this,” I cut her off.

  Citizens: 9,814

  Albion’s Mana: 213,449/14,921,021

  Ceru had been busy. We had enough mana. The question was, for how much?

  The Dominator: 100% Functional

  Mana: 150,000/150,000

  Operation Cost: 2,000/Hour

  The Interceptor: 3.8% Functional

  Mana: 4,711/125,000

  Operation Cost: 1,500/Hour

  Fred: 1.1% Functional

  Mana: 1,162/100,000

  Operation Cost: 1,000/Hour

  “We can almost repair both of them,” I mumbled to myself. “Or both if I spend a little of my mana.”

  Then again, I didn’t want to leave Albion broke.

  “Tell you what,” I said, looking at Alariel. “I’ll repair The Interceptor, but you have to pay the hourly cost to fly it.”

  “Cost?” Alariel raised an eyebrow as she regarded me wearily. “You want me to pay to borrow this hunk of junk?”

  Without bothering to reply, I clicked YES on the icon to repair The Interceptor. Just like with The Dominator, the portion of the hangar around the derelict ship repaired itself before getting to the ship.

  The Interceptors balloon was streamlined, as opposed to the fat one on my ship. It came to a sharp point at the front, making it look aerodynamic. The ship itself was sleeker as well, only having a tiny captain’s quarters and seemingly no storage space below deck. I laughed when I realized Bori wouldn’t like it because it had no crow’s nest.

  Albion’s Mana: 94,160/14,921,021

  I turned to find Alariel gaping at the newly repaired ship. “What kind of magic was that? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “It’s kingdom magic,” I replied. “Doesn’t Xanadu have something like it?”

  She shook her head vigorously. “No! We only lived on that island because it was abandoned. There’s no magic there. Not that I know of.”

  “Xanadu has its secrets,” Sir Palamedes said. He was so quiet, I hadn’t noticed he materialized. “The prior occupants went to war with Albion long ago, and the island’s magic was most formidable.”

  Alariel shrugged. “I never really thought about it. I suppose Grandmother would know if anybody does.”

  “Let’s hope not,” I said as I cringed at the thought. “So, do you think you can pilot this thing?”

  She didn’t look sure. Not at all. “Um, maybe I can do it with a bit of practice. Do you have anyone that can teach me?”

  I looked at Sir Palamedes. He shook his head. “Alas, My Liege, that is not possible.”

  Isa sighed loudly. “Ugh, why was I the only one that bothered to learn how to fly this thing? If I help you, you have to promise to drop us off in Yew.”

  I wanted to have a conversation with Isa about staying with me, but I guessed it would have to wait.

  “Um, what did you mean about cost?” Alariel asked, rummaging through her rucksack for money.

  I grinned and rubbed my hands together. “Come on over here and place your hand on this marker. It doesn’t hurt…much.”