Treeline

Chapter 27

No one paid attention to a couple small figures ducking out of the room. The ship rocked and reeled as it flew over the sand but somehow Dot managed to keep his balance. Back to the hold. Dot held me gently while I gripped my hand and tried not to cry. My fingers didn’t quite feel in the right spots after being stepped on and I was thankful for the dim lighting as I didn’t want to accidentally catch a glance out of the corner of my eye.

Dot’s words came between wheezes as he dodged all manner of creatures rushing through the halls. “You destroy ship side. Free Nua.”

I shook my head. “It’s iron, Dot, I can’t explode that.”

He paused. “Yes. Can.” Then continued.

The hatch door loomed before us. From this deep in the ship it was hard to hear the screams of the creature outside; I would have thought it dead if we weren’t still hurtling along and being thrown this way and that. Dot placed me on the ground and opened the door.

Inside was complete chaos. Bright colours flickered here and there as the creatures groaned against the sides of the ship. I might not have been able to hear the screams from outside very well but they quite obviously still could. They were trying to get out. With my good hand I managed to scramble up onto Dot’s shoulder. He stepped through the door.

It was definitely a fight trying to control my fears so I could call on the hummingbirds. The first fear was that the creatures would accidentally crush us in their efforts to escape. The second was that they might be so mad they turn that anger on us. We were safe on the other side of the hatch, they couldn’t get through that, but there in the room with them was a death sentence. If Dot was worried at all he didn’t show it.

I calmed my breathing. I was there for a reason. It would make no difference if I was crushed, I was set for the rest of my life as a slave anyway. There were no rescuers coming. In fact, it might be a welcome relief; but these creatures didn’t need to share my fate. If I wasn’t afraid of dying then there wasn’t anything to fear with the creatures.

Sparks flickered around me as the glowing hummingbirds snapped into the world.

At the exact same time a tail connected with Dot and sent us both flying.

“The door, open door!” Dot’s voice sounded farther and farther away as I rolled across the ground. I hissed and held my mangled hand tight against my body. The hummingbirds flickered and it was all I could do to stop them from going out entirely. The smell of burning flesh and more guttural screams sounded as translucent creature skin brushed against the hummingbirds and was seared in return.

“Dot!” A hummingbird burst from my mouth, amplifying my voice around the room. He didn’t answer. It would have been so easy for him to get crushed without my magic protecting him and he didn’t answer.

Hot tears threatened to pour from my eyes but I wiped them away and struggled to my feet. He wanted me to save Nua and that I would do. I couldn’t waste precious time looking for him when at any point Hally might notice I was gone and call me back. Then I would be useless.

That was it. I had enough. A hummingbird rocketed off to the end of the hull opposite the hatch and exploded against it. Sure enough in the light I could see that it was indeed a massive door. The explosion didn’t seem to affect it all but it did make a lot of noise and that wasn’t good. Sirens blared.

I continued forward and gasped a little as I passed through something near the door. The easiest way I can explain it is that it was like passing through an invisible door...that wasn’t there. Like a knowing that there was normally an invisible door there but that it wasn’t on at the moment. That explained perfectly how they could have such a big door at the end of the hull and not have to worry about the creatures inside getting out. Put on the one way magic door first and then only things allowed to get it. It was a brilliant piece of magical artistry that I was positive Grey would have loved to see, but I didn’t have time to admire it any further.

The door sat at angled out and was lined with all manner of gears and disgusting iron contraptions. There was no clear sign of how I should open it, not a single stick or anything as they had back in the bridge.

If not for the worry of Dot’s whereabouts that sat on my face, I might have smiled. There was only one thing that I knew how to do in a situation like that. No clear way through, so I would make a way.

I couldn’t do much about the iron as it withstood magic like nothing else, but there were other pieces to the door. Gears, mechanics, little thingamabobs that the massive creatures couldn’t possibly reach but could easily be touched by the hummingbirds.

The siren didn’t stop. At some point the hatch at the other side of the door burst open and there was screaming from it, but nothing came in, the huge creatures made sure of that. They would have had to wait and stand and stare at the light show.

As soon as one exploded, another hummingbird would appear. They sped along the door’s seams, squeezing into the cracks and crevices before exploding in balls of colour. At some point I noticed that the ship stopped moving.

My name sounded at the other side of the hull. I didn’t hear it but I knew, I knew. One final explosion sounded before I was ripped backward by my own magic, forcing me to obey the summons.

With a groan the huge door at the end of the hull fell open.