The Stone Sorceress

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Eros and the others, certain of what Thanatos was up to, rushed to the Nunnehi dockyard where an armada prepared itself.

Eros said, "I know you're fond of ships, but will it be fast enough?"

Aegis was silent; she wore a determined look on her pale face.

Astraea turned to Eros, "He flies like the birds. We can't catch him."

"Is the Colossus really that fast?" Eros said again.

"She's the fastest," Aegis smiled when they passed her ship, "But I fear even she won't be precipitous enough." The admiral continued some way before halting alongside a rather underwhelming vessel. It was cylindrical in shape, was made of oak like the other ships, but it didn't have any masts.

Eros interrogated the ship with his eyes, and wore a sceptical look. He thought about using the woman whom he obtained from Aavak, but she could only take a few. If he was to stop Thanatos, it would require their combined strength. Eros had no choice, he must trust Aegis.

Wooden furnishings, brass instruments, and a velvet seat rested inside the cabin. The admiral looked out upon the high seas. She turned to the others, and said wearing a smile, "Welcome aboard the Argonaut."

Aegis began to press various dials, and telemetry apparatus. The ship vibrated.

"What's that?" Eros asked.

"An engine."

The ship pulled out of port, and, when a safe distance from land, Eros saw Aegis's beatific eyes flash as she pushed a great lever forward. The ship accelerated faster and faster until at last the Argonaut began to rise from the sea.

The others – terrified - held on with fists like clamps.

Eros heard the admiral scream, and decided that she was mad.

"A ship fly – impossible," he said.

"We've always enjoyed taking our ships out upon the seas," Aegis now shouted because of the noise, "Then an inventor asked why we didn't take them out upon the skies." Aegis looked at Eros. "The Argonaut was born."

The flying ship eventually levelled, and the tension that had ravaged the crew earlier, abated. They began to walk about with the strict caveat that they were not to touch anything.

The Argonaut was a lightning bolt; it wouldn't be long until they caught up with Thanatos. And yet Eros was still vexed. He worried that he would be too late, that Thanatos would free Arethusa and all would be over because devil and sorceress would unite - an unstoppable union. He took out the stone and said that he would go on ahead - face Thanatos alone. The others, however, wouldn't allow it. They knew Eros couldn't stop him. The devil was too strong. Only together could they achieve victory. Aegis had assured him that she knew a way to conduct them all there in time. She hadn't disappointed.

Time passed.

Aurora gasped as she looked out the window to the world below, "What is it?"

It was obvious to Typhon, who benefited from hindsight. He'd overlooked it earlier, other matters had occupied his mind, but now when he applied himself to it, he knew instantly what the matter was, "Thanatos is lord of the underworld. In returning to Lucretia he's abdicated his authority. The demons have no master, they are unruly and follow him up the waterfall."

Indeed the underworld was spilling into Lucretia as the mage spoke. The waterfall was the gate between worlds.

"We must stop them." Sabriel exclaimed. "The people will be defenceless; they'll be slaughtered."

"But we are seven, and they are thousands!" Aurora exclaimed, "Even if we wanted to, what can we do?"

"We can seal the gateway, contain the outbreak," Typhon said from across the cabin.

Eros nodded in approval.

"Then there's no choice, I'll use Aavak's stone - face Thanatos."

Aegis said tremulously, "We agreed that was too dangerous." She looked to Eros's inexorable face. He would be going to his death.

"There's no choice," he replied firmly.

"I'll go with him." All eyes rested on the sorceress.

Astraea had sauntered across the cabin. Typhon looked at her with distrust, "Long did you serve him, you admit now you still love him." She lowered her head. "If it came to it, could you kill him?"

The sorceress's red lips whispered, "Yes." Then she turned as a tear fell down her cheek.

Typhon looked to Eros; his eyes told him no, but Eros said, "With Astraea I can stop him." The chevalier paused, "I would be more concerned about your own lives. Your highness, we'll land first in a nearby town. Take post horses, and travel east. Put as much distance between--"

"No." The princess trembled. "If you will all fight, a white mage would be most useful." She focused intently upon Skoll, "You'll need me."

Sabriel exclaimed, "Your highness--"

"I am going too." Aurora's answer was final. The coterie knew just how stubborn the princess could be, and tried no more to prevent her.

The Argonaut banked left, the cannons roared. Demons were felled in their hundreds. A landing area had been cleared, and Aegis set her down. Hell regrouped, every cannon ball had been fired, it was down to them now.

Eros watched as his friends ran into the thick of a demonic horde, Sabriel fired her pistols, Typhon his magic. Skoll hewed the creatures down with his spear, and the little princess ran at the rear uttering spells and incantations. Eros wished he could go with them, but he couldn't, he had other matters to attend to. The hideous and radiant nightingale appeared, and together he and Astraea vanished from the valley.