Week 486: With Air, Part Two

[Amanita Agaricales]

Word Count: 8359

Chapter 4​

Amanita stared down at her shackles. Chains linked her wrists together. Others bound her ankles, keeping her from taking big steps. At least she wasn't tied down to one of the many rings bolted to the airship interior. The metal was jagged and dug into her skin, even through the gloves. The weight tried to drag her to the ground.

Taking stock of the situation, it was grim. In the aftermath of the breakout, two prisoners were dead: Rannit Vaen and Snag Tiphos. Of the Locknight, Guard Loreus Drannick was dead with his throat cut, and the pilot Exio had been run through with a spear. The wooden floor was soaked with blood. Heavy scorch marked the area where the prisoners first escaped.

The remaining guards and co-pilot were chained. Each person was kept in a different corner of the room. Their weapons were in the hands of vile, filthy criminals. Amanita scowled to see her gladius wielded by Malcido and her scutum set aside like some piece of debris. The man had quickly assumed control over the situation, managing to cow back even prisoners several times his size. In his other hand was the sole pistol on board, and he was using it to break the chains of any prisoner still tied together.

Each gunshot signaled another dangerous scum freed.

Malcido sneered at Wrydock while waving the gun around. "I'm sorry. Are we being too loud for you? Should we be quiet?"

Wrydock clenched his teeth, but he didn't say anything. Wide eyes tracked the barrel of the gun.

There were two prisoners left, Taz and Vitor. Taz held out his shackled hands. "Come on, free me next."

"Don't be in a rush," Malcido said as he turned to Vitor, the enlil stuck in a tiny separate cell. "So, should we free you?"

"No, you should leave me here." Vitor was drooped over, his voice soft and meek.

"Now you don't deserve that. We all deserve to be free." Malcido raised the gun to the lock on the door. "You had better get as far back as you can."

"No!" Amanita cried out. "Don't release him!"

A bullet ripped through the lock of the small, mobile cell. "Too late, Bello."

Vitor shook his head. "You shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't be released."

"Now why would that be?"

"I'm a vistra. I am unable to control the pravum within me. It is being suppressed right now, but I don't know what will happen if it decides to go on a rampage."

The other prisoners all backed away. Those with weapons raised them. Malcido, however, smirked as he leaned against the cell bars. "Well, too late to do anything about that now. So what do you say, can you remain calm? Good. Might as well come out since the door's busted anyway."

Vitor sighed. He ambled over to the side of the room and then slid down to the ground.

Taz came over. "Alright, now do me!"

"Hang on," Malcido said. "There's something else I want to check out." He moved over to the gap room between the holding cell and the cockpit where the hatch to the cargo hold was located. When he fired the gun at the lock, there was only a click. He let out a disgusted grunt and dropped the empty gun. The mysteries of the below would remain hidden for the time being. "Nothing to do about that. Looks like you'll have to stay chained as well."

"What?" Taz shouted. He was the only prisoner still shackled around the wrist and ankles. He shuffled over with a snarl on his face, but Malcido merely pushed him out of the way.

Amanita asked, "So what is your big plan now?"

Bystar was standing near the entrance to the cockpit with his blocky arms hanging straight down. "What is the plan now?"

Malcido rubbed his chin and was about to say something when Thurs stumbled in front with his stocky limbs. "I'll tell you where to go, my brothers and sisters in arms! Bystar, is there a map in the cockpit?"

"Yeah."

"Bring it over."

There was the noise of glass shattering. Bystar came back with a map and the board it was attached to.

"Here, we want to go here." Thurs jabbed his finger at a part near the flight route, but located on the other side of nearby rocky crags.

"Why?" Malcido said. "What's there?"

"My friends! They were the ones that provided me with a means to escape." Thurs held up the little single use gun barrel. "I'm sure they'll welcome all of you as well. The more the better."

Malcido scowled and folded his arms. He fought the urge to roll his eyes. If that was all the help Thurs was given to free himself and take over the ship, the rest of his group was likely just as underprepared and moronic.

"Wait!" Stepponius said. The tidily dressed prisoner stepped forwards. "I have another plan." He was leaning forwards in urgency, and his voice had lost a bit of its smoothness. "We should stay on the course we're currently going."

"You mean to the prison?" Malcido confirmed.

"Erm, yes." His eyes shifted over to the guards. "Trust me. It will be beneficial to do that."

"I don't think so. I don't even know you. If you want to go somewhere, then do it yourself after we land." Malcido put a palm to his face. "And for lack of a better option, I think we're going to go with Thurs's plan. It's already near here anyway."

Bystar nodded. "Fine. I'm changing our heading."

Everyone grabbed onto something as the ship made a sharp bank. The frame creaked and rumbled. The dead bodies started to slide. Deerek let out a grimace as he tried to kick them away.

"So what are we going to do about the guards anyway?" Deerek asked.

Thurs picked up a sword. "We should just kill all of them. They don't care about any of us. They work for those that want to oppress us."

Amanita stood straight, her eyes burning with intensity. "You don't want to do that. You need to keep us alive."

"So says you!" Thurs raised the blade

Malcido stepped in front, pushing the weapon away. "So what advantages do we get for not killing you?"

"If you go off course, Auctoritas will know something is wrong and come to investigate. When our ship catches up and sees only prisoners on board, they would have every reason to simply destroy this ship. Having us is the only chance you have of not getting blown up."

Malcido nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, too. We can always kill you after we make a safe getaway. For now, we keep the guards secure as hostages."

The other prisoners all went along with the plan. They were hardly organized or disciplined with their weapons, but there were still too many of them for the guards, bound as they were, to try anything. Stepponius was frowning as he rested next to the small slit window.

Taz Rondo, a part laicar, part enlil, sulked around the cabin. He pulled at his chains, but they remained stuck on his gangly body. He wasn't tall, but a shorter torso combined with longer limbs gave him an awkward gait. Ruffled red feathers stuck out from reddish-brown hair.

"You know," he announced, "I'm glad we're keeping the crew of the ship around. Especially the cute pilot." A hungering gaze turned over to Soaren.

The petite velen shrank back, but there was nowhere to go. "No!" she gasped.

"It's been so long since I've had some nice company. Not these shitheads here." Taz licked his lips as he lurched forwards.

Amanita stumbled forwards as best she could with the shackles holding her back. "Don't you dare touch her, you animal."

Taz spun around, his eyes wide and unfocused. "What did you call me?"

"You are nothing more than a chained animal," Amanita spat.

"Gyahaha!" The prisoner brushed hair out of his face. "You're not as cute, but you need your mouth shut."

Draeden was about to interfere with the situation, but Malcido held him back with a simple wave of the hand.

Taz pounced upon Amanita, but she was ready. Her stance was as wide as possible. Every muscle in her body was taut. The two collided, each one trying to wrestle the other to the ground. Taz furiously tore at the armor and loose pieces of clothing. Amanita blocked and shoved him back. Without her gladius and scutum, she felt powerless. Sweat beaded around her face. Heat pulsed rapidly through her body from her pounding heart. Despite her efforts, she was trembling.

The other guards tried to help, but they were quickly put back in their place through pain and punishment. Swords to their neck kept them from making any sudden movements.

Amanita grunted as she fought back. Her body collected bruises from getting tossed around. Taz dug his fingers onto her hands, tearing off the gloves even through the shackles.

"Gah!" He jolted back.

Amanita's left hand, nay, her left arm was veiny, wrinkled and discolored from old burns. Scars ran from the tips of her fingers all the way past the sleeves.

In that brief moment Taz was off balance, Amanita pushed off with all her might. She swung with both hands clasped together like a hammer. The blow was blocked but further knocked the prisoner back. With a great leap, Amanita dropkicked Taz into the bars.

He bounced off, and she was waiting. Her arm wrapped around his neck while the other one wrapped around the chain causing her grip to tighten even further.

The other prisoner's glanced around wondering if they should do something, but Malcido had yet to give the word.

Taz struggled and gurgled, but he was unable to break free no matter how he wriggled. The whites of his eyes began to show as he went limp.

Amanita let go before blood was cut off from his brain for too long. Her breathing was still ragged and wheezing as she stood up. Her hands wrapped tightly together to keep them from shaking.

Malcido let out a laugh. "Oh? You didn't kill him?"

"No. I'm not here to kill prisoners, and that is what you all still are." The head guard took in a breath of air. "You are prisoners under the authority of Auctoritas, and it would be irresponsible of me to kill any of you. It is my job to see you all locked up for your crimes, as agreed upon by the justice system. But make no mistake, I will if I have to." Amanita finished with a huff while brushing hair out of her face.

Blood had returned to Taz's head as his body jerked. He rubbed his head while rolling onto his back.

Malcido gave him a gentle kick on the side. "Hear that? You're too weak to be worth killing. You must have inherited your dad's trait of thinking with his dick only, huh?"

"What?" Taz snarled as he tried to stand up. His body tumbled over.

The hulking velen Draeden used one hand to keep Taz from thrashing around. "That's enough. Stop making trouble."

With the excitement over for the time being, everyone went back to standing around. Aseng wanted to check on Amanita, but he wasn't allowed to move from his spot and Amanita was dragged back. Malcido's sharp eyes and steady tone kept everything moving along. The airship was almost to its new destination.

 

[Amanita Agaricales]

Chapter 5​

Galerina arrived at Dina Jorin's house, or rather, apartment. Dina was the guard that had disappeared from Bluewoods Prison shortly after the prisoner transfer. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but Galerina wasn't about to trust that.

The chairwoman stepped off a shiny, splendorous carriage that clashed with the old, shoddy buildings around. The people of the neighborhood peeked out from behind ragged curtains. Those that were outside hurried back inside like critters sensing danger.

The driver of the carriage was an older enlil man in a fine suit. His feathers were graying, but his gaze remained severe and sharp. He scanned the dusty roads and cracked walls.

"Up there." Galerina nodded over to a door on the second floor. The stairs groaned with each step, and it looked like just touching the rusty railing would cause an infection. The glamorous woman strutted through the walkway as if she owned the building.

She knocked on the door to the prison guard's apartment, but there was no response. The curtains were closed, but the corner had caught on something, allowing her to peer inside. Things were dark and still.

Galerina ordered, "Open it."

"Are we allowed to do that?" the driver asked.

"I don't care right now, Erard. Do it."

The driver nodded while pulling out a lockpick set. In only a few short moments, the shoddy lock to the apartments was defeated. Rather than just throwing the door open, he pushed it just a crack. Erard ran his fingers all around the edge until he was satisfied there were no traps. "You may proceed." He opened the door for his boss.

Galerina stepped into a messy and musty apartment with a non-existent sense of decor. There were no personal touches to the area at all, only two rooms: the washroom, and every other room combined into one. Nudging aside some old food containers, Galerina made her way to the main working table.

A mess of papers and documents covered the surface. Even a short glance made Galerina's brows furrow. There were instructions on how to create a discreet single-use weapon. Further perusing brought out a deep frown. There was a map of the continent of Aridus with an X marked just on the other side of some crags that the Locknight would be passing by. The last thing she found was a patch with the symbol of the Astra Non Obligant.

"That's less than ideal," Galerina stated.

Erard was keeping watch by the front door. "What is?"

"Dina Jorin is a member of the ANO, and so is one of the prisoner's we are transporting. Send out a call to the local law enforcement. We need to find and question her. Come, I want to check on the status of the Locknight."

She set everything back as much as she remembered before leaving. Erard relocked the door from the outside. On the way back to the carriage, Galerina glared at any of the neighbors peering out of the windows, challenging them to say something. They all ducked away.

Erard drove through the busy streets taking as many shortcuts as he could. There were a few close calls and one curb ran over, but he knew how to drive evasively, weaving back and forth, sliding into small gaps and moving onto the next.

At the airport, Galerina hurried to the temporary offices of Auctoritas. "Tau, did you get a message to the Locknight?"

"Gah!" the administrator gasped. The lanky velen woman wrapped her arms around her body. "I tried to, but the airship had already left."

Galerina tutted.

"Um," the administrator said.

"What? Spit it out."

"We haven't received any further updates from the waystations about the Locknight." Tau's words grew higher pitched, and she shrank farther back the longer the sentence went on.

"The ship is missing?" Galerina's cold voice sent a shiver through the room.

Tau gulped and nodded.

"Come with me. We're taking the Light Monsoon."

"To where, Lady Agaricales?"

"I found a location at the home of a suspected ANO member. If the airship is going off course, it's likely headed there. I'm going to need people to put down the criminals and take back the ship."

"We don't have anyone else here," Tau pointed out. "All of the guards we brought are already on the Locknight."

"Then hire locally," Galerina snapped. She collected everything of importance from the makeshift office and was already out the door. "Have them meet us at the Light Monsoon in half an hour."

"That soon!" Tau fumbled around before scrambling to follow.

The Light Monsoon was parked in a nearby lot. While officially it was owned by Auctoritas, the airship was Galerina's private means of travel. It was smaller but furnished with all the luxuries of a fine hotel. The floors were carpeted. The seats had plush cushions. The galley was fully stocked with food and alcohol. The top deck had a seating area with wind shields for those that wanted some fresh air.

"Erard," Galerina called.

The enlil was standing near the ship, straight and stern. "Lady Agaricales. I've alerted Bluewoods Prison about what we found at the guard's apartment, and they've agreed to alert the local authorities to bring Dina Jorin in for questioning."

"Good, but forget about that for now. Get the crew ready and prepare the ship to leave. We're heading for that location I found. Also, make sure the ship is prepared for combat, especially air-to-air."

Erard gave a single nod before setting off to work.

The mercenaries hired by Tau arrived, and the ship was loaded with any cannons, bombs and other long range weapons they could source on short notice. Anything unnecessary was taken out to lessen the weight. There wasn't too much they could do to make the Light Monsoon combat-worthy. It was the best that could be done in such a short amount of time.

Galerina ordered everyone onboard. "Alright, you have your destination. Let's go."

The Light Monsoon was faster than the Locknight in good weather, and the clouds were barely moving in the sky. Even pushing the engines to their maximum output, catching up was going to be difficult. Push they did, however.

Wind howled as the cabin rumbled from heavy turbulence. The ground below rolled by. Entire forests disappeared in the time it took to say a sentence. Mountains grew out of the horizon but still didn't reach the height of the airship.

Galerina wasn't about to stop, not with the good name of her company on the line. She stood in the main cabin, staring out the bay window. Her lips were pressed together into a thin frown.

It took longer than the chairwoman wanted to reach their destination, but they finally arrived at the approximate location. They were over twenty clicks away from the planned route of the Locknight. Mountains stood at their backs. The ground below was lightly wooded plains. Nothing obviously stood out.

"Scan the area," she ordered.

The Light Monsoon slowed down while running a spiral pattern over the area with the mercenaries and crew standing on the top deck. Those that had binoculars or telescopes used them.

"There's a body!" someone exclaimed. "On the port side, off the stern."

Someone was lying on the ground, their form broken and twisted in unnatural ways. Further scanning revealed two more people nearby. They were in a clearing large enough for an airship to land, so the Light Monsoon descended.

Galerina remained on board the ship while the others cleared the area. As soon as they declared it safe, she went out to see what had happened. One of the bodies, she recognized as Thurs Forestwalker. He had been crushed, likely from a long fall. The other two were strangers, but they were equally battered.

"Is there anyone else?" she asked.

"No," Erard responded. "Not in the immediate area, at least."

Galerina let out a held breath. Was that good news or bad news? What had even happened? The more she looked, the more questions appeared. There were fragments of wood and metal in the area that might be airship parts. Did it belong to the Locknight? Had a battle happened? Why? Who was fighting whom? If the guards had retaken the ship, the protocol would be to return to the nearest airport.

She let out a click of her tongue.

Among all the natural greens and browns, something red caught one of the scouting party's eyes. It was a flare, but not one that had been activated. It was alone, unused and apart from the rest of the action. A sheet of paper was wrapped around the outside and pinned in place by a nail. The mercenary brought it back to his boss.

Galerina unfurled the curious page. As she looked over the contents, her mouth curved into a smirk.

 

[Amanita Agaricales]

Chapter 6​

Some time ago.

The turbulence of the Locknight threw Amanita against the wall. She let out a frustrated grunt while pushing back to her feet. For such a nice day out, the mood inside the airship was tense and grim. The board prisoners were starting to get twitchy with the blades and spears in their possession. Deerek was standing on Amanita's scutum, treating it like some kind of surfboard.

"Don't have your air legs?" Malcido asked the head guard.

"It would be easier if I could sit."

He glanced back at the destroyed bench. "Yeah, sorry about that. We want to use it, too."

"Are you really going to listen to Thurs's plans? You know he is a member of the Astra Non Obligant, right? None of you strike me as people that would fight for his cause."

Malcido sniffed while rubbing his nose. "Oh, I know all about Thurs. He doesn't shut up about toppling the Arcanum even when in jail."

Thurs's voice boomed out the central cabin. "And I know the Astra Non Obligant will welcome all of you into our fold. With you all as our brothers, we will be closer to achieving our goal!"

"Hmm, right," Malcido said dryly. As the closest one to Amanita, he was the one guarding her. "I need to speak to the pilot, so you're coming with me, Guard Bello." A solid grip clamped down on Amanita's wrist as he dragged her to the pilot's cabin.

"Bystar."

The worn-out demvir glanced back. "What?"

"When we reach the destination, don't land without my sayso. Stay hovering near the ground."

"Alright, fine."

Amanita looked between the two of them. Slow words slid out of her mouth. "Bystar, why are you listening to what Malcido says? He's not one of your superior demvir."

"There are bigger problems right now," Bystar said. "I have lots of time to accomplish my goals later."

The heavy hand of Malcido landed on Amanita's shoulder. Chuckling lingered in the air. "Yeah, so I'm going to need you to rearrest him afterwards because I don't want to be a part of his world." He threw her out of the room.

The Locknight had arrived at Thurs's destination. The stocky man let out a cheer and rooted through the bag of flares. A few were knocked on the ground, but he had one in hand as he rushed up to the top deck.

Lighting it, he waved the bright smoke around. "Hey, it's me!" he shouted. With the airship hovering, the engines were just quiet enough for his voice to reach the group of people on the ground below.

Malcido stood next to Thurs, looking at who they were meeting. There were seven people, all likely members of the Astra Non Obligant. They were armed with guns and explosives.

"Hey," Thurs said. "Let's land this thing so you can all join us."

"I've spoken to Bystar, and while he knows how to fly, he doesn't know how to land." Malcido shrugged. "Do you know how?"

"No, I don't, but that's not a worry. One of my friends down there is an expert pilot. All we need to do is to get him up here. Let's lower the ladder for him."

Malcido glanced away to hide a glint in his eyes. "Ah yes, that's perfect."

The two unlatched the ladder on the top deck. It took both of them to remove part of the safety railing and then toss the ladder off the side.

Thurs called out, "We need a pilot to help land this thing."

A few members of the group below started to climb.

Malcido returned down below where he waited in silence.

"Hey!" Deerek exclaimed. "What's going on? Are we really going with the ANO?"

"Quiet. But be ready to fight."

"Fight? Fight who?"

Malcido grabbed the man by the throat. "I said be quiet and be ready." He glanced over to Draeden. "Are you ready, big man?"

"If I have to," the muscular velen responded.

Malcido glanced out the window, checking on the people climbing up the ladder. One was on board. A second one was almost there. A third was still further below. That was fine. "Bystar, ascend!"

The Locknight rocked as it shot upwards. The whipping of the ladder sent the lowest person flying off while the one higher up managed to grab onto the side.

"Watch the prisoners, Bystar. Draeden, come with me." Malcido gave a swing of Amanita's gladius, checking the weight and balance as he went up to the top deck.

Thurs and the other member of the Astra Non Obligant were pulling up the man hanging off the side. Once they were all safely on board, Thurs spun around, his face in a snarl. "Hey! What happened?"

"Change of plans, Thurs," Malcido said. "I have no interest in joining the ANO. None of us do. I just wanted the weapons they were bringing on board." He lunged before anyone could react and thrust the gladius through one of the members of the Astra Non Obligant.

Draeden came up next to the other one. Two powerful jabs knocked the Astra Non Obligant member on the ground. Climbing on top, he pulled the guns and other weapons off.

Thurs readied his stolen spear. "How dare you betray me? You will know no peace from the Astra Non Obligant." He charged for Malcido with a series of furious attacks, but they were frantic and easily deflected.

Malcido rushed in, closing the distance for his shorter weapon. The ship rocked in the turbulence, sending both of them off balance. Malcido continued forward despite his uneven footing shoved Thurs towards the part of the deck missing the railing.

"Gah!" Thurs cried out as he flailed wildly trying to grab onto something. His body came to a sudden stop while leaning back more than forty-five degrees. Only the front of his feet remained on deck. Cold wind whipped at his body. An outstretched grasped tightly onto the spear. On the other end, Malcido also had a hold on the shaft.

"Hey, pull me up!" Thurs cried.

"Nah," Malcido said. "I just can't be losing a perfectly good spear. You and your poor group of zealots are already over." A quick slash aimed at Thurs's hand freed the spear. The member of the Astra Non Obligant cursed and shouted as he fell off the ship.

Malcido took a deep breath and smiled. "What are you doing? Get rid of that guy," he told Draeden.

"I don't kill needlessly," Draeden said.

Malcido simply stabbed the man instead. "Now you're not killing him." He rounded up all the new guns and weapons that had been brought on board while Draeden dumped the other bodies off.

A crack filled the air and a piece of ship splintered off.

Draeden grunted, "They're shooting at us from below."

"Must not have liked what we did to their friends," Malcido commented as he hurried back downstairs. "Bystar, get us out of here."

Bystar was already sitting in the pilot's seat. "I know," he said calmly.

The airship lurched, sending everyone tumbling. Explosions rocked the outside and sent wooden fragments flying inside. Everyone ducked and covered, trying to hold onto anything to keep from getting thrown around.

Amanita remained low to the ground with her muscles tense. Her fingers wrapped around one of the flares that were rolling around, but lighting it and throwing it out wouldn't do anything. It would just be a random piece of garbage on the forest ground.

The manifest of prisoners was still clipped on the wall. Feigning a tumble, Amanita snatched it down along with a pen. She huddled in the corner, making a drawing. There were no words, for she had no idea what to say. If anyone found the message, they would already know something went wrong with the transport of the prisoners. She had no idea where they were heading next, so that was out. The pen still moved at a furious pace.

As soon as she was done, Amanita rolled up the paper around the flare. In the corner of the room was a loose nail. She had no idea where it came from, but that would do. Amanita pressed it into the flare. The explosions were starting to fade away. She made a huge, exaggerated tumble that allowed her to toss the flare out of the closest window.

With all the panic around the room. No one was the wiser. Amanita let out a satisfied breath as she slid down to a seated position. Just in time for quiet to return to the air.

---

Galerina put the curious page from the flare onto a flat part of the ground. A series of circles overlaid with symbols was drawn on the back. Everything was precise and steady with smooth, swooping lines.

"Stand back," Galerina ordered.

She put her hand on the page in the center of the circle. Magic pulsed, causing the circle to grow beyond the size of the paper. Ink seared into the forest ground, etching the symbol. Dirt swirled into an abyss.

A red hand reached out followed by a secondone. They grasped into the edge of the portal to pull out a gangly, humanoid form covered in a red carapace. Long, stringy hair covered her face, but a grinning maw full of sharp teeth remained exposed. Spindly, spider-like legs crept out, each one as thick as a young tree and longer than a person. They propelled out the bulky, shelled lower half of the demon's body.

"Whom'st thou? Where'st mine liege?" the monster asked.

"I believe your name is Memerosia, correct?" Galerina continued on as if she hadn't just asked a question. "Your mistress left your summoning circle here for me to find, and now I need you to track down her location. Come along now. We have to hurry in order to catch up."

She waved her fingers, not just to the demon, but to everyone else. There was nothing left for them to investigate in the current area. Each moment spent there meant the Locknight getting further away.

The chase was on.

 

[Amanita Agaricales]

Chapter 7​

Malcido handed out the new equipment he obtained from the Astra Non Obligant. The prisoners now had two rifles, two pistols and one grenade launcher. For a small mercy, they still had no extra bullets, only what came with the gun. The short battle had left parts of the wall cracked and splintered. One prisoner was on the ground, moaning.

"I've been hit!" Deerek whined. His hands tenderly held onto his torso where a wooden splinter was buried. It was tough to tell how deep the wound was, but a good four inches remained outside.

"How? You were holding the shield," Taz said.

"I don't know!"

"Hey," Malcido grunted. He picked up Amanita from the ground. "You're worried about keeping us alive, aren't you? Deal with him." He nodded towards Deerek.

"Guard Aseng is the one trained in first aid," Amanita said. "I know he'll do a much better job than I would." She nodded to the guard, a laicar man with strong cheeks and hair trimmed so short they were barely there.

"If the head guard desires it," Aseng said.

"Do it," Malcido said.

"Take it out!" Deerek cried while picking at the splinter.

Aseng pushed the prisoner's hand away. "Don't, not until we have something to stop the loss of blood. For now, the splinter is keeping your insides in."

"Ah, I don't need to hear that!"

"There is a first aid kit on the wall over there." Aseng pointed to the gap room between the main hold and the pilot's cabin.

Malcido let out a grunt and tossed over the box. "Not that I care about Deerek, but if he dies, you die."

Before starting, Aseng closed his eyes. "May Castus guide my hand."

Stepponius placed a pistol in the belt of his pants and then cleared his throat. "Ahem. So now that the little side trip is over, what say we go back to the original route taken by the Locknight? I am sure you'll all be pleased with the result if you do."

Taz pushed Stepponius aside. "No, forget that shit! There's something more important to take care of first!" The spurii hopped furiously while rattling the chains around his wrist. "I've waited long enough! This is starting to chafe, so get this shit off me."

"Alright. I didn't realize they were bothering you so much," Malcido said. "Just put your hands up, and I'll take care of it."

Taz raised his hands but then paused. "Wait! I want him to do it." He pointed to Stepponius.

"What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing. You just seem to have more important things to do."

Stepponius sighed. "Very well, my friend. Stay still now." A single gunshot broke through the last of the chained prisoners.

"Haha! Finally!" Taz stretched out, rolling his shoulders and bending his legs. "Now I can finally do this." He whipped the butt of a spear around, smashing it into Wrydock's face. "You bitch! Now you're going to die."

"Hey!" Amanita shouted.

"What are you doing, Taz?" Malcido asked.

"This fucker tried to escape in all that chaos. It took me and Stepponius to stop him!"

Malcido's grip tightened around the gladius. "Is that so? If you're going to be more trouble than you're worth, then I'm alright with only having three hostages."

Taz shook the spear. "Yeah! Let me stick him!"

Wrydock scrambled back holding up his shackled arms. Soft flesh was no match for sharp steel. He cried out, "Wait, wait! I can help you!"

Malcido stopped Taz's attack. "What do you mean?"

"I know things, both about the other prisoners and," Wrydock's eyes flicked over to Amanita, "the crew of the ship."

"You have one chance. Make it good."

Wrydock took several heaving breaths while nodding. Blood dripped down the side of his face.

Amanita ordered, "Don't say anything!"

A powerful backhand came for her. The strike impacted her raised hands but was still enough to send her tumbling back. Malcido glared at her. "Don't interrupt."

Wrydock continued. "If you want a plan, you can listen to Stepponius! Even in jail, he's still a powerful political figure, so I'm sure he has connections!"

"Hmm." Malcido rubbed his chin. "Is that so, Stepponius?"

The tidily-dressed prisoner nodded. "I suppose I should put all my cards on the table. Indeed. I am, or I used to be, the highest profile member of the Blue Consensus Party. I was on my way up, making great changes, but those in power couldn't handle it." Stepponius lowered his head. "I was framed for the murder of my wife and daughter in order to get rid of me. When I refused to stay silent and continued to be a popular figure even in prison, the People's Light decided to move me even further away."

After a deep breath, light returned to his eyes. "Not to worry, though, I still have many supporters. They were planning on a rescue mission during this trip, but they were going to intercept this ship en route.

"If you get me to the rendezvous point, I'll make sure to get you all enough resources to disappear for a while and start anew. Don't worry, I'm not about to ask any of you to join me like Thurs. We can all go our separate way."

Malcido nodded. "Now that's a plan I like. Will they still be there? We're delayed."

"They should be. My rescuers won't give up so easily. They'll start searching the skies if they have to."

"Fine, you say someone will be waiting for you if we follow the planned route? Let's go. Then we can ditch the airship and the crew." Malcido's cruel eyes looked over the guards. "And you," he honed in on Wrydock, "you had better stay useful with more information."

"What?" Taz snarled. "We're not killing him?"

"For now."

The heavy steps of a demvir filled the cabin as Bystar entered. "We have a problem."

"What now?" Malcido asked warily.

"We're losing altitude. Something important got damaged in the fight with the ANO."

"Shit. Does anyone here know how to repair an airship?" Malcido aimed the gladius at Wrydock. "Speak up, now. You'd better not be holding back on me."

As the blade edged closer to Wrydock's neck, he blurted out, "Soaren, the co-pilot! She's an engineer."

The prisoners all turned to the petite velen woman. She gulped and shrank back, but nowhere was safe from their grasp. Malcido pulled her to her feet. "If you don't want to die right now, then you'll fix this ship."

Soaren held both hands to her chest. "You'll only kill us anyway!"

Amanita spoke in a calm, even tone. "Co-pilot Soaren, do what they say."

"Why?"

"Live for now and figure something else out later."

Malcido smirked while tapping the gladius against the wall. "Listen to the head guard here. She's a smart one. Do we have any repair materials on board?"

"In the cargo hold," Amanita said.

"Good. Bystar, go with her. Make sure she does a good job."

Taz licked his lips. "Isn't he busy with flying the airship? I'll go and keep our engineer company."

"No," Malcido stated flatly. "As for who's going to fly the ship, Vitor, you go keep an eye on things."

The wary enlil was still sitting in the corner. Had he even moved during the fight with the ANO? Being addressed caused a gasp. "I don't know anything about that."

"You need to make yourself useful, otherwise I might wonder why I'm keeping you on this thing. Though I don't think you'd mind getting thrown off, right? You can just glide down to the ground."

Vitor grimaced. "I don't know. It has been a while since I've used my wings. Also, being apart from people makes it harder to keep the pravum in check."

"Then get to piloting," Malcido ordered with a grin. "I don't need you to do anything complicated, just turn us back to the original route and keep us steady. You can handle that, right?"

"Oh, is that all?" The enlil stood up, but his body remained drooping. By all appearances, he was average looking if on the skinny side with sunken cheeks and bony hands. There was a pause by the entrance to the cockpit as he glanced at all of the controls. Energy further sapped out of him as he sank into the seat. He had a gentle touch when redirecting the Locknight..

"Now go get that cargo hold open," Malcido ordered. "And you, co-pilot, if Bystar tells me you aren't doing a good job, I'll send Taz to babysit you."

Bystar used a newly acquired rifle to blast out the lock to the ship's cargo hold. He motioned for Soaren to climb down first before following after. As they disappeared from view, Amanita couldn't help but worry. Bystar was more stable than some of the other prisoners, but he didn't care much for biological life.

Malcido said, "You're going to burn a hole in the floor with that stare, head guard."

"It's nothing," Amanita said. "If you want to ask questions, you should speak to me. I'm the head of the guards here."

"Yeah, but I think the others will be much more forthcoming with me. You still think you can salvage this situation somehow, turn things back to your advantage. So you're not going to tell me what I need." Malcido leaned in close until his face was mere inches away. Dangerous intent hid behind his wide eyes. "I'm going to need you to shut up until I need your opinion on something!"

Amanita recoiled from the stink of his breath.

One solid shove sent her tumbling to the ground. Amanita let out a groan as she sat up. Ideas and plans formed in her mind but were rejected just as fast. She had to do something, though, otherwise several dangerous prisoners were going to get away. After all the hard work put in by the detectives to figure out the culprit, the officers who took on the dangerous task of making arrests, and the court system for proving the guilt of the criminals, there was no way Amanita was going to be the failure point. An opportunity was going to present itself. She just had to be ready to act.

Soaren returned from the hold with a bag of tools. Her expression was looking more grim than normal. Bystar forcefully shoved her all the way out while he remained partially on the ladder down.

"What are we supposed to do about him?" the demvir asked.

Him? Him who?

Bystar raised his hand, hoisting out a small boy. A scruffy laicar child with messy hair and dirt on his clothes was dangling by the arm. He struggled uselessly against the mighty metal grip while grunting and cursing.

Despite still suffering from a grievous injury, Deerek was the one that first voiced what everyone was thinking. "Oh shit. Where did the kid come from?"

 

[Amanita Agaricales]

Chapter 8​

Everyone on board was staring at the child that had been dragged out of the cargo hold. He was no older than twelve and carried a bag almost as large as him. Though he looked healthy with full cheeks, dirt lined the creases of his hand, and his hair was a greasy mess that hid the original blond color.

Malcido spun around to Wrydock with the gladius raised. "What is going on here, Wrydock? Who's this?"

"What? How am I supposed to know?" Wrydock shouted.

"He's on your ship, isn't he? Don't lie to me now." The deadly gleam in the enforcer's eyes grew as he approached.

"I don't know!"

The gladius raised into the air, ready to strike downwards

"Stop!" Amanita shouted. "We don't have any children on board this ship. We have no reason to. I do not know who the child is."

A voice boomed through the cabin. "Enough!" Draeden glared at Malcido. The normally silent velen's words were searing hot. "Put your sword away. You're scaring the child. Bystar, Soaren, go handle the ship repairs." The massive velen knelt down. Even then, he still had to lean forwards to be face to face with the boy. "Don't worry. No one is going to hurt you. My name is Draeden. What's yours?"

"Bruce," the boy said in low tones. His head remained lowered.

"Alright. Now how did you come to be in the cargo hold?" Draeden's expression was soft and filled with limitless patience. He positioned himself in between the boy and the rest of the prisoners. "It's okay. You're not in any trouble."

Bruce looked at everyone. All of those eyes on him made him shrink back.

"Ignore them," Draeden said. "They won't do anything."

"I just," the boy started, "I just wanted to see my mom. She left my father recently and moved to Paludis. I couldn't afford a ticket, so I had to sneak onto an airship. This one is going to where my mom is."

Draeden nodded. "Of course. I understand. There are some complications on board this ship, though. But I'll make sure you get to where you want to go."

"You will?"

"Yeah. I won't leave you hanging." Draeden gave a big smile. "Come on, let's sit down for now and stay out of the others' way. They have work to do."

Malcido let out a growl. "Fine. Make sure the kid stays out of trouble. I'm not suited for this." He stalked around the cabin while waiting for the repairs to be completed.

On the deck above, Soaren was doing her best to fix the airship. While she was trained in the ways of ingeniarius and knew the inner workings of the Locknight, she had never repaired it in motion. Wind whipped at her face, biting at her scales. The coldness made it harder for her fingers to work. Her blue hair was tied back into a ponytail.

Standing by the ladder down to the interior of the ship was Bystar. The demvir remained still as a statue, not even turning his head to track the engineer while she moved around the area.

From a quick examination, it was clear what was wrong. One of the lift balloons had a bullet hole in it. A fragment of the airship had been blasted off and stuck next to one of the engines. It was causing an imbalance in the power output and needed to be removed.

"I'm going to start now," Soaren announced to no response.

Her first task was to stop the leak on the lift balloon. The hole was small, and there were several adhesive patches made just for that. Getting up there was the problem, especially when her arms were shackled together.

"Um, excuse me, can you take the shackles off? That would really help," Soaren asked.

"No," Bystar stated. "Get to work, fleshling."

"Thank you for your consideration."

Soaren gulped as she started to climb the riggings of the ship. There was no safety equipment, nothing keeping her attached to the ship. Gusts of wind threatened to rip the velen off. Shaky engines sent rumblings through the lines. She was hugging the rigging with all her might while creeping upwards.

A quick reach and slap was all it took to seal the hole, but that moment both her hands were off the rope sent her heart pounding. There was no way to refill the balloon in mid flight, but at least they wouldn't continue to descend.

"Ah, turn, turn!" Soaren cried to no one as trees on the mountaintops reached upwards.

The Locknight swung to the side almost sending her flying off. The trees scraped against the hull with a sickening noise but avoided damaging anything important. Soaren let out a groan of frustration while carefully lowering herself back down to the deck.

The feeling of Bystar's glare pushed her towards the engines. That was going to be a longer, more arduous task with an even greater risk of falling. "Please keep the ship steady," she requested. It was too bad the pilot was out of earshot and had no idea how to properly fly an airship.

Malcido found his eyes looking out of the window. The mountain terrain felt treacherous despite being on an airship. The trees grew tall with thick, powerful trunks. If one collided with them, the airship would likely not stay afloat.

"Have you tried not hitting the trees?" Malcido called out.

"Um, I'm trying," Vitor said. "I told you I don't know what I'm doing."

"Handle it, I know you can."

Vitor gave a solemn nod. Outwardly, he appeared calm, but his insides were burning up. Each beat of his heart pulsed heat through his body. He took several slow, deep breaths. The swirling inside his body began to calm. There were no problems at all. Sure, they were in the middle of a prison break going far too low over mountains, and sure, he had never piloted an aircraft before. As long as he thought there were no problems, then it was all fine.

A nervous chuckle escaped his lips while he steered the ship away from the rocks. Sweaty palms dampened the steering wheel. The instrument panel was covered in too many gauges and not enough labels. At least the one that read altitude was no longer decreasing.

Sounds of banging came from outside the hull. The engines went through several different noise patterns from sputtering to puttering. They changed from tink-tink-don to bing-bang-boom. Each time, the rumbling in the cabin also shifted to match.

A giant mountain peak loomed ahead of the airship. It just came out of nowhere and already covered much of the view. Vitor turned the wheel, sending the Locknight in a new direction. Only momentum still carried the ship forwards, and the sputtering engine made everything react differently.

Vitor's grip tightened around the steering wheel. The more pressure the more the ship responded, right? The peak continued to grow as it came closer. Should he turn up the power on the engines? Turn down the power? Which one would make the ship more maneuverable? He started to flip some random switches seeing if any one of them did anything. If they did, it was too small to tell.

The only thing Vitor could do was wince and push back in the pilot's chair as the mountain peak came by. Then nothing. The airship sailed right on by without so much as a scratch. Vitor opened his eyes looking around. The first smile appeared on his face, growing to a triumphant cheer.

"Oh, thank goodness." He wiped the tension from expression as his body sank into the pilot's chair. They were finally over the mountains with clear skies in front. The cabin also stopped with the uneven shaking. The engines were humming their soft tunes. Vitor looked around and sighed.

Bystar came into the cockpit. "The ship is as repaired as it's going to be. Get out of the pilot's seat."

When Vitor stood up, the weariness returned to his body, and his mood fell again. "Happy to."

Bystar patted the man on the shoulder. "Not bad for a fleshy."

The enlil only gave a small nod as he wandered back to the main cabin. His role hopefully finished, he sat back down.

The airship was flying smoothly and steadily. The prisoners were in high spirits as the end of the trip was coming. Amanita could only grimace as the situation steadily grew more dire.