The Malaise Falchion by Paul Barrett

Author:Paul Barrett [Barrett, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Falstaff Books
Published: 2019-06-05T16:00:00+00:00

11

I pulled out my Firestarter. It was like grabbing a grain of sand to fight a crab, but it was the best I could do. The helmsmen spun the wheel, turning the Ziploon so it could bring the front weapons to bear. I didn’t know how we would get turned around without taking a deadly shot to the broadside.

Quinitas shouted orders. I ran to the stairs leading below decks.

“Liz, get up here,” I yelled down into the hold. “We’ve got a fight.” Her bow wouldn’t be much better than my wand, but I wasn’t going to let us die with our thumbs up our asses.

I heard a phwoom sound as the ogre launch a cannonball-sized wad of fire from his staff. It flew across the sky and struck the other balloon. I readied a cheer. The ball struck, exploded, and left nothing but a scorch mark. Shards of flame fell harmlessly past the deck.

“What the hell?”

“Armored coating,” Liz said. I jumped. She had run up beside me, and I hadn’t even heard her. She wore a loose-fitting green robe that flapped in the wind. “All Ziploons have it. Fire resistant, tough to puncture, light enough that the Zips can still fly. Be glad. I’m sure we have it too.”

We had come around so that our side presented itself to our enemy as a fat, juicy target. They wasted no time.

“Incoming,” an elf shouted as the other vessels’ four ballistae fired their pointed death logs. Their gunner was good. They all headed straight for the balloon. Armor or no, I knew at least one of them was going to get through.

The ogre stood at the side with his staff held aloft. He spoke a word. The hairs on my neck rose. A buzzing went through my ears. The ballista bolts arced toward the balloon. Ten feet before they hit, they encountered something else. Blue light flashed. The sharpened trunks burst into splinters with enormous cracking sounds. Shards of tree rained onto the deck. I leaped to avoid being impaled by a large chunk of pine. It skittered across the deck and slammed into the railing.

“Can we go home now?” Crizlyk asked from the stairway. “This stopped being fun as soon as we left the office.”

I didn’t bother to answer. I felt helpless. I didn’t sail. I couldn’t man any of the massive weapons. If the other vessel boarded us, I might be useful. Until then I was ballast.

I heard another sizzle of lightning. Blue light flashed across the deck and almost blinded me. The bitter tang of burnt air filled my mouth. A loud, deep shout of pain echoed across the deck. I blinked to clear my vision. Amid the white dots dancing in front of my eyes, I watched the ogre fall. The less intelligent looking head had been turned into a blackened, cauterized stump. Pieces of the shattered skull lay on the deck, the skin sizzling. The ogre was still alive. He groaned and writhed. His body twitched. We had just lost our magical protection.

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