The March on Spyrus
~*~
High in the skies, Little Dill
looked out for the rock Spyrus on the back of Captain Jolly Roger. From a pair of oversize binoculars, the
little toy searched with no sign of the rock in sight. Behind the pair were an army of one hundred
eagles, each armed in the event of an attack.
“Any sign
of the rock?” asked Jolly Roger.
“Nots yet!”
Little Dill called back.
The flock
steered to the left. Nothing. To the right.
Still nothing. All they could
still see was purple mist flowing everywhere.
Jolly Roger
dived down, the eagles following suit. Soon
their bellies were an inch from the ice as they glided over the surface. Just as fast as they were below, they rose
back up again and veered west. The
sudden turn took caused Little Dill’s hat to be flung from his head and fall in
to the violet abyss.
“We’re
losing light, sir,” called one from the eagles from behind.
Little Dill
wasn’t listening though; he was too absorbed in looking for the Spyrus.
“He’s quite
right!” Jolly Roger called back. “We’ll
have no way of getting back if we don’t leave now while the sun is still out.”
Little Dill
heard the seagull this time and reluctantly agreed to travel back to the Pedigree. The flock was about to turn around when from
their right came a crowd of flying, deformed, snake-like creatures. Jolly Roger dived down to avoid them while
the eagles charged head on into the oncoming mass.
Jolly Roger
surged left and right as eagles and monsters fell from the sky, landing on the
hard ice below. Both toy and bird knew
that there was little chance of going back as long as the conflict above them was
in the process, but sitting and waiting would not be a wise choice either. The best option Jolly Roger could come up
with was for Little Dill and him to keep moving as much as possible and avoid
being noticed by the Manookoo.
Left and
right. Up and down. Over and under.
Little Dill
gripped tightly to the seagull with all his might, hoping not to be knocked
off. There was little hope that that
they would make it out alive now.
Jolly Roger
was losing strength; he needed a chance to rest before they could even try to
make it back to the ship. In the
distance looked like a blackish mass that was large and round. The pair didn’t notice that it was from the
mass that the Manookoo were streaming from, nor would they have cared if they
had.
Jolly Roger
just made it to the shore (if that is even the right word for it). From there Little Dill and Jolly Roger both
could see the fighting. The eagles had a
slight advantage but the Manookoo creatures were over starting to gain the
upper hand.
Little Dill
and Jolly Roger made their way up the rocky shore toward the start of what
appeared to be a smooth slope made of solid stone. Little Dill looked at Jolly Roger. Jolly Roger looked back at Little Dill.
“By Jove!”
the gull cried. “I think this has to be
that Spyrus rock the old wizard was croaking about.”
“It is! It
is!” the little toy cried back, jumping with glee.
“We have to
get back to the ship.” Jolly Roger realized.
“We need to tell Ed an’ them our find.”
“But
hows? Those snakey t’ings ares all overs
the places.”
“Right,”
said the bird. “I guess we’ll just have
to charge through and hope for the best.
Get back on my back. Hang on
tight. I wasn’t named captain for
nothing.”
With a run,
a jump, and the flap of a wing, Jolly Roger was soon gliding close to the ice
field. Whenever there seemed to be an
enemy or an ally falling from the battle in the sky, the seagull would veer to
avoid collision. Little Dill tried to
signal as many of the eagles as he could of the sudden retreat, trying his hardest
not to lose his grip on his flying friend.
Behind them, some of the eagles stayed behind to hold of the
snake-creatures while those who were growing tired could retreat with Little
Dill and Jolly Roger.
Ed and Travis were on the poop deck with Captain Mulligan looking
over a map of the Periculosus Sea, marking where the cloud was moving currently
and estimating the time before it would reach the island.
“They’ve
got a day, at most.” Mulligan said solemnly.
“It’ll reach the coast by morning and then make its way across. Any ground forces there are going to need to
be ready.” The captain then scribbled on
a sheet of paper and handed it to one of the crewmembers.
“What I’m
interested in knowing,” added Ed, “is where on earth Spyrus is.”
“Unless
your little friend and tha’ bird get back ‘ere in one piece,” Mulligan
answered, “we’re up t’e creek wit’ou’ a pa’le.”
There came a moment of silence. Suddenly, from the distance came a faint
call. The three looked to see Little
Dill and Jolly Roger flying back to the ship.
With a crash into the table, toy and bird made it back in one piece with
the remaining eagles following suit.
Many were tired and somewhat battered from the conflict. Mulligan ordered for the infirmary to be
opened up for the eagles while an emergency meeting was held on the poop deck.
Little Dill
told everyone what he and Jolly Roger saw on their expedition.
“Our bow is
pointed west so that means our rock is headin’ from the stern eastward to the
Forestlands.” Mulligan observed from the map.
“We’re gonna need to act fast.”
“That’s
gonna be easier said than done.” Zach
observed pointing at the direction Mulligan had been referring too. “If we’re going that way, there’s a good
chance those snake creatures are going to attack. We know they’re defending Spyrus since they
went after Little Dill and Roger. I’m
not saying we can’t do it, I’m saying we’re going to need cover when we go.”
“We still
have the brownies.” Ed answered.
“But how
long will they hold?”
“I don’t
know?”
“Then
forget them. We’re going to need
something to keep those things at bay.”
“Then what
do you suggest?” Ed asked hotly. “Seems
like you want to criticize but not give a solution.”
“Easy.”
Alice interrupted. “We can still use the
Brownies, but we’ll just need something to back ‘em up.”
“I will
provide some more of my guard to support your venture.” Stormwing called.
“Well,
that’s settled.” said Bug-a-boo as he pulled from his pipe. “Now, I suppose I ought to list out what we
know. First, the Zeltic demi-god Manoo
is locked up with his cult in a floating rock; second, said rock is shrouded in
a thick purple fog that is bent on destroying the Deltic Empire; third, the
only known weakness of Manoo is to break the seal that is keeping this said
rock in existence.”
“Well,”
answered Travis, “we at least know what we need to do.”
“I hope you
all know,” Bug-a-boo went on solemnly, “this is going to be very
dangerous. Manoo will be
relentless. As a titan, he has the power
to and will do whatever he can to squash his enemies.”
“Yes,” Ed
answered.
“Good. It helps to know what you’re getting into
before doing something stupid.”
The next morning, everyone was ready for battle. One of the Pedigree’s life boats were modified to act as a sled to get
Bug-a-boo, Ed, Travis, Zach and Alice across the frozen ocean to Spyrus with
harnesses made of rope that would be worn by some of Stormwing’s eagles.
It was
midday once everyone was ready. Through
the purple haze, was a vague abyss that showed nothing of their
destination. The sled was pointed
roughly in the direction Little Dill and the search party had traveled from the
day before. After a few goodbyes and
well wishes, the eagle-driven sled containing a few brownies, four adolescents
and a wizard set out. A head of the
group was a small group of eagles – who would act as protection should they run
into trouble – and Little Dill and Jolly Roger acting as guides (though it was
advised for the pair to flee to the sled should they run into any of those
flying snake-creatures again). Captain
Mulligan insisted they wait until morning to set out but Ed disagreed. To Ed, they needed to head out as soon as
possible before they lost track of the floating rock.
As the sled
bolded into the purple haze, Alice looked back on the Pedigree, and watched as the old, ironclad ship became smaller, and
encased in the mist. Soon the ship was
lost from sight and the sled was surrounded in the purple fog. It was hard to see Little Dill through the
haze; everyone could only make out part of Jolly Roger for a few moments but
just as fast, he was lost in the mist.
The journey
was an uncomfortable one. The frozen
salt water had been captured in mid-wave at some points, causing the boat to
jump every so often as it sped along. Despite
the sky being hard to see, a heavy rain fell hard on the small band. The only protection they could find was an
old canvas tarp that was left in the boat.
Eventually
Jolly Roger and Little Dill flew back down to the sled; the two were soaked from
the rain but didn’t seem much bothered by the ordeal.
“We’re
almosts there!” Little Dill cried.
“Some of
the eagles saw some of those Manoo creatures a head.” Jolly Roger
explained. “They’re going to stage a
distraction for us so we can get on through.
We should be at Spyrus shortly.”
At that
moment, there came the squeal of a beast in great pain and the sound of metal
clanging.
“There they
go,” said Ed.
“No time
for that,” interrupted Bug-a-boo.
“Look!”
There
before them was the rock Spyrus, moving at a slow pace. Even in the purple fog, everyone could see it.
