Swords, Sorcery, and Sex in the World of Greyhawk - Chapter 1 - Part 3

Chapter 1: Arrival - Part 3

"Cross your fingers." She said, pulling open the door handles before Steve could resist. The glowing white walls opened into an enormous chamber, almost as big as the one they'd first materialized in, but half of the floor was missing. It ended about thirty feet from where they were standing in a dark pit, and they didn't have the angle to see down. Extending out over the pit was a narrow strip of whiteness, no more than enough for two people to walk abreast. A boulder sat at the end of the strip, with an hourglass shape carved into the top portion.

A boat lay next to the strip - a pier, apparently - roped to the boulder, no bigger than a pontoon boat back home. It was shaped of polished wood and sheathed in brass, with neither sails nor smokestack.

Erica closed the door behind Peter, while Steve moved forwards.

"Holy shit." Steve said, eyes wide.

Erica and Peter gasped as they joined him at the edge. Instead of water, the pier hung over nothingness. A thousand feet below them they could make out the shape of gentle mountains, covered in a blanket of forest. The air was filled with rain, sheets of it moving sideways under a ferocious wind. They could see the border under their feet, where the outside wind stopped and the glowing white walls of their prison began. From their vantage point on the edge, they could see that the boat had a flat bottom, with no keel. The brass sheath rose at the prow to form a ram, and a helix of vanes spiraled to the rear.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Erica looked at Steve.

"Even if it is, how can we fly it?" Steve replied. Peter looked back and forth at them in confusion.

"You knew what that sex-thing was, you know about ships, right?"

"Don't look at me. I've never seen anything like this."

The boat had a single deck, with benches lining each side. A podium stood near the stern; a large copper switch was mounted on one side, like something out of an Edison museum. A lever of polished wood stood on the other side; smaller dials and switches covered the top. A ship's wheel stood on a pole several feet in front.

"You have a better plan?" Erica asked, stepping gingerly over the rail. The small boat bobbed slightly in mid-air with her weight, but otherwise didn't move.

"I'm just saying that if we can't make it work, don't look at me."

"Oh for Christ's sake. Come on you guys." Eric called out to the others, standing by to untie the restraining rope.

Looking dubious, Maria and Mickey followed him, huddling in the center of the boat.

"No!" Ashley shrieked, her eyes wide. Struggling to control her breathing, she tried to argue as she backed away. "This is crazy! It's suicide! We're thousands of feet in the air. This must be were they store their boats for the winter or something."

"Ashley, come on." Erica said.

Peter stood on the pier, looking back and forth between Ashley and Erica, uncertain whether to get on.

"Ashley, we've got to leave. This is our only chance. Do you want to end up like Robert?!" Erica insisted.

"No. I- I can't." She said, crying.

A cawing echoed down the hall they'd come, followed by the cry of other birdmen.

"Out of time, Ashley." Steve said.

"I can't. I'm- I'm scared of heights, alright? I just can't." She said, sinking to her knees.

"Fine, let's leave the bitch. Who cares, anyway?" Maria said.

"Peter. Go get her." Erica said in a low voice, pointing at Ashley with her chin.

Moving faster than his bulk would suggested, Peter wrapped one hand around her waist, effortlessly lifting her feet off the ground as he ran towards the ship.

"Ahhh! Let go of me! Let! Go!" Ashley drummed her heels uselessly against his bulk.

Peter leaped on board and the boat listed hard to one side, forcing the others to grab hold of whatever was handy while it bobbed from side to side.

"Get low, in the middle. Hurry!" Steve barked. Crossing his fingers, he threw the Edison switch. A low humming filled the chamber as the boat suddenly stabilized on an even keel. Erica hurriedly threw off the tie rope.

"Go, go!" She shouted, seeing the first birdmen coming through the door.

"I don't- I- here goes nothing." He mumbled, grabbing the level and pulling it towards him.

"Ahh!" Shrieks filled the air as the boat dropped like a rock. The six felt their stomachs come up their throats as they hung in the air above the deck momentarily. Ashley clung to Peter in panic, burying her face against his chest. Steve slammed the level to its upright position and the boat's motion stopped, throwing the others to the deck hard.

Looking up, Erica saw the first of the birdmen appear at the edge of the pier - now a good twenty feet above them. With a loud cry it flung itself off the edge, spreading its wings to catch the air.

"Keep going!" She yelled, pointing. The rational part of her brain told her that someone need to help Steve deal with the approaching birdman, but her body wouldn't move. The point of the birdman's javelin fixed her in place as surely as if she'd been speared through. Another birdman came over the edge, then two.

Steve pulled the lever, hard, dropping them all into free-fall.

Before any one could protest that indignity, the boat dropped through the harbor's interface and into the storm below. Fierce winds drove the rain sideways into their faces, chilling them instantly. The boat itself caught in the gale and flew sideways, spinning like a leaf. Maria vomited again; Ashley sobbed like a madwoman, one of Peter's arms holding her tight.

"Shit!" Steve yelled, struggling to stay upright.

From her position in the front, Erica saw the first birdman catch the boat's rail with one hand, holding on while it spun. She opened her mouth to warn Steve, but no words came out. Desperately, she flung out her arm to point at the creature, now crawling over the side - its javelin was gone, but its talons dug into the wood as it climbed.

Following Erica's arm, Steve and Peter noticed the birdman simultaneously. Still holding Ashley, Peter moved toward it, crouching low. Thinking quickly, Steve pushed the lever upright again, stopping the boat's descent and slapping the others to the deck hard. The birdman slipped over the edge, holding on by one claw. Sprawled on the deck, the others watched as Steve stepped to the rail and grabbed the claw, trying to pry it away from the rail. A loud caw carried through the wind as its other claw came over the edge to seize Steve's arm, the talons drawing blood.

"Somebody!?" Steve yelled, trying to brace himself against the birdman's attempt to throw him overboard.

Energized, Peter surged forward. Twisted from the sudden stops, his left ankle collapsed as he moved, but his momentum was enough to carry him to Steve. He grabbed the birdman's arm and bent, his immense arm bulging with the effort.

"Ahhrr-!" The birdman's cry of pain rang out as its hollow bones snapped.

Peter pulled the broken limb off Steve's bloody wrist, then did the same to the one holding on to the rail. As the falling birdman's cry trailed away, Peter sagged against the rail, holding his left ankle; Ashley still clung to his chest.

"The others-" Erica's warning was lost in the wind, but Steve didn't need it. Rushing back to the podium, he dropped the lever again, sending the boat spiraling down to the mountains below, still blurry in the hard rain. Erica looked around, but she couldn't see the other two - maybe they had been too slow to catch the boat in the storm, he hoped.

"Can you sail it?" Erica cupped her hand and yelled at Steve, but he showed no signs of hearing. Stepping away from the podium Steve looked over the side, shielding his face with his hands. As the craft dropped closer to the ground, he returned to the level, slowing their descent. He stopped it fifty feet above the trees, looking for a place to put it down. They'd come down in a valley, close to one end. The other opened into another series of lower valleys. It was hard to see in the rain, he couldn't find any open spot, and the wind was pushing them towards the side of a hill. He looked at the controls momentarily, but nothing was marked.

"Hold on!" He yelled at the others, then dropped the stick again. The boat plunged through the tree line, branches whipping up on either side of them and broken twigs falling on their heads. The boat listed hard to the right, throwing Steve to the deck as he and the others slid down to that rail. With a grating noise, the boat slewed father right, following the curve of the branches down.

"Ahh!" Steve's voice joined the others' screams as he saw the ground coming up hard beneath them. With a crushing jolt, it hit, slamming them hard to the deck. For a long minute, Ashley's sobbing was the only sound that carried over the rain.

Continued in Chapter 2

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