Out of Time Chapter 23-- Ship-Shaped Airplanes

My comfortable darkness was interrupted by and image of Tyren. My view expanded, and I once again stood in the room Gordon and Melinda had trapped us in. Tyren was pacing like a caged dragon. It reminded me of Melinda’s slow, powerful strides. However, Tyren’s grace was more quick and pointed.

        Gordon followed her calmly with his eyes. “Worried, oh great leader?”

        “Yes, Gordon,” she snapped. “I am. You would be, too, if you had any decent emotion in your black heart.”

        “What happened to the calm and collected leader?”

        “Her friend was dragged into the bowls of the Tower of London with the wickedest woman on earth. If you do not shut up, I might snap your neck.”

        “Temper, temper,” Gordon chided.

        Tyren suddenly snapped around to where I had disappeared. My scream of her name echoed off the walls. It sounded rather terrified. Gordon lunged for her, but she was faster. He crumpled to the ground, and I hoped he had a huge headache when he woke up. The wall exploded in a spray of blue-hot shards. I had seen Tyren use fire before, but never on this scale. She vaulted through the opening and sprinted down the corridors. I marveled at her. She was taking all her anger at herself, her rage at Gordon’s betrayal, and her fear for my safety and channeled it into speed, agility, and a wicked firestorm. I was so glad she was on my side.

        How she knew where to go, I’ll never know, but in one tenth of the time it took us to reach the lab, Tyren arrived at the door. Just like the wall, she blew it to smithereens. Without even a pause, she shot into the room like a bullet. Before she even touched to floor, the two guards were missing their heads. Melinda was too shocked to move. Tyren tore the chains off of my unconscious frame, and threw me over her shoulder. Escaping from Melinda’s grasp, Noddah joined us in our flight out.

        Tyren shot out of the Tower, terrifying the guards. Apparently, her spell didn’t last when she was in terrifying-vampire mode. That sight will probably haunt them in their nightmares for years to come.

        We dropped through the nearest sewer hole. The vampire threw up a protective spell on the grate, then dropped to her knees next to me. “M.C.! Can you hear me?” I have never heard her tone that worried before.

        When I didn’t answer, she rolled back my sleeve, and hissed. I could see the black blood invading my veins. Without taking time to admire my manly muscles, Tyren leaned over me. To my surprise, she bit me.

I jerked into wakefulness. I was lying in an infirmary bed with a sleeping Noddah curled on my stomach. Reaching over, I yanked the bandage on my arm down. Two puncture marks proved my dream had been real. I poked my arm.

“Do not touch it. Let it heal.”

I looked up to see Tyren perched on a chair next to my bed. She grinned at me. I was about to say something, but I was caught up in a tight hug. When the vampire released me, I felt slightly lightheaded.

She blushed, slightly. “Sorry. We were worried about you for a little bit there. We thought I might not have gotten to you in time.”

I pointed an accusing finger at her. “You bit me!”

She sighed. “Well, I could have just let you become an accursed one, you know.”

I pretended to be angry with her for several more seconds, then asked, “How about you? Are you okay?”

“Me? Oh, I am unharmed.”

That was a lie. Remembering something, I grabbed her hands and flipped them over. Her palms were riddled with dark red burn marks. The silver chains had burned her hands when she ripped them off me. “Tyren!” I exclaimed.

She took her hands back. “A small price to pay, I think.”

I put my hand on her shoulder. “Thanks Tyren. I know it took a lot to get me out of there.”

She dismissed my gratitude with a wave of her hand. “You are the mage heir. I could not just leave you down there.”

Everything that Melinda had said returned. She was right. I was nothing more than the mage heir to Tyren. She didn’t care two wits about M.C. She only cared about the mage heir.

Tyren was looking down at her hands. “Also, I am sorry. The whole thing was my fault. I should have listened to you about Gordon.”

Snapping out of my pity party, I waved it away. “Everyone makes mistakes. No worries, as Tatiana would say.”

However, I couldn’t be cheerful for long. “So the vampire heir is in league with the zombies.”

Tyren paused before nodding.

“What are we going to do?”

“What we have been doing. We will not let Gordon’s betrayal destroy our hopes. We have most of the heirs. As long as you, Julian, and Tatiana do not decide to turn yourselves in, we should be alright.” She paused, chewing on her lip. “What happened in there? Do you want to talk about it?”

I shrugged. I had no intention of talking about it, but Tyren had a look of concern on her face. Deciding to give her a little bit to satisfy her, I mumbled, “Oh, you know. Melinda tempted me by playing on my desire to be more than a nobody, I refused, she had a doctor jab me with a demon-filled needle. It was all terribly exciting.”

Tyren snorted. “If you were a nobody, as you put it, Melinda would not have been after you. Besides, you are not a nobody to us. To us, you are a powerful mage.”

I nodded, heart sinking.

“Most of all, though, you are our friend.”

I looked up at her. “Do you really mean that?”

“What? That you are our friend? Of course.”

I nodded, not fully convinced. “Thanks.”

Tyren frowned. “M.C., are you okay?” She paused and looked away slightly. “Is there something else you want to tell me?”

I shook my head dismissively. “No, I’m fine.”

She looked as if she wasn’t buying it but just patted my hand. “Sai said when you are strong enough, you should return home for a while.”

Just as she finished saying that, the base thought it would be a lot of fun to tilt. I freaked out a little bit. Last time I checked, the ground only moved when there was an earthquake. I clung to the sheets for dear life.

“What was that?!” I squeaked when the world righted itself.

“Oh, that was just the ballasts shifting. Do not concern yourself. They do that on occasion.”

“Since when did the base have ballasts?”

She chuckled. “Oh, I forgot. We have moved the base to the airships.”

“You did what?”

“Since Gordon knows the general location of our previous base, I had to move it. He could not enter through the doors, but he could eventually blast his way through. Instead of risking that likely event, I moved our forces to the airships.”

I was still really confused. “What is an airship?”

“Surely they have them in your time?” When I shook my head, she explained, “Oh, well, they are ships that fly in the air instead of floating on water.”

“Oh, like airplanes, but ship shaped.” I snickered at my own pun.

“Um, yes.”

“Who invented airships?”

“Oh, the fey did. They have a sort of obsession with flying. Most of the ships in the fleet are Julian’s.”

I nodded, then frowned. “Wait. How did you get an entire army onto a couple of airships?”

“Oh, we have about thirty large ships total. The fey have their own personal ‘whizzers.’”

“I understand that, but that was fast.”

“Not really. M.C., you have been unconscious for three days.”

I sat bolt upright. “Three days?!”

 She nodded. “The demon blood sent your body into a coma. You just surfaced yesterday. You had us worried for a bit.”

A fairy nurse flitted in with a tray of earthy-smelling soup. Thanking her, I claimed the spoon and used it as a shovel. The soup was herby and very tasty. It lasted for about two minutes.

After another nap, Tyren gave me a tour of the airship we were on. Its name was Dragon Wing, and it was Tyren’s personal ship. Apparently, she had designed it—with the help of Julian and Sai—to be extremely fast. She told me proudly that it was the fastest airship ever built.

I admired the fey’s ingenuity. It was kept aloft by a balloon-like structure—and a bit of magic, naturally—that was housed in the hold. It was powered by twin engines that seemed to be the forerunner of modern airplane engines. I wondered if the Wright Brothers had fey blood in them. The ship’s sails could be raised to catch a favorable wind, or they could be lowered to reduce the drag against an unfavorable wind. It was steered by a pair of wing-like structures that could be tilted to turn the ship, and help keep it aloft.

It was a ship-shaped airplane. I loved it. Tyren and Sai seemed to like it a lot, too, but Tatiana hated it. She claimed wolves were meant to be on the ground. If they were meant to fly, they would have been born with wings.

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Sorry it's late, guys.   I had a crazy first week of classes (and it's only Wednesday!). Plus, I'm an officer in my society (kind of like sororities), and we have rush tomorrow. Soooooo, yeah.

So, M.C. has doubts about Tyren's friendship. What do you think? Is Tyren just using him because he's the mage heir?

Find out sometime in the next few weeks!

Have a great rest of the week.