Chapter
4
They worked all
night to get things working to get through the pass in the mountains. It was a
dangerous route they were taking. Snow storms erupted her on the tops sending
ice over everything. Plus it was a favorite hideaway for pirates.
There was one who
was called the icicle pirate. His ship the show maiden always had ice hanging
off of it. His crew even used the ice as spears. They were a crazy bunch and the
crew kept an eye out for him.
Simon had
steered the ship under a large rock that jetted out giving them a roof to
protect them from the weather. Karina knew the crew needed some rest before
they stuck out into the centre of this pass that was going to be the most
tricky to get through.
Karina sat on
the sail looking out over the misty mountains that drifted around the
mountains. The cold mist that dripped off of them sent a shiver through Karina.
She would be happy to be out in the open sun. This had to be the most miserable
trip she had made. Her ship was falling apart and she ran into too many pirates
and such for her comfort and it the trip wasn’t over yet.
Silver fox
joined her. “Everything is working right now but we can’t take too many more
attacks. We have to get good sail to make good time.”
Karina nodded.
“Yes, and the sooner we can get through this pass, the better I will feel.”
***
The next morning
was not kind to them. The mist had turned to a thick pea soup fog and the mist
was steadily falling creating a thin layer of ice as the temps started to get
colder. They had to move out and make their way through. This kind of weather
was always a prelude to a snow storm coming in.
Everyone was on
deck helping to navigate their way through this white out. Before they pulled
out, hovering above the large rock that they were tucked under was The Trove
ship. The captain was standing on the rock looking down on them. They did not
see him. Like a spider he slipped a silvery rope down to the ship’s sail and it
slipped around tightly. His mate above secured the other end to their ship.
They were doing
a pretty good job making their way through. The snow storm was coming soon. The
mist now was pellets hitting their faces. Karina was at the air ship’s wheel
steering and trying to stay away from the side of the icy mountains. She
couldn’t figure out why it felt like they were pulling something. She sent Kit
to see Simon and see if everything was alright.
There was
muffled shouting from below and Karina knew instantly that they had unwanted
company. She slipped down the pole and marched to the stairs. Kit met her at
the top of the stairs. “Troves!”
“What? How did
they get here?”
“They hitched a
ride. They were almost at the sapphire ice.”
“Where are they
now?”
“The little
beggers are hiding in the stock room. They can disguise themselves into
anything. Worse than termites!”
Crashes from
below made them both scramble down to the lower decks. “They’re searching for
the sapphire ice. The place will be trashed if we don’t stop them,” shouted
Kit.
“Time to
exterminate the invaders!”
Karina grabbed
two masks and threw one to Kit. “Put this on while I get the spray gun.”
Kit had her
spray gun ready as well. They were hiding now. Karina went around one way and
Kit the other. Lit saw a snout sniffing out of one broken box. She aimed but he
moved too quickly.
Kalkan came down
to help. They really scattered when he showed up but Kalkan, despite his size
was quick and grabbed two of them by their ankles.
That brought the
others out. Kit and Karina aimed the guns at them and fires. The room filled
with the most horrible smelling gas ever. Kalkan wasn’t bothered by it. The
Troves came out and passed out on the floor like flies. There was six of them!
The two Kalkan
had also went limp.
They gathered
them up and dumped them on the deck. Kalkan was still hanging on to the two he
caught. The air had gotten a lot colder and the snow storm was coming right at
them. The two Troves came too and started to squeal. Their wild boar snouts
were huffing. “What should we do with these vermin?”
Karina and Kit
who took off their masks looked around at the now falling snow. “Send them back
up their rope and cut the rope.”
One by one
Kalkan sent them back up the rope. The old captain of Trove watched with
intensity as each one came up the rope. The wind now was getting up and the
silver rope was swinging. It wasn’t going to hang on much longer. The last
trove was almost there. Kalkan swung with his large knife and the cut the rope
snapping it back at them. The wind caught their sails also and off they went
into the wind with the last Trove hanging on to the rope.
“Good riddance,”
shouted Kalkan.
The snow was
coming down mercifully and the wind was driving it down onto their ship. They
were losing ground and with the weight of the heavy snow, it was pushing them
down, down, down…
TIP JAR:
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