Hanging from his iron hand, Adalrik was inspecting the damage to the ship’s elemental binding strut, keeping up a shouted conversation with the ship’s engineer. Mordan couldn’t make out what they were saying, but from the amount of nodding he inferred that the damage was not sufficient to cause concern. As the artificer swung himself back aboard, a cry went up from the lookout on the prow; the enemy had been sighted.
Rushing to the forward rail, Mordan saw the dark shape speeding through the canyons below them. Evidently Dravuliel had hoped to lose his pursuers in the twisting canyons, but thanks to Dria’s homunculus they were able to follow his vessel, cutting across the top of the forest in a more direct route. The fire at the stern of the ship had been extinguished, but it had clearly caused extensive damage.
Something bright shot up from the fleeing vessel, landing square in the middle of the pursuers’ deck. As it struck, it exploded into a small flare of light, showering the whole midsection of the airship with shards of bright energy. The crew of the forward ballista ducked behind the shelter of the raised weapon platform, and the other crew members ran away from the light as fast as they could, toward the areas at the bow and stern of the craft where the shards did not reach.
His reverie broken, Tarrel scrambled to his feet and ran for the forward rail. He launched two more fireballs at the enemy ship, sending bodies flying off the ruined afterdeck and re-igniting a number of small fires. Beside him, several crew members were dropping the ceramic globes from the ballistae onto the enemy. Some were filled with alchemist’s fire, adding to the flames; others contained holy water, burning the undead crew like acid. Mordan threw the last few flasks from his bandolier before discarding it and helping to drop the ballista globes.
The bright shards of energy were still ripping through the midships area, and showed no sign of abating. The helmsman was out of their reach, but the magical maelstrom completely blocked his forward vision, and left him relying on Dria, who stood beside him. She had launched her homunculus again, and sent it to the observation dome on the ship’s underside where it gave her a view of the enemy ship. Following her directions, he kept his airship stationed above and behind Dravuliel’s necromantic vessel, preventing her from rising out of the canyon and escaping.
Adalrik opened a compartment in the chest of his barrel-like construct and rummaged through its insides as if looking for something. Only Haldin was still; he crouched in the cover of the ship’s rail, looking down at the enemy through a gap in the wooden balustrade, his lips moving silently. The narrow canyon walls forced Dravuliel’s pilot to keep making small course corrections, which slowed the vessel; slowly but surely, the Ministry ship was gaining. Soon, they were completely above their quarry, and then they began to pull ahead.
Haldin rolled a bundled climbing net over the side of the ship. With a shout to his companions, he began to climb down; arrows and spells flew all around him, but none struck him.
Mordan looked at the gnome in disbelief for a moment, and then ran to the net. Larger than Haldin, and slower as he climbed down one-handed, he would be an easy target. He paused for a moment, judging the distance and relative speed of the two craft, and then dove over the side.
Somersaulting in midair, he hit the deck at the same time as Haldin, in a fighting crouch with his rapier drawn. As the gnome dug in an equipment pouch, Mordan wove a defensive web around him with his rapier, dropping five zombies in as many heartbeats.
Haldin held up his sapphire dragon statuette with a loud cry, and the area in front of them cleared. Some of the zombies simply crumbled to dust, while others turned and headed aft as fast as they could go. Mordan destroyed a couple more with quick thrusts through the back as they retreated. His instructors at Rekkenmark would have been appalled, but this was not an enemy that understood chivalry.
A fireball blossomed on the deck, finishing off some of the fleeing zombies and interrupting one of the undead elf wizards who was starting to cast a spell. Mordan looked up and saw Tarrel jump from the rail of the airship above. His feather fall pin slowed him a little too much; instead of landing beside the other two, he drifted down until one of the elemental binding struts slammed into him.
Mordan dashed back along the deck, reaching the level of the binding strut just as the half-elf landed softly on the deck. The side of his face was already beginning to swell from the impact, but he seemed unhurt otherwise.
