Chapter 32: On The Wings Of Destiny
"Crap!" Sam said as they looked around to see if maybe someone had just moved their sloop to a different pier. "I don’t want to steal someone else’s boat..."
"We may have no choice!" Lazula pointed out.
"Maybe we can just hitch a ride with someone?" Calista offered.
"Maybe," replied Sam.
"The only boats we use in the jungle are small rowboats for rivers and ponds," Gabrielle added. "I doubt they would work well for the open seas, but at least it’s a start."
"Well, we gotta decide fast - look!" cried out Lazula. They followed her gaze as the storm clouds parted and the light of the full moon in the night sky above revealed a line of huge ships closing in on the shore. The golden fist on their flags made it clear they were the Paragon Navy.
"Fuck!" Sam growled. "I don’t think we could get through them even if we had a boat..."
But before they could fully succumb to despair, they heard a loud whooshing directly above them. They snapped their heads up as a huge wooden ship with green dragon wings and a metallic green dragon head at the front came soaring through the sky out of nowhere.
"The Emerald Draconis!" Sam yelled out in relief. "It really did respond when we needed it most!"
The dragonship lowered itself into the water and laid out one of the wings onto the dock. The wing then magically hardened into a ramp.
"Let’s go!" Sam waved the girls to follow him, and they all rushed up the makeshift ramp, onto the deck of the ship. Once they were all on board, both wings began flapping hard, pushing the vessel back up into the air.
They took a moment to look around and take in the sight of the long dragonship. The front half was an open deck with cannons and wooden benches along the railing, and a big square section in the middle with a removable grating to lower supplies into the cargo hold below deck.
The second half of the ship rose up like a tower with multiple levels. Twin staircases led up from the main deck to the second floor bridge deck, which had a curved bench facing a panel that was equipped with a steering wheel, a few levers, and a crystal ball that was glowing bright green.
In between the staircases on the main deck were three doors - the center one led to a huge room twice the size of the room they had at the Honeydew Inn. It had its own private bathroom. The other two doors led to indoor staircases - one heading down below deck and one ascending up higher into the tower section.
The staircase leading below deck opened to a massive lounge with a bar counter and barstools bolted to the floor in front of it. In the center of the far front wall, there was a set of double doors leading to the cargo hold that they’d seen through the grated platform up on deck. In the center of the opposite wall in the lounge was another set of double doors that led to a huge kitchen, storage rooms, and utility rooms. There was also a dumbwaiter leading up to higher levels in the tower.
The staircase leading up from the main deck opened up to a second floor hallway that had several empty rooms, extra bathrooms, a wall hatch for the dumbwaiter, and a door leading out to the bridge deck.
A connecting staircase led up to a third floor sun deck that had an outdoor recreational area with more benches and a glass-domed greenhouse for growing plants. Right next to the greenhouse was a small cabin for storing tools, which also had a wall hatch for the dumbwater to the kitchen below. In the center of the sun deck was a large mast with a ladder that rose up very high to a crow’s nest. Strangely, there were no sails on the mast.
The ship was mostly bare and devoid of furniture or decor, but that could be easily rectified by a trip to the markets in the future. They were still looking around when they heard someone shout out from far below them.
"Shoot that ship out of the sky!" they heard one of the Navy captains yell out. Sam and the girls grabbed onto the railings on the deck to steady themselves as the ship rocked from the impact of a cannon ball, which tore through the hull, circled up overhead, and then rocketed back down through the deck. It repeated this several times, leaving multiple holes.
Sam imagined one of the wings folding over to deflect the cannon ball away, and as if interpreting it as a mental command, the dragonship did just that. Then the holes repaired themselves like magic, all the shattered wood fitting back into place.
Realizing his control over the vessel, he then willed it to turn head-on towards the Navy and attack, not sure what the result would be. The metallic dragon head sprung to life and fired a massive jet of emerald flames, exploding a whole row of Navy ships. Ignited sailors on board were screaming and diving into the water to extinguish the green flames that engulfed them.
"Oh shit!" Sam cried out excitedly.
"The Navy definitely won’t forget that!" Lazula said with a chuckle.
"They brought it on themselves by attacking us first," Sam insisted. "I will kill anyone who puts you girls in danger."
Following Sam’s mental commands, the Emerald Draconis circled around overhead, destroying every Paragon Navy vessel they could see, leaving every ship engulfed by green flames that were only extinguished by sinking into the sea.
"That should give everyone a better chance of escaping the island," Sam said with a smile. "Now let’s go see if there are other Paragon ships nearby."
The dragonship soared through the night sky as Ravager’s Roost faded into the distance, while Sam searched around for more Navy ships. Then their attention was drawn to a strange beeping sound that was sounding in short bursts. The sound was coming from the helm panel on the bridge deck. The crystal ball that had been glowing green had dimmed considerably, flashing weakly. The beeping was coming from a copper fuel gauge next to the crystal ball showed that they had burned up most of the ship’s energy in their assault.
"Well, shit..." Sam said with a sigh.