the side. Levi clawed furiously at the netting passing fast under his fingers until at last he caught hold, stopping his descent. His feet dangled in the air. He had nearly fallen away completely. As it was, Levi had only managed to get a grip on the side of the balloon.
The glider tore away, out of control, tumbled and then fell toward the streets below. By now he had certainly been noticed by some of the other ships, if not the crew on this one. Levi took stock of himself and his weapons. He still had two cutlasses and two braces with five pistols apiece. He looked skyward and saw the other two gliders circling. Soon they would either attempt a landing, as he had on this ship, or go to another.
Levi looked down toward the deck. It was still partly obscured from him by the swelling balloon. That hopefully meant he was likewise obscured from the crew below. He sheathed his sword and started the trek downward. This part he was fully familiar with having spent his entire life at sea running the sail rigs like a happy spider since the time he could walk.
He paused halfway down and tried to use his cutlass to cut through one of the ropes. The braid parted as his blade sliced through. Then he stopped. Beneath the braided rope lay a sturdy metal cable. 'Blast,' he muttered. There was no way he could get through it. There had to be another way.
The more Levi thought on it, the more he realized his original plan had been foolish all along. If they had managed to sever the lines to the balloons, they would have gone down with the ship-a suicide mission. He remembered the few hybrids he had seen scurrying in pursuit on the ship which had already fallen from the sky. 'Surely I can take down that many,' he supposed. Then he smiled, put away his sword and started toward the deck again.
He scaled down the lines cleanly enough, but as soon as he hit the deck, one of the hybrids dropping grenades on the citizens below spotted him. 'Hey! What are you doing?'
Levi crossed his arms across his chest as he ran toward the soldiers lined at the railing where they were dropping bombs over the side. He whipped out two pistols, one in each hand, and fired. He shot the first hybrid right between the eyes. As the creature fell, Levi ran past, firing the second pistol at the next in line. Like shooting fish in a barrel, he thought. Could they make this any easier lining up on the rail like that?
As the next creature went down, Levi dropped the first pistol and reached for another. He continued hand over hand, firing, dropping, firing, reaching for the next pistol until he had killed ten with ten shots. But there were still two left on deck.
He reached for another pistol as a wolfish hybrid launched toward him with a huge battle axe in hand. As the beast raised the weapon above its head, Levi realized his braces were empty of pistols. He pulled one of his cutlasses just in time to attempt a deflection.
Levi pressed his hand against the back of the blade and raised it as the battle axe came crashing down. His sword shattered under the impact and the axe came down toward Levi's head. He fell backward against the rail as the blade bit deep into the wood next to his face. The creature freed the axe and raised it again for the deathblow.
Levi drove the shattered end of his sword deep into the hybrid's belly. The beast lurched back and fell to the deck, trying to remove the fractured sword from its middle. Levi snatched up the axe and laid into the beast like splitting firewood, ending it quickly.
Only one remained. He heard heavy footsteps approaching and whirled around to find a broadsword driving toward his chest. He didn't have time to react. Only a last thought of how close he'd come to taking the ship. The hybrid shouted its war cry and lunged.
Inches from Levi's chest, the sword and its owner were thrown sideways. The hybrid tumbled across the deck as a bewildered Levi watched. Ethan appeared on top of the creature's shoulders as it tried to get back to its feet in shock. He drove his blade down and let the beast fall to the deck beneath him.
Levi smiled, elated. 'Glad you finally made it, lad!' He heard noise behind him and turned to find both Kline and Devon rounding the base of the balloon assembly with arrows nocked to their bows. They stopped and looked at one another, when they saw Ethan and Levi standing there on the deck smiling among all of the dead soldiers.
'Better late than never,' Levi called, laughing. 'Don't worry there's plenty of work still to do!'
RETRIBUTION
Their efforts so far had taken out two Man-o-wars from Mordred's airship armada. Twenty eight of them remained, flying over Evelah dropping bombs as they went. There were now too many plumes of smoke rising into the sky from the city to be counted. These flying ships had to be stopped before they reduced the city to rubble beneath them.
Levi, never happier than behind the wheel of a ship, had formulated a plan quickly. The other ships seemed to still be unaware that this Man-o-war was now working for the other side. 'Let's see how you like a taste of your own medicine,' Levi said and pushed the lever forward that would cause the fans to rotate faster.
Ethan and Levi had run a quick inspection as they searched for supplies needed for the captain's plan. They had found the stern of the ship modified so that horses yoked to a large treadmill of sorts churned out the power feeding to the fans on the sides of the ship, propelling it forward. 'Horsepower,' Levi said surprised. 'What will they think of next?'
A system of gears allowed more of the power coming from the steady pace of the animals to actually generate fan power, or less if that was desired. Levi cranked it up all the way and the ship lurched forward beneath them. 'Takes a while to get your air legs,' Ethan said as he stumbled next to the Captain.
'Aye, but isn't it grand?' Levi said. Captain Bonifast, clearly pleased with his new command, was ready for action. As they came upon the stern of the first target, Levi began issuing orders. 'Ethan, get to the starboard cannons.'
Ethan shifted to the ethereal plane and arrived at the first of twelve cannons in the starboard lineup. They hadn't been any use to the hybrids on the city below them, but up here where they were on the same level as their enemy, they would do very nicely.
The Man-o-war ahead of them had been cruising along at a steady clip until the hybrid soldiers onboard spotted the airship coming up fast at their rear. Ethan watched as they attempted an evasive maneuver, probably fearing the captain of this vessel had simply lost control for some reason.
Levi came up fast on the Man-o-war and then spun the wheel sharply to port bearing their starboard guns on the enemy's stern. 'Fire, Ethan!' Bonifast yelled at the top of his lungs.
The cannons had already been primed and loaded. All they needed was a man to ignite them. Ethan pulled the ignition cord on the first as the enemy ship passed before him. The flint fell and ignited the powder within. The first cannonball rocketed away.
It plowed, not into the stern exactly, but into the helm. The soldier who had been manning it ceased to exist as the iron ball smashed through the wheel and the fan assembly-all blasted to splinters in a moment. Ethan realm shifted down the line of cannons, igniting each with lightning speed and precision, doing the work of an entire gunnery crew in seconds.
The stern of the enemy Man-o-war disintegrated under the brutal barrage of cannon fire. Powder stores somewhere below deck exploded. Bonifast's ship was thrown away by the blast just as another Man-o-war came into the fray.
The new enemy attacker fired several of its portside cannons. One of the balls flew over the deck while another sailed into Bonifast's starboard side. Ethan leaned over the deck rail in order to inspect the damage. He turned back to Levi still cackling behind the wheel. 'Ah, I love this ship!' he exclaimed. 'That blast would have sunk us in the water!'
Levi pulled the control cord which connected to the coal stove vents currently supplying varying amounts of hot air to the balloons above them. The vents opened further, causing the ship to rise dramatically. The enemy ship fired again, but too late to catch them as Bonifast ascended higher into the sky.
He called to the other priests, Kline and Devon, as they stood at the rail with arrows dipped in pitch and aflame. 'Light em' up, boys!'
As the enemy ship passed beneath them, Kline and Devon let fly their flaming arrows. They streaked black
