Episode XLVII - Fleeting Glances

            The rest of the few days remaining before ‘Shoalstrike’ was to begin passed extremely quickly for Ellis.  There was so much going on all the time, so many people coming and going from the Grand Chateau and Ellis himself was too confused by Siren’s recent behaviour towards him to be able to think much about it at all, consequently he passed the time dashing from one activity to the next in a sort of practical daze.

            Siren and M. Marveille continued to finalise their plans for the assault, coming to some sort of agreement in the process, although neither would discuss any of the details until they were finished.  The Former Baron, Rockspark and Miss Barkcastle finished the prototype mechanisms for the Shoalstrike vessels themselves and tested them one night in the harbour near the warehouse where the Mosskind continued to work with great skill on the vessel’s hulls.  Once again, Toby, Gulliver and Ellis were left to serve as dogsbodies, although Ellis found that now he was in possession of the amulet – “to help strengthen your immune system against the animalcules of Shadow, my boy”, the Former Baron had explained – he was often in demand to lend its energies to some part of the Former Baron’s mechanical and hypostatick tinkerings and as such felt a little more closely involved in the overall plan than he had before his brief illness.

            Unsurprisingly, then, he saw very little of Siren.  Occasionally they would bump into each other in the hall, Siren taking a break from planning, Ellis on some new vitally important errand.  They would catch each others eyes, Ellis would smile and Siren would respond with something that was part smile, part frown and part plain unreadable, leaving Ellis to wonder what was going on in her head as he rushed past.  He would discuss these moments, sometimes, with Toby and Gulliver when they all managed to get a break from the chaos at the same time.

            “I just don’t understand her,” he admitted once between sips of tea – the quality of which had improved greatly in the last few days since Miss Barkcastle had taken over the catering, “one moment she seems to like me, then, the next…”

            “Girls can be like that,” Toby replied knowingly, although Ellis suspected that the Philosopher’s son was no more experienced than he was, perhaps even less so, “you just can’t tell what they might be thinking.”

            “Per’aps she just needs some time,”  Gulliver said, talking around a digestive biscuit, “ ‘er mind is on other things right now, after all.”

            “I suppose so,” Ellis replied, “but I don’t know, sometimes its like I’m just this specimen to her, something she needs to pick apart and examine.  It’s almost like she’s the Philosopher.”

            Gulliver spluttered as he nearly choked on his biscuit.

            “It’s not that ridiculous, Gulliver!”

            The lanky pirate shook his head defensively and then took a swig of tea to clear the blockage before he replied, “I’m sure she doesn’t see you that way,” a little too quickly.

            "I just don't know," Ellis replied sadly, "but maybe you're right.  I should wait until this latest excitement is over and then ask her where we stand.”

"It couldn't hurt," Toby added, "now, to change the topic completely..."

Ellis brought the issue of Siren up often, to the point where his new friends were clearly getting frustrated by it, but they showed surprising patience and Ellis made sure they knew he was grateful.

Then, three days after Ellis' illness, Gulliver came back from a trip to the harbour helping Rockspark and the Mosskind to announce that both the Dusk Raider and the Ebon Crest had been sighted in the bay and would likely be coming into the harbour sometime that day.  He had arranged with the remnant of Siren's crew, hidden throughout the district of Shalereef, to keep an eye on the vessels and to alert them to exactly where they made their berth.

"So that means we have to put the plan in action tonight," Siren said as Gulliver finished his news.  She scanned the faces of all those present in the dining room, including the Former Baron, Miss Barkcastle, M. Marveille and Toby, watching their silent nods.  Her gaze lingered slightly longer on Ellis's before she turned back to the group as a whole and said, "Thank you so much for helping me with this.  I know it has been a lot of work and that there is much more to be done, including putting the plan into action, but I want you all to know that once I get my ship back I will do all that I can to reward you."

"My dear girl," the Former Baron replied, "you should know by now that the experience has been more than reward enough."

"Perhaps," she replied meekly, "but I would offer more.  I want to."

"Is everything we need at the warehouse already?" Ellis asked after a brief, appreciative silence.

"Almost," Siren replied, "I just have the final version of the plans to take down.  M. Marveille kindly redrafted them for us last night."

"It was a pleasure to help in zis way,

And zat is the only sing I can say," Marveille replied in his strange accent, adding a little flourished bow at the end.

"And I have a few minor modifications which I thought of this morning," added Miss Barkcastle, "I'm especially pleased with the tweaks I added to the carronades so that they could fire up to five times a minute."

"That sounds great!"  Siren beamed.

"Well then, shall we take these things and head to the warehouse?" asked the Former Baron.  "We can finish everything else off there, I think, especially with the added help of old Rockspark and his Mosskind."

There was a murmur of general agreement and then everyone set off to get the few remaining plans, designs, spare parts and accessories required to complete the plan to their satisfaction.  Ellis lingered in the dining room, watching Siren as she rifled through the papers on the table, putting them all in order.

"Can I help you, Ellis?" she asked as she watched him out of the corner of her eye.

"I, uh... I just wanted to say that I'm really glad you're finally going to get your ship back tonight," he said awkwardly, "and that I'm going to do my best, in whatever capacity, to make sure you do."

She put down her pieces of paper and turned to look at him.  Her gaze was soft and - Ellis hoped he wasn't misreading it -  fond, but there was also a layer of uncertainty, as if she were trying to make a decision.

"That's sweet, Ellis.  It really is."

"Is there anything you'd like me to do?"

She smiled, almost laughed, "Just try not to get yourself killed, okay?"

Ellis smiled back and nodded and turned away so that Siren wouldn't be able to see the way his eyes were burning, ready to spill over in a sudden rush of emotion.  He didn't understand it himself, wasn't sure if it was from joy, or sadness, or something more complicated for which there was no word in English.

"I'll go get my sword," he said huskily and hurried out of the room.

Ellis carefully pushed the museum door open and stepped inside, flinching slightly at the sight of the great, stuffed Grinder in it's greenish glow.  He made his way past the ancient Lithoderm, admiring the detailed exhibits to either side, until he came to the weapons rack, the blade he had chosen propped up neatly against it to one side.  It was the first time Ellis had laid eyes on the sword since the day he had first met Siren.  As he gazed at its unfeasible length and width and remembered how light and balanced it had felt, he thought of just how much he could have used the weapon in the days that followed, as he was lost and alone in Blackfeather, being chased by an entire army of Stoneskins.  Not that he had the skill to wield it all that well.  The only time he had ever had to use it to defend himself it had taken Siren's Slayer 'magic' to rescue him.  If that was what he was like against one Grinder, then an entire army would have easily overwhelmed him, sword or no sword.

He picked the blade up, admiring just how light it seemed.  He still didn't understand how that could be, or from what metal it had been forged to produce such an effect.  He twisted his hands around the grip on the hilt and then held the weapon aloft so that it seemed to slice the dusty beam of afternoon light which shone through from the room's only window.  Can I help Siren with this? he wondered.  Wrapping the sword back in its cloth sheath and strapping it over his back he decided to head out into the street to practice whilst he waited for the others.

Gulliver was already outside, leaning against a wall, as Ellis exited the Grand Chateau, his giant sword strapped to his back.

"Compensatin' for somethin'?" the pirate asked with a smirk, before his face contorted into a more thoughtful expression - one Ellis was getting used to since his illness, but still could not comprehend.

"I just thought it would be useful," Ellis replied, before curiosity made him add, "wait, you're a pirate - don't you have a sword?"

"I prefer pistols myself," Gulliver replied, lifting the edges of his long coat to reveal the twin flintlocks Ellis had first seen him wearing, "but I 'ave been known to use a sword when the need arises."

"How can you if you don't carry one?"

"I usually pick one up from somewhere.  You'd be surprised where you can find a sword just lyin’ around, especially durin’ a battle, when you might just need one.  I find that they particularly tend to congregate near the bodies of those you've just shot."

It surprised Ellis to hear Gulliver speaking so bluntly about death and combat.  The lanky pirate had rarely given any sign of a more bloodthirsty side, but it made sense that a life of piracy would result in such things.  He realised that Siren would have had similar things to say and that disturbed him a little.  It was one thing to kill Grinders, another thing entirely to kill a human being.  He lifted his blade free of its sheath and stared at the sharpened edge, wondering if he had it in him to kill anyone and, if not, how would he use such a weapon in the battle to come.  After a moment he shook his head, realising that it was one of those things you couldn't think about too much beforehand.  The proof would be in the moment when you made a choice, consciously or not, to kill or not to kill.

Ellis gave the sword and experimental swing, then imagined an enemy pirate before him and put the blade through another, more deliberate arc.  A third strike followed, then a fourth and soon Ellis was imagining steel striking steel, the force of his enormous weapon crashing down on the raised cutlass of a pirate, knowing it was only a matter of time until-

“You’re pretty good,”  Gulliver said, breaking through Ellis’ fantasy and making him freeze, blush like a beetroot and nearly drop his sword.

“I, uh, I used to practice this sort of thing at home – just pretend stuff,” Ellis replied, re-sheathing his sword.  It was clear that he would not be able to continue with Gulliver watching on from the sidelines, so he walked over to where the pirate was leaning and propped himself up against the same wall.  Together they waited and soon Toby joined them also, although they continued to stand in silence.

Siren, M. Marveille, Miss Barkcastle and the Former Baron were not much longer.  Each carrying their own pile of papers or parts and they lead the way along the lane to the main street.  As always Ellis admired the view down to the many ships and the slick black water of the harbour and he wondered what it would be like to be out there, on those jet waves, sailing away across the horizon.  He glanced at Siren, also staring down the hill towards the harbour and wondered if she was thinking something similar.

Two carriages were hailed, stopped and loaded and they were on their way to the warehouse in the harbour district in no time at all.  Ellis was in the same carriage as Siren, the Former Baron and Miss Barkcastle.  A tense silence filled the cabin as outside the now almost-familiar streets of Shadow rolled by.

            When they reached the warehouse everybody piled out into the street.  The carriage drivers were paid and then the Former Baron led the way into the vast, gothic building where already the sound of busy Mosskind could be heard as Rockspark gave them orders in the guttural language of his home.  Ellis was wide-eyed as he entered, not because of the scale and design of the building, which he had not had cause to visit before, or even because of the Mosskind themselves, who he had heard much about, but never seen, but because of the fleet of miniature ships, about the size of rowing boats, each topped with an arsenal of conventional and less conventional weaponry including miniature cannons, carronades and bladed weapons, some of which protruded from the hull on little wheels like the cutting blades on a Ben-Hur style chariot, whilst others sat on flexible telescopic armatures ‘above deck’ like sword arms.  There were at least twenty of these vessels and the ones nearest the front were already fuelled and ready, green-lit vapours escaping from their engine compartments, making them look almost alive and somehow malevolent.  Ellis shuddered as he thought of all that weaponry aimed at himself.

            “Excellent work, Rockspark!” the Former Baron greeted the Stoneskin with delight, “you and your Mosskind have achieved a remarkable feat in such a short time.

            “We have a saying in Ashvault,” the Spiketail replied, “ ‘A rolling Mosskind gathers no stones’.  If you keep them busy they will work hard for you and I have kept them very busy.”

            “Well, you have our gratitude, you old crag,” the Former Baron replied, clapping Rockspark on his bluff-like shoulders.  “Now, let me just have a quick look at these things and make any last minute tweaks that might be required.  Felicity, dear, would you mind helping?”  Miss Barkcastle obliged and the two of them were soon scurrying around between the floating war machines, tightening bolts and loosening nozzles to their hearts’ content.

            Meanwhile, Toby and Ellis watched on, talking in excited and anxious tones about how the nights events might proceed, whilst Gulliver watched the door, on the lookout for the rest of Siren’s crew.  These ragtag remnants arrived in dribs and drabs over the course of the afternoon.  They all looked quite dishevelled, the men unshaven, the women with tangled hair, and wore old, worn, dirty clothes.  Many of them looked like they had been living rough.

Siren greeted each of them with a hug or a handshake, and took a special interest in all of them individually.  As Ellis watched he began to understand how she might inspire the kind of loyalty he had seen in Gulliver and wondered at what cruelties Harker had put them under to make them leave her behind.  Listening in to one or two conversations, however, he realised that some had been lured away by the promise of more wealth.  He heard humble pleas for forgiveness, which Siren duly gave, although not always as graciously as she might have.  When she came away from some of those conversations Ellis noted that she had tears forming in her eyes.  He wanted to go and comfort her, but as he moved towards her she quickly went the other way and busied herself over some detail in the plans which M. Marveille continued to revise right up to the last minute.

Eventually it grew dark outside and a pale violet moon rose above the city.  The Mosskind stilled their work, the Former Baron and Miss Barkcastle finished their tinkering and Siren and M. Marveille called everyone together before a detailed map of the harbour and the seas beyond.

"Thank you all for coming," Siren began, "I hope you have all got plenty of rest and are ready for action."

There was a murmur as people voiced their affirmatives and nodded their heads.

"Good," Siren replied, emboldened, "for tonight we take back what is ours and we leave Harker Blake with all that he deserves.  We're going to reclaim the Ebon Crest and leave its ersatz captain for the velocignaths.  We're going to give them everything we've got and we will suffer no defeat!  Who's with me?"

Ellis felt a surge of pride and excitement as he raised his voice with all the others in response.

"Then let's get to it," she said with a smile and everyone in the room replied, "Aye aye, Captain!"

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