Elizabeth and Alice in Otherland: Part 7

"Alright, now hold still."

Finder gently grasped one of the shards sticking out of Mariner's back and tugged slightly. Mariner swore furiously and kicked his legs out in protest as Finder freed the glass. Satisfied, Finder let the blue fragment fall to the floor.

"I said hold still you big baby. You're making this harder than it has to be."

"I'll kick and swear as much as I damn well please. I've got a right to it." Mariner then folded his arms defiantly. "Now let's keep at it."

The group had found a small abandoned bookstore to lay low in for the time being. The barricades had proved to be ineffective against Mariner's great strength and so far it seems that nobody had noticed their trespass.

Elizabeth and Alice both watched in concern as Finder worked on Mariner. Elizabeth had tried to help, but Finder rejected the notion out of hand saying "You two have been doing all the heavy lifting around here, time for me to pull my weight." And so they waited.

Mariner winced as Finder extracted another glass shard. "Ye got it all?"

Finder snorted. "Not even close, Mariner. Now stand still."

Elizabeth winced as she watched Finder slowly extract the glass from Mariner's back. It had been deeper than she had thought. "Are you alright?"

"M'girl I've been through far worse." Mariner replied, beaming even as a tear began to form in his right eye.

The large clock on the wall indicated that it was just before midnight when Finder finally completed his task. Relieved, Mariner had slumped against the wall

"Ye got somethin' ta drink in that pack of yers?"

Finder rustled around in his pack and produced a small green bottle that he handed to Mariner. Putting the bottle to his lips Mariner took an exploratory first sip, and then downed the contents. "Thank ye kindly. I feel better already."

"Thank Finder." Elizabeth said, edging closer to two. "Is he...is he gonna be okay?"

Finder nodded. "He'll be fine. He just needs to rest for a bit."

"Not to intrude, but what do we do now?" Alice said, joining the rest. "We're still a quite a distance from our destination and with no means to get there."

"That's not entirely true." Mariner replied, wiping his mouth with one yellow sleeve. "There's an aerocel a few blocks from here. The king's men use it to patrol the skies."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "And we're going to sneak in and take one? Sounds dangerous. I like it."

"So in the morning we'll-"

"The mornin'? We don't have time fer that. Night's the best time to be sneakin' in."

"But your wounds."

"Elizabeth is right." Finder added. "You need to relax."

"My back's fine." Mariner declared, taking a knee. With some effort he managed to right himself. "I ain't slowing us down."

The aerocel was a large circular structure consisting of a rotating platform. Suspended from the ceiling of the structure were several small aircraft. A number of guards, stout knights of parchment, patrolled the structure.

Returning from his brief scouting of the area Finder scampered up the side of the wall to join the rest of the group. "Looks like 7 guards. But the aircraft are there and near as I can figure they're in working order." With a grin he rummaged through his pocket and produced a small silver key. "And we've even got a key to start one up."

"That's m'boy."

Approaching the aerocel proved easy enough. The guards they couldn't sneak past they were able to distract with relative ease. Even Mariner's thunderous footsteps were masked by the sound of the guard's own padding feet. By the time they staked out an aircraft to commandeer thoughts of failure had been all but erased from Elizabeth's mind. All that was between them and their prize was one more guard.

"He's not leaving."

"I guess we'll have to take this one out. Mariner, you're up."

Mariner bounded across the platform towards the creature. As he brought his hook down on the attacker a spasm shot through his body, redirecting the blow into a clumsy swing that caught the guard in the neck, nearly decapitating it. The guard's body rapidly curdled into a black foam. But not before it let out a terrible scream, alerting the nearby guards. From across the field several more cries could be heard in answer.

"Well that's just great!" Finder exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "Come on, let's hurry!"

Elizabeth ran her hand across the plane's silver exterior. "Here we are. Finder, where's the key?"

"Right here."

Hopping into the pilot seat Elizabeth took in the controls. It seemed simple enough. Almost like a bike, albeit with a few more levers and buttons. Taking a deep breath Elizabeth inserted the key, turned it, and...nothing. "What do we do? It's not starting!"

"Rotate the front thingy!" Finder cried.

"Front thingy?" Alice looked back to Finder "We're all going to die aren't we?"

"Enough of that, 'ere they come!"

Looking out at the field Elizabeth saw that their position would be quickly overrun by the multitude of parchment creatures overtaking their position. Elizabeth leapt out of the plane and switched places with Finder at the front of the craft. Putting every bit of effort she could muster Elizabeth turned the heavy propeller. Her efforts were rewarded by the sputtering of the engine as it roared to life.

"Yeah! Yeah! That's it! Guys, we're leaving!"

Elizabeth and Alice both hopped into the plane. It was as Alice was switching seats with Finder that Elizabeth noticed Mariner still standing outside the plane, bellowing a defiant challenge. It was clear he had no intention of moving from the spot.

"Mariner!"

"Sorry girls, it has to be done." Mariner replied over his shoulder.

"No it doesn't! "Mariner, please!"

Silently Alice detached the plane and taxied it into position. As they took off Elizabeth spared a glance down at the aerocel, and immediately regretted the act. Mariner was doing what he could, but he was quickly being dragged under the mass of attackers. His sacrifice would buy them time. But it hadn't been worth the cost.