Chapter 49: A Practical Solution

Nienna paced back and forth along the frozen paths outside in silent contemplation. She pulled the hood tighter around her new silvery hair. Every time she had caught sight of it, it startled her. It didn’t look like her. It didn’t feel like her. Logically, she knew it was only hair, and she could color it whatever shade she wished, but the sudden and involuntary change bothered her greatly. Not wanting to look at it anymore, she used a leather piece to tie her hair back behind her shoulders and then draped a piece of dark linen around her head like a makeshift hood.

Inside a lopsided chamber made of wood and ice at the end of her pacing path, was Quint—still unconscious but in good hands. The kodan healer living at the sanctuary was already hard at work on his wounds and bringing him back to the world of the conscious. After her initial observation, the kodan told Nienna she was optimistic about his recovery. The news came as a relief, and Nienna stepped out of the chamber and into the chilly Shiverpeak air with her face toward the sky, uttering a quiet thanks to Grenth—wherever he may be.

Voices started growing louder by the second behind her. She turned toward them, but then clutched her side as her muscles around her ribs ached. The kodan healer had applied a healing compress and bandaged her up. It helped with the pain, but did not make it go away completely. Only time and rest would do that—two things she was short on these days.

Alena, Dee, Salara, and Tuborg rounded the corner, carrying bundles on their backs. They all looked worn and rough from their outing, but nothing of great concern. She breathed a sigh of relief and hoped they were successful.

“How did it go?” Nienna asked.

Dee took her bundle off her back and let it drop to the ground. It landed with a heavy thud. “As good as this crazy plan can get.”

“I’m still not sure about this,” Alena confessed as she wrung her little hands. “I don’t feel close to qualified to be solving this problem. I like my comfy spot where theory of the abstract and philosophy collide. I do my best work there. My basic understanding of transporting matter is primitive at best, and even if I was an expert, there’s still the issue of finding a power source strong enough to bring it to life.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” Nienna replied gently.

“She doesn’t. I keep telling her we’ll find a solution.” Dee looked over at Alena and winked. “I mean it, we’ll figure this all out, okay?”

Alena nodded, but worry still hung heavy on her brow. “Well, we got what we needed from the location, and we pushed the message through. There was no way to tell it was received, though.”

Nienna nodded. “That’s okay. It was a long shot. We’ll just have to hope they got it.”

“How did negotiations go?” Tuborg asked.

Nienna made a little face. “Eh, some good, some not-so-good. It looks like we were successful enough in buying you some time, but I—I’m afraid Quint was hurt in the process.”

Gasps and words of concern erupted amongst the group.

Nienna put her hands up to quiet them down. “It’s okay. He’ll be fine. The kodan healer isn’t worried about his condition. She’ll fix him all up and have him back up on his feet in no time, I’m sure. I do have some really good news, though.”

Nienna turned and looked back at the lopsided healing chamber and called out to a figure who lingered in the doorway. Salara, who had been quietly standing with the group, brightened as Seren stepped outside. Her dressing had been changed, and a heavy wolf fur hung around her shoulders to keep her warm. The sylvari ran to Seren, her long, burgundy foliage fluttering behind her with every step. She flung her arms around the young guardian, who welcomed the embrace.

“You’re okay!” Salara cried out. “Thank the Pale Tree.”

Seren chuckled and squeezed her tight. “I’m so glad you’re okay too. I’m so sorry I couldn’t fight them off and stay.”

Nienna couldn’t help but smile while watching them.

Tuborg looked to the sky as he heard a series of blasts from unknown origin. “I’m so glad we’re all back together, and I hate to rush this along, but I’m afraid we have a power issue to solve. Ideally before they get here.”

Nienna nodded. “Right, we need to find something with some serious output. Do the kodan have anything in the sanctuary we can use?”

Alena shook her head. “Not that we’ve found so far.”

“How much power do you think we’ll need?” Dee asked.

“Well,” the asura began as she rubbed her head, “The distance between the two points is vast to say the least, so a whole lot—technically speaking.”

Tuborg rubbed his chin, and his thorny whiskers flexed as he thought. “Too bad we’re not in Rata Sum. We’d be swimming in power sources there, I bet.”

“We would be,” Alena replied matter-of-factly, “more than you would know what to do with.”

Clarkus came running up the frozen path with a riffle in hand. He stopped short, using his hind-claws to stop him from sliding on the icy path. “Those bears are damn good fighters, I tell ya. We got them paddlin’ back to the floe with their tails between their legs. The kodan are keeping an eye on ‘em, but the mercenaries aren’t going to back down so easily. They’ll be back.”

“Thank you, Clarkus. Keep us informed of their movements.”

The charr nodded. “You got it, Commander. All’s quiet now, but we do have incoming. Good ones this time.” He handed her a spyglass.

Nienna raised the instrument to her eye and looked where Clarkus directed. Sure enough, the Raven’s Revenge was headed for the sanctuary. A plume of dark smoke floated behind the vessel, and it was not moving with the same grace as it was before. It was clear something was wrong.

“Who is it?” Seren asked as she and Salara joined the group. The two stayed close to one another, neither wanting to separate from the other.

“It’s the Raven. She’s not looking so good. We should meet them in case they need assistance.” Still holding the spyglass, she frowned and started making her way to the entrance with the others following.

The dark form of the Raven’s Reach descended upon the sanctuary like a wounded bird. She set down over an ice formation adjacent to the boardwalk leading to Deep and Troubled Waters’ entrance. The engines continued to run, keeping the balloon and ballonets filled and the vessel afloat just above the surface. The door opened and the gangplank extended down. Captain Danae Morgan wore a deep frown of displeasure on her lips as she descended with Markus and Jakob Maru in tow.

“Jakob!” Alena’s long ears perked right up. She ran across the boardwalk and leapt into her guardian’s burly arms as he picked her up in a warm embrace.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, munchkin. It was hell waiting in that little room on that ship without you.” He set her down and they followed Danae and Markus across the boardwalk back to the others.

“Is everything okay? Your ship didn’t look so good coming in,” Nienna asked.

“We ran into some engine problems while banking around one of the mountains. We weren’t able to make the turn we wanted, and I’m afraid we weren’t able to lead them away.”

“You tried, and that’s all we can ask for,” Nienna replied. “How bad is your ship?”

Danae looked over at Markus who stepped forward with a grim look on his face. “The Raven was already in a bad way when we left. We burned out the engine pretty good on that turn, a belt snapped, and there was a bang from one of the engines. I’m going to have to take it apart to see what that was all about. I’m afraid she’s going to need a big overhaul if we’re going to get her anywhere far.”

“How’s her power source?” Nienna asked.

Both Markus and Danae flashed her a quizzical look. “Why?” the captain inquired, suspicious of Nienna’s motives.

“We have a little power problem and was hoping you and your ship could help.”

Danae raised a dark eyebrow. “What do you mean? What are you planning?”

“A little science project, if you will,” Alena pipped up. “We need to power a makeshift asura gate, but the kodan aren’t as—well—technologically advanced. We need a little help—and some parts.”

Danae eyed them all suspiciously as she grew concerned for her already struggling ship. “And you need the Raven’s power? You’re not going to drain her till she’s dead in the water, are ya?”

“We’re not going to drain her.” Nienna looked over at Alena. “Are we?”

The asura looked nervously around the group. “I uh, I’m not sure we will, and I’m not sure we won’t.”

“That isn’t making me feel confident about giving you access to my ship,” Danae confessed.

“It’s for good reason, I assure you,” Nienna said. “If we manage to get Lord Byrne and the Sanguinary Blade far enough away from his frozen hoard, we may be able to interrupt his hold on them, giving us an upper hand in the battle. We’ll do everything we can to not drain her, but we can’t make promises.”

“How far away do you need him to be?” the captain asked.

“To er on the side of caution—pretty far,” Alena said.

“Can’t you just drag him a mountain away? Won’t that be enough?”

Nienna shook her head.

Danae crossed her arms over her chest. “What about Hoelbrak?”

Nienna knew how protective of the Raven her captain was and asking for access to her ship’s power source was a lot. “I’m sorry. We need to be sure, hence the need to power a gate.”

“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Please, Danae.”

The captain bit the inside of her lip as she considered the heavy request. “All right,” she finally said. “Markus can work with you on getting things set up.” She paused and took a step toward Nienna, her eyes narrowed into two aqua daggers. “As long as you deliver on your promise. We need to get them, Nienna. I won’t stand for Blake’s death going unavenged. Especially not after everything we’ve been through.”

Nienna reached out and gripped Danae’s arm. “We’re going to do everything we can.”

The captain nodded and backed away. “Markus?”

“Yes cap’n,” the engineer replied as he straightened himself.

“Give Nienna and her people access to the Raven’s engines and power source. Help them with whatever they need.”

Markus nodded. “Aye, cap’n.”

Dee looked over at Alena and winked. “That’s your cue, short stuff. You got this.”

“I’m going too. I may not know much about engines, but I’ve got two perfectly good hands and can help,” Jakob insisted.

Alena did not protest his presence this time, and she, Markus, and Jakob made their way onboard the Raven to begin their work. Danae followed to keep an eye on them and her ship. Nienna watched them disappear inside, hoping their plan would work. And if by some miracle they won the battle and everything played out as planned—there was still the matter of the blade’s fate. It was intertwined with hers from birth, just as it would be with her death.

In the distance, a battle cry erupted along the Shattered Floe. Nienna’s heart leapt into her throat. Without a word, she ran toward the eastern side of the sanctuary to investigate. She didn’t stop until she collided with the rail of the northeastern bow. The edge of the floe overflowed with mercenaries and those who were turned by the Sanguinary Blade. They had moved up the catapults and anchored them near the edge of the ice. She watched as they loaded one with large rocks and debris before pushing the lever and letting it fly. Nienna ducked and watched as most of the load simply bounced off the icy surfaces around her, but there was a metallic scraping sound amongst the cacophony of the attack.

She looked around to find the source. Everything seemed fine, until she spotted a large, metal hook gripping the mast with a rope attached. She traced the rope back across the water to the floe, where a mercenary tossed the end to another on a raft. They anchored it to the front end and started pulling themselves across the frigid water.

“Oh gods,” she uttered as she pulled her axe from her holster and cut the rope.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the line went limp, but a shot rang out and another hook wrapped itself around the railing next to her. She cut that one loose too, but another one whizzed by her and made contact with the mast. Trying not to panic, Nienna looked over her shoulder as Deep Song and the other kodan rushed out onto the bow, weapons in hand and ready to fight off their attackers once more.  

“This is it. They’re coming,” Nienna shouted said as she swung her axe down on the rail to cut another line. She turned to Dee who led the others after her. The norn already had her great norn blade in hand. “Tell Clarkus to get out here and help the kodan. I need to go tell Alena she doesn’t have a lot of time. We need to get that thing hooked up as soon as physically possible.”

Tuborg’s thorny whiskers twitched nervously. “How are we going to get it in place?”

Nienna looked down at the water below where the remnants of their boat still bobbed in the water. “I have an idea.”

Dee flashed her a concerned glance. “Not another crazy one.”

“No, this one is much more practical.”