The Last of the Sky Pirates (43 page)

‘Prepare to board!’ he bellowed down.

Rook looked up and waved wildly. The sky ship sank lower. The gantry came closer.

‘Wumeru!’ Twig shouted. ‘Wuh-weela-wurr.’
Help Cowlquape aboard
.

‘Professor,’ said Rook urgently, ‘you’ll have to jump.’

‘Jump?’ the ancient professor croaked. ‘I think my jumping days are over.’

‘Try,’ said Rook. ‘You must try’

He looked up. The
Skyraider
was just above them now. As it came down lower, he stepped behind Cowlquape and seized him by the shoulders.

The sky ship drew level, but did not slow down …

‘No, no, I can’t …’ Cowlquape trembled, the years of being perched on the high prison ledge suddenly returning to him with full force as he looked down.

‘Now!’ shouted Twig.

Rook pushed Cowlquape off the gantry. At the same time Wumeru leaned forwards, arms outstretched. She caught the old professor in her great arms and lowered him gently onto the deck. ‘Wuh-wuh,’ she said softly.
You re safe now
.

Overjoyed, Twig locked the flight-levers and hurtled down to the foredeck to greet his old friend. He rushed up, arms open, and embraced him warmly.

‘Cowlquape, Cowlquape,’ he cried, his voice straining with emotion. ‘I can’t tell you what it means to see you again.’

‘Nor I, you, Twig,’ said Cowlquape. ‘Nor I, you.’

At that moment the sky ship gave a sudden lurch. ‘Hold on, old friend,’ said Twig, pulling away. ‘We’re not quite safe yet. But fear not. I won’t let you down.’

Back at the helm, Twig unlocked the levers and tried his best to right the stricken sky ship. ‘Just a little bit longer,’ he groaned, as it trembled and creaked.

‘Wuh-wuh!’ screamed Molleen.
The flight-rock’s breaking up
.

Twig locked the helm and levers a second time, raced to the balustrade and bellowed down. ‘The prow-weight, Weeg!’ he roared. ‘Then the stern-weight!’

‘Wuh-wurra!’ the banderbear shouted back. He’d already cut both of them free.

‘The neben-hull-weights, then,’ Twig shouted. ‘Sever the neben-hull-weights – small, medium
and
large!’

Weeg made no reply, but the next moment the
Skyraider
leaped upwards abruptly, back past the gantry and – under Twig’s expert guidance – soared round the tower and off into the cloudy sky.

As the sky ship sailed past, Orbix Xaxis – Most High Guardian of Night – raised his powerful, exquisitely tooled crossbow. He aimed it at the sky ship’s helm, and fired.

Down on the gantry Rook untethered the
Stormhornet
and leaped into the saddle. Then, standing tall in the stirrups, he jerked the pinner-rope to his right, and rose up into the air – only to pull up sharply a moment later as the tether-rope went taut.

‘Ooof!
’ he gasped as he was thrown forward in his seat.

Rather than soaring away from the gantry, the
Stormhornet
remained stuck, bobbing about in the air like a kite. Rook looked round. He had been careless. In his hurry, instead of reeling in the tether-rope and stowing it neatly, he had left it hanging loose. Now it was snagged on the gantry’s jutting balustrade.

With trembling hands, Rook seized the rope. He tugged it and shook it for all he was worth – but the tether-rope was stuck fast. It would not budge. There was nothing for it but to land again, dismount and pull it free—

‘Halt!’

The bellowed command cut through the air like a knife. Rook’s heart missed a beat. He yanked desperately at the rope. It moved – but only a fraction, and wedged itself tighter than ever. A figure emerged from the doorway at the end of the gantry, crossbow in hand. He raised it to his eye. ‘Halt, or I’ll shoot!’

Rook stared at the wiry individual in the black uniform. Though his hair, shaved back to a shadowy stubble, was shorter than Rook had ever seen it before, the youth was unmistakable. ‘Xanth,’ he gasped.

Xanth lowered the crossbow. ‘Rook? Rook Barkwater.’ His dark eyes narrowed. ‘Is that you?’ Rook raised his goggles. Their eyes met. From behind Xanth came the sound of heavy boots pounding closer and closer. Rook’s heart hammered furiously in his chest. Xanth stepped forwards.

‘Please, Xanth,’ said Rook quietly. ‘For friendship’s sake—’

The pounding of the boots grew louder. The unit of guards was almost upon them.

Xanth raised his crossbow and took aim. Rook closed his eyes.

There was a click, a
twang
and a whistle as the crossbow loosed its bolt and sent it speeding towards the
Stormhornet
. Rook froze. The next instant – with a soft
thwpp
– the bolt sliced through the tether-rope and the
Stormhornet
catapulted forward into the air.

Seizing control of the skycraft, Rook darted up and off into the swirling mists. He flicked the pinner-rope to the left and felt the
Stormhornet
gather speed beneath him. As he flew on, he glanced over his shoulder and glimpsed Xanth – his shaven head gleaming in the bright rising sun – standing in the middle of a large group of Guardians.

Had Xanth shot the bolt through the tether-rope on purpose, deliberately setting him free? Rook desperately wanted to think so. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered.

As he left the Tower of Night behind, he saw the
Skyraider
in the sky up in front. But something was wrong. It wasn’t waiting for him. Instead, listing heavily to one side, it was gathering speed. Past Undertown it went, with the boom-docks ahead …

If it didn’t change course, it would sail over the great jutting Edge itself, and be lost in Open Sky.

ealigning the nether-sail, Rook stood up in the stirrups and sped forwards. As he battled to get closer to the
Skyraider
, he realized just how bad the situation had become. The flight-rock seemed to be crumbling, with ever larger chunks falling down from the cage. What was more, without its hull-weights, the sky ship looked out of control and at the mercy of the turbulent wind that held it in its grip.

As the
Skyraider
careered over the boom-docks, Rook could see the banderbears abandoning ship. With their parawings strapped to their backs, they leaped off the balustrades, tugged their rip-cords and sailed down to the ground below – Old Molleen, with no flight-rock left to tend; Wuralo, the female whose life he had saved at the Foundry Glade; and Wumeru, his friend. Last to jump was Weeg. As he launched himself off from the deck, Rook saw that he was carrying a ragged bundle in his paws. He gasped.

It was Cowlquape, wrapped up in the banderbear’s protective embrace, like a babe in arms. The pair of them were swooping down through the sky towards the boom-docks. Pulling on the pinner-sail, Rook set the
Stormhornet
on a path to meet them. A cloud rolled in and he lost sight of the distant
Skyraider
.

‘I just hope they’ve all made it,’ Rook murmured, as he approached the muddy shores of the boom-docks and swooped in to land.

He brought the
Stormhornet
down next to one of the great overflow pipes that would lead them back into the labyrinth of sewer tunnels. The banderbears were huddled together.

‘Where’s the captain?’ called Rook, tethering the
Stormhornet
and rushing over. Cowlquape pointed at the clearing horizon. Rook’s eyes followed the direction of his bony finger.

High up in the sky and far out beyond the Edge, the
Skyraider
was still airborne – but only just. With no weights left to balance it, the sky pirate ship was on its side, juddering as it sailed on. The useless weight-ropes dangled; the sails flapped in the gathering wind. Rook raised his telescope to his eye and focused in on the helm.

‘I can see him!’ he said, his voice breaking with emotion. ‘Why doesn’t he abandon her?’

Wumeru was suddenly by Rook’s side. ‘Wuh-wug. Weela-lugg.’
He is mortally wounded, a crossbow bolt in his back
. She hung her head.
He chooses to die with his sky ship
.

They stood there, side by side, arms raised to shield their eyes from the sun, watching the great sky ship sailing away.

‘He was so brave,’ Rook trembled. ‘So selfless …’ Suddenly, the
Skyraider
was flying no longer. The buoyant flight-rock had died, and the sky ship was dropping out of the sky like a stone. Down it came, gathering speed as it fell, before – in the blink of an eye – disappearing below the Edge. Rook gasped. Tears welled in his eyes. ‘Oh, Captain Twig,’ he murmured.