Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 88: Flight of the Fire Mage

The Pingous airships were enormous. Each about three times the size of the Destiny's Bounty and twice as tall, they looked like maroon-colored hot air balloons squashed into narrow ovals. Their exteriors were adorned with gold-colored plating that seemed to serve as both fanciful decoration and armor for defense. Below each was a wide wooden deck not unlike a sailing ship's, the difference mainly being with less rigging. There were three of these massive airships, and on each deck of them were at least two dozen armed soldiers. The ships were so low and so close to the cliffside that he could see the men's individual faces—only a few yards away from brushing against the side of the mountain.

"Shields up!"

Kai jumped when the sky suddenly started raining arrows. He glanced up quickly and caught sight of maroon-clad soldiers standing in a row at the railing of the closest airship. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a dozen loaded crossbows aiming down at him.

"Kai!"

A heavy weight slammed into Kai's side and threw him to the ground, just as a volley of bolts sank into the grass where he'd been standing a second ago. Momentarily stunned, Kai gasped for breath, sprawled out on his belly.

A gloved hand cuffed him sharply around the head. "Idiot! I've seen kiders move quicker than that!" Rattan snarled over him, having knocked him over. "Get yourself together, Fire Mage! We have to move fast!" He leapt to his feet and raced away before Kai could think of a snarky comeback or defense.

"How do you move so fast with all this amor?!" Kai groaned as staggered to his feet—clutching the buckler with one hand and feeling his longsword bang against his side—and continued running. He heard another volley of bolts hit the ground behind him. Several people cried out in shock and pain as they were hit. The sight of one of the dog-people stumbling with an arrow sinking into their shoulder flashed by Kai's vision. He gulped and pressed on, seeing the other Pawrelesers running ahead of him. He'd completely lost sight of Jukeni.

The first wave of Pawreles rebels nocked their bows and shot into the sky. Dozens of razor-tipped arrows flew through the air, the majority of them finding their targets: several Pingous soldiers fell back with pained cries when struck, while other arrows pierced the hide of the first airship, sinking into the thick, maroon-colored material or into the wood of the deck.

The second wave of archers stepped forward, these hefting large crossbows. Smoothly, they raised their weapons up and shot at the airship. This time, long ropes trailed behind the thick bolts like wriggling snakes. Kai realized the bolts being shot at the ship were actually grappling hooks; they struck the side of the hull, most sinking into the dark wood. As soon as these were firmly in place, the rebels took their thick cords and tied them quickly to stakes that had been shoved into the ground just seconds beforehand by their comrades.

At first, Kai was sure the ropes would be torn free of the stakes by the force of the airship. Yet, dozens more grappling hooks were shot into the body of the structure, so fast and so efficiently that he barely knew what was happening until it was already done. The airship kept moving, but was yanked to an awkward stop; the many ropes were holding it in place. Some snapped and fell free, but for the moment, the first Pingous airship was held in place by the cliffside.

"Third wave, shoot!" Rantan cried, barely giving the rebels a moment to cheer.

Both archers and crossbowmen came forward and prepared their weapons. Then half a dozen were suddenly thrown off their feet or stumbled to the ground immediately in a chorus of shocked and pained cries. With a jolt, Kai saw their bodies pierced with thick bolts. He risked a glance upward once more to see the Pingous soldiers shooting down at their attackers furiously; dozens of crossbows were firing rapidly down upon the Pawreles rebels, most hitting their targets. More came from the other two airships, though they were soon getting too far away to make any hits. The air was suddenly filled with the shrieks of the wounded.