The Great Magical Mishap

Chapter 4 - Furious Flight

Harrold, who considered himself a realist, knew that the usefulness of Purplish was, sadly, the only thing preventing them from being hunted, which would lead to certain extinction. In a way, the Purplish were much like floors. Both only existed for their usefulness, but this usefulness required a light touch of torture. For some reason both floors and animal activists never seemed to think of it that way, proven by their unending ungrateful complaining. Thankfully no one was aware of the suffering of floors and the floors themselves couldn't be understood, therefore they were slightly less annoying than activists. 

"Clear the aft, lower the mast! Get ready!" the Captain ordered loudly. The wings were already pulled back in towards the ship, and the crew lowered the primary mast backwards. The mast now extended beyond the back of the ship. The Captain gave a slight nod to the crew after the ship was positioned right over the Purplish. Two of the crew members walked towards the edge of the ship, carrying a rather large and hefty looking bag. 

"You might want to hold on to something," Harrold warned Pat before grabbing onto the nearest railing himself. 

Pat followed suit with a hurried, somewhat panicky, motion. The two crew-members threw the bag overboard. Peggy took aim with the harpoon gun and fired at the bag causing everyone on deck to scatter in search of something to hold on to. Nothing happened for a moment, as everyone looked around in silence. Then, they heard a loud and high pitched wheezing sound over the storm. The ship started turning slowly. The Captain was on the wheel in an instant, trying to keep the ship pointed in the right direction.

 "Uh, Harrold?" Pat said as he nudged Harrold with his elbow, "Are we sinking?" 

Based on the surrounding rocks which were seemingly growing, this indeed looked to be the case. Harrold looked behind him over the railing. The Purplish was sucking in an incredible volume of water, causing the ship to be caught in a whirlpool. The wheezing sound disappeared, quickly being replaced by a new sound, reminiscent of boiling water, only much louder. Suddenly the ship started shaking violently. Broken planks rattled the on deck. Here we go. 

A massive bang came from beneath the ship as the Purplish shot up the collected water at tremendous speed, sending the ship skywards with it. Harrold could feel the air rushing by him, pressuring him downwards. Both Harrold's ears and stomach weren't pleased with the current situation and did everything in their power to inform him of their displeasure. The vibrations picked up as well, it felt like the ship was in the middle of an earthquake. The kraken and stormy weather hadn't been pleasant experiences, but this seemed on an entirely different level from even that. Harrold knew that the hull was the strongest part of an airship, but he wasn't confident that this particular excuse for an airship would survive an onslaught of this magnitude. The ship continued to rise higher and higher, but the pressure was suddenly getting a lot more manageable. They were slowing down. After what had felt like several minutes, the vibrations stopped as suddenly as they had started.

"Release the wings! Quickly now!" the Captain ordered. The ship had reached the peak of its jump. The wings shot outward at almost the perfect time, allowing them to glide forward high in the sky. 

Harrold released the railing. His hands joined his stomach in protest as he had quite literally been holding on for dear life. His ears had gone back to work after realizing the whole protesting thing was a futile endeavor. Harrold finally dared to open his eyes and was met with an unbelievable view. That's what anyone else would call it at least, he himself wasn't particularly moved by such things. The ship had pierced the clouds and was now, in what seemed to be a gross violation of the laws of physics, gently coasting through the sky. The High Court of Physics would eventually punish them for that. They always did. The sudden calm after the nerve-wracking jump felt unreal. It couldn't possibly be more quiet and tranquil. The sun lit up the skies, coloring it a vibrant beautiful orange. It felt like they had entered a different dimension which, while possible, was absolutely not the case this time, making it all the more special. No one on the ship dared speak, as if afraid to disturb this wondrous moment.