Inside the Main Ventilation Shaft
The air in the tunnel rushed with hurricane force, carrying the acrid smell of the smoke bomb Silas had left behind.
"Move faster!" Silas shouted from the rear, pushing Poggles' shoe forward. "I hear the hum in the walls. They're increasing the fan pressure to suck us back in!"
"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Poggles screamed, his voice echoing metallically. "But the main exhaust fan is right ahead! It's spinning fast enough to slice steel!"
They stopped abruptly. In front of them, massive fan blades, three meters in diameter, spun madly, blocking the only exit. The gap behind the fan looked out onto an external cliff, where pale daylight mixed with the fog.
"Elyra," Silas called out. "Can you..."
Elyra shook her head weakly. She could barely crawl, let alone time a sword strike to cut a fan spinning at 3000 RPM.
"Damn," Silas muttered. He pulled an old pocket watch from his coat, popped the back cover, and extracted a tiny, magnetized gear.
"Poggles! Take this. I want you to throw it exactly into the center of the fan. The magnet will throw off the balance."
"And what if I miss? My hand will turn into lemur slices!"
"If you miss, we all turn into slices! Throw it!"
Poggles closed his eyes, calculated the timing based on the sound of the air, and tossed the tiny gear.
TING!
The gear stuck to the fan's center hub. The rotational balance shifted. The blades began to wobble violently, then crashed into the metal frame.
CRUNCH! SCREEECH!
The fan ground to a halt with a horrific shriek, the blades shattering and leaving a gap just big enough to squeeze through.
"Out! Now!"
Silas shoved Elyra and Poggles through the gap, then jumped after them, landing on an external loading platform suspended on the rocky side of the island.
External Loading Platform – The Abyss
The wind outside was cold and harsh. The platform overlooked a dizzying drop, and below, a rough sea crashed against sharp rocks.
The Floating Whisper was far away, docked in the mud on the lower beach, looking as small as a matchbox.
"We are trapped," Elyra whispered, looking into the abyss.
"Not exactly," Silas began to pull out a flare gun, but stopped when he heard a familiar, terrifying sound.
Tap... Tap... Tap.
The sound of a metal cane striking the iron floor of the platform.
From the platform's side door, the "Crow Man" (The Overseer) emerged. His mask was shattered, his eyes completely shut and burned, but he was smiling. His ears twitched slightly with every gust of wind.
"Thought blinding me would save you?" the man said in a terrifyingly calm voice. He raised his massive sonic rifle. "I don't need to see you. Your fearful heartbeats are loud enough to guide me."
He aimed the rifle with deadly precision at Silas's chest.
"Elyra, behind me," Silas whispered. His mind raced. The man relied on hearing. He had to confuse him.
"You rely on sound, Overseer?" Silas shouted. "Tactical error on an island full of scrap!"
Silas kicked a loose metal pipe on the floor with force. CLANG!
The Overseer fired immediately at the sound. A sonic wave crushed the pipe into metal dough.
Silas seized the moment, ran to the left, and kicked an empty barrel. BOOM!
The Overseer fired again, obliterating the barrel.
"You are playing a dangerous game, Writer!" The Overseer screamed in rage, beginning to fire sonic waves randomly in a wide arc. "I will shatter your bones with vibrations!"
One of the waves hit the floor near Elyra, knocking her toward the edge of the platform.
"Elyra!" Silas screamed.
His scream revealed his position.
The Overseer turned immediately toward Silas, a grin of victory on his face. "Found you."
The barrel of his rifle began to glow purple, charging a lethal shot.
There was no time to run.
Silas looked at Elyra, then at the sea, then at his pocket. He pulled out a strange, brass whistle. It wasn't a normal whistle; it was a "Summoning Whistle" operating on ultrasonic frequencies.
He blew into it with all his might.
No sound audible to humans came out.
The Overseer laughed. "Desperate attempt..."
He pulled the trigger.
But before the wave could launch, the mountain split.
CRAAAAAASH!
From below, The Floating Whisper climbed the cliff face. Its hydraulic claws stabbed the rock with power, its engines roaring like an angry beast.
The ship appeared suddenly behind the platform, smashing through the iron railing.
The shock of the sound and vibration threw the Overseer off balance. He dropped his rifle.
"Poggles! The cannons!" Silas shouted.
From the ship's bow, a cannon opened... firing not shells, but a massive "Anchor Net."
The net shot out, wrapping around Silas, Elyra, and Poggles, and yanked them forcefully toward the safety of the ship's deck.
"Nooooo!" The Overseer screamed, trying to grab the edge of the net, but the ship had already started to retreat.
The Floating Whisper fired its rear jet thrusters and leaped from the cliff toward the sea, leaving the Overseer screaming alone on the crumbling platform.
Aboard the Ship – Open Sea
The ship hit the water with a massive splash, creating a huge wave, then floated and stabilized.
On the wet wooden deck, Silas untangled the net and helped Elyra up.
She was shivering, but this time from the cold, not fear.
"Did we... did we survive?" she asked.
"We survived," Silas answered, looking back at the island beginning to drift away and vanish into the fog.
Poggles ran to hug his leg. "I love this ship! I'm going to polish every bolt in it!"
Silas carried Elyra into the warm cabin. He placed her in the hammock and covered her with a wool blanket.
"Silas..." she whispered before closing her eyes. "The story... you didn't finish it. What happened to the silver fish?"
Silas smiled, sitting beside her, taking out the Anchor Log.
"The silver fish flew away, Elyra. But they left behind glowing scales... to guide lost sailors on their way back."
Elyra slept peacefully.
But Silas didn't sleep.
He walked to the cockpit and opened the map they had stolen. He drew a red line toward "The Island of Hollow Echo."
"Rest now, Poggles," Silas said, his eyes gleaming with new determination. "Because the next stop isn't just an island. It's a grave for the truth."