(Page 1 of 2) The Devil's Bowl by Steve Jones -B5
 (5 ratings)
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SUMMARY: Another entry in the vs. flash fiction contest. The Minotaur, the invaders terrible airship came gliding over the ocean. It was a battle airship, an ironclad. From her body projected a dozen or more sails, masts above and below. The devil's ball, it's counterweight reaching down below the ship, in this case a devil's bowl, where a lookout and two archers lay waiting. Deep inside her wood and metal body the floating crystal, glowing with rage to lift the ship, protected by walls and sailors. A thousand soldiers came ashore under the Minotaur's protection.
It had been said that Captain Teach of the Minotaur could turn her round the tip of a pin and brush the devil on the tops of the trees.
The defending army massed to stop the invaders and faced one volley of darkened arrows after another from the dreaded airship. The invaders waited as the enemy ranks were thinned before they joined the battle. The sharpshooters in the devil's bowl made a target of any soldier of rank, giving cause for more than one colonel to shout the order; "Shoot for the devil!"
Then, when it looked as if the invaders would win the battle, our ship came soaring down the hill. The Merimelee had arrived, under the command of Captain Black, to the cheers of the defenders. The two airships fought through the day as two armies fought below, neither ship gaining the advantage, and then through the night as dark clouds heralding a storm blew swiftly in.
A rainy dawn found the two ships out over the ocean, still circling, fighting both their enemy and the storm winds. The survivors on the ground stopped their fighting to watch as a waterspout formed and took both mighty airships to a watery grave.
"... At least, that's what I heard of it, and it's true every word." Jeren, the foot soldier who had joined the catapult detail on Wolfright hill, said.
"As well for us," Nicklas, their leader said. "The battle was won despite the airships. We repelled the invaders, for the time."
"They'll be back," Dalba said eagerly. "I know it. To think we were here upcoast from the real fight, sending our boulders for their catapults. If they had known to come ashore here they would have had us."
"And not follow their dread airship?" Nicklas said. "They wouldn't think it."
"Lost at sea," Jeren mused. "It was to be the most momentous battle of all time."
"Perhaps it still is," Langdon said, standing up to point. "Look!"
Two airships, tattered and torn, had drifted away from the coast and into their valley, circling each other. The devil's bowl of the Minotaur lay empty, it's sides tattered by catapult rocks. The strings of the Merimelee were ragged and knotted. Yet both pressed on, fighting with whatever the storm had left to them.
"We have arrows," Dalba said.
"Don't waste them," Nicklas said. He was standing on the hill, considering the ships as they fought, oblivious to all else. The Minotaur's captain was being true to his reputation, touching the highest leaves of the trees as he chased Captain Black. Nicklas would have to think quickly, else be the spectator in this arena.
"Langdon, Jeren," Nicklas said.
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