Free A Children's Tale by C B Ash Page B

grabbed up the bundle and raced off for the building Moira and the rest were kept.
    The warrior, the captain and the elder looked around. Smoke rose from burned buildings. Here and there, the braver members of the village stepped from the shelter of ruined homes. Some cried at the destruction, others stared in stony silence while the wounded were led towards the shelter of the natural rock overhang. Another few searched the bodies on the ground for friends and loved ones. Above all, the steambats were not to be seen.
    Hunter shaded his eyes against the afternoon light. "Now, where have the blighters gotten to?"
    Abruptly, the two steambats broke into view overhead and began another strafing run at the village. Utawah, watching the angle of flight, turned to look at the arcing rock formation just behind them. He pointed and spoke to the warrior next to him. Immediately, the two men raced for the rocks and began to climb. Hunter did not understand what they said but understood the sentiment. Bows and arrows are not useful if the target remained out of range. One needed elevation to shorten the distance as best as possible. However, if the steambats pulled from their dive, the effort would be wasted.
    The captain smiled while he finished his thought aloud. "Then the pirates need a reason not to change their attack."
    Hunter planted his feet, out in the open and plain view. It was a fool's errand unless Hunter could distract the pilots and move fast enough to avoid the hungry tendrils of lightning. He drew his pistol with a deep breath and aimed. Twenty feet ahead of the captain, twin electrical bursts from the aircraft licked the ground, eating dirt in two blackened grooves. Hunter stood his ground, aimed and squeezed two shots, then raced for the safety of a ruined stone wall nearby.
    The moment he reached the wall and threw himself over the side, the loud crackle of lightning stopped and the steambat banked overhead. Steam vented from holes in its side near the vehicle's boiler. In the cockpit, the pilot struggled with the controls despite the gout of steam that threatened to obscure his view. With a wild turn, the steambat broke off its attack, veered far right and climbed for the safety of the clouds and higher altitude. The very moment the steam-powered aircraft soared over the rocks, arrows rained down in a deadly shower. More holes opened in the skin of the steambat that now turned and jerked even harder to escape.
    Suddenly, a boom sounded once, then twice. Hunter jumped and spun to see Moira lower her pistols and swear violently as her bullets missed the second steambat. Despite its narrow escape, the second steambat flier banked left, then soared overhead without having fired at the village. The pilot shook his fist at Moira who snarled in return and spit in the man's direction. Arrows suddenly peppered the aircraft, driving the pilot to climb to a higher, safer, altitude away from village, bullets and arrows.
    Hunter grinned and reloaded. "Good show. Overdue to give back what we've been suffering."
    Utawah knelt on the rocks above them and grunted his disgust at the retreating flyers. "They stay away from our weapons and attack from far away. Today they've learned we can still touch them. Perhaps they leave us now."
    Hunter slid his pistol into its holster and flexed his clockwork hand again, still suspicious it was damaged. Sparks of static continued to dance over the brass knuckles and exposed gears. "While I'd like to hope as much, I suspect otherwise. We dealt them a hard sting but nothing more. They'll return at some point."
    "Cap'n!" Moira shouted and pointed at a shape above the tree line.
    There, where the clouds were parted in a rough 'V' shape, a large airship slowly descended. It was long, easily twice as long as the Griffin,  at possibly over one hundred and sixty feet or more. The vessel was held aloft by a large, tight gas bag and a trio of large propellers at its stern, or rear, of the ship. Hunter