Chapter 27: Breaking The Barrier

Once the prisoners are squared away, the Allies start planning the next phase of their mission. How to bring down the magical barrier? For the last couple of days Stephen and several other wizards and witches have been flying on dragons to the barrier to study it.

Stephen speaks first, "I need to be able to study it longer and on a stationary platform. I say we take a couple of these ships of theirs and go research that thing properly."

Since no one else has any ideas, and it is not in the nature of a Guardian to do the work for them, they proceed with that one.

"I don't suppose anyone knows how to sail a ship?" Allan asks, as they are gathering the supplies for the voyage.

Everybody stops for a minute, and then Stephen remembers they are surrounded by elves, and many of them are master sailors. As it turns out a dozen of the former slaves are also sailors and volunteer. It is a good sign.

"Well, for us it will just be the one, but I think we should bring along another one with supplies and tools. You know, come to think of it, maybe we should bring along a third ship packed full of explosives, and we'll try blowing the darn thing up." Allan always did love his simple ideas.

"It can't be that simple, but okay." agrees Stephen.

It takes the elves two more days to be satisfied that the ships are seaworthy and every thing is stowed away. It has been raining the entire time, but with the storm comes a wind that is unusually blowing out to the sea, so they will have no problem launching the vessels. Once the big beautiful green and black sails catch the wind and fill with promise, the next stage of the endeavor is underway.

"From what the dragons have told the elves, and give or take wind conditions, it will take us nearly a week to reach the magical barrier."

Unfortunately the time is spent in relative boredom, and that is never a good thing for Carly. If Carly wasn't transformed into a dolphin or some other water creature swimming with a couple of pods that seemed to have adopted their ships, she would have been really annoying.

For the most part, Carly makes things disappear and reappear somewhere else just when you need them most. For a supreme being of creation she sure tells lousy jokes.

Allan is sure her favorite times are when she transforms into something surprising and scares everybody. One time they have to pull up sails and turn the ships around because she thought it would be funny if she turned into a ghost and went and haunted the ship with the human sailors on it. Well, they didn't think it was funny, and three of them jumped overboard to get away.

Another time, as Allan is watching her and the other dolphins ride on the wake created from the bow of their ship, she disappears into the depths all of a sudden. Not a minute later a sea monster of gargantuan size rises out of the sea and lunges for one of the ships. Allan knows right away that it is Carly, but a wall of water almost drowns him. So neither the crew of the other ship nor Allan thinks it is very funny, although Stephen seems to enjoy everything she does.

"Don't encourage her."

"Ah, she's just having fun, and besides it helps pass the time." Humph.

They are now four days into the journey, and Allan has read every book he brought, so boredom really starts setting in. He keeps trying, but it is very hard to pull a prank on a supreme being of the universes, so eventually he has to give up and all he can do is tell her jokes.

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Orange."

"Orange who?"

"Orange you glad we're on a ship instead the bottom of the sea." She laughs, but several of the bored elves who were listening walk away at that point.

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"It's ... Whoa what is that?" Allan points at a great swirling maelstrom in the sea just before them.

All three ships hit it and get caught in its swirl and start spinning around faster and faster. Carly is giggling and dancing around the middle of the ship.

"Carly!" Allan says in his most stern tone of voice.

She stops and looks at Allan, and then sticks her tongue out at him. Of course the maelstrom goes right away. Allan guesses she has gotten sick of his knock knock jokes too.

It is the fifth night out and the stars are shinning brilliantly, when they first begin to notice the purple glow from the barrier that is still another two days sail away. Once the sun goes down after that, the southern horizon is alive with a purple glow. Majestic lights seem to dance across the sky.

As they get closer to their destination, Allan stops bothering Stephen because at this point he is down below studying all the magical books and charms he brought along. If his nose isn't buried in a book, he is brainstorming with the other wizards and witches. Every once in a while a bellowing cloud of smoke comes rolling up from below ship as the magi are trying different things that might break through the barrier.

They always have a flight of dragons with them, but the closer they get to the barrier more dragons show up, just in case the demon dragons try to stop them. Of course, once the barrier is breeched, it is going to be the dragons doing most of the fighting.

On the sixth day they start hearing a humming sound that can only be coming from the magical barrier.

On the seventh day, and just hours from their destination, they can feel the humming.

"That sure is a lot of power." Now a comment like that might be waved off as obvious, but when one of the most powerful creatures in all of existence makes that observation, it carries a little more weight.

"Carly, I don't suppose you could bring it down."

"Of course."

"I don't suppose you would."

"Nope."

"I didn't think so, but I thought I would ask anyway."

"I know."

"Carly?"

"Yes."

"I love you."

"I know, Allan." And he does too, because this being is something truly special and sees far beyond their capabilities.

As circumstance would have it, they reach the barrier just after nightfall. The sky may be dark with only stars visible in the far northern sky, but there is no problem seeing. Everything glows a brilliant purple. The humming noise is loud but bearable. The vibration from the humming is actually quite pleasant.

"It's go time, brother."

"Humph. Alrighty, then. Let's see, well maybe." Stephen walks up to the barrier, which is easy to do because the elf sailors have the ship knocking right up against it to the port side, and touches it with his staff.