Chapter 2:

Chapter 2:

The

Legend’s

course was set due east, it had been for several days. Captain Cox worked to keep the ship at an advantageous altitude for wind and temperature. Even though it was well into December, the temperature at sea level remained unbearable for Helena and most of the crew. This close to the equator, there was little difference in the seasons.

They had passed over the emerald green forests of Indo-China and were now over the deep blue waters of the South China Sea. The days slipped away, and DeLaval never returned. Helena had no indication the air elemental would ever return. With his disappearance, all hope of Doyle returning safely to the

Legend

disappeared as well.

From time to time, she still cursed the thought of the San Francisco detective. He had made her think of love when she was certain the emotion was not meant for her. No matter how many times Helena scolded herself for being childish, that man would creep back into her life. She knew Doyle remained a distraction better left alone. All her brain power needed to focus on the task at hand and find her father before it grew too late to save the world.

In retrospect, DeLaval had done her a great favor. Helena learned long ago that Legendary Creatures had motivations all their own. She was certain now, the more distant the Creatures were from humans, the harder it became to envision their plans, wants, and desires. Sigmund never quite understood why DeLaval helped him in the first place and could not fathom why he left with Doyle now. It made little sense to Helena either, but in the grand scheme of things, it really didn’t matter. She missed the man, even if she would not admit it to herself.

Helena understood why Doyle left, but it didn’t make his sneaking out any easier. She hoped he remained safe and found a way to free Tsang Mei from the Land of the Immortals. The sad thing was Helena still needed to locate the Kunlun Mountains and narrow down the spot where Tsang Mei resided. That was the route Master Ao had detailed for her to find her father. She didn’t think it possible to do one without the other.

She tried many times to visit Master Ao by wind walking but found herself unable to concentrate to that state of relaxation. No matter how hard she meditated, fear crept into her soul. Fear became the mind killer, it held her back on so many things. The closer the

Legend

flew to China the more she feared what waited for all of them.

Helena felt certain the thought process of the humans remained just as foreign to the Creatures. Jack, the Tommyknocker, remained heartbroken after Doyle’s disappearance. Helena fed him sweets every day in order to keep her ship safe from his mischievous nature. He swore he would not take his anger out on the ship, but there was no way Helena would take that risk. Without the

Legend

, her quest was over.

Gin and Rock spoke little. Helena had tried to explain what happened, but they gave no indication they understood the concepts. What might motivate a giant rock creature to remain with her? The Salamander was even more foreign to her thinking.

Only a few days from Canton, Helena purposely put off the meeting she had to lead as long as possible. The crew needed time to decide their fate. Helena didn’t want a mutiny on her hands. Each person needed to know the truth about where they planned to go next. They all needed the option to jump ship in Canton. Guangzhou would be the last major city the

Legend

would pull into. Once they set out into the wilds of China, they would stop little.

The crew gathered on the main deck, waiting for Helena to address them. Even Rock and Gin left the safety of the workshop to listen. Helena wasn’t sure if either would understand the ramifications of her choices, but she needed to let them know her decision the best she could. She needed them to have one last chance to decide to stay or leave.

Rather than her crew think she had finally lost her mind, she had decided not to tell them their ultimate destination. Few knew all the details. Helena hated being kept in the dark, but now she saw how, at times, control of information was needed to protect the ship and the ones she loved. Only Sigmund, Mister Wizard, and Captain Cox knew nearly the whole story… or at least what they needed to know to make her crazy plan work. Certain aspects of her plan even she wasn’t sure were humanly possible.

Now she stood watching them. They stopped talking as soon as she put her hands on the rail. A rich young woman making decisions that might shape the world as they knew it, if they only knew the truth… In a few days, the world as they knew it might end, or it was all rubbish and Helena chased after a fool’s errand.

Helena cleared her throat and spoke in a clear voice. “Before we reach Canton, each of you will need to reach a decision. This might be our last port of call. Guangzhou is a major port with connections to the West.”

The crowd murmured, but there were no direct questions.

She let them calm before continuing. “I have told you from the beginning, the goal was to find my parents, or at least find out what happened to them. Once we leave Canton, we will be heading into uncharted territory deep into China’s interior and the mountains… Unexplored mountains.”

Every eye in the group fixed on Helena.

Next came the hardest part. “Anyone that wants off in Canton, I will provide a ticket for passage back to San Francisco. I will not leave you stranded in a strange land.”

This brought quiet muttering but still no direct questions.

“I wish I could tell you more, but my parents’ writings are… hard to decipher. I am not sure they will come along peacefully, even if we do find them.” That was the closest she could bring herself to say her parents were bat-crap crazy.

How could she get anyone to join her if she told them they built a time machine to possibly chase after her father, and her mother, into the past to stop the end of the world…? Helena had no idea where her mother traveled to. She was probably dead or out of reach from any human.

“Please let Captain Cox know your intentions before we reach Guangzhou. That is all.”

She left before any questions could be asked. She had spoken with Captain Cox the night before, and he outlined what would be needed for the trip into the mountains. How many crewmen would be needed, that is, the supplies were the easy part of the outfitting.

Helena had to be cryptic. She knew several factions were still trying to stop her. A slip of the tongue by one of the crew might spell the expedition’s doom. There were invisible forces, monsters, waiting around every corner, it seemed.

Mister Wizard and Rosa had been hard at work adding features to make the

Legend

easier to control, but people would still be needed. Helena would never be able to fly the ship alone. The time machine had been completed using her father’s designs. The two inventors knew what they built. Helena asked them to keep it a secret.

Mister Wizard had repeatedly warned her about the dangers of time travel and the dangers of paradox or of changing the time stream. Time travel only served to give Helena a raging headache. The stitches in her scalp had been removed, and her hair hid her scar, but the crease in her head throbbed when she thought too much about what they were trying to do.

Activating the time machine would be an act of desperation. She would only choose that route if she saw no other option to save the world from the impending destruction by the Rakshasa.

Captain Cox and Mister Wizard estimated four or five able sailors could handle the ship. Helena hoped there would be that many left once they reached Canton and the crew took their leave. Helena had counted seven people that would stay for certain. All her friends.

No matter the outcome, Helena prepared herself for heartbreak. She knew many of her friends would pick the safety of sea travel home over traveling with her into the unknown.

It was too early, people would need time to think. The longer Helena remained in sight, the higher the likelihood someone would agree to go—and not really want to—simply to please her. Better to hide in her stateroom for a few hours and study. There was always research to complete.

She had searched for several bits of information but not found what she needed: an easy way to kill a Rakshasa. The British Army had done little damage to the monster that attacked in the swamp. If it had not been for Sister Ping’s arrow piercing the neck of Commander Reginald Gotswain-Herbert the fourth, the disguised Rakshasa would have killed them all.

Helena learned long ago that the Naga had a natural venom they placed on their arrows. The poison nearly killed Doyle. She didn’t know if it was the placement of the shot in the neck or the toxin that had brought the monster down so quickly.

Her research into the Naga creatures had shed no new information above what she’d learned before. There was only one way to kill a Naga forever, cut off its head and burn it to ashes. She found some information on their race but nothing useful as far as she could tell. If the war involved the Rakshasas against the humans, Helena saw little hope of the humans prevailing.

Helena ran her fingers over her parents’ books, she wished there was a way to find the information quickly and easily, but alas she still needed to scan for any pertinent information. One page at a time.

Fear of failure. What if Helena found no way to change the future, and the earth was destroyed? Fear had even stopped her from practicing her magic craft, if that was even what she had. Her need to control her power scared her. What if she lost control and blew up her own ship?

A solid knock came at her door, pulling her attention from her thoughts.

“Yes?” Helena called out. She rubbed her eyes, searching for tears.

“It's me, can I come in?” Helena immediately recognized Sigmund’s British accent.

“Please do.” She slumped into her seat when he stepped in with a grim face. “Tell me the bad news.”

“They are still discussing it, but more than likely most of the men will leave. Your friends are not speaking around me. We both know the Russians are in this for the long game.”

“I understand they want to escape into the past, but I’m not certain that’s a good idea. Fooling with time might be what causes the machines to attack… The best thing might be to stop my father and not join him. What if he somehow caused the events to unfold by going back?”

“I’m sure Aidan… your father, would not do something so evil on purpose. The man I knew… he is a good man, if at times misguided.”

“You have not seen him for ten years. There is no telling what has happened to his mind. We both know magic has a cost. My mother and aunt both paid a heavy price for their abilities.” Helena had a hard time thinking of Deirdre, her death still fresh on her mind.

That and the Creature Ezra that took Deirdre’s soul. He showed Helena… horrors she would never forget, of what she wasn’t certain, perhaps a possible version of the future. What if her father started the chain of events that set that version of the future into motion?

“I have never heard of… Your aunt and her family have been witches for centuries. I have never heard or seen insanity run on that side of the family.” Sigmund shook his head as he spoke.

“Are you so sure? Look at me. How many times have I been accused…” Helena couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.

She had nearly been committed as crazy and burned alive as a witch. That was before she showed any signs of having a power. What would happen if she openly displayed what she was capable of?

Helena carefully hid her new magical powers. She wasn’t sure how they fit in with the way she learned about how magic worked. She remained different, even from witches. What she studied on the subject… what she did should be impossible for a human to do. Her powers were undocumented. The ability to control or break machinery wasn’t a normal magic gift. For Helena, it seemed more of a curse.

“People fear what they don’t understand.” Sigmund placed his hand on the books. “Being a witch has not affected Ludmila irreversibly.”

Helena nodded. As far as she could tell, the Russian countess was fairly normal for a woman over one hundred and twenty-five years old. Without knowing what she was like as a child, there was no way to truly judge how warped she might be.

“Don’t despair just yet. The crew has a few days to think things over. Give them time. We will take a roll call before we anchor, to tally how many tickets to purchase. Some of the sailors might take the cash and hop on a new ship. You must admit we are in uncharted waters here.”

“In more ways than one. I still don’t have a course laid out for when we leave Canton. I hope our contact will give us some idea where we need to search for Tsang Mei.” Helena shook her head. “How do you ask for directions to the mountains where the gods live?”

“Do we need to?” Sigmund asked.

“I gave my word to Doyle and the woman. Even if he is safe and finds her, they might not be able to find their way out. I had the impression it would not be easy to travel to or leave from the Land of the Immortals. Besides, I have the feeling my father has holed up somewhere near the mountain we seek. I got the impression from Master Ao, at least, we would find him near his mountain.”

“I hate to admit it, I am not eager to journey there.”

Helena glanced over to the secret compartment in her bookcase. The place she had hidden the Dragon Dagger months ago.

“You know I keep my promises. I will do what I can to save them. Even if Doyle is a fool for running off alone, Tsang Mei should not suffer for his arrogance.” Helena looked at the door. Her head started to hurt once again. “Sigmund, be a dear and leave me be. My head is beginning to throb.”

He gave her a slight bow. “As you wish, mistress,” he said and backed out of the room. “I will return once I have a better count of those leaving when we dock.”

Helena nodded before she laid her head down on her mother’s desk.