Chapter 30

Derrl was up early and out at the Pribe with the tools he thought he would need. It would be another half bell until Yerril was there. He had spent most of his morning so far, if you classified morning as anytime after the last bell, finding things that would serve as the tools he needed. Derrl took a short metal pole that had a sharp tip that was curved at almost a ninety-degree angle out of the bundle of tools. This was what he would be using to carve the runes into the ship's hull. As he sat down on the dry sand of the beach looking at the Pribe, contemplating the best design to place the runes in, Yerril sauntered up the beach.

"What be ye doin' here so early, bucko?" He quickly crossed the remaining sand between them.

"I'm trying to figure out the best way to put these runes onto her. Only I'm confused; I need to get a solid line onto her. The only real way to do that would be to paint it onto her, but if I do that it won't be permanent. And to make it permanent, it would have to carved, and that would leave small cracks whenever two boards joined, which would mean it's not solid. It's frustrating." He was holding his head in his hands while he was trying to puzzle out how to get this done. The day before, he thought he had the whole project figured out. He thought he knew how he was getting her off the sand. But every time he came up with a solution for something, several more problems arose.

"Do you have some small spare planks and some nails? I think that the only way to find out what will work is to try it and find out."

"Aye, I be havin' those, bucko. There be some on the Pribe. I'll be getting' them for ye." The captain scrambled up the side of the stranded ship and disappeared suddenly. He returned shortly with several small planks and a pouch of nails. He dropped them on the sand in front of the youthful mage. "Now what would ye be doin' with them?" Derrl only smiled as he laid two planks on the sand and then placed the others across the top of them. As he nailed the planks together, fitting them tightly in beside each other, he had a sudden feeling that no matter what he used to draw the runes, it would work. He practically didn't have to draw the runes at all. They worked even if he only used a mental image. He did, however, feel that the effect would be more permanent if there was a solid manifestation of the rune.

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