Battle Lost

by Taylor Wilson

  The Lost Voice of the Dark World

  Battle Lost

  Book 3

  By: Taylor Wilson

  Copyright © Taylor Wilson

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  Description

  Though Lacey and her friends stopped the radiation that rained down upon the kingdom and sickened its people, their worries are far from over. The strange visitors in the spaceships are attacking the emerald mine in order to harvest a rare and powerful metal called beryllium. With the kingdom still recovering from eighteen years of anarchy, the friends aren't sure they can muster an army large enough to fight this enemy. Is brute force even effective against such a foe? If not, will magic again play a role in the salvation of the kingdom?

  Table Of Contents

  Contents

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  Description

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Five

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  Other Books By This Author

  Review This Book

  Chapter One

  "I know why they're here. Base of the mountain. They want… mine. Hurry!"

  "That's what the Voice said, but…"

  "Listen!" Moira persisted. "They want the mine... At the base of the mountain... They are attacking the emerald mine!"

  Lacey's mind boggled with recognition. Once again, she thought, wait long enough and even the weirdest thing the Voice says will make sense. The spaceships that had appeared over the Kingdom of Alinn had finally made their move. As they watched, one of the spaceships drifted lower, near the base of the mountain, disappearing from view and landing behind the forested hills. Soon after, the mountain spirit known as the Voice began shrieking for help, channeling her consciousness through Moira. Fortunately, Moira understood what the Voice was trying to say and could share the meaning behind the Voice's cryptic message.

  "Hurry, we must help her!" Moira urged, still in the grip of the Voice's alarm.

  "Breathe, love," Ric consoled her. He held her shoulders, inhaling and exhaling calmly until Moira's panic faded. "Of course we will help, but we have to think things through first. We don't know what would be helpful, much less if we can provide it in our current state."

  "We must do something," Lacey frowned.

  "I agree, but doing something when unprepared can do more harm than good. Let's get back inside and make a plan as swiftly as possible. Alexander said it's still not safe to be outside for long."

  The group made their way back to Ric and Moira's sitting room. Ravi sat heavily and leaned back gratefully into the armchair. Though William's miraculous painkiller had done wonders for his splitting headache, he was still weaker than usual after his struggle with the radiation poisoning.

  Automatically, Moira and Isa busied themselves with preparing refreshments, as if it were a typical day. It most certainly wasn't, but the gesture seemed to soothe the anxiety of the moment and allow them to think more clearly.

  "Any more information from the Voice?" Ric asked, eyeing Moira as she handed Lacey a beverage that resembled herbal tea.

  Moira shook her head, worried. "Nothing. I don't feel her presence at all at the moment."

  "That’s not good. However, until a few hours ago, we had no idea we would have the Voice’s help at all. Perhaps something else she said will spark an idea, but I’d say we’re probably on our own until we can stop the attack at the mine.”

  “What could they possibly want from the mine?” wondered Lacey aloud. “Are they some sort of space pirates, seeking chests of treasure?” After a moment of blank looks, she explained, “Pirates; um, thieves; mercenaries?” She smiled as she saw recognition in her friends’ faces. “Anyway, emeralds are valuable and the Voice said these beings like shiny things. But really, is it worth traveling through space in huge ships to steal gemstones? That seems like a lot of work for little reward.”

  Ravi tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps there is something else in the mine that is worth the trouble.”

  “What about beryllium?” asked William. “That’s a rare metal that is extracted from beryl and emeralds are a type of beryl. The emeralds could just be the ‘shiny thing’ that indicates the presence of beryllium and attracts these beings.”

  “That’s possible,” conceded Ravi. “What is this metal used for?”

  William tilted his head for a moment, thinking. “Among other things, it is used in spaceships and nuclear reactors. So, if their spaceships are indeed nuclear-powered, beryllium might be a vital commodity.”

  “See, Dad,” Lacey remarked, grinning, “We totally needed you along on this journey. You are the master of random facts!”

  Waving off the praise, he noted, “Knowing why they are here doesn’t get us any closer to stopping them, does it?”

  “You never know; it might,” offered Ric. “It does help us to know one thing. If they are genuinely after this metal, which is only found near emeralds, then the rest of the kingdoms are safe. Our treasured Sky Mountain contains the only known emerald mine on the continent.”

  “One piece of good news, anyway,” said Willow. “What’s the bad news you’re not sharing?”

  Ric eyed his former Queen and took a deep breath through his nose, then admitted, “At this time, we currently have no physical way to fight these intruders. It’s only been a few short months since we defeated the sorceresses and Lacey brought the light back. I’ve barely begun to muster new recruits for a guard, much less an army. Plus, a large percentage of the men in the castle right now are sick with radiation poisoning and they’re lying in the great hall under a sleep spell. Even if we did have more data on what we’re up against, I doubt we have the manpower to be effective.”

  Silence hung in the air for a moment until Alex broke it. “What if there’s a magical solution, or a way to boost your forces through magic?”

  “That could be,” mused Ric. “Could we perhaps use magic to get more information about these beings? It would help a great deal to know how many there are, what they are like, if we can communicate with them in some way, things like that. The more information we have about this enemy, the more chances we have to defeat them.”

  Alex shared a nod with Matt before answering. “Yes, that’s possible, there is likely a number of spells in the grimoire that might be helpful. However, since we need to get started rapidly, I suggest that we use the transport spell we’ve been using all day. We can send a small group to the mine to see what we’re dealing with and study how we might be able to fight these aliens.”

  Ric agreed unhappily, “I don’t like the idea of putting anyone in danger, but we must have more information in order to save lives when we really try to fight them.”

  “That’s a good idea,” said Lacey. “I’m already good at that spell.”

  “No!” shouted Ravi, Willow, and William all at once.

  Lacey rolled her eyes but smiled. “Come on. Thanks for being great parents, all three of you, but we don’t have time to argue over this. It’s either me or you, Willow, and you are far more effective here at the castle than I am. There’s still a ton of things happening here that need your expertise.”

  “I agree,” adde
d Alex. “Dividing our efforts makes more sense. Lacey and I can survey the ship and the aliens. I have the travel spell memorized, so I won’t need the grimoire. Matt, you can stay here, wake up some people from your sleep enchantment and see if they are improved. If you don’t wake them all at once, I suggest you first wake those that Ric and Ravi think might be good candidates for soldiers. I hope that many will be healthy enough soon to take part in a battle, if necessary. Once that’s done, you can start studying the grimoire to see if there are any spells we could use to fight these things.”

  “I’m on it,” said Matt firmly.

  “Good plan, thank you,” said Ravi, “to each his best purpose.”

  William sat up straight, fiercely determined. “Well, I’m going with my daughter!” He eyed Ravi and Willow, Lacey’s birth parents, with a curt deferential nod before continuing. “I don’t care what kind of job I would be good at here. I’m going with her.”

  “You’re right; you should go with us,” Alex agreed.

  Lacey almost laughed aloud as her dad deflated. He was ready for a fight, but he didn’t get one and he seemed almost disappointed.

  Alex continued, “You and Lacey are well suited to work covertly together, since you can interpret each other’s gestures swiftly and quietly. Also, William, your affinity for science fiction may give us some unexpected insight. That part alone makes the three of us essential to this task, I think. We may only know spaceships from books and movies, but at least we have some idea of how to interpret what we see.”

  “Okay, then,” William agreed, still with a bit of ‘fight’ in his tone.

  “Ladies,” Willow suggested, “let’s check in on the last of the refugees that came from the north. They will likely still need treatments for their symptoms and they may have vital information to share about what they saw, since they were directly under the ships.”

  Moira nodded, “I’ll go check on the sorceresses and see if they need anything. If they are awake and curious, I’ll start filling them in on what’s happening, so they will be more prepared when they meet with all of us later.”

  Willow eyed her warily, “That’s good, but are you sure you want to go alone?”

  “Sure, I’m fine. Perhaps the sisters don’t hate me quite as much as they hate you,” she grinned. “Besides, I’ll try to be almost as charming as William and they should behave nicely.”

  William blushed.

  “That’s settled,” said Ravi. Let’s be about our tasks, and we’ll meet back here in, say, four hours…” He trailed off, turning to look at Alex with concern. “What if you don’t come back? We’ll have no way of knowing if we need to mount a rescue and you all will be a day’s travel from here, at the very least. Unless...”

  Alex stared back at his friend and said firmly, “You do what you can to fight this menace without us. We’ll plan for four hours, but if we don’t return within a day at the most, you will have to assume that we are dead.”

  Chapter Two

  The hazy sun dipped toward the horizon as Lacey, William, and Alex appeared in the tree line to the west, above the emerald mine. Immediately, they could feel the low rumble of the spaceship’s engines humming.

  The main ship, black and angular, didn’t seem quite as large up close, but it was still massive. It had set down directly on the ground in a large field. Where the ground sloped downward, Lacey could see wide, circular leveling columns under the edges. The narrow end of the asymmetrical craft had unfolded and flattened onto the ground, creating a wide ramp.

  Silently, William pointed over toward a different machine sitting in the mouth of the mine. It, too, was black and angular, but it rested on spherical wheels. To Lacey, it seemed like an industrial vehicle she might see at a construction site back home. Though it was small enough to drive inside the main ship, only its nose fit inside the cave opening. The vehicle jerked and shuddered as it performed some unseen function in the interior of the mine. Lacey could see why the Voice had described it as a raven pecking at her innards.

  Around the mine and near the ramp of the giant craft, a few dozen figures moved about purposefully. Lacey couldn’t see the figures clearly from that distance, but they seemed to be humanoid, wearing some sort of black, cylindrical suits that rounded their torsos, arms, and legs.

  “Curious,” murmured Alex. “They move like they are completely at ease, not expecting an attack from any direction.”

  “I don’t see any lookouts either,” William agreed in the same low tone. “Unless there’s a watch posted at our distance from the site, they don’t seem to fear any intruders."

  “That could work to our advantage. Still, the aliens could have a watch out this far, so don’t let your own guards down,” advised Alex. Lacey and William nodded.

  “We need to get closer,” said Lacey. “This far away, we can’t see how many there are for sure, what kind of weapons they might have, and so forth.”

  “I agree, but let’s all be extremely cautious,” Alex advised. “We all know how the camouflage cloaks work?”

  Lacey and her dad nodded. Before they left the castle, Matt had put a chameleon enchantment on three of the cloaks they used when the sorceress’s beasts still roamed the land. The chameleon spell allowed them to blend into any surroundings, as long as every inch of their bodies were covered. With the aid of a sheer veil over the opening of the hood, they could move about unseen.

  “I’m glad Matt thought to enchant the veil so we could see each other while the chameleon spell is in play,” Lacey commented. “Otherwise, we’d lose each other, or worse, bump into each other while the aliens are paying attention.”

  “Smart boy,” Alex remarked with a note of fatherly pride. “I Wish could take credit for teaching him all he knows, but he did that himself. Okay, gang, let’s go get this done. If we lose sight of each other, we’ll meet back here in no more than an hour. The hum of the engines should mask our footsteps, but still, be careful to make as little noise as possible, just in case. If you get in big trouble, drop to the ground in a ball under the cloak and don’t move.”

  “Got it,” said William, and Lacey nodded as well. The three adjusted their cloaks and headed down the hill. Alex moved toward the mine while William and Lacey spread out to circle the main ship.

  When Lacey got near the giant vessel, she could feel the ground vibrating. This close, she could see that the craft's exterior was dark gunmetal gray rather than entirely black. The skin was solid but not smooth; one could follow the lines of conduit and pipes underneath the skin, like prominent veins in someone’s arm. Lacey really wanted to touch it, but that would mean allowing her hand outside the cloak. Also, if the ships were emitting radiation, touching them would be a bad idea.

  Lacey judged the height of the ship to be roughly twenty feet. Like the rest of the ship, the walls weren’t wholly perpendicular, and the concave and convex angles didn’t seem to follow a logical pattern. Despite the differences in wall shape, there was a wide flat strip about halfway up the wall that contained a series of clamps. Inset between the clamps were small square niches, each containing a vertical bar. Lacey assumed that the sequence of clamps and niches corresponded to those on another ship, so that the vessels could be joined seamlessly.

  As Lacey examined this system, she heard a loud, alarming whump. Suddenly, a broad section of the wall and roof above her cracked open and began to separate from the ship, releasing a puff of vapor and a rush of cool air. She leaped to the side and watched as the wall lowered to the ground like a drawbridge, the odd angles straightening to provide another flat ramp. Once the ramp touched the ground, smaller leveling columns slid out of the ramp and adjusted themselves automatically to the terrain. There was a slight dip in the earth where Lacey was standing, so she got a great view of one of the columns as it contacted the ground a few feet from her toes.

  When the process was complete, several suited figures exited and began moving around industriously. Within a few moments, an industrial machine identi
cal to the one at the mine drove smoothly down the ramp. It pivoted smartly on its spherical wheels and headed towards the mine. Lacey turned so she could watch the vehicle’s slow but steady progress. Though she couldn’t understand how the spherical wheels received their signals, they allowed the vehicle to move in any direction at a moment’s notice. She watched as the new machine pulled up beside the first unit at the mouth of the cave and then glided sideways into place after the first unit backed away.

  Without warning, something cold and hard crashed into the back of Lacey’s shoulder, sending her into the wall. Quickly, she bit her lip and stood still against the wall, hoping that the cloak had not shifted. Had she made a noise? It had happened too quickly to remember.

  The figure that ran into her stopped a few feet away, registering the contact. It turned, looking down at its arm and then stared back at the ship. Lacey held her breath as it paused, seeming to look directly toward her.