Dying World

by Chris Fox

  We rolled along in silence, the tension so thick we didn’t need words. I knew, based on my map, that we were approaching the first group of soldiers at full speed. And that they were likely hiding behind some sort of portable barricade. Even bargain mercs have access to that kind of tech. The Inurans would have much better.

  I was about to ask Arcan about it when the rover abruptly sped up. I glanced through the grate, through the dash, and up the darkened corridor in time to see our headlamps illuminate the Inuran position.

  I’d seen enough holos to recognize a professional setup when I saw one. A two-meter barricade blocked the corridor, and the defenders were huddled behind murder holes so they could fire back at us.

  A barrage of white and blue spells shot from the barricade, and the hair rose on the back of my neck as they slammed into the rover. Fortunately, the armor was thick and the Inurans were primarily using light bolts. Lasers, basically, for the non-magical folk.

  Arcan floored it. The rover hit the barricade going 180 KPH, far faster than I’d have imagined the rover capable of without a longer straightaway to build up speed.

  The barricade was forged from some sort of lightweight alloy, which made sense. Otherwise they’d never be able to move it around and set it up. Unfortunately, that constrained them to the laws of physics. Magic could strengthen metal, but only to a point.

  Our rover weighed a good four or five thousand kilos. When we slammed into the barricade it ripped loose from the floor, and slid backwards with a tortured shriek and a shower of sparks. The defenders were completely unprepared, and tumbled to the ground as their own barricade scooped them like a plow.

  Then both rover and barricade met the opposite wall, and I was suddenly weightless.

  24

  For one terrifying moment the rover sailed through the air as it ricocheted off the far wall. Had the ceiling been higher, or the walls wider, then we’d have absolutely flipped. Instead the corridor constrained our movements, and all that kinetic energy was channeled into us rolling backwards.

  “Targets acquired,” came from behind me, and I glanced back to see Rava inside the turret’s control console. “We’ve got four hostiles still moving. Warming up the cannon.”

  That was my cue.

  “Lay down suppressive fire,” I roared, imitating my dad. “Keep them under cover until that turret can fire.” I reached for my pistol before realizing I’d loaned it to Vee.

  No problem.

  I raised one of the suit’s armored fists to the slit in the rover’s side, right around eye level, and then I reached for the fire in my chest. The gauntlet ejected a bolt of superheated flame, which caught an Inuran mage in white spellarmor just as he rose to his feet.

  The bolt hit him in the thigh, but the armor deflected the spell. He gave a grunt of pain, then aimed a spellrifle at the rover. A bolt of electricity crackled from the barrel, then grounded into the rover’s frame. That much ferrous armor bled off the energy, insulating us from the brunt of it.

  Automatic pistol rounds came from Arcan, who’d pinned another mage behind a twisted hunk of barricade. Behind me Briff gave a frustrated curse, and I understood why. He couldn’t fire his spellcannon unless he went outside, and there was no reason to leave a protected position.

  Vee and Kurz merely watched the situation play out. Neither used a spell, or contributed in any way. I considered saying something, but given that we were winning I wasn’t sure what that would be. Hopefully they’d be more active when we actually needed them.

  Had I been wrong to trust them? I was starting to worry.

  No time.

  I loosed another fire bolt, and this time I caught my target in the faceplate. The spell knocked him into the wall, and I followed up with another.

  An unexpected opponent shot to its feet, this one wearing heavy spellarmor and carrying a spellshield. They stepped in front of my target, and the spellshield came up smoothly to block my spell. The flame rippled harmlessly off the glowing blue runes on the shield’s surface, and the figure raised a spellcannon to return fire.

  The barrel glowed with a deep violet light, and a bolt that hurt my vision flashed toward the rover. It impacted over Vee’s head in the passenger compartment, and everything it touched simply ceased to exist.

  “Disintegration!” Arcan roared from the driver’s side.

  “Any time, Rava,” I shrieked, and yes, it was a shriek. A manly shriek.

  The whine from the turret grew in intensity, then something beyond hearing pulsed through the corridor. Vee and Kurz both clutched their heads, though my armor protected me from the worst of it.

  The entire rover slid back three meters as the gauss rifle discharged a hunk of brittle metal at supersonic speed. To their credit the mage got their spellshield up in time to block, but the shield wasn’t designed to stop a round that could puncture ship hulls.

  The kinetic force slammed the mage into the wall, and what was left didn’t so much as twitch, much less try to rise.

  That exposed my target, and I loosed another fire bolt. It caught the mage in the knee, and they stumbled into Arcan’s pistol fire. That one went down too, and I was shocked to realize that was the last one.

  “I think we just won,” I muttered into the comm. “Status report. Sound off.”

  “Green,” Briff gave immediately, following the accepted arena custom.

  “Green,” Rava panted, out of breath for some reason. She grinned at me from the turret. “Did you see what I did to that guy?”

  “Green,” Arcan growled from the front seat. “Kid, we need to get that barricade out of our way. They know we’re here now.”

  Neither Vee nor Kurz responded to the sound off, and I didn’t have time to teach them. Arcan was right.

  “Briff, let’s get that debris moved. Rava, cover us with that turret.” I popped open the side door and hopped out, then hurried over to the mangled barricade.

  I tried to ignore the stench of blood and ozone, and tried even harder not to stare at the severed hand still clutching a sleek white pistol.

  Instead I focused on lifting the barricade out of the path of the rover, which was considerably easier than I’d expected, both because of my newfound strength, and because Briff was doing most of the heavy lifting.

  We heaved the barricade out of the way, then rushed back into the vehicle’s cargo compartment.

  “Captain,” Kurz said from his bench, without looking up at me. “I know time is precious, but may I exit the vehicle, just for a moment? I wish to claim this man’s soul. If I do not do so it will be lost. He was a worthy adversary, and I would honor him. If it matters…this will also fuel my magic, and increase my effectiveness against our enemies.”

  “Make it quick,” I ordered, almost without thinking. Kurz leapt into action, and Vee followed.

  Since we were stopped anyway, I followed the pair to see exactly what Kurz meant by claim a soul.

  “Kid,” Arcan called from the driver’s side window as I passed. “We ain’t got time for this. Seconds count.”

  “I realize that.” My gaze never left Kurz, though I stopped next to Arcan’s window. “We’re going to be racing those other teams back. Here’s the thing. If we engage now, and they come up behind us, then we’re surrounded. No pulling back. If we wait a little longer, and they’ve all pulled back…well, at least all our enemies are all on one side.”

  “Yeah,” Arcan snapped, his eyes whirring into a menacing expression. “The side we are trying to get to. This is a mistake kid.”

  “Maybe,” I allowed.

  Kurz had knelt next to the severed hand, all that remained of the mage I’d killed. He withdrew an ornate crystal vial, what my professors would have called a phylactery, and gently opened the stopper with one thumb.

  He brought his other hand around, and sketched a trio of sigils in the air. I recognized all three, even if I couldn’t use them. Sickly white spirit, then clear azure water, then spirit again.

  A sort of…cloud
rose from the hand, and coalesced into a spectral version of the armored figure. She removed her helmet, and long dark hair spilled out. Kurz waved his hand, and the cloud flowed into the bottle, as if being suctioned.

  Once the flow had stopped, Kurz stoppered the vial and slipped it into his pack. He gave me a brief nod. “We can go. Apologies for the delay, Captain.”

  I had so many questions and no time to ask them. By the time we hurried back into the rover Arcan had begun snarling wordlessly under his breath.

  “Okay, let’s go. Now.” I slammed the door, then buckled myself in. “Arcan, any suggestions on our approach? Should we change it up since they know we’re here?”

  “Naw,” he growled as we whipped around another corner, and started up a gentle slope toward the bridge. “Our only advantage is speed. We get there and assault them as hard as we can go, and hope we overwhelm them before they can pull back the teams from the rest of the ship. This is our one shot, and that window will close quickly.”

  I considered that for a moment, then tapped the grate behind his head. “Okay, let’s do it. Get ready, people. This next part is going to be harder.”

  The rover whipped down the corridor as we approached the next group of dots. I took a few moments to study them, as well as the movements of the other dots. “They’ve started collapsing back to the main ship, but they’re still moving. We’ll get there after them, but just barely, so they won’t have much time to set up.”

  “They’re already set up,” Arcan roared as he darted a glare over his shoulder. “By the time we arrive they’ll have heavy weapons online. This is going to be messy. Hold on.”

  A sharp whistling filled the vehicle as the air rushed through the missing section of the roof, loud enough that it would have overpowered any conversation…had there been any. We were all worried, and with good cause.

  As leader I knew I should offer a rousing speech, but I had nothing to give. No idea what to expect, and no way of knowing if this was the right choice or suicide.

  My hands tightened around the cargo ring as we raced closer. I’d used some of my dream to camouflage us, and some of my fire in the last fight, but I should be good for another round.

  “Get ready!” I called as we entered the final approach.

  As before, Arcan floored it, and the rover picked up speed. The walls flashed by, faster and faster. Arcan killed the headlamps, and suddenly we were hurling through darkness.

  There was a soft white glow at the end of the corridor, but I could see neither enemy troops nor a barricade as before. I wondered why, then we burst from the corridor into a maintenance bay and the answer became clear.

  The Inurans had used gravity magic to affix their weapons to the ceiling. Four tank-busters, a well known conventional missile, were aimed in our direction. The dots were all still in the room, but they were attached to the ceiling as well, either through magboots or magic.

  The concentrated fire they unleashed was beyond impressive. A rain of certain death converged on our position, and the universe exploded into flame and pain.

  25

  The restraints yanked me first in one direction, then another. Had I not been wearing armor I didn’t want to know what it would have done to my body. We came down with a thunderous crash, then the vehicle flipped several more times until we came to rest against a wall.

  The armor protected me through it all, but as I got my bearings I realized not everyone had the benefit of armor. Arcan was unconscious in the driver’s seat, and the dash had caved in, trapping his legs. There was blood everywhere, though I could see the vein in his neck throbbing, which I took as a good sign.

  The passenger compartment had ceased to exist, and the ceiling in the cargo compartment was a good meter shorter than it had been. I heard groans from all around me, another good sign.

  My latch wouldn’t unhook, so I used a bit of fire through the gauntlet to burn through the belt itself. “Sound off. Who’s still conscious?”

  “Oww,” Briff rumbled. “One of my wings isn’t working, but I can still fight. Cannon checks out. Green.”

  “Green,” Rava called next, though I noted the quaver in her voice. I glanced at the turret console, which had weathered the explosion mostly intact. She had blood streaming down one arm, but seemed otherwise unharmed.

  “Kurz is unconscious,” Vee called. There was a tightness to her voice I recognized. Pain.

  I twisted in what remained of my seat to get a look at her. She was the closest to the door, which had been warped out of the frame. That left about a half-meter gap for us to crawl through.

  “They’re going to be covering our exit.” I wiggled closer, next to Vee, until I had a view through the gap. “Can you see anything?”

  “Two of the missile emplacements,” she said, her face near the gap, but not close enough to present a target for a sniper. “They’re both empty.”

  “T-they fired all four,” Arcan rasped. He coughed, then shook his head as if clearing it. “Amazed we survived that. Guess the enchanted frame was worth it, or we’d be nothing but a smudge. Looks like I’m a permanent part of the rover now, though.”

  “Dad?” Rava crawled from the turret, over to the grate. “Did it hit an artery? If not, I can cut you free in a couple minutes.”

  “We don’t have minutes.” Arcan’s cyber-eyes whirred. He raised a quavering hand and placed it on her shoulder. “You turned out all right, kid. Your mother would be so proud.”

  Rava began to tear up, the first crack in her exterior I’d yet seen. Arcan gave a bitter laugh, and the tears vanished. He turned his cyber-eyes in my direction. “You got a plan, Captain? I’m stationary, but I’m still an asset.”

  I glanced at the gap in the door again, then back at my team. My team. “Vee, you’ve got life magic. Can you manifest some sort of ward?”

  She nodded, and when she spoke her voice was a bare whisper. “I can erect a powerful ward. It will not last long, but it should stop spells and projectiles for a short time.”

  “A very short time,” I corrected. “If it were me I’d counterspell the ward the instant I saw it. Rava, can that turret still fire?”

  “I don’t know.” She turned from her father, her determination returning now that she had a task. She began squirming toward the turret.

  “It will fire,” Arcan said. His teeth were gritted now. The pain must be unreal. “And I can control it manually. It’s got a limited field of motion, but I can hit the ceiling with it.”

  I considered our assets. A bad plan was better than no plan. “Here’s how we’ll play this. Vee, I want you to cast your ward. Expect it to get popped immediately, and be ready with another. Keep casting wards until I say go. We’re going to bait them out. When we’re ready to actually move, Arcan will fire the turret at their position. We apply another ward, then bolt from cover. Vee, can you move with that ward?”

  “No, but if you carry me I should be able to maintain it.”

  “Briff, your spellcannon will be important at the break.” I stared down at Kurz. “Rava you’re going to be hauling Kurz to safety. Briff you keep the suppressive fire going, and we beeline for the corridor we came in through. Not great, but it’s what we got. Any feedback before we do this?”

  Everyone shook their head.

  “Guardian, update my display to show all current enemy positions, including weaponry.” A moment later my HUD updated, and several grey dots were added to represent the hopefully empty missile batteries. “I don’t suppose you can assault these guys with some sort of internal defenses?”

  “Negative,” Guardian’s voice came from my left, and I shifted to see his holographic form on my HUD. “Only a full captain may unlock the weapons systems.”

  Well, it was worth a try.

  “All right, people. We begin when Vee erects the first ward.” I leaned back against the wall. In a minute I’d probably be running. May as well enjoy being lazy for a minute longer.

  Vee extended a shaking hand, and a silv
er bracelet around her wrist flared with an inner brilliance. I’d never seen it before now, which shocked me. I’d definitely have noticed that. As would her previous captors. How had she hidden the artifact?

  A shimmering ward sprang forth, whirling outward in concentric rings as it formed a dome over the gap in the door.

  The ward hadn’t even finished forming when a volley of spells converged on it. A counterspell may have been among them, but it hardly mattered. The ward shattered after a few moments of abuse.

  She cast another, with the same result. And another. And another. On the fifth I noticed a trickle of sweat. She paused before the sixth, and faced us. A single auburn hair wove a line down her face, but she ignored it. “I cannot do many more. Are we ready?”

  “Ready,” Arcan managed, though it triggered another cough. “I’ll fire on three?”

  “Do it.” Only in that moment did I realize that Arcan was signing his own death warrant. These people didn’t seem interested in prisoners. “My dad was wrong about you. Thank you, Arcan.”

  Rava sobbed behind me. I thought about offering comfort, but realized she’d hate that. I focused on the fight, and brought her into it. “Rava, get Kurz up. Briff, get into position. We’re doing this when Arcan hits three.”

  “One,” Arcan roared, his voice clotted with pain. “Two. Three!”

  Briff burst from the vehicle with a tremendous kick that sent the door flying. Several marksmen shot the door on instinct, which was a few more not firing at us.

  Vee came next, and quickly erected another white dome, the shimmering ward expanding to three meters, just enough to cover our position.

  The gauss cannon fired, and a hunk of metal slammed into a cluster of Inuran mages on the far side of the roof. They tumbled to the ground like distant bugs, though all were still moving.

  I rolled out, then turned to help Rava with Kurz. She hit the ground and slung him in a fireman’s carry, just as volleys of spells hit Vee’s ward. It shimmered, but held.