“Grandmaster, I have it!” sent Raquel.
“Good, then concentrate and finish the fight!” I ordered.
“Too late for that,” she sent. “I’ll get the others safely home, don’t worry.” Then she sent me the information she had gathered when she should have been focusing on the fight around her. After reviewing this information I knew that some of it must have come from the minds of the sorcerers, which explained why she had kept them alive while searching.
“I am worried about you,” I replied.
“I know, but it was too late for me before you were even born. Let me finish in my own way, I beg you,” she sent.
I sighed. “Very well.” As she was in battle, I could not risk her being distracted by an argument with me. She had insisted over and over before the battle began that I should let her team fight. I relented, but had not realized the toll it would take on them. Now I regretted that decision.
I watched them fall back to the Night Wisp, defeat the last sorcerer and board the ship. I intended to call Kellyn and gate down there, but before I could I detected the ship’s gate opening.
“Safely home,” Raquel had sent. They were gating out of there, but to where?
Just then I detected an energy shift that told me Henrick was on his way. I expanded the air pocket in which I was standing in to allow room for him. He did not need it, but I considered it the polite thing to do; besides, it would allow us to talk.
“Hello, Vydor,” he said as he appeared.
“Hello, Henrick,” I replied.
“It seems that Raquel’s group did well down there,” he said.
The Phareon forces were pulling out now and bombardment would begin soon. “Yes. There is nothing left to concern me now,” I said.
“Yet you’re still here,” he said.
“Of course. It would have been rude to leave before your visit,” I said with a smile.
He chuckled. “You know, it is camps like this one that Korshalem blames you for.”
“Blames us,” I said. “Yes. He fails to see the proverbial genie is out of the bottle already.”
“It will be his downfall. Sorcerers like those below will continue to learn our technology and it won’t be long before they take that realm,” he said, “especially now that they are becoming more organized.”
“Then you have heard?”
“Yes, they chose a grandmaster,” he replied.
I nodded. “I feel sure that I will be blamed for that also,” I said with a smile.
“Honestly, Vydor, I fail to understand why you fight to keep the treaty alive. You have already gained all you can from him,” he said.
“I do not expect you to understand.” He was not a wizard and did not understand the concepts of honor and integrity. I promised my friend Mantis I would try to keep the peace, and that was reason enough. Henrick would think it a foolish promise to keep, and perhaps he was right, but foolish or not it was a promise.
As we watched, the fleet began to release its bombs from orbit. The falling bombs passed through the atmosphere, heading for the planet’s surface. As each successive wave hit the ground, a larger and deeper crater was created. They were being thorough, and I could see no way for any of the mutants to survive.
I sighed. “Well, it looks like that is over.”
“For the present,” he said and took his leave.
I considered the information that Raquel had sent. There were a dozen more locations like this one in which the sorcerers were actively trying to use our technology to breed a new type of soldier, one resistant to all kinds of damage and requiring very little in the way of supplies or support. They would be cannon fodder which could be dropped into the middle of enemy forces without fear of losses.
The sorcerers had always tried to avoid showing up in battle themselves, and these soldiers would mean they did not have to. When the sorcerers finally deployed these new forces into their own realm, they would no doubt arm them with blasters and rifles from this realm. The death toll would be horrific, but Korshalem refused to accept this and believed he could prevent this technology from reaching his realm by cutting off his only access to those who could help him counter that threat.
I understood his position, as it would mean the death of his people’s culture. Once technology started to flow into their realm, life as they knew it would change dramatically forever. I would like to think it would be an improvement, but I have seen too much violence in my own realm to think that finer material things mean a better life.
Stepping out of normal space into the weave, I traced the route which the gate from the Night Wisp had taken. It had exited in this realm, about two-thirds of the way out on the far spiral arm in a completely unexplored section of the galaxy.
‘Home’, she had called it. I wondered what was out there, but without a precise endpoint I could not follow. I would have to wait until we heard from her again to know where they had gone. Meanwhile, I must see to the remaining camps that Raquel had found and at least delay the inevitable.
Epilogue
It had been many days since we’d left the Night Wisp, long dark days of sadness and mourning as we buried our friends Crivreen and Purwryn. Shira told me that they had used their bodies as shields so that she could cast the gate and get everyone out of the city. Then, when the sorcerer came to their new location, they spent all the power they had left holding back the creatures so she could focus on him. Had they not stood between her and the line of foul beasts, everyone might have been lost that day. They will be honored as heroes when the tale of our battle is finally told. I will make sure of it.
Ragnar, Raquel, Shira and I stood over their graves one last time. Over our heads foul undead creatures screamed their rage at our presence, but were powerless to prevent it.
The builder had done a remarkable job with the fortress, and it was back to full strength. As long as we stayed within its walls we were safe, which made it effectively a prison. A large and spacious one, but a prison nonetheless, and which I must admit I was anxious to leave.
Raquel ran her hands through her silver hair. We had returned her to the tower in time to save her, but for some reason her hair had never recovered. She looked older and wiser now. She had taken on too much at once in that last battle, but without her we would never have made it.
Crivreen and Purwryn had given their lives in that battle, and they were dead before I could attempt to heal them. In truth, they were probably dead before I had even rejoined Shira and Ragnar, but no one wanted to admit it at that time. After learning that they were already gone, I still wanted to try to heal them, but Raquel stopped me; she asked what I thought I might accomplish. Their souls had moved on and only the empty bodies remained. Nothing could change that now.
I sighed and turned back to the central tower where we have all been living. Marcus walked up to me. In a way, I think he might have preferred death to the healing I did on him. Most of his implants had been destroyed and were beyond my ability to replace; all I could do was to heal organic parts. I had actually considered letting him die, in the belief that he might be happier, but in the end I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
All he had left of his former superhuman self were his core processing units, sensors and memory nets. With Raquel’s help and the last of our healing potions, we were able to restore his body. For the first time in his life he was walking on two healthy, normal human legs, and I knew he hated it.
“I’ve checked and we’re completely out of food now. Either we risk hunting or we leave via the gate; assuming, of course, that starving to death isn’t an option on the table,” he said.
I looked over to Raquel. “Does the builder know our situation?”
“Yes. I told him last night we would have to leave soon, but that we’d be back someday with forces sufficient to reclaim the world.”
“How did he take it?” I asked. The builder was a large stone golem of some kind. He had slept
for the last ten thousand years until Shira awoke the fortress with her sun staff on our first visit here. Since then, he’d been tirelessly rebuilding and protecting the castle. We finally met him this time on our second night back. I never thought I would see a walking, talking stone statue, especially one so excited to see us. I swear he would have bounced if he could have managed it. He had grown very attached to us even before we’d met him, especially Shira, to whom he referred as ‘Princess’. She tried to pretend that she didn’t like the attention he paid her, but I knew better.
“Oh, he’ll be fine,” she said.
“For a giant rock monster, he’s a real softie,” commented Marcus.
“So what’s our plan, Zah’rak?” asked Ragnar.
“Raquel, do any of the remaining gates open to a place in our realm?”
“No,” she said. “The network was originally intended to allow the Sac’a’rith to operate in many realms at once. The wizards maintained a network of gates in our realm, so there was no need for more than one here.”
The rune that represented the Night Wisp gate had disappeared from the ring, so we knew that gate had been destroyed. That meant there was no way back from here, wherever ‘here’ was. Marcus had been unable to find a match in any of the databases remaining in his head which depicted the stars overhead. That put us in one of the vast uncharted regions of the galaxy, otherwise know as ‘lost’.
I looked at my team and knew they needed me to make a decision about our future. I had made the decision for myself. Since the Night Wisp had been destroyed, this was the perfect opportunity to escape the life of a special agent and I planned to take it; alone if I had to, but I didn’t think that would be an issue.
“Raquel, you can get back to the Wizard Kingdom, can’t you?”
She hesitated. I hadn’t asked her that before, but I thought it to be likely.
“Yes,” she said. “I can leave the realm by the gate, and from there I can use my own spells to open a gate back into this realm at Alpha Academy.”
“So can you get food and supplies? That way we could mope around for a while longer yet,” said Marcus.
I waved away any answer that might be forthcoming. “Raquel, if you wish to return to your post, go with our blessing.”
“Thank you,” she said, without moving. “What are your plans?”
“Shira tells me of a forest world through the gate, one which is unspoiled by technology. I think we should go there. In a forest we should be able to support ourselves, and it will allow Shira and myself to study our art free from distraction.” I paused to turn to Ragnar, and then continued, “I can send you back to Korshalemia, if you like; otherwise, you could return with Raquel or you can come with us.”
He smiled. “I have no place to go back to, so you’re stuck with me. Besides, I could use a break from technology.”
Turning to Marcus, I said, “Well, I guess you really have the same choice: you can go back with Raquel or come with us.”
He looked down at his completely human hands and sighed. “A fresh start would be good. I think I’ll stick it out with you. There’s too much temptation, too many memories of what I’ve just lost, to go back to civilization just yet.”
I looked at Shira, but before I could say anything she smiled and said, “No need to ask; we all know I’m staying with you.”
“Well, there you have it, Raquel. Sounds like we’ll be moving on,” I said.
She sighed deeply and looked around at the fortress. “I lived most of my first life here. There really is no place like it. Even with the foul beasts surrounding it, I could call no other place home. Not really.” She paused and looked at us before continuing. “Zah’rak, I meant it when I said that the Sac’a’rith was for you and Shira to rebuild, but I would still like to be part of it. I need to go back and report in but after that, if you’ll have me, I would like to join you and help with your training.”
I nodded. “You’re one of us now, Raquel; but don’t you have to take care of the Phareon region for Grandmaster Vydor?”
She sighed. “Yes, I’ll probably be sent back out there. There’s still much to do to establish our presence in that region. They need me, but I will find you and stop in from time to time to guide your training.”
“Will he be upset that we’re not returning?” asked Shira.
“No, I’m sure he’ll understand that everyone needs some time away to study and heal. He may wish to visit you in your new home someday, and the door will always be open for all of you to return,” said Raquel.
“Then we are decided,” I said. “Let’s gather what we have left and move out.”
###
I hope you find as much enjoyment in reading these stories as I had living them. If you enjoy the books, please spread the word about them and please post a review to whatever store you purchased this book from. Thanks!
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Also by Vincent Trigili:
The Silverleaf Chronicles
The Silverleaf Chronicles: Season One follows the life of Silverleaf, a young dragonmaster who was born into a world without dragons, and doomed to die as a madman alone in the wilderness until a young woman enters his life, and a mysterious army marches across the land destroying all its path.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Time Line So Far
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Epilogue
Also
by Vincent Trigili
Sac'a'rith Page 34
