Star-Born Mage

by David Estes

  “So what?” Minnow said. Ever since they’d clambered aboard the ship and rocketed into space he’d had his fists knotted, his knuckles turning white whenever Dacre spoke. Vee loved him for it.

  Dacre said, “So if we, with the Cir’u’non’s assistance—”

  “Whose assistance?” Vee asked.

  “Sorry,” Dacre said. “That’s what the Jackals call themselves. I have much to explain about them, much that has been kept from us. Regardless, if they can maintain the shield, we can protect the galaxy for a long time—years maybe. Even on minimal liquid aura usage, Demonstrous will eventually power down.”

  “That’s preposterous,” Frank said.

  “You’re a talking cat piloting a state-of-the-art starship through hyperspace—I’d say that’s more preposterous than what I’m suggesting.”

  Vee couldn’t stop the snort from escaping. She’d been thinking the same thing.

  “Hmph,” Frank grunted, pretending to busy himself with the control ropes even though the ship was on autopilot.

  “We don’t even know how long the ward-shield will hold,” Vee said to get the conversation back on track.

  “Seventy-nine days,” Dacre said.

  “You calculated it?” Vee asked. “I thought you said there was no way of knowing.”

  Dacre sighed. “We can’t know for certain. But there are ways to make an educated guess. I always knew being a student of artifactial lore would come in handy one day.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I’m a total geek. Look, many of the prime artifacts have been tested. Especially the ones found and horded by the Alliance. There are formulas out there. I just made some estimates of the amount of liquid aura we infused into our spells, replaced the other variables with the Classes of spells we conjured, and factored in the amplification of the Grem weapon.”

  “Which was what?” Vee asked, trying to visualize what such a formula might look like.

  “Seven point oh six five,” Dacre said.

  Vee understood. “Servos’ Theory. The maximum amplification believed to be possible via tech.” All Academy novices studied the great Mage Artemeos Servos, who’d been as much a scholar of magic as he was a wielder of it. In fact, as a magician he was rather ordinary. But his various theories were the subject of many a datachip.

  “Exactly,” Dacre said. “And the prime artifact I…borrowed…”

  “You’re planning on returning it?” Minnow said. He smacked his fists together aggressively.

  “I was, but then the artifact welded itself to the Grem weapon. As soon as the ward-shield begins to wear off, both will disintegrate, or perhaps even explode, it all depends on the purity of the aura we channeled through the spellscreens to the—”

  “Dacre, focus,” Vee said. If his thoughts were contained in a forest, he’d have run off the path and started wading through shrubbery and thorny branches.

  “Right, sorry. The prime artifact had a known amplification of…twenty-six point seven nine and a bunch of other decimal points. Give or take.” He said it like it was common knowledge.

  The black-market arms dealer Dacre had introduced as the infamous Clay Coffee snorted and muttered, “Freak.” It was the first thing the man had said so far. Vee fought off the urge to cast a spell at him.

  Once more, they were getting off track. “So…what?” Vee asked. “We make sure that in seventy-nine days we are ready to blast the Centaurian mothership out of the void?”

  “There’s a margin of error of around eight days. But yeah, we could do that. Or…” Dacre said slowly, drawing all eyes back to him. “We could find another prime artifact and get the Grems to build another mag-weapon. I could open lines of communication with the Cir’u’non. We could try to convince them to let us use some of their aura supply.”

  “Reinforce the ward-shield,” Vee said.

  “Yeah, why not?”

  “Because that’s like dabbing newskin on a mortal wound,” she said.

  “It will buy us time.”

  “To do what?”

  Dacre threw up his hands. “I don’t know, come up with a better solution.”

  “By better, you mean one that doesn’t involve destroying your previous, planet-eating ship,” Minnow said.

  “No,” Dacre fired back. “Well, maybe. I just think we need to consider all options.”

  Vee felt anger rising in her and she desperately needed a shot of aura. “You have no right to make decisions for us. For me.”

  Dacre looked as if he’d been slapped, but then all the fight went out of him. “I know that.” One of his hands rose up as if to touch her face, but then fell just as quickly. “Vee, I’m sorry. I never meant to—”

  “Well you did.”

  “Can we change the subject?” Terry asked.

  “To what?” Dacre asked.

  “You…” Terry pointed a long, webbed finger at Dacre. “Don’t talk.”

  “To what?” Vee asked, playing along. She needed a distraction from Dacre as much as anything.

  “I’m so glad you asked,” Terry said. “For instance, where the Hole are we going?”

  That was one question Vee knew the answer to: “Home.” They were outgunned and outmanned by the Archchancellor. They needed to escape, to regroup. Only then could they plan their next move. Home sounded pretty good right now.

  ~~~

  The Arch looked more beautiful than ever. Vee wondered if it was the effect of having almost lost everything that was important to her—her daughter, her father, her home—or if it was just the strange light cast upon everything by the ward-shield stretching overhead.

  The entire return trip Dacre and Terry had argued over how they should proceed, but Vee stayed out of it. Frank had tried to intervene on several occasions, but the two had fired off bad cat jokes and he’d skulked away and dipped back into his stash of catnip, which Vee had not actually sent out an airlock.

  Magic McGee had slept most of the way through hyperspace, while Minnow hadn’t stopped moving, doing pushups and other exercises, usually with Vee on his back for added resistance. The galactosphere was ablaze with theories on what was happening, but no official statement had been released by the Alliance.

  Probably because the Archchancellor is a Hole-lovin’ alien spy, Vee thought, watching the hoverlimo pull up. The fancy ride wasn’t Miranda’s doing this time, instead arranged by Dacre’s scoundrel of a friend, the infamous Clay Coffee. Apparently, Vectors were no problem for him.

  Not that Vee was complaining. She could get used to riding around in one of these, so long as no one from the Alliance tried to kill them this time.

  As the hoverlimo zipped along the familiar airspace, she gazed across the water, which grew closer and closer with each kilometer. The previous pink hue was gone, the bioluminescent algae having deactivated and withered, melting back into the abyss to deteriorate and become food for the next generation of plant life. The circle of life continued.

  Instead, the ocean had a greenish tint, a combination of blue rays of godstarlight and the white shimmer of the ward-shield. It was almost too beautiful for words, which was why Vee looked away.

  The only thing more beautiful was her daughter, and the reminder caused her chest to tighten. Of course she wanted her daughter to know the truth. Of course she wanted her to meet her father. But…complications. Damn complications.

  The story of my life.

  Minnow reached over and grabbed her small hand in his own large one, squeezing. Comforting. Thank you, she mouthed.

  She noticed Dacre watching them, a slight frown tugging at his lips and eyebrows. She could tell he was trying to figure out what the hand-holding gesture meant. Was it a thing between friends or were she and Minnow an item? She couldn’t help herself, she rubbed her thumb over Minnow’s, drawing a strange look from him. A moment later he caught on and began making circles with his own thumb.

  It was mean.

  It was petty.

  But Vee enjoyed it, as well as
the distraction it provided. Maybe there was still hope of reconciliation with Dacre. Maybe not. But that was a challenge for another day. Today was about other things.

  Tomorrow they would decide how to deal with Demonstrous—Xantheon—whatever.

  And after that? If there was an after, she would decide then.

  ~~~

  She’s messing with me, Dacre realized. He managed to keep the frown plastered on his face, watching the two “love birds” pretend to hold hands romantically. There was nothing more than friendship between them, however, of that he was certain.

  Then again, if the huge Minot saw Vee as his little sister, he might very well pound Dacre into pulp just to prove a point.

  Dacre looked away, growing nervous again. Today I’m going to meet my daughter.

  Even the thought sent butterflies scurrying through his stomach. He took a deep breath, trying to refocus on how to handle Demonstrous. Even if no one else seemed to want to talk about it yet, he needed to make plans. He couldn’t let them simply destroy it. The Centaurians were innocent, he believed. Or at least most of them. His mother, probably not so much. She’d been away from their ship long enough to change. But the others… It was the god—Xantheon, he remembered from the vision—who had made them into what they were. Destroyers. Monsters. Murderers. Architects of genocide. But what if Xantheon could be killed? Could a god even be killed? Alternatively, could the connection between the god and the planetship be severed, casting him back out into the outer reaches of space? Dacre closed his eyes. No, he thought. It wasn’t a safe option. The god would only find another race to control, to bend to his will. He will come back because he needs what the Godstar Galaxy has: aura.

  His thoughts were vanquished as the hoverlimo pulled to a stop at the end of a short lane with enormous houses built flush against the ocean. “If you need me, I’ll be watching the holonews,” Terry said, the first to jump out. “Enjoy the big reunion.” And then he was gone.

  Dacre moved to follow him, but Minnow extended a thick arm to block him. “Don’t.”

  Vee said, “It’s okay, Min.” She touched his arm and slowly pushed it away. “Come on.” She stepped out and gestured for Dacre to follow. Through the tinted window he could see the door to the house open. A small girl looked out.

  Dacre’s breath evaporated.

  She was…perfect. She had Vee’s expression, a mixture of seriousness and thoughtfulness, her tiny pink lips like a bowtie. Where am I? he wondered, searching her for any signs of himself. The barest of dimples revealed itself in her left cheek. Just like his. And her eyes… By the godstars…

  Until that moment, he realized he hadn’t truly believed it.

  “Go,” Coffee said. “Meet your daughter.”

  Tears already forming in his eyes, Dacre stepped out. Vee had already run up the lawn and was now hugging the girl. Our girl, he reminded himself.

  And now the girl was peeking around her mother, her face scrunched up in deep concentration again. “Daddy?” she said.

  Vee’s mouth dropped open and Dacre was pretty certain his did too, though he couldn’t tell because his entire body was numb and he felt like he was floating.

  He crouched down and nodded, his vision blurred with unshed tears.

  The little girl extricated herself from Vee and ran to him, crashing into his chest and wrapping her spindly arms around him. He did the same, his eyes closed, his tears leaking out.

  She was so warm, and he could feel her heart beating against his.

  He’d only just met her and already she was his everything.

  And then Vee was there, hugging them both, and the little girl was saying, “Mommy!” with such excitement Dacre worried she might burst, and Vee was apologizing over and over and kissing the girl’s cheeks and the girl was saying it was okay.

  And though Dacre knew this moment was part of a dream and that he would have to wake up to the real world any second now, he enjoyed it for as long as it lasted.

  This was life. This was good.

  And tomorrow he would have to begin planning to kill his own mother.

  ~~~

  Vee’s eyes met those of her father as he stood in the doorway, watching them hug and cry. He gave the simplest nod, which caused a sob to escape her lips. He’d told her daughter the truth so she didn’t have to. He’d given her a gift she never knew she wanted.

  She nodded back and everything that had broken between them seemed utterly pointless. A frown appeared, his brow furrowing. Not at her, at something he’d spotted past her. She turned to find Magic McGee standing on the front lawn, his head cocked to the side. When Vee looked back at her father, he’d stepped inside, out of sight.

  Now she felt her own frown tug at her expression. She was missing something. A history less ancient but just as powerful as that of the gods that had formed the galaxy.

  “Grandfather?” a tiny voice said, and Vee looked to see if her father had reappeared in the doorway. No. It was empty. And her daughter wasn’t looking in that direction anyway.

  She was looking at Magic McGee.

  By the godstars… Vee thought, her world of truth beginning to crumble.

  Chapter 45

  Override

  Tramone watched as the Archchancellor’s tirade continued for another few minutes. She’d already chased all others from the control room, had broken three or four pieces of equipment that looked both important and expensive, and smashed six—or was it seven?—holoscreens.

  Tramone recounted. It was seven.

  He said nothing, waiting for the fire of her rage to burn itself out.

  Finally, she turned toward him, her entire body shaking with each violent breath. Her eyes met his and it was like a light going out, her anger vanishing in an instant.

  “Tramone,” she said.

  “Yes, Archchancellor?” he said.

  “Your weapon didn’t work.”

  “I know.” Disappointment churned through him. Well, technically the weapon had worked, but it had come up against a more powerful weapon wielded by a more powerful mage or group of mages than the Alliance mages. It was the only explanation. Now his weapon was a smoking pile of rubble. Tramone was fortunate he hadn’t been killed in the explosion, though it had singed his eyebrows.

  “I appreciate someone who doesn’t make excuses for their failures,” she said thoughtfully. “You don’t think I’m a monster?”

  “A monster?” The very idea took Tramone by surprise. Monsters were the ones who waged war day in and day out in the Godstar Galaxy. Monsters were those who’d mocked him his entire life. Monsters were those who’d stationed him in the Outer Reaches of the galaxy to keep watch against an enemy that would never exist—until it did, changing the trajectory of his life forever. “No. I don’t think you’re a monster. More like a savior. You and your people.”

  “So you’ll help me?”

  “Of course. With what?” he asked, though he already knew. While she was destroying things, he was mentally plotting and planning.

  “We’re going to build an even more powerful weapon and take down that ward-shield so the Demonstrous can devour the Godstar Galaxy.”

  Tramone wasn’t the hero in his own galactosphere game.

  No, this time he was the villain.

  And he liked it.

  ~~~*~~~

  A personal note from David…

  If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review and help others discover Star-Born Mage!

  Keep reading for a sneak peek at The Fatemarked Epic, a 4,000+ page epic adventure full of magic, betrayal, twists and dragons, now a #1 Amazon bestseller in 9 categories! Get a FREE short story from my bestselling high fantasy series, Fatemarked, when you sign up for my mailing list: https://www.subscribepage.com/b2v6v3

  SPELLS USED IN STAR-BORN MAGE

  in order of use by each mage

  (spell Class noted in parentheses)

  Verity “Vee” Toya- Fire Mage, Class 4

  Track (1)- turn a mag-we
apon’s ammunition into heat-seeking projectiles

  Incinerate (3)- instantly disintegrate a small object with the heat of a crematorium

  Spray (3)- shatter one’s ammo into thousands of pieces for maximum scattershot

  Fire (1) Burn (1) Torch (1) Ignite (1) Detonate (1) Destroy (1)- a combination spell (Class 5, when used together) that streams a jet of deadly fire.

  Expel (4)- send one’s opponent or an object flying backwards.

  Sphere (3)- summon a fireball

  Shield (2)- create a superheated force field of protection

  Ignite (1)- typically used to infuse mag-bullets, which burst into flame upon contact with their target

  Flame Shield (3)- create a wall of flames

  Superheat (4)- rapidly increase the temperature of the target, generally resulting in destruction

  Pierce (5)- a spearlike thrust of fire capable of defending against magical attacks, but most effective against spells based in ice

  Blast (4)- a long-distance explosion of fire typically channeled through mag-cannons during space warfare involving starships

  Flare (1)- a flash of bright light meant to temporarily blind one’s enemy

  Blowtorch (2)- a jet of fire capable of, given time, burning a hole through almost any material

  Firewire (3)- create hot, coils of wire to burn and bind an enemy simultaneously

  Fireblast (4)- a powerful burst of fire capable of knocking a starship off its trajectory

  Firebeam (4)- an intense laser-like beam of fire that can burn a hole through almost any material instantaneously (an upgraded version of Blowtorch)

  Incinerati (5)- instantly destroy a large object (upgraded version of Incinerate)

  Fire sphere (5)- creates a strong circle of protection around a large object or objects

  Dacre Avvalon- Ice Mage, Class 5+

  Frozen (4)- a stream of ice capable of freezing everything in its path

  Ice (1)- a spell used to turn a single object into a block of ice

  Wave (5)- send a tsunami of ice across space