The Magic Wakes

by Charity Bradford

  Jaron shook his head and said, “No, just give me the parchments.”

  Werner’s eye grew wider and he trembled from head to foot. “You’re crazy.”

  Jaron reached out for Werner’s mind. He spoke the words to cast the mind control net, bending and pulling as Werner struggled to retain control of his own will. When the resistance ceased, he released Werner and watched him unlock the cabinet.

  It took longer to evacuate the palace than Landry anticipated. Three hours after leaving tactical command, Landry linked into the com channel and requested an update on Talia’s location.

  “Location unknown.”

  “Was evac team sent?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Then what is the problem?”

  “Unknown.”

  “Sutton to Lieutenant Terrell.” It took a moment before he received an answer.

  “Yes, Major.”

  “Any word on Rankin?”

  “Not yet. It’s like he dropped off the face of the earth.”

  “Keep on it. Is Miss Zaryn en-route to HQ?”

  “No sir, I don’t know how to tell you this . . . no one can find Miss Zaryn. We left a soldier at her apartment in case she returns, and sent others to search the campus and SEF offices. We also sent a message that she can receive from any computer terminal.”

  The panic threatened to start again. He had worked under the assumption Talia was safe at headquarters. A deep connection he had never experienced with anyone else motivated him. It was more than the potential in their relationship, or the fact that she might hold the key to saving their planet. He couldn’t explain it, but a sense of urgency burned through his veins. Finding Talia was the most important thing he had to do.

  “Get a team scanning pedestrian cameras and pull up any recent spending. We’re almost out of time.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Landry set his scytheglider, a sleeker two-seat version of the commercial transports, on autopilot and pulled up the digital copy of Talia’s journal on his computer. There had to be something in there to help him find her.

  He set the computer to search for locations. Unfortunately, Talia hadn’t named specific places for most of her dreams. The only matches the computer found were the medical compound, the city library, and a small diner that could be anywhere.

  Next, Landry ran a search of names: only one came up, Lynel Geofrey. He typed in a request and it only took the computer a moment to find Lynel Geofrey, aeroflyer driver, currently on the clock.

  After a quick message to the med center, Landry contacted the company Geofrey worked for and asked them to track his unit. He attached a photo of Talia and headed for the nearest library. If he was lucky, Talia would be at one of them, or she’d call for a transport and get Geofrey.

  Landry gritted his teeth. He liked being in control and there were just too many ifs in this scenario.

  After running for an hour and a half, Talia’s body tired but her mind still churned. She turned toward home and slowed to a walk. The street lights had come on, but when Talia looked up she could still see the blue gray of dusk between the transports. The skylanes were nearing grid-lock as the cabs and personal aeroflyers vied for the best positions.

  A chill ran through her as she noticed her surroundings for the first time. She had been so lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice how empty the street lanes had become. A city the size of Joharadin generated traffic in great quantities on both levels, but only a handful of people rushed to the zipway and out of sight.

  She stepped into a small diner. It was one of the themed eateries that had become popular over the last few years. This one was blue from top to bottom with white clouds floating just above her head. Ocean waves sounded in the distance and an occasional bird squawked. Deck chairs lined the room, complete with beach umbrella and lap tray. It was almost completely empty with no computer terminal in sight.

  A tow-headed youth rushed toward her, wearing a beach towel around his waist and carrying a stack of clothes. “What are you doing here? You should be at home.”

  Talia glanced behind her and around the room once more. “Are you talking to me?”

  “No, I’m talking to the other lady. Yeah, you. Are you stupid?” He pulled the towel off, revealing red briefs underneath.

  Talia gasped. “What are you doing?”

  “Lady, the Royalist started evacuating the city almost two hours ago. Everyone’s supposed to go home and wait for their zone to be cleared.” He put on a pair of pants and then slipped his feet into some shoes. “The old bat made me stay and clean the kitchen while she went home.”

  “Why are they evacuating?” Talia followed him toward the door.

  “They didn’t say.” The boy reached the door and held it open. “But there’s no way I’m staying here. You’ve got to get out.”

  The boy locked up behind her and hit the zipway at a run. Talia’s heart pounded as she watched him disappear. No one had attacked the capital of Algodova in at least fifty years. There was only one reason she could think of that would require the evacuation of the city. She ran to the nearest call box and hit the button. Although she hated flying, an aeroflyer would be the fasted way out of the city.

  Talia massaged her aching forehead while she waited. She jumped at every noise—a slamming door, nervous laughing, whistles. It took ten minutes before the aeroflyer descended through the traffic above. The door opened and the light flickered on revealing the driver.

  His face. Talia knew his face. It was the driver from the nightmare.

  Darkness closed in as she crumpled to the ground.

  Chapter 24

  Jaron sat in the underground library with papers strewn around him. Werner slumped in an overstuffed chair staring at the wall.

  Jaron smiled as he finished reading the last paper. He stood and folded them back into their protective binders. “I’ll take these with me since you have no use for them. Out of curiosity, how did you plan to carry this out?”

  “I . . . I was going to . . .” Werner struggled to focus even though Jaron had left his mind. “Something about saplings and trees?”

  The demon within Jaron reveled in the sight of the broken man in front of him. The mind meld had been violent. Scarring. The kind of thing that gave the demon power. His joy bubbled up and Jaron laughed aloud as they walked away.

  “Your predecessors destroyed their only hope of surviving this invasion when they killed off the mage. Only a powerful wizard can perform the unbinding spell.” He pulled the door halfway closed and then stuck his head back in. “Your people are lucky I came by. Too bad you won’t survive. Thanks for the records.”

  Talia woke in the passenger compartment. A knot formed on the back of her head from hitting the pavement. She touched it tenderly and glanced out the window. The transport hovered ten feet above the call station, the air space above them clogged with traffic. The driver sat staring at her. Behind him the on-board computer displayed her face.

  “Miss Zaryn, I’m glad you’re awake. There are important people searching for you. Funny how they knew I would find you.” His voice sounded higher pitched than she remembered from the dream.

  He sat calmly, but Talia wanted to claw her eyes out and make him disappear. She sat stiff and silent, her heart racing. With her fate upon her she couldn’t help but wonder if she still dreamed. Something deep inside flared to life and just like in the dream, the desire to live fought its way through the fear. Surrender was not an option.

  “Mr. Geofrey, we have to get out of the city.” She struggled to keep her voice level.

  “I can’t take you anywhere. I’m under orders to stay put if I found you. Some Major is looking for you and I can’t afford to serve time for impeding his investigation.”

  “Last name Sutton?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  Landry! “Call him.” Talia gripped the seat. A flicker of hope sparked with the knowledge that Landry searched for her.

  The cabbie punche
d a code into the com and they waited.

  Landry hurried into the sixth library on his list. He headed to the front desk and showed his ID to the staff member on duty.

  “Sir, we need to evacuate this facility immediately,” Landry said. This was the fastest way to find Talia.

  “What? We can’t just call an evac unless . . . oh, has there been a threat?”

  The man gathered his belongings from under the desk and headed toward the door. Halfway there he looked over his shoulder and called back to Landry, “Feel free to use the PA to announce the evac.” Then he disappeared through the door.

  “Coward,” Landry muttered, then quickly went behind the desk and found the PA.

  “Attention all patrons, we have been requested to evacuate this building, effective immediately. Please proceed to the front entrance in a calm and orderly manner. There is no immediate threat, but we ask you to return to your homes and await further instructions. If there is a Talia Zaryn present, please go to the nearest com and contact the front desk. Thank you.”

  People trickled past the desk as they left the building. Many looked puzzled, but most appeared annoyed, and some tried to check out books. Landry calmly showed his ID to those who did not wish to leave without their books and suggested they might want to gather their family together and leave the city as quickly as possible.

  He kept his eyes on the doors and made sure Talia didn’t slip by. She never called in, just as she had not in the other five libraries. After fifteen minutes of watching people stream out, Landry pulled up the library security cams to be sure the place was empty. Once again, no Talia. Only two libraries to go.

  “He’s not answering. We’ll wait a few minutes and try again.” Lynel opened a file on his computer and started to read.

  “Mr. Geofrey, we can’t wait here. We must get out of the city. It’s an invasion and we’ll die if we stay.” Talia tried to speak calmly, but her voice trembled. She took a deep breath and tried to think of how to convince him of the danger.

  “An invasion huh? Who’s going to invade Joharadin? We’re too powerful. We’ll wait here.” He didn’t even look at her as he spoke.

  “You aren’t listening to me. I know there’s an invasion coming. There will be no mercy, and we’ll die here.” Talia pushed down the urge to run. It helped that she hovered several feet above the ground.

  “You can’t know that. I think you’re just trying to escape the Royalist. What did you do?” Lynel leaned away from Talia.

  “Nothing.” Talia thought quickly. There was no way he’d believe the truth. “Look I work for the SEF and have been working with the Royalist on a special project. Trust me, if things are going wrong, we don’t want to be in the city.”

  His brow furrowed and he cleared his throat.

  Talia tried a different approach. “Just try the Major one more time.”

  Mr. Geoffrey called again, but there was still no answer. He fiddled with the controls and lowered them to the ground.

  Talia looked out the windows, searching the sky and the ground. “Why are we landing? We need to fly out of the city.”

  “I tell you what, I can’t do much else for you, but I’ll let the Major know where you are when he contacts me.”

  The door swished open, but Talia just stared at it. “No. I’m leaving the city.”

  She lunged forward, scrambling over the front seat, but Lynel deflected her grasp and fired his low-grade stun device. It robbed Talia of muscle control, but her mind still functioned. She watched as the cabbie opened the door and pushed her out of the transport. Pain shot through her shoulder when she hit the pavement. Lynel closed the door and joined the throng of traffic in the skylanes.

  That never happened in my dreams. Talia’s eyes teared up with the need to blink, but all she could do was stare at the underbellies of the aeroflyers.

  Landry checked messages. The cabbie, Lynel, called twice but didn’t leave a message. Landry’s heart raced as he called him back.

  “Major Sutton?” Lynel sounded relieved. “Hey, that woman you said would find me—did. She attacked me when I wouldn’t fly her out, so I left her at the following coordinates.” He gave the location to Landry before signing off.

  Landry barely contained his anxiety as he raced to reach Talia and get out of the city before time was up. Three minutes from her location, Landry noticed a strange star in the sky. It grew larger with each second, and then shattered into a hundred lights descending to the city below.

  The invasion had begun.

  Chapter 25

  Talia watched the sky clear. The eeriness of empty skylanes echoed her despair. The city lights burned too bright for her to see the stars. She had hoped to see the stars one more time before her death.

  A face came into view as a man stood over her. “Are you okay?”

  He reached down and Talia managed to take the offered hand. She sat up and grabbed her right shoulder as a twinge of pain shot through it.

  “I’m fine.” Talia’s voice came out weak and scratchy. “I think I passed out. Where is everyone?”

  “Evacuating. There’s just a few of us left in this sector.” He helped Talia stand. “Here, drink this.”

  Talia took the water bottle. The cool liquid slid down her throat, soothing, cleansing. “Thank you.”

  An overwhelming sense of sadness washed over Talia. There were good people in this city willing to help a stranger. How much time did she have to warn them? The desire to run returned, but if she couldn’t outrun her fate, she could warn the people who chose to stay. Everyone needed to get out.

  There was nothing left to lose. Talia squared her shoulders and looked the man in the eyes.

  “My name is Talia Zaryn. You have no reason to believe what I am about to tell you, but you must leave the city now.”

  “Nah, whatever’s coming will pass in time.”

  “Not this time. We’re being invaded by brutal creatures from beyond our solar system.”

  He laughed, but Talia reached out and grabbed his arm. “I know it sounds crazy, but these creatures are real. They will kill without remorse. Gather your family and get out as quickly as you can. Like the Royalist asked.”

  “I’m not leaving.” He leaned against the call box to make his point.

  What would it take to send him running?

  The answer came from the sky. Talia and the man both jumped as a loud boom reverberated from high above. The sound pressed into Talia, pushing her toward the ground. She watched the pinpricks of light wander from their fixed places and fall toward the far side of the city.

  When the first pinpoint of light fired a plasma beam, Talia sobbed.

  They were here.

  She grabbed hold of a light pole and clung there.

  The man looked shaken. “My wife died on the tram. I have no one else.” He shrugged his shoulders and half raised his hands, palms up in surrender.

  The mention of the tram kicked all the air out of Talia. She watched the man sit down on the ground to wait. All hope gone. No fight or desire to live left in him.

  The explosions continued and sirens sounded in the distance.

  A light flickered into existence directly above her. Was this the end? Talia wondered which of her dream scenes would play out. She watched the light draw closer, every muscle tightening.

  “I’m not going to wait for them.” She spat the words out and bolted.

  She hit the zipway heading toward the edge of town at a full sprint. It was twenty miles to the forests, and she doubted she could make it even with the help of the moving sidewalk, but she had to try. She gritted her teeth against the pain in her shoulder and refused to look back.

  The whir of engines filled the air and a spotlight illuminated her. Talia stumbled and fell when she tried to get a good look at the ship. The zipway kept her in motion but she knew she had to hide somewhere. One roll and she was off the sidewalk and struggling to her feet, her shoulder hanging limply by her side. Talia ran into an alley as the
ship landed in the street.

  There was nothing in the alley to hide her. No doors. No windows. Not even a trash receptacle to crouch behind.

  Talia ran to the dead end and sank to her knees sobbing. She ached for someone to hold her together for the last moments of her life.

  “Talia!” Landry’s voice called into the alley.

  “Landry?” Talia turned to see him running toward her. She only had time to stand before he had her in his arms. She clung to him.

  “Talia, we have to get you out of here.” Landry pulled her toward the street.

  “They’re here, aren’t they?”

  “Yes, but not close. They started the invasion on the west side. We’ll head for the forests to the east. I’ll get you to the first town we pass before I join my men.”

  “Do you have to come back?” Talia’s chest tightened. Landry had found her, but he already planned to leave. If he left, she knew it would be forever. There was no way to fight the Dragumon.

  “Landry . . . you can’t win—their weapons . . .” It was more than she could take.

  The fleeting moment of safety fled and she broke down completely. Landry scooped her up and carried her to the scytheglider. He pushed her across the seat and then climbed in. Once the door closed, he cloaked the ship and lifted off.

  Nysyk’s team flew high above the city, closing in on the coordinates of their prey. They were still out of weapons range when a ship lifted off the street. The mage’s electrical signature moved with the ship, but before they could lock onto the target it disappeared.

  Nysyk calmly gave the orders. “The mage is on that aircraft. Follow their last trajectory and fire a disruptor charge. We need to get the cloak down to be sure we have them.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I’ll get you as close to home as I can.” Landry headed east.