He had not erected the wall and Talia watched as he split into two people. The second Landry was dressed in battle gear, straining to join his men, but he was chained to the first Landry who spoke to her, I’ll protect you.
Soldier Landry jerked and pulled. A third Landry stepped from between them and waved his fingers in the air. The wall sprung up and Talia found herself on the ground once more. “It’s really annoying how easily you can push me out.”
“It’s annoying how easily you slip in uninvited.” Landry’s fingers stopped their journey through her hair.
Talia sighed and sat up. “I see it’s day again. How long was I out?” She tried not to think of Joharadin or the battles raging there, but the odor of ash floated on the breeze. It reminded her of the tram wreck.
“All night and half of the day.”
Talia looked around the grove of trees. Jaron was nowhere in sight.
“What’s happening in the city? Have you learned anything from Jaron?” Other questions plagued her, but she feared the answers. Had she really survived her death, or only postponed it?
“We evacuated two-thirds of the population before the Dragumon struck. Our forces are not doing well and our most strategic colonel is missing. As for Jaron,” Landry shrugged, “he hasn’t said a word since we reached this clearing. Talia, I don’t trust him, but my gut tells me he knows things that will help us. I need to get back and help my men, but I can’t leave you alone with him.”
Landry stood up and helped Talia to her feet. “We need to get answers fast and then get you as far away from here as possible.”
He kept her hand and led her deeper into the woods. She resisted his pull until he stopped and turned back to her.
“Landry, I don’t . . . I wish you wouldn’t go back into the city, but I understand why you feel you have to. If you go back, I’m going with you.” She placed her hand on Landry’s lips before he could interrupt. “If Jaron knows how to stop these creatures, I want to help. I’ll never be able to hide somewhere knowing other people are suffering.”
Landry reached up with his free hand, held her hand to his lips, and kissed her fingertips before pulling them away from his face. “I know, but if I can stop them without putting you in danger, that’s what I’m going to do. Let’s find Jaron.”
Jaron sat on a stump a few yards farther into the woods. At the sound of their approach, he stood and walked down a barely noticeable path. He didn’t speak or turn to see if they followed.
Talia narrowed her eyes and cocked her head in Jaron’s direction. “Power issues?”
Landry clenched and unclenched his jaw. “Yeah, he thinks he has all of it. Come on.”
They followed Jaron to his spacecraft which was nothing like any of Sendek’s. Talia’s technical mind roamed over its surface. Sleek and low to the ground, it looked more like a steel egg than a spaceship. There were no windows, doors, or detectable rockets or magnetic thrusters to lift it off the ground.
Jaron waved his hand over a section of metal and the airlock door opened. He walked inside, and after a glance at each other, Talia and Landry followed.
The outer door closed behind them, sealing shut before another one opened into the main compartment of the ship. Talia’s heart raced and her mind tried to absorb and decode the purpose of everything around her. The excitement of so much new technology made her dizzy to the point she forgot a war raged a few miles away.
Landry squeezed her hand while Jaron led them through the living quarters and onto the flight deck. There were only two chairs facing the computer console. Jaron sat in one and turned on the computer and pulled up a map of the galaxy. Talia gasped when it filled the forward viewscreen. The SEF had only mapped a quarter of one sector, but Jaron’s map had three and a half sectors filled in.
All those stars. The possibility of life-sustaining planets was unbelievable.
“I’ll start with who I am. This dot here,” Jaron pointed to the screen in the lower left edge of the galaxy, “is your solar system. I come from another system here,” he pointed to another dot in the upper left section of the galaxy. “It is approximately twenty-five light units away.”
“That’s impossible! How could you live long enough to travel here?” Talia crunched numbers in her head.
“Our technology is more advanced than yours so it hasn’t been as long as you think. I’ve wandered the galaxy for almost a hundred of my years, not counting the time spent planet-side. The direct path between our planets would only take about four of your periods.”
“But you don’t look more than forty. Even at a hundred years, it still isn’t possible.” Talia glance at Landry, curious about his silence.
He was busy studying the control board. Landry seemed like the kind of guy to try and fly an alien ship without any training. She frowned at him and hoped he wouldn’t try anything stupid.
Landry noticed her gaze and winked at her before returning his attention to Jaron. “You said a hundred of your years, what does that equate to in our years?”
“My home planet of Orek is also in a binary system. This is one of the reasons the Dragumon mistook it for your planet I believe. However, our orbit is farther out than Sendek and it takes roughly two and a half of your years to make up one of ours.”
“Two hundred and fifty years of space travel. How did you survive?”
“Magic and science. Your race took a different path through evolution than my people. You chose to give up the magical in favor of the scientific. We kept both because they work well together—augmenting and complimenting each other. One cannot avoid death indefinitely however, and there is a price to be paid for the use of magic. I will teach you what I can.”
“In the tunnels you said Talia and I work magic. How do you know that, and more importantly how can that help in the fight against the Dragumon?” Landry’s voice was calm, controlled.
“Once you are aware of how the magical energies move and work, you can recognize them in other people. Talia’s energy force is very strong. I believe she uses her gifts more often, which is why I didn’t notice yours at first. You both need to learn how to use magic more efficiently. It is the only thing that will defeat the Dragumon because they were created by magic.”
Landry and Talia both asked at once. “How do you know that?”
“The Signum collected ancient texts with the history of your people. The creation of the Dragumon by mages and dragons was included in that record.”
“These creatures are from Sendek?” Talia’s mind reeled. Where have they been all this time? How did they leave in the first place? Her questions would have to wait.
Landry’s eyes narrowed and his lips formed a hard line. “You were in contact with the Signum?” He didn’t hide the mistrust in his voice.
“For the last few weeks. You may be relieved to know the Dragumon killed the last of the Signum minutes after landing on Sendek. They will not be a problem for the Royalist any longer.”
Landry shook his head. “I’m never pleased by another’s death. What do we do to stop the Dragumon?”
Jaron pointed to the floor and they sat while he told them what he had learned from the Signum leader. Magicians, dragons, and spells that allowed human women to give birth to these strange creatures.
If not for the fact she had always known she was different and that the creatures would come, Talia would not have believed any of it. Learning the Dragumon were part human shocked her the most. She had never sensed any human compassion from them in any of the dreams. Just cold-blooded evil.
If Landry struggled with the story, he didn’t show it. And he kept Talia firmly locked out of his thoughts. “This is similar to a story that’s been passed down through the royal line.”
“What?” Talia jerked her head toward Landry. “You knew about this? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I planned to, but never got a chance.”
“How long have you known about the Dragumon?” She narrowed her eyes.
L
andry met her gaze full on. “I heard the story right before you showed me your satellite.”
Talia reached for her necklace, but had to take a deep breath instead to keep from fisting her hands.
“Hey, I still thought you might work for the Signum at that time. In fact, seeing these creatures in your mind didn’t help your case much.”
The logic made sense, and Talia relaxed just a bit.
Landry turned back to Jaron, “Now we know how the Dragumon came to exist, but that doesn’t tell us how to destroy them.”
“Do we have to destroy them? Can’t we find some way to defeat them without committing genocide?” Talia looked to Landry for support. Even after a lifetime of dreaming about them, she couldn’t condone destroying an entire sentient race.
He took her hand. “They’re here to destroy us, and they will not show us mercy. You know this will be a fight to the end for either humans or Dragumon. You’ve seen that in your dreams.”
“I know, I’m just having trouble deciding to wipe out an entire species. There must be some good in them.”
Jaron sat quietly. Waiting.
“Even if there is good in them, how do you suggest we find it? Have you been able to talk to them in any of the dreams?” Landry asked.
“No. But they’re just dreams. Those are real live creatures out there. Intelligent creatures. We can reason with them. Maybe even learn from them like we can learn from Jaron.”
“What about the people they are massacring right now? Those were real people too.”
Talia looked away. Torn between what was right and what was needed.
Jaron spoke up. “You should not think twice about ending their existence. They have wiped out entire planets in days. I can show you my own wife and son’s death if that will help you know that you are in the right.” He paused as if waiting for her to argue with him, then continued. “The story does not tell how to destroy them, but I requisitioned some records from the underground library that give more detailed clues. Come, let’s go into the other compartment and I will show you.”
In the living area, there were enough chairs for all three to sit at the table. The smell of recycled air was not as sharp in the larger room. In fact, there was a light floral scent that Talia couldn’t name. She sat in the cold steel chair and rested her hands on the table while Jaron pulled some ancient parchments from a bag.
“These tell how the mage, Elvin Thule, used a binding spell to create the Dragumon. He used the blood of dragons, mixed with the blood of humans and other creatures with the traits he wished his creation to exhibit. All we have to do is ‘unbind’ if you will, the Dragumon. They will simply cease to exist. It will be a much more peaceful death than they allowed others which they thought to be you.”
“Unbind? Do you know how to do that?” Talia liked the idea of a painless death, if there were such a thing.
“Yes, it is a complicated spell, but my planet had that knowledge. I can teach you how to—”
The beeping of Landry’s com interrupted him.
“Yes.”
“Major Sutton, our troops are gone! They didn’t have a chance against the creature’s weapons. We’ve lost all the leadership, making you the highest ranking officer; what should we do?” The male voice sounded shaky.
“Fall back. Are you being pursued?”
Talia reached out to touch Landry, but he stood up and walked away from the table.
“No, sir. The aliens are returning to the city.”
“Then retreat to the mountains and wait for my orders. I’m working on a plan as we speak.”
“Yes, sir. Out.”
“We need to know your plan now, with a timeline.” Landry paced around the small space, his shoulders tense and stiff.
Talia swallowed hard and blinked back tears. It might be quiet inside this metal egg, but somewhere outside people were fighting and dying. How could Landry deal with death so easily?
Jaron continued as if nothing had happened, “I will teach you how to focus your magical aptitude. Once you can control the power, I will teach you the unbinding spell. We need to find others who have mage blood because this is strong magic. Anytime you combine forces, you are stronger, especially when working magic. If I am correct, Elvin only used mage blood for the human part of the binding. By surrounding ourselves with the descendants of the mage used for the original binding, the spell will be strengthened.”
“Talia has a theory about those with magical ability. However, even if she’s right, finding people born in the first period will take too long to do us any good. And we can’t just advertise for mages.” Landry gripped the back of the chair until his knuckles turned white.
“I might be able to help.” Talia’s fingers groped for the missing necklace and then dropped her hands to her lap. “I’ve collected the names of people born during the first period for at least ten years. Every time I visited a new town or city, I searched them out. I have names, birth dates, and last known residence.”
“You kept a list of names?” Landry’s brow creased, but he sat back down at the table.
“I was looking for someone like me, and the list gave me hope that I wasn’t alone.” Talia blushed and shrugged her shoulders.
“Whatever the reason, it’s lucky for us. Let’s get the list to headquarters and gather these people. Where should we send them?” Landry would work with Jaron even if he didn’t trust him.
“Bring them to the town nearest our current location by morning. I can perform a spell of concealment giving us an extra day or two before the Dragumon find us, but we will not have long. Once the Dragumon learn of our gathering, they will come quickly. Talia, you may use the computer up front to retrieve your list of names.”
Talia hurried back to the flight deck. She stared at the strange markings on the computer panel. How was she supposed to work with this? The markings looked similar to an ancient Johar script, but she couldn’t read that either. She popped her head out the door, “I can’t read this.”
Jaron joined her. “Easy enough.” He typed on the keyboard and everything winked out. “It’s scanning the local languages and will reboot in Dovan.”
Talia’s jaw dropped, but Jaron had already walked away. What kind of technology could do that? She was dying to pull panels off and find out. When the screens came back on, Talia could access her private files. She forwarded them to Landry, who pulled out his com and made a call.
“Lieutenant Terrell, I’ve just sent you a list of names. I need you to gather these people, at least the ones over sixteen, and send them to the city of Bryllton. I’ll set up a place in town for them to report to. This is urgent and the faster you get everyone here the better. There are about a thousand names on the list, so get another team to help you contact and gather people.”
“When they ask why, what should I tell them?”
“Tell them they are needed to save our way of life. Arrest them if necessary, but get them here by morning.”
“Yes, sir. Major, have you spoken with your cousin recently?”
“It’s been a few hours, why?”
“You should give him a call.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant. Get to work. Out.” Landry turned to Talia. “I’m going outside for a minute. Will you be okay in here? I won’t be long.”
“I’ll be fine, go.”
Talia searched the nets for news on the Dragumon attack while she waited for Landry to return. Speculation was rampant, but all communications out of Joharadin had been cut shortly after the attack. Satellite images showed a ghost city. Sections were bombed out or scorched, but others looked untouched. There was no sign of the Dragumon.
Knowing there wasn’t much more she could learn online, she returned to the main living area again. Jaron had left to set up his protective spells. Supposedly, it would keep the Dragumon from finding them too soon. Talia wished he had let her help. Why promise to teach them about magic and then do things without them? Her thoughts were interrupted by the soft call
of the trees.
Come out. Your friend needs you.
Talia stepped out of the spaceship, surprised to find it was almost sunsset again. How long had it been since Landry left? He was nowhere in sight.
She opened her mind and the trees showed her a picture of a clearing farther in the woods. They directed her to him with a pale green light that glowed up from the ground.
Within the darkness of the trees, everything seemed deceptively calm. Talia found the small clearing quickly. Landry sat on one of many stumps with his back to her, and something in the slackness of his shoulders suggested a weariness she had not seen in him before. She hesitated, unsure if he would welcome an interruption. He swiveled around on the stump and faced her.
“It’s all right, you aren’t bothering me. I’ve probably been alone too long anyway.” A deep sorrow emanated from him, and his voice fell like lead drops on the ground.
Crossing the distance, Talia sat on another stump close to him. The light grew dimmer, but she could still see his face. He looked tired and some of the fire in his eyes had gone out. It startled her how much she wanted to reach out and hold him like a hurt child. But he was a man. One who had always been strong, confident, and unshakable.
“What happened?”
The reality of their situation sat like a third person in the clearing. There were creatures out there killing people without giving it a second thought. Talia realized he might have had family in the city, and she never even asked. Just because she felt safe in the forest did not mean the world was a peaceful place. The Dragumon would slaughter everyone they found, and she needed this man to help her put a stop to it. She moved to his side and took his hands in hers.
Mentally she pushed her way into his mind, and when he resisted she pushed harder, I want to help. You listened to me, now let me return the favor.
Landry sighed, but his walls crumbled. A familiar pain washed over her. She remembered the image of the small boy watching his father die. Those same emotions moved through Landry now.
Talia, do you know who my cousin is?
The Magic Wakes Page 17
