While she was alive, my mother convinced the tribes not to use the demons or their magic user servants. It was only after my mother’s death at the hands of this wizard scout and his allies that the tribes began allowing the use of magic in our plans. If my mother had lived, I am sure the tribes would never have allowed the use of demons.
The scout pointed her ears at the wizard scout, reflecting sonic waves off his face to detect the slightest change in features. “What talk you of possession? A computer is a computer. Only living things can be taken over by demonic possession.”
The human laughed. “Do you think so? Then we will have to agree to disagree. In any regard, that doesn’t apply to your master computer. Or at least it didn’t use too. You see, like the Empire’s central computer, your master computer was a living gas organism. I say was because when I destroyed the demon Zenthra that had possessed your master computer, the living gas was destroyed as well.”
A voice hissed from the wizard scout’s battle helmet. The scout knew it was the translated voice of the human’s battle computer. Despite her disdain for anything associated with humans, she listened closely.
“The gas entity that was the master computer was only a shell of what it once was after it was possessed by Zenthra,” said the wizard scout’s battle computer. “I knew the gas that was the master computer. She would not have wanted to continue living merged as she was with the demon. The destruction of the master computer was my fellow gas’s only hope of release from the living hell that had become her life.”
The repeated use of the word Zenthra bothered the scout. The name had been mentioned several times over the centuries by half-dead members of recon teams sent into the Hole. Only one scout had returned from the last recon a hundred years earlier. She had kept mumbling the words Zenthra and Cancontus over and over until her death a week after her return.
“What know you of Zenthra?” the scout said. She disliked asking the human anything, but something at the back of her mind told her it was important. Her mother had mentioned the name Zenthra more than once during training sessions. The name had always been spoken with suspicion and loathing.
“I know quite a bit,” said the wizard scout. “I’ve had a couple of run-ins with that particular demon over the years. He is one of four brother demons working toward destroying every living thing in our galaxy. Once Zenthra possessed your master computer, he tricked you into starting a war with the Empire.”
At the word tricked, the scout felt the fur on her cheeks bristle and her chest grew warm. “No one had to trick us into wanting to destroy humans. Your kind has been pushing against our borders for centuries. You are a blight on the galaxy. The only way our future younglings can have peace is if your species is cleansed from every star system once and for all. No computer told us to do what we knew must be done. We decided to start the war ourselves.”
The human stared at her for a dozen slow beats of both her hearts. Finally, he leaned forward until he was only a paws-breadth from her eyes. He was so close she didn’t even need her sonic senses to discern his face. She could see every nuance with her eyes.”
“Zenthra can be subtle,” said the wizard scout. “Are you saying your master computer didn’t suggest that the Crosioians should attack the Empire and back it up with a lot of facts and figures? Are you saying your master computer didn’t convince your leaders to use demons and magic users in your war?”
The scout snorted, spraying mucus from her nostrils. The droplets splattered on the human’s face, but he didn’t attempt to wipe them off. He just continued staring into her eyes. She stared back for a full dozen heartbeats before replying to his question with one of her own. “Are you saying the Empire’s central computer does not suggest things that your high command eventually does? Are you saying you are a puppet of your central computer?”
The scout noticed the wizard scout’s eyes narrow as his cheeks twitched.
Ah, thought the scout. I hit a sensitive spot.
The human sat back in his chair and shrugged. “Perhaps we are to some extent. To be honest, I don’t know. I have free-will, as do you. Even so, a demon like Zenthra can work around free-will to get creatures to work for it.”
“Demons are our assets,” said the scout. “They do our bidding; we do not do theirs. We control them. They are stupid creatures.”
The wizard scout made a noise the scout associated with laughter. “If you think that, then you have only worked with lower-level demons. The higher-level ones are intelligent and extremely cunning. The demon that took over your master computer was very high level. Like I said, they are subtle.”
The scout thought of the few demons it had been forced to work with. They had proved useful in creating stealth shields, but she doubted their intelligence. She thought about the master computer for a second. No computer convinced our leaders to start the war with the Empire, she decided. She swiveled her ears to make sure the elf was in the same position. She was. The scout turned her attention back to the human.
“Yes, the master computer first began recommending we attack the Empire fifty years ago, but we only attacked when our tribal leaders thought the time was right. It was our decision, not the master computer’s. As for the demons, I will admit my mother argued against the use of them, but our tribal leaders only allowed the use of a few to hide our ships around Estos. They served us; we did not serve them.”
The human did not seem impressed with her line of reasoning. He looked at her and said, “Your mother was a formidable foe. She was the best I’ve ever fought. But at the time, I was only a wizard scout in training. I hadn’t even had my DNA baseline set. I couldn’t even self-heal at the time of our battle. My mission on Veturna was supposed to be a simple escort of a defecting scientist. Yet a fully-trained Crosioian scout, your mother, was sent to oppose me along with a hundred plus trained soldiers with high-grade armor and weapons. Doesn’t it seem strange to you that a valuable asset like your mother was sent on a mission against a mere intern? I’d think a computer with as much programming power as your master computer would know the mission was a waste of a Crosioian scout’s abilities.”
The scout tried to reach out with a paw to stop the human from speaking, but the elf’s spell held her fast. Her mind went back to the last time she’d seen her mother. A courier had arrived, ordering her mother to report to Veturna. Her mother had taken her to the underwater cavern on the planet Astaris that contained the Hole. Once there, her mother had told her that one day soon the tribes would be sending another recon team into the opening to ensure the rift between dimensions was under control. She remembered her mother telling her that if she did not return from her mission that she, her daughter, would need to lead the team in her stead. The scout remembered how her mother’s words had concerned her at the time. The thought that the greatest scout in Crosioian history would not return from a mission against a partially-trained wizard scout cadet was ridiculous. A few days later, she’d received word that her mother was dead.
The scout did not share her memories with the human.
“My mother would have killed you easily if your demon-hounds had not come to your aid,” she told him. “I watched the videos from our tele-bots. Even with your allies helping you, my mother almost succeeded in defeating you.”
The wizard scout glanced at the floor for a full minute. Finally, he looked back at her. “You are right. She would have beaten me easily without the help of my spirit-wolf allies. If you saw the videos, then you know that the first time we fought, I was teleported out a few seconds before she would’ve killed me. When I returned a half hour later, the spirit-wolves came with me. Do you know how they became my allies?”
The scout snorted again. “I care not. The master computer was right in having my mother sent to Veturna. You were more dangerous than expected. She almost stopped you even with your allies. A lesser scout would not have stood a chance.”
Seemingly ignoring her words, the human said, “A moment before y
our mother would’ve killed me the first time, I was teleported to the planet Portalis in the magic dimension. I was met there by an entity of great power. He told me that I would need allies and that he was going to help me get them. The entity sent me to the spiritual dimension where I met my spirit-wolf brothers and sisters. If that entity hadn’t helped me gain the friendship of the spirit-wolves before I returned to Veturna, your mother would have defeated me. She would still be alive today, and I would be dead.”
The human’s words bothered the scout. She suspected a trap but failed to see one. Why does he waste his time talking? she thought. I know my mother was confused why the master computer assigned her to the mission on Veturna, but soldiers go where they are told.
Rotating her ears toward the human, the scout said, “Then you should thank this entity of yours for saving your life.” She snorted again to show her contempt. “Why you believe your story would be of interest to me is no concern of mine.”
The wizard scout leaned toward her again. “The entity that sent me to the spiritual dimension, the one that placed me in a situation ensuring the spirit-wolves would become my allies, was a master demon. He is the one that commands the four brother demons I told you about. Zenthra serves the master demon. Zenthra does what the master demon orders.”
The human stood and paced the width of the cell twice before turning to face her again. “You said your mother opposed the use of demons and magic users by your tribes. What if that didn’t fit into the master demon’s plans?”
The scout could almost sense the human’s mind churning furiously. The wizard scout pounded his right fist in his opposite hand before speaking.
“What if the demons set the whole thing up to get your mother out of the way?” said the human as he began pacing the cell again.
The elf stood. When she did, the human stopped his pacing.
“Why would the demons do that, Rick?” said the elf. “You told me you were on an intern assignment as a cadet. If they had wanted the Crosioian scout you fought dead, would it not seem more logical to have sent her on a mission against a quad of wizard scouts?”
The human shook his head. “I’m not so sure.”
Before the scout knew what she was doing, she spoke. “My mother was being groomed for an important mission. The tribal leaders would not have risked her on a mission against a quad or even a single fully-trained wizard scout. The tribal leaders would have refused no matter how much the master computer insisted. They only authorized my mother for the Veturna mission because it was against a cadet in training.” Speaking more to herself than the human and elf, the scout added, “A week after my mother was killed, the first of the magic users and demons appeared in our ranks. The master computer assured the tribal leaders the demons were necessary to ensure total victory against the Empire. Without my mother to argue against the master computer’s plan, the tribal leaders went along with their use.”
The scout sensed the human and elf looking at her. She chastised herself for saying more than she’d intended.
“The demons are our real enemies,” said the human. “They began the war between us so we’d do their dirty work for them by killing each other. I’ve seen their armies waiting to invade and wipe out every living thing in our galaxy.”
The scout did not trust the human, but other happenings she’d been suspicious of during the last couple of years began falling in place.
“Why bother telling me?” said the scout. “I am a prisoner. Even if I believed what you say, I can do nothing.”
The human walked next to her cot and sat back in his chair. The elf returned to her seat by the door.
“I think you can do something,” said the wizard scout. “We’ve got to stop this war before it’s too late. The demon armies are coming. Our only hope for the future of both our species is to work together against them. I need your help to do that.”
The scout hissed a laugh. “Me? Were you not listening? I was taken prisoner. The shame of my actions is insurmountable. My place in the Long Wing tribe is lost forever. Better it would have been to have died in that nuclear blast than to have been taken prisoner.”
The human leaned so close the scout felt the warmth of his breath on her facial fur. “Maybe not. Maybe being taken prisoner was the one thing that is going to help save this galaxy for both our species.”
Chapter 11 – Prisoner
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Richard leaned forward in his chair, so close to the scout that he could make out her facial fur moving in time to his breathing. He sensed concern for his safety through the link to his bondmate but pushed on anyway. He was more certain than ever of the path he was taking.
“Maybe not,” Richard told the Crosioian scout. “Maybe being taken prisoner was the one thing that is going to help save this galaxy for both our species.”
Leaning back in his seat, Richard glanced over his shoulder at Jeena before looking back at the scout. “I need to speak to your tribal leaders. I have to convince them that the war was started by demons. I need to con—”
The scout hissed. The sound of laughter came through the external speakers of Richard’s battle helmet.
“Every Crosioian soldier is sworn to take your head and place it on their tribe’s Wall of Honor. You would be dead before you ever got within a thousand light years of our tribal council.” The sound of hissing laughter came again. “You do not even know where our home planet is located, and no amount of torture will make me tell. Only condemned human prisoners are ever taken to our tribal council. Once those prisoners are killed in front of the tribal leaders, their heads join those of our other enemies on one of the tribal Walls of Honor.”
Something must have passed down Richard’s link to his bondmate that he didn’t intend because Jeena jumped out of her seat. “No, Rick. I forbid it.”
“I concur with the high priestess,” said Nickelo over the battle helmet’s speakers. “If you are planning on what I think you’re planning, the odds of success are non-existent. We will find another way to reason with the Crosioians.”
Richard watched the bat’s ears. They were pointing directly at him as if the scout was determined not to miss anything. Very well, he thought in his private space. I’m going to give her something to really think about.
“What if I was your prisoner?” Richard asked. Hearing movement behind him, he raised a hand in a halting motion to his rear. “Stay where you are, Jeena.” Along with the last word, he sent an emotion down his bond link that he hoped meant “Please, this is important.”
He heard no more movement behind him. A quick check of his passive scan confirmed his bondmate was holding her position by the door.
After ten seconds of silence, the scout’s ears twitched. “I am your prisoner, not the other way around.”
“You let me take care of that,” Richard said. “If I give you my word of honor as a wizard scout that I will be your prisoner, would you take me to your tribal leaders?”
The bat-creature hissed. “If I took you to my home world, it would be to remove your head after I beat you in battle before the assembled tribes. I would mount your head—”
“Whatever,” Richard said, seeing no reason to dwell on the cons of his gamble. “Would you take me to your tribal leaders, and would I get a chance to speak to them before you tried to execute me?”
The sound of movement came from behind Richard again. “No,” said Jeena obviously unable to hold her tongue any longer. “I will kill this one here and now before I will allow you to follow through with some fool plan that will only end in your death.”
The bat swiveled her ears toward Jeena before speaking. “It matters not. Even if I trusted the wizard scout would keep his word, I have no ship to return home. Not that it would matter. The keepers of this prison have a nuclear weapon filled with energized titanium buried beneath my cell. At the slightest hint that I am escaping, they will set the weapon off. Even shifting into the void would not save any of us.”
&
nbsp; Richard rose from his chair and glanced over his shoulder at Jeena. She was standing next to her chair grasping the Staff of the Lady of the Tree in her right hand. He sensed a buildup of magic energy in the palm of her left hand.
“She has a spell ready to go,” said Nickelo in their shared space. “She will kill the scout if you try to proceed. I calculate a one hundred percent probability the elf is not bluffing.”
Richard didn’t need a battle computer to tell him that his bondmate was serious. He’d already been with her long enough to know she didn’t bluff. He chose his next words with care.
“Jeena, please stand down. We are at a crossroads. I can sense it, and I don’t believe for one second it’s coming from ‘the One.’ There are bigger powers at play than a network of computers. I told you about my meeting with the master demon during my first mission on Portalis. What I didn’t tell you is that he has a counterpart working on the side of the light. I have shared memories of ‘the One’ with Nick. I’ve sensed the entity that is working to save the three galaxies. This moment right now has been given to us as an opportunity to turn the tide in our favor. Don’t ask me how I know, but I do. I need you on my side. Won’t you trust me?”
Although his bondmate said nothing, Richard was grateful to see the ball of magic in her left hand dim before disappearing completely. He took that as a good sign. Turning to face the scout, Richard raised both hands palm out.
“I surrender to you here and now. I agree to be your prisoner and will allow you to take me to your tribal council. In addition, I will teach you how to protect the link to your Power reserve and how to protect those of others of your kind. I will also show you how to disconnect the links of your opponents.”
The bat’s ears focused on Richard. “Why would you do that? We are enemies.”
Richard nodded. “Yes, we are, at the moment. That’s going to change if I have anything to do about it. The war between us was set up by the demons. They are our real enemies.”
Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8) Page 12
