Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8)

by Rodney Hartman

  Before Richard could do anything else, Red Wing bulled her way through the mass of Thargs and pirates. Reaching out with a paw, she grabbed the tail of the leaping time-hound. Jerking back, she threw the four-legged demon straight toward the orange demon that had dodged the phase spear. Again the orange demon dodged to the side. The time-hound flew past with its snake heads snapping at anything in range. Two pirates and a Tharg got bit as the hound hit one of the magic-using Dragars. The Dragar was in the middle of waving its lizard-skinned hands and shouting words when the hound hit it full in the chest. Both the hound and the Dragar went flying back. Sensing a buildup of energy from the Dragar’s interrupted spell, Richard threw up a hasty defensive shield, angling it toward the rear of the corridor. He smiled as he sensed another group of Thargs and pirates coming around the intersection behind him.

  Boom!

  The Dragar’s spell backfired in a blast of orange and green energy. The time-hound and Dragar magic user were obliterated along with four of the Thargs and half a dozen pirates. Even one of the orange demons was thrown off its feet by the blast. Residual energy from the malformed spell ricocheted off Richard’s shield and surged back down the corridor, reaching the four-way intersection behind him at the same time a group of armored pirates came running around the corner. The force of the blast threw the lead pirates back against those following close on their heels. They all went down in a jumble of legs, arms, and firing weapons.

  Deactivating his defensive shield, Richard swung out with his phase rod at a nearby Tharg while diving for the remaining Dragar. The end of his phase rod caught the Tharg in the side of the helmet and glanced off. The deflected blow didn’t save the Tharg. Richard sensed the furred head inside the helmet shatter as microscopic explosions of phase energy tore into the Tharg’s flesh, bone, and brain matter. As he continued his dive, he pulled the trigger of his M63 lightweight plasma assault rifle, sending a stream of plasma rounds into the back of the last magic-user’s head. Blood flew out of the man’s forehead, splattering onto an orange demon’s back as the plasma energy tore the Dragar’s skull to shreds.

  “Lucky for you the mage’s defensive shield was only formed to his front,” said Nickelo.

  “You know what they say,” Richard said as he swung his phase rod at a nearby pirate. “Luck aces skill anytime.”

  “No it doesn’t,” replied Nickelo. “That’s not even logical. Who says that?”

  Swinging at a pirate in the act of turning around, Richard caught the man in the chest with the tip of his phase rod. “I say it. That’s who.”

  Red Wing engaged one of the orange demons with her phase spear. The demon countered with a wide swing of its glowing sword. The blade of the demon’s weapon passed through the bodies of two pirates, cutting them in half before it was stopped by the green phase energy of Red Wing’s spear. The remaining time-hound spun and snapped out at Red Wing’s left leg as one of its snake heads bit into the scout’s arm. Red Wing hissed a scream but pushed forward her attack on the orange demon, forcing it back a step.

  Richard sensed Power to his left.

  “It’s the supreme leader’s phase spear,” said Nickelo in their shared space. “It’s still sticking in the chest of one of the pirates.”

  Reaching out with telekinesis, Richard jerked the supreme leader’s phase spear free as he let his M63 hang by its sling over his shoulder. Propelled by telekinesis, the phase spear flew into his right hand. He jammed the spear’s green point between the shoulder blades of the time-hound that was attacking Red Wing. The four-legged demon howled in pain as all four snake heads turned and struck at the handle of the phase spear. Richard sensed Power form around the time-hound. Then the Power blinked out, leaving the crumbled and bloody body of the demon-hound and four withered snake heads in its place.

  “What happened?” Richard asked. “I thought for sure it was creating a time-bubble. It should have healed itself and been attacking me again.”

  “I calculate the demon succeeded in creating its time-bubble,” replied Nickelo. “The phase spear must have continued to damage the hound faster than it could self-heal inside the time-bubble. The end result is that it is dead. The other time-hound was disintegrated by the Dragar’s spell. I recommend you don’t waste time counting your blessings. You need to get busy. There’s still over three thousand of the enemy left on these ships, and a lot of them are heading this way.”

  The enormity of what Richard had gotten the Defiant’s crew and himself into suddenly hit him. What was I thinking? And where the hell is Sheeta? He should be here helping.

  A dark shadow came out of the side wall of the corridor and grabbed hold of the second orange demon’s throat. Richard sensed life force being sucked out of the demon as Sheeta converted the life force into energy. The big dolgar attempted to shift the orange demon into the void. The dimensional shift didn’t work. The orange demon stabbed upward with its glowing sword. Its strike was off balance from the force of Sheeta’s attack, so the blade only made a shallow slice across the dolgar’s hindquarters. Sheeta let go of the orange demon’s throat, shifted into the void, and disappeared into the bulkhead as a second sword blow slammed against the metal wall just missing the dolgar’s disappearing head.

  Taking advantage of Sheeta’s attack, Richard stabbed outward with his left hand. The point of his phase rod caught the orange demon in the throat, entering the bloody wound created by the dolgar’s bite. The demon tried to scream as the microscopic explosions of phase energy tore out its throat. It only succeeded in making a pitiful gurgling sound as it collapsed to the floor.

  “It’s not out yet,” said Nickelo. “It’s trying to self-heal.”

  Power from the demon surrounded its throat. Before the healing could take effect, Richard dove on top of the demon’s chest and forced the tip of his phase rod into its eye socket and up into its brain. He wiggled the handle of the phase rod back and forth, sensing the phase energy destroying the brain matter as fast as the demon’s self-heal could replace its damaged flesh.

  “It’s taking too long,” said Nickelo. “The X-shuttle has dropped off the security team and the others near the yacht’s airlock. Your elf and half of the team are on their way here, but they’re running into problems of their own. Oh, and just in case you’re interested, a Tharg is about to put a few phase rounds in the back of your head. Just a little FYI.”

  Making a command decision, Richard released the handle of his phase rod, leaving the tip in the orange demon’s skull while he continued to shake the handle with telekinesis. He turned and threw up a defensive shield just as a Tharg holding two rifles in its four hands fired both weapons in his direction. A score of phase rounds hit Richard’s shield and bounced off, tearing their way through two armored pirates. Both soldiers went down as the heavy phase rounds blew holes in their chest armor. At the same time, Richard sensed movement in the void under the Tharg. A split-second later, a dark dolgar head with a mouthful of teeth bit into the Tharg’s leg and pulled the screaming four-armed creature into the floor.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  A serious of explosions echoed down the corridor from beyond the four-way intersection. Richard sensed Power drain from Jeena’s reserve as a feeling of what he could only describe as exhilaration came flowing down their bond link.

  “Hmm,” said Nickelo. “I think your elf is a little on the bloodthirsty side. I calculate close contact with you is rubbing some of your bad qualities off on her.”

  Richard didn’t bother replying to his battle computer even though he had a feeling Nickelo was right. Instead, he drew five percent of his Power from his reserve and sent it down the link to Jeena.

  “By the way,” said Nickelo. “That orange demon’s avatar is dead, so you can stop twisting your phase rod now. No use wasting Power on telekinesis when it’s not needed.”

  Spinning around, Richard turned in the direction of the remaining orange demon. It was locked in combat with both Red Wing and the scout Nickelo had said was t
he supreme leader. The supreme leader had somehow reacquired her phase spear and was beating on the orange demon’s defensive shield in tandem with Red Wing. Richard recognized the alternating attack methodology his father and he had once used against the dark elf Crendemor. He mumbled a silent prayer thanking the Creator for giving him the sense to teach the technique to Red Wing.

  A sense of evil behind Richard drew his attention away from the orange demon. He spun around, spraying plasma rounds from his M63 as he turned. The plasma rounds hit a clear jelly-like mass moving down the hallway. The plasma rounds did no damage to the creature other than hit a few bones and bits of fur and armor that were visible within the demon’s gelatin body. The jelly-like creature completely covered the corridor from deck to ceiling, engulfing everything in its path.

  “You’ve fought them before,” said Nickelo.

  “I don’t remember,” Richard said trying to remember any mission for ‘the One’ where he might’ve encountered the demon type before.

  “Well, it’s in my databanks,” said Nickelo as a series of images with Richard locked in battle in some lava-lit tunnel flashed in Richard’s shared space. In the images, he was fighting against a jelly creature similar to the one he faced now.

  Latching onto the past memory, Richard decided on an attack strategy. Reaching out with a line of Power, he grabbed hold of a nearly invisible organ inside the jelly creature and jerked back with telekinesis. A fistful of clear jelly came out and splashed against the metal deck, spraying bits of gelatin into the air. The body of the jelly-like demon collapsed in on itself while turning into a pool of steaming goo. Before Richard had time to celebrate his victory, a hulking mass of tentacles and purple flesh came around the corner of the intersection. The demon resembled a ball of purple more than any humanoid form. It was followed by four demon-hounds. The four-legged demons weren’t time-hounds, but their flaming eyes, finger-length fangs, and acid-dripping mouths told him they weren’t going to be pushovers.

  Grabbing his phase rod with telekinesis, Richard pulled it out of the dead demon’s skull and into his waiting hand. He barely got his gloved fingers wrapped around the handle when the first of the four hounds came leaping at his face. A dark shadow came out of the ceiling, latching a mouthful of teeth around the back of the hound’s neck as Sheeta disappeared into the metal planks of the deck taking the hound with him. Swinging his phase rod at the second hound, Richard broke its back.

  A third hound made a try for Richard’s throat, but he felt his right arm move to align the barrel of his M63 at the demon-hound’s open mouth. A stream of plasma energy burst out of the back of the demon’s head, splattering dark goo across the eyes of the fourth hound. A beam of green energy struck the last hound in the side. The demon stiffened and fell to the floor. Richard looked past the still charging purple demon’s waving tentacles to see Jeena standing at the corridor’s intersection, holding a wand in her left hand and a staff in her right.

  The massive ball of purple which was the remaining demon struck out with a tentacle in Jeena’s direction. A tall elf, also in power-armor, stepped beside Jeena and waved a hand. Richard recognized Comstar’s frequency as the old elf formed a ball of magic to his front. The ball shot out, striking the purple mass in the center. The demon stopped in its tracks, but its tentacle was still able to wrap around Jeena’s waist. The tentacle lifted her up and slammed her armored-head against the ceiling. Sheba ran around the intersection and leaped into the air, biting into the tentacle and using her weight to pull it down to the floor.

  A short, potbellied form stepped around the same corner. It was the dwarf Stovis. The muscular dwarf swung a battle axe at the tentacle, cleaving the piece of slimy meat in half. Jeena fell to the floor, kicking out at the tentacle as it continued to move on the deck as if still seeking a victim. A glance at Jeena’s life energy on his passive scan told Richard that his bondmate was unharmed. She was up in a flash, swinging the Staff of the Lady of the Tree at a second tentacle. A flash of blue filled the corridor. When the flash disappeared, a blackened tentacle lay smoldering on the deck.

  Running forward, Richard jumped into the air and knocked another tentacle out of the way with his phase rod as he went. When he body-slammed the ball of purple flesh of the demon’s body, Richard stabbed downward with the end of his phase rod. The meter-long length of creallium and phase energy entered the purple mass, causing the festering flesh to twist and bang against the walls of the corridor. A wave of magic shot out from inside the demon, tearing through Richard’s battle suit and into his flesh as it tried to rip him apart from the inside out. Richard screamed as his self-heal attempted to heal the damage, but the pain was more than he could bear. Blackness began replacing light as he felt his hand losing its grip on the handle of his phase rod.

  “Don’t pass out,” warned Nickelo. “The other’s need you. Your elf needs you.”

  Thoughts of Jeena drove the pain back enough to allow him to maintain his grip on his phase rod. He funneled Power from his own reserve into the weapon. In spite of his pain, he sensed the explosions of phase energy inside the demon increase three-fold. A feeling of warmth encompassed him. He sensed Jeena’s frequency in the magic. The feeling of warmth spread, forcing the demon’s spell out of his body. A second later, the purple demon exploded. The blast of magic energy sent Richard flying through the air back the way he’d come.

  Rolling on the floor, Richard landed between the feet of the last orange demon.

  “How’d that happen?” Richard said in his shared space. “I thought it had a defensive shield up.”

  “It does,” replied Nickelo. “The demon’s concentrating its energy on the parts of the shield being attacked by the two scouts. You slipped through a weak point. I suppose you were right. Sometimes luck does ace skill. Don’t spend too much time patting yourself on the back though. I calculate this demon is stronger than the other orange demon was.”

  Looking up between the demon’s legs, Richard remembered how he’d once beaten a beefed-up Minotaur by shoving a sword up the creature’s anus. He prepared to do the same with his phase rod. Before he could act, he realized he had a problem. “It doesn’t have an anal opening,” he said.

  “Hmm,” replied Nickelo sounding amused. “That does present a problem with your little plan, doesn’t it? Maybe you should have discussed attack options with me first. According to the information in my databanks, very few demons actually eat solid food. Consequently, they have no need for a body part to discard waste material.”

  Before Richard could reply, the orange demon broke off combat with the two Crosioian scouts long enough to stab downward with its sword.

  “Shield!” yelled Nickelo.

  Reacting to his battle computer’s warning, Richard threw Power to his front in a haphazard defensive shield. Surprisingly, the demon’s sword glanced off and penetrated the metal deck halfway up to its hilt.

  Raising his phase rod for a counterattack, Richard said, “Cool. My shield stopped a physical attack.”

  “The scout told you she fixed the problem with your defensive shield,” said Nickelo. “I calculate a hundred percent probability she was correct. Now, drop it to conserve Power and put this demon out of action.”

  “Roger that,” Richard replied as he swung his phase rod at the base of the demon’s spine.

  Before the rod could make contact, Nickelo shouted, “Shield!”

  Throwing up another defensive shield, Richard got it formed just in time to deflect a length of green phase energy into the deck.

  “Human!” came a hiss as the supreme leader’s phase spear pulled out of the metal deck and started to come down again at Richard’s head.

  Still lying between the demon’s legs, Richard glanced up to see Red Wing knock her supreme leader’s spear aside with the end of her own weapon.

  “No!” hissed Red Wing. “Ally!”

  Richard wasn’t sure what the supreme leader would’ve done next, but the orange demon made the decision for h
er by pulling it’s sword out of the deck and swinging the glowing blade at the Crosioian’s neck. The supreme leader tried raising her spear to block the blow, but it was obvious she was going to be a split-second too late.

  “The supreme leader’s old,” said Nickelo in their shared space. “Her reflexes cannot compete with those of a younger scout like Red Wing.”

  As Red Wing raised her spear in a futile attempt to distract the demon from her supreme leader, Richard reached out with a line of Power and wrapped it around the demon’s sword. As he pulled back on the blade with telekinesis, he struck the base of the demon’s spine with his phase rod.

  Crack!

  The sound of breaking bones was music to Richard’s ears. The demon roared a scream but instead of falling, the orange-colored nightmare wrapped Power around itself and remained standing.

  “It’s using telekinesis to stay on its feet,” said Nickelo. “At least your attack kept it from cutting off the Crosioian’s head. I calculate that’s a plus.”

  Richard sensed anger and pain from the link to his bondmate. A quick glance at his passive scan told the story. Jeena, Comstar, and Stovis were no longer at the intersection. They had rejoined the Defiant’s crew near the docking tube that connected the yacht to the transport ship. His friends were locked in battle with a mass of life forms that were trying to force their way out of the tube. He sensed a dozen demons mixed in with the attacking pirates, along with a score of magic users. The size of the Power reserves of the opposing mages told Richard his bondmate and the valiant group of defenders with her were hopelessly outgunned.

  Fury built up inside Richard. He let go of the handle of his M63 and pulled his .44 caliber AutoMag from its holster. Jamming the barrel of the high-powered pistol against the area between the orange demon’s legs where its anus should have been, he squeezed as fast as he could pull the trigger. The first of the heavy brerellium steel rounds penetrated the thick demon skin. The second slug entered its body cavity. Pulling the AutoMag’s barrel back, Richard replaced it with the tip of his phase rod and shoved it up the opening with the entire force of his battle suit’s assistors behind it. Black goo dripped down the brerellium rod as Richard sensed microscopic explosions of phase energy tearing apart the internal organs of the orange demon’s avatar. The demon screamed once before collapsing to the floor.