The dark-haired man looked at Richard and smiled. The smile was almost friendly. “It has been a long time, Wizard Scout.” The master demon glanced around the tunnel at the contorted bodies frozen in battle and shook his head. “Tsk, tsk. I expected better from you than this, Wizard Scout. I had hoped it would not be necessary for us to meet again until it was time for you to make your choice during the Great Battle. You disappoint me, my friend.”
Richard tried to glare at the man, but his facial muscles were frozen in time. Only his mind was free. “I am no friend of yours,” he thought. “And I will not do your bidding. You and I are enemies.”
The man’s smile hardened. “You cut me to the deep, Wizard Scout.” He pointed at Sheeta. The big dolgar was frozen in midair with a half-meter-wide chunk of Cancontus’s flesh in his mouth. “How can you deny my aid? Did I not give you your dolgar allies? Did I not tell you they would come in handy over the years? Was I wrong?”
Richard refused to play the master demon’s word game. He knew he was hopelessly outmatched. The master demon had once held him at his mercy during his first mission on Portalis. He remembered how the master demon had removed his armor and weapons and held him helpless as it told him of a great battle in the future. He remembered how the master demon had told him that he would need to make a choice in the future. He remembered how the dark-haired man that was the master demon had told him his choice would be the key to delivering the three galaxies into the master demon’s hands. Richard thought back to how the master demon said he would need allies. That had been right before the demon had slashed open his belly and sent him to a cavern in the spiritual plane where Sheba had just given birth to her pups. The dolgar female had healed him and accepted him as one of her own.
“You do not need to answer, Wizard Scout,” said the master demon. “I see your thoughts. You would have been dead long ago if I had not given you the dolgars as your allies. My opponent, on the other hand, would have sent you helpless to do his will with no one to aid you. The time of the Great Battle is nigh, but you must do a few things yet before the battle is joined. Then you will make your choice, and it will be the right choice or I promise you that I will make you suffer as none have before you. I will make sure your suffering last from now until the end of eternity.”
Turning away from Richard, the dark-haired man stared at Cancontus. The bulbous mass of the major demon’s avatar was now as frozen in place as was Richard and the others. “In the meantime, Cancontus, what shall I do with you?”
“Master, I serve only you,” came Cancontus voice in a pleading tone. “I—”
“Do not bother with excuses,” said the dark-haired man. “It matters not. All has been done as I desired.” The master demon waved his hand. When he did, a wave of pure Power rushed over the other demons in the tunnel. At the Power’s touch, all of the demon bodies except for Cancontus’s and the meter-high purple demon turned into gray sludge and splattered to the floor. Richard noticed dozens of multicolored glints of fingernail sized gems in the sludge.
When only Cancontus and the purple demon remained, Cancontus whined, “Master, I have served you faithfully. I have—”
“Enough,” said the dark-haired man. “I will deal with you and your brothers later.” The master demon waved his hand again. The bulbous mass that was Cancontus’s avatar blinked out of existence. Once Cancontus was gone, the dark-haired man walked to within a pace of Jeena. He reached out and lifted a strand of her silver hair before releasing it to fall back against her shoulder.
“Your elf has served her purpose well,” said the dark-haired man as he turned to face Richard. “The vision I gave you of her during that first mission on Portalis has given you hope over the years. The thought of her kept you alive during even the darkest times.”
Anger burned in Richard. He tried striking out with his phase rod, but his body refused to obey his commands. “If you harm her, I swear—”
The dark-haired man laughed. “Harm her, Wizard Scout? Why would I do that? She too has a part to play in the Great Battle, but that time is not quite here. What is needed now is for you to gather your allies and assemble them in one place.” The master demon walked over to the frozen Charge-In-The-Face-Of-Great-Odds. “I want to show you something, Crosioian. I want to show all of you something.”
An image of demons beyond counting popped into Richard’s mind. He knew he was seeing what the master demon was showing all of the others. Along with the vision came the sure knowledge that the demon army was preparing to destroy the three galaxies and every living thing they contained. An image of massive fleets of Dragar warships accompanied by demon allies burned its way into his mind. Beyond the fleets of Dragar ships was a planet surrounded by a shimmering shield. He recognized the planet as Portalis. As he watched, the shield surrounding the planet disappeared. The Dragar fleets moved forward, straight for the helpless planet. Then the image disappeared, but its memory remained.
The dark-haired man turned away from Charge-In-The-Face-Of-Great-Odds and looked at Richard. “That is all any of you need to know for now, Wizard Scout. You must stop the war between the Crosioians and your Empire. You must gather the fleets in the magic dimension for the Great Battle. Then you must make your choice.”
“I won’t help you,” Richard thought. “If you want the war stopped, why don’t you do it yourself? Why waste your time with us?”
The dark-haired man laughed. “Why? It would take eons to explain why, and even then you would not know. Let me just say that it is not the way things work in the game. If I were to take such a direct hand in the battle for the three galaxies, then my opponent would be free to do the same. If the Dragars and demons were to attack without a sufficient force to oppose them, the game rules would be broken. Chaos would be the only outcome, and that would not bode well for either side.” The master demon smiled. “Nay, my opponent and I must play the game by the rules. We are forced to use our variables and their free will to win the game. I am forced to use you.”
The dark-haired man smiled and turned to look at the meter-high purple demon. With the merest twitch of the master demon’s finger, the portion of Cancontus’s spell affecting the small demon disappeared.
“Master,” said the meter-high demon. “I have done all that you ask.” The purple demon pointed a scaly arm in the direction of Telsa, Leethor, Master Jathar, and Rembis. “I have brought the others as you ordered. I made sure they got part of the yellow—”
“Yes,” said the dark-haired man. “They got a part of the yellow gem.” The master demon turned back to Richard. “You will need a yellow gem to finish your task.” The dark-haired man spread his arms, “Alas, the gem that the gnome has is nowhere near large enough to suit your purpose. You will need to go back in time and acquire one of the proper size when the time is right.”
“I won’t—” began Richard.
The master demon laughed. “Oh, believe me, you will. Otherwise, everyone and everything in all three galaxies will die in ways more horrible than anything you can imagine.” The dark-haired man smiled. “It is your choice.”
The master demon waved his hand. Then everything went black.
Chapter 54 – Time
____________________
Richard ran down the tunnel doing his best to keep the pace slow enough for those not in fighting- or battle suits to keep up, but fast enough to make time. The orange glow from the rift slowly faded behind them as the air density continued to grow ever thicker. Richard glanced at his heads-up display noting the time.
“Time,” said Nickelo in their shared space. “That’s always the key, isn’t it? By the way, do you even have a plan?”
“Red Wing,” Richard shouted over his shoulder. “Have you contacted the supreme leader? Have you told her what you saw? She’s got to stop the war before anyone else is killed.”
Charge-In-The-Face-Of-Great-Odds happened to be running directly behind Richard, next to Red Wing. The old bat answered before her granddaughter g
ot the chance. “The supreme leader knows. I have told her all we saw and sensed, but there is nothing she can do. The battle for Estos has already begun.”
“She can do something,” Richard insisted, still running hard. “She must order the Crosioian fleets to pull back. I’ll have my battle computer contact the Empire’s high command and have them do the same. All we need is a truce that lasts long enough to sort out all of this. The killing’s got to stop.”
Jeena stumbled and grabbed at her throat. So did Master Jathar, Leethor, and Rembis.
“The air is changing back to water,” came Nickelo’s thought in Richard’s mind. “We are getting close to the exit. You’ve got your battle suit. The scouts have their fighting-suits. The others are going to need to cast breathing spells that work in water. You’ve got to stop long enough for them to cast their magic. They’ll also need protection from the water pressure. I don’t have to remind you that the entrance for the Hole is a long ways down from the surface.”
Grabbing his bondmate’s arm, Richard pulled her back a dozen steps, toward a spot where the air was semi-normal. Three of the scouts grabbed Rembis and the two elves. Once the air thinned enough that the moisture resembled a thick fog more than visible droplets of water, Richard waited while Jeena and the others bent over and coughed. He patted his bondmate on the back. She responded by spitting a mouthful of water onto the tunnel floor.
Once his bondmate recovered enough to speak, Richard said, “Jeena, you need to cast that underwater spell you used to get here. Can you cast it on Master Jathar, Leethor, and Rembis too, so they can make it to the surface?”
Master Jathar shook himself free from the scout holding him up. “I am quite capable of casting my own spell, Wizard Scout.” With that the elf waved a hand and spoke three words Richard heard but quickly forgot. A shimmering bubble of air formed around the elf’s body. The old elf turned and cast a similar spell on Leethor. By the time Master Jathar’s spells fully formed, Jeena and Rembis had their own bubbles protecting them.
Richard turned away from his bondmate to look at Charge-In-The-Face-Of-Great-Odds. “So what about it? Will the supreme leader order her fleets to stop fighting or not?”
The old bat shook her head.
The animal that was Richard’s temper began rattling its cage again. “What is wrong with you?” he asked barely keeping his voice below a shout. “You saw and sensed the same things I did. How can—”
Red Wing stepped forward and placed her hand on Richard’s arm. “Steady, Wizard Scout. It is not that the supreme leader does not believe us. She does. She is convinced.”
“Then why—”
Charge-In-The-Face-Of-Great-Odds stepped beside her granddaughter. “Because, Wizard Scout, the supreme leader cannot give the order. She has already tried. Something is jamming communications with the fleets. Even our fighting-computers have lost contact with the fighting-computers of the scouts in the attacking fleets. It is as if that section of the tele-network has been cut off. The battle around Estos continues. According to the supreme leader, the final part of the trap is about to be sprung.” She swiveled her ears at Red Wing before turning them back to Richard. “The losses are going to be high on both sides, but the Empire and Trecorian fleets will soon be totally destroyed. That is almost a certainty. There is nothing anyone can do about it.”
Richard stared down at the ground, clenching his fists. “This can’t be happening. We’ve come too far to lose our chance now. I refuse to believe nothing can be done to stop this war. We can’t let the demons win. We just can’t!”
Telsa shoved her way past the two scouts to stand next to Red Wing and her grandmother. She looked at Richard and jerked a thumb at Red Wing. “Raj has forwarded information to me that he received from Nickelo on how you’ve been trying to get the Crosioians on our side. I normally wouldn’t approve, but things have happened that have convinced me you are on the right track. Master Jathar, Leethor, Rembis, and I have spent the last month in Hell, and when I say Hell, I mean Hell. After seeing what we’ve seen, I’m not going to let a little jamming mess up our only chance.”
“What are you proposing?” Richard asked, relieved that his friend had a plan.
Telsa laughed. Her face lost some of its stress, momentarily reverting to the fun-loving wizard scout Richard had known as a cadet. “Me? Hey, you’re Wizard Scout Richard Shepard. I haven’t a clue what we should do, but I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
Richard sensed confidence coming through the link from Jeena. He turned to look at the others. For some reason, even the Crosioian scouts had their ears pointing at him with what he took as an expression of expectancy.
“Hey,” Richard said hoping to give his companions a dose of reality. “I’m just a man. I’m out of ideas. There’s nothing I can do.”
Sensing movement to his right, Richard turned to look into Jeena’s eyes. The swirling molten silver was clearly visible through the shimmering field protecting her. She touched his arm with her left hand.
“You mean there is nothing you can do here, my bondmate.” She smiled. It was accompanied by a feeling through their link of love and uttermost confidence. “My adoptive mother Reale always told me that when defeat looms over you with no escape in sight, you may as well charge forward to meet it.”
Richard stared at his bondmate. “I’m not quite sure I—”
Laughter came out of Red Wing’s translator. “The Defiant,” the bat said. She laughed again. “I think all things are coming together, Wizard Scout Richard Shepard. I think you were named well. You truly are the tribal brother.”
“I still don’t—”
Charge-In-The-Face-Of-Great-Odds also laughed. “Yes, we can do nothing here, but the Defiant is now the fastest ship in this galaxy. Her intergalactic-drive can make the run to Estos in fifteen minutes if we override the safety controls.” The old bat hissed another laugh. “After what we have all encountered and sensed this day, I think a few safety controls are the least of our worries.”
Richard looked from the two scouts to Telsa and then to Jeena before looking back at Charge-In-The-Face-Of-Great-Odds. “You’re talking about finding and taking out whatever’s jamming the Crosioians’ part of the tele-network, aren’t you? Even if we find the jammer ship, if that’s what it is, what good will that do? You told me the battle’s already started. Will there be enough time after we destroy the jammer to contact the supreme leader back here on Astaris and have her order your fleets to withdraw?”
Red Wing and Charge-In-The-Face-Of-Great-Odds swiveled their ears at each other before turning them back to Richard.
“Oh, Wizard Scout,” said Charge-In-The-Face-Of-Great-Odds slightly spreading her wings. “If you knew our supreme leader like I know her, you wouldn’t have to ask. I have no doubt she will be on the Defiant right alongside us. If there is any chance this war can be stopped, she is the one who can do it, and she will be right in the middle of the action to make it happen.”
With no plan of his own, Richard made the only decision he could. He said out loud so the others could hear, “Nick, contact the Defiant. Give Sergeant Ron the coordinates to the platform above us and have him meet us there.” With a smile of his own, he added, “Tell him the supreme leader needs her royal yacht. We’ve got a war to stop.”
Laughter came out of the external speaker of Richard’s battle helmet.
“Compliance, Wizard Scout. That’s a big compliance.”
Chapter 55 – Plan B
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One floating rock after another sped past Tia as Sandy weaved Yankee Kilo Six through the asteroid belt. A stone the size of Tia’s head ricocheted off the fighter’s force field before shattering against a larger asteroid a hundred meters away. Tia paid little attention. She concentrated all her efforts into holding onto the maintenance rung of the fighter’s left wing.
“You all right?” came Sandy’s voice over Tia’s flight helmet. “I haven’t been trying to avoid the smaller ones.
I figured speed was our friend.”
Tia had no doubt speed was important, but it was one thing to know it sitting in the comfort of a pilot’s seat with your hands on the controls and another thing when you were lying prone on the wing of a fighter being flown by a pilot nearly as crazy as she was herself.
Tia glanced down at the meter-long nuclear warhead attached to her chest. She’d removed it from her fighter just prior to Yankee Kilo Six picking her up. She looked out the corner of her helmet’s visor, into the cockpit of the split-wing. Sandy had the visor of her flight helmet up. Beads of sweat dripped down the pilot’s face as she concentrated on threading the fighter between the thousands of floating pieces of rock in their section of the asteroid belt.
In spite of the situation, Tia laughed. Sandy’s as crazy as I am, she thought.
As if to prove her point, Tia’s fellow fighter pilot squeezed the split-wing between two house-sized boulders. One of the asteroids flew by so close Tia thought she could reach out and touch its rough surface with her gloved hand.
“You’re doing fine,” Tia said forcing herself to laugh. “Of course, I’d appreciate it if you’d get me to that jammer ship in one piece. I’d hate to deny the Crosioians, or whoever’s on that ship, the privilege of blowing holes in me.”
Sandy glanced out her side windscreen long enough to catch Tia’s eye. “Look, Lieutenant. I’m as crazy a pilot as the next one, but I’ve got to tell you that I think your plan is even too wild for me. Sure, with my fighter’s stealth shield at max, I might be able to slip through these asteroids without being detected, but as soon as we hit open space, that’s going to be another story. Those are dreadnaughts and heavy cruisers protecting that jammer ship. This fighter’s small enough to avoid the dreadnaughts’ larger anti-ship fire until a hundred thousand meters. After that, their smaller weapons will come into play. They’ll zero in on this fighter with no problem. Any closer than a hundred thousand meters, and they’ll blow us to pieces for sure.”
Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8) Page 44
