Something else he had said at that time hadnot hit home until now. He said that all the grandmasters werespellweavers, and because of it they dominated any battle they wereinvolved in. As I looked at the amount of power that flowed aroundme, I finally accepted my fate and embraced it. I was trulygrandmaster of this realm.
When I did that I felt something shift. Itwas as if the scales of the universe tipped slightly from darknesstowards light. Yes, that was it: the balance of power in this realmhad just changed for the better. Hope and confidence welled upinside me as I realized this, and I was finally able to get somesleep.
Chapter Thirty-One
I woke early the next morning and dressed inthe full ceremonial robes of my office. I needed to look my best onmy wedding day. While I was getting ready a call came over theintercom from Luke, saying that the Dark Talon was incoming, so Itold him I would meet them down in bay two.
When I arrived, the bay had just finishedpressurizing and the Dark Talon’s doors were opening. Twenty-fiveof the Dark Knights filed out of the craft and into the bay. Theylined up at perfect attention as if ready for an inspection. Theircommander came towards me and said, “We are honored to take care ofthe Nevermore for you today.”
“Thank you. You will find that most of theship is fully automated, as there are only seven people on boardwho can fly her. Feel free to disengage what automation you need toin order to do your job. I do not expect any trouble out here, butshould any come, handle what has to be handled and contact meimmediately,” I said.
“Yes, sir. Did I hear you right that thereare only seven people to run this ship and fly her into thepotential battle we are about to face?” he asked.
“Yes, there are currently only seven wizardsunder my command,” I said. “I must be going. If I am even a momentlate for our rehearsal this morning, well … let’s just say I darenot risk it.”
He smiled at that, turned and led his squadout. “Luke, when they arrive, make for the garden. They willknow what to do.”
“Okay, Vydor,” he responded.
Once the captain and the others arrived intheir shuttle, I took them down to the gardens. After an exchangeof pleasantries Andreya took charge. I spent the rest of themorning standing where I was told to stand and moving only wheninstructed.
Kellyn wanted a simple but formal-stylewedding. To create this effect, she and Andreya rearranged thegarden so that there was a path from the entrance flanked byvarious pink and purple flowers that led to a grassy knoll alsoflanked by flowering bushes and small trees, with a waterfall inthe center of the back wall of bushes. It was in front of thatwaterfall that the captain would marry us. There were no illusionsanywhere. Kellyn insisted on a pure ceremony.
When the time finally came for the wedding Itook my place in front of the captain and waited for her to come. Ifelt her presence long before she came into view, but when she didI was almost overwhelmed with emotion. She was dressed in astunning, pure white gown that was tastefully decorated with pinkand clear crystals. She came slowly up the path escorted, to mysurprise, by Mantis. Despite, or maybe because of, the lack ofmagic, the ceremony was a powerful experience.
After the ceremony, Mantis made his typicalquick getaway and we all headed over to the Dragon Claw for thereception, which was a whirlwind of handshakes, pats on the back,cheers, music, and food. It was a huge event, orchestrated by thecaptain’s hostess, Carol.
When it was all over Kellyn and I returned tomy quarters on the Nevermore …
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kellyn woke me early the next morning andreminded me that we would be jumping very soon.
“The Dark Knights are still here, so Iasked them to handle the jump. I hope you do not mind,” shesaid.
“No, that was a good idea. Where are theothers?” As we were still in what was now our quarters, I couldnot sense them.
“We are meeting on the observation deckfor the jump in one hour,” she said.
“All right. I will have a shower and go upthere,” I said. She went back to her previous quarters to getready herself, and then we went up to the top deck together.
“You know, Vydor, you are very lucky. Notmany people get to be woken early the day after their wedding nightto face battle with a demon,” commented Luke as I arrived. Itwas a good thing that Kellyn’s primary power was healing, becauseafter the look she gave him I was sure he was going to needemergency treatment.
I noticed that Rannor was with us, so Iasked, “Can he hear us yet?”
“Yes, Master Vydor, I can. Master Gafar isserving as a link for me until I learn how to do this myself,”Rannor replied.
“Good. Have you been told what is about tohappen?” I asked.
“Only that we will be jumping soon,”he said.
“Well, I wish I had more time to explain.I will just say that jumping is dangerous for me at this time and Icannot do it alone. You may see some odd things, but do not worry;united we can handle it,” I said. “Rannor, make sure youhave a good physical hold on Gafar and do not let go until the jumpis over. We will take care of everything else. Focus on holding onto him while you have a grip on him and it will hold through thejump. Okay?”
“Yes, Master Vydor, I can do that,” hesaid and grabbed hold of Gafar’s arm.
“Commander, we will need the jump countdownup here. I do not have time to explain why, just be aware that wewill probably face greater than normal hangover coming back,regardless of our preparations,” I said over the comm, taking careto leave it open so that we could hear the countdown as I walkedback to the group. Privately to the other master wizards I said,“I plan to take the offensive this time, so be ready for somefun.”
Then we heard over the speaker, “Jumping infive, four, three, two …”
The blueness of jump space surrounded us all,and I saw the dark specter moving towards us. This time I lookedhim right in the eye without fear and said, “Foul creature, beware!I, Grandmaster Vydor, and all six of our realm’s masters standbefore you. Prepare yourself for battle!” With that I called up abolt of pure magical energy and blasted him in the dead center ofthe chest. He screamed out in pain and shrank a little in size, butflew right at me in spite of the blast. I stared him down withoutblinking, and then raised my left hand, with my wedding ring on it,and channeled the power that I felt coming from Kellyn through thering and into him. The bolt cut a hole right through him; this timehe fell back in intense pain. “Spirit of old, you have no powerover me. Your curse on my family ends, NOW!” As I screamed “now” Ichanneled another bolt, this time combining the powers of all thewizards, and when this bolt hit him he burst into fire and wasconsumed, leaving only us and the spirit of light.
“Well done, Grandmaster Vydor, you arefinally free,” the spirit of light said. “Now you must prepare foryour greatest battle yet. Take this scroll. It contains vitalinformation that you will need soon. Do not worry about how to readit. When you return to normal space you will have the knowledgecontained in it.” I took the scroll the spirit offered withoutpausing to think about it.
Almost instantly after that we were back innormal space, but none of us suffered any side effects from thetrip. I looked around at each one, and as they realized what hadjust happened there was much cheering, jumping and hollering. Oncethey calmed down, I spoke, using my real voice so that Gafar wouldnot have to relay my words. “Today we united and defeated a demonwhich has plagued my family for countless generations. This is amajor turning point for us, as it shows our greatest power comesfrom our unity. We must stand united, since we are the last andgreatest defense the forces of light have in this realm. Everythingdepends on us.” I stood in front of them and said, “Soon we will befacing the greatest battle this realm has ever seen. Many will die,perhaps even some of us, but we cannot falter, or sacrifice ourdedication to the battle; so I ask you now to repledge your loyaltyand dedication to me and our cause.”
Starting with Kellyn, one by one, they statedtheir support with a bow. Then over the loudspeaker I heard thecommander
of the Dark Knights say, “The Dark Knights will standwith you to the end, Grandmaster Vydor, no matter what happens.” Itwas only then that I remembered I left the comm open before thejump.
“Commander, how many Dark Knights remain onthe Dragon Claw?” I asked over the comm.
“None, Grandmaster. All one hundred of usmade the journey over yesterday,” he said as he entered the room,turning off the comm as he passed it.
“Commander, the Dark Knights’ skin is notblack because you dyed it; it is because you are a subrace of theZalionians. Correct?”
“Yes, sir,” he answered.
“And your race has a natural ability tocommunicate through a form of telepathy?” I asked.
“Yes, sir,” he replied.
“Your race also has a natural resistance tomagic, has it not?” I asked.
“Yes, sir,” he answered.
“Well then, I plan to ask the Empire toassign you to my craft indefinitely, if you and your Knights arewilling,” I said.
“Yes, sir, but there is no need since we havealready informed Zalith of our decision to join you here,” repliedthe commander.
“Excellent. Then prepare this ship for thenext jump. I expect that we will be jumping into a hot battlezone,” I ordered.
“Yes, Grandmaster,” he snapped as he turnedand left.
“Rest and eat. I must call the captain,then we must have a full council meeting before the next jump. Imet with Mantis two nights ago and have much to tell you,” Isaid to the wizards. “Rannor, I will need you to take your oldposition in the medical bay, as there are too many of us here nowfor Kellyn to treat alone.”
He seemed to light up with that comment andasked if he could be excused to check out the medical wing beforeany battle occurred. “Go, but be back before the next jump,”I said.
“Oh, do not worry. After what I justwitnessed, I will be back early,” he said and left with aspring in his step, looking younger than before. This baffled meuntil Kellyn sent via our link, “You gave him a job; he feelsneeded again.”
“Ah, of course! Thank you, Kellyn. Okay, Iam going to call the captain. Feel free to listen in. Just stay outof sight,” I said.
I wandered off to find a private-looking nookto place the call from. Kellyn followed me over and set up thecall, then returned to the table with the group to eat.
“Master Vydor, I am glad you called,” camethe captain’s greeting. “I need to talk to you about the DarkKnights.”
“Go on, Captain,” I replied.
“Well, it seems that they are not reallyImperial citizens, nor truly part of our Navy,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Yesterday they all started packing up to flyto your ship, and I told them that the first twenty-five was reallysufficient. Then they just quoted a treaty reference to me andsaid, ‘The time has come.’ I could not get them to stop packing up,and I didn’t want to make a fuss on your wedding day, so I let themgo.
“I had not heard of this treaty, so I spentmost of last night researching it, and I was surprised at what Ifound. Apparently the Dark Knights were not part of the ZalionianEmpire at the time of the merging with the our Empire. They had aseparate agreement. Vydor, this agreement dates back over threethousand years and supersedes anything that would be in effecttoday.”
Zalith entered the room at this point, butdid not say anything. I could see something was eating at him,though. After a brief greeting to Zalith, the captain continued,“This treaty clearly states that they have their own government,and serve the Empire only until the return of the one who will leadthem to victory over darkness.”
“I am surprised such a treaty even exists,” Isaid.
“So was I, and I checked thoroughly. Nothinghas been done to change its terms in all this time. It seems theEmpire figured enough time had passed that, whoever the ‘one’ was,he was dead and not coming back,” he said.
“This is very interesting, but how does thataffect us today?” I was sure I knew what he was going to say, butdid not want to jump the gun and insult Zalith if I was way offbase.
“Vydor, they believe you are the ‘one’, basedon some ancient prophecy,” he replied.
“Somehow I knew you were going to say that.What do you know of this prophecy, Zalith?” I asked.
Zalith seemed relieved to finally be able tospeak and said, “Vydor, the prophecy just predicts that you willcome, and how we will know you when you come. The first sign isthat you will come from a foreign people, but earn respect inbattle as one of our own. The second sign is that you will rise upsix others from your own people who will follow you withoutquestion or hesitation and will also be greatly honored in battle.Once you come into your power you will lead the armies of lightinto a great battle in a faraway place against the greatest army ofdarkness ever seen. There is also an obscure reference to beatingan ancient power in a place out of time, but I know nothing aboutthat. There are many other signs like these, and they all point toyou, Vydor.”
“A demon out of time? Such as in jump space?”I asked.
Zalith’s eyes went wide, “You actually didthat?”
“Yes, Zalith, a demon that has hunted myfamily for countless generations. With the help of my Council ofWizards we were finally victorious, thus ending the disease thathas plagued my family almost to extinction,” I answered. Before Isaid that I would never have thought a Zalionian could go pale, butnow I knew better.
“I do not really know what to say in the faceof all this. The treaty clearly states they are not under mycommand, but only serve out of mutual benefit until the ‘one’ … Iguess you … returns,” said the captain.
“Well, Captain, at least this explains whathappened just before I called you,” I said.
“What was that?” he asked.
“Their commander came up here and swore theloyalty of the entire squad to me,” I said.
“Then I guess they are yours now. It reallyis a wise move. You need a crew on that ship in case we find abattle waiting for us,” he responded.
“Zalith, are you happy with this?” I asked. Icould not figure out what he was thinking, but he was obviouslygreatly torn over something.
“Vydor, not only am I happy about it, I amproud of them for following through on an ancient promise. I almostwish I could join them,” he said. “All Zalionians hold dearly tothat prophecy.”
I thought about it for a minute, then said,“Zalith, I need you on the Dragon Claw as my officialrepresentative and to take care of the Zalionians who are stillpart of the fleet. The Empire needs our help, and I need you tospearhead it in the Navy.”
He smiled and said, “It will be a great honorto serve you in that way, thank you.”
The captain looked at me and said, “You areturning out to be a great leader, Vydor. I am proud of you.”
“Thank you, Captain, but we have morebusiness to attend to. I have just learned that we will be jumpinginto a hot battle zone. The sorcerers are amassing their forces andplan to strike now before we have time to raise up an army ofwizards to face them. Are there any fleets nearby that you can callon for help?” I asked.
“The Phantom’s fleet could probably make itin about twelve hours. They are the closest,” he said.
“We do not have the time to wait for them.Let them meet us at the battle. If they arrive after the fightstarts, that could work to our advantage,” I said.
“I agree. If the sorcerers are stillgathering power then we dare not let them have any more time thanwe have to. I will also shorten our jump a little so that we havesome extra time to recover from the jump before rushing in,” hesaid.
“Captain, you must understand that everythingis at stake here. Call in all who can make it. If the battle dragson long enough for them to reach us we will definitely need them,”I said.
“I will have to delay our jump, probably byan hour, so that we can prepare the fleet for this. Do not worry,Vydor, we will win, no matter what they bring against us. I havenever lost a battle or war yet, and I
do not plan to startnow.”
With that I wrapped up the conversation andcalled all the wizards to meet me in the Crystal Room. Once insidewe each took our official positions, and I said, “There is muchto discuss. You heard some of it when I spoke to the captain, butthere is more you must know. First, let me give you my memory ofthe meeting with Mantis.”
I looked around at each of them as theyreviewed it. Long gone was the ragged-looking group that I hadfound last year. They no longer bore the effects of the stress ofconstantly hiding and fighting underground for months at a time.They all looked strong and vibrant now. The power each of themradiated was immense. Soon they had absorbed the memory and werewaiting for me to talk.
“I have learned much since then. You heardsome of it during my chat with the captain, so let me go back andfill in the details. I will start with the identity of the darkspecter that we just defeated; he was the embodiment of a cursecast on my family line by the very first grandmaster sorcerer inthe hope of preventing my birth. His power came from my anger andfear, and his destruction was brought about by your love andsupport.”
“So then, he is gone for good?” pipedup Kellyn.
“Yes, Kellyn, we won.” I responded.That brought great joy to the room. It was our first great victoryas wizards, and there was nothing like complete and total victoryto cheer a team. Once the room was settled again I continued,“There is a lot more to cover, starting with what I was shownabout the future. When we come out of the next jump the largestarmy of darkness ever created will meet us. It will be made upalmost entirely of spirits, demons and other creatures from thedarkest and foulest abyss. This massive fleet will be outnumberedalmost three to one.”
I just let that settle in for a minute. Noone said anything while they visualized what that might look like.Then I continued with the bad news. “I foresee a death tollamongst the forces of light greater than that of any previous warin the entire realm. I cannot see who will live and who will die.You may or may not want to believe in the prophecy that Zalith toldus about, but the key is that our enemy does believe it, and theybelieve I am the one to fulfill it. Their plan is to wipe us outbefore we can reach full power.”
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