All told, pushing the ship as fast as it could go, it would take over eight months to get back to Sol, travelling over twenty five thousand light years in the process, with the ship dropping the Link relays every so often as it needed to. It was an automated process, though, so she just needed to check on it every so often to make sure it was progressing as planned. In the meantime, she’d need to entertain herself for a while.
Void Rider
Sol System
Wandering onto the bridge, Amanda glanced over at the holo to check the countdown. She’d made it with moments to spare, and as she settled into her seat, the numbers reached zero and the ship dropped out of Flux.
The stars outside the main viewer shrank back to points of light, and she smiled to see that she was just sweeping past one of the outer dwarf planets of the Sol System.
She’d decided to drop out of Flux towards the edge of the system, just in case that dragon was still following her, even though there was no sign of it when she had dropped out of warp a few weeks ago to adjust her course and head towards Sol itself. She’d waited around for a full day, just to see if it might suddenly appear, but there had been no sign of it, much to her relief.
Still, it paid to be careful, so she tapped the relevant icon on her console and switched the ship's sensors from passive to active, scanning the area for anything that shouldn’t be there.
She waited, watching the readout to see if anything appeared. Before her, between her chair and the auxiliary consoles around the edge of the room, a projector that rose up from the floor showed a holographic representation of local space, with the Arkady in the centre and the nearby dwarf planet off to one side. As she watched, the ship picked up something moving around the planet in her general direction. The sensors locked onto it and brought up a view of it on the screen before her. It was difficult to make out at first, but it soon resolved itself into a familiar shape.
Amanda’s heart sank as she saw the dragon swoop up out of the shadow of the planet on the holo-screen with the orange glow of Magical fire puffing out of its fanged maw.
‘God damn it,’ she cursed to herself.
Part of her wanted to run and try to lose the beast, but who was to say it wouldn’t just follow her once again? Or, worse still, it might decide to attack Ultima Thule or Earth, and she would be to blame. Taking manual control, she turned the ship and brought the weapon systems online as the dragon swung into view through the main viewport.
The tactical readouts flickered into life as the ship displayed information about the target, including the fact that the dragon was protected by an Aegis, in the same way her ship and she was.
Backing the Arkady off to give herself room to defend herself, she targeted the dragon and fired the ship’s pulse cannons. Streams of energy, laced with Essentia, lanced out at the dragon and smashed into its Aegis, which flared from the impact. The attack only seemed to make the dragon angrier, though. She fired the weapons again as the dragon sped up, and as she watched, she saw a flare of Essentia originate from the back of the dragon where its neck attached to its body.
Suddenly, Essentia Strikes hammered against the Arkady’s Aegis, followed by a bolt of lightning-like energy that shot across space between them and slammed into her ship.
Amanda eyed the dragon in the viewport and brought up a zoomed-in view of the dragon.
Somebody was riding it.
From the moment she’d seen the flare of Essentia around that area of the dragon, she’d suspected as much, but now it was confirmed, and she couldn’t help cursing to herself.
‘A fecking Magi dragon rider? In space? This just gets better and better,’ she said to no one, sarcasm in her voice. ‘Well, we can both play that game,’ she muttered to herself and focused her Magic once more.
Pulling on the Essentia around her, she enacted the Multitasking effect on herself and split her mind into a multitude of separate minds, each one independent of the others and able to work Magic simultaneously, but they worked in tandem, towards a common goal like a hive mind.
She set one of these minds to controlling the ship and using the craft’s weapons systems on the dragon. Another couple she used to reinforce the Arkady’s Aegis, repairing the shield to keep her safe, and with the rest, she unleashed hell on the dragon and its rider.
Working her Magic, she sent wave after wave of Essentia Strikes at the dragon, looking to wear down the Aegis that was protecting it and hopefully get to the creature beneath. Meanwhile, her other minds worked her Pulse Magic, creating powerful blasts of particle beams that shot over the void of space. Amanda banked the ship and shifted it forwards to sweep around the dragon as it gained on her, its enormous wings beating against the Essentia all around them. As it closed on her, the space between the ship and the dragon flashing and flaring from the energy attacks that were whipping between them, the dragon sent a gout of roaring flame from its mouth at the Arkady. The Magical fire rocked the ship as the dragon swooped around to come at her again.
But Amanda could see the dragon’s Aegis faltering under her assault, so she gave it a big push, throwing as much of her weight behind her attacks as she felt she could, and hit its Aegis with as much force as possible.
The dragon’s Aegis cracked and collapsed suddenly under the assault, allowing her energy attacks to hit the beast itself. The creature wheeled away as her electrical and plasma bolts ripped at the dragon’s hide.
Essentia flared atop the dragon, and Amanda recognised the signature of Flux Magic that had just been used. The Magi that had been riding the dragon had Ported away, leaving the creature to fend for itself.
Amanda couldn’t leave the beast yet, though, it was still a danger to the Sol system, so she pressed the attack, closing with the dragon and hitting it with yet more beams from the ship’s pulse cannons and more of her own Magic.
With a few more concentrated hits on the dragon’s torso the energy around it built up to blinding levels and suddenly exploded with incredible fury. The blast flashed, making Amanda avert her eyes as the energy tore at the Dragon.
Amanda eased the ship around and brought it to a stop, its weapons systems powering down as she gazed out the window at the fading energy that expanded out from where the Dragon had been, leaving nothing behind.
The Nomad was gone and, if they were strong enough, could be anywhere by now. She gave the area a sweep and scanned the nearby dwarf planet, but she found nothing, which wasn’t terribly surprising, really.
She made a mental note to ask Astrid about these dragons and their riders, curious to know just who it was she had just fought.
Sitting back in her chair she relaxed for a moment before she turned the ship around and boosted in-system, making for the Earth.
***
Standing in the mouth of a cave on the dwarf planet, the woman watched the pinprick of light high above in the star-studded sky move off and suddenly shoot away to nothing, making its way in-system.
She sighed and looked over to where she estimated her dragon had been when she had Ported away from it. She did feel a pang of remorse for the loss of Grokar, her dragon. She’d been with him for a long time, and he’d served her well, but she was a Void Rider, and there were more dragons where he’d come from.
She now had to get out of this Aeon-forsaken system, though. As she turned her attention to the problem of getting out of here, she sensed the local Essentia stir around her.
She moved back, boosting her Aegis out of concern for her safety while before her, the feeling of something emerging into the Material Realm, pressing through to her plane of existence, grew as energy flared before her.
Black energy appeared from nowhere in the air before her, bubbling and emitting smoke as it expanded. Lightning flashed inside the black cloud as the avatar of the spirit formed before her, and a pair of glowing red eyes flared to life within the cloud.
She couldn’t be sure of its identity, but it was something powerful, probably from the Aetheric Realm. The only thi
ng she could compare it to was the power and energy she had felt when in the presence of the Deep Ones, her ancient masters.
~Nessa,~ a voice said to her, booming through the void and into her mind with a rush of incredible power.
The Essentia this thing was using was incredible, she thought as it reached through her Aegis like it wasn’t even there.
‘Who are you?’ Nessa asked.
~I am Samael, an Archon of Earth, and you are Nessa, a Void Rider of the Corpus Nomadica, servant of the Deep Ones, and former rider of Grokar.~
Nessa frowned at the mention of her now dead dragon. ‘Yes, that… Whoever it was, that Magus in that ship, they killed him, and Kade, my apprentice,’ she spat.
~That Magus was Amanda-Jane Page, an Arcadian of Earth.~
Nessa bowed slightly. ‘Your knowledge is gratefully received, Archon Samael,’ Nessa said, repeating the Magi’s name over in her head a few times to commit it to memory. She would make sure not to forget the name Amanda-Jane Page; that was for sure.
~Our pleasure. Now, we have a proposal for you, if you would be interested?~ the Archon said, its voice powerful and profound in her mind.
‘I’m listening…’
Telling the tale
Manhattan, New York
‘So, then I flew the ship back to Earth. I never did find out who the Magi was on the dragon, but I did discover that whoever it was, they belonged to a group of Nomads called the Void Riders, who breed and use dragons to cross the void of space,’ Amanda said.
‘That is crazy,’ Liz said. ‘And that all happened around, what? A little over seven hundred years ago?’
‘1302AD, to be precise,’ Amanda said.
‘Christ, that’s the middle ages,’ Matt said. ‘We were still embarking on crusades in the Middle East, and you were flying a starship around in deep space.’
‘That’s right,’ Amanda said, flashing him a smile.
‘So, do you think that whoever it was whose dragon you killed will come looking for you one day?’ Matt asked.
‘I hope not. Dragon’s swooping down from space and attacking the Earth would be a pretty crazy thing to happen.’
‘You’re not kidding.’ Matt sat back in his chair and laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head. He couldn’t help thinking about his life, and how it had changed so dramatically in the last few weeks.
He glanced up and saw Amanda looking at him with one scarlet eyebrow raised. She looked like she was unsure if he might be having some kind of mental breakdown or something.
‘You alright there?’ she asked him in her pleasant Irish accent.
He smiled at her. ‘Yeah, I’m good,’ he said, laughing. She was a fine figure of a woman, he thought, and he knew he was lucky to call her his friend. She was a shortish girl, around five and a half feet tall, with long deep red hair that cascaded over her shoulders, surrounding a friendly face.
He glanced down at the table and continued, sensing that she was waiting for an explanation. ‘I was just thinking that my life has taken a turn for the utterly bizarre recently,’ he said.
‘You can say that again,’ said Liz, who was sitting at the table with them. Liz, Amanda’s apprentice, was younger than Amanda and in her late teens with long blonde hair. She wore a loose-fitting sweater that hid her shape, as opposed to Amanda’s more fitted camisole top. He felt like the frumpy old man sitting next to them, even though he knew Amanda was much, much older than he was. She might look in her late twenties, but she was apparently over a thousand years old. Matt wasn’t much of a follower of fashion, though, and was quite happy in his jeans and t-shirt.
‘I mean, look at it from my perspective. Twenty years ago—’
‘Twenty-one,’ Amanda interrupted him, winking.
‘Sorry, twenty-one years ago, I was on my gap year after finishing university, travelling through the Middle East with my nice mundane life all planned out before me, only to run into your mother, where I helped her give birth to you,’ he said to Amanda.
‘Was that your first encounter with Magic, when you met Sophia?’ Liz asked.
Matt nodded. ‘That’s right. After Amanda here was born, Sophia used her Magic — not that I knew that it was Magic when it happened — and ripped the island of Tarut in two. I didn’t understand it at the time. I know what that was all about now, though, of course,’ he said.
‘She was fulfilling the Prophecy, right?’ Liz asked.
‘That’s right,’ Amanda said with a nod.
Liz was referring to the Prophecy of Helene that foretold of the birth of the one who would light the way when the dark gods, the Archons, returned. The prophecy said to look for the signs, including when “Ishtar gives birth”. It was a reference to the island’s name, which came from the goddess Ishtar. That island was now two islands. In effect, it had given birth.
Incredibly, no one had died that day. In fact, the only injuries were just scrapes and bruises, mainly because a red-headed woman seemed to be everywhere on the island at once, saving people. She’d been dubbed the Angel of Tarut, but Matt knew that her name was Sophia. She’d saved him, too.
That day had changed everything for him. He’d travelled back to England, got himself a job, and tried to live a normal life. He tried to ignore what had happened and continue with the plan he had for his future. But he couldn’t. Try as he might, he couldn’t help thinking about what he had seen. Eventually, he came up with a plan. He saved up, and when he had enough to live on, he dedicated his life to finding out what the hell had happened to him on that island.
‘Then, the other week, after I thought I’d made some progress with a contact who turned out to be a Nomad, you turn up,’ Matt said, pointing to Amanda. ‘You saved my life, you brought me here, and now my life is Magic and space ships. And yet, it’s still the twenty-first century out there,’ he said, waving towards a nearby window.
‘I know, it’s crazy,’ Amanda said.
‘So, how long have the Magi been out there, in space?’ he asked.
‘Over ten thousand years, I think,’ Amanda said. ‘That’s ten thousand years of travelling the stars, colonising other planets…’
‘And fighting space dragons?’ Matt finished for her.
Amanda laughed. ‘I guess so.’
‘You going to head back out there one day?’
‘Certainly will,’ Amanda answered him, a wistful smile playing over her lips.
Author Note
There you have it, the beginning of the Star Magi Saga.
Using Amanda’s first trip to another solar system as the prequel to the first Star Magi Saga book felt like the perfect jumping off point for this new Space Fantasy series.
I have always loved Space Fantasy, from its earliest incarnations in Star Wars and Warhammer 40k. I just love the mix of a futuristic setting and dark or mystical elements.
The Magi Saga is growing into a much bigger universe, and I have plans to expand it even further from here with other side series that detail other aspects of this universe.
Book 1 of the Star Magi Saga is currently being written, and is available for pre-order now.
You can find that book on Amazon here:
I hope you enjoy this prequel and join me on the ride that will be, the Star Magi Saga.
Links and stuff:
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Check out my other books on the next page.
Many Thanks
Andrew
By Andrew Dobell
Booklist
The Magi Saga – Urban Fantasy
When Amanda discovers she’s a Magi after being attacked by a werewolf on the streets of NYC, she’s introduced
to a magical society and drawn into a hidden war for the fate of mankind.
Magi Dawn: The Magi Saga Book 1
Magi Rising: The Magi Saga Book 2
Magi Omen: The Magi Saga Book 3
Magi Edge: The Magi Saga Book 4
Magi Odyssey: The Magi Saga Book 5
Magi Descent: The Magi Saga book 6
Magi Rebirth: The Magi Saga book 7
Star Magi Saga – Space Fantasy
Maiden Voyage – Prequel
Wasteland Road Knights – A Magi Saga Series – Post Apocalyptic
Liberation
Exploration
Tales of the Magi Saga
Uprising
A Thoroughly Modern Witch
Pilgrimage
The New Prometheus - Cyberpunk
When Frankie’s brain is transplanted into a Cybernetic body after being shot, she must go on the run from the mega-corporations who want her and her cyber-body’s designer dead.
The New Prometheus
The Prometheus Gambit
The Prometheus Trap
Prometheus Vengeance
The Magi Saga Short Stories
Only available through my mailing list;
www.andrewdobellauthor.co.uk
The Angel of Tarut: The Magi Saga Prologue
His Love: A Magi Saga Short Story
Casino Red: A Magi Saga Short Story
Anthologies I am part of:
The Expanding Universe – Sci-Fi
The Expanding Universe 3 – Sci-Fi
For more of Andrew’s work, including Free Short Stories and Artwork, visit my Website and Sign up to my Mailing List.
www.andrewdobellauthor.co.uk
Maiden Voyage: Star Magi Saga - Prequel Page 7
