Star Magi: A Space Opera Fantasy Adventure (Star Magi Saga Book 1)

by Andrew Dobell

  ‘Good to know. Are you the only one here, in New York?’

  Lilitu looked back at her and smiled mischievously. ‘The hunt for us has been going well, then?’

  Amanda narrowed her eyes as she studied the Archon carefully. A suspicion fell over her suddenly. Had she let herself be found? Was this all a part of her plan?

  Lilitu laughed. ‘Oh, dear. You’ve only just caught on, haven’t you? Of course, I let you find me. I wouldn’t want you to miss this, not after you were there for our release from the Abyss,’ she stated with a smile that sent shivers down Amanda’s spine.

  She glanced around, wondering what Lilitu was talking about. Had she walked into a trap? ‘Miss what?’

  ‘Oh, you’ll see. You’re a little early, to be honest.’

  Amanda frowned. She didn’t like that the Archon was toying with her, but she had to admit to herself, she was a little worried about fighting Lilitu. They were incredibly powerful creatures and as strong in her Magic as Amanda felt, she had yet to actually fight any of the Archons.

  ‘Enough games,’ Amanda said. ‘You and your kin are responsible for the deaths of countless Magi, Scions, and Riven. Your Nomad followers have killed hundreds of thousands, millions even, in your name and under your direct instruction. You gave up any right to life a long time ago,’ she said as her array of minds concentrated on reaching out and gathering Essentia to her.

  ‘You speak on behalf of all Magi, do you?’ Lilitu mocked her.

  ‘I’m tasked by the Council with finding you and destroying you, not to mention my own need to do the same,’ she said, remembering her promise to her mother and to herself. She would hunt down the Archons. Hunt them and kill them. She was one of the few Magi capable of standing up to them, and she would see this through. It wasn’t just a job that the Council had tasked her to do, it was an obligation, a need and a promise. She would hunt them down, wherever they went, however long it took her.

  ‘Your need? This sounds personal to you, Amanda.’

  ‘Your kind have killed more than enough innocents and a few friends of mine, so yes, it’s personal,’ she said and released the Essentia she’d built up within her in a rage-fuelled blast. The Archon’s Aegis flared, and Lilitu herself staggered back, catching the rail behind her to steady herself and keep from falling off the edge of the building.

  Lilitu grunted in surprise and pain and looked up through her hair that had fallen about her face. ‘Aaah, so you do have some power,’ Lilitu said as Amanda threw another volley of attacks at the Archon.

  Lilitu swept her hand before her and Magic flowed out of her in a wave, sending some of Amanda’s second volley of attacks off course, and disintegrating others. Suddenly, energy flared around the Archon as she unleashed a swarm of attacks of her own. Essentia Strikes rained in on Amanda and smashed against her Aegis when a kinetic ram slammed into her and knocked her off her feet with its sheer power. Amanda tumbled and landed awkwardly. She looked up to see more Magic hit Maya and Liz, throwing them off their feet as well, their Aegises flaring.

  Amanda got up in time for another attack of lightning to slam into her from the Archon, knocking her back once more.

  She hit the ground and rolled to a stop, her body aching already from the punishment it was taking. A hundred cuts, bruises, and scratches called for her attention as she looked up to see the Archon on the other side of the rooftop smiling down at them. But as Amanda looked, the scene behind her changed.

  ‘Witness the seed of your destruction,’ Lilitu said, spreading her hand wide as she looked up to the sky with glee.

  The clouds in the sky, their edges picked out in orange by the setting sun, looked like they were boiling. They almost bubbled as Essentia flared from within them. A shadow grew in those clouds, getting darker and more distinct until a black shape burst through and dived down towards the city.

  Amanda stood up and could only watch in slack-jawed horror as the enormous black dragon spread its wings wide, its four legs tucked neatly beneath it as it roared and swooped down.

  ‘No… It can’t be…’ Amanda whispered.

  ‘Oh, it can, and it is, young Magus. Now, you see the truth; now, you see what you’re up against.’

  ‘Holy shit,’ Liz gasped from nearby.

  ‘Oh, my God,’ Maya muttered.

  As she watched, more of these massive creatures burst through the cloud cover and dove towards the city.

  Void Dragons

  New York, USA.

  Amanda stared at the horrifying sight of what felt like endless numbers of Dragons bursting through the clouds and swooping down towards the city as a feeling of helplessness and of being overwhelmed rose up within her.

  This was too much. This was a nightmare.

  ‘What are they doing here?’ Amanda said, not really asking anyone. She was just voicing her own questions, but, as she looked back at Lilitu, she knew she, and maybe the other Archons, had been the architects of this. ‘Oh, my God, what have you done?’

  ‘What needed to be done,’ Lilitu said with a smile as she backed away from Amanda. Amanda started to follow the Archon and looked up to see two Dragons, one a little further back, diving down towards them. As she watched, Lilitu’s Aegis around the building was suddenly cancelled, snapping out of existence in the blink of an eye.

  ‘Amanda?’ Liz called out, a note of warning in her voice.

  ‘I… I have to do something…’ she yelled back, but in all honesty, she had no idea what it was she could do. This was too much. The whole city would be seeing this. Could the Arcanum cover this up?

  Amanda opened up her Link to Shaun and sent a pulse through it to him. It opened right away.

  ~You seeing this?~

  ~The Dragons? Just got word.~

  ~Tell the Arcanum, they’re going to need everyone in New York, right now,~ she said, and closed the Link as the closest Dragon swooped below the level of the roof further up the street.

  ‘Have fun with this,’ Lilitu said before she leapt off the side of the building and dropped out of sight. Amanda, too shocked to do anything, just watched her go.

  ‘They’re Void Dragons, right?’ Liz asked. ‘From deep space? Like that one you fought once? What the hell are they doing here?’

  ‘I have no idea…’ Amanda said as the Dragon that had swooped down into the street climbed back up out of the street and up into the air, with Lilitu clearly visible on the Dragon’s back, clinging onto the rider before her.

  Looking out over the city, Amanda cast a critical eye over the scene and noticed that most of the Dragons seemed to be staying airborne, gliding between the upper reaches of the buildings, breathing fire from their mouths at the city, creating firestorms in the streets below. She could hear screams of terror already.

  However, amidst the majority of Dragons that were flying around, a few were dropping down slowing, and clearly landing in the city. Where her suspicions correct? Were the other Archons in New York also, being picked up by these other Dragons before her very eyes?

  She didn’t know and felt powerless to do anything. This was an army of Dragons and their riders. What could she do against them? She was just one Magi against who knew how many.

  ‘Amanda!’ Liz yelled out as a shadow fell over the rooftop. Amanda looked up to see the second Dragon that had been approaching them mere moments away from landing on the rooftop, right on top of her.

  Amanda Ported back, using her Magic on instinct to take her out of harms way. She appeared over ten meters away from where she’d been standing, appearing close to Maya and Liz as the enormous black scaled beast landed on the roof of the building.

  ‘This is not good,’ Liz yelled out.

  ‘Yeh think?’ Amanda answered.

  The floor shook with the impact as the fifty-foot long creature’s claws bit into the concrete and steel, bending and disintegrating it. Amanda, Liz, and Maya backed off further as the Dragon lowered its head and roared at them. Amanda saw fire kindle in the back of the wyrm�
�s throat and quickly expanded her Aegis to include Liz and Maya as white-hot fire laced with Essentia splashed over them.

  The heat was intense, even with her shield keeping most of it at bay, and she could feel the Magical fire eating away at the strength of her Aegis.

  ‘We need to get out of here,’ Liz shouted, sounding more than a little panicky. Amanda didn’t blame her; this was unprecedented. The supernatural was unknown to the wider world, with Earth having been something of a no-go area for the Magi of deep space.

  Amanda had fought against overwhelming odds before, but it was the brazen openness of the attack that was so shocking. If the Arcanum, with a force of Magi backing them up, got on this quick enough, they might be able to contain it… But there was a lot of uncertainty.

  The Magical fire abated and faded from view, leaving patches of the decking and rooftop ablaze as the Dragon shifted its position. Amanda made to reach out with her Magic and Port them all off the roof, only to notice that another Aegis had been placed around the top of the building, keeping her from Porting away and stuck in here with the Dragon.

  With her concern growing, Amanda looked back at the beast, which had twisted slightly, and saw a rider in black armour on its back as well as at least four other people on it wielding guns. The rider glowed with Essentia in Amanda’s Aetheric Sight as he controlled the Dragon while the armoured soldiers jumped down to the rooftop, their movements slick and professional.

  ‘We’re stuck here,’ Amanda called out to her friends.

  ‘So, we’ve gotta fight? Against that thing?’ Liz asked.

  ‘Don’t fight the Dragon, you deal with these guys,’ she said, nodding towards the men with guns jumping off it.

  ‘You don’t have to tell me twice!’ Liz replied.

  Despite the seriousness of the situation, Amanda couldn’t help to let out a brief laugh at Liz’s answer. Blasts of Essentia hammered into Amanda’s Aegis, snapping her attention back to the Magus riding the Dragon as her Aegis soaked up the brunt of the attack.

  Nearby, on the ground, the black-clad soldiers brought their weapons to bear on them and fired. As the electron and particle beams lanced out at them, Liz ran forward, dodging back and forth and leaping over the furniture while Maya moved so quick she was merely a blur.

  Two of the soldiers had focused on Amanda, their guns hitting her shield as she fed it with Essentia to keep it from being worn down by the onslaught. With a thought and a focusing of her intention to be next to the attackers, she Ported over, appearing between them already part way through her first kick, which connected with the knee of the one to her right. There was a sickening crack and his knee bent the wrong way as he fell to the floor.

  The other man turned his head in shock, only to be met with Amanda’s fist. The power of the hit cracked his facemask as she discharged a pulse of Essentia through her fist. He fell to the floor with a grunt, spinning as he went.

  A bolt of electrical energy slammed into her Aegis from above and arced all around her to the floor. Looking up, she saw the Dragon rider leering at her as the Dragon itself swung its neck around to get a better look.

  Focusing as many of her Multitasking minds on the rider as she dared, she unleashed a flurry of Magical attacks on him. Lighting, fire, and Magical energy rushed up and smashed into his Aegis with an explosion of sparks and energy.

  The man called out with a yell of pain, causing the Dragon to rear up and roar, Amanda glanced over to the Dragon’s head in time to see another blast of Magical fire and plasma rush towards her, crossing the space between them. The fire cascaded around her, bathing her in its orange glow as she heard the screams of her two attackers who were now being roasted alive no more than a meter away from her.

  Reacting in anger, Amanda used as many of her minds as she dared to release a flurry of attacks on the Dragon. Lightning flashed and Essentia surged at the beast, but the attacks seemed to slide off its considerable Aegis.

  A blur of dark shadow rushed through the flames all around her and hit her like a battering ram. The Dragon’s slap with its front claw might as well have been a wrecking ball hitting her. Amanda flew back, and before she really knew what had happened, she’d hit the wall of the penthouse behind her and dropped to the floor with a grunt.

  She looked up to see the Dragon turn, lifting up and pulling back its tail as its vast wings unfurled. Amanda guessed what was coming before it happened. Sending a spike of Essentia at the Aegis around the rooftop, she called out to her friends. ‘Liz, Maya! Look out!’ she cried as the tail swept down towards them.

  As the tail descended, Amanda hit the Aegis keeping them on the rooftop with ever more energy, desperate to put a hole in it.

  The Aegis cracked, faltered and then collapsed as the tail crunched into the far side of the roof and started destroying everything in its path. Liz was already running from it when Amanda reached out with her Flux Magic and Ported herself, Liz, and Maya forty meters up.

  The trio watched as the Dragon’s tail slammed into the outside decking of the penthouse and racked across it. The spikes on the tail tore up wood, concrete, and metal as it destroyed the whole thing, including the soldiers that had ridden the Dragon down.

  Amanda, Liz, and Maya hung in the air, Amanda’s Magic keeping them floating as they watched the Dragon beat its wings and lift off from the building, the top floor of which was now little more than a ruin.

  ‘Holy shit,’ Liz whispered in shock and incredulity.

  ‘That was intense,’ Maya agreed.

  ‘What the hell do we do now?’ Liz asked, looking up at the scene of horror before them as buildings across the city were destroyed and people killed.

  The cover-up, if it were even possible at this stage, would be up to the Arcanum and the Magi they brought in to help them, and frankly was not something she was skilled in. She wouldn’t know where to start with such an operation.

  But what she could do, was fight. She could try to fend the Dragons off and try to save some lives. She looked over at Liz and Maya and saw their utter dismay at what was going on. Liz was a capable Magi, and Amanda was intensely proud of how far her young apprentice had come over the years, but she was not anywhere near the level of being able to stand against a Dragon.

  Hell, Amanda wasn’t even sure she could.

  Maya was a capable and experienced vampire and could hold her own in a fight, much like Liz could, but again, she got the feeling that these Dragons were beyond her.

  She wondered if she were making up excuses to get her daughter and apprentice out of harm's way; reasons why they should not fight these Dragons.

  Was she being selfish? Did she want to merely protect those closest to her? Maybe, but both of them did undoubtedly look scared.

  Amanda reached out with her Magic once more. Neither Liz nor Maya resisted, and a heartbeat later, they were standing on a New York street, just meters away from Amanda’s house.

  ‘What? Oh, what are we doing here?’ Liz asked, sounding nervous.

  ‘What’s the plan?’ Maya added, her voice calmer and less shaky than Liz’s.

  ‘The cleanup and cover up of this is going to be mammoth and will require as much help as possible. Go and find Shaun and find out what’s happening. Do what you can to help,’ Amanda told them.

  ‘And what are you going to do?’ Maya asked.

  ‘I’m going to fight.’

  Maya nodded once. ‘Good luck. We’ll get the Council and Arcanum here soon.’

  ‘Don’t go getting yourself killed, alright?’ Liz commented.

  Amanda smiled. ‘I won’t,’ she said as she watched the pair run into her brownstone house.

  Amanda turned and looked up between the towering buildings to see one, and then another Dragon shoot past, their leathery wings wide as they shrieked in the night. The roars and calls of the Void Dragons were terrifying to hear, chilling Amanda right to her bones. It was the keen realisation that you were not at the top of the food chain any more.

 
Around her, people were running in fear, watching the skies or fleeing for their lives. This would not be easy to cover up. It would all depend on whether the Arcanum had caught it early enough and stopped what were likely thousands of photos and videos from people’s phones from being shared on social networks.

  It was certainly possible, and the Arcanum had the expertise to do it, but the sheer scale of this was, as far as Amanda knew, way beyond anything they would have ever encountered before.

  ‘Amanda,’ called out a female voice from behind her. She turned to see a small Magical starship, an Aether ship hovering above the street, and standing below it was a Magi woman dressed in a fitted bodysuit with various bits of armour attached to it. She didn’t carry any weapons, but she glowed in Amanda’s Aetheric Sight with Magic.

  ‘Hey, what’s the craic?’ Amanda answered. She’d never seen the woman before. She was perhaps a little taller than Amanda was, but only by an inch or two, with a physically fit and toned body held in a stance that suggested she knew how to handle herself. Her features were fairly plain, and her dark hair was pulled back in a bun on the back of her head. ‘Do I know you?’

  ‘Probably not. But I know you, Dragon killer!’

  ‘Excuse me?’ Amanda answered as a pair of lightning bolts flew out from the woman and slammed into her Aegis, making the few remaining pedestrians nearby scream in fear and back off. ‘Hey!’ Amanda yelped in protest at the Magus.

  ‘You killed my Dragon,’ the woman said and threw several Essentia Strikes. They smashed into Amanda’s Aegis.

  ‘Your Dragon? I don’t think I’ve killed a Dragon yet today,’ she said, looking up at the sky as another of the huge creatures flew overhead. ‘Well, not yet.’

  ‘Grokar! You killed Grokar over seven hundred years ago,’ she yelled and threw a fiery bolt of plasma at her that Amanda’s shield deflected without issue.

  ‘Oh, that Dragon… That was yours, was it?’

  ‘Yes, but today I have my revenge,’ she growled. ‘Your city is in ruins and your quarry is gone, all because of me!’