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

by Andrew Dobell

  ‘To be sure,’ Amanda commented with a raised eyebrow. She sounded unhinged, but her comments were worrying. Did she help plan this and bring these Dragons here? Did she help to kill all these innocent people? Before she could think about it much more, the woman ran towards her with a yell and threw several more Magical attacks at her. Amanda’s Aegis was more than up to the task, but she used a couple of her minds to keep her Aegis boosted before she struck back and sent a barrage of energy at the woman, Magical and otherwise. Lightning snapped and exploded, ionising the air around them and slamming into the woman’s Aegis like a hammer.

  She fell backwards and landed on the floor before she was suddenly up on her feet again as Amanda closed the distance and delivered a savage, Essentia laced kick to her face. The woman spat blood as her Aegis fizzed from the impact. Amanda hit her again with a massive onslaught of Essentia and tore an enormous hole in the woman’s Aegis before she punched her in her face, right on the nose, making it explode with blood.

  ‘No!’ the woman yelled, and then screamed as she charged into Amanda in a crouch, grabbing her around her waist and throwing her back. Amanda used the woman’s momentum against her, and as she hit the ground, pushed off with her feet and flipped the woman over.

  Amanda followed suit and ended up on top of her. She backhanded her with her fist, splattering blood to the concrete.

  The woman lay there, breathing hard through the blood in her nose and mouth, but looked defeated. Amanda got up and stood before her. ‘Who are you?’

  The woman pushed herself up with her hands, looking slightly shaky. ‘Nessa,’ she answered.

  ‘Whatever I did, Nessa, I’m sorry, but I can’t waste time on you. I’m a little busy right now.’

  Nessa got up, rising to her feet, but her legs looked about as solid as a newborn fawn’s. ‘I… I will kill you,’ she coughed.

  ‘Last warning, Nessa. Don’t be an idiot, you won’t win this.’

  Nessa reached to her belt and pulled out a knife. She held it wide and looked at Amanda from beneath her furrowed brow, her eyes mad with rage.

  Suddenly, she screamed and charged at her.

  ‘Goodbye, Nessa,’ Amanda said as she released a bolt of lightning at her from her hand. It burnt a hole right through Nessa’s chest, leaving a smoking ruin behind as Nessa dropped to her knees and looked down at herself in disbelief. After a moment, she looked up at Amanda again, blinked once, and pitched forward, faceplanting the street. Looking at her through her Aetheric Sight, Amanda could see her vitals were gone. She was dead.

  Behind her, the ship suddenly pitched left and dropped to the street with a scraping of metal against concrete, and then burst into flames.

  Amanda sighed. Killing was something she never enjoyed, but it had also become a necessary part of her life as a Magus, and today, New York was filled with death.

  Another screech cut through the evening air. Amanda looked up to see what looked like a sleek starship bank around and fire on one of the Dragons, burning its hide with its particle beams.

  Amanda frowned. Who was this? Did they have help from beyond Earth?

  As she watched, another Dragon dive-bombed the ship, landing on it before ripping at its hull and tearing huge sections of the ship loose.

  Amanda could see the ship was Magical, marking it as an Aetheric Craft — a starship made by Magi — as explosions blossomed from within while the Dragon continued to pull it apart.

  Loosing power, she watched the ship drive towards the ground. Within moments, it came screaming down the street Amanda stood in, trailing smoke and debris behind it as it passed above her before crashing into the ground, still with the Dragon on top of it. The sudden deceleration of the ship as its hull bit into the concrete, ripping up asphalt as it went, threw the Dragon from its hull.

  The ship thundered to a stop, throwing the Dragon along the street beyond it before stopping itself.

  Amanda started to make for the ship, wondering who had been flying it and if they were on her side as bystanders ran from the chaos. Amanda guided a few of the more confused people away from potential danger, using her Magic to bring a car to a sudden halt before it hit an older man, who had not been quick enough to get out the way. Ahead, she spotted three people jump from the ship. A woman in a fitted black stealth suit with long black hair, a man in light armour carrying a massive gun, and a woman in long robes. All of them sported an Aegis, but Amanda guessed that only the woman in robes was a Magus.

  As the three people jumped from the ship, the Dragon that had destroyed it found its feet and turned to face them before it leapt forward with a roar.

  The trio spread themselves wide with the Magus in the middle, who threw blasts of Essentia and energy attacks at the Dragon. The woman in black raised her arm, which Amanda saw now had a gun sticking out of it, and fired on the Dragon.

  In the blink of an eye, the gun ionised a path to the Dragon, before sending a powerful electrical current along the conducting track of ionised plasma. It happened in a fraction of a second, and only Amanda’s Aetheric Sight picked out the details for her as the electron laser flashed and hit the Dragon.

  On the left of the Magus, the man with the huge gun, which Amanda recognised as a rail gun from the powerful electromagnetic energy along its barrels, fired as well. The shots from his weapon left a trail of blue energy that faded after a moment.

  But the Dragon went straight for the Magus, and as Amanda helped up another injured pedestrian and passed her off to someone else who could help, she saw the Dragon bathe the Magus in Magical plasma fire, and as that faded, lunge down and snap its jaws shut on her, ignoring the barrage of gunfire from the other two crew.

  No one was left between her and the fight now, so Amanda summoned her Magic and hit the Dragon with an almighty kinetic ram that knocked the beast backwards, sending it stumbling as Amanda Ported over, appearing on top of the ship that had crashed.

  The Dragon spun around. Its tail whipped past and hit the two remaining crew, who were much closer to it. They were both knocked backwards and crunched to the floor as the Dragon roared.

  Amanda looked up to see the Dragon staring at her before he jumped into the air and dived for her, its claws extended.

  Dragon Fight

  New York, USA.

  Calling on her Magic, Amanda hit the Dragon with a battering ram of invisible kinetic energy from above, smashing the colossal wyrm into the street before she followed it up and a flurry of Essentia blasts and streaks of lightning that hammered into the creature. Beside her, the woman in black and the armoured man were back on their feet and unleashing hell on the Dragon as well, their weapons tearing into the beast, which recoiled from the assault with a tremendous roar.

  Fire kindled deep in the Dragon’s throat, and a moment later a fireball leapt from the Dragon’s mouth.

  Amanda pushed her Aegis out and encased the three of them in her shield as the fire hit and cascaded over the invisible barrier, bathing them in its orange glow.

  It faded a moment later, and as the flames died, she saw the Dragon grab a large pickup truck that was close to it with one hand and throw it at them.

  Amanda jumped down from the crashed ship and let the pickup hit her Aegis, which deflected it easily, although she noticed the two-remaining crew from the ship duck for cover before the truck came to a sudden stop and hit the floor before them.

  Reaching out with her Magic, Amanda telekinetically took hold of the ship that was behind her and launch it at the Dragon like she’d thrown a fastball in a baseball game.

  The ship smashed into the Dragon’s shoulder, exploding in a gigantic fireball. The shockwave from the blast blowing out windows throughout the block. The Dragon bellowed with what Amanda hoped was pain before the thing beat its enormous wings and shot up into the sky with a screech.

  Amanda watched it go for a moment, making sure it wasn’t trying to bluff them. After a few seconds, it was clear the Dragon wasn’t coming back, and she looked at the two
figures standing nearby.

  The woman’s black catsuit and the man's armour both looked like nothing she’d seen on earth before. The design was very futuristic. The large railgun rifle the man held sparked for a moment as he stood near the Magus that had been with them, looking solemn. The woman crouched beside him and put her hand on the dead woman’s shoulder and took a moment to herself. As Amanda watched, the gun barrel that protruded from the back of her forearm folded back inside and closed up, leaving no trace of it.

  ‘I’m sorry about your friend,’ Amanda said, stepping towards them.

  They both looked up at her, the woman standing back up. ‘Thanks for the assist, I don’t think we would have survived that otherwise.’

  ‘No problem. Um, how come you’re here?’ Amanda asked.

  ‘I guess you could say we’re Dragon hunters,’ she answered.

  Amanda felt surprise play over her features. ‘Dragon hunters?’

  ‘In a manner of speaking. We were tracking them and got word they were coming to Earth.’ A screech from another Dragon echoed through the buildings of the city. The two crew members looked up upon hearing the sound. ‘We need to get back up there, we can’t do fray all from down here.’

  ‘I might be able to help with that,’ Amanda replied.

  ‘You?’

  ‘Yeah, I have a ship.’

  ‘You’re an Earth Magus. What are you doing with a ship?’

  ‘What can I say? I’m full of surprises. I’m Amanda,’ she said, offering her hand.

  The woman looked at her hand for a moment as if she were unsure what to do with it before she reached out and took it in hers. ‘Valerya, and this is Aris,’ she said as they shook hands. ‘So, where’s this ship?’

  ‘Come with me,’ Amanda said and set off back towards her house at an easy run. She could have Ported, but it wasn’t far, and she wanted a little more time with these two new friends before she let them in her house and on her ship.

  ‘Do you know what the hell’s going on here? Why are these Dragon’s attacking New York?’

  ‘That, I’m not sure about, but the Crux have been building their armies for as long as I can remember.’

  ‘The Crux?’

  ‘Powerful creatures that live close to the galactic core, served by the Corpus Nomadica.’

  ‘Nomads,’ Amanda muttered referring to the loose organisation of dark Magi that wanted to destroy or enslave humanity.

  ‘That’s right, Nomads. They ride the Void Dragons that the Crux create. I have no idea why they came here, though. We were hoping to figure that out.’

  Amanda frowned as she thought through what she had seen, feeling the pieces falling into place as she thought it through.

  ‘I think I might have an idea why,’ Amanda said as they approached her house.

  ‘Care to share?’

  Amanda slowed and stopped on the sidewalk outside her house and turned to face Valerya and Aris. ‘How do I know I can trust you?’

  ‘I guess you don’t, but we’re on the side of the Nexus, despite its corruption.’

  The Nexus are the interstellar version of the Earth’s Magi Council, basically the good guys, Amanda thought. She didn’t know much about how the Nexus worked or the society of the Star Magi. She’d seen bits of it a long time ago, but she’d kept out of it mainly, preferring to stay close to Earth, only really keeping in touch with a couple of friends she’d met early on in her trips amongst the stars.

  Amanda eyed the two crew members, and as much as she’d known them for only a matter of moments, it was clear that they were not friends of the Dragons or their Nomad riders. At least, for now, that was good enough for her, and she needed as much help as she could get. If this pair were experienced in dealing with Dragons, then maybe they would be valuable allies?

  Amanda nodded. ‘Good enough for me,’ she said and turned towards her house only for a barrage of energy beams to lance over the street at them, slamming into their shields.

  Amanda turned to face the attackers, ducking slightly as Valerya and Aris dropped and moved into cover beside the cars lining the street.

  Looking over, a group of six armed and armoured figures were gathered, two standing on top of cars, and the other four on the sidewalk, firing their electron lasers.

  Amanda concentrated as Valerya and Aris started to return fire. She ported over the street and appeared on the car beside one of the attackers, catching him off guard. She punched him in the kidneys, sending a pulse of Essentia into his body. He called out in pain just as she released a bolt of lightning at him and sent him flying through the air.

  Beams of energy shot past her as Valerya and Aris fired at the soldiers around her. Twisting, Amanda saw the other one on the top of a car turn to aim at her.

  Amanda scythed at the man's legs with a blade of invisible kinetic force that knocked his feet out from beneath him. He landed on his rear on the car’s hood with a thud.

  Amanda jumped, her enhanced strength carrying her further than an average human could ever manage and brought her leg down on the man’s chest.

  Ribs cracked.

  Leaving the groaning man who was clearly no longer a threat to them, she rolled off the car to engage the two remaining soldiers, the others having been shot by Valerya and Aris.

  Standing between them, Amanda moved quicker than they could follow, lashing out with a series of strikes that quickly had them on the ground nursing several broken bones. She stood there, feet wide apart giving her a solid base, her long red hair tousled and slightly wild, scanning around her for any further threats.

  Satisfied they were safe for now, and with all pretence of subtlety gone, Amanda Ported across the road, appearing beside Valerya and Aris.

  ‘Right, let’s go,’ she said and made to walk towards the house.

  ‘You’re a little scary, you know,’ Valerya commented, eyeing her curiously.

  Amanda turned back and looked at the black-clad woman before she shrugged. ‘What can I say? I’ve had enough of dark Magi today. Come on, if yeh still wanna get back in the fight.’

  Valerya followed her up the steps of her stoop and into the front hallway of the house. As she walked inside, Liz stepped out from the front room. ‘You’re back? What the hell is going on out there… And who are these guys?’ she asked, looking over at the two people behind her.

  ‘Liz, this is Valerya and Aris, they’re on our side. Their spaceship crashed after a Dragon attacked it… Wow, that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.’

  ‘Spaceship? Right, this is madness,’ Liz commented.

  ‘We’ve had word that the Arcanum is on the case, it appeared they were warned moments before the attack,’ Maya said, appearing from the basement door further up the corridor.

  ‘Then we might be lucky, we might be able to contain this,’ Amanda mused.

  ‘Contain it?’ Valerya asked.

  ‘Earth isn’t like the human colonies of the Nexus. The Magi don’t live openly here. Earth’s humans don’t know Magic is real.’

  ‘I know,’ Valerya replied. ‘I mean, how you live like that is beyond me, but you mean you can somehow make everyone forget this happened?’

  ‘Maybe not forget. People have died. But maybe those memories can be modified? I don’t know, I’ll leave that to the Arcanum. It’s what they do.’

  ‘You’re not from Earth?’ Liz asked.

  Valerya smiled. ‘No, we’re not, thank the Aether. It wasn’t high on my list of places to visit, either.’

  Liz gave her a funny look and opened her mouth to answer or protest, but Amanda cut in. ‘We don’t have time to stand here and chat, come on, let’s get to the Arkady.’

  ‘Understood,’ Maya commented. ‘We’ll keep an eye on things down here.’

  Amanda nodded and waved for Valerya and Aris to follow her and ran up the stairs to where the Portal was located on the first landing, part way up.

  The Magical Portal looked like an unremarkable set of wooden double doors, no
different to the other doors in the house, except that in Amanda’s Aetheric Sight, they glowed brightly.

  Opening the door, Amanda stepped through, feeling the rush of Magic that washed over her before holding the door open to let the other two through. They found themselves in part of Amanda’s Null Realm, a spirit realm that she had created herself that was linked to her house, and, through another door, to her ship. This part of the Null Realm looked like a large, well-appointed room complete with fireplace, leather chairs, wooden panelling on the walls as well as small tables with trinkets on them from Amanda’s adventures. Pictures hung on the walls with more souvenirs from her life, and as Amanda walked over to the door on her left, which led to her ship, her two guests peered at the décor with some curiosity.

  ‘Nice place,’ Aris said, surprising Amanda by speaking. He’d hardly said a word since they’d met. She got the feeling he was a quiet, stoic type.

  ‘Thanks,’ Amanda said. ‘This way.’ She opened the door and stepped through. She went first to demonstrate that nothing was lurking on the other side and that she wasn’t leading them into a trap.

  They followed her through without issue and stepped out onto the main deck of her Aetheric Craft, the Arkady.

  The inside of the ship looked like a billionaire’s yacht with its sweeping pine wood surfaces and pristine white décor. She knew it was, to some people, at least, something of an impressive sight. Her two guests looked over the inside of the ship and nodded approvingly as Amanda made for the stairs and led them up one deck to the bridge.

  The space was an elongated semicircle with the main viewport along the front curved part of the room. Chairs were spaced around in front of holographic consoles, and Amanda moved over towards the captain's chair and slid herself into it.

  ‘Oooh, this is nice. You have a great ship here, Amanda. I could get used to this,’ Valerya commented.

  ‘Thanks. Grab a seat,’ Amanda replied as she reached out with her mind and connected to the ship's core, bringing the engines online and feeling the hum of the ship around her.

  ‘Can this thing fight?’ Valerya asked.