‘She can hold her own,’ Amanda answered, checking the shields and weapons systems and powering them up, bringing them to a ready state. At the same time, she got the ship underway, bringing the nose down and diving towards the blue and green planet below.
Earth looked calm and beautiful from up here, and as she boosted the ship down, it took a few moments before the chaos that was engulfing Manhattan was in evidence at all.
The eastern seaboard of North America was right before them, with the prominent strip of land that was Long Island straight ahead. The ship boosted through the atmosphere, flames engulfing the hull for a few moments as it entered the atmosphere before the ship's systems swept them away with its Magic. The Arkady dove through the layers of thin wispy clouds. Looking west, Amanda saw the sun dip towards the gentle curve of the horizon as the terminator between day and night moved over the United States.
Below, the lights of New York at night glowed alongside several out of control fires that were engulfing various buildings. Amanda frowned and with a thought, sent a pulse of Essentia along her Link to Shaun in the city below.
He opened the Link. ~Hi, Red, you on your way down?~
~I am. I’ve got eyes on several fires through the city, if you can send Liz or someone, or inform the Arcanum, maybe?~
~I’m sure they have it in hand, but I’ll see what I can do,~ he answered.
~Copy that,~ Amanda said, and focused on the dark shapes gliding above the city, occasionally breathing more fire as they swept about in all directions.
Choosing one of the reptilian shapes from the countless numbers of them, Amanda banked the ship and aimed right for it as they sped through the night sky, diving towards the city. Concentrating, she directed the ship to fire on the Dragon.
Light flashed as beams shot out of the weapons pods on either side of the ship, lancing down and striking the Dragon she’d targeted.
The Dragon roared with rage and quickly banked, braking hard and changing direction. Amanda brought the ship around and looked over towards Valerya and Aris. They stared out of the main viewer, gripping their armrests, looking tense.
This was no way to go about this, she needed to use the resources she had available to her.
‘Who wants to pilot and who wants to be on weapons?’ Amanda asked.
The pair of them looked over to her.
‘I’ll pilot,’ Valerya answered.
Amanda waved towards the seat before her. ‘Go for it,’ she said.
‘Weapons for me,’ Aris answered.
‘Go there,’ Amanda called out, pointing to a console a short distance away as Valerya jumped into her seat and took control of the ship. She wobbled it back and forth a little, getting a feel for it before she brought the boosters online and turned the ship back towards the city, diving at the Dragon’s once more.
Amanda kept the Link between her and the ship open, but released her control of it as she closed her eyes and let the ship's sensors become her vision and hearing. The Arkady barrelled into the flight of Dragons, and as they neared several of them, Aris opened fire with the ship's lasers and beams. The energy from the weapons tore at the hides of the passing Dragons. Amanda, using her Multitasking effect once more, unleashed her own attacks on the wyrms as well.
Lightning flashed left and right, slamming into the flying beasts, exploding off their Aegises and ripping the scales from the bodies. She added in Essentia Strikes, focusing on a Dragon at a time and hammering their Aegis as much as she could until she managed to crack one of them, and in the moments that followed, shattered it.
~Follow that one,~ Amanda said, speaking through her Link to the ship, so it sounded in the mind of Valerya. Amanda highlighted the Dragon she was after on the screen.
~Copy that,~ Valerya answered, and jinked the ship to narrowly miss another Dragon and stay on this one’s tail.
Aris refocused the ship's weapons and blasted the creature as Amanda released another barrage of lightning bolts at it.
The wyrm screeched in obvious pain and climbed, beating its wings as it climbed into the night, but Valerya pulled up and made to follow only to have another Dragon dive towards them, dropping like a rock from the sky.
‘Fray me,’ Valerya cursed.
Valerya pulled the ship left, spinning it as it pulled away and shot through a wall of Magical fire that the attacking Dragon had released. The Dragon desperately reached for the Arkady with its claw. The Arkady in its spin, bumped into the hand, but it was moving way too quickly to be caught.
‘Come on,’ Valerya hissed as she fought to bring the ship out of the spin and then bring it around, hunting for the Dragon she’d been following. It was climbing, and as they watched, Essentia flowed out from the Dragon before colaceing into a focused point. The concentrated energy then burst open and created a portal before the Dragon that it slipped through. The Portal closed up right behind it, and the Dragon was gone.
‘They can create portals?’
‘We call them Wyrm Holes, but yes, they can Gate over vast distances.’
‘How vast?’ Amanda asked.
‘Several light years at least; between systems easily.’
Amanda looked back down towards the city and saw that all of the Dragons were now climbing, leaving the surface of the Earth and New York behind as they made their way back towards space. Valerya brought the ship around and dove towards the Dragons as more of them started to Gate out. Aris fired the ship's weapons once more as Amanda released another flurry of attacks. They shot through the group and banked around once more just in time to see the last of the Dragons disappear through their Gates before they snapped shut behind them.
Valerya brought the ship to a steady stop high above the city.
Amanda scanned the city below and the area all around them, but there was no sign of there being any more Dragons.
‘They’re gone,’ Valerya said aloud.
Amanda opened her eyes and withdrew her mind from the ship's sensors. ‘Looks that way.’ Below, several buildings burned while blue and red flashing lights could be seen in the streets. It would be chaos. She wondered what to do next, and if her guess at the reason for the attack was right. Was there any way she could find out?
Amanda felt a pulse of Essentia in her mind. ~Shaun,~ she said, recognising the sender.
~Are they gone?~ he asked.
~Looks that way. I think we’re in the clear. How're things with you? Does the Arcanum have things under control?~
~I think so. The Arcanum was here shortly before things kicked off. They’ve got the city and its networks locked down. I can’t get a message out from the city using conventional comms, and I have already had word through that they’re using Magi to send out a blanket rewriting of people’s memories over the last hour. Anyone without an Aegis, or not inside of an Aegis, will not remember what happened. They’ve already set a narrative in motion as regards a terrorist attack as well.~
~Excellent. Sounds like we might have just dodged a bullet,~ she answered as another pulse of Essentia flared in her mind. It was Trevelyan, and Amanda quickly noticed a sense of urgency around this Link.
~Trevelyan?~ Amanda answered, opening the Link.
~Amanda, can you get to Ultima Thule? We’re under attack by Void Dragons.~
Exodus
New York, USA.
Anastasia stood at the windows of the penthouse apartment and looked over the city of Manhattan as the Dragons dived down between the buildings, lighting things on fire with their terrible breath, causing havoc throughout the city.
She smiled, it was a beautiful sight, seeing chaos and death everywhere. In some ways, part of her was sad to be leaving this behind, but her plans had been a long time in the making, and she knew that her destiny — her future — lay out there in the stars. Yasmin, her former master, had been blinkered. She’d been focused with ruling Earth and far too obsessed with killing Amanda.
Look where they had gotten her, she thought, looking up at the moon and the n
ew crater on its surface, the result of Yasmin’s fight with Amanda, and also Yasmin’s grave.
Yasmin had only ever thought of revenge against a single Magus, but Anastasia would not fall into such a trap.
She had travelled the stars at Yasmin’s behest, looking for ways to increase her master's power, but little did Yasmin know that she had broadened Anastasia’s horizon’s as well, showing her the wider Magi community in the stars.
There were thousands of planets out there, all of them ripe for the taking and on the brink of war.
All it would take would be a little push, a little nudge, and the Dynasties of the Nexus Arcadia would erupt into war with each other. Anastasia was keen to use the events that were transpiring around her to her own advantage and breaking away from Yasmin had been the first step in that journey. Now, she was free, her own woman, a lone Nomad on the path to greater things.
‘Anastasia, everyone’s ready,’ said a voice from behind her.
Anastasia turned and looked back at the figure in the shadows of the dimly lit apartment. She was slim with dreadlocks and wore far too much ripped denim for Anastasia’s tastes. Her name was Tacita, and like Anastasia had been, she was a former member of Yasmin’s Black Knights Coven, who she had convinced to join her in her split from their former master.
There were several other Knights, who, like her, had flocked to Anastasia’s banner in the last days of Yasmin’s life, and they were apparently all waiting for her. So, not entirely alone, not yet, at least.
She was in two minds about her fellow Black Knights. Part of her wanted to leave them here. Let the Arcadians find them, hunt them down, and kill them like they had done with so many other parts of Yasmin’s operation. But she had made a promise.
It was part of being a Nomad, she guessed, to be suspicious of everyone else. The Nomads practised a “power through strength” philosophy, with only the strongest and most cunning Nomads staying in power. The weaker ones were routinely challenged and killed, but this often led to distrust and suspicion. An unfortunate but inevitable side effect of their faction.
She had some very real concerns about these Knights. With Yasmin gone, she wondered how long it would be before her leadership of them was challenged.
She had backup plans, of course, but for now, she needed to walk a line.
‘Very well,’ Anastasia said to Tacita and returned to looking out the window as another Dragon swooped past, diving towards the city. They were majestic creatures of great power and great potential. A key ally of the Nomads of the Crux. She’d known they were coming. She’d heard tell of a plan, a scheme by the Archons that somehow involved the Dragons. The rumours she’d heard had been light on details, but she’d made some guesses, and when Yasmin had freed the Archons, she had a suspicion that Yasmin had actually been played. The manipulation of the Archons was subtle, and not without sacrifice, but the whispers she’d heard while in deep space matched up with events back on Earth.
When the Archons had been freed, Anastasia put her plan into action, and with Yasmin’s erratic behaviour, it hadn’t taken much to bring most of the Coven over to her side.
She’d waited patiently since for the Dragons to arrive.
They were here now, though, and the fight had begun, and she couldn’t stay on Earth any longer. She needed to follow the battle and leave Earth behind. This attack by the Dragons would make a perfect distraction and cover for her as she left. The chaos the Dragon attack created would make it that bit easier to leave Earth undetected and get to where she wanted to go.
Well, she hoped anyway.
Anastasia rose from her chair and crossed the room to the door Tacita had used. Walking into the corridor beyond, she approached a door part way along and paused outside of it.
She knew who was inside. But knowing made it slightly worse. Lyka, the ancient Scion, was in here. Their alliance had been temporary, forged in the midst of Anastasia’s chaotic defection from Yasmin. An alliance of convenience, but one that had been very useful. She had expected the Scion to move on and go her own way, but Lyka had stuck with her and was keen to follow her to the stars.
Anastasia could feel the concentration of Essentia on the other side of the door, which was slightly open, revealing a couple of fleshy tendrils gently pulsating on the floor in the room.
Anastasia pushed the door open to reveal the shadowy interior, and Lyka sitting in the middle of the room on a chair. Lyka herself looked like some kind of monster. Her greyish skin covered in ridges and strange patterns that looked like something from an H. R. Giger illustration.
Tendrils and tentacles, maybe fifty or more, sprouted from all parts of her body to reach across the room and crawl up the walls and across the ceiling and floor. She sat there with her head hung low, as if she were asleep, but Anastasia knew that appearances could be deceptive and that Lyka, even though she had not moved or shown any indication that she knew Anastasia was there, would be well aware of her surroundings.
‘It’s time,’ Anastasia whispered. She wasn’t sure why she’d said it so quietly, other than because of her slight fear of the creature.
Lyka’s head lifted up and her eyes opened. ‘I know.’
Anastasia took a step back. ‘Very well.’
Lyka stood slowly, her tendrils stretching up to her and peeling from the walls and floor as she moved until they all pulled themselves free, whipped back into her body and disappeared. All apart from a few on her back what undulated slowly, like snakes ready to strike.
‘This way,’ Anastasia said, and moved away from the room with Lyka behind her. She walked down the corridor to another doorway and stepped through it into another room. Tacita waited for her, standing beside a Portal that looked like a shimmering black hole, streaked through with purple, in the fabric of reality.
‘Lead the way,’ Anastasia said to Tacita, who nodded once and stepped into the Portal. Anastasia followed and walked into the Portal, feeling its Magical energies ripple through her as she went and appeared in her Null Realm. The Realm was small compared to some, but easily big enough for her needs. She appeared in what looked like a modern, minimalist hallway in a house with various doors leading off from it. At the far end of the space, double doors stood open, revealing a vast space, like an aircraft hanger, on the far side. Anastasia strode confidently through the doors with Lyka close behind her and looked up at the Dark Star.
This gleaming black Aether ship stood in the hanger, reaching from end to end and wall to wall. It was a sleek, futuristic ship that had an aerodynamic feel to it. Ahead of her, the main loading ramp stood open, with the rest of the Black Knights standing before it.
Tacita was approaching them as they looked back at her. Anastasia spotted Veronique, Error, Spirit, Danette, Ludvig, Atticus, and Scralex waiting for her. Scralex stood slightly separate from the others. She, like Anastasia, had been working away from Earth and wasn’t as close to the other Knights. She was closer to Anastasia than the others and was the one member who Anastasia felt she could kind of trust.
She wondered how things might have been during these last few months if Lyka had not stayed with them. Lyka was powerful and something of an unknown and was probably a factor in the lack of attacks against her for the leadership of the group.
‘The time has come, my friends, the time has come. If you would please board the ship, we’ll get underway.’
There was some vague movement towards the ship, but something wasn’t quite right. Then Atticus, once of Yasmin's old guard, stepped forward.
‘I can’t let you do this, Ana,’ he challenged her. His Aegis was up and glowing brightly in her Aetheric Sight. Atticus was a competent Master Magus, and more powerful than Anastasia was. She wasn’t entirely surprised. She’d figured that this moment, of leaving Earth behind, would be a fairly significant moment. A point of no return. If there were going to be a challenge to her leadership, now would be the time, and Atticus was perhaps the most likely candidate to lead it. She noticed a few of the oth
ers backing him up, but not all.
‘We’re running away,’ he continued. ‘Leaving Earth behind like this is not the right thing to do.’
‘I disagree, but you’re free to leave,’ she said, wondering if he might just walk away.
‘I can’t do that, and I can’t let you lead the others on this fool's errand. It stops here…’ Tentacles of flesh flew past her and grabbed Atticus, whipping him off his feet and throwing him to Anastasia’s left. Lyka flew at him, Essentia flying as she hammered his Aegis with Magical attacks of her own while her powerful tendrils grabbed him and slammed him into the wall and floor. For a moment, it felt like Atticus was just letting her attack unchallenged as Lyka erected an Aegis around them to keep Atticus from escaping and others from interfering.
Atticus Ported from Lyka’s grip, but stayed within the Aegis as he attacked her back, but Lyka was ready for him and continued her unrelenting assault. It was utter chaos in that bubble of energy, but it was only brief, and in less than half a minute, it was over.
The shield surrounding them dropped, leaving Lyka standing above the dismembered body of Atticus, who was now little more than a bloody stain on the floor.
Lyka looked up and eyed the Magi who had backed him up. They seemed very sheepish, and quickly looked away and moved into the ship.
Anastasia smiled. It was during moments like this that she was very glad to have Lyka on her side. She doubted she would have survived that challenge without Lyka, and it was this lack of power that bothered her more than anything else.
Amanda was hunting her, which wasn’t surprising. She and the other Nomads with her were the last remaining remnant of Yasmin’s Coven, so it was only logical that Amanda would be after her. But Amanda was powerful. Much more powerful than Anastasia was, and that would be a problem.
But it might be that this attack by the Dragons would provide her with an opportunity to change all that if things went to plan. She wouldn’t find that out standing here, though.
‘Okay, show’s over. If you’re coming with me, now’s the time to get on the ship. If not, that’s fine. I couldn’t give a shit. Good luck staying hidden from the Council, though.’ With that, Anastasia walked up the ramp and into the ship. Lyka and Scralex followed her without delay, while the others were a little slower to join her.
Star Magi: A Space Opera Fantasy Adventure (Star Magi Saga Book 1) Page 8
