by Chris Fox
“I’ll do it,” she confirmed. “But it won’t come to that. If we get attacked we’ll use the ship’s spellcannon to drive them off. This thing is a fortress, and the hull is a magical alloy. Spirits can’t get inside. Or at least…I don’t think they can.”
Briff’s wings drooped. That wasn’t reassuring. What would Jerek do? He’d make everyone feel like it was okay, and that he had a plan. He’d tell them what the goal was, and then he’d tell them a next step.
What was the goal? What was the next step?
Briff wanted to pick up Jerek. He needed to hold the landing zone until Jerek got here. No, that wasn’t right. He needed to keep the ship safe, and be ready to respond to Jerek when the captain finally checked in. This might not be the LZ.
He forced his wings erect and proud, and tried to look a proper dragon. “We’ll try to hold the LZ, but if we can’t we need you ready to fly. At the first sign of enemy engagement I’d like you get in the matrix and pilot the ship.”
Rava shifted uncomfortably, the leather of her jacket creaking loudly. “I’ll do what I can, but if we have to lift off I’m not responsible for what happens.”
“I know. I am taking responsibility.” Briff’s tail swished powerfully behind him. “We’ll let Kurz sleep until we need him, but I don’t want to rely on the point defense cannons to defend us. We need you on that spellcannon in case something nasty shows up.”
“You’re right.” Rava rose from the couch with a stretch and a yawn. “I’ll get my comm unit and go hang in the matrix just in case. You wanna join me on the bridge?”
“Yeah.” Briff took the lead and walked down the single corridor running the length of the ship until it reached the spacious bridge. He offered a toothy smile when Rava ducked into the matrix. “I really like the new ship better than the first version. This holoscreen is awesome, and so are the point defense cannons. We didn’t have anything like this on the derpy version with the regular drive.”
Rava laughed at that. “You’ve got a great sense of humor.”
Briff turned back to the holoscreen, and peered out at the spaceport where they’d docked. They were reasonably safe in that they were at the end of the concourse, one of the last ships docked. The tide of spirits that had slammed into the planet hadn’t yet found this area, and he hoped they never would.
Something clattered behind them, and Briff spun to see Kurz stumbling onto the bridge, his hair askew from sleep. “They’re coming. Thousands of them. I can feel their approach. Closer every moment. The pain. The rage…it’s incalculable.”
“Um, do you think we should flee?” Briff’s tail came around instinctively and he clutched it in both hands.
Kurz adopted a thoughtful expression. Or at least Briff thought it was thoughtful. He had trouble reading human faces, which was difficult when everyone you hung out with was human.
“If we do we’ll have to find some other place to pick up the captain.” Kurz scrubbed fingers through his auburn beard. Briff rather liked the color of his mane, though it looked better on Vee. “What do you want to do?”
That was the real question. What did he want to do? If he stayed they were a fallback for the captain. That was good. But if they got overrun that didn’t matter. He turned to Rava.
“Can you pilot the ship?” Briff asked it plainly, though he hated that kind of confrontational question. “I mean really fly it. If you can, then we can lift off safely, and then wait for Jerek to contact us. We’ll just go wherever he’s holed up.”
A low screeching rose in the distance, and a spectral glow crept onto the holoscreen as the horde clawed their way closer.
“I’m a fast learner.” Rava rose to her feet. “I guess I tap the fire sigil on all three rings since I have fire.” She did that, her fingers flying over the rings with all her usual grace. “Whoah…this is weird. I can feel the ship. Feel the drive.”
The ship rumbled as the spelldrive roared to life, louder than when Jerek flew it with void, or Seket with life. Fire wasn’t as good, but it still worked in a pinch, especially in an atmosphere.
“I really wish I’d been with you guys when you got fire magic.” Briff’s tail drooped. “I feel like all dragons should be able to breathe fire.”
The Remora lurched as it ripped free of the station, the docking clamp still attached.
“Oops.” Rava winced in the spell matrix. “In my defense no one mentioned I had to unhook anything first.”
An irate and half-asleep soulcatcher stumbled into the doorway.
“You are not filling me with confidence,” Kurz snapped. His hands trembled, and the room around him thickened with the acrid stench of human fear. Briff hated it.
“Kurz, please return to your quarters and try to get some rest.” Briff rose to his full height, his go-to move when trying to appear intimidating. “Rava will get us where we need to go, but if we have to save the captain we’ll need you fresh and ready to fight. Please.”
“My sister’s out there.” The words had the sound of an apology. “I’ll get some rest. Good luck, Rava.”
Kurz headed back up the corridor toward the crew quarters, and Briff focused his attention on Rava. He shared Kurz’s fear, but one of the things he’d noticed about Jerek is that he never showed a lack of faith in his crew. Jerek always made you feel like you could get it done, and he’d be right there helping you. He’d always been that way.
Briff wouldn’t let him down.
“You’ve got this, Rava.” Briff walked over and sat down next to her matrix. “By the time you pick up Jerek I bet you’ll be a better pilot than he is. He’ll be so pissed.”
“Yeah!” Rava gave him a roguish grin. “I’m going to see if I can work out some of these systems. I’ll keep us hovering. I can do that for a loooonnng time. We should be safe, but maybe keep an eye on the holoscreen? If something flying or with a ranged attack wanders up let me know and I’ll get us out of there.”
Briff’s tail swished back and forth behind him. They could do this. They’d be here when Jerek called, and they’d do some epic combat drop to pick him up.
Somehow this was all going to work out.
He glanced up at the top edge of the viewscreen, and noted the Great Ship still hovering there, fresh from its victory over the Inuran fleet, paltry as it was.
That wasn’t his problem. Jerek would handle it. All Briff had to do was get Jerek.
11
I came to with a gasp, and instinctively rolled. It saved my life as someone planted a spellaxe in the area I’d just occupied. The weapon crackled with air magic, and I scrambled backwards as I attempted to understand where I was and what was happening.
A life bolt took my assailant, one of the Inuran soldiers, in the side of the head, and I turned to see Miri give me a nod. That jogged a few things loose.
I’d been in the Supply Depot. Some asshole had clubbed me on the back of the head hard enough to knock me unconscious even though I’d been wearing my helmet.
The paper doll confirmed that, and I noted several red spots now. My armor was in rough shape, and I needed to avoid any direct engagements for another day or three. I wish.
Pandemonium had overtaken the place. Refugee fought refugee, and the Inuran soldiers had joined the fray as well. Miri’s rifle whined several more times in rapid succession as she dropped the other soldiers who’d risen, one after another.
I activated my vision, and scanned for the spirit I now knew had caused this. There! A hazy grey blob with toxic green eyes stood next to the minister, whispering to her. As it did so, tendrils of milky-grey sigils swam into her ear and disappeared from sight.
The tendrils were everywhere, swirling in little clouds around everyone, myself included. I could see the ritual enchantment now, painstakingly woven by whatever this spirit was. We were witnessing the culmination of many hours of spellcasting, and something told me that if I couldn’t end this creature and do it now all of us would be dead in a few more minutes.
Rage boile
d in me. Rage at the spirit. Rage at my friends. Rage at the fact that numbers existed. Rage that my breath stank of stim drinks, and I had no access to a toothbrush.
Someone needed to pay.
I whipped my pistol up quickdraw style, exactly as my father had drilled into me. In a life and death situation speed matters, and if you couldn’t do it fast enough, then you died.
My pistol came up and the weapon’s magic stirred, steadying my aim. I poured the last of my dream into the weapon, and it discharged a high magnitude bolt of purple-pink magic.
The spell slammed into the spirit, which shrieked in agony, then wormed its way into the deck. It wasn’t metal it tunneled through, but rather the veil between our realm and the spirit realm. As it slipped away I realized it had a way to come and go freely from the spirit world, but I could see the holes. I could be ready when it came through.
Except that I didn’t have any more dream magic. I’d been running on fumes for a while, and my dream bolt marathon had taxed the last of it. If that thing came back I wasn’t ready to fight it.
Worse, the pandemonium continued unabated. People still fought, though a few had shrugged off the effects. Vee among them. That boded well for our side.
“Vee!” I whispered into the comm on a private channel. “We can’t stop the spell directly. I’ve hurt the spirit and it fled into the spirit realm. I’ll keep an eye on it, but I’m low on magic. Can you be ready to life bolt this thing when it comes out? You’re a better shot than I am.”
“Not by much,” she countered. “How am I supposed to see the spirit?”
“Good point.” I still had a decent amount of void and some fire. I used void to blink over to her location on the far side of the room, a sheen of frost briefly coating my armor as I exited the heat-starved Umbral Depths. “I’m right behind you. If I spot the spirit I’ll call out the location, and I’ll tag it. Do your best to hit the same spot, and hopefully we can finish this thing.”
I leaned against the wall with my pistol raised. I couldn’t ignore the tremble in my hands, and knew it would effect my aim. Exhaustion could only be combated for so long, and my body was well past its limits.
The chaos around us lessened as fights were decided, or as the final survivors threw off the effects of the spell.
I took a moment to study that and realized many of the clouds of sigils had begun to unravel. The spell likely required close supervision, and it appeared that if not tended to it would dissipate rapidly.
The spirit had to know that, which meant….
A hole opened directly between my feet, and I tumbled forward out of the way. By the time I came around, the spirit had emerged, and I tagged it with a void bolt. It screeched as spectral motes were ripped from its form, but kept coming.
Vee’s bracelet came up, and the sigils flared as she released a life bolt. It grazed the spirit’s shoulder, but did no real damage.
“A little to the right!” I yelled as I scrambled backwards on all fours, wishing I had time to regain my feet before that thing got ahold of me. Possession was the very last thing an exhausted mage wanted to wrestle. If that thing overcame me…well it would be ugly for my friends.
Vee’s bracelet shone again, and a bolt streaked into the spirit. It howled in agony, and turned to face Vee.
I shot it in the side with a void bolt, then another.
Vee fired two more life bolts, then Seket was there with his spellrifle, adding more magical destruction to our volley.
The creature gave a final agonized shriek, then dissipated into a cloud of spectral motes as its form was drawn into the spirit realm.
“Will it be back?” Vee asked. “I don’t know much about the ways of spirits.”
“No,” I promised as I holstered my pistol. “We bled away its power. There is a tug in the spirit realm, drawing everything there towards oblivion, as I understand it. If you beat a spirit they don’t have the power to return here, unless someone summons them, or they find a hole in the veil.”
That had about exhausted my knowledge of spirits, courtesy of a semester spent trying to impress a crush who’d loved the lore around spirits. She found it romantic and tragic, and I totally dodged a spell there, trust me.
“Well done, Captain.” Aruni nodded at me from the corner where he’d weathered the chaos. He’d suffered no damage. Not even a torn garment. He still appeared as fresh as we’d seen him back in that courtroom. “The creature you killed was called a spite. They are drawn to spirit Catalysts, and are a favorite tool of necromancers.”
“You know what? That would have been really good to know about three hours ago.” I stifled the rage, which was easier now that it wasn’t magically reinforced. “Why do I get the feeling you know a lot more about this situation than you’ve been willing to share?”
“Because you are perceptive.” Aruni folded his arms, and regained some of the authority he’d cast aside. “I need you to get me to the Remora. If you can get me to safety, then I promise to not only make good on my agreement with your minister…who is unconscious, by the way. In any case I will also give you what you crave, Jerek. I will give you answers.”
You can guess how I reacted to that.
12
Once I’d agreed to get Aruni to the surface I decided to take the man up on his generous offer.
The forge still worked, and Aruni still had his access code. I hadn’t had my turn to look through the digital catalogue, and now I could thumb through almost every conceivable product line. It was like having the everything store right next to you.
And the prices reflected that.
Each time I added something to the cart I winced. I mean how could I not when I’d just spent 1,200 credits for a week’s worth of “premium rations,” whatever that meant. It helped that they weren’t my credits. Aruni certainly didn’t seem to care, as he stared through the missing door out into the street.
What else did I need or want though?
“You know there’s a line behind you, right?” Vee rested a hand on my shoulder. “I need to get some grenades, and a change of clothes. I’m going to take one of the suits of spellarmor from the dead Inurans. It beats this environmental suit.”
I nodded at that, again shocked by how callously her culture treated things like death. Sometimes I envied their pragmatic approach, but right now it just horrified me. We’d killed guards who were simply trying to keep what they had, and saw us as looters. The fact that we’d been attacked first gave us the high ground, but it didn’t mean these people weren’t just caught in a bad place at the wrong time.
“I’ll let you know when I’m done. I approve of grenades.” Which of course made me thumb to that part of the catalogue. I leafed through until I found what I was after. “There we go. I’m getting some pulse grenades.”
“Spirits aren’t affected by concussive blasts,” Vee pointed out. I rather liked having her that close, and enjoyed her arm draped over my shoulder.
Miri might have been more classically attractive, but there was just something about Vee…the way we settled into a conversation.
“Necromancers are just as vulnerable as we are,” I fired back. “We already have lots of ways to deal with spirits, even with our limited resources. We need more ways to disable spellcasters from range, and I can teleport these babies wherever I need them with perfect accuracy.”
Eight small grey spheres appeared on the forge’s tray, and I scooped them into my pack.
“Anything else or can I take a turn?”
I considered that. I wasn’t going to be pressured out of making cool stuff. Not even by Vee.
“Yeah.” I gave a grin and thumbed to conventional rounds. “I just remembered something I saw in an old holo I used to watch.”
I’ll admit I was mildly surprised when the catalogue had exactly what I was looking for. I ordered eight magazines of salt rounds, inventive rounds designed to take down spirits.
“What are those?” Vee nodded at the ammo as I scooped six magazi
nes into my pack and pocketed the other two.
“Salt rounds have a sensor that can detect spirits,” I explained as I withdrew the explosive rounds and replaced them with salt. “The sensor detonates the charge in the round, which creates a cloud of salt that disperses spirits. If you hit one they take damage, and can’t reform for some time. From what I gather it only works on weak stuff, but hey…better than what I had.”
“Smart.” Vee sounded genuinely impressed, and squeezed the armor before she let me go. She dropped her voice a bit. “Hey, I wanted to say I agree with asking Miri to join the crew. I mean, not that you asked my opinion. She’s a terrible person with the morals of a starved drake, and we will never be friends, but she’s a great fit and has skills we need. I bet she’ll get along with your sister.”
The sudden acceptance took me aback.
“She’s been more than a little terrible to you.” I holstered my pistol. We had a ways to walk, and I could draw quickly enough if I needed to. “I’ll talk to her about that. If she’s going to come with us.”
“Then what?” Miri asked as she strode up to the forge.
“Oh, we’re doing this I guess. Okay.” Lack of sleep made words difficult, but I took the time I needed to assemble them into the proper order. “You need to be nicer to Vee. She’s an important part of our crew, and she’s probably the smartest person I’ve ever met.”
Vee gave a quiet squawk of indignation as if I’d accused her of something. I did not understand her as well as I thought I did.
“Okay, lurker girl.” Miri nodded, then extended a hand to Vee. “We’re on the same team, and I’ll treat you like a teammate. You stab me in the back, and I will tattle. Promptly. But that will be the end of it. I don’t want trouble, and I’m sorry if I hurt your little feelings.”
Vee stiffened at that, and violence filled the air between them, making things electric.
“You’re a mannerless trollop, but at least you make me feel like the cultured one. Apology accepted.” Vee nudged me hard with her shoulder. “Now get out of the way so I can make stuff.”
