Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5)

by Rodney Hartman

  “Sorry, Charlie,” Richard said. “I’m here now.”

  Charlie acknowledged Richard’s reply with a nod of his head after a set of mechanical screeches sounded from the translator on his belt.

  Richard wasn’t surprised. He’d learned early on that Charlie was a lizard of few words. And after a few minor accidents, he’d also learned that when Charlie spoke, it paid to listen.

  Daniel pointed at a glassed-in area across the room. “Bright Wing’s inside.”

  Following the direction of Daniel’s hand, Richard noticed a movement of silver behind a glass wall. The dragon was walking around a glowing red ball in the enclosed room. As always, he was amazed at the amount of energy flowing within the ball of energy.

  “Well, it’s a good thing it’s producing all that energy,” observed Nickelo. “Otherwise, the Defiant’s prototype hyper-drive wouldn’t be able to make the jump.”

  “I know, buddy.”

  As dragons went, Bright Wing was small at only two meters in length from nose to the tip of her pointy tail.

  “She’s still young,” said Nickelo. “If you give her a few thousand years, she’ll eventually be a silver giant.”

  “Well, I’m glad she’s young then, otherwise she wouldn’t fit in our engine room.”

  Although he’d been gone a year and a half on his mission with the dolgars, Richard hadn’t needed a memory refresh to remember how important Bright Wing was to the Defiant. She maintained the ship’s primary energy source. She’d previously done the same job on a magic-based destroyer they’d captured. Unlike the destroyer where she’d been enslaved, Bright Wing had freely volunteered to serve as one of the Defiant’s crew.

  “She does it because you rescued her,” said Nickelo. “She was born into slavery. Until you freed her, all she’d ever known was the confines of that destroyer’s energy sphere.”

  “I know,” Richard said. “I’ve told her a hundred times she doesn’t owe me anything.”

  “She obviously thinks differently. That’s a good thing. We’re going to need her for this jump. Besides, as long as she agrees to stay on and maintain the Defiant’s hyper-drive and primary energy source, we’ll never have to worry about replacing our engines.

  “Brother,” said Bright Wing using emotion-speak. “I need your help. We’re too far from the dimensional fold. Our energy is already trying to twist back on itself. The Defiant’s hyper-drive wasn’t designed to make jumps from this distance.”

  “Understood,” Richard replied. “Give me a second.”

  Reaching out with his senses, Richard allowed the flows of energy from the sphere of red energy to fill his mind. The swirling paths of Power were a thing of beauty. Richard’s attention was drawn to several loops in the flows of energy within the red sphere. They seemed wasted. Letting his senses expand even more, Richard tried to let the Power of the area around the Defiant fill his mind. He felt an approaching dimensional fold in the galaxy. Lines of energy from the ship’s hyper-drive were already reaching out as they sought a pathway through the fold. Instinctively, Richard knew they were too far away for a normal jump. The distance to the dimensional fold was going to be too much for the hyper-drive. As he watched, the dimensional fold began tearing at the lines of energy from the Defiant’s hyper-drive. The lines of energy started looping back on themselves in unnatural ways. The loops created an extra drain on the ship’s engine as it sought to straighten out the loops. Unfortunately, the loops were too strong for the hyper-drive. Their energy source was deteriorating at a rapid rate.

  “The distance is too great,” said Nickelo. “Even with Bright Wing’s help, I calculate a ninety-three percent probability the Defiant’s primary energy source will be depleted before we get halfway through the jump. Sergeant Ron’s not waiting. He’s making the jump. We’re all dead if you don’t do something now.”

  Richard allowed his mind to merge with the flows of energy. He followed their twists and turns. When he got to the unnatural loops, he didn’t try to force them into the shape he wanted but instead coaxed the loops into converting back to a more natural flow. It was as if the Power in the loops wanted to flow naturally but had to be shown the way before it could happen.

  The lines of energy suddenly blazed with Power as the hyper-drive kicked fully in.

  Richard felt large fluctuations in the flows of energy surrounding the Defiant. The lines of Power pulled the Defiant forward. As the ship was drawn into the dimensional fold, the red sphere increased the amount of energy it was producing. Bright Wing fortified and replaced the Power nearly as fast as the hyper-drive could use it.

  The Defiant shook violently. Charlie, Daniel, and Richard were knocked to the floor. Then the recon ship was through the dimensional fold and in normal space in another part of the galaxy.

  Instinctively, Richard reached out with his mind to survey the ship’s new surroundings. “Crap! We’re screwed.”

  Chapter 6 – Dren

  _______________________________________

  As it turned out, Dren, her brother, and Jeena didn’t leave Silverton right away. Jeena was the high priestess for the Lady of the Tree. The elf made it plain that regardless of what the Oracle wanted, she had responsibilities in Silverton. Consequently, Dren and her brother waited while she spent most of the previous day and part of the evening dividing up her duties between her priestesses and priests. In addition to her duties as high priestess, Dren discovered Jeena also had responsibilities as a lord of the Council of Light, the ruling body of the elves of Silvertine. Jeena told them she had duties with the council that needed to be dealt with as well. During the time the elf took care of coordinating for her absence, Brachia and Dren were left in the care of Elisinsar, the chief librarian of Silverton. Both of them spent a delightful afternoon and evening perusing the extensive scrolls and books stored in the massive library. Dren was actually a little disappointed when Jeena finally came to collect them and take them to her home.

  When they finally arrived at the high priestess’s house, Dren was surprised to discover it was a modest five-room bungalow. The home was comfortable, but it was definitely not pretentious. The only problem Brachia and she had when they got inside was finding a place to sit down. Nearly every flat surface was stacked with scrolls or books. After thirty minutes of profuse apologies by Jeena, and with the help of Brachia and her, the three of them succeeded in removing enough reading material from two extra beds to allow Brachia and her to get some much-needed rest for the night.

  The high priestess got them up bright and early the next morning. Apparently, she wasn’t one to let the dust settle when things needed to be done. When Brachia complained about being awakened before the sun was even fully up, Jeena promptly told the boy that she rarely let the sun catch her in bed and expected the same of anyone staying in her home.

  After mumbling a few choice words, Brachia got out of bed and helped them fix a breakfast of grapes and cheese. They washed their meal down with a delightful liquid Jeena called spring-wine.

  While Brachia amused himself looking at maps in the main living area, Dren accompanied the high priestess into her bedroom to help her finish packing. The room was as cluttered with books and scrolls as the rest of the house. However, the stacks of reading material had an organized randomness throughout the entire domicile.

  Dren smiled. It kind of reminds me of Brachia’s lab back on Storage.

  “By any chance did the Oracle say how long we’d be gone?” asked the high priestess as she began rummaging through a closet.

  “No. Sorry. He wasn’t very specific other than saying we’d be going to the future, and that we’d be in the physical dimension. That’s where Brachia and I are from.”

  “So you told me,” said Jeena. “I’ll admit I have many questions, but perhaps they should wait until we’re on our way. It’s at least a three-week trek to the Oracle’s. I suppose there’ll be plenty of time for questions.”

  Jeena held up a faded pack she found buried under a st
ack of clothing in her bedroom closet. “Finally. Here it is.”

  “Looks a little beat up,” Dren said. “I’ve got a couple of new packs back at the Oracle’s, still in the box. I could let you have one when we get there.”

  Jeena shook her head while staring at the pack.

  Dren thought the elf’s eyes looked a little shiny.

  “No, but thanks. This pack belonged to my mother. She was one of the Lady’s priestesses.”

  “Was?” Dren asked before fully thinking through the question.

  The elf kept staring at the pack. After a few seconds, she placed the pack on her bed and began stuffing two changes of clothing and a few other sundries in it. “My parents died when I was very young. My mother had this pack with her when she was killed.”

  Noticing Jeena’s eyes were wet, Dren turned a little red. “Oh, Jeehana, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  The elf shrugged her shoulders and turned away. “Like I said, I was very young when it happened. You couldn’t have known.”

  Dren moved to the foot of the bed, giving the high priestess some space.

  The elf removed a few items from her drawers and stuck them in the pack. Once the pack was nearly full, she removed a shoebox-sized container from the shelf of a nearby bookcase and set it on the bed. When she opened the lid, Dren drew in a sharp breath. The nondescript box was filled with rings, bracelets, and jewelry of every kind. Large and small gems artistically adorned the pieces of jewelry without seeming gaudy.

  Dren saw a lot of blue gems sparkling in the container. She stepped closer to the elf and looked over her shoulder. “They’re beautiful.”

  Jeena lifted out a hair clasp composed of two interlaced dragons and handed it to Dren. “This one has been in my family for nearly fifty thousand years. All of the jewelry is very old. I suppose you could say it’s a part of my family’s heritage.”

  Dren carefully held the clasp in both hands and lifted it up to the morning light streaming in through the bedroom windows. “The workmanship’s exquisite. I can’t even tell where one dragon starts and the other ends.” Pointing to small blue gems used as eyes for the dragons, Dren asked, “What kind of jewels are these? They look like the Power crystal we installed on your staff.”

  The high priestess nodded her head. “They’re one and the same. Of course, the gems in this clasp are much smaller. Plus, the magic in the gems ran out tens of thousands of years ago.”

  “Magic?” Dren pointed to a wicked-looking dagger on the elf’s belt. “Your knife has one of the blue gems. Does that mean it’s magical as well?”

  Jeena nodded. “Yes, it is. As for the items in this box, most of their gems ran out of magic many years ago. My dagger still has a little fight left in it, but I’m afraid the only other items in this box still containing any magic are these two rings.”

  Dren watched the high priestess pluck two rings out of the container and place them in the palm of her hand. Each of the rings had small blue gems, each with a dull glow, embedded around the circumference of the band.

  “So these are magic rings?” Dren asked.

  The high priestess smiled. “I suppose you could call them that. I think of them as storage containers for magic energy. If my own Power reserve runs low, I can draw energy from these rings to cast my spells. The rings don’t have much magic in them anymore, but since I don’t know what I’ll be up against, I figured I should take them with me just in case.”

  “Ah! Then they’re like batteries.”

  Jeena frowned. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the term. What are these batteries of which you speak?”

  “Oh,” Dren said. “I forgot you don’t know much about the physical dimension.”

  “Actually,” said Jeena. “I don’t know anything about it.”

  “Well,” Dren said, “we don’t use magic there. Or at least, not many do. Instead of magic, we use technology.”

  “I remember you telling me about technology when you repaired the Lady’s staff,” said Jeena.

  “Yes, that’s right, Jeehana. The equipment we used there to fix your staff was some of my dimension’s technology. Anyway, a lot of our technology uses isotopic batteries as an energy source. I think our batteries are like your rings. They’re just storage devices for energy until it’s needed.”

  The high priestess seemed to consider the matter for a few seconds before nodding her head. “I suppose. I hope any ‘batteries’ you need for our mission have more energy than my rings. I may get an extra two or three spells out of the magic in these rings, but that’s about it.”

  “We can recharge our isotopic batteries. Can’t you recharge your rings somehow?”

  Jeena smiled.

  “Why are you smiling?” Dren felt a little self-conscious. “I think it was a valid question.”

  The elf laughed. It was a friendly laugh.

  Dren relaxed. The elf wasn’t laughing at her. She thought the high priestess had a wonderful laugh. Plus, her smile was dazzling. She supposed being beautiful and having those amazing silver eyes helped.

  “Oh, it’s a very valid question,” said Jeena still laughing. “In fact, it’s one I’ve asked many times during my years at school. I’ve been told I can make a pest out of myself sometimes. Just ask any of my former teachers.”

  “So…, they can’t be recharged then?” Dren asked trying to get back to the question at hand.

  Still smiling, Jeena explained. “I guess I laughed because it’s a question with both a yes and no answer. Yes, they can be recharged, but no, they can’t be recharged.”

  Dren was a super-genius having accumulated the knowledge of her mother, but the elf’s answer still confused her.

  Jeena laughed again. “You look confused, and rightly so. I had the same look many times when my teachers tried to answer my question in school. The simplified answer is that the blue gems, which energize many of our magic items, are capable of being recharged. In fact, my ancestors used to recharge them quite often. However, we lost the ability before I was born. Now we’re left with a lot of magic jewelry and weapons that no longer function because their gems have been depleted.”

  “Oh,” Dren said. “Do you mind if I ask how they were recharged?”

  “Of course not. It’s something I know a lot about since I’m the Lady’s high priestess. You saw the Tree of Light yesterday. Do you happen to remember the small stone platforms around the outside of the tree’s limbs?”

  Dren nodded her head. “Yep. I think there were twelve of them.”

  “That’s right. They’re recharging stands. In days past, during bonding ceremonies, elves would place depleted jewelry and weapons in the recharging stands. When new bondmates shared their Power with the Tree of Light as an offering, the tree would send some of that Power to the charging stands. Any items in the stands were often fully recharged during a single ceremony.”

  “Bondmates?” Dren asked.

  Jeena smiled again. “Perhaps we should save that for another time. Suffice it to say our blue gems could be recharged during a bonding ceremony. However, the ability of the Tree of Light to share the bondmates’ offering of Power was lost about ten thousand years ago. That’s why a lot of our most powerful magic items no longer work. Their magic was used up long ago.”

  “That can’t be right,” Dren insisted. “I’ve seen magic items during my time here.” She pointed at two wands stuck in the high priestess’s belt. “Aren’t those magic?”

  “Yes, they are. Some magic items are created with spells. However, the more powerful magic items like the Staff of the Lady of the Tree or even my dagger use the blue gems as their source of magic. Weapons and armor can remain magical for a long time if their gems aren’t drained to cast a spell. Take my dagger for instance. Its blade is made of what we call Holy Metal. The blue gem in the butt of my dagger energizes the metal and makes it magical. I could draw the Power out of the gem to cast a spell in a manner similar to my rings. However, if I drew too much Power out, the gem
would be depleted and the Holy Metal comprising the dagger would lose its magic. It would be no better than a normal blade at that point.”

  “How dare you soil this house with your presence!” yelled a male from the front of the house.

  The sound of a scream accompanied the shout. The scream came from a little boy.

  Jeena’s face turned pale. “Ceril.” She dashed out the bedroom door.

  “Dren! Dren!” Brachia’s shouts reverberated throughout the house.

  “Brachia!” Dren drew the knife from her sheath and ran after the elf.

  Chapter 7 – Three Against One

  _______________________

  Richard opened a channel on the Defiant’s com-link and began issuing commands. “Security team to the aft cargo bay. On the double. Tia, Matthew, launch. Do not engage. I repeat, do not engage. Wait for my orders. Those aren’t pirates. We’ve got three Crosioian naval destroyers less than two light seconds off our port bow.”

  “Rick,” said Sergeant Ron over the intercom. “One destroyer’s docked to the Starlight. The other two are heading our way. I’ve got a feeling they’re not bringing us milk and cookies.”

  Nickelo said, “The Defiant might be able to handle a single destroyer. However, I calculate less than a five percent probability she can take on two destroyers at once.”

  Richard was tempted to act first and think later. Fortunately, something he sensed with his passive scan helped him take control over his normal impulsiveness. “Nick, are you picking up what I’m sensing with my passive scan?”

  “I’m monitoring the results in our shared space, so yes, I see it. Looks like you may have some allies on the Starlight.”

  “Roger that,” Richard said grateful to have his suspicions confirmed. What he sensed was barely registering on his passive scan, but was definitely there. “I think they’ve got their best stealth shields up, however, I can still sense them. Can you confirm it’s them?”