“Thyella pagou!” I called out as I turned to face the bulk of the attackers. Instantly razor-sharp chunks of ice were flying from my hands and tore through the Green Skins. It was as Craig had said: they were fairly weak and many fell dead under my first attack. I cast it a second time at a second grouping, and soon what was left of them were in full retreat. I rode my icy wind over to assist Craig, but the group he was facing lay dead at his feet. With a 180-degree swoop I landed next to him, which canceled my flight spell.
“Well done, ‘Mr. I’m Not a Great Warrior’,” said Craig.
My head felt light and my stomach queasy as I looked at the surrounding scene. Piles of partly frozen and mostly mutilated bodies lay around us. An overwhelming sense of weakness came over me, and I started to fall, but Craig caught me.
“Easy there,” he said as he propped me up against a tree.
“Sorry,” was all I could manage as I tried not to look at the carnage around us.
“We will have to move as soon as you are able. The scent of blood will draw predators,” said Craig.
“The sooner the better,” I said, stumbling to my feet. My head was spinning, and my vision was a bit blurry. Leaning against a tree allowed me to catch my breath a little.
“Where is Shea?” he asked.
“Oh, sorry, she is up that tree over there. I’ll end the hiding spell,” I said.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, well, I will be,” I said. I realized then that I had been keeping my magic going non-stop for days. The fight with the Green Skins had overextended me. I was again helpless, and would have to depend on Craig until I could get some decent rest. “But I won’t be able to cast for a while.”
While Shea worked her way back to us, Craig packed up the camp, and we moved out. Shea was too weak to move very fast or far, so Craig mostly carried her. He wanted to get as far from that camp as we could. I was drained from the fight, but I pushed on, trying to purge my mind of the carnage I had caused. As we ran, I could hear the howls of strange animals around me. A panic was trying to rise up in me; it was all I could do to focus on following Craig through the pitch-black woods. My heightened awareness was not helping. It only allowed me to sense that more Green Skins were in pursuit and other predators were circling, hoping to get an easy meal. The only thing I had to hang on to was the white glow of Craig in the gloom in front of me.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Shadow, the Aleeryon bombs are incoming. We need to jump now!” called out Flame.
“Spectra, we are out of time. Get Dusty out now! Flame, get us out of here,” I ordered. I had instructed the navy to begin their bombing run when Dusty told us that the pirates had discovered the plans. The problem was that Dusty was still on the carrier, and if we stayed around none of us could survive the attack. We needed to get clear immediately, but we also needed more time to get Dusty out. I had delayed as long as I could, hoping Dusty could get to a place where Spectra could safely pull him out.
“We need two minutes to clear the gravity well of the fleet, but those bombs will be here before that,” said Flame.
“Flame, throw off all the safeties and burn out at maximum overload on all drives. Jump in the direction of friendly space, but don’t worry about specifics. Phoenix, we need the best impression of a turtle you can make. Try to shape the shields to take advantage of the blast and use the shockwave to help push us out of here,” I said.
I watched breathlessly as the bombs came in on the tactical display. I did not understand why, but it did not seem like the Scorpion Gang was reacting to the bombs. It was as if they did not know they were coming. They had interceptors and drones pushing hard to catch up with us, but the rest of the fleet was idle. I desperately wanted a status update from Spectra, but did not dare break her concentration.
I felt a wall of energy moving rapidly towards us as the bombs started to go off behind us. It was far too much power coming far too fast for me to unweave all of it, but I did what I could to help take some pressure off Phoenix.
“Jumping!” said Flame, and suddenly we were in the cool azure safety of jump space.
As soon as we cleared jump space I said, “Damage report.”
“Shadow, Phoenix’s shields blocked most of the blast, but we will not be able to jump again without major repairs,” said Flame. She then continued to rattle off other minor damage we had, but the jump engines were the only thing of concern. Without them, we were stranded here in the middle of nowhere.
“Phoenix, go check the engines. See what you can do about them. Flame, put us in the lowest power mode you can. I do not want anyone finding us,” I said.
Phoenix grabbed a datapad and quickly left to see to the engines. Then I looked at Spectra, I knew I had to ask, but it pained me to do so, “Spectra, did you get Dusty out?”
“No, Shadow,” she said. “He was not there.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Dusty cast a spell to scramble the languages on the bridge and then made a run for it. I was going to open a gate right in front of him, but someone else beat me to it,” she said.
“Who?” I asked.
“I do not know, but he made it through, and then I lost touch with him,” she said.
“Clever of him to use that Disguise Languages spell,” I said. That is likely to be why the fleet could not respond and escape. “There were three necromancers on that bridge with him, so I think it is safe to assume that Dusty inadvertently took their escape route.”
“Which means … the sorcerers have him now, and that means … ” said Flame.
“No,” interrupted Spectra. “Dusty has the soul of a survivor. I am sure he will avoid capture, or escape.”
Spectra always jumped to his defense. I found this odd because, as far as I could tell, she was no closer to him than anyone else. She was a bit of a mystery to me still. I felt that I could trust her, but at the same time I worried about her. She kept a wall up always and never let anyone get close to her.
I looked at Flame and Spectra, and I could see that they were tired from the long stakeout and worried about Dusty. I needed to pull them together. “When Dusty escapes, he will probably head to Aleeryon Prime since he knows that to be our next stop. This means we need to get there.”
“How are we going to do that without jump engines?” asked Flame.
“Spectra, contact the Aleeryon Navy using the command channel they gave us, and advise them of our situation. We should be well within reach of help from Aleeyron Prime,” I said.
While she contacted them I wondered what my next move should be. It was obvious that our presence out here drastically affected the fight between Aleeryon and the Scorpion Gang, and yet something was wrong. After this victory there should have been a power shift towards good, but instead it felt like the balance had shifted the other way. Something greater must be afoot, but what?
“Shadow, they said they can have help out here in a couple of hours,” said Spectra.
“Excellent,” I said.
“Also they said that Bill would like to meet with you as soon as we get to Aleeryon Prime,” said Spectra.
“I am sure he would. Well, I will deal with that when we get there. For now, Spectra and Flame, take a break and get some food. I will cover the bridge,” I said. Then I sent to Phoenix, “How bad is the damage?”
“Pretty bad; I think it will take at least a week in space dock to do the repairs,” replied Phoenix.
“Okay, take a break and eat something. After that, work on planning the repairs. I want to be fully operational as soon as we can be without cutting corners,” I sent. “We will also need a list of supplies to obtain from Aleeryon when we arrive.”
“Sure thing, Shadow,” was his reply.
I relaxed back in my chair and returned again to wondering what my next move should be. Operation Show of Force was going remarkably well. We had definitely built a name for ourselves at this point a
mong both the Aleeryon Navy and the Scorpion Gang. We had even managed to confirm that the sorcerers were definitely working with the pirates.
However, the price we’d paid cast a dark and looming shadow over that success. Dusty was missing, and we had no way to get him back. If he was captured, then the sorcerers would do all they could to keep him hidden. If he was not captured, then he would be doing all that he could to prevent being found. Either way, searching for him until he was ready to be found was pointless.
I tried not to second-guess my decision to send him aboard the enemy carrier. I knew that it was a good call, and I couldn’t have known that the Aleeryon Navy would be attacking in such force so soon. I had fully expected to stay with the carrier for at least a week gathering intelligence.
I could not accept that Dusty was unfindable. There must be a way. If I were he, and I had avoided capture, I would be looking for a way to call for help. If I had been captured, I would be looking for a way to escape and a way to call for help. Dusty must be thinking along the same lines. The question that remained was: how would he try to reach us?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It took a full day, but finally we were safely docked in a top-secret maximum-security Aleeryon shipyard for repairs. Once we were safely docked I said, “Spectra, please notify Bill that we have arrived.”
“Sure, Shadow,” she said. She sent the message and then said, “He would like to speak with you.”
“Of course, put him on the main screen, please,” I said.
A moment later Bill appeared on the screen and said, “It’s good to see you. You had us worried back there.”
“What? Did you think a couple of little bombs flying at us was really something to worry about?” I asked.
“Somehow, I think there might have been a bit more than a couple, but enough of that. I would like you and your crew to join me for dinner in the captain’s lounge in, say, two hours?” he asked.
I looked over my crew. They were showing signs of being pushed too hard. I had to remind myself that they were all still green. They had accomplished grand things, but it was still their first real mission. They could use a proper break. “That sounds like a great idea!” I said. “Also, I will have Phoenix send a list of supplies we need to make repairs. I trust you to charge a fair price, so whatever it costs just bill me, and I will make sure Alpha Academy pays.”
“No need for that. The intelligence you provided which led to the destruction of two enemy fleets is far more valuable than any parts you might need. Send your list and I will make sure it’s taken care of,” he said.
After a few parting words, we ended the conversation. “Okay, everyone, this will be your first official shore leave as members of my team. I want everyone to enjoy themselves at dinner and take the rest of today completely off. We will need to make sure we lock the Dust Dragon down tight before we go, and no one is allowed to talk about the ship or what she can do. Tomorrow, we will work out a schedule to start repairs, but until then just relax,” I said.
The next two hours passed peacefully as the girls prettied themselves up for dinner, and Phoenix talked about all the great food we were sure to get. I had to admit I was a bit overstretched myself and was looking forward to the break, but I could not stop wondering about Dusty. I kept part of my attention diverted at all times to searching for some sign of him, some ray of hope that he was okay, but so far I had not seen anything. I told myself it was too soon, but it did not help.
When we arrived at dinner, Bill introduced us to some of the officers of the Third Wing. They were overjoyed to meet us at last. They asked lots of questions about life at the Academy, magic, and related topics. They never once asked about the Dust Dragon, which I assumed was a result of Bill’s orders, since it was the most natural topic of conversation.
Spectra was not used to all the attention, and she retracted back into herself a little, but I could tell she enjoyed the positive treatment. Phoenix, on the other hand, could not be made to stop talking. He loved the attention and was basking in it. Flame looked a bit embarrassed at the attention, and I could see she was starting to grasp what I had been trying to tell her. She was a wizard now and no longer one of them. The mundanes would see and treat her differently because of it. She wanted to believe that it would not be like this but, alas, she was different now and everyone knew it.
After dinner everyone was hanging around chatting. Bill asked me to come with him to a private office. Once in there he said, “Okay, Shadow, what’s wrong?”
“I am sorry, I do not know what you mean,” I said.
“Look, as your brother I am worried about you. I can see it in your eyes; you are distracted,” he said.
Flame warned me about this before we launched. Apparently in her culture, the parents decide when children are married and to whom they are married. At some point her father called my father and asked him what he would think if Flame and I got married, to which he replied something like: “I think that is a great idea, they are a good match,” which apparently was enough to seal the deal. That means that on Aleeryon Flame is officially my wife, and Bill is my brother. I did want to marry Flame someday, but I was looking forward to something a bit nicer then a de facto statement of marriage. I did unwisely point out to Flame that we were wizards and not subject to such rules and traditions, and she let me know that that was an unimportant detail that could be handled at a later date. Once this mission is over, I must talk with Vydor about doing this right.
“Sorry, I have just been watching for any sign of Dusty,” I said.
“Any word?” he asked.
“No, not yet, but I am sure he has gone deep under cover. He is alone and probably a bit scared, and his reaction to that would be to disappear,” I said.
“Not a bad thing, considering that the last you saw of him he was on the run from three sorcerers,” said Bill. I had let the Aleeryon Navy know the situation with Dusty right away in case he showed up at some random place in the region. A gate spell like the one Dusty ran through has potentially no distance limitation, depending on the magus that cast it, so he could have ended up anywhere. The more people we had watching for him, the better.
“Yeah, but it also makes him nigh impossible to rescue,” I said.
“Have you reported in yet?” he asked.
“No, there’s nothing really to report yet,” I said.
He stood, walked over to me, and placed his hand on my shoulder, then said, “Shadow, report in. Do not let your fear of failure prevent you from getting help.”
I looked back at him for a moment in silence. I had to admit he was right. I was delaying reporting in until I had found some sign of Dusty. That was foolish because they had resources that I did not, and Dusty’s best chance at being rescued came from them. “Yeah, I will,” I said. “Later, when I get back to the Dust Dragon.”
“No, I think you should do it now. This room is secure,” he said.
Before I could reply he left the room. It really did not matter how secure the room was. I would be using magic to communicate home and that would give me far better security then any mundane could mange. I walked over to the fake window and looked at its simulated view of space. Somewhere out there was Dusty, and he was depending on me to find him. I owed him the use of every tool I had to locate him. On my finger I wore a ring that, when activated, would let Grandmaster Vydor and the rest of the council know I needed to talk. I sighed and conceded to myself that Bill was right, and then activated the ring. While I waited for them to respond, I continued to probe the universe for any sign of Dusty, but still found nothing.
“Hello, Shadow,” I heard Grandmaster Vydor say in my head.
“Grandmaster, I need to report in on the status of the mission,” I sent and then gave him a detailed report of what had happened so far.
“Well done, Shadow, you should be proud of your team,” he sent.
“Thank you, Grandmaster, but Dusty remains lost.”
“He will be found, but for now you must not break off your mission. You have drawn the sorcerers out and are forcing them to react. You need to stay focused on your mission and let us do the searching. Dusty is alive, I can sense that much. You need to worry about the trouble you are causing over there, as it is likely to heat up soon,” he sent.
“We are stuck here at least a week for repairs, and I am sure this is where Dusty will come looking for us,” I sent.
“True, and you will be the person he looks for first, so keep an eye out for him. Just do not let that distract you. I do not believe the sorcerers can afford to lose their pirate allies. I suspect we will see some counter-attack soon,” he sent.
“Grandmaster, if we struck such a blow, why has the balance not shifted?” I asked.
“Excellent question. In truth I do not know, but I suspect there is a new player in our realm. If my suspicion is correct, then any blow to the sorcerers might help them,” he sent.
“If so, then it seems our enemies are multiplying. Any idea who it might be?” I asked.
“Not yet. We caught them spying on Rannor and following your progress during Operation Foolish Hero. Mantis almost had a fix on them, but they got away and have not been seen since,” he sent.
“So then it’s a bit more than a suspicion,” I sent.
“Perhaps, but I am not yet ready to call it a fact. They have not shown up since Operation Foolish Hero, and in truth we do not know that they were not merely another subgroup of sorcerers vying for power in their organization,” he sent.
Rise of Shadows Page 11
