Rise of Shadows

by Vincent Trigili

  “Do we look like we are sitting in classrooms rotting away?” I asked.

  He chuckled at that and said, “No, I guess not, Master.”

  “You have told me a lot of your secrets, so here is one in return. You and I are the only ones on this ship that have any combat experience longer than a couple of weeks. The Dust Dragon is a new wing of the school, as we are experimenting with a more vocational means of training wizards. I am teaching the others how to fight a war and helping them study their own powers,” I said.

  “Master, you have accomplished some very impressive feats with such an inexperienced crew,” he said in astonishment.

  “Thank you; they are hard-working and dedicated. I tell you this partly because if you did want to join Alpha Academy, I could use an experienced engineer,” I said.

  He looked surprised at that comment and seemed to sit and think about it for a while. While I was waiting to hear from him I sent, “Bridge, any change?”

  “Nope, all seems the same. Random ghosts doing random things is all I can see,” replied Phoenix.

  “Master, what would that entail?” Darius asked.

  “The main thing would be swearing lifetime allegiance to the Council of Wizards and the cause of light, the second biggest thing will be getting approval from that council, which will probably require some kind of telepathic testing,” I said. “The rest is the normal kind of thing you would find in any military outfit.”

  “Master, when would this test be?” he asked.

  “I do not dare send a message till we are clear of all these ghosts, but I suspect it would be shortly after that,” I said.

  “Shadow, are you sure about this? He has a poor track record for sticking with anything,” sent Spectra.

  “No, I am not, but we cannot have random magi wandering the realm, so if this works out it is better for all,” I sent.

  “Master, it sounds good, but I need to think about it,” he said.

  “Absolutely, but for now can I have your pledge as engineer, at least while we are in our current situation?” I asked.

  “Yes, Master,” he said.

  “Excellent, now one last question: when do you think you will be ready to implement your plan?” I asked.

  “Master, most likely by early afternoon,” he said.

  “Then right after lunch check in with Doctor Leslie, and if she gives the okay we will execute the plan shortly after that,” I said.

  Chapter Fifty

  Doctor Leslie did not release Darius for duty until almost suppertime the next day. While we waited for Darius to be ready, the doctor had many questions about Alpha Academy and what it would mean to join. For the most part, I let Flame talk with her and answer her questions. Leslie and Flame seemed to hit it off well, and that relationship would be helpful to Leslie as she began to heal emotionally from her ordeal.

  When we were finally ready to execute the plan, I gathered everyone on the bridge and said, “To review: Spectra, you will need to keep tabs on us and pull us out if anything goes wrong. Flame, be ready to jump out of here, and Phoenix, stay on top of the shields. We do not want to pick up any more guests right now. Darius and I will gate directly from ship to ship until everything is set, then return here to start up the jump drives remotely. Any last-minute questions?” I asked.

  When everyone indicated that they had none, I pulled on my helmet and gestured for Darius to do the same. I was not sure if we would need them because we could not tell from here if life support was still in operation on the ghost ships. With one last smile to Flame, I weaved a door into jump space, and soon we were wrapped in the pure azure power of the weave. Once I had located our destination, I weaved another door to it, and we charged through.

  The moment I cleared the door I weaved a powerful shield around us as Darius followed me through on to the ship. We landed near the middle of engineering, and all around us were dead bodies of the fallen crew. I was grateful for my environmental suit, as I was sure the stench was overpowering. Life support was completely off, but there was still some atmosphere, which allowed the bodies to decay, and most of them were in a very advanced state of decomposition. “We had better keep our environmental suits on,” I said to Darius.

  Darius did not look well at all, but he managed to point to a control panel and say, “There.”

  Together we walked over to it, while trying not to disturb the dead. As we walked, ghosts started to appear in the room with us. They flew in large, swooping circles around us but never once tested my shield. Darius was shaking a bit as we finally reached the control panel. “Steady, Darius, you can do this. You are safe from them,” I said, leaving out the “for now” that I was thinking. “Focus on your task and shut them out of your perception. It will make things easier.”

  While he worked, I studied the ghosts and wondered why they were not attacking. I did not really want them to attack, but I would have felt better because then I would be dealing with a known quantity. Their lack of attack could only mean that something more was up, something unknown to me. “Spectra, why are they not attacking?” I sent over our telepathic link to prevent Darius from hearing and worrying even more.

  “I don’t know, Shadow. It does not make any sense. They need to eat and you two are the only things alive over there,” she sent.

  “Don’t tell them that! I think we can all be happy with the way it is now!” sent Flame. She had not wanted me to lead up this plan, as she was worried that I would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies out here and not make it back.

  “Oh, I have no intention of talking to them right now,” I sent, then asked, “Darius, how is it going?”

  “Too easy, Master, all the controls are completely unlocked. I should be done in just another minute,” he said.

  That was a bad sign. “You think it is a trap?” I asked.

  “Most likely, Master, but there’s nothing we can do except continue,” he said. “Time to go on to the next ship.”

  “Before we go, make yourself a back door in the system, just in case we need it,” I said.

  “Already done, Master,” he said with a forced smile.

  The other ships that we visited were all the same. Each time we entered the engineering rooms, we were greeted by piles of decaying bodies and an audience of ghosts, but we were never accosted. The entire time I could not shake the feeling that we were puppets in someone else’s plan.

  Once back on the Dust Dragon I asked Darius, “How far away should we get before you create the gravity bubble?”

  “We should be far enough already, but all the same you probably will want to be ready to jump just in case,” he said.

  “Flame, stay on that jump button,” I said.

  “You don’t have to tell me that twice,” she said. She probably could pick up from me that I was worried. Our telepathic connection was growing intimate enough that she might even have a general idea why, and it showed. She had already put the Dust Dragon on the most direct flight path away from the planned center of the gravity bubble and fully charged the jump drives. Since gravity was also limited to the speed of light, we should have a couple of minutes to jump away if things went bad, but I suspected she would only need seconds.

  “Alright, Darius, execute the plan as soon as you are ready,” I said.

  Darius sent the remote signal to start the process, and I could see the energy links between the ships jump to life. They arced back and forth between the ships like lighting jumping through the clouds on a gas giant. Then in the center of mass, I could sense the gravity bubble growing, pulsing its way out to larger and larger diameters until it engulfed the entire fleet with the tear in its center.

  “It’s almost at full power,” said Darius. “Just another few seconds…”

  As he finished saying that the bubble collapsed in on itself, and for a brief moment time seemed to stand still. Then as one all the ships in the ghost fleet collapsed into the center of the bubble, a
nd space itself was warped and pressed in against the tear, sealing it off just as we hoped it would.

  Suddenly something was wrong, very wrong. The tear was closed, but a massive wave of gravity was rebounding from the collapse and rushing out towards us. “Flame, jump!” I called out as I felt time slowing. The wave seemed to be moving faster and faster towards us, but in reality, time was slowing for us. A black hole was forming in place of the tear, but even though she was slowed by the slowing of time, Flame had been sitting on a hair trigger waiting to react and was able to press the command key to activate the jump drive mere moments before we were captured by the expanding gravity well.

  Once we were safely out of jump space, I had Spectra contact the Aleeryon Navy to find out where their bombers were so that we could join up with them. Darius was looking fairly weak from the ordeal, so I sent him on break and then took my leave of the bridge to call home and update Grandmaster Vydor on what had happened.

  “So that brings you up to date, Grandmaster,” I sent.

  “In summary, you have picked up two new crew magi and have sealed a hole in space-time. Not a bad week,” he sent.

  “Thank you, Grandmaster,” I sent.

  “This history that Darius told you is very interesting indeed. I will get some wizards working on verifying his research right away, but for now we need to talk about what to do with your two new crew members,” he sent.

  “Grandmaster, I would like to keep them and let them prove themselves out here,” I sent.

  “Yes, you made that quite clear, so if they agree to a scan by Master Gafar, then I see no reason not to honor your wishes,” he sent.

  “Thank you, Grandmaster, I will talk with them in the morning about that,” I sent.

  “One more thing: I have news for you that you desperately want to hear,” he sent.

  “You found Dusty!” I sent.

  “No, but we know where he is, and Mantis is going to retrieve him tomorrow,” he sent.

  “Grandmaster, that is the best news ever! But you say Master Mantis is getting him?” I asked.

  “Yes, he somehow ended up in the Korshalemian Realm. Our last report is that he found a wizard stronghold and is waiting there for word from us,” he sent. “Mantis will make sure he gets back to you safely, so for now carry on your mission and let me know what your new crew members think of our plan.”

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Elsewhere in a room made completely from stone the seven magi were gathered around their pool, watching as the Dust Dragon made its narrow escape. There was a feeling of anticipation in the room, a level of excitement that the room had not seen in eons.

  “Excellent, Shadow has closed the first tear!” said Thazure.

  “Yes, finally our age of waiting is over, and our plan is unfolding!” said the red-hooded magus.

  “The clock of prophecy is running down, and with its fall our empire will rise up again,” said another magus.

  There was something new about the room. It was as if there was more energy there than there had been before. The colors of the room were a little better defined, and there was more distinction in the magi gathered around. It was as if they were suddenly more real, but only slightly more so.

  “Now to check on the others,” said the red-hooded magus as he raised his staff over the pool and chanted.

  Soon the image in the pool changed, and they were viewing the bridge of an unknown spacecraft. It was clearly a vessel of war and, judging by the filth and broken equipment, the war was not going well for them. The crew on the bridge seemed to be made up of thieves and vagabonds instead of the officers of an organized navy. Among them stood three very old men in dark robes, who completely dominated the scene. These men had a dark and evil look to them, one that was difficult to describe, and it was as if all the light in the room fled from them. The crew of the spacecraft seemed to be very much aware of it and did everything they could to keep their distance from the robed men. They stood in the center of the bridge as if they owned the ship, and none dared challenge their position.

  They casually spoke among themselves in an unknown but vile-sounding tongue. It was as if every word they spoke was dripping with venom, but it was impossible to guess what they were saying. Then suddenly one of them stood a bit straighter and barked out an order to the crew of the ship. He demanded they change course and head at maximum speed to a new location. The captain of the ship jumped up and smacked his men around, trying to get them to respond faster than possible to the demands they had just been given, but before they could obey the order a blue portal appeared in the bridge right in front of the three old men.

  From the blue portal the steel-eyed man walked forth, followed by the old man. The old man did not look pleased to see the three robed men and said with an icy coolness, confident in his power, “Take a message back to your masters: I hereby banish you from my realm.”

  “Fool, who are you to challenge us? You have no idea to whom you speak!” called out one of the robed men as the crew of the ship fled the bridge.

  “No, it is you who are in the dark. Dead or alive, you will carry my message,” said the old man.

  Then one of the three robed figures chanted a command word and pointed his finger at the old man. From the tip of his finger, a dark black bolt leapt forth and flew straight at the old man but, as he had done on previous occasions, the steel-eyed man stepped in-between and caught the bolt on his arms. The steel-eyed man then reflected it back at its caster, striking him square in the center of his chest, but he seemed completely unfazed by the counter-attack.

  The robed figure who had cast the first bolt cast another one, which the steel-eyed man reflected back on him again. This went on for a few exchanges until the old man said, “Enough.”

  The old man then stepped in front of the steel-eyed man, coming between him and the robed figure. The robed figure jumped at the opening and fired multiple dark bolts at the old man, who completely ignored them. He slowly raised his hand in an arc and called out a command word as he sliced it down through the air. A wave of power leapt from him and slammed into the robed figure, causing his body to fly through the air and slam into the wall with a sickening, crunching sound. The body slid down the wall in a very fluid, unnatural way, and did not move again.

  The other two robed figures jumped into action, and soon tremendous waves of dark power were flying towards the old man and his steel-eyed companion. The old man turned into the wave of power and laughed.

  “Is that all you have?” he called out as fire leaped from his hands and engulfed one of the remaining robed figures, who fell to the ground screaming and writhing in pain.

  The remaining robed figured called out, “You will pay for this!” and then vanished.

  “No, but I will collect your payment,” said the old man as he opened a blue portal and left with the steel-eyed man.

  The seven magi watched the pool, enthralled in the fight, and when it ended one of them said, “It seems we have a new player in the game.”

  “That we do,” said the red-hooded magus.

  “What shall we do?” asked Thazure.

  “We carry on with our plan. Shadow and Spectra must complete our mission. Once that is done we can deal with this new upstart,” said the red-hooded magus. With that, the red-hooded magus changed the view in the pool once again to the Dust Dragon as it joined with the Aleeryon bomber fleet that had been stationed nearby. “For now, we must move Shadow and Spectra on to their next goal.”

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  “Good morning, Dusty,” said Shea as I approached the table of never-ending food.

  I took some of the raw fish that always seemed to be provided and began to eat it. It tasted as fresh as it would have been had I just caught it. The table really was amazing; it always seemed to have exactly the kinds of food each of us wanted, and in unlimited quantities. “Good morning, Shea,” I said. “It seems our host really knows how to keep his guests fed
.”

  “That he does! By the Light, I have never seen such a feast in all my life, and he has it going non-stop,” she said.

  “Worse than that, based on what he said yesterday, he does not know how to stop it,” I said and we both got a little chuckle out of that.

  We chatted a bit about wizards and magic until Master Mantis came in. Once he was there Shea said, “Master, could we stop by the temple on the way out so that I can leave a message for Craig?”

  “We could, or I could simply take you to him after our trip. We should be finished by nightfall,” he said.

  “Forgive me, Master, but it is a full week’s ride from here. How could we be back by nightfall?” she asked.

  “Shea, it’s a hundred times that distance, but it will only take us a breath or two to travel it. Come with me,” he said.

  Shea looked at me as Master Mantis started to leave and said quietly, “Is he saying that we are not in Syncillia anymore?”

  “Yes, and to a wizard of his level, physical distance is almost meaningless,” I said.

  She looked amazed at that statement, and we followed Master Mantis out of the room and down a spiral staircase to another room from history. It looked like a place that would be used for greeting distinguished guests. It had a nice warm feel to it despite being in a stone tower. Three of the walls had exquisite tapestries. There was a large chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling, which contained magical orbs of light instead of candles. Along the far wall was a large stone ring, which I recognized as a gate from my studies at the Academy, but I had never seen one first-hand before.

  I gasped and said, “The gate room!”

  “Let me guess: this is also a famous room?” asked Shea.

  “Yes! This is where the Black Snakes … er, Adders first came to your realm!” I said as I tried to take it all in.

  “It seems that you’re getting something of a school field trip out of this,” said Master Mantis with a bemused smile.

  The Master then walked up to the gate and activated it with a simple gesture and a command word. He said, “I will go first to make sure it is safe on the other side. You two count to ten, and if the gate is still open you can assume it’s safe to follow.” With that, he turned and walked through the gate.