Rise of Shadows

by Vincent Trigili

  Once in sickbay the new ship’s doctor began to check us out, and Shadow said, “Shea, Doctor Leslie here just joined us a few days ago, and I am wondering if you can help her?”

  Shea looked strangely at Shadow and said, “Master, if there is anything I can do to help, I will try my best,”

  “Doctor, can you make up some of that drink you made for me after I fought the electrical elemental? And show Shea how you did it?” he asked.

  “Master, of course I will, but are you sure we should waste the illuminescence?” Leslie asked.

  “Yes, I think this will be worth it. Just make a small amount, please,” he said.

  She then took Shea aside and started to show her how to make the drink. While they were doing that Spectra sent, “Shadow, it seems there is a similar pattern to their auras, but I am guessing you already knew that.”

  “I suspected as much. Shea could be a great resource for us, if I am right,” sent Shadow.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “We believe Doctor Leslie to be an alchemist like Shea, though until now we did not have a name for it,” he sent. Then he noticed that Shea and the doctor were finished and asked, “Shea, what do you think of that drink?”

  “Master Shadow, I am amazed. In all my years of study I could never find a recipe for an illuminescence potion, and there it is!” said Shea.

  “Shea, Leslie only just discovered her powers, and we know nothing about them. If you join our crew, would you be willing to teach her?” he asked.

  She gasped and said, “Master, are you saying that there are no others like us here?”

  “Shea, we are all very young in the world of magic, so there is much we don’t know. Do you remember that I told you I had never heard of a healing potion? That is because they do not exist here; well, not until now, I guess,” I said.

  She turned to Leslie and asked, “Mistress, how many recipes do you know?”

  “Please, just call me Doctor, or Doc,” said Leslie. “This is the only one, and I only know it because they had been using it before I came along. They tell me I do something to it that makes it much more potent, but I do not know what or how.”

  Shea looked at Shadow and said, “Master, may I ask her to try to make something else as a test?”

  “If she is willing, go ahead,” said Shadow.

  The doctor was willing, so Shea walked her through making a healing potion from some of the ingredients in her bag. Once they were finished, she held up the potion and tasted a tiny drop of it, then said, “Well done. You certainly have the gift.”

  “What did I make?” asked Doctor Leslie.

  “A mild healing potion. It is very effective at treating minor injuries,” she said.

  After that, there was a little more discussion about alchemy, and Doctor Leslie finished checking our health. It was nearing night-time, so Flame showed Shea to a room and stayed with her to teach her how to use the computers and other devices in her room.

  Since we could communicate telepathically, telling Shadow everything that happened while I was in the Korshalemian Realm took only moments, and he in turn told me all about what had happened while I was away. For completeness, I also turned over the datapad with all my logs on it, but not before making sure that he knew about Shea’s book being on it. I did not want anything to happen to it by mistake. Once that was settled, I headed back to my room to get cleaned up for the first time in what seemed like ages. I wanted to go to bed, but Shadow called me to his office for a chat.

  When I entered the office, it was just himself and Doctor Leslie. After I settled in, Shadow asked Doctor Leslie to give her report from her examination of Shea and myself.

  “First, Master Dusty here is fine. He has lost some weight, but nothing to be concerned about. All of his stats are within normal limits for him, based on your records,” she said.

  “Great, what about Shea?” he asked.

  “Shea is a bit of a different story,” she said. “Shea stated her age at twenty-seven years old, but she has the body of a woman four times that age. I assume that is because she comes from a culture where the life span of a human is much shorter than it is here.”

  “So, what does that mean?” I asked.

  “I am not sure; at best it means she will die young, perhaps only live to three hundred or so, but that is assuming that our medicine can adjust her body more along the lines of normal humans here. Otherwise, I would guess that she might not even make it to seventy,” she said.

  “Seventy?” I exclaimed as I jumped up. Shadow quickly grabbed my shoulder and sat me back down so that the doctor could finish.

  “Yes, seventy, maybe as much as a hundred, which is likely a lot longer than anyone else from her culture will ever live. She also has some other medical issues that we can easily handle, though I will have to do some research on their treatment, as we have not seen them in many ages.”

  I just sat there stunned. I hadn’t known Shea for very long, but thought of her as a dear friend, and this was bad news. To be struck down at a mere seventy years old was unimaginable. “Does she know?” I asked.

  “Master, I asked her how long her family members lived, and if she makes it to seventy she will have outlived everyone she knows by a long shot. Please understand, this is normal for her and her people.”

  “But you can fix it, right?” I asked.

  “Master, if she lets me I will try. That is the best I can say at this point,” she said. “I have already put a call in to Headmaster Rannor for assistance with her case; if anyone can help it will be him.”

  After that, everything was a bit of a blur. I know that they tried to console me, but eventually I just left. I wanted to be alone for a while. I went into my room and climbed into my bed, which felt like the height of luxury after what I had been through. I reached up and turned on my sunlamp; oh, how I had missed my lamp. I could never really sleep well in the dark; it just seemed too unnatural.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Over the next week, Flame worked closely with Shea, teaching her what she needed to know about living on a modern starship. She was also helping her adjust to the culture here, and the two of them became nigh inseparable. I was very glad to see them hit it off so well. Shea really needed a friend here besides just me.

  For my part, I spent the week working with Spectra and Darius, trying to find the next tear to seal. Darius believed that there were four more to seal, and Master Shadow wanted to close them all as soon as possible. He suspected that the sorcerers were using them to tap power for use in this realm. If true, he felt that would explain why they seemed to have far greater access to magic than we did and far sooner than we did.

  “Darius, an idea has just occurred to me. Does the tear have to be in the middle of empty space?” I asked.

  “Interesting question, Master Dusty. I suppose not,” he said.

  “What are you thinking?” asked Spectra.

  “Well, I was just thinking about how Master Shadow thinks the sorcerers are using the tears for power, and how the Great War played out. We never did find out why they chose to attack Arken IV, right?” I said.

  “No, I guess not,” said Darius. “It is a tear in reality itself, so I doubt physical mass would have any impact on it.”

  “Then what if one of these tears was inside that planet?” I asked.

  Darius thought about that for a while and then said, “That would explain why they were digging down towards the planet’s core. They could tap a lot of power through the rocks, but it would be a lot more efficient if they could reach it,” he said. “It would also explain the sudden burst in growth of magical powers that came to everyone on that planet.”

  “How so?” I asked.

  “Well, Master, the entire planet would have been infused with power from the tear, which any magus would have absorbed it without even trying,” he said.

  Shadow had explained to me that the sorcerers could, at least in
theory, use the tears as powerful batteries to draw energy from. This would allow them much greater feats of magic than they could normally pull off. “That makes sense, but when they left the planet they still had power,” I said.

  “Yes, once their powers were unlocked by the events surrounding that planet, they could tap the natural weave of power as all magi do,” he said.

  “But we closed the other tear with a gravity bubble. Wouldn’t the gravity from the planet collapse the tear?” asked Spectra.

  “No, Master, because that gravity is stable. The bubble worked because we radically and rapidly changed the local gravity. The big question is: if that is the case, how are we going to close it?” he asked.

  That was a very good question, but I had one that I thought needed to be asked first. “But how could there be a tear in solid matter?”

  “I don’t know, Master, but it's a tear in the substance of reality itself, so it’s hard to guess what limits it might have,” said Darius.

  We talked for a while about this, and then I asked, “Spectra, can you overlay all of our data on the map and center it on Arken IV?”

  “Sure,” she said.

  I watched as the data appeared on the screens, and, sure enough, Arken IV was a hive of unexplained activity. Not a huge one, but there were definitely indications that something was going on there.

  “Master Dusty, it looks like your suspicion might be right. We will need to talk to Master Shadow and go check it out,” said Darius. “Of course, one big problem we will face will be getting to the tear, as the planet is probably still cooling down from the bombardment.”

  Before we could talk much about that, Master Gafar walked into the room with Shadow. I jumped to my feet and greeted them.

  “How goes the hunt?” asked Shadow.

  “Very well, we think Dusty found a tear,” said Spectra. She then explained our theory to them.

  “Good work, team,” said Shadow.

  “Arken IV is way out of your reach,” said Master Gafar. “And it falls in space controlled by the Emperor, so it would be best if Grandmaster Vydor checked it out instead.”

  “Gafar, if Grandmaster Vydor finds anything, that information could be very useful for us to have as we hunt for others,” said Shadow.

  Even though I knew the reason for it, I could not help but be surprised at the lack of the title Master in Shadow’s comment. Shadow had explained to me that under the new structure of Battle Wizards, Shadow was Master Gafar’s peer in authority, while still being under the Wizard’s Council itself, but it still bothered me to think of the authority structure that way because being one rank below Shadow made me Master Mantis’ peer. I could not accept that I was that high up the chain. No, I was fine with being at the bottom where I belonged.

  “Of course, but for now we have more immediate concerns,” he said as he turned to Darius. “Darius, in order to officially join this crew and the forces of the Battle Wizards you must submit to a full psychic probe. During this probe, if it is decided that you are a sorcerer trying to sneak in, you will be killed. If you turn out not to be a sorcerer and do not want to join with us in our fight against darkness, we will be forced to put a block in your mind to prevent you from using magic, and send you on your way. Do you understand and accept these risks?”

  Darius hesitated for a long while about his answer and finally said, “Master, I am tired of running and going at it alone. A week with this crew has reminded me what it was like to have family, so I willingly submit with the desire to become one of you.”

  “Very well, then try to relax and lower all your defenses,” said Master Gafar as he approached Darius and stared deeply into his eyes. They stood there a while locked in a blinkless stare until eventually Master Gafar said out loud, “Welcome, Battle Wizard Seventh Rank Darius!”

  I jumped up and cheered while Shadow walked over and shook his hand, welcoming him to the team. “We will have to get you a proper uniform made,” he said. “It will take some time, as we do not at present have anyone in our realm who can enchant clothing or jewelry. It all has to be ordered from the Korshalemian wizards,” he said.

  “Dusty, I am heading to sickbay to meet your doctor. Would you mind stopping by Shea’s quarters and bringing her to me? I think it would be best if you explained to her what will be expected of her before she meets me,” said Master Gafar.

  “Certainly, Master,” I said.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  As I approached Shea’s quarters, I wondered exactly how I was going to explain this to her. I had told her she would be tested, but this was much more intense than a simple interview would be. I doubted she had ever experienced anything like what I was about to ask her to do. It was not until I was knocking on the door to her quarters that I began to wonder what we would do if she for some reason failed Master Gafar’s test.

  “Hi, Dusty! Come in!” she said with a big smile.

  “Hi, Shea, what are you up to?” I asked as I entered.

  “Oh, just redoing my alchemy notes so that they are more organized and easier to search,” she said.

  I looked around her quarters and saw nothing of her old life. No quills, no papers, nothing of the sort. She had some plants growing, but they were all in modern hydroponic containers and not pots or whatever she might have used where she came from. She was even dressed in modern clothes and holding a datapad, which I assumed she was using to store and sort her notes “Wow, on datapads?” I asked.

  “Yes, these are really remarkable devices!” she said.

  “And these?” I asked as I gestured to the plants.

  “Those are seedlings for the plants I need to make potions. Once they are strong enough, I will move them to the ship’s hydroponics lab,” she said. “Flame sent a request to Alpha Academy to find out if any of these plants grow naturally here in this realm so that I can get more seeds, but we have not heard back yet. We might have to import some from the Korshalemian Realm to get my crops started properly.”

  “You seem to have adapted to our ways extremely fast,” I said.

  “Your ways? Oh, you mean all the technology. Flame was able to package up all the knowledge I needed for this and give it to me telepathically, so that was really easy,” she said.

  I had heard rumors of spells to transfer learning, and I suspected that is what Master Mantis used to give Shea knowledge of our language, but the extent of information needed to get her from where she was up to modern levels seemed massive. I had no idea it could bridge that much learning difference, but it made sense. The sorcerers had adapted to our technology very quickly too.

  “But adapt to your ways? To be honest, that's a bit hard,” she said.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Well, we are out here among the stars, and yet we can’t go outside and admire them? Seems like a cruel trick,” she said.

  “Huh, I never thought about it that way before,” I said.

  “Yeah, that's the thing I have noticed when hanging around the others here. You all think differently somehow. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is that is different, it just is,” she said. She paused and sat down at her desk and looked around a bit. “You warned me it would be like this, but I did not really believe you. At least, I though you were exaggerating. No trees, no plants, nothing but cold metal everywhere. I was not really prepared for that.”

  “Are you having second thoughts?” I asked.

  “No way! How could I go back with what I know now? You need me,” she said.

  I wondered in what way she meant that, but decided not to press it, as I did not want to keep Master Gafar waiting. “Shea, where is Flame?” I asked, hoping to have some help with this.

  “She left earlier. She said an important guest was visiting so she went to help Master Shadow get ready for him,” she said.

  “Ah, well, um, that guest came to see you,” I said.

  “Oh?” she asked.

  “Yes.
Remember how I said you would have to be tested before you could get in? Well, it’s time,” I said. I explained to her the way we handled the testing process and why we had to do it that way. I could see my explanation was making her nervous, but I did not know what to do about it. Everyone had to go through it, as it was the only way. Besides, I was sure she would pass without any problems.

  “And he is ready to do this now?” she asked.

  “Yes, when I saw him last he was heading to sickbay to test the doctor and asked me to bring you to him. By now he’ll be finished with her and waiting for us,” I said.

  “Well, I guess then I’d best get it over with,” she mumbled.

  “Okay, but it is not that bad, really,” I said as I started out the door, expecting her to follow me.

  She did not move at first; she just sat there looking down. I stopped just outside the door and waited for her. I am not sure how long I stood there while she just looked down over folded hands, but I did not want to rush her. Finally, she stood with a slight smile and said, “Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m ready now.”

  “Shadow, we are on our way now,” I sent over our telepathic network.

  “Great, how is she doing?” asked Flame.

  “Very nervous, but I think she will be fine,” I sent.

  We traveled to sickbay in an uneasy silence, and all that I could think about was all the things she had told me about how she had been hunted most of her life. I had to wonder if she was thinking that she had finally been captured and what that would mean.

  “Well, here we are,” I said as we reached sickbay.

  She nodded, and before I could say anything else, she squared her shoulders, lifted her head up and walked into sickbay as if she was a warrior maiden heading into an arena.

  Once we were both inside, Shadow introduced Shea to Master Gafar, and then Master Gafar asked her some questions to make sure she understood what was about to happen. Throughout his questioning, she held her head high and kept her back stiff, as if she felt she had something to prove in the way of her courage. Once he was satisfied, he began the probe.