Rise of Shadows

by Vincent Trigili

  The darkness continued to pull me in, but suddenly there was a new light in the room, the calming azure glow of a gate.

  “Aim for the gate, Dusty,” sent Spectra.

  I did not need to aim, as Spectra had masterfully placed the gate perfectly in my path and close enough that I barely had time to register her words before I passed into the gate and came out on the bridge of the Dust Dragon.

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Once everyone was sure I was okay, Master Shadow gathered his command staff and Darius to hear my report. After I had explained everything that I’d seen on the station, Spectra suggested we call Shea in for her expert opinion. I was not sure why we needed Shea, or what she would be an expert on, but did not mind her showing up. She always brought a certain light into the room when she came in. It was hard to describe, but everything seemed brighter and happier when she was around.

  Once Shea was there Spectra said, “Flame, can you make an illusion of the tear and containers that Dusty saw for Shea to see?”

  “Sure, it will just take a moment. Dusty, send me your memory of what it looks like,” requested Flame.

  While Flame was casting, I explained to Shea what I had seen and where I saw it. It did not take Flame very long to get up an accurate three-dimensional image of the scene.

  Upon seeing it, Shea gasped and said, “Master, how big would you say each of those containers is?”

  “Maybe about as tall as I am?” I guessed.

  “Impossible,” she said breathlessly.

  “What is?” I asked.

  “Sorry, Master, but that should not be possible!” she said, gesturing at the containers.

  “Shea, what are they, and why would they be impossible?” asked Master Shadow.

  “Master, those containers have pure illuminescence in them, but on an unimaginable scale. I have never heard of anyone even dreaming of such a storehouse!” she said.

  “Shea, what would one do with these?” I asked.

  “Master, they are containers of power. Any competent magus could tap them and use their energy directly instead of their own. Given the amount that we have here, it would make a small number of magi have effectively unlimited power reserves to call on,” she said. “Thankfully, most of the containers are empty, but if they were full then it could very well make an unbeatable force of magi who never tire.”

  With that, Master Shadow stood, walked around the image studying it, and then asked, “How do we destroy this?”

  Shea stared at the image a long time and then turned to Spectra and asked, “Master, am I right in assuming that these sorcerers are somehow farming the spirit realm to get this power?”

  “Yes, that is my fear,” she said.

  Shea looked at Master Shadow and said, “Then, Master, my suggestion would be to break them all open in front of the tear, and the power should be sucked back into where it came from. Though I guess you would need to stop whatever they are doing to farm the power first, of course.”

  Master Shadow looked at Spectra and asked, “You are our expert in the spirit realm; do you think that would work?”

  “Yes, Master, it should,” she said. “But it doesn't make sense.”

  “What does not make sense?” asked Master Shadow.

  “Master, we have been operating under the theory that all the tears were opened by the wizards to end the war with the sorcerers ten thousand years ago, but no wizard would ever open a tear like this,” she said. After a pause she said, “Only a sorcerer would.”

  That comment caused much debate about where the tears came from and did not seem to get anywhere until Master Shadow gestured for the room to be quiet and said, “What is it, Shea?”

  “Masters, forgive me, but I know how new you all are to this magic war, and I think you are missing something. Wizards and sorcerers are two sides of the same coin; one does not act without the other reacting. If the wizards here truly tried to put an end to magic by eliminating access to power, then the sorcerers would have done anything they could to create a new source of power that only they could use.”

  “That makes sense, but that was ten thousand years ago. This could not have been there from that time,” said Darius.

  “Perhaps the first group of sorcerers failed to get it open before they were eliminated. The tear might have been here all this time, and that might be what the sorcerers have been after out here. They wanted to build and secure this base until they had enough power to challenge the combined forces of wizards in both realms,” said Master Shadow.

  “But then why would the old man send us here?” asked Flame.

  “If we are right about him making a power play for the spot of grandmaster, then these … these magic batteries are just as much a threat to him as they are to us,” said Master Shadow.

  “Master, then that would mean he might want to take control of them, not destroy them,” said Darius.

  “Yes, but there you see the weakness of the side of darkness: well, of either side, really. The old man probably assumes we will take this power base as our own and is betting that he can take it from us much more easily than from them,” said Master Shadow. “It is likely that the possibility of us destroying this power station has not even occurred to him, but even if it did, it is surely preferable to him than his enemies having it to use against him.”

  “So then, we need to shut down the operation, break the batteries, and close the tear, all of which needs to be done inside a highly-defended enemy fortress, which has many high-level sorcerers on call?” asked Phoenix.

  “Yes, exactly,” said Master Shadow.

  “Oh good, Master! I thought there for a moment this was going to be yet another impossible task!” he said with a big grin.

  Master Shadow chuckled, but before he could say anything Darius said, “Master Phoenix, I do not think we will have to worry about them sending sorcerer support.”

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “The balance of power is too close,” said Master Shadow.

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “Master, when two forces are somewhat evenly matched and in a drawn-out cold war like we are, they have to be careful how they deploy their resources. For example, Grandmaster Vydor and his Master Wizards would be unwise to gather here and attack this station because it would leave Alpha Academy undefended. Similarly, the sorcerers would be wary of deploying their own forces here because it would draw in our full might and leave their positions of power open to attack by the wizards from the other realm,” said Darius.

  “Precisely,” said Master Shadow. “In all likelihood they will only send what they believe to be just barely enough to secure this station. If we were at full-scale war, they might deploy everything to protect such an asset, but they need to build their forces up just as we do, so they are likely to be in favor of a continued stalemate, which means they have to risk losing this station.”

  “I don’t doubt the experience that you two have in these matters, but that seems like a big pile of guesses based on how you think they will think,” said Flame.

  “It is, but it is all tempered by many centuries of war teaching us what are reasonable guesses,” said Master Shadow with a smile.

  After that, we talked a little while longer on the ramifications of what I had found on the station and wrapped things up for the night.

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  The next morning, we met again to start planning how we would attack the station. Once everyone gathered in the room Master Shadow said, “Okay, everyone, we have four days until the navy breaks up our peaceful section of space here. In that time we have to have everything in place so that we can take this station out of the fight.”

  “Master, what is our plan?” asked Phoenix.

  “That is what we are going to figure out right now. We know that we have three distinct tasks at hand. First, we must destroy the containers; second, we must close the tear; and finally, we need to d
isable the station. I think that order would be best, but I would not be opposed to hearing other opinions on that. Mainly, though, we need to work out how to achieve each of those steps,” said Master Shadow.

  “Master, I agree we should start with the containers. Destroying them should be the easiest step, and even if we fail to take out the station, at least we will have set back their production timeline,” said Darius.

  “Agreed, but how? That is a large number of containers deep within a secure fortress,” said Master Shadow.

  Everyone started tossing around ideas about how to do that. The ideas were coming too fast for me to follow, and I began to zone out. My mind returned to the room with the tear, and I could see myself there drifting towards the tear. I wanted to stop myself, but I could feel it calling me, as if the tear itself was alive somehow. Mentally I drifted towards it, and I could not stop myself. I was falling into it again with a strange mix of fear and desire that I could not reconcile. I don’t know what would have happened if I fell in because just as I was about to pass through the tear, I felt Spectra’s hand on my shoulder and heard her say, “Dusty could do it.”

  I snapped my head around to look at her and said, “Dusty could do what?”

  “Destroy the canisters,” she said.

  “How?” I asked.

  “Over the next few days you sneak in and plant explosives on all the canisters, then once the bombs outside start to explode we remotely detonate the charges,” said Spectra.

  “Interesting idea, Master Spectra, but there are far too many canisters for one person to handle,” said Darius.

  “I could help him, and we only need to do the ones that are not empty. I think we could get enough charges in place in time to do the trick,” said Master Shadow.

  They talked a little more about it and thanked Spectra for her great idea, but I said, “It won’t work.”

  “Why not, Dusty?” asked Master Shadow.

  “Master, because I was almost pulled in the last time I was there. If I go back it will just happen again,” I said.

  “Spectra? Any way to stop him from falling in?” asked Master Shadow.

  “Master, he won’t as long as he stays in a corporeal form. I believe he was being drawn in because his Night Form is very close to a wraith, but if he stays as a Parrinian he will be safe,” said Spectra.

  “Great, that handles at least one of our problems, but we still have two more to solve,” said Master Shadow.

  “Master, once those explosive charges go off, there will no longer be a need for stealth, so Spectra could gate me directly to their engineering, and I could take out their primary power grid,” said Darius.

  “Sounds very risky,” said Flame. “I don’t like you going at that alone.”

  “Yes, Master Flame, but I suspect the rest of you will be needed elsewhere. Our numbers are too small to pair up everywhere,” said Darius.

  “Perhaps. Let’s set that aside for now and figure out what we are going to do about the tear itself. It is different from the last tear in that this one goes to a whole different realm, so how do we close it?” asked Master Shadow.

  “Master, it wants to close. All we have to do is free it,” said Spectra.

  “What do you mean?” asked Master Shadow.

  “Master, I can feel the tear calling me. It’s begging to be free of the magic that is keeping it open. I think if we can dispel the spells that have opened it, it will seal itself,” said Spectra.

  I looked back into her deep green eyes and sent, “I can feel it too.”

  I felt her smile back and send, “I know.”

  “Interesting, so then what do you propose?” asked Master Shadow.

  “Master, if you can unweave the power on this side of the tear, I can travel to the spirit realm and work on the other side. Between the two of us, we should be able to seal it,” she said.

  “That would leave both of us vulnerable to attack. Phoenix can shield me, but what about you?” asked Master Shadow.

  “Master, I believe I can enhance Dusty’s Night Form to make him truly a wraith, and then he can come with me and guard me,” said Spectra.

  “That just might work,” said Master Shadow. “That ties four of us up with the tear and leaves Darius to attack engineering. Coverage is a bit thin, but that appears to be the hand we have been dealt, so it will have to do.”

  “I could go help Darius in engineering,” said Flame.

  “No, I need you here at the helm. Shea and Leslie will be no match for a sorcerer if one tries to board and cut off our escape,” said Master Shadow.

  “Oh, I did not think about that,” said Flame, a bit crestfallen.

  We talked for a while longer and worked out the details, then over the next few days Phoenix and Darius worked on manufacturing the charges for the mission, while Spectra and I worked out the specifics of her making me a wraith. Also during this time Master Shadow and I made regular trips into the station to place the charges on the containers. By using Night Form to get in and then changing to Shadow Form once inside, we were able to place the charges safely and without being detected.

  The days seemed to drag on and on as we spent most of the time just waiting. Darius explained to us that that was just how war was. The stories of war were always about the great battles, but most of time you sit around waiting for your next move. It seemed that war was a much more boring affair than I could ever have guessed.

  It was not all bad though, as our preparations required that I spend a lot of time alone with Spectra, which was a joy in itself. It would not be long until our waiting would turn into high stakes combat, but until then I was satisfied with what I had.

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  “Master Shadow, I think I’ve got something,” said Spectra.

  After all our preparations and planning were complete, the day of the Aleeryon naval attack had finally come. Dusty and I had placed all the charges well ahead of schedule, and we were as ready as we could be. The biggest problem we faced now was not having any idea when the attack would happen. All we had from Bill was a broad window, and because of that we were all sitting on a hair-trigger, jumping at any possible sign of attack. I wanted desperately to stretch out my awareness and look for the bombers, but I did not dare do anything that had any chance of spoiling the surprise attack.

  So far, the pirate fleet seemed completely unaware of the pending attack. I was still concerned that this was an elaborate trap of some kind, but there was no indication of that at all. Everything was exactly as I expected it would be if the enemy was unaware of our presence, and yet it was one of their own number who gave us the tip about this secret base.

  “What do you see, Spectra?” I asked.

  “Master, for a moment I thought I had a glimpse of a fleet of small ships jumping in, but it’s gone now,” she said.

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “Master, I am sure I saw something, but nothing is there now,” she said.

  “Excellent!” I said, then said over the comm, “All hands, battle stations!”

  “Master, there is nothing there,” said Spectra.

  “Right, which is exactly the behavior one would expect from a fleet of stealth bombers,” I said. The mundanes had the same problem that we had with jump space: that is, they could not come out of it under cloak, so there was a brief moment when they could be detected before they could cloak.

  “Of course!” she said, then locked her station and moved to Dusty’s side in preparation for their date in the spirit realm. Dusty looked very scared, but having Spectra next to him seemed to calm him a little. I knew he had grown a lot during this mission, but he still lacked that warrior spirit. In a way, I was glad he still had his tenderness, as there was no returning once war made you hard. I was sad for all of my team; they would all one day become cold, calculating warriors when faced with battle. That would be a good day for the safety of the realm, and I knew that it was my job to forge
them into the weapons necessary to protect the realm from the rising tide of darkness, but it would be a sad day for them. The taste of war will forever alienate you from the life of peace. It will either destroy them or change them, permanently.

  Darius came on the bridge with his staff and in his full battle armor. His armor was not as good as the armor we had, but it would still be a while before we could get him his own suit. He locked on his helmet, which would allow him to operate even in the extreme environment of outer space. Unlike the rest of my team, he was perfectly calm and ready for battle. He needed no hardening, as he was already a warrior in the truest sense. In a way, he represented what I had to make my people into: a fearless fighting machine.

  Flame moved to the command chair on the bridge and began routing all the controls to that station so that she could control the ship alone, if need be. I was glad we had a good excuse to keep her out of the fight. I liked her the way she was and did not want to see her change.

  “How long do you think we have?” asked Flame.

  “Not long, in fact they may have already launched the first wave of bombs,” I said. The bombers would move as fast as they could into their attack run, under the assumption they had been spotted and only had a brief window to attack before their targets could react to their presence.

  Shea came on the bridge with bags of potions, which she gave out to each of us. I was grateful for them because they could give us an edge in any close battle, especially since the enemy would have no knowledge that we now had access to potions. She also gave each of us a blessing, which I was completely unaccustomed to, but I could feel real power in it. It was a very odd kind of power, a kind I had never seen before. It was the purest of white and had no discernable signature to it. Had I not seen Shea cast it, it would have been impossible to tell where it came from. As the white power wrapped around me, I felt my mind get sharper, my strength increase, and I even felt more agile than I have ever felt before.

  “Thank you, Shea. When we have time, I would love to know more about this strange power you wield,” I said, but she did not get the chance to respond, as at that moment our tactical alarms started going off. A quick glance at the screen showed that the first wave of bombs had started to detonate. “That is our cue, blow the charges!”