Starlight (The Dark Elf War Book 1)

by William Stacey

  He frowned. “Bullshit. You kept up with a Special Forces team on a hunt through the woods at night in shitty weather, and you held your own in your first action.” He reached over and squeezed her elbow. “You did just fine.”

  A surge of warmth flushed through her. She regarded him out of the corner of her eye. How old was he—twenty-five? He wasn’t much older than her. She didn’t really know anything about him. Less than two weeks ago, he had pretty much kidnapped her from the hospital—yes, he had saved her life; she did get that, but still… she barely knew him.

  So why did she care what he thought about her?

  “I think McKnight expects you in the lab with the other two,” he said.

  She nodded. Other soldiers had just walked in, watching her with curious gazes.

  “We can do this again tomorrow if you want.”

  She grinned. “Oh, I do want. I want very much.”

  Chapter 28

  The volleyball flew over the top of the net then seemed to hang for a moment. Finally, it began to descend toward Cassie, picking up speed. She darted across the sand, placing herself under the ball. By habit, she started to reach out for it but then stopped herself and instead channeled just enough mana to knock it back across the net. Duncan only just managed to catch the volleyball with his own mana flow this time, sending it back but really setting Cassie up. She grinned as she spiked the ball in front of him. It rebounded, smashing him in the chin. He fell on his butt, and unable to help herself, Cassie laughed. There was an angry glare in his eyes.

  He doesn’t like losing to women. Sucks to be him.

  They had been outside, behind the gym, playing magic volleyball for about twenty minutes. Cassie felt pretty good, but the near-constant mana use was taking its toll on Duncan, and the front of his T-shirt was now drenched in sweat. Their two scientist minders, Amy and Pierce, sat on a wooden picnic table in the shade, taking notes. She couldn’t help but notice Amy seemed kind of sweet on Pierce. Egghead love?

  The two scientists should have been documenting and testing the three mag-sens, but Cassie knew now that they had no idea how to monitor something they couldn’t see or measure. After more than two weeks, all the scientists could do was record the results of their developing mana use. It was like a blind person trying to understand colors: they simply had no basis from which to begin. Cassie, Duncan, and Elizabeth had had to train themselves and learn by doing. Which was pretty much what they were doing right at that moment. While Cassie and Duncan played magic volleyball, Elizabeth stood, not ten paces away, practicing hitting a punching bag with blows of mana.

  Cassie ducked under the net and picked up the ball. “Let’s take a break.”

  Duncan nodded and climbed to his feet before stumbling over to the picnic table where the two scientists sat. Amy handed Duncan a water bottle. Cassie considered him as he upended the bottle and drank. He wasn’t what anyone would ever describe as a physical guy. Cassie wasn’t even breathing hard, but Duncan looked as though he was ready to fall down. Nor could she figure out why he was so physically exhausted. As near as any of them could guess, mana was channeled through the brain and central nervous system. But really, even that was a guess. At any rate, using mana didn’t seem to have anything to do with the body’s muscular system. If Duncan sucked at athletics—which he clearly did—then shouldn’t he excel at the more cerebral use of mana? Maybe, but he didn’t. He kind of sucked. Both Cassie and Elizabeth were far better at channeling mana than he was. And unfortunately, the oversensitive Duncan seemed acutely aware of that fact.

  Drinking from her own water bottle, Cassie watched Elizabeth channel mana and use air to pummel a man-shaped martial-arts heavy bag that stood on a water-filled base only about a dozen paces away from the volleyball court. She was striking the mannequin so hard it actually rocked back and forth. Even from here, Elizabeth radiated power and mystical energy. She may have been a nut-bar religious bitch, but she was a powerful nut-bar religious bitch. Elizabeth could now use mana as a weapon. Not a terribly Christian thing to do, maybe, but Elizabeth was training for a fight while Cassie was playing volleyball. She stared out past Elizabeth, past the perimeter fence, and into the woods surrounding the base.

  Where was the basilisk now? It hadn’t been seen since the attack at the hospital two weeks ago. And there were a lot of people looking for it. Hundreds of journalists, hunters, scientists, and others had converged on Fort St. John. The media circus had continued unabated, with most of the experts still claiming it was some type of undiscovered dinosaur.

  Bullshit. She didn’t know where it came from, but it wasn’t a dinosaur. Dinosaurs didn’t use magic to turn people to stone with their gaze. Whatever it was, it came from the same place the hellhounds had.

  Paco and Clyde were still waiting, as was the rest of Task Force Devil. And, as frightened as Cassie was of it, she wanted to get on with finding the basilisk. She needed payback. Maybe she could even help Paco track it. She was growing increasingly confident of the soldiers here. Once they found the basilisk, she was certain they could kill it. These people were serious about their work. Each one was a specialist. The ambush on the hellhounds had demonstrated that readily enough. They’d be able to kill it. And she desperately wanted to be a part of that.

  She plopped down on the bench across from Amy and Pierce. Duncan sat beside her. She wrinkled her nose at his stench but didn’t say anything. He didn’t need another reason to feel bad about himself.

  “The power of the Lord,” he said as Elizabeth beat down on the dummy.

  She glanced at him. He had a sly smile on his sweaty face.

  “Sure it is,” she said.

  “How do you know it’s not?” asked Amy.

  Cassie glanced over her shoulder at her. “I thought science and religion weren’t compatible.”

  “Maybe,” said Amy. “Some people feel that way.”

  “Most educated, intelligent people feel that way,” Pierce said, not looking up from where he scribbled in his notebook.

  “A lot don’t,” said Amy. “But some people find a way to reconcile faith with science.”

  “Rubbish.” Pierce shook his head, missing the frown on Amy’s face.

  Careful, Pierce, Cassie thought as she watched them. You might want to pay more attention to what the lady says. Guys could be so clueless.

  “Well,” said Cassie, “I don’t think anyone, even her enemies, would accuse Elizabeth of being stupid or uneducated. She believes this… power comes from God. I have no idea what’s going on.” Cassie paused, glancing at Amy and Pierce, who both looked away. “But I don’t think Elizabeth is right. If there really was a God, why would he, she… it give this power to someone like me, an atheist? That makes no sense.”

  Neither scientist would meet her eye.

  “I kind of find the whole religious thing a big freaking joke,” Duncan said. “I mean, come on, who’s got the right religion anyhow? How can Christians, Muslims, and Jews all be right?”

  “Well,” said Amy, “those religions you just mentioned are all monotheistic. Their believers worship the same God, just with different belief systems, different dogma; that’s all.”

  “Elizabeth would consider that blasphemy,” said Cassie.

  “So would all the other hard-core Christians, Jews, and Muslims,” noted Pierce.

  Elizabeth stood motionless in front of the mannequin, staring at it with a look of fierce determination. What’s she doing now? Cassie picked up her water bottle, whose surface was beaded with moisture, and rolled it across her forehead. “It’s hot today, isn’t it? Hotter than normal for this time of the year.”

  “Supposed to be around twenty-six degrees Celsius today,” said Duncan.

  That was way hotter than it should have been this early in the spring, especially so far north. She felt Elizabeth draw mana into her body, a lot of mana. Cassie stared at the other woman, her gaze narrowing. A wave of hot air washed over Cassie’s face, actually moving her hair with its ru
sh. It had felt as if she had just opened a furnace door.

  The heat had come from Elizabeth.

  Cassie jumped up from the bench. “Elizabeth, stop!”

  Another intense wave of heat rushed into Cassie, forcing her to turn her head away and shield her face with her forearm. She staggered back against the picnic table just as a fireball a foot wide materialized out of the air in front of Elizabeth’s outstretched hands and flew into the dummy, which erupted in flames. The worst of the heat was suddenly gone as quickly as it had begun.

  Cassie stared, openmouthed. The martial-arts mannequin was now engulfed in flames. Burning tendrils of sooty black smoke poured into the air as latex and rubber dripped and sizzled onto the ground beneath it. Elizabeth turned and faced them, a euphoric smile on her face. “Praise the Lord. Look at His glory.”

  “How… how did you do that?” Cassie staggered closer until she was standing beside Elizabeth.

  “It just kind of made sense,” said Elizabeth.

  “Way more impressive than setting paper on fire.”

  “I’m blessed. Truly blessed.”

  A soldier inside the gym rushed out with a fire extinguisher, yelling at them to get back. Someone yanked on Cassie’s arm, and she noted with annoyance that it was Duncan.

  “Get back,” he said.

  “Why?” Cassie ripped her arm loose just as the soldier sprayed the mannequin with the fire extinguisher, putting the blaze out.

  “Try it,” said Elizabeth, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face the now-smoking mannequin. “See if you can do it, too.”

  “I don’t know how to—”

  “I’ll show you—walk you through it.”

  “But…”

  “Trust me.”

  Cassie exhaled heavily, squared herself off, and faced the mannequin.

  “You might want to get out of the way,” Elizabeth said to the soldier.

  He stared at her in confusion.

  “Now,” she repeated.

  The young man jumped back, still hugging the fire extinguisher.

  “So,” Elizabeth said to Cassie, squeezing her shoulders and softly speaking into her ear, “draw in the mana, more than you feel comfortable with. Don’t release it right away the way you normally would. Hold on to it. Let it roil and build.”

  “Isn’t that danger—”

  “Trust me. Trust God. Picture the mana becoming hotter, and let it burn. When you feel it becoming too hot to safely hold, that’s when you release it at the dummy. Throw the heat; throw the fire.”

  “But—”

  “Just try it,” Elizabeth said.

  Cassie glanced over her shoulder. Elizabeth looked so earnest, so excited.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea,” Duncan muttered.

  Turning her head, Cassie saw Duncan standing with Amy, Pierce, and the young soldier with the fire extinguisher.

  Amy’s face shone with excitement. “This is amazing.”

  Pierce nodded. “Go ahead; try it.”

  “This is a really bad idea,” Duncan said.

  Elizabeth, still gripping Elizabeth’s shoulders from behind, turned her to face the smoking dummy once again. “Go on—try it. Remember, let the mana burn. Think burn.”

  “Got it,” said Cassie, not really getting it at all but willing to try. She opened herself up and channeled.

  “More,” said Elizabeth. “You’re gonna need a lot more.”

  “What about too much? I don’t want to get hurt.”

  “You won’t get hurt… I think. Anyhow, I’m going to try something new, something we haven’t done before. If it works, I don’t want you to freak out.”

  “Okay, now you’re scaring me.” Cassie turned to look at Elizabeth, but the other woman turned her back toward the dummy once more.

  “I think… maybe,” said Elizabeth, “maybe, we can share… whatever this is we’re drawing upon.”

  “Share mana?”

  “I don’t like that term, but fine, let’s call it that. I’m going to draw in some… mana, try and send it to you, and see if I can’t… you know, energize you, help you.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “I’m not. I’ve been thinking about trying this for a while now. No time like the present. Let me help you.”

  “This is a bad idea.”

  Elizabeth didn’t answer, but a moment later, more mana flowed into Cassie, filling her. It happened so suddenly, so unexpectedly, she gasped in surprise. Only Elizabeth’s hands on her shoulders held her in place. There was so much power it was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. She was now holding way more mana than she ever had before, more than she would have thought possible. All her senses became supercharged, and the metallic taste in the back of her throat grew sharper. She began to feel like a balloon, overfilling with air. Strangest of all, though, was the physical connection she felt with Elizabeth. The mana flowing between them linked them somehow.

  “Good,” said Elizabeth, squeezing her shoulders. “Now, focus on the mana. Let it burn.”

  Within her, the mana felt as if it were twisting and bubbling. Something was happening.

  “No, that’s not right,” said Elizabeth, sensing what Cassie was doing. “You need to heat the mana. I don’t know what you’re doing.”

  “I’m trying.”

  She began to sway. Her heart hammered in her chest. Her vision grew dim. She felt as if she were dreaming, as if this was all happening to someone else. But the more she concentrated on heating the mana, the more the energy seemed to do something else entirely, to twist and knot and slip away. Her knees began to shake, and her legs felt weak.

  “I don’t think—”

  “Don’t stop now,” said Elizabeth. “Just do it—burn it!”

  Her vision tunneled in on the mannequin. She had to do something before she passed out. She couldn’t do what Elizabeth was telling her to do; it just didn’t feel right. So, she did what did feel right. Extending her arm, she released the mana flows at the target.

  The air around it seemed to warp, and then the dummy disappeared. Cassie gasped and fell back against Elizabeth. Entangled, both women fell down. The connection she had felt with Elizabeth disappeared. Then someone was helping her to her feet, holding her upright. She saw it was Amy. Pierce helped Elizabeth. Duncan stood away from them all, a look of stark disbelief on his face.

  “What… what just happened?” Cassie asked. “Did I burn it?”

  After several uncomfortable seconds, Amy stepped closer to where the dummy had been, raised her hand, and reached out toward the empty space. A moment later, she drew back her hand as if it had been burned, and her mouth opened wide. She turned and stared at Cassie. “It’s still there. You made it invisible.”

  The air in front of Amy warped once more, and then the dummy reappeared. One moment it wasn’t there; the next, it was. Amy jumped back, smashing into Elizabeth.

  “I did that?” whispered Cassie in disbelief.

  “Praise the Lord,” said Elizabeth. “It’s another miracle. Two in one day.” She hugged Cassie so hard it took her breath away.

  How did I do that? Cassie wondered. And can I do it again?

  Chapter 29

  Duncan lay on his bed, propped up against the headboard, staring blankly at the wall. It was close to midnight, but he couldn’t sleep. Everyone had been so excited about what Elizabeth and Cassie had done that day. Linking their powers, throwing fireballs—and Cassie had actually turned an object invisible.

  Invisible! And what have you done, Duncan? Lost at magic volleyball to a girl. Some wizard.

  It was so unfair. This should have been the coolest moment in his life. After all, he was a freaking wizard, a real twenty-first-century magic user. So what if they didn’t understand how any of this had happened—it had happened. Duncan was a mag-sens, one of only three people on the planet who were sensitive to this new power. His life should be awesome right now. The government should be bringing him ho
okers and blow, not frigging recording him levitating balls in the air. He should be special.

  But he wasn’t. Of the three mag-sens, he was by far the weakest, barely sensitive at all compared to Elizabeth and Cassie. He was failing at being a magic user, just as he had failed at everything else in his life. Tears filled his eyes. He knew he was only feeling self-pity, but he just couldn’t help it. It was so unfair. Maybe he was the loser his dad had always said he was, no good for anything but working at a fast-food restaurant and jerking off because girls had no time for him.

  Even now, nobody thought he was cool because he was a mag-sens, and no one gave a shit that he could levitate small objects. What a joke! How bitterly unfair. Anything he could do, the girls could do better.

  Girls! All his life, he had wanted to be special, and now that he was, he wasn’t special at all. Everyone treated him like a freak, especially all these a-hole soldiers with all their muscles and guns. Even the scientists just treated him like a curiosity, when they paid any attention to him at all. He had no friends—no one liked him. Even Cassie and Elizabeth weren’t really his friends. They treated him more like someone they were stuck with. He could tell they weren’t interested in him in the slightest. And why should they be? He was nothing but a skinny, ugly dork who couldn’t get laid to save his life. Had he really expected things to change just because he suddenly had really weak magic powers?

  What a crock of shit! After all those years of daydreaming about becoming more than he was, the universe had finally answered his prayers and made him special, only to make others way more special.

  Nothing. He was a big nothing. He’d never be more than a big nothing. Unless…

  The genesis of an idea came to him: what if he simply hadn’t developed his potential enough? After all, he was a man; he should be way more powerful than the girls. That was how the universe worked. The males were always more powerful, and better. Maybe Cassie and Elizabeth weren’t stronger than he was; maybe he simply hadn’t tried hard enough.

  He felt as though he was having an epiphany. Fear is my enemy. It’s stopping me from achieving my true destiny. He had been holding back, afraid that something bad might happen. He had been limiting himself. Opening himself up to mana was both an empowering and a terrifying experience, in many ways like using drugs. A little bit was amazing, but too much…