We reached the central core without problems, but the core itself was heavily guarded by sentries. They opened fire as we approached and quickly had us overwhelmed.
“Pull back!” called out Lieutenant Tyrrell with a curse.
“Gaia, we need smashers!” I called out.
“On it!” she said.
Soon three earth elementals charged into the room and began smashing the sentries. Gaia’s smashers were still at a fairly low level, but had sufficient strength to last quite a while against the sentries.
“Impressive,” said Lieutenant Tyrrell.
“They are big, dumb, strong, and highly resistant to energy-based attacks, which makes them perfect for this,” I said.
“Not completely impervious, it seems,” she said as we lost one.
“No, not completely. I suggest we give them some help,” I said and drew my staff out of the air.
“Agreed. Return fire!” she called out.
It was going well for a while, until we made progress into the room and saw in the center of it a table that was very intricately carved. Each of its six legs was a different beast portrayed holding the table on their backs. The table itself was covered in myriad strange and bizarre carvings. Seated at the table were seven foul beasts that stood and turned towards us.
“Lieutenant Tyrrell, call for a retreat, now!” I yelled and backed away, shouting into my comm, “Captain, General Order Seventy-One! Get everyone off the station and destroy it!”
Chapter Seventy-Four
As we backed out the creatures stood and walked towards us.
“Focus fire on the lead creature!” called out Lieutenant Tyrrell.
All of her team fired at once, but the creature did not seem to even notice the attack. I called out, “Lieutenant Tyrrell, run for it! We will cover the retreat!”
She looked at me briefly and then ordered her team to make for the shuttle. As they ran I sent, “Stick to your barriers and elementals!” to my wizards. If I had my whole team, we could take one or two of these creatures, but I only had two wizards with me, and there were seven of them. The best I could hope to do was slow them down and give Lieutenant Tyrrell enough time to get clear.
I cast my Ice Wall spell at several places along our retreat path, while my other wizards mixed it up between elementals and barriers. The plan was working, and we were staying well ahead of their attack.
“Ramsong, we are on the shuttle. Hurry!” sent Lieutenant Tyrrell over the comm.
“Lieutenant, launch without us! We have other means of escape! Hurry! We can only slow these things down, not stop them!” I replied.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Go! Just make sure you’re in the area to pick us up in a while,” I said.
“Understood. Make sure to keep your comm signal on so that we can track you,” she said.
“Okay, they are clear. I will blast a hole here, then everyone, teleport out,” I sent.
We locked our helmets in place and double-checked our equipment to make sure our armor was not damaged in the attack. Once I was sure everyone was ready, I pointed my staff at an exterior wall and blasted through. That gave us the clear line-of-sight to space that we needed in order to teleport to safety. “Go!” I sent to my team and teleported out. From outside the station I could see the fleet moving in to attack.
“It looks like they are in trouble in the third arm,” sent Gaia.
I looked and saw their shuttle was drifting free in space, and the assault team was still in the hangar fighting. “Teleport in!” I sent.
As we entered the fight, I cast three ice elementals and sent them in. Their crystalline structure deflected most of the blaster fire from the sentries, making them virtually impervious to their attacks, but extremely dangerous to everyone in the area.
“Assault team three, activate your propulsion packs and make for your shuttle. We will cover your retreat,” I sent over the comm. I noticed that Zal was with this team and was preparing to fly out with them. “Zal, stay with us. We may have more to rescue yet,” I sent over our telepathic network.
“Lieutenant Tyrrell, team three is making a retreat to their shuttle, which is drifting freely. We need to provide them with cover fire,” I sent over the comm.
“Affirmative. We will head to team two. The captain said to tell you: you have five minutes until he executes General Order Seventy-One,” said Lieutenant Tyrrell.
“Once we are finished here we will check the other teams,” I replied. Five minutes was not enough time, and I was sure that everyone knew it. The only way the other two teams were going to get off the station in time was if they could make it without help. I wondered if the captain would really begin his attack if his people were still on the station. I didn’t know him well enough yet to make that call, so the safest bet was to assume the worst.
“Okay, remind me next time: ice elementals are a bad idea for this,” I sent to my team. Blaster fire was reflecting continuously around us, and it became completely impossible to guess which direction the next blast would come from.
Gaia kept shields over our position as we let our elementals fight for us. It seemed like an eternity before we heard, “Sir, we have regained the shuttle. We’re coming in to pick you up,” over the comm. It was good timing too, as Gaia’s shields were starting to fail faster than she could recast, and some blaster fire was getting through.
“Negative! Get out of here, now!” I sent back as I took a deflected blast from a sentry into my chest. My armor held, but pain ripped through my body.
“But, sir …” he started.
“That is an order! Get out of here, now!” I interrupted him, practically screaming through the pain.
“Yes, sir,” he sent back.
After taking a moment to steady myself, I sent, “Wizards, teleport out,” and then over the comm, “Lieutenant Tyrrell, team three is clear. What is our status?”
“All assault teams are clear. Time to pull out,” she replied.
“Acknowledged. We are pulling out now,” I said.
Around us, the inky black of space began to light up as the fleet opened fire on the station. “Teleport as far as you can, but stay together. We need to get clear,” I sent.
Using telepathy we were able to stay together as we teleported over and over, trying to get away from the station. Behind us, it was blowing apart as more and more weapon fire was brought against it. I was struggling to maintain focus and my vision was failing me, but I had to hold it together long enough to get my team to safety.
“Lieutenant Tyrrell, we are moving away from the station as fast as we are able, but we would appreciate a lift soon,” I sent over the comm. Since they could track our comm signal, it would be easy for them to find us.
“Sure, do mind stopping long enough for us to catch up?” she replied.
I almost laughed at that, but the pain in my chest cut it short. I had forgotten that while teleportation is severely limited in distance, it travels at nearly the speed of light, making our continuous teleport hop much faster than the penetration shuttle could match. “Acknowledged. Holding current position.”
Soon Lieutenant Tyrrell caught up with us and picked us up. Once on board I said, “Thanks,” and fell against the wall.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, just took a little love tap from one of the sentries,” I said.
She smiled and said, “Good work out there. I think we managed to save everyone.”
“Thanks,” I said, still gasping for breath. “I should’ve seen that trap, though!”
She said in a slightly softer tone, “None of us did. We got careless, but we live to try again. Later when you can breathe properly, you will have to tell me about that table and General Order Seventy-One.”
I bent over and coughed up some blood. “Might be a while.” My head was dizzy, but I vaguely heard her call for a medic and felt her lay me down as my world turned re
d and faded to black.
Chapter Seventy-Five
“Are you ready, Grandmasters?” asked Mantis.
Sitting in Mantis’ study looking up at the tapestries, I wondered if what we were about to do was wise. It seemed to fly in the face of everything we had built the Wizard Council on, but still it must be done. “Yes; at least as ready as one can be.”
“Let us just get this over with,” said Grandmaster Korshalem.
We followed Mantis down to the gate room and through the gate. On the other side was a grand dining hall. In the center was a round table filled with fresh fruit, cooked meat, and various kinds of drink. The room was warmly lit with light stones, and the scent of fresh, spring air was slowly circulating, giving the impression that we were honored guests.
Standing before the table was an older gentleman dressed in the clothes of a successful businessman. He looked like any other businessman to the naked eye, but as a spellweaver I could see his massive power field. There was no question anymore: the “old man” was a master-level magus. The power around him was held tightly in check; not a wisp of it dared to move. It was like everything else about him and this room. He portrayed an aura of control. Nothing escaped his attention, and nothing dared to be amiss in his presence.
Standing next to and slightly behind him was another human. He was distinctly average in all ways, except for his steel-grey eyes. They had a piercing stare filled with power and malice. He wore a light-grey battle suit that was well outfitted with various magical items. He too was a magus, but of substantially less power than the old man.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” said the old man.
“Mantis, does everything seem good to you?” I sent. I was not sure why Mantis was included in the invitation: perhaps it was because of his ambassadorial position. I was glad to have him here just in case things went badly.
“Yes, Grandmaster,” he replied.
“Thank you, but what shall we call you?” I asked.
“Ah, you grow tired of “The Old Man” so soon? I have taken to that title over the years,” he said. “You may call me Henrik.”
“Greetings, Henrik,” I said.
“Please join me at the table,” he said as he turned and walked to it. He seemed utterly unafraid of us. I wondered if that was because he felt he could trust us to keep the agreed-upon peace, or if he felt we were not a concern. His steel-eyed companion, in contrast, seemed to trust no one and kept everyone, including his master, under careful scrutiny. The power weave around him was more tortured, as if he were hiding a dark secret he dared not let out.
Once we were all seated Grandmaster Korshalem said, “Well, Henrik, I must admit this is a highly unusual meeting.”
“Yes, it is. If you hear me out, I think you will find that this meeting had to happen sooner or later, and I chose sooner. This way we can all meet on peaceful terms,” he said. After this, he leaned back and took a swig of his drink.
“Let us begin with the most obvious question. Why did you call this meeting?” I said.
“Simple. I have information that you need, and you have information I need. Together we can beat back the shadow that is coming, but if we continue to stay separate, the shadow will bring a new era of darkness to both realms,” he said.
“How do we know we can trust you?” asked Korshalem.
“You don’t. Not yet. I know that I can trust you three, so let me tell you what I know. Ten thousand years ago, there was a great war in this realm. The most powerful magi the realm had ever seen fought back and forth for control. Many worlds were devastated in this war, and countless millions were brutally killed. As you already know, a group of magi attempted to end the war for all time by removing their opponents’ ability to reach the weave. This tore and scarred the weave for eons, and the era of technology was born. That era ended when Shadow closed the last rift in the weave, and a new era of magic is on the rise. This much you already know, but what you may not know is what happened during the first years following the tearing of the rift.
“First, many of the elite sorcerers retreated to other realms and restarted their reign there. Some even went to your realm, Korshalem. That is how they knew they could come back here someday.
“The seven master-level sorcerers had foreseen what their enemies were going to do and put plans in place to counter it. They built spirit trap boxes, like the one you destroyed, and sent them out to lie dormant. They also built the tables, which are powered by those spirit gems. Once they had all the pieces in place, they exiled themselves to the Spirit Realm where their magic still functioned. There they have waited for this realm to heal, while continuing to grow in knowledge and power,” said Henrik.
“So far you have filled in a few gaps, but mostly confirmed our suspicions,” I said.
“They also put a curse on your family, Vydor. They did their best to make sure you were never born. Personally, I am glad that failed. They fear your rise to power more than anything else, as you represent the return of their archenemies. They believe your family will be their downfall, and anything that has them scared is a good thing in my book.
“The tables, as you have no doubt figured out, are binding points for them. It is the way they can return to this realm, or any realm in which there is a table. Their physical bodies have long decayed away, so they can only return if they suck enough spirit force from people who live here. That box you destroyed is one of several out there harvesting energy for them. That slave ship your people captured was intended to fill another box of gems. If they get enough, they can return at full power with all the learning and growth of the last ten thousand years behind them.”
“I can see how that would be bad for everyone in this realm. What has this to do with me?” asked Korshalem.
“You have found and destroyed one of the tables in your realm, correct?” asked Henrik.
“Yes,” said Korshalem.
“The sorcerers in your realm have failed to find a new spellweaver among their ranks, so they are leaderless at this time. They fear the power you are gaining while they flounder, so in desperation they struck a deal with the seven ancient magi and are helping them to return, to take over both realms,” said Henrik.
“How can you know this?” asked Mantis.
“I have spies among them,” said Henrik. “They are being fools, obviously. Once the seven are back, they will crush those six sorcerers and anyone else who might pose a threat.”
“What happened to the old Council of Wizards?” I asked.
“Most of them were consumed by the casting. I believe the rest of them, and what remained of the elites, traveled to other realms and retired in peace. In truth, they fell out of the story and were lost to history,” said Henrik.
“Henrik, you have done well in your information-gathering. What is it you need from us?” I asked.
“A few things. But first, here is something to help to prove to you that I am to be trusted,” he said, and moments later an exact replica of the crate that Shea had destroyed floated into the room. I could see it was tightly bound with spells of Henrik’s casting, but definitely contained many trapped spirits.
“If I was the evil that you imagine me to be, I would keep this and tap its power for myself. Instead, like the illuminescence battery array I helped you eliminate, I want this destroyed. I know you have the ability to do it, since you have done it safely once already, and I know you would never use this yourselves, so I give it to you as a token of trust.”
“Korshalem? Mantis? What do you think?” I sent privately.
“As far as we know he has been completely honest with us so far, and he did help you a couple of times in the past,” sent Korshalem.
“I think we need to hear him out completely,” sent Mantis.
Looking the box over, I could see the pattern to unweave it, but that would release the energy into the room. That would be a tremendous amount of spiritual energy, and I was not confident I could s
afely contain it all. It would be best if I brought it to the Spirit Realm to do the unweaving where the energy release would be harmless. Yet somehow Shea had pulled it off safely. “You could unweave this as well as I,” I said.
“Yes, but that would mean bringing it to the Spirit Realm where the seven currently are,” he said.
“I see. That indeed could be a problem,” I said.
“One I am not ready to deal with, at least not alone. However, you destroyed one crate already without bringing it to the Spirit Realm, so I would suggest we destroy this one in the same way,” said Henrik.
“I would not advise giving away your secret to him, not yet, but how did you manage that?” sent Korshalem.
“Since you have been so forthcoming, I will give you a nugget of information. Shea was the one who destroyed the other crate,” I said.
“Shea? It would figure. She’s the one magus whom I gravely underestimated more than once already,” said Henrik.
“Do you have any idea how she did it?” asked Korshalem.
“No, but I think this time I will arrange to watch. We should destroy that crate before he changes his mind and uses it,” I sent.
“Agreed,” replied Korshalem.
“So, where does this leave us?” I asked.
“Simple. You and I build our respective kingdoms in this realm and leave each other alone; but we combine all our forces to take down the seven ancient magi. Korshalem, I will stay out of your realm if you enter into the same agreement,” said Henrik.
“I am not one to make a truce with sorcerers,” said Korshalem.
“I think you will find that the stark contrast between wizard and sorcerer that you see in your realm does not exist here. In this realm, there are many sides in many battles. Everyone is someone’s enemy. For example, many tribes see Vydor’s group of wizards as the evil that must be eliminated. Your realm is so much smaller, at least the space you have populated so far, that sides can be clearly drawn. Here, that can never be the case. Vydor, you must realize this or you would not have created the Wizard Kingdom as its own nation. We must be clear on this: the real danger to each of us is the seven ancient magi, and not anyone in this room.”
Resurgence of Ancient Darkness Page 26
