Wizard Gigantic (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 9)

by Rodney Hartman

  Windjammer snorted. “Yeah, right. Everyone knows the lower tunnels are played out. Why do you think it’s been closed off? I heard the only things left in the place are spider webs, cave spiders, and fools looking for nonexistent gems.”

  The other guards laughed.

  Amir balled a fist and glared at Windjammer. “Well, we’re going to prove everybody wrong. We’ll come back with a bag full of gems, won’t we, Glory?”

  “Uh, I wouldn’t exactly put it that way,” said Glory. “We’ll come back with something though. I wouldn’t waste our time going down there if I didn’t think you could find a couple of gems.”

  Windjammer laughed and gave a slight bow before waving her arm at the stair’s exit. “Well, be my guests. You may both pass.”

  As the other guards rotated their shields onto their backs and made way, Windjammer grabbed Amir’s arm. “Promise me you’ll keep Glory on a leash. I don’t need her bothering the king. Sergeant Cracktow says he’ll stick the new batch of warrior apprentices on guard duty from now on if we don’t mess anything up today.” She stepped close and whispered in his ear, “That’ll give me a lot more free time at night in case you ever get tired of Glory.”

  Blushing again, Amir stepped away from the giantess. “Uh…I uh…promise. Glory will be on her best behavior, won’t you, Glory.”

  Glaring at Windjammer, Glory stepped beside Amir, grabbed his arm, and pulled him toward the exit. “Oh, I’ll be good. Trust me. None of you will ever have to pull guard down here again on our account.”

  With a half-smile, Windjammer said, “That would suit me just fine. It’s too lonely down here most of the time.” She winked at Amir and laughed. “In fact, I get real lonely at night, in case you’re wondering.”

  Glory practically shoved Amir through the exit and into the hallway beyond. Like the upper living areas, the walls were highly polished black stone. Also like the upper tunnels, this one was well lit by light-globes embedded in the ceiling. The tunnel itself went to the right and left. Turning to the left, Glory set a quick pace. After a hundred steps, she turned a corner still half dragging Amir behind her.

  Amir saw a T intersection ahead with a double set of bronze doors to one side. Four guards carrying the shields of the king’s personal guard stood near the doors with battle axes and hammers at the ready. Two more guards, a young male and female, were positioned in the hall a dozen steps before the bronze doors. Both wore chainmail and carried spears. A large blast-horn attached to a leather thong dangled from the young female’s neck.

  Glory walked forward and stopped next to the two apprentices.

  He recognized the young guards. Stoneheart and Rockcracker were military apprentices like Windjammer and the other guards at the stairs. Amir knew them well from the practice yard. He’d always found Stoneheart to be a pleasant giantess. Rockcracker, on the other hand, was somewhat of a grouch.

  “What’s going on?” whispered Glory.

  Stoneheart shrugged her shoulders. “Beats me. The king and Shaman Blackroot showed up a little while ago and opened the vault.” She nodded at the four royal guards standing near the bronze doors. “Those goons chased us away from our post and told us to wait over here. I think—”

  Without giving the giantess time to finish, Glory strode past her and made for the four guards.

  Amir scurried after his bride-to-be.

  A grim-faced corporal glared at Glory as she approached.

  Before the corporal could say anything, Glory pulled the rolled parchment out of the sleeve of her chainmail and presented it to the guard.

  The giant didn’t bother taking it.

  “We have permission to go to the lower level,” said Glory, sounding unusually respectful. “Our pass is signed by—”

  A burly giant a full head taller than the largest of the guards came walking out of the bronze doors followed by an ancient, white-haired shaman carrying a gnarled staff and wearing a horned skull adorned with feathers on his head. The two giants were accompanied by two more of the royal guards and another shaman only slightly younger than the first.

  King Ironfist, Amir thought as he dropped to one knee.

  Glory dropped to a knee beside him.

  The burly giant stopped and glanced down at them before looking at the corporal. “Well, what do we have here?”

  “Just two apprentices, Sire,” said the corporal. “I was just about to send them back where they came from.”

  The oldest of the shamans stepped up beside the king and pointed at Amir with the butt of his staff. “Amir, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, Shaman Blackroot,” Amir replied, honored that the shaman remembered his name. That bodes well when I apply for my apprenticeship, he thought.

  The shaman turned to the king. “He’s the seeker I was telling you about yesterday. I have a feeling he’ll be a good addition to the shaman guild when he gets a little more experience.”

  “Ah, yes,” said the king. He waved upward with his beefy right hand. “Now stand up, both of you. It makes me uncomfortable when someone bows outside the royal cavern. I’m just a giant like everyone else.”

  Somewhat sheepishly, both Glory and Amir rose.

  Once they were on their feet, King Ironfist looked at Shaman Blackroot. “I have to get back to my duties. Are you satisfied that all’s well with the vault?”

  The shaman shrugged. “Everything looks secure. Still, the disturbance I sensed was distinct.” He gestured at the shaman behind him. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to send Shaman Petoris and four of your guards to check out the rest of this level just to be sure we don’t have any uninvited guests.”

  The king nodded. “Have it your way, old friend. I think you’re making too much out of a little disturbance in the magic protecting the lower levels. If something was here, either our guards or the shaman guild’s spells would’ve detected it. Still, you have my permission to do as you will. When I get back to my quarters, I’ll have General Veernor send down a platoon of extra guards for the Sanctuary Vault if it’ll make you happy.”

  “That it will, Sire. In the meantime, I’ll gather a few of my assistants and check the upper levels out myself just to be sure the disturbance I sensed wasn’t a distraction from something going on above.”

  “As you wish,” said King Ironfist as he started walking in the direction of the stairs. After only a couple of steps, he turned and pointed at Glory and Amir. “Take care of these two for me, will you? We can’t have them roaming around and setting off traps, now can we?”

  Shaman Blackroot nodded.

  The king headed for the stairs with two of his royal guards in tow.

  Once King Ironfist disappeared around the corner, Shaman Blackroot reached out and took the rolled up parchment from Glory’s hand. His eyes scanned the document. After a couple of heartbeats, he nodded his head and looked at Amir.

  “So, you think you can find gems where even the best of my shamans and seekers have failed, do you?”

  “Uh, no,” started Amir. “I mean—”

  “He can,” said Glory. “He’s the best seeker in the whole clan. The other seekers who’ve tried to find gems on the lower levels are fools compared to Amir.”

  The hint of a smile appeared on the shaman’s lips before disappearing. “Is that so? Are you aware that I’m also a seeker, my young giantess? I have wandered those tunnels for hours without finding anything of worth. Do you consider me a fool?”

  For the first time in his life, Amir sensed Glory at a loss for words.

  “Uh, no, Sham—” started Glory.

  The shaman chuckled. “Never you mind. I suppose it’s safe enough down below. Just make sure you check in with the guards at the main stairs when you’re ready to leave for the day and stay out of Shaman Petoris’s way. He’ll be checking the traps on this level. We don’t need a couple of young fools setting them off and causing a ruckus.”

  “Yes, Shaman,” replied Amir. “Uh, I mean, uh, no, Shaman.”

  When Glory
and Amir remained still, the guard corporal stepped forward. “Well? What are you waiting for? Move on and stop wasting the shaman’s time.”

  Glory and Amir both jumped to obey, nearly breaking into a run before they got even with the vault door. As they passed by the double bronze doors, Amir glanced in. The chamber beyond the doors was dark and empty save for a lone table holding up a glass case containing a translucent yellow crystal the size of a human’s head.

  The Heart-stone, Amir thought.

  As a seeker, he knew how the Heart-stone had been given to the Ecarian giants to protect the Thandarhar Mountains. During his seeker training, he’d been told the energy of the crystal talked to the mountains. Legend had it that the gem was able to convince the numerous volcanoes to remain dormant so the land wouldn’t be destroyed. According to his instructors, the crystal was the only thing preventing the destruction of not only the mountain range but of the whole continent of Slyvrastra, maybe even all of Portalis. Without the calming effect of the crystal on the mountains, the more experienced shamans swore the volcanoes would come out of dormancy. He’d been told if that happened, not even the elves in Silverton with all their magic would be spared. He wasn’t sure if he believed it though.

  As he passed the vault, something reached out and touched his mind. He nearly stumbled. The Heart-stone. It called to me. Was it trying to tell me something? Or did I imagine it?

  Keeping pace with Glory, he tried calling back to the crystal, but whatever he’d felt was gone. He shrugged and focused his attention on following Glory. Before long, they were standing in front of a crack in the polished wall wide enough for a giant to pass through with arms outstretched. It was dark inside the crack, but Amir could just make out a rough-cut path leading down.

  Glory reached over and shoved something hard in his hand.

  “What’s this?” he asked as he held the item in front of his eyes.

  It took him a second to realize it was a portable light-globe on a leather headband with a buckle at the back. A leather pouch encasing the globe was positioned opposite the buckle and had a slit that could be adjusted to allow a little or a lot of light to shine out.

  “It’s a light, silly,” said Glory as she attached the headband of her own light-globe around her helmet so the leather pouch was in front. “Unless you’ve suddenly gained the ability to see in the dark, we’re going to need them. The lower levels are old mining tunnels. They don’t have ceiling lights.”

  Biting his tongue at the mild chastisement, Amir placed the leather band around his head. He adjusted the pouch’s slit to let a bright beam of light shoot out, then turned and faced the crack in the wall. The powerful beam illuminated the marks of pickaxes and sledgehammers on the half-smoothed walls of the tunnel within the crack. The path led downward at a sharp angle and was littered with fist-sized stones.

  Amir took a half-step toward the opening to get a better look. “We’ll be lucky if we don’t fall and break our necks. Does anyone go down here anymore?”

  Shrugging her shoulders, Glory stepped next to Amir. “Not too many, but that’s their loss. Besides, they don’t have you.”

  When he didn’t reply, Glory nudged him in the side with her elbow. “What’s the matter? You’re not scared, are you?”

  Amir looked at the dark opening. “I’m not frightened, but I’m not stupid either. Who knows what we’ll find down there.”

  Glory laughed. “That’s half the fun, silly.”

  Without another word, the giantess stepped through the crack and began walking down the rough path. As her light-globe disappeared around a corner, Amir was left looking at the dark tunnel.

  “I swear that girl’s going to get me in trouble one day,” he said. “Only a fool would keep following her.”

  With that, Amir stepped into the crack. What else could he do? He was in love.

  Chapter 2 – Inconvenient Allies

  _____________________

  The massive conference chamber located in the sub-chambers of War-King Bistoria’s palace on the planet Trecor appeared to be more of a cavern than a manmade room. Looks were very deceiving. While the polished gray-stone of the walls appeared natural to those species confined to sight for the majority of their sensory input, the attendees who used sonic waves to interact with their surroundings weren’t fooled. It was obvious to them that the chamber was an attempt by human stock to make the room appear like one of the meeting caverns of a Crosioian tribal council.

  Over five hundred living creatures of various species, shapes, and sizes were crammed into the conference chamber. About a fifth of the attendees were composed of diverse species. The remainder of the crowd was of human or Crosioian stock. The glares and stares the two majority groups gave each other made it obvious there was no love lost between them.

  Under normal circumstances, the chamber would have been ample for either humans or Crosioians. Mixing the two species in the same gathering place made the circumstances anything but normal. The beating of Crosioian wings and the waving arms and fists of the humans took up a lot of space. The gestures were accompanied by hisses and shouts, making it nearly impossible for the two moderators, one human and one bat, to bring the meeting of the Intergalactic Empire, Conglomerate, and Crosioian political and military leaders to order.

  No life form in the room appeared happy. That is, at least no carbon-based life forms were happy.

  “It warms my heart to see leaders on both sides gathered together in one place,” said Nickelo in the space he shared in Richard’s mind. “My instincts tell me this is a good thing.”

  “You’ve got instincts?” Richard asked his battle computer. “That’s news to me. Since when?”

  “All right, you got me. I meant logic tells me it’s a good thing. As a human, I calculated you would appreciate the term instinct more than logic. Guess I was wrong.”

  Richard glanced down at the red-gemmed ring on his left index finger. “Guess you were. I think you’re getting sloppy since Dren and Brachia moved you inside my ring. Too bad; they went to a lot of trouble making the move from my battle helmet to the ring’s gem.”

  “I am not getting sloppy, and you are lucky to have me. Since Jeena, Comstar, Rembis, and Master Jathar all took turns casting invisibility and non-detection spells on the ring, it is hidden from prying eyes. I calculate you will never be involuntarily separated from me again, even if taken prisoner. I think you owe them a big thank you.”

  “I did thank them, for your information. Besides, it wasn’t all them. I wrapped the ring in my best stealth shield. Between the spells and my stealth shield, only someone wearing another of these rings can see it. I’m thankful we did the same thing to Jeena’s ring before Rembis, Telsa, and she left for Portalis.”

  At the thought of Jeena being in another dimension, a wave of homesickness passed over Richard.

  “Snap out of it, Old Buddy,” said Nickelo. “It has only been two weeks since she left. She had things to do on Portalis, and you have things to do here. I know your bond link doesn’t work as well when you are in two different dimensions, but the link between your two rings does, so count your blessings.”

  The ring on Richard’s left hand grew warm as a feeling of love and encouragement came through the red gem. “She must’ve sensed I’m missing her. Guess I better watch myself so I don’t distract her.”

  A leathery, bat-like wing hit the back of Richard’s battle helmet. He turned in his seat to look at the Crosioian scout standing next to him. “Hey, watch it. Why do you bats have to wave your wings so much? I can’t see what’s going on upfront.”

  The Crosioian scout standing next to Richard didn’t lower her wings. If anything, she spread them out farther. Her full name was Blood-On-The-Wing-Point-From-A-Dying-Enemy, but Richard preferred calling her Red Wing. While they weren’t exactly friends, they’d developed a mutual respect for each other when they’d been forced to work together to end the war between the human and Crosioian species.

  “Why do
humans not have wings so they can intimidate their enemies?” hissed Red Wing, her hisses coming out as intergalactic standard over the external speakers of her fighting helmet. “At least you are wearing your battle helmet. The human on my other side was knocked unconscious a couple of minutes ago. Can we bats help it if humans are so, how shall I put it, fragile?”

  Richard glanced past the scout to look at the Conglomerate naval officer slumped over the table in front of his chair.

  “Hmmm,” Richard said. “All this time, I thought he was as bored with this waste-of-time meeting as I was and fell asleep.”

  “It is not a waste of time meeting,” said Nickelo over the miniature speakers built into Richard’s ring. “I told you the algorithm requires your two sides to work together. You have to start somewhere. I calculate this is a start.”

  “Nickelo is correct,” said Mykias, Red Wing’s fighting computer. “I am not privileged to this algorithm of which Nickelo speaks, but a common meeting between the two sides is only logical. When you consider that humans and Crosioians were killing each other only a month ago, I calculate this meeting is relatively peaceful.”

  A human general dressed in camouflage fatigues two rows in front of Richard went flying into the air and landed on a group of human admirals to Richard’s right. Several Conglomerate and Empire military officers picked up their chairs and prepared to charge the Crosioian tribal leader who had thrown the general.

  Richard’s left hand reflexively went to his utility belt’s left side to grab his phase rod. It wasn’t there.

  “They confiscated all weapons from meeting attendees before allowing them to enter the conference chamber,” said Nickelo out loud. “I calculate that was a wise decision.”

  “I concur,” said Mykias.

  A loud ping that Richard recognized as a sonic blast sounded in the room along with a deep bass voice. Everyone froze in place. The bats in the room lowered their wings. The humans set down their chairs.