Star Druid

by Skyler Grant

  Star Druid

  Skyler Grant

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Afterword

  Copyright © 2019 Skyler Grant

  All rights reserved.

  This novel is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and incidents described in this publication are used fictitiously, or are entirely fictional.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, except by an authorized retailer, or with written permission of the publisher. Inquiries may be addressed via email to skyler@skylergrant.com

  Cover designed by Ivan Tao

  Typography by Kasmit Covers

  Edited by Polgarus Studio (www.polgarusstudio.com)

  Electronic edition, 2019

  If you want to be notified of future releases from Skyler Grant and get the occasional goodie and free story please sign up for my mailing list here

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  Created with Vellum

  1

  "Watchman is almost on her. You need to hurry," Banok said to Nyx as he leaned against the wall. In the distance he could see the lifeforce of the guard on patrol, a pulsing tangle of green and grey that was growing closer to the familiar red and green of Cleo's life energy. Druid training, this wasn't the intended purpose, but it did come in handy.

  "Do you want to do this with those freakishly large fumble fingers?" Nyx asked, wings fluttering and the tools on her belt tinkling as she hovered outside the junction box. The tiny fairy was a genius engineer. "They're supposed to have a T50. I prepared for a T50. This piece of garbage is a P17."

  "Don't understand. Don't care," Banok said, peering at his perfectly normal human hand for a second before shaking his head and tapping his comm to activate it. "Bad intel on the system. Be ready if you need to take the guard."

  "I like Klink. This job is just like the last one we got from him. Nothing going to plan," Cleo said through the comm. "I need a little more time."

  The job was supposed to be an easy one. A warehouse filled with antiquities. The Ganola museum stored its donated pieces here when rotated off exhibit. During the day it was well guarded, but at night it had just two guards, and a control system for which Banok thought they'd had the specs.

  "Come on, Nyx. You're the best," Banok said.

  "Flattery only works if I think you're being honest," Nyx said, wings straining as she unplugged a wire from its socket. The connector at the end was nearly as large as she was. "We both know you're not. Do you know why nobody uses P17s anymore?"

  "I've heard they're pieces of garbage," Banok said dryly.

  "Don't be clever. I don't like it when you try to be clever. Not honest, not clever," Nyx said, her wings buzzing angrily. "I on the other hand am both honest and clever. However, they are pieces of garbage. They break down and you have to fix them all the time. Someone has jury-rigged this one a good dozen times to keep it going, and now nothing is where it is supposed to be." The fairy grunted as she shoved the connector into a new socket.

  The guard was almost on Cleo.

  Sixty-three seconds. That was the estimated response time from the security contractors to a breach of the perimeter. The guards were locked in at night. The client wanted a minimum of fuss, so a daytime robbery was out and besides, no matter how they'd run the numbers, there just wasn't time to break in, grab what they needed, and get out before reinforcements arrived.

  Getting Cleo into a shipping container with a statue of Queen Garona the Twelfth had required a whole different break in. And she'd sat there for six hours until their window finally arrived.

  If Cleo had to take down the guard there was a good chance his biosensors would register a problem. The operation might still be in that window of safety, but it wasn't the plan.

  Banok glanced back towards the panel as Nyx ignited a plasma torch, the edge of brilliant fire slicing through a wire.

  In the distance the guard stopped. Another few feet to the doorway and he'd have seen Cleo at work, but instead he turned towards elsewhere in the warehouse.

  "Looks like you got it?" Banok asked.

  "Even now the temperature sensors are going crazy on the document vault. It's time to be the brute force of this operation. I'm getting our ride," Nyx said, as she fluttered away from the panel and zoomed off down the alley.

  "You're clear," Banok said with a tap of his comm, moving fast. He'd stayed to guard Nyx while she worked on the panel, just in case, but his part of this plan involved the freight doors. The warehouse was well protected, and the freight doors were also armored and reinforced.

  If Banok was a different sort of druid this might have been straightforward. Some druids were deeply attuned to the element of earth, and a door of metal would have been a simple thing to reshape. Instead, although he could get a dull sense of its dimensions, things wouldn't be quite that easy. Still, his abilities would help.

  Focusing inward Banok expanded his awareness. Life was almost everywhere, if you looked for it. Fungi, bacteria, little things that normally would pose no threat to a door like this except over the span of thousands of years. Cleo wasn't that slow.

  Drawing on his life energy Banok fed it through to the other side, accelerating the growth of the fungi in every little crack and weak spots of the metal.

  "I've got the package. On my way to you," Cleo said through the comms.

  It was go time. Banok next focused on his muscles, feeding them energy as he bent down to grasp the bottom of the door. A sharp crack came, deafeningly loud, and with his awareness Banok could tell how one of the door supports had just fractured. Even with the boosted strength he couldn't get it up much, lifting the door only a foot or so.

  Sirens began to blare. The breach had triggered the alarm and now the clock was properly ticking.

  Behind him Banok could hear the shuttle settle into place. He perceived the brilliant white and gold swirls of Nyx's life energy.

  A cloth-wrapped bundle slid under the door and a moment later Cleo followed it. The lithe woman wore a tight-fitting bodysuit that muted all sound, rendering her movements completely silent.

  With a twist Cleo didn't so much clamber as leap to her feet. Although her people were essentially human, close bonds with animal spirits had altered their kind. Cleo's nimbleness, pointed ears, spotted-skin and tail, all pointed to her connection to the jaguar spirit.

  Banok let the door crash back down, metal ringing out.

  Cleo laughed and leaned in to steal a kiss from his lips, a brief and breathless thing.

  Banok knew from experience nothing got her blood pumping quite like a good robbery. Together they ran for the shuttle, already hovering off the ground and with the hatch open. They flung themselves forward, the door sliding shut as soon as they were through.

  "That was fun," Cleo said with a grin, tail lashin
g. "Absolutely nothing was where that bastard said it would be."

  "You enjoy trouble way too much," Banok said.

  "Why we're a good team," Cleo said.

  A sudden rapid acceleration of the shuttle knocked Banok from his feet and pressed him against the compartment wall. Cleo didn't even seem to notice, keeping her balance easily.

  "You got it though?" Banok asked.

  Cleo unwrapped the bundle she was holding. The statue didn't look worth all the trouble they'd just gone to. Carved green stone depicting a young woman dressed in robes, staring off with a serene expression into the distance.

  "The Lady of Calina. One of Rothberschet's lesser works, but a rare example of his early period. I don't know why they wanted it, but this is what they're looking for," Cleo said, covering the statue carefully in cloth again.

  A sharp swerve of the shuttle sent Banok flying across the cabin to impact the opposite wall, hard enough it almost knocked the breath from him.

  "Do you think she's trying to kill me?" Banok asked.

  "You let Nyx drive, you know the risks," Cleo said, still not bothered in the least as she walked with sure steps across the cabin to secure the statue in a cargo locker.

  A sudden dive of the shuttle sent Banok crashing into the ceiling. Cleo had reached a seat just in time to strap herself in.

  When a moment later another change in altitude sent him flying towards the floor she reached out, pulling on his arm sharply to haul him into the seat beside her.

  Banok wasn't one to waste the opportunity, grabbing the safety straps and tugging them into place. Strength was something his druid abilities offered him, but Cleo's agility was something Banok just couldn't match.

  It was part of the reason they made such a good team, and for all that Nyx was—in his opinion—obviously completely and totally insane, the fairy's grasp of technology was the perfect match for Banok's magical gifts.

  If Nyx was following the plan they should be in the city's underground by now. The large tunnels were meant for trains, and taking a shuttle into them was something no sane pilot would ever do. They were off the sensor grid though, and as long as the security company didn't have someone as insane and skilled as Nyx in their employ, they should get clear.

  2

  The next half-hour was misery on Banok's stomach. From the cockpit came the sounds of one very tiny fairy whooping, and on a few terrifying occasions cursing.

  Cleo just grinned like a maniac through the entire thing, looking to be having way too much fun with the countless close calls evident through the shuttle portholes.

  By the time they finally came to a stop it was a huge relief for Banok.

  They'd docked the Catspaw underground. The space had once been the food court of an underground mall. Overhead screens could depict a sky from any world and in the mall's prime had done just that. The stores were centuries-abandoned, faded signs hawking brands long forgotten.

  The ship was fast, shiny, and packed a lot more of a punch than one would expect. It was a lot like Cleo in that way, which made sense—given it was hers.

  "The escape was only supposed to take ten minutes," Banok said, as he staggered out of the hatch.

  "I was having fun. You should let me drive more often. I'm really good at it," Nyx said, zipping around his head before flying off.

  "Maybe we should find a tech whiz who isn't insane?" Banok said to Cleo.

  "They don't make tech whizzes who are sane. Besides, my ship, my rules and I like the excitement," Cleo said. "You going to call Klink or am I?"

  "You do it. Give me a few hours," Banok said with a yawn.

  Druid abilities weren't free to use. Lifeforce was a limited resource and even minor demands upon it came with a cost. A frequent user would take decades off their life, or have to find some way to top up afterwards. Using as much as Banok had today put him close to the safety limits. To compensate, a few hours of deep slumber would give his body time to passively draw from the surroundings.

  Stumbling back aboard the Catspaw Banok found his bunk and was soon out.

  Banok awoke with a headache. With good cause, because there was a fairy busy kicking at his head.

  "Wake up, wake up, wake up," Nyx said, buzzing around his face before delivering a kick to his ear

  It hadn't been long enough. However much time had passed, it wasn't enough for his life energy to be refilled. The fumes Banok's body had been running on had exhausted themselves. A druid’s slumber was not to be lightly interrupted.

  "I'm awake," Banok said, trying to swat at Nyx, who avoided his hand with ease.

  There was trouble. He could see that with a glance at Nyx. Fairies didn't have much in the way of offensive magic. If it came to a fight Nyx donned power armor with a jetpack taking the place of her wings. Right now, the fairy was dressed for war.

  "Problem with Klink. Come onnnn, dummy," Nyx said, kicking his ear one more time. That really hurt.

  "Stop kicking me," Banok said, before drawing in a deep breath and trying to clear his head. "She did the meet? Already?"

  "It’s been hours," Nyx said.

  Banok glanced at the clock near his bunk. Over three hours had passed since he'd settled down. Even if Banok weren't up to full charge he should have been close, not as exhausted as he felt. Something was wrong and he didn't have time to figure out what, not if Cleo was in trouble.

  Reaching down into himself Banok tapped his core, the very source of his life energy. It wasn't something one was supposed to do. It was the sort of thing that started shaving time off your life. Still, it wouldn't be the first time he'd done it. It meant a bit less time as an old man, one day.

  The fog clouding his mind lifted, the muted colors of the world around him springing into sharper relief.

  "What have we got?" Banok asked as he rose to his feet.

  "Klink says we brought him a counterfeit, not the real thing. Real upset about it. Has Cleo, says he wants to talk to her whole crew. We're going to shoot him, right? Blow the place up. Set fire to people?" Nyx asked excitedly, as she flew around on a pillar of blue fire.

  "Stop that! I'm flammable," Banok said.

  Counterfeit? If it was, it wasn't their fault—they'd stolen the thing fair and square. Could Cleo have tried to pull a fast one on Klink? It was possible, but the real statue didn't seem valuable enough to have gone to that trouble.

  "Can I use the explosives? Cleo only let me use them that one time," Nyx asked hopefully.

  That had resulted in a building falling on Banok, as he recalled. Fortunately, rapid healing was something druid abilities allowed.

  Klink wasn't much of a crime lord, but even a minor crime lord was a problem. They'd be on his turf, and Klink's people would be expecting trouble. Druid abilities and a crazy, tech-loving fairy didn't even-up the odds.

  "Do it," Banok decided. The explosives locker was sealed by several magical wards glowing dimly. To the fairy they were a formidable obstacle, but they faded with a pass of Banok's hand.

  "Sometimes you're okay. I mean, not the best, because I'm the best," Nyx said, flying around the bundles of explosives with glee.

  "Think you can avoid their patrols? Rig the place to blow?" Banok asked.

  "I can pull the schematics, hack their surveillance, no problem," Nyx said. She began to rig drone carriers to blocks of explosives.

  "Good. Hang back and provide support."

  "He wants to see her whole crew," Nyx said.

  "Don't care what he wants. Just make sure that when I walk through that door I've got some leverage."

  Preparing for a fight meant Banok dressing for trouble too. Body armor was something they carried for all of them, according to their tastes. Nyx liked her power armor, and it actually made the fairy the best among them to soak fire. Cleo preferred her outfits light and barely there. Banok went for something in between, lightweight plates of spelled armor sewn into cloth. It left him with some mobility and didn't interfere with his magic.

  Weaponry was
a more complicated choice. While he would normally use his abilities for any ranged combat, always drawing on his core, given these circumstances he didn't think it worthwhile to shave anything off his life. A better option was a gun and he added a heavy pistol on one waist. Melee weapons were also standard—many magical creatures were immune to bullets—and for Banok this was an easy decision. A staff was the traditional druid weapon, and for all that Banok had few dealings with the Order these days, he hadn't forgotten those skills.

  Within the hour he was prepared. Klink operated out of an old lighthouse, a gray stone tower rising high over a jagged cliff face. Ships hadn't sailed the waters below for centuries, and the village nearby was long-abandoned.

  It was almost impossible to sneak up. Banok would just have to hope that Nyx was as good as she claimed to be and had planted the explosives successfully.

  Approaching the tower, two well-armed and rough-looking men blocked their way, one aiming a pistol at Banok's head.

  "Where is the other one?" asked one of the thugs.

  "Just me," Banok said.

  "Boss won't like it," said the other thug, spitting to the side. "Turn over your weapons."

  "Nope," Banok said.

  "I've got a gun aimed at your fool head. You really want to argue about this? Turn over your damn weapons."

  "You've taken my companion captive and I think you probably mean to kill us both. You're not getting my gun. Try to force it, I drop you. Kill Cleo, I kill all of you," Banok said.

  With lifeforce flowing through his system Banok was aware of the tiniest muscle changes of the thug holding the gun. Before it even began, he detected the movement to aim at his shoulder, the tensing of tendons that would pull the trigger.