Star Druid

by Skyler Grant

  Orcs, she had said. Orcs were almost creatures of legend. Creations of the Lady of the Void, crude and brutish, and built purely for war. There were no signs of them here. These dead looked to have been running for the docks when they'd been gunned down from behind.

  If the Orcs hadn't boarded through the main docks, then where? It had to be the Galleria. They had small private docks there for the shops to restock. Once upon a time that had been ore processing and the refined product had been loaded there.

  Cleo had been at ground zero of this invasion, where the bulk of the enemy forces would have come through. It wasn't good news for her survival.

  "You can use the amulet. I did, in the tomb, and the power it offered helped me live when I would have died," Banok said.

  "Of course, I already tapped it. Tasted of it. How do you think the Orcs found us?" Calla said, her voice weary through the comm. "I am too powerful, druid, and too strong already. I tasted power I had not known for a thousand years and if I taste of it again I shall never give it up. Let me do the right thing."

  Banok expanded his senses as far as he could. There, red and black, like embers burning in the night. There was something odd, and strangely uniform about them.

  They were in groups, moving through the asteroid. They weren't evacuating even though they could. They must still be searching for the amulet.

  "I'm sorry," Banok said.

  "Don't be. I'm not entirely sure a fall into a star will kill me, druid. I may be reborn anew. I wouldn't mind a new beginning. Do what you need to do." With a click the line went dead.

  Abrupt. But then, not everyone wanted someone else by their side as they died.

  It was probably for the best Banok moved silently anyways.

  Avoiding the patrols took him time, but less than combat would have. It allowed him to reach the Galleria without a fight.

  The stone ceiling towered far overhead, the doors of shops carved into the rock and with brightly colored advertising above them.

  The slaughter had continued here, bodies were everywhere. At least those defending Rockholm had clearly scored some kills of their own. The dead Orcs were a bit taller than men and more much thickly built, with greenish skin. Lore said they'd barely been capable of using only crude weapons, but these were in advanced battle armor and wielded powerful-looking rifles.

  There, in one of the shops. Red and green in a familiar whirl, weak but not fading. Cleo was alive, but hurt.

  Banok kept low and made his way in that direction. Near the entrance to the shop two Orcs were kneeling beside a wounded comrade.

  Medics? Did they have medics now? Why not, if they had guns?

  It had already been twelve minutes, and he'd likely be carrying Cleo back.

  Banok didn't have time to wait for the Orcs to move on. He certainly didn't have time to figure out their combat capabilities. That meant going in with his best strike and hoping it would be enough.

  Stone was by far the strongest element here, and the easiest to reach out to and draw upon. Banok reached out with his lifeforce and drew it in, filling his hands with the power.

  This was a high-powered technique, one that with his ability level he should never really attempt. Drawing on his well like this, a year of his life would be lost, consumed by the power.

  Banok charged.

  The Orcs were fast, faster than one would think given their size. One shouted a warning and the other spun, a hand raised to defend himself. Banok's fist met the Orc's hand and from that point of impact stone blossomed, flowing down the Orc's body. It just had time to look surprised before the stone reached its face, forever preserving the expression. Well, at least for the next eighteen minutes.

  Banok was past him, ducking low as his fist slammed into the midsection of the second Orc. It fared no better than the first.

  The wounded Orc on the ground was already struggling to get up. He was leaking guts through tears in his armor. It looked like a Dwarven slug gun had gotten the better of him. No need for elemental magic, enhanced strength would do. Banok boosted his strength and plunged his hand through, grabbing a hold of the Orc's innards, twisting and squeezing before tearing his hand back out.

  The Orc died sputtering blood and Banok was already moving on.

  Cleo was buried beneath a stone column, pinning her in place. Moving the column and healing two broken ribs burned away another six months of Banok's life. It was just that kind of day.

  Cradling her unconscious form he ran for the Catspaw.

  12

  The Orc patrols had started to pull back. There wasn't time for them to find the amulet and survive, and they knew it. It displayed a level of intelligence and concern for their well-being that again didn't mesh with history.

  It made Banok's job easier at least, his route back to the Catspaw could be far more direct. He made it with minutes to spare, more of his life burning away to keep his and Cleo's lungs working as he once more had to go through the toxic smoke.

  As soon as the ship's hatch had closed behind him Banok hit the comms. "We're here, Nyx."

  "Took you long enough. Do you know we're still accelerating? Falling into the sun isn't enough, someone wants to do it faster," Nyx replied.

  Cleo coughed, long and ragged, rasping as her hands flailed in a panic at her chest.

  "You're okay. You're back on the ship," Banok said.

  "My chest ... Banok? You woke up. We need to get the amulet," Cleo said breathlessly, rushed and panicked.

  "A pillar fell on you. You were kind of crushed. I healed you, but your body isn't connected to the magic. It doesn't really accept it has been healed yet. It is expecting to die and is panicking," Banok said.

  Cleo's slipped unsteadily out of his arms. "Right. Not dying. It will figure it out then. Calla has the amulet, we need to get to her."

  "Calla is protecting it. Well, by flinging it and the asteroid into the sun to make sure the Orcs don't get it. I didn't have time to go after her and you," Banok said.

  "And you picked me," Cleo said with a laugh, almost pained. "Of course you did. Damn it, I really screwed up. You really screwed up. Let's go find out if we get to survive our wrong decisions."

  Cleo set off for the bridge, her usual grace in short supply. Her breath was still coming too fast, and the ship was jerking about violently, a motion that normally wouldn't faze her sending both her and Banok crashing into walls.

  The bridge was painfully bright when they made it there. The ship's view-screens filtered down the sun to a barely acceptable level. They were already closer than was safe.

  Rockholm was even closer, although the asteroid was receding into the distance behind them as it fell towards the star. They weren't the only vessel making a last-minute escape. A massive black battle-cruiser was also pulling away.

  "Status?" Cleo asked, as she stumbled towards a chair, belting herself in.

  Banok claimed his own seat beside her.

  "I got us out, but we got a tiny bit blown up first. I got our major systems working, for now, but we're falling apart and running on fumes. Oh, and that monster of a ship is shooting at us," Nyx said.

  That explained all the bouncing about the ship was doing. It did again, Nyx hitting the lateral jets to dodge a spray of glowing rounds.

  "They're big, slow," Cleo said.

  "And not falling to pieces like us. We can keep out of their fire-pattern until the next thing breaks, but something else will break," Nyx said, wings flicking in agitation.

  "We need to put as much distance between us and the sun as possible," Banok said.

  "Don't offer advice when you don't know what you're talking about. It isn't a danger to us anymore. We've enough escape velocity from it now even if I lost engines," Nyx said.

  "Except that a major, magical artifact is about to hit that sun. We need distance," Banok said calmly.

  "Get us more distance," Cleo said.

  "I put more power into the engines, they'll break," Nyx said.

  "Then
make sure we have a clear path in front of us when you do. We'll fix them later. If we survive," Cleo said.

  "Stupid magic," Nyx muttered as she flew around the controls.

  They began to pull away from the black ship, the Catspaw shaking so violently it seemed it might tear itself apart.

  Another stream of rounds erupted from the black ship, Nyx again avoiding the fire. That bit of extra strain on the Catspaw seemed to finally be too much. A last violent lurch, and the sound of metal tearing somewhere aboard the ship, and the trembles completely stopped. The engines were dead.

  "If we need a big maneuver now we're screwed," Nyx said, "I hope it was worth it."

  The tiny speck that was Rockholm vanished into the blinding light of the sun. From the site of impact a bloom erupted, a massive solar flare.

  "Woah," Cleo said.

  The yellow-tinted star was shifting color, blue spreading from the flare.

  "Stellar temperatures are rising," Nyx said, flying past Banok and kicking him in the ear.

  "What did I do?" Banok exclaimed.

  "It's magic, so it is all your fault," Nyx said with conviction.

  "You're the magical creature aboard."

  "Are we going to be okay?" Cleo asked.

  "How would I know?" Nyx grumbled. "I'm not doing anything here. Now it's just a race. I'm going to go look at the engines,"

  The fairy zipped off the bridge.

  The eruption from the sun had caught the Orc ship, consuming it.

  Cleo stared at the sight in silence. Her erratic breathing had started to slow back to something more normal. "If you'd retrieved the amulet, the Orcs would have caught up to us anyways."

  "You can think about it as me doing the smart thing, if it makes you feel better," Banok said.

  "I know you burn lifeforce out when you push yourself too hard. How much did you burn saving me?"

  Banok knew he should probably lie. It would make her feel better. He didn't like lying.

  "Years, I think. There isn't exactly an instruction manual for that sort of thing. On a Druid world it isn't a problem, not really. The Grove provides so much power that you can draw from that and you need never touch your personal well," Banok said.

  Cleo closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. "If we visit a Druid world can you get it back?"

  "It isn't quite like that. Druids near a grove don't even age, they're immortal more or less. But every time they leave the Grove? And they tap their well? It doesn't refill."

  "And living near one isn't an option for you," Cleo said, suddenly terse. "Your life, your choice. I know I should say more, but I need time to think."

  "I didn't expect anything from it but for you to keep on breathing," Banok said.

  Cleo straightened up and nodded. "Right. Next steps then. We need repairs."

  "We should go where I first said. The Druid Council needs to hear about what happened here, even if we no longer have the amulet to turn over to them."

  "There are reports of Orc ships cutting off the routes to Ellesadril. It is the reason I didn't go," Cleo said.

  The Druids didn't have a proper navy to defend the space around their world. In times past human empires had, but the Order's influence had faded much with time.

  "We break into places all the time, despite people wanting to keep us out of them. This is just more of the same," Banok said.

  Cleo gave a brief grin at that. "Fine. But we're going to need a ship in good repair to try it."

  That much was true. The Catspaw was a formidable ship, but not in her current state.

  Unfortunately, being as high-end as she was, it made repairing her something of a problem. Many systems weren't standard, requiring custom replacement parts, and even those that were standard a typical port wouldn't carry replacements. They needed a major shipyard.

  "Arginpor would be the closest," Banok said.

  "Remember that people were looking to stop us from going to that tomb. If they found us even in a backwater like Rockholm, how long and what kind of response do you think they'll hit us with at a major port?" Cleo asked.

  "We don't even have the amulet anymore."

  "Even if they believe that, I can't imagine they'll be happy about it. We're at our weakest right now and the last thing we need is a kick," Cleo said.

  "We've got friends out there," Banok said.

  Cleo let out a sigh. "None that wouldn't sell us out for the right price. No, we need the one place I know will be safe and put the Catspaw in the hands of the people that built her."

  "That mean what I think it means?"

  Cleo gave a smile that had no mirth in it. "I guess I move just that fast. Banok, it is time you met my family."

  13

  The next week was as uncomfortable a time as they'd ever spent on the Catspaw. It took two full days for Nyx to get the engines working again. By that point the backup power supplies were running dry and they were all living in the engine room and half-freezing, having cut the life-support everywhere else in the ship.

  Even after power was restored, things only got a little better. Most of the recycling systems were out of commission, and soon they were rationing water and the air was growing rank.

  That was how Banok got to first meet Cleo's family, not having showered in a week and wearing clothes that hadn't been laundered in almost as long.

  Her home world was pretty, showing blues and greens from orbit. When the Catspaw docked it was in the tallest tower in one of the coastal cities.

  When they made their way out of the ship Cleo was mobbed at once by a dozen men and women all around her age, all wearing fashionable clothing, and all having tails that were wagging furiously in a very not-cat-like manner.

  "Cleo!"

  "Welcome home!"

  "We missed you!"

  Banok almost laughed at how uncomfortable she looked, and he soon found himself being hugged.

  "Who is he?"

  "Doesn't smell like a boyfriend."

  "Hi!"

  More tried to hug Nyx. The fairy flapped her wings and gained some elevation to put herself out of reach.

  A far more dangerous-looking man was behind the pack. The sword at his hip hummed with magic, as did the pistol also worn at his belt. The spirit in him was a lot stronger than in any of the youths, stronger perhaps even than the one in Cleo.

  "Give her some space, everyone," the man said with a curt wave. "Welcome home, Cleo, truly. Did you bring trouble with you?"

  "Dad," Cleo said, with her strained smile not growing any more sincere as the hugging came to a halt and people reluctantly peeled themselves away. "Might have. Banok, Nyx, my father, Eoman Salias, King of the Sapphire Island and Ruler of the the Sands beyond. The Steel Wolf. Dad, Nyx is the fairy and Banok the druid. They're friends."

  Banok dipped his head, and Nyx did a sort of bob in the air that approximated a curtsy, hiding their surprise that Cleo was, in fact, royalty.

  The relationship between Druids and royalty had always been complicated. A druid owed their allegiance to no one but the Order itself, although the Order often worked for the betterment of all the worlds of humankind—which at time put them in the service of their rulers.

  Eoman for his part barely acknowledged them with a glance. "I'll see the guards are informed. Your mother expects you to join us for dinner, dress appropriately. Pups, follow." With that Eoman spun on his heel and walked away, the crowd that had so enthusiastically greeted Cleo following in his wake.

  It was only when they were done that Banok allowed himself to glance over at Cleo.

  "Huh," Banok said.

  "So why are you a cat and everybody else a dog? Is this some sleeping around, forbidden love thing? I bet it is a forbidden love thing, right?" Nyx said, as she buzzed around Cleo's head.

  "It is not a forbidden love thing. My father hosts the grey wolf spirit and mom the white wolf," Cleo said wearily, as she moved towards the door into the tower. "It's complicated. Come on, they'll probably set you up in
the guest quarters next to mine."

  "I know you like your secrets, but we're here. Probably better you just tell us than Nyx goes ahead spinning her theories," Banok said.

  Cleo sighed. "We usually pick the spirits. When a child comes of age their family petitions and the spirits answer. As you can tell, we're canines. Wolves, dogs," Cleo said, as she led the way into a luxurious hall, navigating the halls with familiarity.

  "Kind of caught the completely obvious. Get to the good part," Nyx said.

  "Spirits can sometimes pick their hosts, the strong ones anyways. Claim someone to be their host regardless of what they or their family might be asking for. I got claimed. Not my fault and my family know it. They're tremendously loyal and supportive because, well, that is everything they're all about," Cleo said with another sigh, leading their way to a lift. A swipe of her palm and they were moving down several floors.

  "But they suddenly drove you crazy," Banok said.

  "Always did a little bit. Maybe that was why I got chosen the way I did. But yeah, I built my ship and I ran," Cleo said.

  The lift opened. The new floor looked rather recognizable. It was decorated very much in the style of the Catspaw.

  "My rooms are here to the right. Yours are to the left. They should be marked. I'm going to go get very, very clean. Banok, if I have to do dinner, you're doing it with me. Dress nice," Cleo said, before waving and vanishing off down the corridor.

  The left hall held a pair of doors. One marked with an image of a fairy, one with a tree.

  So far as Banok knew Cleo hadn't told her family what to expect. Any decorating must have been done between the time they disembarked from the Catspaw and when they got here.

  Inside his room, trees dominated the decor, one wall devoted to thriving ivy. Brown robes had been set out on the bed, formal Druid attire. A quick check showed them even to be his size.

  It was a little daunting. Banok had always known Cleo was rich, and even the revelation that she was royalty wasn't that surprising. Human space had a lot of worlds, and some had hundreds of rulers. Royalty wasn't nearly as rare as extreme wealth, and everything here said her family had both.