Star Druid

by Skyler Grant

  Now everything came down to if Cleo's years-old intelligence was still accurate. The most secure way to handle a lock like this would be to manually toggle the gates each way. According to what Cleo's research had turned up that wasn't how they did it.

  The gate sequence was automated. As soon as one end shut the opposite gate was keyed to begin to open. In the event of a security breach—which they now were—security sent a signal to stop automating the routine.

  Right now that frequency was being flooded with white noise from a transmitter that Nyx had rigged. If security procedures hadn't changed, they should reach the other side of the channel just as the opposite gate began to open.

  The merchant ships were a blur as they moved past them, the closed gate ahead growing larger as they advanced on it.

  The maneuvering jets fired, just a tiny bit of reverse thrust to slow their velocity. Again, this was all programmed ahead of time, the sheer precision of what was required outside of human hands.

  The gates cracked open. It seemed impossible they would be open enough by the time the Catspaw reached them.

  This was all Cleo though, her plan, and her hand on the controls ready to abort the program if needed. Cleo showed no sign of doing that, leaning forward with an intense look on her face.

  "No, no, no, no," Nyx shouted, hiding behind Banok.

  "Like that is going to help," Banok said.

  "Soft head like yours might as well be a crash cushion," Nyx said.

  They hit the gate. Literally. The hull screeched and the Catspaw shook as they hurtled through a millisecond too soon, scratching their hull. It didn't stop their progress though, they were through.

  Patrol ships on the other side were waiting. They opened fire.

  Nyx kicked Banok's ear as she flew back to her seat, taking over the controls.

  Side thrusters jerked them to the side, causing most of the shots to go wide although the Catspaw shook as a few hit home.

  Then they were through the defenders and empty space lay ahead of them. As they hit the soft spot and space grew slippery around them, forward thrust faded as they were suddenly underway to the next system.

  "Well, they didn't upgrade," Banok said.

  "Never see the need until someone makes a fool of you. They will now," Cleo said with a wry laugh.

  "I'm going to fix the damage someone just did," Nyx said in a huff as she flew off.

  16

  They were twelve hours away from Ellesadril when they passed the first hulks. The remains of two merchants and an escort that had been destroyed. It was a rare sight. Pirates would usually seize the ships themselves. They would often be more valuable than the cargo they carried.

  Those first hulks were just the start. By the time they were drawing close to Ellesadril they had passed over seventy.

  After entering the system they hung back. The long-range sensors on the Catspaw were exceptional, allowing them to see warships that hadn't yet seen them.

  Ellesadril was under attack.

  "One hundred and twelve," Cleo said, sounding sick.

  That was the number of Orc warships orbiting Ellesadril. Red bolts of energy were cascading from the Orc vessels, striking a shimmer green shield of energy that enveloped the entire planet.

  "You're sure they can't see us?" Banok asked.

  "If they could see us, they'd be shooting at us, dummy," Nyx said.

  They were all on the bridge, watching the battle play out.

  "I'd have put it otherwise, but she's right. We don't know anything about their sensors, but with their weapons firing that much they'll be half-blind. What is that shield technology?" Cleo asked.

  "Not technology. That is pure magic. I've never seen anything that large done, but I've never seen there to be the need. Almost every druid on the planet must be pulled into the ritual," Banok said.

  "Guess we came all this way for nothing. Should have counted on the dummy to have a bad idea," Nyx said.

  "Even if we had a way through that shield, I don't think we could make it past those ships. We're fast, but that is overwhelming," Cleo said.

  "If I give you a holofrequency do you think we can get it through?" Banok asked.

  "You came all this way to place a call? You couldn't have done that from—oh, I don't know, anywhere else?" Nyx asked.

  "Wasn't my first choice then and it isn't my first choice now, but I'll take the option that's still on the table," Banok said.

  "Well?" Cleo asked with a look over to Nyx.

  "I don't know! How would I know? Weapons fire, that shield thing. Magic is dumb. Dummy is dumb. We should have done this earlier," Nyx said, taking to the air so she could give Banok's ear a resounding kick, swooping out of the way as he swatted at her.

  "Just try, Nyx," Cleo said.

  Banok gave Nyx the codes and she buzzed around, muttering all the while.

  The channel was one rarely used. Any druid who traveled off-world served as something of an ambassador of the Order. People would seek them out with trouble, intelligence, things that might prove very important. For critical matters that couldn't wait, this channel existed, and Banok hoped that even in the current crisis someone would be monitoring it.

  It took half an hour of fiddling before they got any sort of response. Half an hour of watching that constant, unceasing assault on the planet.

  The hologram shimmered into revealing an older, stern-faced man in dark green robes. Banok recognized him at once, although they'd never met.

  "High Druid," Banok said.

  This was Tor Vincal, High Druid of the Order for over five hundred years.

  Tor said without greeting, "There are traitors in the Order. This frequency is not secure and it will not take them long to discover your position. You are close?"

  "Can you do anything about us being tracked, Nyx?" Cleo asked.

  "We're shouting in the dark. No!" Nyx said.

  "We're in the system," Banok said.

  Tor let out a relieved breath. "Then there is still a chance. I ask you, Banok Kildar, guilty of vampirism, outcast of the Order, petty criminal and killer—is it true you found the amulet?"

  "You're better informed than I thought you would be," Banok said.

  "A druid kicks a hornet's nest and you think I wouldn't know about it?"

  "Always thought most of you were a bunch of hapless idiots, really," Banok said.

  "You're wasting time," Cleo said.

  Tor said, "I agree. You were wrong, but it hardly matters now. They are attempting to destroy our power. They must not be allowed to do so. I am going to need you to get within two thousand kilometers of the Grove."

  "You mean to transfer it," Banok said flatly.

  "You would be far from my first choice, but the shield will not hold indefinitely. We are drawing more than the Grove can provide and are already exhausting our reserves," Tor said.

  If the druids on the planet were tapping into their wells, they wouldn't have long. They were burning up their lives quickly. Eventually they would have nothing more to give.

  "There must be another way. This problem needs the Order," Banok said.

  "Of course it needs the Order. That is why they are here. That is why they are killing us. The blame is mine for not seeing this eventuality and being prepared, but you offer a way to steal total victory from them," Tor said.

  Cleo said, "It doesn't matter, Banok. We can't do it. There are too many ships. What I said stands. We can't get close enough."

  Tor's hologram turned towards her, staring for a moment before giving a nod. "We'll protect you."

  "Shielding our ship at a distance? How many lives will you burn up for that?" Banok asked.

  "Does it matter?" Tor asked.

  Of course, it didn't. Tor wouldn't be turning over his power unless he thought himself soon to die. That shield wouldn't hold.

  "If we succeed, what then?" Banok asked.

  "I've no answers for you, boy. I failed to see this. With my power you will see more, kn
ow more, be capable of more. Use that. Use it to rebuild the Order. Use it to stop whatever this is."

  "I can figure out what is going on, Banok. You get the power to punch back, I'll find you the place to punch," Cleo said.

  "We're on the way. You should have served them better," Banok told Tor.

  "There we agree," Tor said, and the hologram vanished.

  Banok pulled up a display of the planet, tapping to mark the location of the Grove.

  Nyx magnified the orbital section overhead. It was where the Orc vessels were the most concentrated.

  "Banok ... if they can't do what they say they can, this is suicide," Cleo said.

  "Magic is unreliable. Stupid. So stupid, we shouldn't trust it," Nyx said.

  "They're going to die down there. They and I have had our differences, and I had no problem leaving them behind, but ... if something can be salvaged from this tragedy it should be," Banok said.

  "Is whatever power he is offering really worth it?" Cleo asked.

  Banok shrugged. "Someone sent a fleet of ships just for the purpose of wiping it out. They think so."

  "I don't like it," Cleo said with a frown. "But you want to take the chance, and I owe you my life more than once. We'll charge in. Are you sure—are you asking us to do that?"

  Nyx buzzed past Banok to kick his ear once more.

  Banok had to think. Was he?

  Whatever the Druids had once given him, the fate of the Order wasn't his responsibility. This ship was, and Cleo was. There was no guarantee of the Druids being able to protect this ship. Was it really worth risking their lives?

  "I am," Banok said after a long moment.

  "Plotting the course. Nyx, you've got the controls. Whatever they're doing to shield us, we don't want to trust it more than we have to," Cleo said.

  "Idiots everywhere. Once we get close enough, do we have to stay there?" Nyx asked.

  "No idea. Assume so," Banok said.

  The Catspaw began to move, rapidly closing the distance towards Ellesadril. It didn't go unnoticed. Although no ships moved from orbit they began to open fire. Nyx avoided the first few rounds. It was good that she did, it took some time for the field of green energy to envelop their ship.

  Banok had no idea what to expect. The planet grew larger as they closed the range. They didn't quite have to get as close as Tor thought.

  Pain, excruciating pain. Banok howled and thrashed in his chair as it suddenly felt as if he was on fire. Perhaps he was on fire. Across his flesh patterns of green fire burned and sizzled, forming the shape of vines which in turn were becoming runes and sigils.

  Banok's flesh was being marked with power, but it wasn't just his flesh. The same thing was in some indescribable fashion happening inside of him—the very core of his being becoming marked.

  This wasn't human magic. However much it might have been adapted over time, this was Elven. It didn't quite fit right with him, dizzying, overwhelming. This time when Banok passed out it had nothing to do with the druid sleep.

  17

  When Banok woke up it was to find himself lying naked on his bunk. Cleo was seated in a chair nearby and studying him thoughtfully.

  "Well, this is new," Banok said.

  "I wanted to see your marks. I like them, they're a lot like my spots," Cleo said.

  They were covering him. From head to toe there was now the intricate network of vine-formed runes. They didn't glow anymore. Instead they were colored in dark green as if put there by a particularly talented tattooist.

  It didn't hurt. The pain he felt when they were placed was gone.

  "I didn't even get the opportunity to say, show me yours, I'll show you mine," Banok grumbled as he sat up.

  Cleo lifted a shoulder, slipping out of the chair as she began taking off her clothes. Banok hadn't expected that, there were other things they needed to discuss really. Interrupting her was also about the last thing he was going to do in the world.

  Cleo really was fit, her body lean and muscular. Although she looked tan, it was now clear just how that coloration went everywhere, and the black spots were everywhere. They even crossed her breasts, one half-covering one of her nipples. Despite that catlike feature, the only fur she sported was on the tail that came from below her spine.

  Cleo spun around, letting him have a good look before she settled back into her chair.

  "Fair is fair," Cleo said with a grin.

  "Well, now that you've completely distracted me from my new artwork—what happened? Where are we?" Banok asked.

  "Running like hell with a small navy in pursuit. We keep outrunning individual ships, but new ones keep finding us."

  "And Ellesadril?" Banok asked.

  "The barrier protecting them failed as were halfway out of the system. They dropped nukes. They dropped a lot of nukes. I'm sorry."

  It wasn't a surprise. They'd thought they were doomed. That was why they'd transferred power—even to someone they disapproved of like Banok. Still, it was a blow.

  "Don't apologize, you didn't do it," Banok said.

  There were changes the power had brought with it. Banok's every sense was sharper, but none more so than his magical ones. Although he was always aware in a general sense of the spirit resident within Cleo, he could now feel the way the jaguar almost curled up inside of her flesh, and could identify the subtle ways it influenced her.

  "You like me," Banok said, a bit surprised by the revelation.

  Cleo arched a brow at him.

  Banok added, "You're turned on. I didn't know it before."

  "Did you think it was cold in here? Of course I'm ... no, this isn't the time," Cleo said.

  "You keep saying that. If not now, when is the time?"

  "Fine. You want to do it now, we do it now," Cleo said, settling back in her chair. "You're in love with me. Like, really in love, and not just hot for my admittedly amazing form. Dumb, idiotic, 'making all the wrong moves because you want to save me' love."

  "Right," Banok said. There was no point in denying the obvious.

  "I can't give you that back. The spirit inside of me? I'm not all the way human anymore. Some bits are jaguar, and she is strong, and smart—and fierce, but she doesn't love," Cleo said.

  She wasn't lying. That wasn't at all in doubt to Banok. Before he might have wondered, might have doubted. Now the connection between the spirit inhabiting Cleo, and Cleo herself, was more evident to him. Still, he wasn't sure she was entirely correct either. The spirit right now was stronger than Cleo was in many ways, but that relationship wasn't set in stone.

  "I'll take my chances," Banok said.

  "Nyx would be jealous," Cleo said.

  "You've got to be kidding me."

  "What? It is obvious she is crushing on you."

  "She's as big as my fist!"

  "Like size matters," Cleo said dismissively, and moved to hit a comm. "Nyx."

  Nyx answered, "Little busy here, boss lady. Another ship is looking for us, and I'm keeping us out of range. Hope we lose them this time. Dummy awake yet?"

  "Just woke up. We're having the talk. He's all hot for me, but I told him you'd be jealous," Cleo said.

  "You didn't," Nyx said, sounding aghast.

  "I'm naked. He's naked. We're all being super-honest and open right now."

  "You ... he ... you hussy!" Nyx exclaimed.

  "Told you. It's a problem," Cleo said to Banok.

  "I wanted to see her spots," Banok said.

  "Uh huh. Do you know what I have? Fairy sparkles," Nyx said.

  Cleo gave Banok a knowing look.

  "I'm not letting this pull our ship apart. Not when we need to be together more than ever. You want to start hopping in bed with me, it's a package deal. Nyx gets included," Cleo said.

  "What? I don't want to see that! I'm not some kind of pervert," Nyx said.

  "It doesn't have to be at the same time," Cleo said, starting to sound a little exasperated.

  Well, of all the ways that Banok thought this conversation
might go it wasn't this way. He was getting sorry in a hurry that he had brought this whole thing up. Still, Cleo was willing. And Nyx? Somehow it had never occurred to him that all of her aggression was hiding affection. It probably should have. Just because he'd never thought about her that way didn't mean he wasn't intrigued.

  "I can't even imagine how that would work," Banok said.

  "Of course not. You're a dummy. You just like them big and with a tail. Do you know what I can do with a hydraulic piston? Do you?" Nyx asked, increasingly agitated.

  "Pretty sure I don't ... want to ..." Banok said.

  "Well, if you're too chicken to experiment I can figure out something else. I'm brilliant!" Nyx said.

  Cleo was looking amused now, the tip of her tail flicking as she leaned back in her chair with her arms folded.

  "Fine," Banok said.

  "Oh?" Cleo asked, "Fine what?"

  "Fine ... I accept the package deal. Cleo, Nyx, if either or both of you want to be my lovers, I'm offering," Banok said.

  "I dunno. A dummy like you is probably really, really bad in bed," Nyx said.

  "Nyx ..." Cleo said with a warning in her tone.

  "Fine. I guess since he's begging all pathetic-like. Now I'm going to go back to trying to keep us all alive," Nyx said, and the line cut off.

  Cleo rose to her feet and began slipping into her clothes.

  "After all that, this seems to be going in the wrong direction," Banok said.

  "Have you been in her workshop? She's building a drone bee swarm to follow her around now? I'm not going first. After you two finally have your fun we can have ours," Cleo said.

  Mechanical bees? There was no way that was going to end well.

  "Fine," Banok said.

  "Provided we live, of course. I promised we'd find you a place to punch, but that is going to require research. Right now I've got nothing. Anywhere you think we should go? We need to be doing?" Cleo asked.

  Banok could think of only one real answer, it wasn't one he liked.

  "This magic I just got is Elven, and ancient."