Authors: Vincent Trigili
“We are only stopping over long enough to pick up supplies, half a day at most,” said Master Spectra.
“Even if I worked as fast as I could, I could not do it that quickly,” I told them. It would probably take me that much time just to take the system apart and find the parts that needed cleaning.
“Can we still fly while you’re working on them?” asked Master Spectra.
“Probably. Most engines are designed to run with a few offline so that maintenance like this can be done while in service. But I would have to look to be sure,” I said.
Kymberly looked up into my eyes and said, “Oh, would you mind staying on board for a bit and doing that, then?”
Master Dusty chuckled a little and then said, “Yes, if you don’t mind, we would like you to stay on board and service the engine. However, you should be aware that we are a combat vessel and we’re on a military operation.”
“What does that mean?” I asked. As soon as I’d said it, I wanted to kick myself. Here was my open door, and I was questioning it instead of just walking through.
“We can tell you are a magus, and specifically a pyromancer and spiritualist,” said Master Spectra. “I did some checking while you and Kymberly were walking over, and I see you were one of the zillions of magi whose application was rejected by Alpha Academy.”
I looked over at Kymberly, who smiled innocently, and then I looked back at Master Spectra and said, “Yes, that’s correct.”
Then Master Dusty said, “I reviewed your application, and we want to give you a second chance to prove yourself. Come fly this mission with us, and if you do well, maybe there’ll be a place in the Navy for you.”
It was then that it occurred to me that Kymberly had played me perfectly. Somehow she had sent word back to them about me and the long, slow walk that I had so enjoyed had given them time to research my background. I was so pleased by her attentions that I’d been jumping through hoops at her command all night without even thinking about it. I looked at her again, and she still had that sweet look about her. She winked and said, “Save this lass one more time.”
I melted. “Sure. Let me send a message back to the station letting them know I won’t be working tomorrow, and I’ll get right to work.”
“I’ll handle that for you,” said Master Dusty. “That way it won’t look as if you deserted your post on a whim.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Now, I assume the engine room is in the back?”
“I guess it’s my turn to show you the way,” said Kymberly.
I smiled as I followed her back to the engine room. If I was going to be manipulated, she was not a bad choice of puppeteer.
I was reviewing some personnel records on a datapad when Spectra came into my office and said, “Jade has found the trade liner that Chrimson suggested. We should be able to rendezvous with them several hours before they jump.”
“Are you sure we are doing the right thing, taking on Chrimson?” I asked.
“You can read his aura the same as I can. He is a spiritualist who needs help,” she said.
Spectra gasped as I threw my datapad down on the table. I heard a sharp crack as the screen broke and it skidded off the table onto the floor. That just made me angrier. “Sometimes you’re plain impossible! You know that is not the whole story. He was rejected from Alpha Academy because of his lack of self-control!”
“Yes, and for a brand-new, struggling school, that is a valid reason, but not any more!” she said. “We can help him now.”
“Look, we know what happens to those magi the school decides not to accept. They disappear shortly after their rejection, just like he did, and then later we find them in the wild with some basic training. Just like we did with him! Do you think that he figured this out all on his own?” I demanded.
“No. Henrick trained him,” she said quietly.
“What?” She had neglected to mention that little fact before now.
“Yeah,” she said. “Henrick scoops up the best of those rejected by the Academy. He has operatives that live on all of the transport and trade hubs that feed the jump lines to the Academy. They intercept the magi, promise to train them, and take them to his version of school.”
“So Chrimson is a spy for the magus who tried to kill me and Shea?” I asked.
“Yes, he is. It was not luck that put him in touch with Kymberly, but rather Henrick’s skill at arranging coincidences,” she said.
I threw my hands up and stormed over to my fake window. There was too much armor plating on the hull to have a real one, so I had asked the engineers from home to build me a projection screen that looked like a window and attached a camera view from outside. They told me they get requests like that from most ships they work on. They had done a great job; had I not known it was fake, I probably would not have guessed. In it I could see the space station falling away behind us as Jade piloted toward the trade fleet that we planned to hitch a ride with. Chrimson’s access to the station’s records made it easy to find the hauler, and the captain of the hauler was used to small ships like us requesting rides; he even had a procedure and price list for it.
“Dusty, we need to rethink our position with Henrick,” she said.
“We? You’re the one who tried to kill him the last time we saw him!” I said.
“Yes, and I would still like to, very much so, but I think Grandmaster Vydor is right on this one. We are going to have to accept the fact that Henrick is one of the ruling powers of magic in our realm.”
“But why bring his spy on board?” I asked.
“If we make Chrimson a seventh rank battle wizard, he will have very little access to sensitive information, nothing that Henrick does not already seem to know. That will allow us to keep a watch on him and train him.”
“But Henrick has already trained him,” I objected.
“Not really,” she replied. “Henrick doesn’t seem to work that way. Most of his magi only have the most basic training in the few spells they need for their task. We can really open up the world of magic to Chrimson.”
I stared out the window in silence for a while, trying to keep my mind empty, when what she had said finally clicked. “You mean to turn him into a double agent.”
“Exactly. Our first real chance to see inside Henrick’s organization.”
I sighed and went back to just looking out my window. Life was so complicated now; there were so many decisions, so many games within games. I longed for the simple life of the school again, where I only had to deal with bullies and teachers.
“Dusty,” started Spectra quietly. “I need you on my side with this.”
I turned and looked at her. She was crying. “Oh, don’t worry, you’re still my fur face.” I meant it, deep in my heart, but right then I did not feel it. I turned and looked back out the window, unable to watch her tears.
I took a deep breath to steady my voice. “I don’t like this game of betrayal. Shadow, Flame, Phoenix and the others are our family, or the closest thing we have to one.”
“They are our family, and I would never betray them,” she said. Her voice was broken and I knew my comment had wounded her, but at that moment it needed to be said.
“Then why are we out here?” I asked.
There was a long pause and a deep sigh. “You know why. We are building an army of spiritualists.”
“And that is forbidden by the wizard code,” I said.
“Oh, Dusty, do you think Grandmaster Vydor doesn’t know?” she demanded. “Of course he does! He knows exactly what we are up to.”
“How?” I asked.
“Powerful spellweavers can see things like this coming, and the grandmaster of the realm is the most powerful spellweaver in existence. Make no mistake, he knows.”
“Then why hasn’t he stopped us?” I asked.
“Because of you,” she said.
“What?” I asked.
“Why did he let us get married? Do you remember what he said?” she asked.
I turned to look at her. “Our marriage was an important event in the timeline, or something like that.”
“Exactly. I think he knew that day what we would be doing this day,” she said.
“So you’re saying that he wants you to build this force?” I asked.
“Wants? No, that probably isn’t the word he would use, but he sees it as inevitable,” she said.
“But why was our marriage so important?” I asked.
She sighed and collapsed onto the couch. “Because, Dusty, you’re my light.”
“Huh?” I was puzzled. She had used that term before, but I thought she was just being cute.
“Dusty, I was in self-imposed prison for a long time in the realm of the dead. By right, I should be a raving lunatic at best by now,” she said. “Something called me out of there and drew me to you. Like a bug to a light, you drew me.”
“That sounds nice, but I don’t know what you’re getting at,” I said.
“Grandmaster Vydor sees you as a stabilizing force, a light to my dark. I agree, which is why I have never taken the lead.”
I thought back to all the time we had spent together and how she constantly deferred to my judgment. I had tried several times to promote her, but she refused any role that took her out of my direct authority. It made sense. “Then why are we doing this?”
“We have to. For countless generations spiritualists have been repressed, both in our realm in the first age of magic and currently in Korshalemia. It is not fair to our kind, and it is why most spiritualists become necromancers. You and I can change that. Magi like Kymberly, Jade, Saraphym and Chrimson deserve a chance.”
I tried to process that. We had had this discussion before, but not in as much detail. I knew she was planning something big, but I think I had deliberately blinded myself to what it meant. “That is why Master Shadow visited.”
“Yes, I suspect he came to remind us of our family back home. I am not sure what he thought that would accomplish, though,” she said.
“I know Master Shadow, and he is concerned we will become enemies. That is the way he thinks. You are either on his side or you’re against him,” I said.
“Must be an Imperial Human trait,” said Spectra.
“Are we to become his enemies?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “I really don’t want that, but they will be forced to disown us.”
“The treaty,” I said.
“Yes, the treaty. Korshalemia will not see it the same way we do. They will see it as Grandmaster Vydor training up necromancers, and it could mean war,” said Spectra.
“Then we can’t do it. I won’t be party to any plan that brings us to war with wizards,” I said.
“That is why we must break off from the Wizard Kingdom soon. If we break off, then Grandmaster Vydor can tell Korshalemia that we are rebels doing what spiritualists do,” she said.
“Becoming necromancers,” I said, walking back over to the window.
“Exactly. They will understand that, and we can still grow and teach,” she said. “Please, Dusty. I need you.”
“So we continue the plan, knowing that Master Shadow and Grandmaster Vydor know what we are up to,” I said.
“It’s the only way to avoid war and still give our fellow spiritualists a fair shot at a life.”
“What is our next step?” I asked.
“Promote Kymberly and train her to survive in the Spirit Realm,” she said. “Kymberly’s powers have grown enough and we are now entering a critical time for her.”
“And Jade?” I asked.
“Jade is still too unstable. He needs more time to grow,” she said.
“What about Saraphym?” I asked.
“She is a special case, and I think it would be best to promote Greymere and have him teach her,” she said.
“Greymere?” I asked.
“By the time he has returned, he will know how to live in the Spirit Realm and resist the call of darkness there. Their race makes their problem much harder than it is for others, and Greymere is the only one I know of who can teach her.”
“A mundane teaching a wizard,” I said. “That seems odd, at best, but I guess in this case there is validity to it.”
“Yes. We will continue to teach her how to use her magic, but the power they wield as butterflies is a great temptation in and of itself.”
“And you are sure we can trust Greymere?” I asked.
“Absolutely. He has been alone for a long time, maybe a century or more; it is hard to tell exactly. His personality is not the kind that relishes solitude. He wants a family, and all we have to do is provide it.”
I rejoined her on the couch, and she climbed up in my lap and asked, “Are we good?”
“Yeah, we’re good,” I said and relaxed a bit. The warmth of her body so close to mine always felt right. I knew she was right, even if I didn’t like it; regardless of which, we had gone too far. Too many pieces were in motion already. There was no turning back.
On the floor was the datapad with its now-broken screen. It was still dutifully displaying a couple of dozen names of wizards requesting transfer to our unit of spiritualists. Spectra had already pruned the list. All I had to do was approve it, and we would grow into a real fighting force by stealing people rejected by the system, just as Henrick did. I left it there on the floor, not wanting to take that step just yet.
I could feel her purr as she snuggled in tighter. We sat there quietly for a long time.
Three more times I was attacked in the forest by various creatures. I was sore, wounded and hiding in a tree back up in the smog layer. I would have to give up on the trail I was following and find another way to reach the volcano.
Drink up
, I told myself and pulled out one of the illuminescence potions from the pack Nanny had given me.
None of the various ghosts I had seen flying around had bothered me. All of my attackers were made of flesh and bone. I assumed that meant they were not natives of this realm. I wondered why anyone would move here. I knew the power of the realm could be a trap once you were there, but why go there in the first place? I made a mental note to find out more about this realm when I returned.
I had been avoiding drinking the potions, trying to conserve supplies, but I was growing too weak. I could not live on my rations alone. I needed real energy to replace what I was using up by just trying to survive here. I chugged two of the potions and wolfed down some military rations. As the illuminescence washed through me, I could feel my body repairing and rejuvenating itself.