Resurgence of Ancient Darkness (3 page)

“I had no place to go, Master. I had failed everything else already, so I stayed and made the best of it.”

“Do you still want to help people?”

“Yes, but I’m a failure there too, as always.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Master, because all I did for the last month was kill people.”

“Dusty, you helped free an entire nation from certain destruction, and you were pivotal in sealing a breach to the realm of the spirits while almost giving your life to prevent them from overrunning this entire realm. I’d say you are a success on a grand scale!”

I just looked at him. I did not know how to take what he said. He had just recast my failures into successes, but I was not sure I understood how. I found it hard to believe that killing people could be the right way to help other people; it didn’t make much sense.

“Dusty, you are trying too hard to be someone you are not. You’re not Master Kellyn, or Shadow. You are Dusty. Work through that spellbook and learn who you are. Embrace your powers and you will find that, by being you, you can help more people than you ever could before.”

I looked back down at the book and contemplated its title again. “Master, this title
sounds so dark. How could that be me?”

“Dusty, there are two definitions for the word “dark” at play here. There is the “dark” which is a synonym for evil: that meaning of “dark” certainly does not apply to you. You are a grand wizard, but you do work in darkness; the kind of darkness that means lack of a light source. The concealment line of power in and of itself is just as amoral as are the rest of the powers. It’s what magi do with them that make them good or bad. That book could serve either purpose, as it is merely a guide on how to use your power, not a guide on why or why not to do things from a moral standpoint. Those you’ll have to work out for yourself based on your own moral compass.”

I opened the book and flipped through the introductory and background material to the first spell. It was one to change your appearance so that you could pass unnoticed.

Before I could get far, Master Mathorn reached out and flipped the pages back to the very first one. “No, start at the beginning. Starting in the right place is far more important than reading through it quickly, especially if you are saving time by going in the wrong direction.”

“Master, I will do as you ask,” I said.

“Good,” he replied and then took his leave of me.

I continued my walk back towards my quarters, thinking about what he said. It sounded good, but was it right? I decided the only way to find out would be to start studying this book as he suggested.

I spent most of the rest of the night reading the section of the spellbook which I always skipped over in other books. I normally didn’t bother with it, as I couldn’t see how it would help me, and all I really cared about was learning the spells. Master Mathorn’s speech had convinced me to study it, at least this one time.

It had been a year since Master Shadow asked me to take over as head of Black Ops for the Wizard Navy following our return from Operation Show of Force. He told me time and time again that I was more than ready for this leadership role, but I found it hard to believe him.

I looked over at Spectra who reached out and gave my shoulder a squeeze. I was more nervous than I could ever remember being before. Master Shadow had asked me to lead this rescue operation as part of the training for my new position. “
Is everyone in place?
” I sent.

“
Master Dusty, we are ready,
” came the reply from Darkstone.

“
How about you, Spectra?”
I sent privately.

“
Just get me in, and I can get us out. We can do this, Dusty,”
she sent.

With the changes that had come to magic, Spectra could no longer gate to a place unless she had physically been there. That meant we had to get her in through more mundane means, but once inside she could gate us all out.

We were deep inside a space station in foreign territory. It had taken us over a week to sneak in and study the prison, but we were finally ready to make our move. Before us stood a multi-locked door that had a layered energy field covering it and four
heavily-armed guards. “
Darkstone, you have the two on the left. I’ll take the right, and remember that our goal is to disable, not eliminate. Everyone, we need to keep our cool, but move fast. Once we start our raid, time will be against us.
”

Black Ops was all about timing. I knew that in a few minutes there would be a shift rotation, and we could not move until that was complete. We needed as much time as possible between when we acted and when someone became aware of what we had done.

The shift change came right on schedule, and once I was sure it was clear I gave the signal to move. Darkstone and I silently moved towards our targets. Once we were in range, we both cast our freeze spell that temporarily immobilized the guards. They could still see and hear, but not react.

“
Clear! Cymeion, you’re up next
,” I sent.

Cymeion
headed to the control panel, and after what seemed like far too long, he was able to open the doors.

“Move!”
I sent.

My team quickly and silently entered the prison complex. “
Cymeion, seal us in. We won’t need that door again.
”

Once he had the door closed, he shortcircuited the control panel and summoned a wall of stone to cover it.

“
We have at most ten minutes until those frozen guards are discovered,
” I reminded everyone and then led my team deeper into the complex. It was not long before we hit the next set of security barriers. As before, we froze the guards, slipped in, and blocked the door from the inside. We did the same with the next door.

We had almost made it completely inside when the alarms began to sound. We were at the last door when the halls filled with the sounds of men yelling orders and emergency locks being set. The guards at the last remaining door drew their weapons and spread out. We could no longer catch them all in one freeze spell as they were too far apart.

“
More are probably on the way,
” sent Spectra.

“
Take them down,”
I sent back to her.

She stepped out of the shadows as she cast her spell. Watching her work was almost hypnotizing. Her body flowed gracefully as if it were partly fluid. For a moment, all my attention was on her as she danced. Her movements were enchanting and enticing. I would have been happy to stay there all night watching
her dance.

The guards saw her and were pulled in by the dance, and for an instant they were completely enthralled. As one, they turned ashen and fell to the ground as their life force was drained from their bodies.

“
How long?”
I asked.

“
These men are fairly weak. It could be days before they recover,
” she sent.

Before I could say anything, Cymeion was already working on the door. “
It’s no good, Master. They have the panel locked out.
”

“
Then break it down,
” I sent.

Cymeion took a few paces back from the door and cast his mage bolt. As a terramancer, his bolt was something akin to a cross-forged iron spear with a diamond tip. It slammed into the door, easily piercing the energy fields and punching a small hole through it.

I tossed a flare through the hole so that we could see the other side. Now that we had a line of sight through the door I sent, “
That’s good enough. Everyone, teleport through.
”

When we arrived at the other side of the door we saw a massive cat-like beast. His bright orange fur, spiked head, and massive claws were dulled with age, but the sight of him still struck fear into my heart. He was chained to the floor in what looked like a very uncomfortable position. He looked like he had been severely beaten, and his one remaining good eye stared right at me with malice.

I took a deep breath to steady my voice and said, “Karathlathornka, Grandmaster Vydor never forgets those who helped him. Can you walk?”

“Yes,” he said in a weak voice.

“Cymeion, barricade the door. Darkstone, get those chains off him. Spectra, we will need that exit in a moment,” I said.

As they moved to comply, Karathlathornka kept his eye on me in a way that made me very uncomfortable.

“Master, they are activating the gas,” said Cymeion.

“It’s okay. Our armor will protect us long enough to get out. Just get those chains off him,” I said.

“Your armor will not protect me,” said Karathlathornka.

“Here,” I said as I placed a mask over his mouth. I was kicking myself for forgetting that.

“Okay, he is free,” said Darkstone.

“Spectra?” I asked.

She nodded and cast her gate spell.

“Everyone, out!” I ordered.

Once we came out the other side of the gate, I sent, “
Phoenix, we got him! Get us out of here!
”

“
On it!”
he sent.

“Karathlathornka, welcome aboard the Dust Dragon,” I said.

He turned and gave me a hard look. “Why are you helping me? I have ceased to be of use.”

“I told you: Grandmaster Vydor does not forget those who helped him. We’ll see to your injuries as soon as we’re clear of the defenses. Until then, try to rest.”

“Hello, sir,” I said to my father as he came on the observation deck. It had been several months since he officially joined Alpha Academy as a Battle Wizard Third Rank and over a year since I had originally invited him. We had spent that time studying the Imperial Navy’s structure and organization, hoping to use as much of that knowledge as we could as we set up our new military force.

“Hello, Master Shadow,” responded my father. It was still odd to hear him address me as one of superior rank, but he seemed to have adjusted well to it. Officially I was not supposed to call him “sir” but instead use his name, Douglas Dougherty; but I had been calling him “sir” all my life and changing that habit was very difficult for me.

It was not long before the recruits started to arrive. Each of them had eagerly volunteered for this new position once it was announced. I was surprised by the response and actually had to turn away quite a few in order not to drain the school too heavily too soon.

We watched in silence as they walked into the hangar. They had as yet had no military training of any kind, and I knew that meant that some of them would be in for a rude awakening. They had spent the last several decades living and working in a school which was fairly informal in structure, at least when compared to a military unit such they were about to experience.

My father looked over the ragged lines. “Well, I certainly have my work cut out for me.”

“You would not have it any other way,” I said with a smile.

My father turned to Starbiter, the elite wizard assigned to assist him, and asked, “Are we ready?”

“Yes, I think we are, Master” he responded.

I was still a bit unsure of their relationship. Starbiter was a quiet type who would stand in a corner and merely observe the world around him if he could. Master Mathorn had nominated him for this role, and I trusted Mathorn’s judgment. I wished, however, that I could get a better grasp of Starbiter’s character.

After a parting comment, my father and Starbiter headed down to the hangar. Twenty-five of the Dark Knights had already filed in and were attempting to group the wizards into formal lines.

As my father walked in to the room one of the Dark Knights called out, “Attention! C.O. on deck!” and all the Knights snapped to strict attention. The various wizards did their best to imitate the Knights, but could not help but bend and twist to see who was coming in.

My father, decked out in the full deep purple armor of his rank, walked on to the deck in a perfect military manner. His back was straight as a rod, and his shoulders were square. I had not seen him look so regal in a long time. Age had considerably weakened his body, and I knew it put a strain on
him to march like that. “Show them no weakness,” he once told me. He knew that he was at a serious disadvantage being a mundane among wizards, and he wanted to make a grand first impression. Behind him walked in Starbiter, wearing the purple robes of an elite wizard.

A look of surprise came over the faces of the trainee wizards, as they presumably realized the truth of the rumors that a mundane would be leading them. I was not sure how they would take it. They were all good people, but more and more it was becoming apparent that mundanes and wizards did not get along. Both would be polite, but they preferred to stay with their own kind. This is something we were likely to struggle with until the end of time.

I watched silently as he barked out orders and cleaned up their lines. He gave them a powerful lecture on how hard the road was before them and how they were the first to pave it. I had never before seen him give a lecture like this to recruits, and to watch him in action was amazing. It was not long before they were all correctly standing to attention with a look of determination on their faces. The general attitude of the students was one of respect for my father. They would work hard to earn his respect in return. After a while, I left him to see to my own troops.

At my father’s advice, we had reserved the name of Battle Wizards for the regular forces, and named the elite forces the Dragon Guard. Their missions were distinctly different from each other. The Battle Wizards were more of a general standing army, while the Dragon Guard would be running special missions deep behind enemy lines. The names would keep that separation visible and eventually act as an impetus to prospective members of the Dragon Guard to take pride in its elite status and push them to higher dedication and excellence.

It took three years of training before we were ready to launch my new command vessel, the Nevermore II, with its crew of a hundred Dragon Guards taken from the best that Alpha Academy had to offer. There was some concern that we were taking too many wizards from the school and leaving it somewhat anemic, but I knew that would work itself out over time as more and more wizards continued to pour in. The bigger concern was making sure we had sufficient forces to defend ourselves and to secure the realm.