Resurgence of Ancient Darkness (26 page)

“Fool! She can’t have reached her full power yet, or you wouldn’t have escaped. Go back there and kill her! If I see your face again before she’s dead, it’ll be the last time anyone sees your face!” said Rubius as he gave the other magus a swift kick in the gut that sent him flying out of sight.

“Welcome back!” said Flame as I stepped out of the weave and into our quarters. She was lounging in bed with a book and seductively gestured to me to join her, but the meeting I had just had with Spectra was foremost in my mind.

At that moment I had connected some information and remembered how Spectra and Dusty were attracted to the box. They had to fight to resist its appeal to them. The two of them had done well, but Spectra was worried about Kymberly. If it called her, Spectra was worried she would be unable to resist. All that power and evil influence would be very bad for Kymberly, and for all of us.

“Hello! No time for small talk. We could have some real trouble on our hands,” I said. I ran to the comm and contacted Rigal. “There is no time to explain, but make sure that ship is secured. Until I say otherwise, no one gets on it, with no exceptions.”

“Yes, Master. It has been pretty quiet down there, though. I’ll make sure the guards know that,” he said.

“Thank you,” I said. I turned to Flame. “Where is Kymberly?”

“I don’t know. Why?” she asked.

“We must
find her,” I said. I tried calling her quarters but there was no response. Her duty roster said she was off duty, and the chef said she was not in the mess hall. “We have to move now!” I said and reached out my hand.

Flame stood, and I saw immediately that she was not quite dressed for the occasion. “Teleport to join me as soon as you can, but do not let anyone know you are there.”

“All right, but afterwards I want you back here,” she said and gestured at the bed with a coy smile.

“With pleasure,” I replied and teleported to the hangar containing Glimmer’s ship. Once I had arrived, I wrapped myself in shadows so that no one would know I was there.

While I waited, Flame arrived and sent, “
What’s up?”
I sent her everything I knew about the box. “
Oh, no. I can see Kymberly coming down the corridor now. Should I stop her?”

“
No, let her come. We need to let her defeat it, if she can. So stay hidden,
” I sent back. “
Just be ready.
”

I watched Kymberly walk into the hangar and request access to the ship. The guards said no, and she started to argue with them. I moved closer so that I could hear what was going on.

“Don’t you know that I am Master Shadow’s special advisor on this case?” she said.

“Yes, ma’am, but our orders say no one,” he said.

“Come now, surely you can see that they don’t mean me?” she asked.

While this was happening I saw a tendril of power reach out from the ship, push through the shields, and touch her. It started to build energy around her. I began to get worried that the box was going to help her to get in.

“Well done!” I called out as I broke my cloak and walked up. Kymberly and the guards both looked at me in surprise. “Kymberly, excellent acting. You almost had me fooled, and I knew about the test.”

“Test, Master?” asked the guard.

“Yes, I was watching you and Kymberly from the shadows to see if you would violate orders and let her in,” I said.

“No, Master, I would never do that!” he said.

“Obviously not. You did very well, polite but firm,” I said. I put my arm around Kymberly’s shoulders and said, “Come, Kymberly, we have much to talk about. I was able to meet with Spectra.” At the same time I sent privately to Flame, “
Cover us. Make it look like we are walking and talking about business.
”

I could feel Kymberly shaking hard under my arm as she started to walk with me. The tendril of power had a solid grip on her. Once I was sure Flame’s illusion was up I said, “Kymberly, listen to my voice. You are a wizard. You can beat this evil thing. Just focus on walking to your quarters.”

She nodded slightly and I could see the struggle in her face as she fought to walk. I knew I could cut the tendril at any time, but she had to win this fight on her own or she would always be in danger of succumbing.

Flame joined us and said, “You’re doing great, Kymberly. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Remember, the key to magic is willpower and focus. You’re a wizard, and that means you have plenty of both. Use them now.”

“
Thanks, Flame,”
I sent.

The more Kymberly walked, the smoother and easier became her gait. She was winning the battle, but the tendril still held her. “Just focus on reaching your quarters. They are sealed, so you will be free of its influence once you get inside.”

As we walked, both Flame and I kept encouraging her. She was doing better and better, and when I saw the tendril begin to fade away I knew that she had won.

“
Flame, it would not be proper for me to be seen walking into her quarters, so cover that up too, please. We both need to go in there and talk to her her,
” I sent.

“
So you want me to help you sneak into the quarters of a young, beautiful woman?”
she asked.

“
Yes, basically
,” I sent back, and tried not to laugh. “You are doing very well, Kymberly. We are almost there.”

“Okay, I will make it appear that we returned to our quarters once we dropped her off,
” sent Flame.

“
Perfect
,” I sent.

“We are here; just open the door and walk in. We will stay with you, but once the door closes you will be free,” I said.

She nodded and slowly reached out to open her door. It was as if she doubted her ability to do so, but she succeeded. Once the door was open, she sprinted inside. Flame and I stepped in after her and she slammed the door shut.

“There, is that better?” I asked.

“Oh, yes! Thank you, Master! I can’t hear it anymore!” she said.

“Kymberly, please sit and rest for a while,” I said. “
Flame, where is Glimmer?
” I asked privately.

“
I have him confined to quarters for now. He seemed much more stable in there,”
she sent.

“
Perfect. Do we have any other Spiritualists on board?
” I asked.

“
Yes, two more. Neither of them knows anything about the box,”
she sent.

“
Contact security and have them confine the Spiritualists to their quarters. Tell them as little as possible, for now
,” I sent. “Kymberly, is it only the spirit traps that are the problem, or is the box itself involved?” I asked.

“The box is definitely amplifying their influence. Normally the spirit traps are only a problem while they are in sight,” she said.

“Will the influence be restricted to Spiritualists?” I asked.

“Normally, but never before have I heard of so many together at once, and there is something more,” she said.

“Go on,” I prompted.

“Well, it sounds silly, but these are acting as if they are alive. They are plotting and planning their moves. I can sense them thinking about what to try next,” she said.

“They are filled with spirits. Surely that is what you are detecting?” asked Flame.

“It’s not just that. As we were walking back, I felt it change its mind. Instead of wanting me to free it, it wanted me to kill you, Master Shadow,” she said.

“That’s it! We have to get Shea here to destroy it,” started Flame.

“She is out of reach right now. Instead, I have an idea. Let us move the box to a training room,” I said.

“Excellent idea, Master! Instead of locking all us up, we can seal the box in there. The training rooms should be more than sufficient to seal it up,” said Kymberly.

After checking the duty roster via Kymberly’s terminal, I saw that Karlith was still on duty, so I contacted him via a secure commlink, “Karlith, please report to Kymberly’s quarters for mission briefing
,
and please be discreet,
”
and included the location.

Flame sat with Kymberly, and they chatted quietly about totally random topics. I could never keep up with Flame when she talked with her girlfriends, and this occasion was no different.

Once Karlith arrived I said, “Karlith, we have to secure the box on Glimmer’s ship. I want to move it to a training room and seal the room tight. The problem is that the box is reaching out and exerting control over some of our magi, so I want the Dark Knights to assist in the transfer.”

“Certainly, Master. What is the plan?” he asked.

“Flame and I will board the craft while you take your team to training room fifteen. Once you have the room prepared and the area cleared, I will open a gate. Flame and I will get the box through the gate and lock it down to the floor. Then we will leave the room, and will ensure the room is sealed and guarded around the clock until we meet up with the Shadow Fox,” I said.

“Excellent plan, Master. I will gather my men and contact you when we are ready,” he said and marched out.

“He sure likes to stand around and talk things through,” said Flame.

“Yes, he certainly does. We had better head towards the hangar so that we are in position when he is ready. Kymberly, you did really well today. I am proud of you. Just stay in your quarters until the box is secured,” I said.

“Yes, Master,” she said.

“
Rigal, if you are awake, meet us in the hangar with Glimmer’s ship,
” I sent after we left Kymberly’s quarters.

“
On my way,
” he replied.

Once we were in the hangar, I briefed Rigal on the plan. “
So I need you to be ready to seal the box in shields if it somehow gets away from us.”

“
Yes, Master,”
he sent.

“
Master Shadow, we are ready,
” sent Karlith.

“
Good. We are going to board the craft. I will alert you when we are ready to open the gate,”
I sent.

Flame and I slipped through the shields on to the ship, and I was immediately struck by the difference between now and my last visit. The room felt angry, and the spirits flying around were far more agitated. As I entered the room with the box, we could see it struggling to release itself from the bonds I had put on it the last time I was here. Kymberly was right, the thing was acting as if it had some intelligence. That was not good at all. If it could tap the combined thought-power of all those spirits, it might outsmart us.

The spirits took notice of our presence and began to fly at us, but Flame reacted first. I saw fire leap in her eyes as she swung her staff around her body once and slammed the butt of it on to the floor. This sent a shockwave of magical fire out from us, forcing the spirits to retreat into the box.

“Don’t ever try that with me!” she called out and swung her staff back up, causing a wave of fire to envelope the box in a deadly cage.

“
Karlith, I am opening the gate now
,” I said and wove a gate to the training room. “
Now we just need to push a flaming box through the gate,”
I sent to Flame.

“
Oh, sorry. I didn’t think about that. It’s just that the vile thing was in my head telling me to kill you,
” she sent.

“
Together we will use telekinesis to move it. Let’s not risk touching it, and do not douse your fire just yet.
” It was very disturbing news to hear the box could at least attempt to influence more than spiritualists, but comforting to know that Flame was by my side. No one, not even I, could influence her against her will.

The box fought us the whole way through the gate. I did not know if it understood that it was a trap, or if it was simply fighting for the sake of it. Whichever, once it was through the gate, the last of the spirits flew through the gate as well as if they could not bear to be away from the box.

“
There. Let us reseal this room and get back to Glimmer’s ship to make sure nothing else is still there,
” I sent.

“
Sure,”
sent Flame as she added another layer of fire to the box. The snarl on her face told me that she was not yet over the box trying to force her to kill me.

Once I was sure the room and box were secure, we returned to Glimmer’s ship to find it empty of anything of interest. I assigned some magi to guard it just in case, but I did not expect anything to come of it. All the evil was contained in training room fifteen.

The next morning I decided to collect the payment that Glimmer had promised us. I found him alone in his quarters under guard. Someone had brought him breakfast which he had just finished when I arrived.

“Hello, Glimmer,” I said.

He stood up as I entered and said, “Hi, Sha … er, Master Shadow.”

“Please, sit and relax.” I waited for him to get comfortable and joined him. “How are you feeling today?”

“Much better,” he said. “Sometime late last night the box’s voice finally left my head, and I was able to get a good night’s sleep.

“So the box always speaks to you?” I asked.

“Until last night, yes. It was always trying to get me to do something. In the past I was able to resist it, but since coming here it was really pressing me hard to free it. This room gave me some relief, for which I am extremely grateful. But last night was the first night I spent completely free of nightmares since finding that cursed box,” he said.

“What did it want you to do?” I asked.

“Since coming here? It wanted me to free it. Before that, it was mainly asking me to take it places,” he said.

I decided to test his reactions and watched him closely as I said, “For now, we have the box secured. We will be destroying it soon.”

Relief, or maybe joy, came over his face. “Do you really think you can?”

“There is no doubt,” I said.

“That is wonderful news! How can I ever repay you for freeing me?” he asked.

“There is the matter of some information you promised us,” I said.

“Ah, yes, about that station. Well, you can blame the box for that,” he said. “When I first found the box, I listed it for trade in all the normal places and waited to see if anyone wanted it. One man contacted me; at least I think it was a man. Whatever it was, it had the general form of a human male, but I never got a really good look at him. Anyway, he offered me a very large amount of money for the box, far more than I would have estimated as its worth. He told me to meet him at the station and to bring the box. Well, in my years as a trader I have learned to be cautious, so I put one of the crystals into a containment unit and went to meet him.”