Resurgence of Ancient Darkness (43 page)

With the grandmaster defeated I was free to help my fellow wizards, but the other sorcerers made a fast escape. “
Let them go, for the present. We must return home and ensure no one is taking advantage of our absence,
” I sent.

I weave walked into sickbay on the Shadow Fox where Kellyn had brought Dusty. When I arrived, I saw that Spectra was there also. The two of them lay unconscious in the medical beds. They looked completely lifeless; I could see no obvious signs of breathing. I knew they were alive because their connection to the weave was still strong, but nothing else about them gave any indication that they still lived.

Kellyn was leaning against the wall, looking exhausted. In her hand was some kind of drink. Knowing her, it was probably chocolate milk. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just exhausted. Standing up to the grandmaster and pulling these two back from death’s door again takes a lot out of a girl,” she said.

“Shea, how are they?” I asked.

“Grandmaster, they are both in a really bad way. Without Master Kellyn’s healing powers they would have died, for sure,” said Shea.

“What were their injuries?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen anything like them before, at least not to this extent. They were magical in nature and purely evil. Whatever it was, it was eating away at them at an alarming rate,” she said.

“Ah, they must have used the Spirit Realm for power. That explains how they could take down a master sorcerer, but it was extremely foolish. That power eats you up from the inside out. They are lucky Kellyn found them when she did,” I said.

“I didn't, though. Shea called to me for help, but by the time I arrived Spectra was already unconscious. Thankfully she had had the foresight to leave a dimensional marker in the Spirit Realm for me to find or Dusty would have fallen also
,” said Kellyn.

“So Spectra came back alone?” I asked.

“Yes. I think Dusty sent her back but got trapped before he could return himself,” said Shea.

“Will they make a full recovery?” I asked.

“Yes, my love. Though I want to monitor them for a while, just to be sure,” said Master Kellyn.

I felt the ship rock, and the power flickered around us. I stretched out my awareness and saw the battle around us. “Apparently we are still fighting. I will put an end to that.”

I stepped out into space and drained the power from all the enemy vessels. “
Shadow, the fight is over. Pull back and let them go
,” I sent. I would have to come back later and give those ships some power back so they could fly away, but for the present I was satisfied with leaving them as they were.

“
Yes, Grandmaster,”
he replied.

“
Dusty and Spectra are wounded, but gather the rest of your command staff for debriefing,
” I sent. I walked back on to the Shadow Fox and waited in sickbay with Kellyn. I could have traveled directly to the Nevermore II, but I was grateful for a break. The fight in the Spirit Realm had been mentally exhausting.

Once the Shadow Fox docked back on the Nevermore, Shea and I went directly to the conference room while Kellyn stayed with Dusty and Spectra.

“Well done!” I said as I entered the conference room.

“We won then, Grandmaster?” asked Karlith.

“All five tables that we know of were destroyed, and two of the sorcerers were eliminated,” I said.

This brought a round of cheering and backslapping. I let that go on for a while. It was good for them to have some time to celebrate our victory.

“Which two, Grandmaster?” asked Flame.

“Dusty and Spectra beat one of the masters, the one with the green hood, but lost in their fight with the grandmaster. Fortunately, Kellyn was able to come in time to save them. I defeated the grandmaster while she tended to their wounds.”

“How are Dusty and Spectra?” asked Shadow.

“Grievously injured, but Kellyn is confident they will make a full recovery, in
time,” I said.

“Grandmaster, assuming I can still count, that leaves five sorcerers unaccounted for?” asked Phoenix.

“Yes, but without the tables and without a leader they are drastically reduced in power,” I said.

“But they could come back one day, right?” asked Phoenix.

“If they do we will be ready for them. But that is a problem for another day; your orders now are to fly home and take a vacation. There will always be some new evil to fight, so rest and be ready for it,” I said.

I left them to celebrate and weave-walked back home. I knew Kellyn would join me when she was ready, but I wanted to make sure Mantis and the others were told of the outcome. After hearing the news, Mantis decided to drop in for a personal visit.

“Has the shadow receded, then, as expected?” he asked.

“Yes, it has, but it is not gone,” I said.

“Darkness is never truly gone, only beaten back for a time,” he said.

I eased into my chair and leaned back in its soft pillows. The adrenaline rush from the fight was wearing off, and suddenly I felt completely depleted. I had not had a fight like that since the Great War. “True. I can see a
little into the future again, and I believe this new age will be one where the balance between light and dark will rock back and forth for a long time.”

“That makes sense. After all, we did team up with Henrick to fight something that just happened to be darker than he is,” said Mantis.

“Yes, it was not truly a victory for light, but not a loss either,” I said.

“For the present, relax and build. The day when you and Henrick will face each other is likely to be a long way off. Until then, I am sure you will have a thousand other enemies to keep you busy,” he said.

“It is as you said: darkness is never defeated. It merely retreats and waits for the next opportunity to strike,” I replied.

###

The story continues in
The Sac’a’rith
: Clear across the galaxy from where Grandmaster Vydor is building his kingdom of wizards, a new darkness is rising up. Soldiers who die in battle are standing back up and switching sides. Entire space stations are being wiped clean of life and the military is powerless. One man, perhaps more dangerous than the darkness itself, is all that stands between darkness and light.

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The Silverleaf Chronicles

The Silverleaf Chronicles: Season One follows the life of Silverleaf, a young dragonmaster who was born into a world without dragons, and doomed to die as a madman alone in the wilderness until a young woman enters his life, and a mysterious army marches across the land destroying all its path.

• Introduction
  
• Time Line So Far
  
• Prologue
  
• Chapter One
  
• Chapter Two
  
• Chapter Three
  
• Chapter Four
  
• Chapter Five
  
• Chapter Six
  
• Chapter Seven
  
• Chapter Eight
  
• Chapter Nine
  
• Chapter Ten
  
• Chapter Eleven
  
• Chapter Twelve
  
• Chapter Thirteen
  
• Chapter Fourteen
  
• Chapter Fifteen
  
• Chapter Sixteen
  
• Chapter Seventeen
  
• Chapter Eighteen
  
• Chapter Nineteen
  
• Chapter Twenty
  
• Chapter Twenty-One
  
• Chapter Twenty-Two
  
• Chapter Twenty-Three
  
• Chapter Twenty-Four
  
• Chapter Twenty-Five
  
• Chapter Twenty-Six
  
• Chapter Twenty-Seven
  
• Chapter Twenty-Eight
  
• Chapter Twenty-Nine
  
• Chapter Thirty
  
• Chapter Thirty-One
  
• Chapter Thirty-Two
  
• Chapter Thirty-Three
  
• Chapter Thirty-Four
  
• Chapter Thirty-Five
  
• Chapter Thirty-Six
  
• Chapter Thirty-Seven
  
• Chapter Thirty-Eight
  
• Chapter Thirty-Nine
  
• Chapter Forty
  
• Chapter Forty-One
  
• Chapter Forty-Two
  
• Chapter Forty-Three
  
• Chapter Forty-Four
  
• Chapter Forty-Five
  
• Chapter Forty-Six
  
• Chapter Forty-Seven
  
• Chapter Forty-Eight
  
• Chapter Forty-Nine
  
• Chapter Fifty
  
• Chapter Fifty-One
  
• Chapter Fifty-Two
  
• Chapter Fifty-Three
  
• Chapter Fifty-Four
  
• Chapter Fifty-Five
  
• Chapter Fifty-Six
  
• Chapter Fifty-Seven
  
• Chapter Fifty-Eight
  
• Chapter Fifty-Nine
  
• Chapter Sixty
  
• Chapter Sixty-One
  
• Chapter Sixty-Two
  
• Chapter Sixty-Three
  
• Chapter Sixty-Four
  
• Chapter Sixty-Five
  
• Chapter Sixty-Six
  
• Chapter Sixty-Seven
  
• Chapter Sixty-Eight
  
• Chapter Sixty-Nine
  
• Chapter Seventy
  
• Chapter Seventy-One
  
• Chapter Seventy-Two
  
• Chapter Seventy-Three
  
• Chapter Seventy-Four
  
• Chapter Seventy-Five
  
• Chapter Seventy-Six
  
• Chapter Seventy-Seven
  
• Chapter Seventy-Eight
  
• Chapter Seventy-Nine
  
• Chapter Eighty
  
• Chapter Eighty-One
  
• Chapter Eighty-Two
  
• Chapter Eighty-Three
  
• Chapter Eighty-Four
  
• Chapter Eighty-Five
  
• Chapter Eighty-Six
  
• Chapter Eighty-Seven
  
• Chapter Eighty-Eight
  
• Chapter Eighty-Nine
  
• Chapter Ninety
  
• Chapter Ninety-One
  
• Chapter Ninety-Two
  
• Chapter Ninety-Three
  
• Chapter Ninety-Four
  
• Chapter Ninety-Five
  
• Chapter Ninety-Six
  
• Epilogue
  
• Also by Vincent Trigili