Resurgence of Ancient Darkness (8 page)

I looked over my team. I had five wizards and two Dark Knights with me. I would have liked to take Phoenix, but he was still recovering from his recent fight, and time was on the pirates’ side. We needed to strike fast and hard before they recovered.

Flame walked up in her full battle armor and said, “Ready?”

I had mixed feelings about bringing her. She was my wife, so I did not want her in harm’s way, but as the second most powerful magus on the Nevermore II, the strike team needed her. Ultimately what was best for the mission was to have her along.

“Ready,” I said, and then clicked my helmet in place, sealing my suit for the trip through the hard vacuum of space. Then I weaved a gate and said, “Flame, take point. Go!”

Flame charged through the gate taking the lead position, and everyone else quickly followed. When we exited the gate, we came through just outside the station’s main hangar. This put us too close to be targeted by the station’s defenses.

The two Dark Knights activated their jetpacks and flew towards the base.

“Everyone hang back until they have opened the doors,” I ordered. The Knights were highly skilled at this kind of operation so it was tempting to send them in alone, but I needed to get the Dragon Guard trained, and there was no better place to train them than here in the field.

It was not long before the doors were blown open, and the Dark Knights called back with the all-clear. “Move in. Secure the hangar,” I ordered.

It only took moments to get my team into the hangar, which was empty. I was about to move us into the base proper when the doors opened at the rear of the hangar and sentries charged in, guns blazing. Sentries were powerful robotic guardians, more than sufficient to take out a small attack team like ours; that is, if we had been mundanes.

I had expected something like this and had brought Rigal and Ferran along to counter the move. “Rigal, shield wall! Ferran, smashers!”

Rigal got his shield wall up quickly, and the Knights took position near him, firing their assault rifles to provide cover fire. Moments later, two large creatures made of stone appeared among the enemy and started breaking the robots into little pieces. The creatures were slow and stupid but were made from an extremely dense stone that made them virtually immune to energy weapons, which was all the sentries had to work with. It was not long until the hangar was secured again.

“Ferran, have them guard this hangar in case we need a quick exit. Everyone, we need to move in fast before they can send us more trouble. Knights, take over on point. Rigal, take the rearguard. Everyone else, stay around me since I will be scanning for any sign of where they might be hiding.”

Each member of the Dragon Guard chosen by me for this first assault mission was in top shape, both physically and mentally. Each had been working with the Dark Knights since joining the Guard. Although I sorely missed his skill, Phoenix would have slowed this team down in some ways. Somehow I needed to convince him to increase his fitness level.

It was not long before the Dark Knights on point sent back the message that they were pinned down by a group of pirates.

“Report,” I said as we approached their position.

“Master, there are seven to ten humans behind fortified barriers. We cannot get a clean shot at them. Recommend we double back and approach from a different angle,” they said.

Looking over the situation, I had a better idea. “Flame, it is your turn.”

“What should I do?” she asked.

I could see that she was nervous. This was her first assignment of this kind. I had been shielding her too much. I wanted to use this problem to teach her some
combat strategy, but we did not have time to make this much of a lesson. “They are shielded well from a frontal assault, so rain fire down on their heads from above.”

“Got it,” she said, and I could see the power build in her eyes. She hated pirates with the same extreme passion that she loved life. Her arms shot up as she began casting her spell. Suddenly, and seemingly from nowhere, a wall of fire appeared over the enemy position; they turned to run, but it was too late for them. With a quick downward sweep of her arms the wall of fire came crashing down on their position and the corridor filled with the screams of burning men. The Dark Knights quickly broke their position and charged the enemy, finishing them off at close range with their blasters.

“Well done, Flame. Everyone, back to your positions. We need to maintain our sweep. Speed is our ally in this fight, and time is theirs,” I said.

“Master, if I was leading the defense of this station with as few men as we suspect they have against us, I would fall back to a location which would be easier to defend, perhaps central engineering or the computer core,” said one of the Knights.

“Master, the computer core would give them the best options for defense,” said the other.

“Excellent point,” I said, then activated my comm and called back to the Nevermore II. “Stalker, can you locate their central computer core and get us a map to it?”

“Already have it, Master. Sending to your command pad now,” he said.

“Excellent!” I said and then reviewed the map with the Knights.

“There are three entrances to that room. I suggest we assault two of them and force them to retreat through the third. Then we could move in and secure the room,” said one of the Knights.

“Hmm. Rigal and I can take one door, and the rest of you the other. Ferran, they are likely to have more sentries in there. If they do, send more smashers in. Flame, you are the primary offense officer for your team. Follow the Knights’ lead and lay down fire. Accuracy is not as important as overwhelming firepower. Our goal is to force them into a retreat so that we can take control of the station’s defenses and remove their advantage. Everyone understand?” I asked.

“What if the magus shows?” asked Flame.

“I expect he will, which is why I will be at the other door. He will be my primary target, and Rigal here will provide the cover I need to face him,” I said.

With that, both teams moved out, quickly navigating through the base towards the central computing area. Robotic defenders attacked twice more, but the robots were too weak and too few to present a real challenge. I saw this as confirmation that the Dark Knights’ suspicion of the pirates’ plan was correct and that they were concentrating their forces in one location.

It was not long before both teams were in place. Both sets of doors were sealed, and we were sure there were defenders waiting for us to break in. “
Is everyone ready?
” I sent. Once everyone had indicated that they were, I sent, “
Good, then blow the doors open.
”

Rigal created a shield wall as I used a wand to blast the doors open. I knew Flame and her team were doing the same thing at the other door. Once the smoke from the blast cleared, I saw sentries marching on our position, firing rapidly into Rigal’s shield. I needed to conserve power to fight the unknown magus, so instead of destroying them, I merely drained their power until they fell over lifeless.

Mentally looking though Flame’s eyes, I could see that Ferran had summoned two more of his smashers, and they were making quick work of the sentries on their side. “
Flame, that is good. Conserve power and move slowly,”
I sent.

“
Got it, Shadow, but I’m worried,”
she sent.
“I get the feeling we are walking into a trap.
”

“
I trust your instincts, but we must push forward. Just keep everyone alert,”
I sent back.

The downed sentries were blocking any view I might have had into the room. I had no choice but to use some power to move them. I reached forward with both my arms together and quickly snapped them apart, which sent a wave of power down the center of the pile of sentries and slammed them into the walls, clearing a path between two piles of broken robots.

Once the way was cleared, I could see into the room and saw men fleeing out the back door. Across the way I could see Ferran’s smashers ready to enter the room.

“This is much too easy. Do not enter yet. Ferran, send your creatures in to explore,
” I sent over our telepathic network.

“Master, I could summon more if you want,”
sent Ferran.

“
No, just have those two spread out and walk around. Try to set off any traps,
” I sent.

“
Yes, Master,”
he replied.

I watched the creatures walk around through the extended vision that our telepathic network created. Nothing happened.

“
Very well, it looks as if we will have to do this the hard way. Rigal and I will go in. Flame, you and your team stay out of the room and be ready to assist. Ferran, keep your smashers at hand,”
I sent.

Rigal and I slowly moved forward. He kept his shield up in front of us as we carefully entered the room. As I cleared the door, I sensed power build around me. Suddenly blue energy fields went up, blocking all three exits. Rigal and I were trapped; but before I could react to this, power was building again. I turned towards the source of the power and saw a magus just on the other side of the shield blocking the third exit. He laughed as he finished his spell, and a massive demon appeared in the room with us.

With one quick sweep of its massive arm it slammed the two smashers into the wall where they shattered and crumbled to pieces on to the floor.

“
Flame, teleport your team and go after him. I will take care of this. Rigal, join them,”
I sent without taking my eyes off the demon.

“
But, Master,”
he started.

“
No buts. Get out of here,”
I sent back. “
Flame
, y
ou are in charge until I can rejoin you. Keep watch on that magus and do not let him summon anything else!”

With that I unwove the shields that locked us in the room and wove their power into my passive energy shielding. I did not watch to see if Rigal rejoined the other team, as I had to keep my focus on the demon. I put my staff away and drew my sword of pure power. The demon was faster and stronger than any human, so I would have to rely on my powers and instincts to stay ahead of it. I stretched out my awareness through the use of my Weave Sense spell and began to circle the creature.

Demons were a different class of summoned being, something no wizard would summon, but any sorcerer, given enough time and training, could. Even then, most sorcerers were wise enough not to summon them because they were often far more powerful than the summoner and served the sorcerer only as long as it suited them. They also lacked the connection to their source realm that many summoned creatures possessed. This meant there was no easy way to banish them once they were here.

It just stared back at me, slowly turning to make sure it always faced me, but did not attack. At first, I could not understand why, but then it occurred to me: as long as I was tied up with the demon, I could not help my team. I could not risk turning my back on the demon, so its mere presence in the station effectively eliminated me from the fight.

I did not intend to let that go on, so I crouched and leapt at the demon while bringing my sword back for a strike. It moved with even greater speed than I expected to counter my attack, but I still had all the time I needed. Instead of continuing through the air towards it, I teleported over its left shoulder while swinging my sword downwards.

The demon howled in pain as my sword bit deep into its shoulder. It whipped around, swinging wildly with its good arm, but I had teleported away already. I could see the rage building in its eyes as it turned towards my new location and began a charge. I planted my feet and lowered my sword as if I meant to meet its charge head-on but at the last moment teleported away again.

This time I landed behind it on the floor and swung my sword low across the back of its legs, digging a deep gash into one before it managed to perform a back kick that sent me flying across the room. My passive shielding saved me from death as I slammed into the wall, but I was still stunned by the blow.

As I struggled to regain my footing, the demon collapsed to the floor. It had attempted to use its injured leg to leap at me, but the leg could not support it.

Gasping for breath and trying to shake the blurriness from my vision, I tried to regain a good battle stance with my sword at the defense. Judging by the pain that my breathing was causing I had probably broken some ribs; but I did not have the time to worry about that, as the demon was regaining its footing. Too weak to try another attack with my sword, I switched tactics and pulled in power from the station. I quickly wove an arrow of pure power and launched it at the demon, and then I launched another. As fast as I could make them, I kept sending them.

Normally I could not conjure powerful arrows fast enough to stop a demon, but its injured leg prevented it from holding its ground and charging me. The demon howled again in pain as it tried to block the arrows with its massive arms, but they slowly took their toll, and it fell back into the wall. That gave me an opening, and I pulled out one of Shea’s explosion potions and threw it hard at the monster. The demon did not recognize the danger in time to dodge, and the potion hit it directly in the chest.

As I threw it, I dove out the door, hoping to escape the worst of the blast, as I did not have time to weave a proper shield. A massive explosion ripped through the base behind me and sent me flying down the corridor. I could not risk that what was left of my shields would stand
up to another crash, so I shifted my body into the weave where there was nothing solid to hit.

At a location far removed from where Shadow and his team were fighting pirates, seven ancient-looking magi gathered around a stone table. Each wore thick black robes that were so black it looked as if all the light around them fell in and was swallowed up, never to be seen again. Their faces were more like skulls than the faces of any mortal men, and their eyes seemed completely nonexistent.