Rise of Shadows (4 page)

“The armor will maintain your body at a comfortable temperature regardless of the temperature around you. Wear these from now on so that when we get out there you are used to them. Remember when you leave this section to put your robes over them so that you still fit into the dress code of the school,” said Master Shadow.

Master Shadow spent the rest of the day going over the basics of life in space. He expected us to be out there a very long time, it seemed. I could not help but notice as we went through everything that we appeared to be one person shy of a full crew. Therefore, while we were eating dinner aboard, I asked Master Shadow about it.

“Yes, we need at least one more, but I have not yet found anyone. Do you have someone in mind?” he asked.

“Yes, Master, Spectra. But I would like to talk to her first and see if she would be open to it,” I said.

“Sounds good. I will look up her records while we wait to hear from you about her. Before we continue let me say this: once you board this ship, you can drop the ‘Master’. We are forging a new order here; we will need to come up with new rules. All of the rules of the school are based on the old world order from Korshalemia, but Grandmaster Vydor sees us as pioneers into what it means to be wizards here,” said Shadow.

“Korshalemia?” asked Phoenix.

“Oh, sorry, that is the place we commonly call Mantis’ realm,” said Shadow. “Recently the two wizard councils decided to meet and formalize a name process, and it was decided that each realm would be named for the current standing grandmaster. Since Grandmaster Korshalem is theirs, Korshalemia became the name of their realm. Ours is called Vydoria.”

“Well, it’s about time,” said Flame.

“So, then, how do we handle rank?” asked Phoenix.

“We will have to develop a rank system. Until then, please just call me Shadow,” said Shadow. “Now, Dusty, about your friend: use your best judgment when you talk to her. We are keeping this program on the quiet side for now, but it is not really secret.”

“I do not understand. Keep it quiet, but it is not secret?” I asked.

“Yes, exactly. We do not want to draw any attention to the program right now, but in time that will change,” he said.

That did not clear it up at all, but I decided to let it go. I would treat it as if it was secret and leave it at that.

“As we will be training so differently, we will need a new name for our group. How about ‘The Alpha Academy Barbeque Squad’?” asked Phoenix.

Flame chuckled and rolled her eyes.

“Sure! It’s perfect,” he said. “It encompasses the core values of food and fire!”

“Uh, no,” said Flame.

Shadow just smiled and shook his head, then said, “I think that we would need something more generic.”

“Oh, yeah, ‘cause Dusty is ice. Umm how about ‘Alpha Academy Barbeque and Ice Cream Squad’?” asked Phoenix.

Flame bemusedly shook her head, and Shadow said, “No. We will not name ourselves after food.”

“Aw man, but…” started Phoenix, but a look from Flame stopped him up cold.

“Why not just refer to us as the Alpha Academy Navy?” I asked.

“It is not clear yet if we are the start of a full navy, or even if wizards need a navy, but still that is a very practical suggestion,” said Shadow.

“Ok, I get it, then how about we go with the navy name, but instead of crewmen we can be chefs?” asked Phoenix.

A moment later, a fireball from Flame hit him in the side of his head, and I think she was getting ready for a second one when Shadow stepped in to break it up. After a bit more good-natured joking, we decided we’d had enough for one day, and I headed back to the school.

As I walked back, I wondered how I got here. Years ago, when Phoenix was my history tutor, I always envied this group and their relationship. Now they were inviting me to be one of them, and all I could do was worry that I would let them down at some key time.

It was a little past the dinner hour when I reached the school alone. Flame had stayed behind with Shadow, and Phoenix went to the practice chambers. It had been a light day on the Dust Dragon, so I was not ready to head back to the dormitories for the night. Instead, I decided to go find Spectra. Most of the rest of the students found her to be an odd character, and she rarely paid much attention to anyone besides herself. She seemed to coast through her classes at school, not really excelling, but she never really seemed to try much either. It was not that the classwork was too hard. It was more like she just did not bother to push herself.

I decided to head for the mess hall and see if she was there. Spectra always went to dinner late so that she could eat alone. I would occasionally join her in order to avoid the teasing from my classmates about failing yet another test. She never said much when I was there but did not seem to mind my presence.

When I arrived, I saw her in her usual spot. She liked to sit in dark corners whenever possible. I suspect that was because her flat black fur made her hard to see in the shadows. She made no indication that she knew I was there when I walked in. I knew she sensed me because she always did. I took a plate of dessert to use as an excuse for being there and sat across from her.

“Hey, Spectra,” I said as I sat down.

“Hi,” she said.

“So, umm, what are you reading?” I asked.

She looked up at me with her emerald green eyes for a moment as if to say, “If you can see I am reading, why are you bugging me?” but instead said, “Lialiam’s Compendium of Spirits,” and went back to reading.

I sat in silence for a while after that. I ate my dessert as slowly as I could. I was hoping she would be ready to leave before I was done so that I would not have to interrupt her reading again, but she showed no sign of being ready to move. Instead, I was sitting there awkwardly with an empty plate.

“Spectra?” I said.

“Yeah?” she said.

“Umm, I want to talk to you about something. Can you spare a few minutes for a walk?” I asked.

She looked up at me again, just as before, and seemed to think about it for an awkwardly long moment, then said, “I suppose so.”

Sometimes I was sure she welcomed my company, and other times it was more a case of, “I feel sorry for you, so I will pay attention to you.” I have tried to understand her and guess what she thought of me, but so far it has been impossible to judge. I felt bad for her. While I might be unpopular, she took that to a completely new level. To the best of my knowledge, I was the only person she interacted with at all. I wondered if that meant she considered me a friend.

Once we were far enough away from the dining hall for me to feel comfortable talking I said, “Well, I will not be taking any classes this semester.”

“Oh, no,” she said with a slight catch. “What happened?”

“Nothing bad. I am just being moved to a different school of sorts,” I said.

“Different school?” she asked.

“Yes, at least that’s the best way I can think of to explain it. It is still connected to Alpha Academy, so I guess it is more like a branch school than a new one,” I said.

“Oh?” she asked.

“Yeah, basically it is more of a vocational focus than an academic one. More of a hands-on approach,” I said.

“Well, that sounds perfect for you,” she said. There was something in her voice when she said that. It was the slightest hint of emotion in her normally emotionless voice, but I could not discern what it was.

“Yes, well, there is one more slot open, and I asked if I could offer it to you,” I said.

“Why?” she asked.

“Well, first I should say that right now this new school is being kept quiet. I think that is because they want to keep it small while they work out the details,” I said. “It is radically different compared to the rest of the school, and dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said. Then I told her about the Dust Dragon and the plan to attack the pirates. She listened intently without so much as making a sound while we walked. When I had finished she said nothing. We continued to walk for a bit in silence. Eventually I said, “So, what do you think?”

“Sounds interesting. You said you asked them if you could offer me the spot; does that mean I am already accepted, or will there be a test?” she said.

“Oh, I am sure Master Shadow will want to interview you at least. He will pull your school records for review and that kind of thing. All I have permission to do is to tell you about the spot and encourage you to apply,” I said.

“Can I see the Dust Dragon first?” she asked.

“I guess so. Master Shadow and Flame were on board when I left, so they might still be there. I could take you now if you want?” I said.

“Sure, let’s go,” she said. “If they are there, then you can introduce me and get that out of the way at the same time.”

As we walked, I tried to assemble all I knew about her and realized I did not know much. I started to wonder how wise I was being. Shadow picked me for this team because he knows and trusts me. If I recommend her and she turns out to be a bad choice, that will hurt his opinion of me.

Eventually we made it to the door guarded by the Zalionians, who parted to let us through. I opened the door as Shadow taught me and heard Spectra gasp as we walked through into the modern section of the school. Once the door was closed behind me I said, “A bit different from the rest of the school.”

“It’s beautiful,” she said with a hush.

I looked around at the metal walls and floors that reminded me more of the interior of a spaceship than anything anyone would call beautiful and said, “Well, there is a lot more of this to show you yet.”

I led her through the corridors to the hangar where all the ships were. She looked around the room with a slight touch of wonder in her eyes. I had never seen this much emotion in her before. She reached out and put her hand on my shoulder and started to say something when she felt my armor.

“Whoa, that’s new,” she said.

I took off my robe and said, “Yes, this is our uniform. We wear the robes in the school, but here we will always be in armor.”

“This place is amazing. Which one is the Dust Dragon?” she asked.

“This way,” I said and walked her over to the cruiser.

She caught her breath and said, “That is a Dark Conure!”

“Well, yes, it is,” I said. “How did you know?”

“Oh, there have been rumors for years of this beauty being built, but I never believed them till now,” she said.

“Come then, there is yet more to see,” I said as I turned and gave the command for the Dust Dragon to open its hatch and deploy its staircase. Once aboard I gave her the grand tour, at least as much of it as I could remember. She seemed to know more about the ship than I did. Each room we went in she would point to things that I couldn’t identify and call them by name. She didn’t usually show much emotion, but here she almost seemed to be struggling to contain herself.

“Come, let’s head up to the bridge,” I said.

“Oh, yes!” she said, then seemed to catch herself and said, “That would be nice.”

I smiled and said, “I’m safe; you can be excited around me,” and then led her up to the bridge.

When we arrived on the bridge, Shadow and Flame were there and obviously waiting for us. I could not tell if they were upset with me for bringing her aboard or not. Flame grinned and winked at me when Spectra was not looking, but I really do not know why.

“Shadow, Flame, this is Spectra,” I said. “She is the one I mentioned earlier.”

“Excellent. Welcome aboard, Spectra. Feel free to look around the bridge,” said Shadow.

“Thank you, Master,” Spectra said as she reverted back into her emotionless shell.

“Dusty, Flame and I will be in the captain’s lounge. Come have a drink with us when the two of you are ready,” said Shadow.

As they left, Flame again shot me a smile. I wondered what she was up to and started to worry that she was trying to soften some coming blow.

I watched in silence as Spectra went from station to station looking over every control. Her emotionless shell stayed tightly in place, but I had seen enough this day to know that it was a sham. She was very excited about this spaceship and spaceport, but I could not even guess why.

She looked up at me and asked, “Where will you sit?”

“I don’t know; they have not told me yet,” I said.

“I guess Master Shadow and Flame will want to talk with me now,” she said.

“Yep, but take your time. It’s not like they will hate having a bit of time alone together,” I said.

“No, let’s get this over with,” she said. She seemed to be steeling herself up for something, but what I was not sure.

“Ok,” I said and then led her into the captain’s lounge. When we walked in, Flame and Shadow were sitting at the table talking quietly over some kind of hot drink. When they noticed we had entered they stood and greeted us. Shadow got both of us something to drink.

Spectra wanted an odd herbal drink that I’d never heard of, but Shadow somehow knew how to make. It smelled odd, not good or bad, just odd. It had the look of pond scum and was a pale blue color. Shadow offered to make me one, but I politely refused and took just pure water. There was nothing better in the universe to drink than that!

Once we were settled Shadow said, “Spectra, I have reviewed all your records with the school, but they can only give a cold, impersonal view of a person. So, if you do not mind, please tell me a little about yourself.”

“Of course, Master; what do you want to know?” she asked. I knew she was uncomfortable with this kind of question, but I did not know why.

“How about your homeworld? Where are you from?” asked Shadow.

“Sorry, Master, but I do not know that,” she said.

“I see, then what can you tell me of your history?” he asked.

“Master, not much,” she said.

I wondered what she was hiding. She really looked uncomfortable. “Spectra, Shadow and Flame are good friends of mine. I trust them with my very life,” I said in an effort to encourage her.

“Yes, and if it will help you can drop the title ‘Master’. I am not really all that fond of it,” said Shadow.