Sac'a'rith

The Lost Tales of Power:

The Sac’a’rith: Rebirth

Written and Published by Vincent Trigili

Copyright 2015 Vincent Trigili

Editors:

Kristi Trigili

Elaine Kennedy (
[email protected]
)

Cover Art by Vincent Trigili

Cover designed by Cormar Covers

ISBN: 9781311824431

EBook Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The Lost Tales of Power is a collection of novels that describe an immense persistent multiverse. The books are a mixture of standalone and miniseries all set in the same universe with overlapping and intertwining storylines. While the books are a mixture of classic science fiction and pure fantasy, some effort is being made to keep the books in the realm of the possible, or at least theoretically possible given some basic assumptions.

Lost Tales of Power Series
:

Volume I - The Enemy of an Enemy

Volume II - The Academy

Volume III - Rise of Shadows

Volume IV - Resurgence of Ancient Darkness

Volume V - The Sac’a’rith

Volume VI - Spectra’s Gambit

Volume VII – The Sac’a’rith: Rebirth

Volume VIII and beyond - TBA

To be informed when new books are released:

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http://losttalesofpower.com

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I hope you find as much enjoyment in reading these stories as I had living them. If you enjoy the books, please post a review and spread the word about them. As an independent author, word of mouth is the only marketing I can afford. Thanks!

IE = Imperial Era (similar to BC, counts backwards)

EM = Era of Magic

12/01/01 IE – Enemy of an Enemy starts

01/20/02 EM – Enemy of an Enemy ends

02/01/02 EM – The Academy starts

08/30/42 EM – The Academy ends

05/15/55 EM – Rise of Shadows starts

12/30/58 EM – Rise of Shadows ends

01/31/59 EM – Resurgence of Ancient Darkness starts

03/15/59 EM – The Sac’a’rith starts

08/11/62 EM – Spectra’s Gambit starts

10/31/62 EM – The Sac’a’rith ends

01/25/63 EM – Resurgence of Ancient Darkness ends

02/01/64 EM – Sac’a’rith: Rebirth starts

08/25/64 EM – Sac’a’rith: Rebirth ends

01/01/65 EM – Spectra’s Gambit ends

“Grandmaster Vydor,” said Raquel in greeting as she entered my office. Raquel was tall and carried herself with confidence. There was something in her eyes that told you she was not to be trifled with. The irises were yellow, an eye color I had never seen before. The tips of her pointed ears projected from her auburn hair. She was taller than I, standing at about two meters. Her aura was twisted and bent around her, indicating the burden she carried. When she has learnt to trust us enough to ask for help we will provide it, but that time has not yet come.

She started to bow but stopped herself. When she first joined us, she had insisted on bowing to all the wizards of master level, but I refused to allow anyone to do this. For all our power we were just mortals, unworthy of worship; allowing others to bow before us led to a dangerous path, one I refused to walk.

“Welcome, Raquel! Please have a seat. Would you like a drink?” I gestured at a beverage bar I had had installed in my office. It could make all manner of drinks but was mainly used for coffee. There was something calming about sitting back with a nice warm cup of coffee, just savoring the aroma.

“No, Grandmaster, thank you,” she said. She did not sit down and I knew she would not. She had been trained in a different time, when wizards ruled the entire known realm and demanded more formality in their interactions. It was a time which would not have suited me. I hoped that one day she would learn to relax more in my presence, but for the moment I would have to accept her as she was.

I smiled in my most disarming style. “Well, what can I do for you today?”

“Grandmaster, I’d like to use the gate to travel to Hospital Station and find the Sac’a’rith,” she said.

“For what purpose?” I asked.

“Grandmaster, with your permission, I’d like to bring them into your …
our
kingdom and train them,” she said.

Interesting slip there. I had hoped she would have seen this as her home by now, but it was probably too soon. “I see. When you first came to us, you mentioned that you wanted to take over from Narcion and restart the ‘noble order of the Sac’a’rith’. I assume this is the first step in that plan?” I asked.

“Yes, Grandmaster,” she said.

“You have reported five of them currently traveling together,” I said. “One of whom is from Korshalemia?”

“Yes, Grandmaster, but only two of them are part of the order,” she said.

“What of the others?” I was sure I knew what she would say, but I wanted her to voice it.

“Ragnar and Crivreen are both good candidates to become wizards, Grandmaster, but not Felix,” she said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Grandmaster, Felix owes a large debt to the Assassin’s Guild, which makes him untrustworthy.”

“Then let us pay it off,” I said.

Her eyes widened and she seemed to have difficulty speaking for a moment. “With all due respect, Grandmaster, why would we do that?”

I smiled at her reaction. This could act as an example for her, indicating the true nature of what it meant to be a wizard in this era. “You have yourself reported that he risked his life many times in the quest to find and destroy the table, have you not?” I asked.

“Yes, but – ” she began.

I cut her off with a gesture. “And did he not charge in to the necromancer’s fortress carrying a backpack full of high explosives, knowing that a dire fate awaited him if he failed?”

“Yes, Grandmaster, but he’s a hired mercenary,” she said. “And his wages were paid, all of which he has already given to the Assassin’s Guild.”

“Is he a sorcerer?” I asked.

“No, not yet, Grandmaster,” she replied.

“Then pay off his debt and offer him a chance to be a wizard,” I said.

“But that would mean giving a large amount of money to an evil organization,” she argued.

“In reality, would that amount of money make any difference to their power base?” I asked.

“No, Grandmaster, it wouldn’t,” she admitted.

“I agree that paying money to the Guild is distasteful, but it is part of the cost of redeeming Felix,” I said.

She finally sat down and considered the matter in silence. “Things are so different. I don’t understand how to behave.”

Finally we were getting somewhere. “What do you mean?”

“I never met your predecessor, Grandmaster. No one could approach him except the other masters. I couldn’t even speak directly to any of the masters. I’d pass a message to my superior wizard, and if he thought it worthy he would bring it to one of the masters, who would in all likelihood ignore it. In your kingdom, not only am I allowed to speak directly with you, you even offer me coffee,” she said.

Given the size of our domain, I had been forced to split it into six regions and set each master-level wizard over a different section of space in and around our kingdom. Had she been in a different section she would have reported to one of the other masters, but that was nothing like the rigid authoritative structure she was describing. “I see.”

“And there was never talk of second chances. Had I come to my superior with this same request, and if it was granted, I would have been told to kill Felix first ,” she said, allowing that thought to sink in.

“Well, that is quite unreasonable,” I said. She had made similar comments before, and I found them hard to credit. It was not that I thought she was lying; the thought was simply too distasteful to consider.

“I used to agree with them, but I don’t know what to think anymore,” she said.

“Did you not chase Narcion through the millennia in order to give him another chance?” I asked.

“I was told to kill him,” she said. “To prove my loyalty to the council, that nothing would stand in the way of that, I was to kill my own husband. Those were the last orders I received from them.”

She had not revealed that information before, and it certainly explained some of her behaviour. “That is why you said you must turn yourself in?”

“Yes, Grandmaster. I disobeyed a direct order from the Wizard’s Council,” she said.

“And what is the proper penalty for that?” I asked.

“Death,” she said.

“For a group of so-called wizards, they seemed to be very focused on killing people,” I said. “It is difficult to tell them apart from sorcerers.”

“It was a different time,” she said. “Nothing is the same.”

“Raquel, I gave you full amnesty when you came to me. As the current grandmaster, I have absolved you of all previous crimes,” I said.

“Yes, Grandmaster, and I could never repay that kindness, not if I lived another ten millennia,” she said.

“Then it should be easy to extend a measure of that same kindness to Felix.” I knew that would sting, but it was an important lesson. I did not understand the wizards of her era, but I needed her knowledge of that time in order to succeed in this one, and to obtain that knowledge I needed her trust. If she wrongly saw me as a merciless ruler like her prior masters, it would be hard to extract information from her.

Her head rose and her mouth opened to say something, but she snapped it shut. “Of course you’re right, Grandmaster.”

“Now, I am fully in support of you assembling these magi and bringing them under our wing, but I think it might be best if you stay out there with them. They would be safer here in our kingdom, but I need them out there.”

“Why, Grandmaster?” she asked.

“Right now the only wizards out there are directly connected to the hospital. There are no masters to assign to watch that area, leaving Dr. Leslie as the ranking wizard in the region. For all her skill in medicine, she is not qualified for that position.”

“What about Master Dusty and Master Spectra?” she asked.

“They will be leaving that region soon in order to pursue a mission and will not return to that area for a long time, if ever,” I said.

“Grandmaster, are you thinking that it would be good to have a few wizards wandering around out there just to keep an eye on things?”

“Yes, but more particularly I am thinking of giving you that region,” I said.

“What?”

There was no missing the look of shock on her face. She still saw herself as a disgraced failure, and I had to convince her that her past was long behind her and did not have to determine her future.

“As you know, each region in which we currently have an interest has been assigned to a specific master-level magus. This area is in Kellyn’s care, and of course they all fall under me. That region of space is too far away to be added onto an existing area, so it needs a wizard assigned to it. Since you lived out there for a long time and have interests there, it seems reasonable for you to be assigned to it,” I said.

“But I’m not a master,” she protested.

“No, but you are one of the most experienced wizards in the realm. Nothing needs to be done in a hurry. Travel out there, find the Sac’a’rith, and see where that takes you. I can see change; it is hard to tell in what form, but there is definitely something coming. I need experienced and trustworthy eyes out there, Raquel.”

Raquel stood up to reply. “Grandmaster, I am deeply touched. I know I’m not worthy of the honor, but I will strive to become so.”

I smiled. I knew she wanted to spin around and leave but her training would not permit it. “Then may the God of Creation bless you and keep you on your journey. I will let the gatemaster know that you are coming. Godspeed, Raquel.”

She started to bow again but turned it into a spin, sending her long thick hair flying around her, and left the room. When she was gone I refilled my coffee cup and sent to Kellyn,
“She still does not fully trust us.”

“No, but she will someday,”
she replied.
“Then I might be able to save her
.
”

“Special Agent Zah’rak in position. Do we have a green light?” I asked over the comm.