Ruins of the Galaxy Box Set: Books 1-6

by Chaney, J. N.

  Despite its advantages, however, the combat forms were still subject to the laws of the Unity and could, in theory, be diffused by anyone strong enough in second sight. So Willowood noted how even the weakest Luma prisoners were at least able to resist all but the most powerful attacks delivered by the Blue Guard. Returning the attacks, however, was a different matter, as most Luma were never instructed on how to be the aggressors—only the defenders.

  The fourth Luma Willowood confronted was a tall man with broad shoulders. She thought his name was Kin, but she couldn’t be sure. He reached for her head, hands glowing. Had she not moved, the impact would have incapacitated her—possibly for good. Instead, Willowood ducked under his reach and landed her hand’s heel against his sternum. But Kin must have anticipated the move and covered his chest with a protective field.

  Willowood’s hand glanced off the force field and threw her off balance. Kin caught her by the arm and hoisted her skyward. Had the man’s hand been charged, Willowood might not have taken advantage of the opportunity she saw next. Despite Kin’s strength—expressed in a surge to bring the old woman’s body down across his raised knee—he was not quick enough to defend against the scissors kick that clasped him around the neck.

  Willowood locked her knees, pulled herself up to his head, and then redirected her weight around his shoulders. The swift motion snapped Kin’s head sideways and twisted his torso along with it. Again, the move didn’t kill him, but he fell unconscious like a tree cut from its base and falling to the forest floor. Just as Kin’s body struck the ground, Willowood moved away from him, her feet stepping deftly onto the red carpet.

  For a split second, she wondered how long this might take and how many good Luma she might lose in the process. She saw Magnus and the rest of his unit waiting diligently on the steps, and she thought of Awen and Piper searching for the codex somewhere in So-Elku’s private study. She prayed to the mystics that Awen found it soon… before So-Elku found her.

  24

  While none of their orbital sensors picked it up, So-Elku had felt Awen and the little girl arrive in system. While the two females did well to hide their presence in the Unity, they’d grown too strong to go unnoticed. Clearly, they’d made many of the same discoveries that he had in the Unity. In any other context, he would have loved to sit down with the young prodigies and share their findings together. Such was the curiosity that had accelerated So-Elku to the elevation of Master in the first place.

  But this was not that hour. Instead, he’d been given access to a great gift, one that had granted him access to realms of the Unity previously unknown—to power that would allow him to bring true peace to the galaxy. His voice would be heard and listened to, just as the Circle of Nine had demonstrated. And his edicts would go unchallenged. Finally, his vision for peace—the Luma’s vision for peace—would come to fruition.

  That was, if these meddling fools would simply stay out of his way. He’d already taken care of Willowood and her followers, locking them within the catacombs. But he’d allowed enough transparency to remain that, should Awen and her friends show up, they might be drawn in and subdued. And thus far the plan was working perfectly. That was, of course, until they evaded the reanimated mystics.

  So-Elku had watched the entire confrontation from within his study, hidden away in an ethereal shroud. Awen and her forces had freed Willowood—the old bat—and managed to escape the catacombs with minimal losses. He’d wished for more, for them to have been stopped completely. But it wasn’t a total waste. The corpses had fulfilled their greater purposes in proving that he could reanimate the dead, and that suited him just fine.

  His Blue Guard awaited Awen in the main hall, and the company of Republic’s Marines stationed on Worru had already been alerted. Additionally, Awen had failed to locate the codex, a fact that relieved So-Elku. He still had so much to investigate within its pages. The manuscript was imbued with some sort of ancient power, allowing him access to more than just what the script portrayed. And once Awen and the others were stopped, he could resume his obsessive study of it.

  Should all of this fail, however—though he suspected it wouldn’t—So-Elku had one more plan up the long sleeve of his green robe. It had come to his attention that two of Moldark’s men had been taken captive on Awen’s ship. While So-Elku wanted as little to do with the deranged Republic admiral as possible, using his men as pawns was not below him.

  The Luma Master opened himself to the Unity, surged through the Foundation, and plunged into the Nexus. The codex from the Novia Minoosh had revealed these new worlds to him, giving him access to power previously unimagined by any Luma. He looked forward to each session he had with the prized tome and knew that if he could master its secrets, nothing would be able to stop him—not the Galactic Republic, not Moldark, and certainly not Awen dau Lothlinium.

  Today, he would teach that arrogant young woman a lesson. He would show her that she could not escape his reach nor circumvent his well-laid plans. He was always one step ahead of her, and she would never be free of reminders of his power.

  So-Elku’s consciousness sped toward the alien starship in orbit over Worru. The vessel had come from the other side of the universe—from metaspace. Few souls remained onboard, most having come down to assault the Grand Arielina and free Willowood. But he found the two prisoners, both restless in their prison cells.

  The first was a Navy pilot, presumably captured during a skirmish on Ithnor Ithelia. So-Elku knew the admiral was sending search parties there to look for resources. The second man was a Marine, probably arrested during the same confrontation. Whatever their reasons for capture might be, they served So-Elku’s larger purposes now, whether they liked it or not. And that, perhaps, was the Luma master’s favorite aspect of his new powers in the Unity. No one could see him coming.

  His ethereal presence moved to the first man’s cell. So-Elku eyed him, sitting on the edge of his bed, wearing black shorts and a t-shirt. Oh, what he wouldn’t give to spend the rest of the day watching the havoc this pilot would cause. So-Elku reached out and seized the flow of energy forming the force field over the prison cell. Then, with the simplest thought, he ordered it to abate, causing the invisible wall to dissipate.

  The pilot’s head snapped toward the opening, and he studied it intently. Gone was the low hum and shimmering blue glow. Instead, there was only open air. Tentatively, the pilot stood and approached the opening. So-Elku watched him pass a hand through the space formerly occupied by the security wall. And when his hand met only air, the pilot pulled back and considered the space again. What is he waiting for? So-Elku wondered. The pilot passed his hand through a second time, then extended his arm. Only when that seemed successful did he step into the wider cell block.

  So-Elku floated through the brig and appeared before the second man, this one a shirtless tattooed brute who paced relentlessly. When the force field fell, the Marine stepped forward and didn’t even bother to test the passage before waltzing through it. So-Elku watched as a sickening smile turned the corners of the Marine’s mouth into a sneer.

  All that was left was to open the doors leading toward the bridge and restrict the ship’s AI from stopping them. Then he’d let the former prisoners do whatever came naturally to them. So-Elku imagined they’d take great delight in playing with the starship while Awen and her forces were away.

  A voice came from inside So-Elku’s quarters. He’d been so caught up in the Nexus that he’d failed to monitor his own body’s presence in the temporal realm. He snapped from the Nexus to the Foundation and out of the Unity, awakening within his mortal form and opening his eyes.

  * * *

  “We’ve come for the codex,” Awen said again, not sure that the Luma master heard her the first time.

  His eyes rolled down from inside his skull and awareness dawned on his face. “Awen. What an unexpected surprise.”

  So-Elku sat on a cushion near a wooden desk that looked out on an open-air veranda. Awen could see the
night lights of Plumeria in the distance and wondered which of those lights were their shuttles.

  “And who is this?” So-Elku asked, his lips curling into a crooked smile. “Why… I sense Willowood’s blood in her. Is this—”

  “I’m Piper.”

  “Of course you are.”

  “Piper, be still,” Awen said over her shoulder.

  “So a young lady and a child have come to wrest a book from an old man, is that what it’s come to?”

  “Give me the codex,” Awen said, now for the third time. “I’ll not ask again.” She didn’t want to fight So-Elku, but if he kept stalling, she’d take the tome by force.

  “It’s right over there,” he said, pointing to a wooden lectern with a bound volume on it.

  “Piper,” Awen said in an even tone, “go get it.”

  “Sending the girl to do it? That’s a bit reckless, don’t you think?”

  “By comparison to your activities as of late, Master So-Elku? I hardly think this is reckless. Taking my eyes off of you for even the briefest of moments would be far more irresponsible.”

  From within the Unity, Awen could see Piper lift the book from its stand and then walk back toward her. Meanwhile, So-Elku matched her gaze, heartbeat for heartbeat. Awen knew from the moment she saw him that this would end in a duel. She didn’t know how it would start, but she knew who would win.

  Piper came to stand beside her again, clutching the codex to her chest. “We’ll be going now,” Awen said.

  “Just like that? No time for tea? No desire to catch me up on how your time has been living amongst the ruins of the Novia Minoosh?”

  Awen hesitated. Had So-Elku seen across the void horizon and into metaspace? If so, how much had he witnessed? How much did he know? She felt the uncertainty begin to nip at her heels, and her fingers began to tingle.

  “You doubt my abilities to search you out, do you?” So-Elku rose slowly from his cushion—but not under the power of his legs. Instead, he floated up to a standing position, letting his long robes unfurl before his feet touched the marble floor. “I’ve learned so very much. And it’s a pity to think that you believe I need that dusty book anymore.” He took a step toward her and Awen tensed, pushing Piper behind her. “You may have gotten away, too, had it not been for the codex. But I am far more powerful than you could even realize, Awen. So it’s time that we end this.”

  So-Elku closed his eyes.

  Within the Unity, Awen and Piper watched So-Elku materialize in his study. Here, the shapes and colors glowed in stark contrast to their muted counterparts in the natural realm. Sounds were more detailed, smells more vibrant, sensations more powerful.

  Awen and Piper stood beside each other, hands clenched in fists, ready for So-Elku to make the first move.

  His eyes opened and he roared, charging toward them in a blur. Awen and Piper stepped aside, letting the aggressor pass. His body slammed into the far wall, sending a shower of stone and sparks into the crystal-clear night air. Awen turned, flexed her palms, and sent a stream of yellow energy at So-Elku, whose body now flipped off the wall and sailed overhead. As soon as he landed, Awen sent a second blast. This one he caught in a green shield formed between his hands, diffusing the shot like one might put out fire with a lake of water.

  So-Elku laughed. As soon as the vapors of Awen’s attack dissipated, the master sent his own stream of energy at her. The glowing green spout shot from his hands, aimed right at Awen’s head. But she straightened her arms to her sides and flexed her legs. A round shield snapped to life just in front of her, dispersing So-Elku’s blast in a shower of sparks and a blistering buzz sound. The impact pushed Awen back slightly, but not enough that it unnerved her.

  So far, the man’s tactics were rudimentary—all things that she and Piper had covered during their long sessions in the Unity. If this was all the Luma master had uncovered from the codex, this fight might be shorter than she expected. But given the display of power in the catacombs, she highly doubted it. Which caused her confidence to ebb slightly. Why was So-Elku holding back? What was he waiting for?

  As if in answer to her question, So-Elku said, “Shall we take this to the next level?” And then he sank into the floor and vanished from sight.

  “He’s gone to the Foundation, hasn’t he,” Piper stated.

  “Yes. Are you ready?”

  Piper nodded.

  “Good. Let’s go.”

  Awen and Piper left the study, rocketed through the depths of the Unity, and slammed into the Foundation much like a meteor landing on the surface of a planet. The two of them rose up from on bended knee and surveyed the forest around them. The long echoes of bird songs carried under the canopy of leaves. Sunlight filtered down in a yellow-green haze, caught by countless motes of dust swirling in the forest air. All around them, the trees stood like old sentries, shrouded in bark and limbs and leaves, standing guard for the woodland creatures in this magical place.

  A whistle caught Awen’s attention and she spun to her left. Piper followed the sound too, before turning again at a second whistle, this time from the opposite side. After Awen and Piper had turned several times, a low laugh bubbled up from somewhere in the woods.

  “Watching you two is so quaint,” So-Elku said. “It’s a shame what I must do to you.”

  “Your threats mean nothing,” Awen said. “Come out and face us.”

  “My threats mean everything, Awen.” The voice seemed to be coming from all around them now. “For, in here… we are gods.”

  A rush of wind from behind forced Awen to take a step forward. She spun around in time to see So-Elku drive toward her like an arrow shot from a bow. He glanced against her shoulder and sent her whirling. Piper, too, was knocked off her feet and landed in a bed of ferns.

  Awen attempted to stand, but the Luma master returned, forcing her down as he whizzed overhead.

  “Piper, stay down,” she ordered. Then Awen looked up to see So-Elku directly overhead, diving toward them. “Look out!”

  No sooner had she said the words than a shaft of granite shot up from the ground and met So-Elku in midair. The column continued to rise until it had stretched nearly out of sight.

  Awen followed it until she saw So-Elku leap from the top and fall toward them again. Piper raised her hand and another column sprang from the ground, driving up toward their adversary. The Luma master disappeared as the pillar struck him. But then he leaped from its summit and continued falling toward them.

  Piper commanded spire after spire to thrust from the forest floor and strike So-Elku until he outpaced her, bounding down the pillars, then landing in a crouch a hundred meters through the tall pines.

  “Bravo,” he said, clapping his hands. “That was marvelous. Someone has been studying hard for this test.”

  Awen heard Piper grunt. She looked over to see the little girl make fists and shut her eyes.

  “But if you’re going to—”

  The pine trees bent over, their tops slamming into the top of So-Elku’s head like a dozen hammers striking the head of a nail in thunderous succession. Blow after blow rained down on him, driving his body into the ground in a flurry of dirt and dust. Finally, the firs snapped straight again, released from their chore. Their needles rustled in the air as the long pines wobbled from Piper’s unexpected violence.

  “Piper…” Awen said in a whisper. “That was… creative.”

  “He’s annoying me.”

  Awen gave her a smug smile. “Me too. But I—”

  Through the trees, Awen saw the ground explode outward and So-Elku rise into the sky. He turned to face them, then swung toward them in a streak.

  Awen braced herself, as did Piper. “Not this time,” Awen said, gritting her teeth.

  So-Elku’s mad dash ended when his body slammed against an invisible wall that Awen and Piper erected around them. The blow was so forceful that the surrounding trees leaned away from the sudden release of energy. Even the shield wobbled momentarily, but Awen did her
best to maintain the dome overhead.

  So-Elku’s body flipped away and careened into a tree, breaking the trunk in two. He rolled to a stop some twenty-five meters away, robes covered in debris from the forest floor.

  “Give up, So-Elku,” Awen said. “This doesn’t have to end in bloodshed.”

  “You would kill me then?” he replied, rising to his feet and brushing off his garments. Then, as if catching the thing in a mirror, So-Elku raised a hand and touched the corner of his mouth. A red smear came away on his finger. The Luma master seemed genuinely put off by this. “Doing so would break the Luma Code. You know that.”

  “And you haven’t done the same, Master So-Elku?”

  “That does not change the fact that you face the same dilemma now, dear one.”

  Awen winced at the term. “I face no dilemma.”

  “Oh?”

  “If killing you means preserving peace, then so be it.”

  “But that is not the Luma way,” So-Elku replied, stepping toward her.

  “You’re right. It’s not. But I’m no longer a Luma.”

  So-Elku’s next step slowed. “No longer a Luma? Why, that’s absurd.”

  “And you still call yourself one?”

  “Of the highest fashion,” he said as he puffed out his chest. “And you?”

  Awen looked at Piper. The little girl smiled back, then said, “We’re Gladio Umbra now, you bald bastard.”

  “Piper!” Awen couldn’t believe what she’d heard. But before she could protest, Piper lowered her head and summoned long magenta-colored tendrils of electricity from the ground. They rose like thick cables, energy dancing along their surfaces, and surrounded So-Elku like bars of a cage. He attempted to leap skyward, but the tendrils closed over him, and then began to recede.

  So-Elku fought against the cage, blasting it with all manner of energy. But his futile attempts dashed against the cables in dazzling displays of sparks and heat.