Blood and Shadows (The Saga of the Seven Stars)

by Dayne Edmondson

  Lying on the floor, Boris had been given time to think and reflect back on his past. He had left his home because he could not protect his family, but now he couldn't even protect himself. Boris decided it was time to go home. He gathered some broken bits of wood from some smashed chairs and created a splint for his leg. After securing the splint to his leg with scraps of clothing from the cloak of a nearby corpse, Boris gathered coin pouches from some of the dead. They had no use for the coin where they were now, but Boris did.

  A few short minutes later Boris limped out of the Five Daggers inn. He was unsurprised to see no city watch had arrived yet, for he knew Lord Garik had paid off the city watch in exchange for their “ignorance” of what was transpiring in that inn, but he knew if he remained long enough some would come and take him captive. It was best to beat a hasty retreat. As he limped down the main road toward the docks, he shed the assassin’s cloak that had identified him as one of Garik’s men and dropped all but one of his knives to the paving stones. He would have no need of the blades any longer.

  Chapter 26: Memories

  Bridgette sat in a cave in the Silver Wood, roasting a rabbit over the open fire. What was happening to her? Seeing Dawyn, her brother, today had unbalanced her. When she looked at him and recognized him a flood of memories had come rushing into her mind. Images of her mother, father and younger brother had sprung up at random. Memories of another life had flashed before her as she remembered her life on Earth before she and Dawyn had found themselves on this planet under mysterious circumstances. She remembered cars and planes and trains. She remembered computers and cell phones and pizza. She remembered going to school and being a student. She remembered being on the cheer-leading team and having many friends. She remembered her first boyfriend, Thomas Smith, and so much more.

  How had she forgotten all of this? Looking back, Bridgette realized she had been a good person, once. But now…now what was she? She looked down at her hands, full of hard calluses and caked with blood under the fingernails, semi-permanent no matter how many times she washed in the nearby Tar River. She was an assassin, a killing machine. She had killed countless men and women without a thought or care for their lives. Granted, many of the people she had killed had been killers themselves and deserved death, but still, as the faces of those she had killed flashed in her mind’s eye she felt herself growing sick.

  She wanted to escape – to leave this cave and never look back. But something held her to this place. Was it magic? Bridgette wasn’t sure, but she knew something wasn’t right. Somehow her memories had been suppressed, but why hadn’t this inability to leave this cave gone along with the inability to remember her past?

  As the thoughts in her head spun, a man entered the cave. Lord Garik, or Master, as Bridgette referred to him in her mind, had a cluster of rabbits in his hands. He dropped them at her feet. “Clean these and cook them up,” he ordered. Bridgette found herself grabbing the rabbits one by one and cleaning them out, preparing them to be roasted as Lord Garik went to his bedroll and lay down, groaning. He had been wounded in several places. He seemed to be recovering, but she couldn’t help but notice that one of his hands was missing.

  Why had she done as he bid, without question or hesitation? She didn’t even remember thinking about whether or not to do it – she had just done it. With a chill, Bridgette realized that a spell to somehow grant obedience had been cast on her. While one spell had dissipated with Nikki's death, the other remained, and she was forced to do her master’s bidding no matter what. Somehow she knew that she would do anything, kill anyone, save herself or her master, at his word. Her brain would become single-minded, like a hound chasing a hare, and her body move of its own volition.

  The thought that her mind was not her own scared her. She began to sweat as she continued preparing the rabbits. Try as she might, she could not stop the methodical movements of her hands as she gutted and sliced the rabbits. All hopes of escaping died and Bridgette felt a forlorn feeling taking hold. So long as her master lived she would be a slave to his whim. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but could not wipe them away. She had just learned her older brother lived and now he felt a world away. He might as well have been dead for all the chances she had of ever seeing him again.

  Chapter 27: The Saviors

  Dawyn strode into the throne room of the Celestial Palace as the ornate doors were opened. The throne room was massive, with large pillars holding up a domed ceiling that was built of stain glass, allowing natural sunlight to illuminate the room. Guards stood around the room, parallel to the pillars, with two by each side door into or out of the throne room. At the far end of the room was the king's throne, the queen's throne and two others, one to each side of the thrones, where their children would sit.

  The king sat atop his throne, watching Dawyn's approach. With a wave of his hand he excused his guards, and they exited through doors placed around the room. The queen, nor the prince or princess, were present.

  Stopping at the foot of the stairs leading to the king's throne, Dawyn performed a formal bow. He had changed into his formal dress uniform for this occasion.

  “Dawyn, my old friend, it is good to see you safe,” the king replied. “I read the report you sent ahead of your arrival. It appears Lord Garik was massing an army?”

  “Aye, Your Majesty, he was. With the amount of underworld forces he had arrayed there, not to mention those who had not arrived yet or not traveled to Mara Damare, they could have brought Tar Ebon, and by extension the entire kingdom, to its knees.”

  “Then it was most fortunate that you were there. In the name of the realm I thank you for your service, Dawyn. As a reward, you shall have anything in the kingdom that is in my power to give you. You have but to name your desire and it is yours.”

  Dawyn did not hesitate before answering. “I wish to be released from your service, Your Majesty. I know that a Shadow Watch Guard serves until the king dies or they die, but new information has come to light that I feel I must pursue. The fate of the world may hang in the balance.”

  The king nodded. “Yes, I read your report about the Krai'kesh creature you encountered in the woods. You believe there will be more of them?”

  “Without a doubt. If the prophecies Alivia told me about are true, then a dark time, and a more dangerous threat than Lord Garik and his minions, is about to be upon the kingdom. I wish to seek out the Saviors, so they may fight with us in a coming battle.”

  “A noble cause, Dawyn. But there is another reason, is there not? I understand from your report that your sister has been found? She was the veiled assassin serving Lord Garik?”

  Dawyn swallowed. “Yes, my sister, Bridgette, is alive. I believe she is still in the employ of Lord Garik. I fear any attempts to find her, however, would be futile. The mission to find the saviors is my number one priority and I cannot do it while still in service to the crown.”

  “I understand, and although it goes against tradition, I grant you your wish. Go, Dawyn Darklance, hero of the kingdom, and seek out the Saviors. You will have the full resources of the kingdom at your disposal – you need but ask. The kingdom will forever be in your debt.”

  Dawyn bowed. “Thank you, Your Majesty. It has been an honor serving you these many years.” Dawyn began to undo his cloak, to lay it at the king's feet.

  “No,” the king replied with a raised hand. “Keep the cloak, as a reminder of your time here. Another can be sewn for the next commander. May it keep you safe.”

  With a final nod, Dawyn re-attached his cloak and turned on his heels, heading for the doors of the throne room. His time as a Shadow Watch Guard had ended, but his service to the kingdom, and the world, would continue.

  Chapter 28: Hall of the Stars

  Bright sunlight streamed into the Hall of the Stars as Alivia made her way through the glass doors and into the circular room. Arranged before her was a table set in the shape of a semi-circle, with the opening of the U shape it formed facing the doorway. Seated arou
nd the semi-circular table sat the seven members of the High Council, the ruling council which governed the affairs of all mages owing their allegiance to the Tower of the Seven Stars.

  In the center of the table, so as to be surrounded by the members of the High Council, sat a chair, which the mage at the head of the table, Archmage Beryl himself, indicated was to be her seat. “Mage O’Leary, please take your seat,” the man said.

  With a curtsy, and while silent, Alivia made her way to the chair as instructed and sat.

  “Mage Alivia O'Leary,” Archmage Beryl began, "word has reached us through various channels of your heroics in Mara Damare. Would you regale us your side of the story from your journey?”

  “Of course, Archmage,” Alivia replied. She began from the beginning, from Selma to Mara Damare. The archmages were silent, until she arrived at the part in her story about the firestorm that demolished the Bald Chicken.

  “This mage, do you know who she was?” one of the mages asked from her right.

  “I learned her name was Nikki, but beyond that I do not know where she hailed from.”

  “The firestorm she created – do you know how she controlled such a vast circular storm like that?” This question came from her left.

  “I felt her immense power when I later faced her, so I can only guess that she had enough power to control the firestorm.”

  “The part of your story I am most intrigued to hear about, Mage O'Leary, is the part where you summoned lightning indoors,” Archmage Beryl said. “Can you explain how this was done?”

  Alivia proceeded to explain how she had simply applied the theories explained by one of her instructors in an indoor setting.

  “You could have died, girl,” a gruff archmage growled from beside Archmage Beryl. “What were you thinking?”

  Alivia swallowed a sharp retort and took a breath before replying. “I was thinking, Archmage, that I had to do anything I could to stop this woman, or Lord Garik would win. It was a calculated risk that I had to take. I was willing to die for the cause.”

  The gruff archmage sniffed. “The bravado of youth. You will learn with time when the time for risks is and when is the time to safeguard your life.”

  Archmage Beryl raised an eyebrow at his fellow archmage. “You were young once, Artemis, or don't you remember? From what I have heard and seen from this young woman, she has demonstrated without hesitation the values of a mage of the Tower. I would nominate her to be raised to the rank of master mage. Do any here object?”

  None of the hands in the room went up. After waiting a few more moments, Archmage Beryl smiled and looked Alivia in the eyes. “Rise from your chair, Alivia O'Leary, and forever be known as 'Master O'Leary’.”

  Alivia tried to maintain a straight face as she stood, though inside she wanted to leap for joy and cry, all at the same time. She had earned a rank that few mages earned for another ten years! She would be able to train youngsters and other people with the potential for magic there at the Tower or across the realm. This is the happiest day of my life, she thought to herself. “Thank you all. I accept this high honor.”

  Chapter 29: Parting of Ways

  Dawyn sat in the Dancing Mare Inn, nursing a mug of cold ale. Anwyn sat across the table from him, contemplative as she held a glass of wine in her hands. So many thoughts were whirring through his head. The prophecies had begun to come true, heralded by the appearance of an alien creature referred to in the texts as a Krai’kesh, and the prophesied Age of the Saviors had come. Dawyn’s role to play was clear, for the letter he had been given so long ago lay in his pouch. He knew where he had to go.

  But balanced against the needs of the world was his desire to find his long-lost sister. He had thought her dead, killed at the hand of an unnamed assassin years ago when they first came to the world of Tar Ebon. His shock at seeing her as the veiled assassin had almost cost him his life during the fight with her, but he had survived, and in turn saved his sister's life from a would-be assassin. The hope he harbored of being reunited with his sister in that moment had faded as she turned and fled from the Five Daggers Inn. He had tried to pursue her, but she was already gone, like mist in the wind.

  The other companions with Dawyn, Alivia and Favio, had both gone their separate ways. Alivia had been awarded the rank of master for her battle prowess against the powerful mage Nikki. She would now have the opportunity to travel where she wished and do as she wanted. She had chosen to become a recruiter for the Tower of the Seven Stars, so she could help youngsters and others who sought to control their magic by bringing them to the Tower and imparting her wisdom upon them. Stories of what she had done within the inn named Five Daggers had spread throughout the Tower and she had been given the unofficial nickname of Lightning O'Leary.

  Favio, after his successful infiltration of the network of assassins and thieves surrounding Lord Garik, had been given a royal commendation from the king for his outstanding service and a royal pardon for all past debts and crimes against the kingdom. He had taken one of the first ships headed south to the port city of Valnos, where he would continue on to the Citadel by the Sea, the largest port in the known world. He claimed he had a story to tell, and by the Founders why not tell it where he would have the biggest audience? Besides, he said, there were other lands to visit and people to see. Of particular interest to him was the great storm wall and rumor of the lands that lay on the other side of the equator-spanning super storm. Dawyn wasn’t sure if he would ever see Favio again, but he hoped so.

  Anwyn, on the other hand, was sticking close to Dawyn. When Dawyn had explained the prophecy and shown her the secret note he had kept safe for many years, her eyes had lit up and she declared she would accompany him east to the foothills of the White Mountains, where the prophecies predicted the saviors of the world would appear “as if from nowhere”. Anwyn confided that perhaps the very same prophecy Dawyn was responding to was the sole reason she had been exiled. Aside from that, Dawyn and Anwyn had fallen in love during their travels. Now that he was released from all oaths to the kingdom, Dawyn hoped that he and Anwyn could be together.

  Epilogue: A Flash of Light

  In the far north, beyond the Hagues River and its watchful fortress named the Haguesfort, beyond the nomadic tribes that called the frozen tundra home, beyond the northern mountains eternally caked in ice and snow, a creature stirred. The creature had no name that humans could pronounce, though it had a name. To humans this creature was known as a Krai’kesh. This creature, in human terms, would have been considered the captain of the crashed ship. Long had this creature and his brethren slumbered beneath the snow and ice, but something had changed. The creature felt a disturbance to the south. One of his brethren, his minions, had been slain. He let out a shrill yell and felt his brothers of the mind begin to stir. They would go south and devour the world in the name of the Krai’kesh Empire.

  * * *

  “Trans-location sequence one complete. Awaiting further orders,” the metallic sound of Juliet informed Doctor Ulysses. Her holographic representation floated above the holo-projector plate, virtual eyes watching the man who sat in the chair before her.

  Doctor Ulysses let out a sigh of relief, “Thank you, Juliet. Begin the calculations to perform the first transference. Begin transference once calculations are complete.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  As the holographic face of Juliet disappeared, Doctor Gregory Maximus Ulysses III turned to the view port on his left and stared out at the quasar, which the space station, with its heavy shields protecting him against any radiation, he was the sole resident of orbited. The view still took his breath away at times; the majesty of the quasar, with its brilliant flashes of light as particles were drawn into the event horizon of the massive black hole, was a sight few beings in the galaxy had witnessed. Unfortunately, he witnessing of such a sight this close came at a terrible price.

  Doctor Ulysses' eyes turned towards the holograph frame sitting on his desk. There, in a life-like rendi
tion, sat his wife, Margaret, and his two children, Chloe and Frederick. The image had been taken at the Sulfur Falls on Orion 3 some 15 years ago. It seemed much longer. That was the last moment of happiness he remembered before the war.

  Now his family had been shattered, his wife and children killed during the fall of the Orion system early in the war against the Krai'kesh that had cost so many human lives thus far. Doctor Ulysses had, from that day forward, focused his mind on nothing but his work, in an effort to keep his mind off the sadness of those events. Now his work had paid off, or so he hoped.

  His concentration was broken by the sound of Juliet beginning the first transference sequence. The energy indicator on the screen hovering on the wall before him showed energy levels rising to 100%, drawing upon the energy of the quasar. A roar began to build in the core of the station, as the energy was channeled, and within moments there was a flash of light and a bright yellow glow emanated from within the containment chamber behind the doctor's desk. The first transference was complete.

  “Activate trans-location to pre-designated location, Juliet. Then begin calculations for second transference. Activate second transference once calculations are complete.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  Moments later the light within the chamber had gone, trans-located.

  Following on the heels of the emptying of the chamber was a build-up of energy similar to the first transference, followed by a longer flash of light as matter was transformed into energy and transferred into the containment chamber. No sooner had the light settled into the chamber than the doctor gave the order to trans-locate the matter to the second pre-designated location.