“Then I shall have to try to be luckier,” hissed Red Wing. “My mother taught me many tricks before you and your wolf allies killed her.”
Keeping his eyes focused on the bat’s chest, Richard looked for any hint about the direction of the scout’s next attack. At the same time, he noted the endless desert terrain created by the halo-square they were in. Since Red Wing was unclothed, her sweat-matted fur was all the evidence anyone would need as to the realism of the desert heat.
I’m not much better off, Richard thought. I’m only wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and I’m sweating like an overweight pactar. A drop of sweat rolled down his brow and into his left eye as if confirming his thought. He ignored the stinging liquid. The scout was too dangerous an opponent to allow a little thing like sweat to distract him. She’s bigger, faster, and stronger, he thought. He laughed. Other than that, I’ve got her at my mercy.
Red Wing stopped circling and spread her wings. “You laugh. Why?”
Never taking his eyes off the bat’s chest, Richard said, “I was just thinking that physically, you’ve got me outmatched.”
The scout lowered her wings. “Then why laugh? We’ve been at this for over two hours. Neither of us has gained an advantage. We should move on to weapons training. I am tired of fighting someone physically weaker than me in hand-to-hand combat. I need something more challenging.”
Richard ran forward and feinted a kick to the scout’s head before sliding along the sandy ground straight between the bat’s legs. He kicked upward as he passed underneath. The bat stumbled, but the effect was not what it would have been against a human male. Richard hadn’t expected it to be. He stood and wrapped an arm around the scout’s right wing where it attached to her back. Twisting hard, he threw her to the ground. Stabbing down with two stiffened fingers braced one against the other, he tore out the bat’s right eye.
The scout hissed a scream even as her left wing came across her chest. The wing’s sharp point forced its way between a gap in Richard’s rib cage. The hand-length hardened piece of wing bone passed through his right lung while continuing on in an attempt to seek out his heart.
Despite his pain, Richard twisted free of the point and rolled away. He screamed in agony but forced his way to his feet. He placed a hand over the gaping wound in an effort to slow the bleeding. Richard felt warmth surround his wound as his self-heal tried to staunch the worst of his blood loss. He sensed the hole in his right lung begin to heal.
Red Wing rose to her feet and charged forward as black blood spewed out of her empty eye socket. She reached out with both paws in an attempt to pull Richard into her chest. Instead of backing away as the bat probably expected, he kicked off with both feet and smashed his forehead into her nostrils. Her nose flattened as blood and mucus splattered onto Richard’s face, temporarily blinding him. He felt the bat’s wings try to enclose around him to prevent escape, then surprised the scout again by jabbing two stiffened fingers into her left eye. The bat hissed another scream and stumbled back, holding her paws over both eyes.
Richard started forward, but he noticed the bat’s ears swivel in his direction. “Piss,” Richard cursed under his breath. I keep forgetting she hears better than she sees.
Sensing the wound to his lung was nearly healed, Richard shifted to the right, around and under the bat’s flapping wing. He jumped high into the air and grabbed hold of the scout’s right ear tearing off both the ear and a fistful of meat as he came down. The bat screamed. This time it wasn’t like the previous hiss. This time the noise was a full-throated cry of agonizing pain. As soon as Richard’s feet contacted the ground, he positioned a leg behind the scout and threw her to the desert floor as hard as he could. The soft sand kept her from taking any serious injuries from the landing.
Reaching out with her left paw, Red Wing made a grab for Richard’s throat, but he avoided her grasp and shoved two stiffened fingers into her left ear. He heard bones break. The noise came from both his finger bones and her eardrum. He screamed, but the bat’s hiss was louder. Doing his best to ignore the pain in his right hand, Richard brought his left elbow up into what remained of the bat’s nose. He sensed bone fragments penetrate her brain. The bat’s hissing stopped.
Richard rolled off the scout and curled up into a ball for a dozen heartbeats until his injuries were ninety percent healed. When he stood, the scout was just beginning to move. Her legs twitched back and forth, digging into the soft sand. He sensed the bat’s self-heal working overtime to return her body to baseline. It took another thirty seconds before she was finally able to regain her feet.
Pointing a blood-soaked paw at him, Red Wing said, “Your self-heal works too fast. The damage to your lung should have kept you out of action long enough for me to gain the advantage.”
Richard shrugged. His self-heal had been working faster ever since the battle in the Presence of the Lady. “We are what we are,” he told the scout. “You’re bigger and stronger. I heal faster, not to mention I’m better looking.”
Red Wing’s chest turned gray before returning to a more normal color. She hissed a noise that came out of the halo-square’s translator as a laugh. “Females are fighters. We are not supposed to look good. Only silly males spend time trying to improve their appearance.”
Richard let the obvious dig pass. “End simulation,” he said.
The desert landscape disappeared to reveal the Defiant’s cargo bay. Boxes of magic ammo and other equipment were stacked along the bulkhead all the way to the ceiling to create the twenty by twenty area of the halo-square. Jeena, Charlie, Daniel, and Bright Wing were sitting on a workbench near the stairs. The frown on Jeena’s face and the emotions coming down their bond link told Richard she was none too happy.
“What next?” asked Red Wing. She swiveled her ears at the ceiling for a moment before turning them back on Richard. “You, uh, said you would teach me how to protect links. Did you tell the truth?”
Nodding his head, Richard said, “I did say that, and I will. First things first though. I think it’s time for weapons training.”
“No!” said Jeena. “It has been hard enough watching the two of you beat each other up. I do not care if you can self-heal or not. Enough is enough.”
Richard looked at Red Wing. “Go get your dimensional pouch. As soon as you get back, we’ll start.”
The scout swiveled her ears toward Jeena. Shrugging her wings slightly, she turned and went up the stairs.
Taking advantage of Red Wing’s absence, Richard walked over to his bondmate. “I’ve got to train her,” he said, hoping his bondmate would understand. “It’s important.”
Silver eyes flashing, Jeena shook her head. “It is not more important than you, Rick. I agree the Empire must somehow make amends with the Crosioians. I even suggested as much once. The Crosioians will be needed as allies in our fight against the demons.” When Richard opened his mouth to speak, Jeena slid off the worktable and looked him square in the eyes. She was every bit as tall as he. “Training this scout is crazy. How is that supposed to help our mission? Red Wing is determined to kill you in front of her tribal council. You are showing her your weaknesses. All you are succeeding in doing is teaching her how to kill you easier. Are you really that determined to die?”
“I know training her seems counterproductive, but it’s not,” Richard said, unable to articulate the feeling he had that training the scout was important any better than that. “I agree it seems crazy, but this is the way it has to be. Trust me. I know what I’m doing.” He did his best to stop the emotions of his own doubts from traveling down the link to his bondmate. From the increased swirling in the molten silver of Jeena’s eyes, he was pretty sure he wasn’t succeeding.
A fluttering sound from behind drew Richard’s attention to the stairs. Jeena looked in the same direction. Richard noticed Red Wing standing at the bottom of the stairs, holding a pouch with a long shoulder strap.
“Good stealth shield,” said Nickelo in their shared space.
/> “The elf is right,” said Red Wing. “You are my prisoners. I will take you before the tribal council, and I will kill you. I agree with the elf. What you are doing is crazy, even for a human.”
“Then call me crazy, because that’s what I’m going to continue to do regardless of what anyone else thinks.”
“Fine,” said Jeena using the word in a manner Richard knew she’d picked up from him. “Have it your way then, but do not expect me to sit here and act like I approve.”
Richard watched as Jeena headed for the stairs. Emotions of anger, love, concern, and more than a little fear flowed down the link between them. He didn’t need her to tell him that even out of sight, she would still sense the emotions of his pain from any injuries he received.
“I’m sorry,” Richard said trying to get her to turn back around.
Jeena didn’t reply. Holding her head high, she walked up the stairs and continued to ignore him until she was out of sight.
No one in the cargo bay said anything. They barely breathed. Even Red Wing was quiet.
After thirty seconds staring at the empty stairs, Richard let out a sigh before turning to look at the scout. “Okay, now we begin weapons training,” he said trying to keep any trace of emotions out of his voice. He knew he was causing stress to his bondmate but saw no other choice. Summoning his dimensional pack, he grabbed it when the black bag appeared in the air. He reached inside and pulled out a short sword and a dagger. “Use your dimensional pouch to summon an edged weapon. I don’t care what.”
Red Wing shook her head. “No.”
Richard felt his face grow warm but kept his anger under control. He knew he’d be just as confused by the training regimen if the situation was reversed. “Look, I know you probably want to train with your phase spear, but we need to start off with edged weapons. That was the technique my brother used when training me at the academy. Believe me when I say it has paid dividends over the years. I talked to my niece and nephew on Storage. They said the warehouses dedicated for Crosioian scouts are pretty much unscathed. I’m confident that you can summon just about any edged weapon you’re comfortable with.”
“No,” said Red Wing more forcefully.
This time Richard felt his face grow hot. In his youth, his anger would have controlled his actions. That had been long ago. Holding his temper in check, he counted to five under his breath before speaking. “Why not?”
The scout’s chest turned almost pale. She raised her head toward the ceiling before turning back to Richard. “I cannot make my mother’s dimensional pouch work for me.”
It almost sounds like she’s ashamed, Richard thought. When the scout didn’t elaborate, he said, “Oh. Uh, I, ah, just assumed your mother trained…uh, never mind. It just takes training. I couldn’t use my dimensional pack until I was taught how. It’s no big deal. Let me see you try. Uh, I mean, if you don’t mind.”
Red Wing’s chest lost most of its paleness as Richard spoke. He sensed a line of Power reach out from the scout to her fighting-helmet where it set on the workbench next to his battle helmet. A line of energy from the scout’s fighting-helmet reached back and touched Red Wing’s dimensional pouch.
“Nick,” Richard said out loud. “Connect to Red Wing’s fighting-computer and provide instructions for modifying the energy flow to the pouch. It’s using the frequency for Red Wing’s mother. Red Wing’s is slightly different. Her computer has to take that into account.”
“Compliance,” replied Nickelo over the battle helmet’s external speakers.
Richard looked at the scout. “Actually, you don’t need your fighting-computer to use the pouch unless you need assistance with the required specifications. For right now though, it’s probably easier to use your computer until you get the hang of it. Try sending the image of what you want to your fighting-computer again, along with the Power needed to summon the item. I’ll follow along in case there are any problems.”
Red Wing swiveled her ears on Richard for the count of five before nodding her head. “Very well. I will do as you say, but this does not change the fact that you are my prisoner.”
“Yes, yes,” Richard said trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. “I’m your prisoner. You’ve made that abundantly clear the last couple of days, so you don’t need to keep bringing it up. Now try to summon whatever edged weapon you want. I’ll guide you if you have trouble.”
A line of Power reached out from the scout to her fighting-helmet. Richard probed the line with an active scan of his own. “Your flow’s not quite right,” he said. “Watch what I do.” Touching Red Wing’s line, he bent the Power into a rhythmic flow resembling waves rather than a straight line. The line of energy connecting the fighting-helmet to the dimensional pack took on the same rhythmic flow. Richard sensed energy in the scout’s pouch disappear.
Red Wing glanced at the pouch before turning her ears toward Richard. Her wings fluttered slightly.
“May as well check,” Richard said trying to sound positive. “Either it worked or it didn’t. No use standing around wondering which.”
Opening the flap of her pouch, Red Wing reached inside and pulled out a shiny, wing-shaped blade the length of Richard’s arm. The blade was attached to a black metal rod. The scout kept pulling to reveal a second similar blade attached to the other end of the meter-long rod. Once the weapon was completely out of the pouch, Red Wing grabbed the rod with both hands and spun the blades in a whirling figure-eight motion. She stopped the spinning and set the bottom blade on the metal deck while holding the rod at her side. The tip of the topmost blade was even with the top of her head.
“This is called a wing-blade,” said Red Wing. “It is the traditional weapon of old for all of our tribes. Every warrior learns to use this weapon before they are allowed to start training in more advanced weapons. Our scouts use the wing-blade during tournaments to gain honor for our tribes.”
Richard took a closer look at the weapon. The razor-sharp edges of the two blades glistened under the lights of the cargo bay. He glanced down at his short sword and dagger.
“Hmm,” said Nickelo over the battle helmet’s external speaker. “Are you sure you don’t want a longsword instead?” Nickelo laughed.
Red Wing hissed laughter as well. So did Charlie and Daniel. Richard did not join in. He had a feeling his bondmate was going to sense more than a few hurts through their bond link in the next couple of hours.
More than a few, he thought.
“I calculate you’ve got that right,” said Nickelo in their shared space. “Definitely more than a few.”
Chapter 18 – The Gate
___________________________________
The tunnels of New Drepdenor were filled with an impenetrable darkness that would have left anyone using normal vision totally helpless. The lack of light made little difference to Telsa. The night vision filter of the battle helmet caused her surroundings to show up bright as day, albeit with a reddish tint. A quick glance at the two elves and the gnome walking confidently by her side made it obvious they were also unaffected by the dark.
“Must be nice to have night vision as an ability,” Telsa told her battle computer.
“Now do not get jealous,” said Raj. “The elves and the gnome only have day and night vision. Your battle helmet has filters for radiation, sonic, and a dozen other forms of vision. You are lucky to have your suit’s technology instead of having to rely on just your physical attributes.”
“I’m not jealous,” Telsa said trying to convince herself as much as her battle computer. “It’s just that I don’t always have my equipment. That’s when having a natural ability to see at night would come in handy.”
“Tsk, tsk,” said Raj adding canned laughter to his words. “Just be thankful you can see now. I calculate what you are seeing has not been viewed by human eyes since Queen Emerald and her people disappeared nearly a hundred thousand years ago.”
Telsa looked around, taking in the sights just as she had been for the
last four hours as they walked ever deeper into the mountain. Although the tunnels had been unoccupied for tens of thousands of years, both the tunnels and the caverns of New Drepdenor were a wonder to behold. The broad tunnel they were currently in was wide enough for twenty large men to stand side by side without touching. The ceiling was half again as high. The tunnel floor was composed of granite blocks polished to a high shine. If they had been using white light, Telsa was sure she could’ve seen her reflection in the floor. The dwarves had taken great pride in carving out their mountain home.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again,” Telsa said, hearing the words echo off the stone walls. “This place is beautiful.” She waved an arm at the engravings, statues, and other monuments lining both sides of the wide tunnel. “The dwarves obviously didn’t mind using their gold and silver when they built this place.” She pointed at a statue of an armored dwarf wearing a crown and carrying a large battle axe. “That one looks like it’s made out of solid platinum. Are those real diamonds in the crown?”
Rembis, Master Jathar, and Leethor stopped and faced the statue.
“Yes, they are,” said Rembis. “The crown was made by the finest metalsmiths the queen could find. The statue is a likeness of King Lokanstanos. He was Queen Emerald’s father. This particular tunnel is called the Queen’s Way. A lot of the monuments you see in the tunnel are based upon the history of Old Drepdenor.”
“From the data Nickelo sent me,” said Raj using the battle helmet’s external speakers, “the dwarves took a lot of their treasure with them when they left Old Drepdenor. I calculate they found even more when they were digging these tunnels and caverns.”
“Well, the place is beautiful wherever they got the stuff from,” Telsa said as she turned away from the statue and resumed walking. “I’m surprised the place isn’t in ruins. I haven’t seen a single rockslide in the four hours we’ve been down here.”
Raj laughed. “Yes, quite impressive. I calculate the guardian is responsible for the pristine condition of the place. I detect traces of the dragon’s spells all around us. I suspect even the elves’ maintenance spells do not come close to those of the guardian.”
Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8) Page 18