“Tell the wizard scouts to get the POWs ready. We’re coming in, and we’re coming in fast.” Without waiting for Admiral Adamas to acknowledge her orders, Liz turned to her sister. “I want you on board the Conglomerate’s flagship Planet Buster. Your job is to make sure none of the Conglomerate ships desert their post this time. You tell that boyfriend of yours if any of his ships leave their assigned positions, I swear I’ll personally hunt their captains down after this is over and hang them for treason and cowardice in the face of the enemy.”
The hologram of her sister stiffened. Liz gave her credit for not arguing. After giving a brisk salute, Tia said, “Aye, aye, Sir.” Then the hologram winked out.
Raising her voice enough to be heard over the controlled bedlam on the Destiny’s bridge, Liz said, “All right, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve got a war to fight. Let’s make it happen.”
* * *
Trinity glanced around the crowded tent. The outdated heater the Crosioians had provided the POWs barely kept the inside of the tent above freezing. Clouds of vapor filled the air as the prisoners around her tried to control their breathing.
“So this is it?” asked Colonel Harrington. “We’re really going home?”
The sight of the haggard prisoners huddled inside the tent made Trinity tell a little white lie. “That’s right. You’re all going home. Pass the word. Get everyone ready. The landing zones have been marked. You need to get your troops in position.”
Colonel Harrington glanced around at her men before looking back at Trinity. “Not everyone can be moved in time. What about them?”
Trinity told another white lie. “No one will be left behind. Admiral Bistos has smaller troopships assigned to pick up the units that are too far out to make it to a landing zone. Two thousand hospital ships will be in orbit in the next two hours. They’ll start shuttling the worst cases directly to sick bay as soon as they arrive.”
“What about the Crosioians?” asked a gaunt-eyed major. His infantry uniform was even more ragged than the clothing of the others. “My battalion was one of the last to quit fighting before the surrender. The bats hate humans. Those winged devils aren’t going to just let us waltz out of here without a fight. My soldiers need weapons.”
Trinity felt the blue-gemmed ring on her left hand tingle. A feeling of frustration passed down the link between Jerad and her. He’s having as many problems as I am, she thought. All of the wizard scouts probably are. She thought of Tam, Stella, and the other wizard scouts. Liz had given them a nearly impossible mission. How the hell are we supposed to organize two hundred million POWs and get them off this frozen piece of rock before the bats blow us all to hell? She didn’t have an answer, but she was a wizard scout. She would do her best.
Trinity turned to stare at the major. “You’ll get weapons as soon as our troopships land,” she said telling another white lie. After all, for all she knew it was true. “Admiral Bistos has thought of everything. Now get moving. That means all of you. We haven’t got much time. My battle computer says the first troopships will be landing soon.”
“Jennifer,” Trinity said in her shared space. “When will the troopships be landing? I don’t think these guys can last much longer.”
“Uh, soon, Wizard Scout. The Crosioian fleets are starting to make their appearance. Your Liz has her hands full at the moment.”
“Don’t we all?” Trinity thought back. “Don’t we all.”
Chapter 42 – A Yellow Gem
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By the time they reached the valley floor, the purple imp was a good hundred meters ahead. Telsa positioned her modified M12 on its shoulder strap so she could fire from the hip if need be.
“Keep your eyes on a swivel,” Telsa told her companions. “This has all the makings of a trap.”
Eyeing the two-kilometer-wide valley floor, Rembis pulled a wand out of his belt with his free hand. “My thoughts exactly.” The old gnome gave Master Jathar and Leethor a wink before waving a hand at Telsa in the direction of the valley floor. “Ladies first, as my mother always used to say.”
Giving the gnome a frown that only made him smile the more, Telsa flicked the safety on her rifle to the firing position and trudged down the last part of the hill, toward the imp. Surprisingly, it had stopped and was sitting on a waist-high rock. Once Telsa stood in front of the stone, the imp jumped to its feet and bared its teeth.
“See, mortals. I told you I would take you to a yellow gem.”
Taking a quick look around, Telsa saw nothing that looked like a gem, yellow or otherwise. “What are you talking about? There’s nothing here but dried up lava and crushed sand.”
Leethor bent down and picked up a handful of the black sand. Bits of the grain glinted in the glow of a massive lava river five hundred meters in the distance. “Try going to your clear visor,” suggested the elf scout. “I think we have been had.”
Taking a suspicious look at the imp but seeing no danger, Telsa thought the command to switch her battle helmet’s visor to its clear filter. The reddish tint of her night vision disappeared, replaced by near darkness broken only by the light from the lava river and the belching volcano to their rear. Something glinted in the dark sand near her feet. Bending down, she scooped up a handful of the dark material in her glove. Multiple glints flashed out of the sand as she brought it closer to her visor.
“White light, Raj.”
“Compliance.”
A beam of white shone out of the top of her battle helmet and lit up the sand. Multicolored glints of red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and several other colors shown up in the sand. None of the glints were larger than a grain of sand.
“What are these?” Telsa asked.
“Gems,” said the imp, seeming to beam with pride. “I told you I would take you to a yellow gem.” The miniature demon waved a clawed hand at the dark sand around them. “See? Many yellow gems. Other colors too. Take what you will.”
Tossing the sand back on the valley floor, Telsa trained her M12 on the demon. The imp’s smile disappeared as its eyes narrowed.
“You’ve taken us to nothing,” Telsa said. “These bits of yellow aren’t gems. They’re too small. We need a gem the size of my two fists, not something so small I can barely see it.”
Flapping its wings, the imp hovered a full meter off its rock before landing back on the same stone and tucking its wings behind its back. “Mortals never satisfied.” It waved its paw at the surrounding landscape. “You wanted yellow gem. I have taken you to a place with many yellow gems.” The imp sighed. “Some of these gems larger than others, but none the size of two fists. If you want gem that size, then you must go kill a major demon yourself.”
Leethor stepped up next to Telsa. “What do you mean go kill a demon? What’s that got to do with gems?”
The imp hissed a laugh. “Foolish mortals, what do you think soul-gems are? Do you think they grow on trees? When demons die in our plane, their soul remains as a gem. The more powerful the demon, the larger the gem. Great battle was fought here before your silly worlds were even formed. Many demons, great demons, were killed. The gems around you are what is left of their souls.”
Telsa started to speak, but Leethor beat her to the punch. “Are you telling me every one of these gem particles was once a demon?”
The imp shook its head. “No. Some. Not all. Powerful forces destroyed many demons. Their souls were cracked and scattered in the wind. Many pieces still here. My master told me to tell you to take what you want.”
“Were no major demons killed during this battle of yours?” Telsa asked as she glanced around the landscape trying to see any large gem that might shine up in the beam of white light from her helmet.
“Yes, yes,” replied the imp. “Many powerful demons were destroyed. Larger soul-gems were taken. None left here now.” The imp pointed a claw at Leethor. “Soul-gem of a major demon was taken to your world.” Pointing its claw at the blue gem embedded in the pommel of the elven scout’s sword
, the imp said, “The magic of your weapon comes from a soul-gem. Other worlds were given different soul-gems. Some large, some small. Most powerful of all is yellow soul-gem. My master crushed his rival’s soul and scattered the pieces across this valley. Only a single piece the size of your head remained. It was taken to the world you call Portalis and given to the giants by our enemy. My master’s servant, the Dalinfaust, sent his time-commando to destroy the giant’s gem. My master was not happy, but it is what it is. All that remains of the yellow demon’s soul-gem now are the bits and pieces in the sand of this valley. They small, but still some Power in them.”
Bending down again, Telsa scooped up another handful of the black sand. Several bits of barely discernable yellow glinted in the dim light of the lava. “So it’s all been a waste. We got trapped here for nothing. There is no yellow gem.”
Pulling a vial from the pocket of his robe, Rembis reached down and plucked a pinch of sand off the ground before placing it in the bottle and replacing the stopper.
Telsa noticed a glint of yellow in the vial. “Why’d you do that?” she asked. “Isn’t it too small to close the gate under the Tree of Light?”
The old gnome placed the bottle in his pocket before looking back at Telsa. “I’m sure it is, Wizard Scout, but when you’ve lived as long as I, you learn to save things when you find them. You never know.”
Doubtful, Telsa sent an active scan at the gnome’s pocket. He smiled as if sensing her probe, but he didn’t try to interfere. Touching the vial’s contents with her scan, Telsa sensed Power. It was barely discernable, but it was there. Withdrawing her scan, she shrugged her shoulders. “Well, if you say so, but in my opinion, that piece of gem doesn’t have enough Power to close off the entrance to an anthill, much less a gate between dimensions.”
“I’ve no doubt you are right, my friend,” said Rembis. “But it’s all we got.” He waved his staff to take in the landscape. “The question now is where do we go next?”
“Next?” said the imp. “Next we go to the rift. My master said to take you there, and that is where we must go.”
Telsa glanced at her friends.
Rembis scratched his head before shrugging his shoulders. “What choice do we have?” he asked. “We’ve got to get back to our world somehow. I suspect the imp’s way is as good as another.”
“Then we are decided?” asked Master Jathar.
Shutting off her battle helmet’s white light and switching the filter back to night vision mode, Telsa gazed around at the inhospitable landscape. The volcano behind them chose that moment to belch and shoot a house-sized ball of molten lava into the air. It hit the ground a kilometer away, throwing up a plume of smoke and ash.
“Count me in,” Telsa said. “What could be worse than where we are?”
Raj spoke up over the battle helmet’s external speakers. “I have a list of two million things that are worse, if anyone is interested.”
“Not me,” laughed Leethor. “I think what we have already is plenty bad enough.”
“Amen to that,” Telsa said with a laugh.
Master Jathar, Leethor, and Rembis joined in with small laughs of their own. Even the imp hissed what Telsa assumed was its version of a laugh. When it did, she stopped laughing. She had a sudden thought. If it’s laughing, I’ve got a funny feeling it’s not going to turn out well for us.
“I calculate you are right, Wizard Scout,” said Raj in their shared space. “I calculate your analysis is more accurate than you think.”
Chapter 43 – The Tournament
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The hundred and fifteen applicants formed up into two groups on the sprawling, dust-covered arena floor. Jeena had been warned by Red Wing and the supreme leader that Richard would be targeted for elimination by the other applicants in the tournament. They had been right. Red Wing and her bondmate were the last to enter the arena. The two of them stood near the stone wall below the carved out section of the arena dedicated to the supreme leader and her entourage of which Jeena was part. A line of a hundred and thirteen scouts were arrayed along the opposite wall.
The hissing and flapping of wings grew to an ear-deafening roar upon Richard’s entrance. After several seconds, the noise showed no signs of abating. Jeena scanned the cavern’s walls and ceiling. Her escort, an old male with nearly solid white fur, had told her over twenty thousand Crosioians were in attendance. She believed it. Balcony-like holes cut in the stone walls were filled with bats crammed so tight they couldn’t even flap their wings. Glancing overhead, Jeena took in the thousands of bats hanging upside down from metal rafters, stretching from one end of the cavern to the other. The constantly flapping wings of the Crosioians stirred up a strong odor of ammonia. Jeena unconsciously raised a hand to her nose.
“Ah, yes,” said the old male standing next to her chair. “I am sure the smell is something other than what you are used to. Perhaps we should move to the airtight viewing box we reserve for honored guests that are not Crosioians.”
Jeena shook her head. She was right where she wanted to be. “That is very kind of you, Servant-Who-Smiles-And-Twitches-His-Ears. I’m sure the smell will be quite pleasant once I get used to it.” She knew it was a lie, but she lowered her hand and forced it to remain on the arm of her chair.
The old male bared his fangs in what Jeena had come to take as a friendly gesture from the old bat. “Please, High Priestess, call me Twitch. As chief of protocol for the supreme leaders, I am well aware that our names are a little long for non-Crosioians to say.” He swiveled his ears at her. “Is your chair comfortable? I could have the attendants get another, if you prefer. Perhaps one with more padding would suit you better.”
Jeena almost accepted the bat’s offer. The seat of the overly large chair was comprised of a hard reptilian skin with bumps that made getting comfortable nearly impossible. She looked to her left. The supreme leader and several of her staff sat on similar chairs. One of the bats in the staff turned in her direction before leaning over to hiss in the ears of her neighbor. Both bats hissed a laugh.
“No thank you, Twitch,” Jeena said. “This chair is more than adequate. And please call me Jeehana.”
“As you wish, Jeehana. My only concern is your comfort.”
To be honest, comfort was the least of Jeena’s worries. Her bondmate stood facing a hundred and thirteen scouts determined to kill him. He had only a wing-blade for his defense.
I would that I was down there with him, Jeena thought, but the rules have been explained to me in detail many times over during this past two days. If I make one move to help Rick either physically or magically, he will be killed immediately.
Glancing to her left and right, Jeena noted the presence of the two anti-armor phase auto-cannons installed just for the tournament. The barrels of the two large-bore weapons were pointed directly at her bondmate. The auto-cannons were backed up by the phase rifles of a hundred of the supreme leader’s most trusted guards. She knew from watching the royal guard put down the coup the previous day that they were good. Her bondmate wouldn’t stand a chance.
What chance does he stand against a hundred plus scouts? Even with Red Wing helping him, he is hopelessly outnumbered. How I wish I could be by his side, but it cannot be. I must have faith in him. Somehow he will pull off a miracle. He must. I will not believe otherwise.
Jeena thought of her staff. Like Richard’s battle helmet and other equipment, it was locked away in a high-security vault nearby. Try as she might, she could not sense her staff. What she could sense though, was the connection to her bondmate. She sent an emotion of pride and love down the link. Richard glanced over his shoulder and caught her eye, smiled, and nodded his head before turning back to look at the hundred plus scouts arrayed against him.
The ring on Jeena’s finger tingled, followed by Danny’s voice in her head. “I would recommend not distracting your wizard scout. I calculate Rick’s got a plan. Everything’s going to work out all right. Just wait and see.”
>
* * *
At the feeling of pride and love flowing down his bond link, Richard glanced over his shoulder to catch his bondmate’s eyes. Even at twenty meters he could see their molten silver swirling at a fast pace. She sat in the most uncomfortable looking chair he’d ever seen, but in his opinion, she sat on it like a queen on her thrown. To her left stood an old male, white-furred and bent with age. A wingspan to her right was the supreme leader surrounded by a score of bats wearing gray tunics. On either side of the supreme leader’s balcony were two phase cannons. Their 100mm barrels looked dangerous. The obvious eagerness of their gun crews made the weapons appear even more ominous.
Gathering a feeling of pride and love from the depths of his soul, Richard sent them through his bond link. After nodding his head and giving Jeena a smile, he turned to face the other scouts lined up along the base of the arena wall opposite where he stood. Spaced out a wingspan between each scout, the line of scouts stretched from one end of the arena to the other.
Shouting to make his words heard above the noise of the crowd, Richard said, “Don’t forget to mark the other members of our team. I was serious about not killing them by accident.”
A line of Power reached out from Red Wing and touched six bats in the opposing line. Richard tried to memorize each of the six scouts and their locations. He had a feeling once things started happening, he wasn’t going to have much time to figure out which bat was which. Just as he finished noting each of the scouts’ locations, the hissing and flapping of wings in the cavern diminished until all was silent. A loud hiss came from behind him.
When Red Wing turned, Richard turned with her. The supreme leader was standing in the center of her balcony with wings outstretched. The wings of all other bats were tucked tightly behind them.
Wizard Defender (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 8) Page 36