Richard was momentarily caught by surprise, but Sam wasn’t. The little gnome reached up and blocked the elf’s blow with his short sword. The blow knocked Sam to the ground, but he was unhurt.
“That was his bondmate,” Sam yelled in explanation.
Richard didn’t know what a bondmate was, but he had no trouble understanding the hatred in the elf’s eyes. Before the elf could raise his sword to strike another blow, Richard swung with his right fist and caught the elf underneath the chin. The elf fell down unconscious as his longsword clattered onto the dock.
Wasting no more time, Richard kicked the elf over the side of the dock into the life raft. Sam picked up the elf’s sword and joined him in the boat.
Richard turned and fired his M63 into the closing ranks of zombies. He kept the trigger pulled until the battery emptied. Richard grabbed the rope at the front of the life raft. He wrapped himself with Power and ran off the end of the dock. Just before his foot touched the water, he used telekinesis to lift himself back into the air. He began running over the water towards the far bank of the river dragging the life raft behind him.
It’s taking more Power to pull the raft, said Nickelo. You’re going to run out of Power before you reach the other side.
As if sensing his dilemma, Sam muttered two words as he wrapped the life raft in magic energy. The life raft lifted a meter off the water.
Levitation, said Nickelo needlessly. My calculations now indicate you can reach the far bank with twenty-two percent Power remaining.
Richard tried to be as efficient and as fast as possible. Behind him, he heard Sam mutter several words. A shimmering sphere surrounded them again. Richard sensed a line of energy coming from the vicinity of the dock as one of the Northern Mages sent a spell their way. Arcs of lightning shot all around the sphere created by Sam. Other than a slight tingle when he inadvertently let one of his feet touch the water, Richard felt nothing. They reached the other side of the river without further mishap. Richard dropped his Power the moment he got on shore. He pulled the raft up beside him and helped Sam lift the unconscious elf out.
You’ve got twenty-three percent Power remaining, said Nickelo. You need to get to the children now. Dren says they are almost done showing Remozorz how to use the gate device. I don’t think we’ve got long left.
“Let’s go, Sam,” Richard said as he bent down and threw the limp elf over his shoulder.
The elf and his chainmail were heavy, but even so, the battle suit’s assistors made easy work of running up the hill. Richard had to slow down twice to let the old gnome catch up.
“Go,” Sam said. “I’ll catch up. If what you’ve said is true, you’ve got to reach the children.”
Richard started running again. A hundred meters ahead, he saw a small figure raise a staff twice her size high in the air. It was Remozorz. Energy blazed around her, and the gem at the top of the staff shone brightly. At that moment, she no longer appeared to be the tired gnome Richard had known. She looked every bit the powerful high priestess she was.
Richard sensed an answering blaze of energy to his rear. It was very evil.
“Surrender now, High Priestess,” said a harsh voice that carried across the river. “I will give your companions a swift death, and you will rule by my side. Lower your staff. You cannot win.”
“It’s your time that has come, vile necromancer,” answered Remozorz in a strong but clear voice. “You have mocked the Creator too often to be shown mercy. Go now to the hell that you deserve.”
Remozorz lifted her staff even higher, and its glow spread outward in all directions. As the glow passed over Richard, he heard a voice in his head.
Mission complete, said ‘the One’.
Richard threw the unconscious elf to the ground and activated his best stealth shield. He felt his body tingle and his cells begin to tear apart. Before everything blacked out, he saw two flashing white dots on his heads-up display. The children were still two hundred meters away.
“No!” Richard shouted. Then everything went black.
Chapter 32 – Only One Survives
____________________________________
The Crosioian scout relaxed her grip on the rifle. She had waited a full thirty minutes.
Surely if the wizard scout was returning, he would have been here by now, she thought.
She activated her lowest-level stealth shield in preparation for leaving. She had been so close to defeating the wizard scout. She hungered for the chance to fight him again. She needed to prove who the better fighter was in order to recite the story before the gathering of clans. It had been several years since she had last killed one of the Empire’s wizard scouts. As far as she was concerned, it was long past time to do so again.
Two pings appeared on her helmet’s sonar. Their frequencies were familiar.
It’s the children, she said to her fighting suit’s computer. The wizard scout must be here as well. Find him.
The children are two hundred meters from their last location, said her computer. I am not picking up the wizard scout on sonar. He must have his best stealth shield up. Recommend you do the same.
The Crosioian scout replaced her lowest stealth shield with her best as she continued to listen closely for any telltale pings through her rifle’s sonar array. She heard nothing. She sent an active scan to the wizard scout’s last known location by the burned out vehicle. It was a risky tactic, but she had to know.
A radiation anomaly is moving in the direction of the children, said her computer. I calculate a seventy-one percent probability it is the wizard scout.
The Crosioian scout smiled. I’ve got you now, she thought.
Based upon the erratic movement of the children, said her fighting computer, I calculate an eighty-two percent probability they do not have night-vision equipment.
The blind fools, the Crosioian scout thought. She felt a flash of pride that her species did not require light in order to sense their surroundings. It was a weakness she had exploited in the human species many times. She knew the children would be no threat in the upcoming fight. After she killed the wizard scout, she would deal with the children.
The Crosioian scout switched her fighting suit’s filter to radiation. She noticed a slight disturbance in the radiation field moving in the direction of the smoldering compound. It had to be the wizard scout. If the fool had remained still, she would have missed him.
Like many of his species she had fought over the years, the wizard scout was letting his concern for others sign his death warrant. The Crosioian scout had never understood why humans endangered themselves for others of their kind, but it did not matter. Their weakness had worked to her advantage many times in the past. It would do so once again.
The Crosioian scout aimed at the moving figure and pulled the firing mechanism on her rifle. A steady stream of plasma rounds headed straight for the wizard scout. The wizard scout turned and threw up a hasty defensive shield. The Crosioian scout stood up and began running towards the wizard scout. She put up her own defensive shield.
The wizard scout is at twenty-one percent Power reserve, said her fighting computer, and dropping rapidly. If you can force him to keep his shield up, he will run out of Power in twenty point six seconds. You have enough Power in your reserve to maintain your defensive shield for two minutes. Recommend you stop your advance and continue to engage at long range with your rifle. Once his Power reserve is depleted, you can kill him with your rifle’s plasma rounds without endangering yourself.
The Crosioian scout ignored her computer. She did not need it to state the obvious. The wizard scout did not have the weapons, Power, or skill to penetrate her shield. She could close the distance without undue risk. Once she was close enough, she would engage him with her phase spear and watch him squirm on its point as his insides were torn to shreds. The wizard scout was as good as dead.
* * *
Ensign Elizabeth Bistos hit the left lateral throwing her shuttle to the right. A flash of pai
n erupted in her side as she was slammed into the left armrest of her chair. A bright flash to the left told her she’d made the right decision. Her shuttle’s force field would have been overwhelmed by the tactical nuke, and she would now be bits of radioactive waste doomed to orbit the planet.
“Seven fighters are on your six,” said her shuttle’s computer. “Four more are closing in from your left side. The destroyers are hanging back. I calculate a sixty-seven percent probability they will let the fighters handle you this time.”
After she’d dropped off her payload over the planet, Liz had barely escaped a pair of pursuing destroyers. Her recon shuttle was not well-armed, but by the Creator, it more than made up for its lack of armament with maneuverability and speed. When a skilled pilot was at the controls, a recon shuttle was hard to catch and hit with anything other than nukes or a full broadside from a capital ship’s phase cannons or a fleet of destroyers. And, Liz was a very skilled pilot. She was determined to do her best to make her ship hard to hit.
When she’d finally rendezvoused with the troop shuttle’s near the fourth planet, they had told her the mission was a success but with multiple casualties, and that the wizard scout had failed to make pickup and was presumed lost. Just before they shifted into hyper-drive to make the return to their mothership, the dreadnought Destiny, an order had come down from the central computer to return to Veturna for an emergency pickup. Liz had immediately transferred her copilot, gunner, and crew chief to one of the troop shuttles and headed back on her own. The emergency pickup had all the makings of a suicide mission, and Liz was too good of a leader to risk her crew. It had been her mistake for dropping the wizard scout into an ambush. If a price was to be paid, she would be the one to pay it.
I should have aborted the mission when those destroyers jumped us, Liz thought. I should never have dropped Rick on that planet. Damn my hide for being so mission-oriented. But come hell or high water, I swear I’m going to get him back or die trying.
Liz turned her ship slightly to the right. This took her off the optimum course to the pickup point, but she had to bunch those other four fighters with the group of seven. It was her only hope, and it was a slim one at that. She wasn’t even sure she had the skills to pull it off, but she knew she had to try. Liz continued moving her hands rapidly across the control panel making erratic changes in course to make it more difficult for the fighters to lock onto her ship. She had to stay out of their sights for a few more seconds.
* * *
You’ve got twenty seconds of Power in your reserve, Rick, said Nickelo. Your defensive shield is too Power hungry. You can’t slug it out with that scout. You’ve got to think of an alternate course of action.
I’m trying, Richard said. I don’t hear you making any suggestions.
Richard aimed his M63 at the Crosioian scout and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He had a sudden realization he’d emptied the isotopic battery on the dock before grabbing the life raft’s rope.
And that’s why I’m always nagging you to reload, said Nickelo.
Piss on it, Richard cursed as he began running head-on towards the Crosioian scout. I couldn’t outgun her anyway.
Rick, said a panicking Nickelo, you should be attempting to disengage, not trying to close the distance. Do you even have a plan?
Other than beating the living crap out of her with my phase rod? Richard said. No. I haven’t got a clue what I’m going to do.
His temper had taken full control. Richard unhooked his phase rod from his utility belt and activated it in destructive mode. The distance to the Crosioian scout closed even faster than Richard had dared hoped. The scout was running towards him as well, and she had stopped firing. Richard dropped his defensive shield to conserve Power. The scout kept her shield up. Richard noticed she was carrying a short spear with an arm-length glowing point at the end. He sensed a high concentration of phase energy coming from the spear.
Rick, said Nickelo, you’re down to twelve percent Power. Her shield stops both physical and energy attacks. You’ll just bounce off her shield. Even your phase rod won’t penetrate. What are you hoping to gain from this foolish gesture?
Richard didn’t bother replying. When he was six paces from the scout, Richard shifted into the void. With the Power he had available, Richard knew he only had time for one desperate swing. He felt a slight tingle as he passed through the Crosioian scout’s shield. Just as he started swinging his phase rod, Richard noticed the scout shimmer. A split second later her shield dropped.
She’s shifted into the void, warned Nickelo.
The Crosioian scout met Richard’s phase rod with the end of her spear. The air exploded between them, and both he and the Crosioian were flung backwards.
Just before he hit the ground, the last of Richard’s Power emptied from his reserve. He materialized and hit the ground hard. Richard rolled over and raised his phase rod just in time to block another strike from the Crosioian scout’s spear. This time there was no explosion.
She’s still in the void, said Nickelo. You’re not. Your phase rod is your only defense now.
Richard blocked two more blows from the scout’s spear as he stood back up. The scout’s blows were powerful, and his battle suit’s assistors were barely able to resist the strength of her fighting suit.
Why doesn’t she fire her rifle? Richard said as he sidestepped another blow and made a series of quick counterstrikes of his own.
Don’t you know? said Nickelo disapprovingly. She’s in the void, and so is her rifle. She can’t use it on you unless she materializes. But it doesn’t matter. I calculate a forty-two percent probability she wants to defeat you in hand-to-hand combat. Otherwise, she’d just wrap your heart with Power and use telekinesis to rip it out of your chest. You’re out of Power. She knows you couldn’t stop her.
The Crosioian scout swung her spear in a horizontal strike at Richard’s head. He ducked beneath her swing and gave a sidekick to the scout’s right kneecap. His foot passed through the scout’s leg throwing him off balance.
I told you she’s still in the void, said Nickelo. You can’t touch her physically. The creallium in your phase rod exists in both this dimension and the void. That’s the only reason it works on her.
Momentarily off balance, Richard barely got his phase rod up in time to block a downward strike from the scout. The point of her spear slid down the shaft of the phase rod and over the guard onto Richard’s gloved hand. The phase energy penetrated the battle suit’s armor and shattered the bones in Richard’s left hand and wrist. His phase rod went flying through the air.
Richard screamed in agony even as he tried to position his M63 between him and another strike by the Crosioian scout. The point of her spear shattered the M63 and continued on to make contact with Richard’s right kneecap. The sub-atomic explosions of the phase energy disintegrated Richard’s knee. He fell to the ground screaming.
Richard made a weak attempt to regain his feet. The Crosioian scout shifted out of the void and materialized in front of him. She did a half spin as she unfolded a wing from her back. A wicked looking point at the wing joint jabbed into Richard’s neck. It missed his jugular, but blood flowed down Richard’s airway anyway, and he began choking on his own blood.
When the scout withdrew the point, Richard fell back to the ground clutching his neck. He sensed the scout standing over him with her spear raised ready to stab downward. He vaguely heard the Crosioian scout speak.
“Die, wizard scout,” she said. “You are my number six.”
* * *
Captain Margret Waters looked at the orders on the screen again. If the flashing High Command security insignia had not been present, she would have thought the orders were an enemy ruse. But these orders could not be faked. They came straight from the central computer with the highest encryption level.
The troop shuttles and fighters had been successfully retrieved into the docking bay. Only the recon shuttle was still out. The Destiny’s part in the mission
should be nearly over. That’s why these new orders made no sense. But then again, her ship’s part in this whole mission had made no sense. The Destiny was a dreadnought, the most powerful of the Empire’s capital ships. The Destiny’s heavy armor, force fields, and weapon’s batteries were designed to slug it out with enemy capital ships. Given enough time, the ship’s plasma batteries and nuclear torpedoes could destroy every living thing on a planet’s surface down to a depth of half a kilometer. Her ship wasn’t meant to be used as a recovery craft for a small raid by special operations troops. A small cruiser or fast destroyer would have been better suited for the mission.
“Sir?” repeated the pilot. “What should I do?”
“Do, Mister Jager?” said the Captain. “You will follow your orders just like I will. Plot the course and make the jump into hyperspace. Lieutenant Cameron, signal battle stations. I want every weapon ready to fire the moment we come out of hyperspace. Tell our gunners if they spot anything on their screens that’s not our recon shuttle, they are to turn it into little pieces of floating wreckage, or by the Creator, I’ll know the reason why.”
* * *
“Brachia,” Dren yelled. “Where are you? We have to get back to Rick. He’s in trouble.”
“I’m right here,” said Brachia. “I’m getting my night-vision goggles out of my pack. You should too.”
Embarrassed she had forgotten about the goggles Rick had given them weeks earlier, Dren removed her pack and fumbled around inside. Her hands felt clumsy. She was scared. The firing had stopped. She feared the worst for Rick. Her hand touched something hard. It was the goggles. She pulled them out and put them on. The darkness disappeared. She saw Brachia kneeling a few meters away putting on his own goggles. Dren looked in the direction she had last seen the plasma rounds. She could just make out a tall figure raising something high overhead as if preparing to thrust it downward. Whatever item the figure held was glowing brightly as if pulsating with energy. Another figure was lying on the ground below the first. The figures were over two hundred meters away.
Wizard Cadet (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 2) Page 39