Starlight (The Dark Elf War Book 1)

by William Stacey

  * * *

  Over the course of the next few days, Cassie, Elizabeth, and Duncan trained themselves in their new abilities. Two scientists, not always the same ones, watched and recorded and took notes, but they were of no practical help. One of them did offer a theory that the three mag-sens were somehow drawing mana into their central nervous systems and then releasing it in an altered state. Perhaps.

  Cassie didn’t have any idea; none of them did. They could barely explain to themselves how they manipulated this energy let alone inform nonsensitives about it. Nor could they explain what mana was. As they practiced together, though, their abilities grew. Levitating and manipulating small objects became almost second nature in the days that followed, but each of them had different limits. At best, Cassie could lift objects that weighed about five pounds, but to do that, she had to draw in as much mana as she could, and it always left her mentally drained, sometimes with a pounding headache. Even so, it was still far more than Duncan could manipulate. Elizabeth, however, could fairly easily lift objects that weighed about twenty pounds.

  Each was different in aptitude, with Elizabeth clearly the frontrunner. Not only could she levitate much heavier objects, but she could also deflect objects thrown at her, like a shield. And then there was her pyrokinesis, her ability to set small objects on fire. After a day of watching her manipulate fire, Cassie managed to do the same, albeit only with a small tissue. Still, it had been pretty cool when it had suddenly burst into fire. So far, Duncan had been unable to do even that.

  Each of them could also sense when another was channeling mana. And in that regard, Cassie was far better than Elizabeth. Not only could she sense when Elizabeth or Duncan was channeling but also where they were, even with her eyes closed.

  Unfortunately, after three days of training and testing and developing their abilities, they were still no closer to understanding any of it. It was as if mana had never existed until the night of the electrical storm and then had been suddenly released into the world in a single earth-changing moment.

  Did it have a limit? Could it run out?

  Chapter 21

  “Stronger,” Elizabeth said to Alex and Dr. Simmons, both sitting across from her in the back of the Osprey VTOL aircraft. “The mana is definitely growing stronger again.”

  Dr. Simmons jotted something down in a notebook while Alex keyed his headset radio, speaking to the crew of the aircraft, telling them to level out and fly in the direction Elizabeth had just indicated.

  This was her first flight in such a sophisticated aircraft. The way it transformed in flight from a helicopter to an airplane was beyond cool. It was also nice to get away from the Magic Kingdom. She felt a small surge of pride in the knowledge that she was there because she was so much stronger at manipulating mana than Cassie and Duncan were. Well, not me, exactly, she admonished herself. It’s God working his wonders through me. I’m just the vessel of his glory. Still, she was the best. That was why she was the one riding in an Osprey, mapping the ebbs and flows of mana in the vicinity of Fort St. John.

  They had been in the air now for about an hour. They’d fly in one direction while she called out whether the mana was intensifying or diminishing. When it disappeared entirely, she would report this, and the aircraft would turn and go in a different direction until the mana became stronger again. The aircrew was responding to Alex’s instructions, led by Elizabeth.

  So far, the mana in the atmosphere was tied down to a certain area, mostly centered somewhere in the wilderness south of Fort St. John. She wasn’t sure, but it seemed after about twenty minutes of flying—in every direction—the mana would begin to fade, to disappear, until finally, there was no mana at all. Whatever was responsible for releasing mana onto the Earth, it was localized in northern British Columbia.

  “Oh my God,” said Elizabeth, feeling the strongest surge of mana she had ever felt, as though her skin was tingling with energy.

  “What is it?” Dr. Simmons asked, looking up from her notebook.

  “Here.” Elizabeth rose from the cargo-netting seats along the sides of the Osprey then stood and peered out the circular window in the side of the aircraft. There was a large hill below with a bare top surrounded by trees. Alex moved beside her, also gazing below.

  She turned to look at him, knowing her eyes were wide with astonishment. “Can we land there?”

  He glanced at Dr. Simmons, who nodded eagerly. Then Alex spoke into his headset microphone, once again talking to the aircrew. Almost immediately, the Osprey slowed down and began to circle the hilltop. Elizabeth’s stomach lurched into her throat.

  But the mana—oh Lord, so much power, so much energy. I feel your glory, Lord. I feel you. It’s like you’re here with me now.

  The aircraft shuddered, and the engine whine changed pitch abruptly as the Osprey slowed to a hover, its massive propellers now facing up. The aircraft descended quickly, a testament to the impressive skill of its pilots. Within moments, they settled upon the hilltop. The rear ramp lowered, and Alex went out first, holding some sort of submachine gun in his hand.

  When had he picked up a weapon? And from where? Were these people always armed?

  Dr. Simmons put a hand on her forearm to stop her, but Elizabeth pushed past the other woman and stepped off the ramp and onto the hilltop. The power here… it was amazing. The air seemed to throb with mana.

  Alex looked over his shoulder and frowned at her but only told her not to get too close to the engines, which even now beat at the ground, sending currents of air so strong it was hard to walk upright. Dirt and dust flew through the air, and her long hair whipped about her face.

  She channeled. She had to, just to see. Mana surged into her, and she felt as though she could do anything. She felt a huge grin spread across her face. She felt euphoric. Is this God’s love?

  “Ground’s burnt,” Alex yelled over the noise of the rotors.

  He pointed with the barrel of his weapon, and she saw the charring around them—like a perfect circle. The closest of the trees had been burned as well. Now, they were only charred shells.

  “We need to go.” Alex grabbed her arm and pulled her back aboard the Osprey.

  In moments, she was seated again, and the aircraft lifted up. Alex was talking into his radio once more. She recognized the word breach. As they flew away from the hilltop, the mana began to lessen, to become more normal.

  The hilltop was the source of mana. What had happened there? And why were they calling it a breach?

  * * *

  “You’re certain?” Colonel McKnight sat in his office, across from Helena, Alex, and Buck. On the coffee table between them was placed a 1:50,000 topographical map of the Fort St. John region. Circled in red was the hilltop, surrounded by forest and other foothills.

  “It makes sense,” Helena said, practically beaming with excitement. “It’s the epicenter of the mana the mag-sens report. From there, it extends about 240 kilometers or so in all directions—a circle. This must be the breach.”

  “Something set a fire there, Colonel,” said Alex. “I’d have to agree with the good doctor. I think this needs to be the center of our search efforts.”

  “Maybe, but why there?” McKnight asked.

  Helena shook her head, as did Alex and Buck.

  Buck leaned forward and placed a finger on the map, on the highway. “There was an accident here, right around the time of the breach. A burned car was found on the road. The woman who was driving it was listed as missing.”

  McKnight chewed his cheek as he examined the map. “Only about… how far away?”

  “Less than five hundred meters, sir,” said Buck. “I think we’ve found the breach.”

  “This must be where the creatures came through,” McKnight said. “The basilisk and the… what do you call them—hellhounds?”

  Buck inclined his head. “Yes, sir.”

  “It’s where the hellhounds came through,” McKnight finished. “But why? How?”

  “I don�
�t know,” said Helena. “Not yet. But we’re getting closer to answers.”

  “Have we learned anything from the carcass we recovered that could aid us in tracking the basilisk?” McKnight asked.

  Helena shook her head. “We’re trying, but so far, we only have its basic physiology. It’ll take time.”

  Alex leaned forward. “Sir. Elizabeth reported a great deal of mana on the hilltop. If this is the site where the breach occurred… what if we brought her down below to the Jump Tube? She might—”

  “No, Captain. I don’t think so. They have no need to know about Operation Rubicon.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  McKnight made a steeple with his fingers and rested his chin on them as he considered what to do next.

  It’s a start at least.

  “All right,” he said. “Use the hilltop. Bring the tracker there. Let’s see what we can see. Keep testing the mag-sens. We’ll need them yet—I’m sure of it. And if nothing else, both governments have been impressed by their potential. The Project Managers want us to keep developing them. In the meantime, though, we need to find those damned creatures, and quickly, before more people die.”

  They acknowledged his orders, rose, and filed out one by one, leaving him alone.

  The burdens of command.

  Chapter 22

  It was just after six in the evening, and Cassie lay on her bed in her borrowed gym clothing, procrastinating. She had promised herself that she’d go to the gym after dinner and start back into an exercise routine. Instead, she lay in her room, channeling just enough mana to float a hairbrush and a paperback novel in front of her, the items slowly revolving around each other.

  Day after day for an entire week, Cassie had sat in a classroom, channeling mana. The more she used the mysterious energy source, the better she became at it. Her ability quickly outshone Duncan’s but still remained behind Elizabeth’s.

  No matter what she did, Elizabeth always did better. She had even started jogging around the inside perimeter of the base. Clearly, Elizabeth was one of those overachievers who just had to do everything better than everyone else—and let them know it.

  Cassie still had trouble sleeping. She had nightmares about Alice. She knew she was run-down, mentally exhausted from channeling mana as well as feeling the pressure of losing her last family member. If she didn’t get up and start doing something physical, she was going to fall apart. If nothing else, she figured that working out might help her sleep.

  God, she needed some real sleep. Every single time she closed her eyes, she saw the basilisk—its glowing blue eyes, its dripping teeth… she jumped up from her bed, letting the hairbrush and paperback fall to the mattress. The hell with this; I’m going to the gym.

  Without pausing to talk herself out of it again, she rushed out of her room, down the stairs, and outside. Everything in the Magic Kingdom was close, and within minutes, she was walking into the base’s air-conditioned and spacious gymnasium. Racks of rubber-coated dumbbells sat in front of the mirrored walls, an assortment of expensive-looking exercise machines were interspersed around the gym floor, and a row of treadmills were set up across from large ceiling-mounted plasma screens. It might have been the nicest gym she had ever been in, way too nice for a remote provincial dam.

  The place was packed. There must have been two dozen people working out, mostly soldier-types but some civilian technicians as well. She walked about for a bit, checking the place out, before deciding to use one of the treadmills. She stepped on it and fiddled with the controls, setting it for a light jog.

  After several minutes, she knew she had really let herself go. Before college, before her parents had died, she had always been physically active, competing in track and field and hiking. Now, she was struggling with a light run. She was still thin, but she certainly wasn’t fit.

  She kept going for another twenty minutes before stopping the machine and getting off. Her skin was flushed and her breathing too fast, but at least it had been a start. She approached the free weights stacked in front of the mirrors and began to do some light weight lifting. Just beside her, a group of young men were taking turns bench-pressing really heavy weights. Cassie watched them out of the corner of her eye as she began to do arm curls. These guys were fit, seriously fit, but not huge like club bouncers or bodybuilders—more like Olympic athletes: strong and fast.

  She fooled around with the light weights for another fifteen minutes or so, in truth, not doing much more than waking up long-dormant muscles. Deciding that was enough for the first day back, she stopped by the water fountain for a drink. There were even more people in the gym than before. There wasn’t much else to do way out here in the middle of nowhere. The gym was probably its own little community in the evening.

  She opened the glass door to leave and jerked to a stop. Lying across the entrance, completely blocking it, was a large German shepherd. Gold-and-black colored, the animal looked as though it weighed at least a hundred pounds, all muscle. It lifted its large head and regarded her with clever brown eyes, its big ears standing straight up. It wore no collar and was, quite frankly, a bit scruffy. She felt a slight bit of trepidation as she stepped over the animal, but it didn’t budge; it just kept watching her. This was where it had decided to lie down, and everybody else could just go around it.

  She smiled. When she had been a little girl, her family had had a German shepherd named Augy. She had died when Cassie was only nine. Cassie squatted down and put her hand near the dog’s nose, letting it sniff her. “What are you doing here?”

  In reply, the shepherd snorted, smelling her hand in a somewhat disinterested manner before getting up and moving closer. It nuzzled her hand and then rested its large head against her thigh. Cassie scratched behind the dog’s ears. The animal may have been ungroomed, but it clearly wasn’t a stray. It looked healthy and strong—actually, it looked very strong. It was probably about three or four years old, a mature working dog.

  Behind her, the gym door opened again, and she felt the presence of someone standing there. “You know, girlie,” a man’s voice said, “approaching strange dogs is not so smart.”

  Still scratching behind the dog’s large ears, Cassie turned her head and regarded the speaker. Just like the dog, he was out of place here. With dark skin, he was clearly a native and probably in his early forties. He had huge sideburns and a braided goatee. He wore a sleeveless T-shirt and sweat pants. He wasn’t a big guy, but he looked powerful. His skin was weathered, and his was the face of a man who spent most of his time outdoors. There was a clever sparkle in his eyes as if the world was endlessly amusing.

  “No, probably not,” Cassie said, “but he reminded me of an old friend. He yours?”

  The man snorted. “Ha! Most likely the other way around.” He dropped down on one knee and ruffled the dog’s head. “At any rate, Clyde seems to like you well enough. And he doesn’t often like white folk.”

  “Really? That’s his name—Clyde?”

  “You don’t like Clyde. Hey, Clyde, girlie don’t like your name.”

  The dog nuzzled Cassie’s hand then licked her fingers.

  The man chuckled. “I guess he don’t care, but then again, he always did dig the chicks. Bit of a suck-up that way.”

  “Oh, he’s just a big old softie.” Cassie put her hands around the dog’s head and kissed him on the nose.

  The man sighed. “No. He’s really not. Anyhow, he’s Clyde, and I’m Paco. If Clyde likes you, you must be okay… maybe.” He offered his hand to Cassie, and she took it. His grip was firm, but he didn’t try to impress her with his strength like some other men did.

  “You work here?” She stood back up again, and Clyde dropped his large head onto the dirt and gazed up at her with his big brown eyes.

  “You sound surprised, girlie.”

  “Cassie, not girlie. And you don’t seem like the army or scientist type.”

  His face lit up in a huge gap-toothed smile. “As a matter of fact, I was in the army… a
long time ago. So, what type do I seem like?”

  At that moment, a couple of young men walked out of the gym. They paused and then stepped around Cassie and Paco, giving Clyde plenty of space. The dog didn’t growl, didn’t react, but she could feel the signal he gave off: keep your distance.

  “I spent some summers working with park rangers around Moberly Lake. You remind me of them.”

  Paco laughed a deep, throaty chuckle. “Local girl, huh? I knew there was somethin’ about you that was all right, and not just your choice of hair color.”

  “What’s wrong with my hair?” Cassie’s hand rose up to touch her short haircut, running her fingers through it.

  “Nothin’. It’s just you don’t normally see army girls with pink streaks in their hair.”

  He was right. She was as much out of place as Paco and Clyde. Clyde stood up again and nuzzled Cassie’s hand with his snout. She dropped back down on one knee and started scratching behind his ears again.

  “You’re First Nations, aren’t you?”

  Paco nodded, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of a pocket in his sweat pants and lighting one with a shiny silver zippo lighter. “Doig River First Nations. It’s my ravishing good looks, isn’t it? Gives me away every time.”

  Cassie grinned, flashing her teeth. “Yes, Paco, it’s your ravishing good looks. Where are you from?”

  “Same as you—these parts. Just my people been living here a lot longer than yours.”

  “Dene-Zaa?” Cassie asked.

  Paco nodded again. “Beaver People. You?”

  “Hudson’s Hope.”

  “You’re not that far from home, are you? Unlike everybody else here.”

  “I’m not the only one. There’re two others. Both from Fort St. John.”

  Paco nodded. “You’re one of these special people, aren’t you? The ones they’re calling Magic Sensitives. You can do… things.”