“I am honored to meet you, Raquel. Are there any others with you?” I asked.
“There was once, but I lost him,” she started. She took a deep breath and then continued, “He died chasing a necromancer through the Spirit Realm; one who had been trying to take over out here.” She briefly recounted the details of the fight she had had with the necromancer, and how some brave warriors out here had helped her.
“Where are these heroes now?” I asked.
“I don’t know. After tending to the body of my late husband I came here, as I had sensed your presence when I passed through previously,” she said.
“Well, come back with me, if you do not mind. I would like to hear everything you know about this necromancer, and any others who may be returning from the past. I would also like the rest of the Council to hear your report,” I said.
“Certainly, Grandmaster,” she said. “Grandmaster, I must also appeal to your mercy - ”
“I am sure we can work all that out,” I interrupted her. “But this is not the place for that. We have a war to fight back home, and right now we need everything you can tell us about the tables and the sorcerers that are using them.”
“Yes, Grandmaster,” she said.
Over the next several months I had to turn my attention back to the battles we were fighting at home. I left the hospital in the care of Doctor Leslie, who introduced many improvements in efficiency and slowly began to turn it into a teaching hospital.
Chapter Four
“Oh, Dusty, do we really have to go back?” Spectra asked softly.
At that moment, lounging on the beach with Spectra, I felt I had found paradise. Her silky obsidian fur was damp from our swim, and her long black tail was suggestively wrapped around my leg. I could feel her heart beat as she cuddled me in the sand. Her whiskers tickled my cheek as she breathed and her warm breath caressed me as she exhaled. There was no better place in the universe to be right then.
Here on our private beach, there was no one to bother us; just ourselves and the sound of waves gently lapping at the sand. She gently traced the outline of my scales with one of her claws as we let the sun bake us dry. “Not until morning.” Much as I hated to admit it, our all-too-brief honeymoon was coming to an end.
She sighed and tried to pull me closer. “Let’s just stay here in the sun for a while longer.”
“Sure.” We both loved the natural light of this world. The spectrum of the star was just right for warming us without being overbearing. We had slept out here on several nights of our holiday, causing me to wonder why we had wasted money on renting a private cabin.
“Do you think we will ever have children?” she asked.
“Children? I wonder if that is possible?” I could not imagine what our offspring might look like. My race was amphibious and fish-like, hers distinctly feline. I decidedly did not want to produce a freak: life was hard enough for normal people.
“Oh, I’m sure there must be a way,” she said.
“Maybe, but we are young yet. We have plenty of time to worry about that later.”
“Do we? It is not as if we have safe, cushy desk jobs, you know.”
It was a glorious honeymoon away from my rank and responsibilities as third in command of the Wizard Navy. Out here, I was just Dusty. I could frolic in the ocean, and no one was depending on me. It was just sun, waves and Spectra. There was nothing more that I could desire.
But this talk about parenthood threatened to pull me back into worrying about responsibilities and out of the blissful moment. I just wanted to stretch our time alone as far as I could. “No, not quite. We could ask Shea about it, I guess.”
As darkness fell we gathered our clothes, not bothering to put them back on, and headed up to the cabin. Neither of us walked fast, as if that would extend our honeymoon just a little bit more. Back in the cabin, we settled in by the fire and ate an intimate dinner.
As we finished our meal we set the dishes aside and reclined together to watch the fire. She was sipping on a drink but I’d had my fill. The fire cast dancing shadows, with the occasional crack or pop of burning wood the only sound around us. In the flames I caught brief images that seemed suggestive of our past lives. Both of us came from rough backgrounds, Spectra doubly so.
“All those years in training, and I thought you merely pitied me,” I said.
“Oh, at first I did, but there was always a connection. We are kindred spirits, you and I. It just took us a while to figure it out.”
“Yeah, I guess so. But you have to admit this is better than our first honeymoon.”
She giggled. “What? You didn’t find our trip through the realm of the dead romantic enough?”
“Romantic? No, not exactly. I’ll never understand how you could’ve lived there all that time.”
Her tone was as serious as could be as she said, “Maybe we should look at securing some property there. You know, it might make a good place to raise our kids.”
“I think you might have drunk too much of that swamp juice.”
There was mischief in her eyes as she climbed on top of me, moved in close to my face, and softly said, “Hmm, maybe, or maybe not enough.”
The fireplace continually resupplied itself with wood and was a nice romantic backdrop to our activities. We did not revisit the discussion about children, nor did we get much sleep that night.
~~~
Master Shadow and Grandmaster Vydor had requested to see us as soon as we returned to active duty after our honeymoon. It was odd donning our uniforms again after all that time alone at our private beach rental. They gave a physical reality to our transition back to active duty at the end of the holiday.
When we had left active duty to take our honeymoon, we had just helped to win a war with a circle of sorcerers who were stealing the life-force of millions throughout the realm. Five of them had escaped, but we broke their connection to this realm and it was unknown if they could come back without help. The final battle left both of us on the edge of death, but it had secured a relative peace for the present.
“Welcome back, you two. Please make yourselves comfortable,” said Master Shadow as we entered his office. Master Shadow was my direct superior and second-in-command under Grandmaster Vydor for military and magic matters; more than that, he was a good friend going back many years. He was built like a fighter and carried himself with a pride that came from knowing very few things could be a danger to him.
Grandmaster Vydor, Mathorn and Master Shadow were already seated around the meeting area. There was no conference table, just a collection of comfortable chairs around a central projector that could display any information needed.
“I trust you enjoyed your time away?” asked Grandmaster Vydor. Grandmaster Vydor was another navy vet like Shadow, and was built from the same stock. The same was true of most of the rest of the ranking wizards; Spectra and I were the odd ones out.
“Yes, immensely so, Grandmaster. I can never thank you enough for that.” Before becoming part of the Wizard Navy neither of us had much in the way of resources, and while the military paid well, it did not pay nearly enough to cover such a lavish honeymoon. We had been able to go to such an exquisite location only because Grandmaster Vydor had covered all the expenses as a wedding gift.
“I am glad to hear that. Kellyn has been urging me to take some time off. Maybe I will take her to the same resort,” he said.
“Oh, do, Grandmaster!” said Spectra. “The beaches, the air, the food … all of it was amazing!”
He smiled. “Excellent. Now, while you two were away we picked up a new colony,” he said and filled us in on the Cathratinairians and the hospital we had acquired. The Cathratinairians were a cat-like race, but bore no resemblance to Spectra’s race. She was delicate, sleek and fast, while they were massive and powerful.
“Karath? That's the guy we rescued a couple years ago?” Spectra and I had led an infiltration mission into a prison colony where
he was being held. I never found out why he had been locked up, but it didn’t matter. He had helped Grandmaster Vydor, back when our nation was nothing more than a small group of immature wizards trying to learn their way. Grandmaster Vydor never forgot the help the Cathratinairian had given him, and that was enough incentive for us to break him out. Wizards take care of their own, even if they are mundanes.
“Yes, the same one,” said Master Shadow.
“He is currently out at the hospital helping with the transition of the Cathratinairians into our space,” said Grandmaster Vydor.
“Remember, when they were last awake there was no such thing as magic, and the Emperor ruled over all known space. They have some major changes to adjust to,” said Master Mathorn, who was Master Shadow’s mentor in spellweaving and a recent immigrant to our realm from Korshalemia. Since moving to our realm, he had become an expert advisor to both Grandmaster Vydor and Master Shadow. He was much older than any wizard from our realm. Unlike us, they had had magic for millennia.
“Currently the plan is to wake them in family groups, first choosing those best suited to planting their colony and assisting them to start building. As the infrastructure takes shape on their new home planet, we will wake more and send them to help,” said Master Shadow.
“How long will all this take?” asked Spectra.
“Many years, probably decades,” said Master Shadow, “during which time we will need to do everything we can to protect them. It will be a long while before they can stabilize and secure their future.”
“I would imagine so,” I said.
“That is where you come in,” said Master Shadow.
“How, Master?” I asked.
“The virus that almost eliminated them appears to be a highly-advanced and custom-made weapon.”
“Are you saying that someone tried to commit genocide?” asked Spectra.
“That is how it appears,” said Master Shadow. “What we want you two to do is to assemble a team to go out there and see if you can find out who developed this virus and why. We must stop them before they try again.”
“How much information do we have to work with, Master?” I asked.
“Not much, but I suspect you will find Karath to be a wealth of information and contacts to get you started. Doctor Leslie has been informed of your mission and will make sure you have all the access you need to the hospital records. Beyond that, you will just have to see where the information leads you,” said Master Shadow.
“Given the distance to the station, I am guessing we can’t take the Shadow Fox?” The Shadow Fox was our personal battle cruiser, and our home of late.
“No, that would take many years. We have established a gate, so you will use that to travel out there. Then you will need to buy a new ship for local transport,” said Master Shadow.
“What is the political situation out there?” asked Spectra.
“The same as everywhere else since the fall. Various local groups constantly fighting for power, and no stability in sight,” said Master Shadow.
We talked a bit more about the mission, and then Mathorn asked, “Dusty, how are your studies going?”
“Well. I have had to set aside that book you gave me so that I could focus on getting my new spell line up to speed, but I was finding it very helpful until then.”
“Excellent. Let me know if you need any more help with either of your spell lines. I happen to have some tomes on your new power as well. They are not likely to be used by anyone else, so they are yours should you want them.”
My secondary spell line, which was the same as Spectra’s primary spell line, was a banned art among wizards. It seemed that most of those who followed it ended up turning to darkness and embracing the art of necromancy. It was a temptation that Spectra and I were familiar with and would not let each other succumb to.
Chapter Five
Spectra and I were in my office back on the Shadow Fox. We were trying to come up with a plan of action for our mission.
“So, Dusty, who are we going to bring with us?” asked Spectra.
“Darkstone?” I suggested.
“Hmm, perhaps. He has come on several missions with us and has done well.”
Darkstone was an Ice Elementalist who had been with us since the beginning. He was loyal, trustworthy and enjoyed working under cover of darkness. This made him a perfect fit for our team.
“Although his cold spells do not really give us much of an advantage. They are too close to our line. We should find someone who complements us a bit more to add to the mix,” I said.
“Yes, but if we bring Darkstone then he will want Cymeion along, and his earth and electrical lines would widen our scope a bit,” she said.
“And his skills with computers might come in handy, since we will need to acquire information that we know people will want to hide from us. I wonder why they are so close?” I mused.
“You don’t know? They grew up together, alone on the streets, closer than any brothers could ever be,” said Spectra.
“I knew that, but I didn’t think that could account for how close they are,” I said.
“Adversity draws people together in ways blood relationships can’t,” she said.
I thought about that, and how close Master Shadow’s inner circle was. We had faced the worst of all possible enemies, and we were more like family than any actual family I knew of. “We should probably bring Shea also.”
“No,” said Spectra.
She said that a bit faster and sharper than I was ready for. “Why not?”
Spectra hesitated a bit and then said, “This is a black ops kind of mission, not well-suited to her.”
“But she is our most trusted medical expert, and we are tracking down a virus. Who could be better than she in these circumstances?” I asked.
She hesitated, then sighed. “I don’t know anyone better, and I love her dearly, but she is not the kind to sneak around and break into places where we do not belong. I think she would be a hindrance to our success.”
“Maybe.” Spectra had never before resisted bringing Shea along on any mission. Something was up, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to press it right then. “We can come back to that slot. Anyone else?”
She looked pensive for a bit and then said, “Yeah, I would like to bring Kymberly.”
“Kymberly? She is not even in the black ops division.”
“I know, but she should be under me,” she said.
“Under you?” I asked.
“Yeah, I guess I just think that maybe we need to change our focus,” she said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, I was thinking that maybe we should consolidate all the spiritualists under a single structure. We could call it the ‘The Spirit Corps’ or something,” she said.
I thought about that for a bit. She had resisted command positions many times in the past, so this seemed out of character for her. “Is this something you would lead?”
“No,” she said right away. “I was thinking you could, and I would be by your side where I belong.”
“But why?” I asked.
“It's just that the wizards of our realm have started to follow the lead of the Korshalemian Realm and strongly discourage all magi from studying the spiritual line of powers. This leaves magi like Kymberly lost and alone.”
“True. So you think we can help them?” I asked.
“Sure; even at your level you’re far more knowledgeable than any of them. We can make sure they stay on track and don't turn into necromancers like everyone fears we will.”
I thought on that for a bit before responding. I liked the idea in some ways because Kymberly was a bit lost, and seemed like such a nice girl. As a white dwarf Zalionian she was an outcast among her own people, and as a spiritualist she was becoming an outcast even among the wizards.
“Rocky or Darkstone could head up the black ops, and we could focus on the spiritual c
orps,” continued Spectra. “Either of them is quite capable, and didn’t you pick Rocky specifically on the premise that he would take a command position at some point?”
“I did, but …” I began.
“Perfect! Place Darkstone under Rocky and we can move on,” she said.
“Just how long have you been thinking about this?” This was starting to sound too well planned for something she had just begun considering.
“Oh, I haven’t been, really; just maybe a thought here and there,” she said coyly.
I was unconvinced. “If you really want to do this, then maybe we should alter our plans for this mission.”
“How?” she asked.
“Well, maybe we should bring Kymberly and two or three other spiritualists along with us as a test run.”
“Oh! That would be wonderful! Let’s do it!” she said.
“Easy now. I will have to run all this by Master Shadow,” I reminded her.
“He will grant whatever you ask, Dusty; you know that,” she retorted.
“Maybe, but we still need to run it by him, and he might want to talk to Master Kellyn about it,” I said.
“Hmm, good point. Maybe she will want to join us!” she said mischievously.
“Hardly!” I laughed. Master Kellyn was on the Wizards’ Council, and married to Grandmaster Vydor. She was one of the most powerful magi in the entire realm.
“I think that Jade would be a good choice, then. He is young yet in magic, but has had a lot of experience with the mercenaries we are likely to have to deal with.”
“What about Saraphym?” I asked.
“She is a good choice, too. Neither Jade or Saraphym are even as advanced as Kymberly, but all three of them have stuck with the art, regardless of the naysayers.”
“Yeah. How many do you think we could get into your little club?”
Spectra's Gambit Page 3