Chapter 37 – Battle Suit
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Richard bent closer to stare at the glass case containing the folded black leather suit, helmet, and belt. Distant memories pulled at his mind as if demanding he acknowledge their existence. He heard Yasland say something to Amir in gibberish and laugh as he pointed at the plaque attached to the case.
Time seemed to stop, or perhaps Richard’s mind went into overdrive. He didn’t know or care which. He only knew the equipment in the case was important, and he needed to know more.
“I know I’ve seen that stuff before,” Richard told his battle computer. “What are they?”
“Hmmm,” said Nickelo. “That’s strange. I am sure I should know what it is, but the information is not in my databanks. I will admit the missing information seems important.”
Richard tried to use his passive scan to find out something about the folded leather and other equipment, but he detected nothing. “It’s like it’s not there. Can you pick up anything with the sensors in the ring?”
“Not really. Uh, wait a nanosecond. The suit has a network connection. I think I can access it. I’m in. Ah. It is a battle suit. The helmet is a battle helmet. I am able to access the information in the helmet’s databanks. The suit belonged to a Wizard Scout Gaston Myers. The slot for the helmet’s battle computer is empty. The suit is inoperable without a battle computer to control it.”
“Can you take over control of the suit?” Richard asked.
“Me? It’s more a case of can you. According to information in the suit’s databanks, battle suits are attuned to their wizard scouts. Your DNA would have to match the owner’s in order for you to use it. According to what information Amir has been translating to us from Yasland, the equipment in this room is over eighty-thousand years old. The odds that your DNA would be a close enough match to the original owner’s DNA is basically nonexistent.”
Something tickled at the back of Richard’s mind. Drawing what little residual Power he could from his Power reserve, he touched the battle helmet on top of the folded leather. Something clicked in his mind.
“Guess I was wrong,” said Nickelo. “Connection has been made. Your DNA is not an exact match, but it is close enough to complete the connection to the battle suit. I calculate you could use it if you desired.”
“You said the suit was inoperable without a battle computer,” Richard said. “You’re inside my ring. Could you control the suit from there?”
“Affirmative, Wizard Scout. A battle computer does not have to be in the helmet to control the suit. As I said, I am able to access the battle helmet’s databanks. According to that information, this Wizard Scout Myers was helping a Queen Emerald and her dwarves fight a rebellion against their Dragar and Tharg masters. Myers and some other wizard scouts were preparing to make a raid on the dwarves’ home at Drepdenor Mountain. According to the databanks, vampires had taken over the mountain. Oh, and you might find this interesting. The Dragars had a spaceport near the mountain. Myers and the other wizard scouts were trying to find a way to attack the spaceport. I calculate the recon of Drepdenor that they were getting ready to do was part of the plan to take out the spaceport.”
Richard stared at the folded suit. Now that he was connected to the battle helmet, he could sense things about the battle suit that had evaded his passive scan. The belt beside the folded leather contained a hand-length black rod. Somehow he knew it was a weapon: a phase rod.
“What’s the suit doing here?” Richard asked.
“According to the last entry in the databanks, Wizard Scout Myers was given another battle suit by someone. The other battle suit was supposed to be more effective for fighting against vampires. If what Yasland told Amir was correct, this Myers died during the recon. I calculate the dwarves must have placed his original suit and weapons here.”
Richard mulled over the information for a second. “What happened after they went on their raid?”
“Unknown. The information in the battle helmet’s databanks ends when its battle computer Wanda was removed. Strange, that name seems familiar to me. I wonder if I knew her.”
Before his battle computer could start taking a stroll down memory lane, Richard asked, “Who gave him the other battle suit? If we ever have to fight vampires, it might be nice to know what happened to it. Maybe the other battle suit is also with the dwarves’ treasure. It might be close by.”
“Doubtful,” replied Nickelo. “I calculate Yasland would have mentioned it. As to who gave Wizard Scout Myers the other battle suit, well, that brings up something very interesting.”
“What’s that?”
“The wizard scout that give Myers the replacement battle suit was his brother. His name was Wizard Scout Richard Shepard.”
“That’s my name,” Richard said.
“Affirmative. The battle helmet’s databanks has a video of you giving Myers the replacement suit and weapons. What makes it so interesting is that it happened over eighty-four thousand years ago.”
With that declaration, time returned to normal. Richard could hear Amir and Yasland talking again. He was tempted to start asking his companions questions, but something told him now wasn’t the time.
“Are you all right?” asked Amir. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Richard shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe I have.”
Chapter 38 – Attack
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The first indication the elves and Richard had of an attack were the sound of explosions in the distance. The reverberating sound of thunder just kept coming.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Richard jumped out of the upper bunk he’d been assigned in the long barracks room that had been set aside for the elves. He heard shouts and the sounds of trumpets as noncommissioned officers of the inner guards ran down the hallway rousting soldiers out of bed. Not that there were many in the building. When Yasland had escorted Amir and him from the kitchen to the room assigned to the elves, Richard had seen two companies of heavily armed foot soldiers being marched out the gates of the black-walled citadel. He remembered Amir translating the explanation from Yasland that most of the inner guards would be spending the night in buildings closer to the city walls in preparation for the next day’s attack. Only a token force would remain at the dark fortress to keep an eye on the elves.
With the sounds of attack echoing in the distance, Sergeant Thornbriar began shouting orders to his lancers. Richard gathered his gear and made his way over to Tracer, Amir, and the rest of his team. They were hastily donning chainmail and fastening belts laden with weapons around their waists. Since he wore no armor, Richard helped Grapeon and Skylark buckle on their arm guards and greaves.
As he worked, Richard said in his shared space, “Okay, Nick, fill me in. What’s going on? My passive scan’s picking up a lot of life forces around the city’s north wall.”
“Affirmative,” replied Nickelo. “I am monitoring the situation with the ring’s sensors. I will send the results to our shared space. From what I can gather, several hundred of the mercenaries are inside the north wall. They appear to have control of the city’s north gates. The defenders are falling back.”
“How’d they get inside the wall already?” Richard asked. “I thought the city’s magic users had defensive shields up.”
“Insufficient data to make an analysis,” replied Nickelo. “All I can tell you is that the city’s forces are being pushed back from the north sector of the city. The mercenaries must have gotten some of their troops in somehow and opened the gates.”
Whatever the reason, Richard’s passive scan picked up an increasing number of life forms in the city pushing south. It was difficult to pick out individual life forms at a distance in a crowded place like a city, but he noticed masses of life forms huddled together in what he assumed were buildings.
Civilians, he thought. I don’t blame them for hiding. Most of them probably don’t have weapons and probably wouldn’t know ho
w to use them if they did.
Images of the city appeared in Richard’s mind as Nickelo merged the results of the passive scan with the data from the ring’s sensors. A group of life forms in one of the buildings dimmed and then blinked out.
“What just happened?” Richard asked. “There weren’t any life forms around them. Did they die? What killed them?”
“Insufficient data to make an—”
Richard ignored the rest of his battle computer’s reply. He had other concerns. As Sergeant Thornbriar and his corporals shouted commands, the elf lancers hurried out of their common room and trotted in a double file down the hallway to the closest door leading outside. Richard made sure he stayed just behind Amir. As they approached the door, the mage Freestrod motioned for Amir and Richard to move to the side. Once they were out of the way, the old mage cast a spell on Amir. A soft blue glow appeared around the big man’s eyes. The mage turned to Richard and cast a spell on him. Richard sensed a line of Power reach out from him and push the mage’s spell aside before it could take effect. Freestrod muttered some gibberish and motioned his head at the door.
“Guess he does not want to waste any more of his Power trying to cast a night-vision spell on you,” said Nickelo. “Too bad your natural resistance prevents useful spells from affecting you. The good news is that I calculate your ability to resist magic diminishes the effect of harmful spells to some degree.”
“Yeah, lucky me,” Richard replied as he followed Amir out the door and into the night.
The darkness was broken only by a few light-globe spells someone had cast on two-meter-high wooden stakes stuck in the ground. It wasn’t much light, but the globes provided enough illumination for Richard to follow Tracer and Amir up the stairs to the top of the citadel’s wall, near the main gate. Looking down at the street, Richard saw a crowd of civilians trying to cram their way through the citadel’s open gate. Several people in the crowd carried staffs with light-globes at the end, that provided enough light for him to make out the fear in their holders’ eyes. Some of the civilians shouted at the guards as they entered the gate and pointed back the way they’d come. Since it was all gibberish to him, Richard turned to Amir. The big man and he were the only ones in Tracer’s team without bows. Neither of them had anything to do until whatever enemy there was got within range of hand weapons.
“What are they shouting about?” Richard asked.
Taking his eyes off the crowd, Amir looked at Richard. “They’re saying something about the dead coming back to life. I can’t make all of it out. It sounds like their saying whatever it is can’t be stopped.”
Since Amir and his positions on the wall were close enough to the open gate to see individuals in the crowd, he took the time to look at those already inside the citadel’s courtyard. An older man and woman had the arms of a younger man draped around their necks as they tried to help him walk. Richard immediately saw why the man needed assistance. The older man was holding a cloth against the young man’s neck. The cloth was soaked with a dark liquid.
“Blood,” said Nickelo.
“Ya think?” Richard thought back. “I’m not blind. I know blood when I see it.”
Richard was about to add a few more choice comments when the young man stiffened before going limp. Unable to bear the full weight of the man, the older couple was dragged to their knees. Recovering, they laid the young man on the ground face up. The crowd parted around the trio, giving them a little room. Since the three were directly underneath a light-globe, Richard had no trouble seeing the young man’s face. It was cherub-like.
“He’s just a teenager,” Richard told his battle computer. “War sucks. The young always seem to get the worst of it. It’s not fair.”
Before his battle computer could reply, the young man’s eyes snapped opened. They looked red and wild. Reaching up, the teen boy pulled the woman close to his face as he opened his mouth and bit at her neck. The woman screamed. The old man tried pulling the two apart, but the teenager held on tight. Blood spurted around the woman’s neck as she screamed again. Then she went limp. When she did, the teen boy released his grip on her and began clawing at the old man. The boy’s bloody fangs snapped as the old man tried shoving the teenager away. Without warning, the old woman rose from the ground and lunged at the old man. The man fell on his back as both the old woman and the teenager began tearing at his throat.
A memory of a time in an underground tunnel system flashed in Richard’s mind. The memory triggered other memories of creatures walking through stone and sucking the life out of their victims.
“Vampires!” said Nickelo. “I’m still connected to the battle helmet back in the museum. All information collected by your brother and you before the raid on Drepdenor is available to me. Vampires can shift into the void. They can only be killed by extremely powerful spells or by weapons made out of creallium. That’s what the citizens of Portalis call Holy Metal. A lot of the elves’ armor and weapons are magic, but the magic is from spells. They aren’t made from Holy Metal. I calculate the spells on their gear is not nearly powerful enough for this battle. Their swords will not harm the vampires. Their armor will not protect them from the vampires’ bites. While we’re on the subject, your sword and shield aren’t even magic. They will not help you against this enemy.”
More memories of the raid beneath the dwarves’ mountain home of Drepdenor flowed into Richard’s mind. He knew everything his battle computer was telling him about the inadequacy of the elves’ gear was correct. Glancing down at the now screaming mass of people that had made it through the gate, Richard spotted the two older people and the teenager grabbing others in the crowd and biting at their necks. Two soldiers wearing the blue capes of the inner guards came running up, swinging their swords at the teenage vampire. The guards’ swords passed through the boy’s shimmering form, doing no harm. The vampire turned on the guards, dragging one of them to the ground as his bloody fangs tore out the guard’s throat. Within seconds, both teenager and guard rose from the ground and lunged at other victims.
The screams in the courtyard intensified as the frightened citizens scurried in all directions trying to find safety. There was no place to hide. In less than a minute, the three vampires turned to ten. The ten turned to twenty. Two of the shimmering vampires half ran, half floated up the stairs leading to the ramparts on the wall. The vampires were the two guards who’d tried to stop the teenager.
One of the elf lancers met the two vampire guards at the top of the stairs with his sword and shield at the ready. Richard’s passive scan told him the elf’s shield and weapon were magic, but they weren’t made from Holy Metal. The elf struck out with his sword. The magic blade passed through the rightmost vampire without effect. The vampire’s shimmering arms reached through the elf’s shield like it wasn’t there. Before the elf could turn and run, the guard bit into the lancer’s neck. The elf screamed and tumbled down the stairs as the vampire ripped at his throat.
A ball of blue magic sped past Richard. He recognized the frequency of the mage Freestrod in the spell. The blue ball struck the remaining vampire guard in the chest. Or rather, it should’ve struck the creature’s chest. Instead of exploding on contact, the spell continued on its path and hit the stone wall behind the undead creature. Pieces of shattered stone flew into the air, but the vampire was unfazed. The other vampire guard and the now blood-soaked elf lancer came running up the stairs with teeth bared.
Richard started forward to meet the three vampires head-on.
The voice of Nickelo sounded in Richard’s head with an urgency he hadn’t heard before. “No! Your weapons cannot harm them, I tell you. All you can do is retreat.”
His battle computer’s words made him hesitate just long enough for Amir to rush past and swing his sledgehammer into the head of the lead vampire guard. While the hammer wasn’t made of creallium, its magic was apparently high level enough to work against creatures in the void. The vampire’s head cracked open like a ripe fruit on its way
to market. The sledgehammer continued on to the second vampire guard, catching the monster on the shoulder and knocking it to one side. The vampire guard shimmered and disappeared into the stone wall next to the stairs.
Remembering how the vampires had passed through stone to attack their victims during the Drepdenor raid, Richard grabbed hold of the back of Amir’s chainmail and jerked him back two steps. The vampire guard’s head and shoulders came out of the stone steps right below where Amir had been standing.
“Hit it!” Richard yelled. He didn’t have to tell the big man twice.
With a mighty overhead swing, Amir brought his sledgehammer down on the vampire guard’s head. Blood and gore sprayed high into the air. The vampire stopped shimmering. His battered body remained where it was, half-in and half-out of the stone step.
The vampire elf lancer lunged over the body of the vampire guard straight for Amir. Richard caught a glimpse of blue on the waist belt of the vampire lancer and sensed magic, strong magic.
“It’s creallium,” said Nickelo.
Reaching past Amir, Richard plucked a dagger with a blue gem in its pommel out of the vampire elf’s belt and stuck it full to the hilt into the undead lancer’s neck. The vampire’s teeth snapped repeatedly as the creature tried to bite Amir’s throat. Richard jerked his dagger out of the vampire’s neck and shoved the creallium blade into the left side of the vampire’s chest. He sensed the creallium blade drive deep into the vampire’s heart. Giving the dagger a twist, Richard forced the blade into a part of the heart where his passive scan picked up something evil. The vampire stiffened and then stopped shimmering.
Shoving the vampire’s body off the rampart to the ground below, Richard took a look at the situation in the citadel’s courtyard. A third of the crowd were already vampires, chasing down new victims and dragging them to the ground. At least a dozen vampires were already on the ramparts.
Wizard Gigantic (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 9) Page 33