by Skyler Grant
A woman stood within the circle, pale of skin and with living fire where there should be hair, and bare of any covering except for the Amulet of Dawn worn around her neck. Eyes lit by flame studied the containment runes that encircled her, and when she reached out a fingertip the runes flared with green light as she pressed against an invisible barrier.
"Druid," she said in a voice that hinted of crackling flames. "We meet again. You're stronger than the last time I touched your mind."
Even that brief contact was already registering in the crystals. They hadn't been sure how powerful she'd be, but Banok could already tell the most hopeful estimates were wrong. The advantage wasn't his, at best they were equals.
"Are you ... the amulet?" Banok asked.
With a laugh she shook her head, tendrils of flame tickling her shoulders. "I am many things. I am the spirit of this star. I am the lifeforce of the immortal Calla. I am Arya of Delore. I am Urania Vox, better known to you as the Lady of the Void. You may call me Astra. None of the other names quite apply."
The situation had just gone from bad to infinitely worse.
"One of those was a friend, one a hero, one a villain," Banok said.
"If you find that confusing, you should try being me. No, don't, I've quite enough voices in this head of mine. Go on though, make your pitch. You didn't summon me for nothing," Astra said, drawing up straight and meeting his gaze, the aura of flames flickering around her.
"I wanted the power of the amulet you wear, to keep it from the hands of the wicked. It seems too late for that," Banok said.
"Quite," Astra said with a tilt of her head. "This is my power now and nothing you can do will ever take it from me. Still, we might come to some arrangement. I am not against coming to terms, if they are good enough."
"Why?" Banok asked. "Those who sent us, when you first touched my mind, are still in search of the amulet. Your people are already trying to retrieve you."
"My people?" Astra said angrily. "My people are long dead. My people are long consumed by the Void I spawned. Whoever these thieves are, they do not belong to me and I am not to blame for their actions."
Was it really possible she would agree to terms? If not, what reason was there for Astra to lie? Given enough time the wards holding her would fade and she'd escape regardless. The math here hadn't changed, not really, despite some new and unknown variables.
Joined with Astra he had a chance to make a difference, without her he did not.
"So how does this work?" Banok asks.
"You want things and I may agree. When I want things, they're not negotiable. When we're done, we agree to the contract, or not. If not, I try to kill you for being such a total disappointment, and you try not to die," Astra said.
"You aren't that much ahead of me in power."
"No, if so you'd have no choice but to agree at the end," Astra said.
"What about magical power?" Banok said. "Can you give me that?"
"I have a lot of that to share and I throw in magical knowledge as well. See, I'm playing nice. In return, you will love me in all my forms and guises absolutely and completely until the end of days."
"I can't promise that," Banok said.
"Of course you can. You can promise anything," Astra said, pacing within the confines of the circle. The crystals were already about a quarter charged, the simple fact of her existence starting to strain them.
"You must give me wise council, starting now before the contract is even signed," Banok said.
Astra chuckled at that and he saw the first hint of a real smile across her flawless features. "By which you mean you don't know what else to ask for, but feel you should be asking for something and you want me to help you."
"Pretty much," Banok said with a shrug.
"Then you should want the lifespan of an immortal instead of being bound by the puny years humanity offers, or to be forever tied to the Grove as a druid. You should wish immunity to flame and the harmful effects of fire. In return, that being the case, we will be not just loves, but lovers every day for the rest of your life. You will become a man of passion, prone to excesses of joy, rage, and lust. You will become an agent of vast destruction, burning the forest clean. When the Druid Order is rebuilt you will do so in your image with flame at the heart of it," Astra said, the words coming quick.
"You're asking for a lot," Banok said.
"And I am not done yet. We will find whoever dares to try to steal my power and my place, and we shall destroy them and whatever network supports them. You will never tell me a lie or attempt to deceive me. Once a month we may make a request of each other, and anything reasonably within our power to give, we shall," Astra said.
Banok stared at Astra for several long moments.
The crystals were half filled.
"Yes, yes. That's about it," Astra said, almost sheepishly.
"You're kind of demanding," Banok said.
"I'm so worth it. I'm strong alone, druid, as are you. Together ... oh, together the things we might accomplish."
"And it's true, none of your terms are open to negotiation?" Banok asked.
"Not a one. I could yield on them, if I choose. The ability is in me. But those fools mining the star will eventually make a mistake and bring a magic-user, and I will dominate them. The only reason I offer you a deal at all is because I hunger for your power as much as you hunger for mine," Astra said. "I prefer you to the fools."
There was something true in that.
Three-quarters full.
There wasn't any time to waste.
The deal wasn't one-sided. It wasn't even immediately clear how it favored her. Banok would get immortality, power, the immunity to flames. Those were all potent, while a number of the things he would have to give were more personal. That she wanted him to love her, become her lover, were strange but perhaps tied to the passion of fire. There was any number of supernatural entities however that gained some sort of power from such acts, from emotion.
The biggest sacrifice was putting fire at the center of the rebuilt Druid Order. Banok hadn't even thought of how he might rebuild the Order, what might be involved. It was an organization that would one day influence galactic affairs, and that had originally helped to stop the Lady of the Void. In a way Astra might become its new heart.
A decision needed to be made now.
"I agree," Banok said.
"And I agree. The deal is sealed. Our fates entwined," Astra said.
The runes in the circle surrounding her flared again, fire replacing the green that had glowed there moments before, and then the magic faded.
Astra stepped forward, her arms slipping around Banok as she rose on the tips of her toes to place a hungered kiss against his lips. The touch was unlike any he'd ever known.
Fire flickering along Astra's body did little more than tickle Banok's flesh. Some distant part of him was aware that he should probably let Cleo know that things were a success—that they should get out of here. But at the moment all his thinking was very much being done by the wrong head.
It took all of thirty seconds for him to get out of his clothes and press his body against Astra's as if they were lovers that hadn't seen each other for months. A wild, almost frantic need for each other. A fire that consumed everything else.
23
Banok didn't know how much time had passed when he felt the hand on his shoulder pulling him back. Vanwyn's hand, glowing with a silvery light, as she slapped him hard across the cheek.
"Out of it, druid," Vanwyn said.
The ritual room was in shambles. Most of the walls half melted and the contents scorched. No trace remained of the ritual circle except for the crystals.
Astra had vanished beneath him in a ripple of flames.
"How long?" Banok asked.
"A week. It took me some time to figure out warding the magic surrounding you, then drawing enough power that would let me get close," Vanwyn said.
A week? Banok wanted to protest that it couldn't
have been that long, but he knew it was possible. Even using lifeforce to boost your physical processes there were aches that remained, reminders of just what you'd put your body through.
Banok got to his feet. While he had distant memories of his clothes initially surviving Astra's touch, there seemed to be no trace of them now. Perhaps when they were fully removed they lost immunity to fire.
"I don't suppose you have anything to wear?" Banok said.
"I didn't bring a wardrobe for you. The ship is well aware what you've been up to, so if you take a walk of shame you'll surprise no one."
"Come with me? I'd like your opinion on the deal I struck," Banok said.
Vanwyn followed Banok out into the hall and towards his quarters, and he filled her on the arrangement that had been struck. There was no concern he might not remember it. Every word of the deal was burned in his memory. He recalled it with startling clarity.
Vanwyn said, "So ... she was quite a bit more than we thought. Your deal wasn't a terrible one, considering, although the last week should serve as a warning to you."
"I lost myself in her completely. Will that happen every time?" Banok asked as they went into his room and he started to get dressed. Despite how he'd spent the week he felt no need for a shower, and it made sense in a way. He supposed whatever grime on his skin had been incinerated, lacking his immunity to flame.
"Given your agreement requires that sort of thing daily, I'd hope not," Vanwyn said dryly.
"Perhaps it was all just her showing me how much she could affect me," Banok said. "She's also The Lady of the Void. I already wonder if I made a mistake."
"I wouldn't focus too much on a single aspect of this Astra. You didn't summon the Lady of the Void, you summed the spirit of a star. Whatever else she may be, her spirit is the dominant side. A fire elemental would not normally have much of a personality, they are creatures of impulse," Vanwyn said, seeming to choose her words carefully.
"You think she may not have planned it? Maybe we both just couldn't resist screwing nonstop for a week straight?"
"The Lady of the Void was not given to passion. We Elves first learned to draw power from the wood and from life itself, just as the Dwarves after us did from the rocks and stone. You humans learned from us both. But she was something different." Vanwyn let out a weary sigh.
"You knew her?"
"We met, once, before it all went bad. There had always been those who pursued the Void, to draw power from the absence of life. Those who felt that power from nothing could change everything, if only it could be mastered. Urania Vox was an incredible sorceress, probably the most brilliant theorist on the nature of magic that you humans ever produced," Vanwyn said, and motioned for him to follow. "Come on. Cleo will want to see you and I expect the fairy will want to shoot you."
While Banok wanted to ask about what had happened, he thought it probably best that came from Cleo herself.
Whatever he'd been expecting when he walked onto the bridge, it wasn't for Cleo to come bounding up to him to give him a tight hug.
"She got you out," Cleo said.
Banok was stopped from appreciating the hug by a savage kick to one ear.
"Dummy! Moron!" Nyx shouted, as she circled Banok's head delivering kicks anywhere she could get one in.
"Nyx was worried. We all were," Cleo said.
"I wasn't worried. Some worthless dummy wants to commit suicide by fiery floozy it doesn't matter to me," Nyx said, landing another punishing kick before flying off, wings twitching madly in agitation.
"I'm fine. I got a deal. The aftermath was, uh ... unexpected. Sorry, about that. Did you get out with a hitch?" Banok said.
"It was a total mess," Cleo said with a laugh, releasing him and dropping back to her seat. "I mean the bluff was going great until the star cooled down."
Of course, it had heated when the amulet was introduced. While Astra might be the spiritual representation of the star, the removal of the amulet and its power must have cooled it.
"I bet that didn't go over well."
"They knew we'd pulled something. They didn't know what, but it was bad. We had to shoot our way out. Vanwyn is pretty badass. We barely got out of the system alive and dodged them for four days after."
"Boy, it would have been real nice if some dummy were here to shield things with stupid magic like the dunderhead said he could," Nyx said.
"Sounds rough," Banok said.
"You screwed us, but you wouldn't have if you were in your right mind. I know that," Cleo said.
Banok searched her face. "You're more understanding than I thought you'd be."
Cleo stretched out in her seat. "Remember when I clawed you to hell? I know what it is like to be partnered with a spirit and to have that get the better of you. I didn't want to hurt you, but I did. Mine, uh, isn't quite as fun as yours seemed to be, but it's the same thing. You hurt us, you didn't mean to, so we covered for you."
"Dummy!" Nyx shouted.
"Nyx spent two days trying to figure out heat-resistant hydration tubes in case you were dying in there," Cleo said.
Banok hadn't realized what a lot of trouble he'd been. He and Astra really would have to figure out some way to make sure that didn't happen again.
"Yes we will," came the thought inside his head, crackling like fire.
"Well, of course we would have a telepathic bond, wouldn't we? So, did you plan that whole thing out or did it take you by surprise too?"
"I thought I knew who I was. Fire uncontrolled is fire run amok."
That was just that. They'd both yielded to the passion the flame brought with them, and without any effort at control it had burned to an unreasonable degree. More than that, Banok apparently couldn't trust on Astra to be that control when it was needed. Perhaps she thought she could, but Vanwyn was right. The essence of what she was now was the elemental of a star. Control and restraint would never be Astra's strength. It wasn't his either, but if anyone was going to try, it would need to be him.
"Thank you, Nyx," Banok said.
"I guess I'm sort of glad you aren't dead," Nyx said.
"I've got power now, all we hoped for and more. I know things have busy, but have you found us a place to punch?" Banok asked Cleo.
Cleo swiped a hand through the air and brought up a galactic map. "You've seen some of this data before. Orc vessel sightings. While red blips were throughout the map, there was a definite concentration in one area."
"I think I see where you are going, but that is still a lot of space," Banok said.
"Is it? Because I'll tell you something that it took me longer than it should have to figure out. We've been treating Orcs like they are some force of nature, but they aren't. If it were any other navy of hundreds of ships, what would we be looking for?"
"A major shipyard," Banok said.
Space-faring vessels suffered wear and tear, they developed problems. They needed to be refueled, serviced, and that required specialized facilities.
Cleo tapped in the air and brought up a system. "Carripool. You'll probably never have heard of them because they aren't a major commercial shipyard. What they do is build shipyard components and test them. You can guess who for."
"Baxtech," Banok said.
"Got it in one. As far as I can tell the system went completely silent over a year ago. Haulers have been moving vast supplies of resources into neighboring systems, but never to Carripool itself," Cleo said.
"And you know why?"
"Because obviously Baxtech hasn't wanted anyone to see the fleet they're building there," Cleo said.
It was guesswork, but it was something to go off.
24
"You sure you're up for this?" Cleo asked.
Banok had invited himself back to Cleo's quarters for the night. They might have a goal to hit a shipyard, but they didn't have a plan. They had time, and whatever was to come Cleo would only benefit from her spirit being stronger.
Despite his long time aboard he'd never been here. Cl
eo's bed was a round platform covered in pillows. Bean-bag chairs suitable for sprawling were everywhere. The walls were lined with grasses and done up in vibrant colors. The temperature was uncomfortably hot, several degrees warmer than the rest of the ship.
"You'd think I wouldn't be, after a week in bed," Banok said, as he looked around the room. "Less here than I thought. I expected some giant desk with papers scattered everywhere."
"What century do you live in?" Cleo asked with a laugh as she plopped down into a chair, her hand waving, fingers giving dexterous flickers. The air filled with multiple holographic displays depicting dozens of projects.
Banok walked among them, studying what she was working on. The galactic map that showed the shipyard was one.
"You have been working the problem," Banok said.
"You know I always do. I uh ... know you're looking forward to getting all naked and bouncy, and we can totally do that, but is there any chance I can talk to your new familiar first?" Cleo asked.
The air rippled with flame as Astra appeared. She was clothed this time around, a tight-fitting jumpsuit that flattered her figure. She beamed Cleo a smile.
"Hi! I'd offer a handshake, but you'd kind of die in agony and however funny that would be, I'm kind of counting on you to help me get my revenge. I'm Astra," Astra said.
"Nice to meet you. Cleo, captain of this ship. I know who you are, I have cameras everywhere. It's more Urania Vox I wanted to talk with, and it sounds like she is in there somewhere?" Cleo asked.
"Kind of complicated," Astra said, tapping a blade of grass and watching with fascination as it incinerated. Her voice changed slightly. "I'm in here, if not really myself."
"Orcs. What are they? You used them as shock troops," Cleo asked.
"They're a species, I didn't invent them. Pre-industrial without any contact with the elder species. They were big and dumb, and easy to control, so I took them over and threw them at my enemies," Astra said, turning back to face Cleo.
"They've changed."