Star Druid

by Skyler Grant

  Banok suddenly understood what she was doing. It was too late to stop it. He didn't know if he would have—even if it was in his power.

  It was no mere solar flare that Astra conjured. The star went nova. The devastation from the stellar explosion was total.

  Cleo screamed as blips on the holographic display vanished one after another.

  The shipyards burned, the Orcs burned, the mercenaries burned. Everything but the Catspaw. It was Astra now who surrounded the ship. Astra protecting it. For Banok the world became a single sustained blaze.

  33

  Banok awoke to a tiny foot kicking him in the ear. "Wake up, dummy, we've got another one."

  Banok tried to get out of bed but couldn't quite manage it. Bands of magical blue energy bound his wrists to the bedposts. With a knee he nudged Delilah who sleepily waved a hand, releasing the restraints.

  "I still don't like her," Nyx said, buzzing around his head as Banok left the tent. It was dawn outside, although the rising sun was blocked by the ruin of a skyscraper.

  The new home of the Druid Order. It wasn't much so far, a collection of tents built within the Grove that Banok constructed. So far he hadn't figured out how to get the trees to accept other structures. They hated most forms of technology although they'd proved agreeable to some of what Nyx built. It was a relationship he hoped to improve going forward. She was already rapidly becoming the resident technology expert.

  The man waiting for him was somewhere in his forties, bearded and looking worn around the edges. The Druid robes he wore marking him as a Tender.

  "You found us," Banok said, shaking the man's hand.

  "Lady named Cleo found me. I was in hiding. Didn't believe it, at first. Uh, Joralis Kabral, Senior Tender," Joralis said, looking around the Grove. "This place, it's ... hard to believe, isn't it?"

  Banok appreciated the honesty, and the openness to change. To many, seeing the new Grove for the first time it was hard to believe. To accept.

  "It was birthed from the death of millions on a world where nature had died out. It's still killing them. It will probably try to kill you," Banok said.

  Joralis gave a weak smile. "I'm not really much of a fighter."

  That was unfortunate, they needed as many warriors as they could get.

  "You will be. We drill every day in the staff, and you'll be learning to use elemental fire in combat situations," Banok said.

  "That isn't what the Order is about," Joralis said, straightening up.

  "I never knew the dummy came from a big bunch of dummies until I met them," Nyx said, flying over to kick Joralis in the jaw.

  "Ouch!" Joralis said, batting at the fairy.

  The strays had been coming in for weeks now. It turned out Banok hadn't been the only druid being hunted. There had been a price on all their heads and it was something for which the Order had poorly prepared them.

  Some had stayed alive by being tough as nails, born survivors. Banok wasn't the only one who had taken assignments off-world because he didn't fit with the rest of the Order. Those like him were becoming the backbone of the new Order. Others were cowards who had tucked themselves away and hidden, but they still had skills that were useful.

  The Order wasn't much so far. Twelve druids, and another twenty-three magically sensitive students from this world that the Grove had spared, herding them in their direction instead of killing them.

  Banok turned Joralis over to another to find him some quarters and then he headed for the dock. The Grove didn't like starships either, but they'd struck something of a compromise by housing the docks on top of an abandoned skyscraper. It was a shame they couldn't have elevators. Even with the Grove to boost endurance, climbing up seventy flights of stairs was still time-consuming.

  It was worth it to see Cleo. She was unloading crates, supplies for the fledgling settlement.

  "You brought us another one," Banok said.

  Cleo grinned. "I think I've got lines on three more. They started a flower business together on Kilankis, if you can believe it."

  "You could stay," Banok said. It wasn't the first time he'd made the pitch.

  Cleo's tail lashed. "You need someone out there and I'm the one with a ship. Besides, you know I don't like staying still. I never have."

  "I feel like I took your crew away from you," Banok said.

  Nyx and Vanwyn had both stayed behind to help build the new Order. These days it was just Cleo aboard the Catspaw.

  "Because you did," Cleo said, putting a hand on his arm. "No hate. We got one of the biggest scores in history. People weren't going to stick around anyways after that. At least this way everyone is still together where I can come visit."

  "How is it out there?" Banok asked.

  "Bad. Orc armies with fleets of black transports are seizing planets. The only saving grave is they lack proper warships as escorts. For the first time in a long time the Fade seems to be growing. No less than eight major wars have broken out," Cleo said, releasing his arm and taking a seat on a crate. She gave an awkward shrug. "We missed some stuff."

  "We're one ship, we did pretty well. And the Order, I'm forging them into a weapon," Banok said.

  Cleo gave him a frank look. "I know. Everybody knows, that is why everybody stuck around to help you. They believe in your vision. I believe in your vision. So stop feeling guilty for it."

  "You know why I do."

  Cleo was quiet for a moment. "Still? You aren't lacking for companionship these days. I'd thought maybe ..."

  "I know you don't feel the same way. I know you maybe can't, partly because of me. But yes, still," Banok said.

  Cleo rose to her feet and brushed a kiss across his cheek. "If you want a cat to love you, the best way is to give her lots of space. You're doing that. No promises but, really, thank you for being honest. I don't always get it."

  "Then we'll keep doing what we're doing. And if you happen to find a face in need of shooting ..." Banok said with a knowing expression.

  Cleo nodded. "We'll put the team back together. Maybe without making a star explode next time?"

  "No promises," Astra whispered in Banok's ear. "I trust you caught the most interesting part of all that? The Fade grows. I was right."

  They had slowed one growing darkness only for another to replace it. But that one was, perhaps, a friend.

  "Interesting days behind us. And better ones ahead," Banok said.

  "You have no idea," Astra whispered.

  That much was true, but Banok would find out. And next time the Druids would be ready.

  The End

  Afterword

  This is my second try at a science fantasy harem. My first, Centauri Bliss has done well but I wanted to try a different take on things with this one. The dynamic is completely different for all that I’ve kept some things similar.

  The idea here was to retell a very classic sort of high fantasy story in a science fiction setting. The rising darkness, the powerful magic user rising up to stop it.

  I tried to make this book work as a standalone, in the past I sometimes ended on obvious cliffhangers and said “If you want a sequel, let me know.”. There obviously is more room I can go with this story, I hope it does well enough to give me the option.

  Even as I write this I’m hard at work on the fourth book of the Centauri Bliss series. I have a lot of fun ideas this year I hope to bring to you, some twists on LitRPG I’ve never seen and some other really cool ideas for harem novels. That in addition to some of the stuff I’ve planned on for a long time. I still want to do something with a magic school, I still intend to do a sequel to Glitch Hunter.

  As always, thank you for reading. I wouldn’t be able to create these stories without you. It is something I love to do and my readers make it possible.

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