War Magi Read online

  They appeared in a large room located just behind the bridge. There wasn’t much in here apart from the raised platform at the back with its single chair. Sat upon it, a lone figure looked up at her, moving only his eyes.

  He was a middle-aged man, although that was by no means an indicator of how old he was. Dressed in robes, he looked thoroughly unimpressed with Anastasia’s sudden appearance.

  Four Magi, two on either side of the throne, stepped forward, their Essentia flaring in her Aetheric Sight as Magical energy lashed out and slammed against her Aegis.

  Beside her, her Coven retaliated, their Magic rushing out to meet the attackers and tear them apart. It only took a moment to leave the guards as smoking corpses on the floor while Anastasia reached into herself and called on the new, draconic part of herself to manifest.

  She’d gained a little more control over it now. So, rather than transforming into a massive dragon and ripping this ship apart, her body instead grew by a couple of feet as horns sprouted from her forehead, leathery wings grew from her back, and her hands and feet transformed into scaly talons that she flexed to get a feel for them.

  She stepped forward, smiling, revealing the fangs that had grown within her mouth as she approached the solitary figure.

  Behind her, more guards were running into the room, but Sapphira and the others moved to take care of them.

  “You should have moved on from here, Valkus,” Anastasia said as she neared the Un-Sundered.

  The man blinked slowly as his voice filled her mind through an open Link. ~I have been living on borrowed time for too long, little Nomad. I welcome this release.~

  Anastasia shrugged. “As you wish,” she answered, and worked her Magic, reaching out to the man before her and using her Magic to grip his soul and pull it from him. His Anima resisted, but the Magus himself did not. Instead, he was smiling. Anastasia pumped more power into her Magic, drawing on the local Essentia and leveraging its power to make her desires a reality.

  A feeling of ripping washed over her as the Anima of the Un-Sundered finally tore free. Anastasia called on her new draconic heritage and pulled the Anima towards her, reversing the gifting of power that Void Dragons were able to do. Anastasia felt energy flood into her, through her body and out along her arms and legs, making her shake as it filled her up. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe and forgot where she was. Her whole attention was elsewhere, focused internally on the centuries of knowledge that rushed through her.

  Her connection to Essentia strengthened as the new level of Magical understanding burnt itself into her mind.

  It wasn’t the leap of power that had happened on consuming the dragon’s Anima. The increase in power was much smaller. Instead, the main change was a deeper understanding of the Magic she could use, and what she could actually do with it.

  The blinding light that had filled her vision faded and drew back as she felt all her strength leave her for a brief moment. She fell. Dropping to her knees, she took a long, cleansing breath, filling her lungs with life-giving air once, twice, and then three times as her awareness returned.

  Sitting up, she looked over to see a shrivelled corpse on the throne where Valkus had been moments before. She looked down at her hands and clenched her fists before opening them again. She was back in her human form once more, the draconic part of her having pulled back during the consumption.

  Closing her eyes, Anastasia focused inwards and looked at her soul, her Anima. It was still here, but there was a darkness there now that wasn’t there before. It was faint, barely there at all, and probably not visible to any but the closest of observers. She knew what it meant. The cost of consuming the Anima of another tainted her own life force.

  She didn’t care. She had what she needed now, and as she looked around, she found she already had a greater understanding of the Magic and Essentia she could see and feel.

  Anastasia looked across the room as another group of guards moved into the room.

  ~These are mine,~ she announced through her Coven’s Link and informed them she was about to Port them off the ship. They all let her do it apart from Lyka, who Ported herself. Always the stubborn one, that one.

  After she Ported her crew off the ship, she walked towards the approaching guards, all of whom were Magi. They glowed with power and Essentia, and as they approached, they called on that power. Essentia strikes, kinetic rams, and lightning bolts snapped across the space between them, but she wasn’t there.

  Splitting her corporeal form, several versions of herself appeared around the room as Magic lashed out from them in the form of hideously powerful Essentia strikes. As she attacked, she Ported her bodies again and assaulted for a second time, before repeating it once more.

  The speed at which she moved and attacked was blinding, and the guards didn’t stand a chance. With a thought, she Ported off the ship and back to the Obsidian Fire. For a moment, she considered obliterating the Aether ship, but then reconsidered. Let this be a warning to others; she thought with a smile as she turned away from the view screen.

  “Get us out of here, Glass,” she said and walked off the bridge as the ship turned and fired up its Flux Drive.

  Unstable

  Dark Watch Base, Crux Space. 16,050 Light Years from Earth.

  Crystal stared at the strange looking woman standing before her. “You know where the Demiurge is?” she asked, not quite believing what her ears had told her.

  The woman, Anka, nodded. She was tall with pearl white skin, dark hair, and entirely black eyes. She had strange red markings on her skin, like tattoos, and wore a fitted red leather outfit with streamers of red fabric rippling off of it.

  She looked almost alien, but through her Aetheric Sight, Crystal could read her biology and knew she was human or a variation of.

  She also glowed brightly with Essentia, marking her as a powerful Magus.

  “I do. At least, I used to, but I doubt they’ve moved him since I found out where he is.”

  As she finished her sentence, the ground rumbled and shook. Crystal bent her knees and nearly fell over, only getting her balance again after a moment. She looked around to see if the cause was obvious, and through her Magical vision, quickly spotted various energies building up from deep within the asteroid. The attack by the Crux — their dragon and ships — must have damaged the asteroid, making it unstable, and while Crystal’s knowledge of the geology of asteroids was limited, she felt sure this was not a welcome development.

  “That’s not good,” Kora said, looking around at her crew.

  “I’ll say,” Jaiden, Kora’s espionage specialist, added.

  “The Crux attack damaged the asteroid more than we realised,” Crystal explained.

  “She’s right,” Kaz agreed. She was the only Magus on Kora’s crew, and was looking around her, down into the asteroid; no doubt seeing the same worrying build-up of energies beneath them.

  “So, can we get out of here?” Flick, Kora’s pilot, asked.

  “And how do we do that?” Dash the AI asked, looking over at the destroyed ship out beyond the Magical bubble of Essentia that was keeping out the ravages of space.

  Flick looked at Dash, and then over at the Void Star where it lay in two sections. “Um… how are you alive?” she asked Dash.

  “The ship might be ruined, but my core is still intact,” he answered her, “and it's in the final stages of downloading me into this frame.”

  “Oh, good,” Flick answered with a smile. “So, we can leave?”

  “In three, two, one, download complete. I’m ready,” Dash answered with a smile.

  “We’ll take mine,” Anka suggested.

  “Perfect,” Crystal said, and bent down to help Valerya up from the rock she’d sat on moments ago. She was still hurt from the fight she’d had with the Crux dragon.

  “Oooh, careful,” Valerya grunted.

  “Sorry,” Crystal replied, adjusting her grip before looking up at Anka.

  “Ready?” Anka asked.

/>   Everyone answered affirmatively, and as Crystal watched, Essentia rushed around Anka before reaching out and flooding the area with powerful arcane energies that wrapped around them and suddenly shifted them from the asteroid base to somewhere else.

  The process took barely a moment’s thought as light flashed behind Crystal’s eyes at the same moment as a whip-snap of air sounded. They found themselves standing in a strange shadowy room of sweeping metal lines set over several levels linked by stairways. Beside them, the whole wall flashed into life to reveal a view of the asteroid base.

  “Welcome to the Gnosis,” Anka said as she moved towards a nearby seat that had a commanding view of the room. “Now, let’s get out of here. I know the perfect place to go.”

  Crystal nodded, only to spot Kora indulge in a moment’s thought, and then looked up at Anka.

  “Bastion. We’re going to Bastion, right?”

  Anka nodded. “It’s close and friendly to our cause.”

  “Bastion?” Crystal asked.

  “It’s a space station,” Kora explained. “It has a reputation as a pirate trading station,” Kora explained.

  “And by that, she means that’s exactly what it is,” Jaiden added with a smile.

  “Pirate trading station?” Flick asked. “Is that even a thing?”

  “I think Kora was being kind,” Jaiden answered her.

  “You’re not kidding. It’s more of a brothel crossed with a bar, a hotel and every dirty crime-filled alleyway you’ve ever seen.”

  Looking at Valerya, Crystal used her Aetheric Sight to spot some cracked bones, bruised flesh, and other aches and pains. With a simple working of Magic, Essentia washed through the dark-haired woman and healed her injuries. Crystal checked once more, but her working seemed to have worked just fine. “You paint such a lovely image for me,” Crystal answered Flick.

  The pilot smiled and curtseyed, using her fingers to slay out an imaginary skirt.

  “That’s not all it is,” Kora continued. “Those of us who work against the Crux use it, too.”

  “Which makes it all better, of course,” Flick replied, deadpan.

  “I’m sure it will serve our purposes,” Crystal said before turning back to Anka. She noticed the screen showed the familiar tunnel of blue energy speeding past the ship as its Flux Drive pushed them through space towards their destination. She walked over to the Arch Magus, who looked up as she neared.

  “I didn’t answer your question, did I?” Anka asked.

  Crystal shook her head. “No, you didn’t.”

  Anka nodded once. “Okay, so the Demiurge. I found out a long time ago that he is being held prisoner…”

  Crystal made a quick logical leap, and cut in, finishing the sentence. “…by the Crux, right?”

  Anka smiled. “That’s correct. Millennia ago, the Demiurge left Earth having grown bored of life there. He wanted to see the galaxy. I was one of the first Magi to leave Earth, and it wasn’t long after leaving that I met him.”

  Anka smiled to herself. Crystal assumed she was thinking back to her early years with the Demiurge and was taking a moment to enjoy them. After a few seconds, Anka looked back at Crystal with a gentle smile on her lips. “They were good times. Happy times. Before the Crux…”

  “The Demiurge returned to Earth, though, right, and banished the Archons to the Abyss?” Crystal asked.

  Anka nodded. “He did. Then he returned to me after that, and we continued our travels. He was a curious soul. He wanted to see everything. He wanted to experience the galaxy and other galaxies. But we never got that far. The Crux found us. I think they found us by chance. I don’t know. Maybe they were hunting him. I’m not sure. Anyway, he was overwhelmed by the Crux and Theletos.”

  “Theletos?” Crystal asked.

  Anka looked up at her. “The leader and, some say, creator of the Crux. A hideously powerful creature, he’s like a god, really, and I don’t even think he’s from this universe. He was too much for the Demiurge. I tried to fight, as did the Demiurge, but there was no hope. They were too strong, and they took him.”

  “Where? Where did they take him?”

  “All the information I have points to the Demiurge being held inside the black hole at the centre of the galaxy.”

  “Sagittarius A…” Crystal muttered.

  “That’s the Earth name for it,” Anka answered her. “They use the black holes incredible power against him, but it also requires several of the Crux to hold him there with their Magic as well. It’s why the Crux have been so quiet for so long. They can’t leave him there alone because he’ll escape. They need to actively constrain him at all times.”

  Crystal listened and considered the strange woman’s words, and there was one question that sprung to mind right away. “Why?”

  “Why what?” Anka asked.

  “Why keep him alive? Why hold him prisoner? I mean, if they have a problem with him, if they hate him, why not just kill him?” It seemed like a logical question. Why go to all the trouble of holding a being like the Demiurge prisoner for thousands of years?”

  Anka nodded. “It’s a question I’ve asked myself many times. The resources it must take to hold him prisoner would be huge. It’s held the Crux back for millennia, kept them from attacking the Nexus and trying to take over the Galaxy. All I can think of is that I’m missing a piece of information. Some crucial part of the puzzle that explains this, because otherwise, it makes no sense. I’ve tried not to think about it too much, though, because whatever the reason, it’s kept the Crux in check this whole time.”

  “It’s worked in our favour,” Crystal agreed.

  “It has, and I’m not sure I want to change that.”

  “It’s already been changed, though, hasn’t it? The Archons have changed things.”

  Anka nodded. “They have, and not for the better.”

  “So, that might be why they wanted an alliance with the Archons,” Crystal said, thinking out loud. “The Crux have been held back for ten thousand years because of their need to keep the Demiurge imprisoned. None of the Crux could attack the Nexus because they were all focused on their job is jailers. But the Archons could change all that. An alliance with them would mean they could free up some of their number and finally look outward once again. They could finally look at attacking the Nexus again.”

  “That explains the sudden resurgence of the Crux and why they’ve been moving to retake control of their territory.”

  “They’re doing more than that,” Anka added. “They’re expanding, and quickly.”

  Crystal looked up at Anka. “They’re going to attack the Nexus.”

  “It looks that way,” Anka replied as the ship dropped out of warp and the viewscreen returned to the vista of space.

  Crystal took a moment to marvel at the difference in the night sky compared to how things looked back home on Earth. The void of space was much brighter here. They were incredibly close to the centre of the galaxy, the galactic bar that the spiral arms radiated out from and contained the supermassive black hole and the Demiurge.

  Set against that glittering backdrop hung a vast space station, dark against the bright stars behind it.

  “Bastion,” Kora said on seeing it. It was a curious station and seemed to have been designed by a mad man. “It’s made from hundreds of ships and station parts, all cobbled together over time. They’re still adding to it.”

  That explains it, Crystal thought as the ship boosted forwards.

  “I want to free him,” Crystal said, the thought and resolution coming to her almost from nowhere. Her mission had been to find the Demiurge, and now that she had, and she wanted to see it through.

  “I thought you might,” Anka replied. “Let’s dock; we can discuss it soon.”

  Doubts

  Tibet, Earth, 1 Au from Sol.

  Amanda sat on the ground leaning back on her hands, her legs dangling over a sheer cliff face as she looked out over the Himalayan mountain range spread out all around her.
She was on the side of a mountain, and down to her right, hugging the mountainside was the Red Monastery, sitting above the cloud layer.

  It was cold up here, but Amanda didn’t feel it. Her Magic kept her body at a comfortable temperature, allowing her to wear the ripped jeans and strappy top she sported today. The wind caught her crimson hair, pulling it off her shoulders as it whipped around the mountain.

  “I always appreciate your visits, Amanda,” Gentle Water said in his Chinese accented English. He was sitting a little way behind her, not so close to the cliff edge, which given his blindness, she guessed, made sense.

  She looked back at him and pulled some strands of hair from her face as she twisted to face him. He sat on a rock with both hands on a walking stick that she felt reasonably sure he didn’t need. Amanda could see the Magic focused around his face and eyes and recognised it for the perception Magic that it was.

  “I’m glad you’re able to see again, now,” she commented.

  He nodded once. “The effect from Lazarus Scroll is much less now. I still not see with my eyes, but Magic help me now. Much better.”

  Gentle Water had been her former mentor. He’d found her shortly after she’d become a Magus and used Magic for the first time. That had been in Ireland, a long time ago it seemed, and a lot had happened since then.

  Not least of which was his blindness, caused by a dark Magus called Yasmin through the use of an ancient Artefact called the Lazarus Scroll. The Scroll’s powerful attack had made the blindness permanent, and no Magic seemed capable of reversing it or even circumventing it, meaning Gentle Water had been genuinely blind for a while. At least, things had improved since then.

  His blindness was very apparent, though, with his eyes a milky, foggy grey white now that partially obscured his iris and pupil.

  Gentle Water, which wasn’t his birth name but a name he’d been given by the monks at this monastery, was a short man, even shorter than Amanda, and that was saying something. He was bald with a wispy grey moustache and small goatee beard on the end of his chin. He wore a cream shirt, tan slacks, sandals on his feet, and looked utterly at ease with himself.