Crux Magi Page 5

  “Oh great,” Dasha exclaimed.

  “This could be very useful,” Elden continued. “She was ostracized from the Valk royal family years ago for not being a Magus. Thank you for bringing her to us.”

  Amanda shrugged and smiled. “No problem.” Dasha looked unhappy with this turn of events, but Amanda didn’t pay him any attention.

  “Thank you for your report,” Elden added. “We appreciate it.”

  “Of course. How goes the war?”

  “I believe it’s something of a mixed bag. On the Terran Foundation front, we’re okay and surviving. The fiercest fighting is anti-spinward, towards the Wraxleith Dynasty. That’s by far our biggest front, but we’re holding our ground for now. We’ve evacuated what planets we can and moved the population away from the front lines. I know that some of the other Dynasties aren’t faring quite as well, however.”

  “Like who?” Amanda asked.

  “The Templar Knights, for one,” Ambassador Gorthon Druk for the Arcturus Dynasty spoke up. “Their territory is between ours and the Larzentus sectors. They’ve acted as a buffer between us, but it’s led to them taking heavy losses. I’m unsure if they’re going to survive.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Amanda sympathised. “What about the Valk on your other border?”

  “We’re holding our own against them,” Gorthon answered. “In fact, if anything, the intensity of the fighting has lessened.”

  “Speaking of the Valk,” Tira of the Silent Order spoke up. “You might be interested to know that Admiral Orlan, who you have confronted a couple of times, has been withdrawn from the front lines, apparently as punishment for how he handled certain missions.”

  Amanda smiled. “You mean like the first strike at Sol Prime by the Accord.”

  Tira nodded. “He’s been reassigned to the outer colonies.”

  Amanda frowned. “The Crux…”

  “Perhaps,” Tira answered.

  “Reports from my Dynasty are also very concerning,” Ambassador Tyze Armanix spoke up.

  Elden nodded to him to continue.

  “We’re taking heavy losses. Very heavy losses. The Wraxleith are pushing hard into our territory, and making their way to Dia.”

  Amanda knew he was referring to the homeworld of the Dimande Dynasty. “How close are they?”

  “Very. In fact, I’d like to take this opportunity to ask for reinforcements.”

  “We’re stretched as it is,” Elden replied. “If we pull troops from anywhere else, we’ll be leaving ourselves vulnerable to attack.”

  “I know that, but please, I ask only that you consider it. If there is some way… any way, that you can help, please. We need it.” He turned to Amanda. “I know how fast and how far you can travel. You might be able to help to get us the forces we need in time to save us.”

  Amanda nodded. She looked over at Elden. “Is there nothing we can do? I can get some troops over there, at the very least.”

  “You’ll help?” Tyze asked.

  “I want to,” Amanda confirmed.

  “What about the Demiurge?” Crystal asked.

  “We’ll do it, I promise, but I can’t leave all those people to die when it might be possible for me to save their lives.”

  Crystal nodded. “Okay…”

  “Thank you,” Amanda replied, grateful for having understanding friends. She looked back at Elden. “You’ll see what you can spare?”

  Elden looked troubled but nodded slowly. “I’ll see what I can arrange.”

  Amanda nodded her thanks.

  Red News

  The Spike, Elyse System, 268 Light-years from Sol

  Anastasia sauntered into the meeting room on one of the highest levels of the Spike, flanked by Lyka and Sapphira of her coven. Lyka’s presence was noticed by the other Magi in the room; several of the Magi glanced back to the powerful Scion Magus.

  Since taking de facto control of the Aristax Dynasty through the Baron, and becoming a key player in the Accord, she’d started to bring more of her coven out into the open. There was no need to hide quite so much now. Besides, they didn’t know about her former life as a Nomad on Earth.

  The leaders of the Dynasties that formed the Accord had, for the most part, retreated to their territories to manage the war effort. They’d left their ambassadors and admirals at the Spike, using it as a hub where information could be exchanged, and war efforts coordinated.

  Anastasia had chosen to remain here with the Baron to stay visible and at the heart of the war effort.

  She needed to remain relevant.

  Fleet Admiral Dazar Valk nodded to her as she approached the table.

  “Anastasia,” he said in greeting.

  “Dazar,” she replied and glanced at the others who were discussing the map of troop movements displayed in the holo above the table.

  She smiled at Fleet Admiral Cereas Wraxleith, Admiral Forius Stel of the Larzentus, Ambassador Chel of the Aristax, and the others.

  Chel only gave her a very brief smile in return and turned her attention back to the map. The ambassador seemed to dislike her and possibly suspected foul play. To be fair to her, she was right, so she was someone worth keeping an eye on.

  With a sigh, Anastasia slumped into the waiting chair and swung one leg over the arm, enjoying the uncomfortable looks that the admirals shared at her casual attitude.

  “Report,” she ordered. As an Arch Master Magus, she outranked all the admirals and ambassadors and used that to her advantage. “How goes our little war effort?”

  “Very well,” Fleet Admiral Cereas answered. “For the most part, we’re either holding our boarders or making advances into Nexus space. Most of those advances are slow, but we’re having much greater success with the push into Dimande Dynasty space.”

  Anastasia nodded as she listened. “Exactly how successful are we talking?”

  “If all goes to plan—and I see no reason why it wouldn’t—I think we will be taking their capital world, Dia, shortly.”

  “Really?” Anastasia answered. She was pleasantly surprised by this development. Most of the fighting so far seemed to be along the borders of Dynasty space with little push into enemy territory, so this was a pleasing development.

  If they took the capital world it could spell the end of the Dimande Dynasty, and send shockwaves through the rest of the Nexus.

  “Excellent news,” Anastasia answered. “Keep me informed. Anything else?”

  “I have more good news,” Admiral Forius Stel replied. “We have been pushing into the Templar Knights’ territory, that sits between the Arcturus Dynasty and us, and I have just received word that their capital world, Molay, has fallen to our forces, and the Knights are in full retreat.”

  “Incredible news. And this has just come in?”

  “That’s right, Arch Master.”

  Anastasia smiled. She liked being called Arch Master. She’d only really just become one, after having consumed the Dragon’s Anima and then, with the powers that the Dragon had given her, the Anima of an Unsundered Arch Magus, too. The leap in power had been incredible. Finally, she’d been able to stand toe to toe with Amanda, and not only survive, but potentially win.

  Seeing Amanda’s face when she’d killed Ylena Ormond had been a delicious moment, and one she would treasure for a while to come. It was right up there with the look on Yasmin’s face, back in the Vatican.

  “Good, keep me informed. Is there anything else of note?”

  “Not as yet,” Dazar answered.

  “So no significant victories by the Valk?”

  “Not to my knowledge…” he replied, but Anastasia noticed that he seemed to be holding something back. Something was troubling him, and she wondered what it might be.

  “Are you sure?”

  Dazar narrowed his eyes and seemed to be thinking something through before he finally spoke again. “We are getting reports that some of the Valk’s outer colonies, furthest away from the Nexus, have been attacked. Nothing is confirmed yet, and we don’t know who is attacking them, but it might be that the Septhian or Arcturus are attempting to flank us, and draw us away from the Terran Foundation front.”

  “Hmmm,” Anastasia replied, contemplating this theory. She wasn’t convinced. It would actually be a smart tactical move by the Nexus and could work, but Anastasia knew that Crux Space, where the Archons had fled to after leaving Earth, lay further out in that direction.

  Was this the first indication that the Crux was finally attacking the Nexus? It would need further investigation.

  “When will you know more?” Anastasia asked.

  “Following his defeat at the hands of the Terran insurgent, Amanda, Admiral Orlan has been reassigned to the outer colonies and will be investigating these reports.

  Anastasia nodded. “Very well. I’d like to see that report when it comes in.”

  “Of course,” Dazar Valk replied.

  “Anything further?”

  There was nothing, so she left her military leaders to their strategizing and Ported back to her ship, the Obsidian Fire, in orbit elsewhere around the planet.

  She appeared on the bridge to find Thorne in the command chair, where she’d left him. He immediately stood and vacated her chair.

  “My Baal, we’ve just heard from our asset within the Terran Foundation that Amanda has just returned from a trip to the outer colonies of the Septhian Dynasty, where she found evidence that they were attacked by the Crux.”

  “The Septhians, hmm?”

  “That’s right. Apparently, Crux Dragon Riders appeared and attacked her while she was out there…”

  “And they failed to kill that annoying cow, right?”

  “Correct.”

  “Shame. Anything else?”

  “Indeed, there is. Amanda says she has discovered the whereabouts of the Demiurge and plans to attempt to free him.”

  “Does she now? That is interesting. Did the asset say where the Demiurge was based?”

  “Only that it’s somewhere in Crux Space.”

  “Makes sense. So is Amanda heading there now?” If she was, Anastasia might have to follow her. Taking the power of a Dragon, or an Arch Master was one thing, but the Demiurge would be orders of magnitude beyond that.

  “Not right away, from what the asset indicated, he thinks she’s being drawn back into the Nexus War and will be helping with the fight.”

  Anastasia frowned. “That is not ideal.” She understood why Amanda would do that, but it didn’t suit Anastasia’s plans. “Keep me informed as to her movements, I want to know what she does next.”

  Tales from Home

  Inisfail, Quantum Realm, Beyond our Universe

  Amanda flopped onto her favourite soft chair before the fire and let out a long sigh. Once again, she was being pulled in two different directions and felt obligated to try and do both.

  She’d helped start this war through her actions of bringing the Earth Magi into the Nexus, so it was only right that she try to do what she could to help end it and save lives.

  She felt confident she was on the right side of the war. Not least, because it was clear that the Accord was being influenced by a Nomad, possibly more than one.

  She was learning to hate Anastasia almost as much as she’d hated Yasmin.

  The Dynasties of the Accord clearly despised the idea of the Earth Magi joining the Nexus, while also believing the Crux was not a threat. They wanted everything to remain as it was, and saw no reason for it to change. From their perspective, why should it? They either didn’t believe the Dragon attack on New York took place, or saw it as a one-off, freak occurrence.

  But Amanda and the Earth Council saw things differently. After the Dragon attack on Earth, they were operating in a new normal.

  They could not sit back and do nothing when their planet was clearly under threat by a force that the Nexus wasn’t even prepared to believe existed, let alone actively defend against.

  Change was inevitable at this point, and when the Crux did finally kick down the Nexus’s front door, even greater change would likely be necessary.

  That moment was swiftly approaching, and there seemed to be one clear way to try and stop it, but it would mean leaving the Nexus in this time of war for who knew how long, on a mission that might fail entirely.

  But, people needed her here. She was one of very few Magi who could travel clear across the Nexus in a single Port, and that was a rare and valuable skill.

  “So what do we do now?” Crystal asked as she sat on the nearby couch. “Do we just wait?”

  “Elden will work as quickly as he can, but these things do take time,” Amanda replied, feeling a knot of frustration in her belly.

  “Time that is wasted. Time that we could use to go and find the Demiurge,” Crystal protested.

  “I know. You’re right. But we could be gone for days, weeks maybe. Possibly longer on this mission for the Demiurge. If I can help with this one thing, then maybe I can step away with a clear conscience.”

  “Not everything in this war is your fault or your responsibility, you know.”

  Amanda nodded. “I know. But we can’t let them take the Dimande capital world. It would spell the end of the Dimande Dynasty, and if they fall…”

  Crystal sighed. “I know. It would be devastating. Utterly devastating.”

  “It would. It really would.”

  “And there’s no one else who can help them?”

  “I don’t think so. There are others who can Port that far, but most of them probably won’t want to get involved. Besides, the Terran Foundation might not even trust them to do what needs to be done. I’m a known quantity at this point. They trust me.”

  Crystal smiled. “You should never have gotten involved.”

  Amanda sighed and slumped into her chair. “There are days when sometimes, just sometimes, I wonder if I should have just left well enough alone.”

  “I bet.”

  ~Amanda, are you free?~ It was Trevelyan.

  Amanda concentrated on the Mental Link. ~Yeah, I’m free. I’m in Inisfail.~

  ~I thought you might be. Hold on, I’ll be with you in a moment.~

  ~Sure thing. I’m in my cottage.~

  “Who’s that?” Crystal asked, no doubt spotting the Magic that Amanda had just been using.

  “Trevelyan, he’ll be here any-” The air snapped, and the regal-looking Magus appeared in the room. “-moment.”

  “Ladies,” Trevelyan greeted them.

  “Hey, what’s the craic?” Amanda asked.

  “Thanks for offering to help with the Dimande situation,” he said, and pointed to a nearby chair.

  Amanda nodded to him. “That’s okay,” she answered as he sat down.

  “I know it’s taking you away from the Demiurge thing.”

  Amanda shrugged. “I want to help. Besides, I doubt it will take long and then we can be off,” she replied, nodding to Crystal to illustrate who she meant by ‘we’.

  “Still, it must be frustrating.”

  “It is,” Crystal replied, a little too forcefully Amanda thought.

  “We’ll deal with it,” Amanda added, wanting to keep things calm. “So, what brings you here?”

  “Thought you might like an update on the situation on Earth, things have changed a little.”

  “Oh?” Amanda asked, curious.

  “Well, we’ve known for a while that the Restoration has changed things.”

  “The Restoration, is that what we’re officially calling it now?”

  “It seems to fit,” Trevelyan replied, “with our access to the Aetheric Realm now restored.”

  “Fair enough,” Amanda answered. “It felt a little more violent back in Tartarus when Yasmin did her thing.”

  “Yeah, it did,” Crystal agreed.

  Trevelyan shrugged. “It was the word that stuck.”

  Amanda waved it away. “No bother. So, what’s changed?”

  “Several things, not least of which is the ability to shift over into the Aetheric now. People are already exploring it.”

  “I bet.”

  “Something we didn’t expect though, was the slight increase in the number of people going through an Epiphany and becoming a Magus. We don’t know if this is a temporary thing and will fade, or if this is a new normal, but it seems to be holding for the time being.”

  “So, there’re more Magi now?” Amanda asked. This was certainly an interesting development.

  “Certainly, and not only that, but they also seem to be progressing through the early Magi Ranks, from Apprentice to Knight, quicker than they used to.”

  “Curious. Has our connection to Essentia increased?”

  “We’re not one hundred percent sure about that, but we are looking into it,” he explained.

  “Does this quicker advancement only apply to the Magi created following the Restoration or all Magi?” Amanda asked.

  “As far as we can tell, all Magi. It’s a blanket change, and it’s led to some knock-on effects, too, because we don’t want these new Magi to become Nomads, if possible.”

  “Naturally,” Amanda agreed.

  “So, we’re starting a school.”

  “A school? To teach Magic?”

  Trevelyan nodded. “That’s right. The Arcadian Council has founded the first Academy of Aetheric Arts. We had to. We needed a place to bring the additional novices to so we could look after them, keep them safe from the Nomads, and teach them how to use their Magic. It’s not up and running yet, but we’re close, and the first year will begin in a few months, once we have all the staff in place.”

  “You’re not going to ask me to be a teacher, are you?” Amanda asked.

  “No, no. Don’t worry. We might like it if you came along and visited from time to time, but no, we don’t want you on the staff.”

  “Phew,” Amanda sighed in relief. “I thought that was where you were going with this.”

  “No, I’m just passing on some information.”

  “So, where is the school?” Crystal asked.

  “Funny you should ask that, actually,” Trevelyan replied with a knowing smile. “Your fellow Sentinels offered us the use of your former home. The Fortress of the Ebon Mark.”