We traveled for a while in silence as I thought over all the new information I had. I had a lot more questions to ask but wanted to sift through the data a bit first. Suddenly, I saw Darnath jogging back towards us, and Luke came jogging up from behind.
“Greenskin patrol, twenty strong, heading this way,” he reported.
“Sir, we should hide. Right now the Magi have no idea where you are. If we fight, then this hallway will be flooded with reinforcements,” suggested Major Jerran.
“I agree, but where?” I asked.
Then they all gathered up tight near a wall and pulled me in. Next I saw Andreya waving her arms around in the air as if drawing something with both hands. Soon after, a semi-transparent rock wall appeared and completely surrounded us. It was not long after that I saw the Greenskins coming down the corridor. I held my breath as they filed past at a fast march. Once they were out of sight, I saw Andreya relax a little and the wall disappeared.
“Amazing. I take it all they saw was a rock outcropping?” I asked.
“Exactly, sir, and if they reached out to touch it, they would have felt it too. Their own minds make it real,” answered Andreya.
That was probably the same thing the Magi had brought against us in orbit. It was not a new weapon at all; just one that the Empire had decided to keep secret and confine to this planet, a move which could end up being the worst tactical mistake of this century.
“So then are the Magi also master-level psionics?” I asked as we resumed our walk.
“No, sir, we do not know what they are. On the surface some of our powers and theirs look similar, but in reality they are extremely different. For example, they can scan for us, as you saw, but they do not have any other telepathic abilities that we can detect, nor can they block our powers any more than we can. The only thing that stops us from probing them constantly for all their information is that they can detect us when we do that and locate us instantly. But it’s more than just different powers, it is more like a different form of energy completely. We do not truly understand how either our powers or theirs work, but we can tell they are fundamentally different,” answered Jerran.
“No telepathic powers, but earlier you said they used a telepath to fake Lieutenant Tom’s message?” I asked.
“Well, sir, there are different degrees of Magi, and the most advanced ones break all the rules,” he replied.
Before I could ask for more information, Darnath came back to the group and said, “The storage depot is ahead. It looks like two Magi apprentices are guarding it.”
“You know their ranks?” I asked.
“Not completely, but we have a general idea. It appears that seven older humans rule them, and they are by far the most powerful. Under those there appear to be a few levels of power, and each lower level addresses the people in the levels above them as “master”. During the early battles we discovered the names of a couple of the lower ranks. “Apprentice” appears to be the lowest,” answered Darnath. Well, that at least explained who the “Seven” were.
“Well, if there are only two, I want you six to stay hidden. Right now they probably assume I am the only threat on the planet, and I would like to keep it that way. About how long do we have from when the two Magi see me until reinforcements arrive?” I asked.
“On average it takes them about five to seven minutes to respond, sir,” answered Gafar. “But that assumes they are completely unprepared. They can be anywhere in less than a minute if they are fully prepared to move.”
“Okay, then: the instant it is safe to do so, charge in there, get all the explosives you can carry and get out. I will be looking for detonators and timers. If anything happens do not wait for me. Head down this corridor and hide when you get far enough to be safe. If I do not show myself in fifteen minutes, carry on the mission without me,” I ordered.
“Yes, sir,” was the reluctant reply.
I drew out two of my wands, one in each hand, took a deep breath to steady myself, and then slipped around the corner to where the guards were. The instant I could see them I fired both wands, one at each of them in rapid succession. Both of them were caught completely off-guard and were killed instantly. I then turned both wands on the door and fired again, blowing the door wide open. As soon as I was sure the room was secure I waved the Black Adders in and started grabbing anything that looked like a timer or detonator.
“Here they come,” whispered Gafar.
“Get out,” I ordered.
Everyone sprinted down the hall a mere few seconds ahead of me. Before I got far I felt an icy cold chill on my back. When I turned and looked I saw one of the older Magi standing with staff in hand just a few meters behind me.
“Pity you have to die, Vydor. Had you been born amongst us you would have been a great power,” he said.
Not wasting any time, I pointed both wands at him. He did not seem at all worried about it and casually lowered his staff. I quickly re-aimed my wands at the ceiling and fired two bolts, causing it to collapse. When the dust cleared the corridor was completely blocked off and he was nowhere to be found. I ran to catch up with the Black Adders.
As I rounded a corner I saw them tucked tight against a wall with a translucent rock wall in front of them. As I approached them, Darnath reached out and pulled me in while gesturing to be quiet. Almost as soon as I was behind the wall, a squad of Greenskins came running down the hall heading in the direction I had just come from. They passed us without even a glance.
“It is clear,” said Gafar.
“We need to get out of here quickly. It will not be long before this whole area is filled with Greenskin patrols,” I said.
Darnath took off on point as before and we all moved out. The next hour was spent constantly hiding from scans and dodging patrols. We traveled deeper and deeper into what looked like older and less-used pathways. Eventually we reached a small hollow just off the main path. “Gafar, is anyone near us at all?” I asked.
“No, sir, we appear to have completely avoided their search net,” was his reply.
“Excellent. Rest here in this hollow then, and we should eat while we still can,” I ordered.
For a while it was quiet as we feasted on the food the Black Adders had been stealing from the Magi. Each of them looked scared, tired and spent. I wondered if they would have the fortitude to carry on. We had too much information on the Magi now; we had to get off this planet with it.
“Sir, can I ask you something?” asked Gafar.
“Certainly, feel free to ask whatever is on your mind,” I replied.
“Well, sir, we know that just as we got away one of the Seven appeared in the hallway. What happened?” he asked.
“Not much, really. He said something about how it was time for me to die as I pointed my wands at him. He did not seem at all concerned about the wands, so I blasted the ceiling over his head instead, which caused part of the tunnel to collapse. I do not know what happened to him, only that when the dust settled he was gone. I assume he was either killed by the rubble, or was just on the other side of it. After that, I ran until I saw you,” was my reply.
“That was a smart move, sir,” started Gafar. “The Seven have a way to block the wands; they seem to catch them with either their hands or their staves. Had you tried that you would be dead now. At least one of them seems to be completely immune to any wand or staff attack.”
“Catch them?” I asked.
“Yes, sir. We found out in our fights with them that not even staves can generate enough power to overcome this ability of theirs,” he replied.
“You know, I wish I could have seen your squad in action against the Magi. I bet it was a sight to behold,” I said, hoping to instill some pride.
“Oh, it was, sir,” called out Kellyn. “They were brilliant!”
“Sir, if you want, I can show you,” said Darnath. “You would just have to let down your thought shield enough for me to show you.”
“Is that safe? I thought you said never to let it down?” I asked.
“Sir, Gafar and Luke will alert us if anyone looks our way, and while I do not know how you create your thought shield, I suspect you can crack it just enough to let me in without giving away our position,” answered Darnath.
I thought about it for a minute. On one hand I did not like the idea of letting a telepath poke around my head, but on the other hand I suspected this was a test. “Very well, give me a moment and I will see what I can think of,” I replied.
I envisioned my thought shield as a rock sphere around me, completely and totally protecting me from everything, with no doors or windows. Then I pictured a door on it, and I cracked it just a little. Just on the other side of the door I saw what I knew to be Darnath, but he looked more like a spirit than a person. He was holding a box. I reached out and took it inside my sphere, closing and erasing the door behind me. I opened the box to look inside when out of it came what looked like a holographic movie which wrapped around me. Suddenly I was elsewhere …