Kellyn woke me early the next morning and reminded me that we would be jumping very soon.
“The Dark Knights are still here, so I asked them to handle the jump. I hope you do not mind,” she said.
“No, that was a good idea. Where are the others?” As we were still in what was now our quarters, I could not sense them.
“We are meeting on the observation deck for the jump in one hour,” she said.
“All right. I will have a shower and go up there,” I said. She went back to her previous quarters to get ready herself, and then we went up to the top deck together.
“You know, Vydor, you are very lucky. Not many people get to be woken early the day after their wedding night to face battle with a demon,” commented Luke as I arrived. It was a good thing that Kellyn’s primary power was healing, because after the look she gave him I was sure he was going to need emergency treatment.
I noticed that Rannor was with us, so I asked, “Can he hear us yet?”
“Yes, Master Vydor, I can. Master Gafar is serving as a link for me until I learn how to do this myself,” Rannor replied.
“Good. Have you been told what is about to happen?” I asked.
“Only that we will be jumping soon,” he said.
“Well, I wish I had more time to explain. I will just say that jumping is dangerous for me at this time and I cannot do it alone. You may see some odd things, but do not worry; united we can handle it,” I said. “Rannor, make sure you have a good physical hold on Gafar and do not let go until the jump is over. We will take care of everything else. Focus on holding on to him while you have a grip on him and it will hold through the jump. Okay?”
“Yes, Master Vydor, I can do that,” he said and grabbed hold of Gafar’s arm.
“Commander, we will need the jump countdown up here. I do not have time to explain why, just be aware that we will probably face greater than normal hangover coming back, regardless of our preparations,” I said over the comm, taking care to leave it open so that we could hear the countdown as I walked back to the group. Privately to the other master wizards I said, “I plan to take the offensive this time, so be ready for some fun.”
Then we heard over the speaker, “Jumping in five, four, three, two …”
The blueness of jump space surrounded us all, and I saw the dark specter moving towards us. This time I looked him right in the eye without fear and said, “Foul creature, beware! I, Grandmaster Vydor, and all six of our realm’s masters stand before you. Prepare yourself for battle!” With that I called up a bolt of pure magical energy and blasted him in the dead center of the chest. He screamed out in pain and shrank a little in size, but flew right at me in spite of the blast. I stared him down without blinking, and then raised my left hand, with my wedding ring on it, and channeled the power that I felt coming from Kellyn through the ring and into him. The bolt cut a hole right through him; this time he fell back in intense pain. “Spirit of old, you have no power over me. Your curse on my family ends, NOW!” As I screamed “now” I channeled another bolt, this time combining the powers of all the wizards, and when this bolt hit him he burst into fire and was consumed, leaving only us and the spirit of light.
“Well done, Grandmaster Vydor, you are finally free,” the spirit of light said. “Now you must prepare for your greatest battle yet. Take this scroll. It contains vital information that you will need soon. Do not worry about how to read it. When you return to normal space you will have the knowledge contained in it.” I took the scroll the spirit offered without pausing to think about it.
Almost instantly after that we were back in normal space, but none of us suffered any side effects from the trip. I looked around at each one, and as they realized what had just happened there was much cheering, jumping and hollering. Once they calmed down, I spoke, using my real voice so that Gafar would not have to relay my words. “Today we united and defeated a demon which has plagued my family for countless generations. This is a major turning point for us, as it shows our greatest power comes from our unity. We must stand united, since we are the last and greatest defense the forces of light have in this realm. Everything depends on us.” I stood in front of them and said, “Soon we will be facing the greatest battle this realm has ever seen. Many will die, perhaps even some of us, but we cannot falter, or sacrifice our dedication to the battle; so I ask you now to repledge your loyalty and dedication to me and our cause.”
Starting with Kellyn, one by one, they stated their support with a bow. Then over the loudspeaker I heard the commander of the Dark Knights say, “The Dark Knights will stand with you to the end, Grandmaster Vydor, no matter what happens.” It was only then that I remembered I left the comm open before the jump.
“Commander, how many Dark Knights remain on the Dragon Claw?” I asked over the comm.
“None, Grandmaster. All one hundred of us made the journey over yesterday,” he said as he entered the room, turning off the comm as he passed it.
“Commander, the Dark Knights’ skin is not black because you dyed it; it is because you are a subrace of the Zalionians. Correct?”
“Yes, sir,” he answered.
“And your race has a natural ability to communicate through a form of telepathy?” I asked.
“Yes, sir,” he replied.
“Your race also has a natural resistance to magic, has it not?” I asked.
“Yes, sir,” he answered.
“Well then, I plan to ask the Empire to assign you to my craft indefinitely, if you and your Knights are willing,” I said.
“Yes, sir, but there is no need since we have already informed Zalith of our decision to join you here,” replied the commander.
“Excellent. Then prepare this ship for the next jump. I expect that we will be jumping into a hot battle zone,” I ordered.
“Yes, Grandmaster,” he snapped as he turned and left.
“Rest and eat. I must call the captain, then we must have a full council meeting before the next jump. I met with Mantis two nights ago and have much to tell you,” I said to the wizards. “Rannor, I will need you to take your old position in the medical bay, as there are too many of us here now for Kellyn to treat alone.”
He seemed to light up with that comment and asked if he could be excused to check out the medical wing before any battle occurred. “Go, but be back before the next jump,” I said.
“Oh, do not worry. After what I just witnessed, I will be back early,” he said and left with a spring in his step, looking younger than before. This baffled me until Kellyn sent via our link, “You gave him a job; he feels needed again.”
“Ah, of course! Thank you, Kellyn. Okay, I am going to call the captain. Feel free to listen in. Just stay out of sight,” I said.
I wandered off to find a private-looking nook to place the call from. Kellyn followed me over and set up the call, then returned to the table with the group to eat.
“Master Vydor, I am glad you called,” came the captain’s greeting. “I need to talk to you about the Dark Knights.”
“Go on, Captain,” I replied.
“Well, it seems that they are not really Imperial citizens, nor truly part of our Navy,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Yesterday they all started packing up to fly to your ship, and I told them that the first twenty-five was really sufficient. Then they just quoted a treaty reference to me and said, ‘The time has come.’ I could not get them to stop packing up, and I didn’t want to make a fuss on your wedding day, so I let them go.
“I had not heard of this treaty, so I spent most of last night researching it, and I was surprised at what I found. Apparently the Dark Knights were not part of the Zalionian Empire at the time of the merging with the our Empire. They had a separate agreement. Vydor, this agreement dates back over three thousand years and supersedes anything that would be in effect today.”
Zalith entered the room at this point, but did not say anything. I could see something was eating at him, though. After a brief greeting to Zalith, the captain continued, “This treaty clearly states that they have their own government, and serve the Empire only until the return of the one who will lead them to victory over darkness.”
“I am surprised such a treaty even exists,” I said.
“So was I, and I checked thoroughly. Nothing has been done to change its terms in all this time. It seems the Empire figured enough time had passed that, whoever the ‘one’ was, he was dead and not coming back,” he said.
“This is very interesting, but how does that affect us today?” I was sure I knew what he was going to say, but did not want to jump the gun and insult Zalith if I was way off base.
“Vydor, they believe you are the ‘one’, based on some ancient prophecy,” he replied.
“Somehow I knew you were going to say that. What do you know of this prophecy, Zalith?” I asked.
Zalith seemed relieved to finally be able to speak and said, “Vydor, the prophecy just predicts that you will come, and how we will know you when you come. The first sign is that you will come from a foreign people, but earn respect in battle as one of our own. The second sign is that you will rise up six others from your own people who will follow you without question or hesitation and will also be greatly honored in battle. Once you come into your power you will lead the armies of light into a great battle in a faraway place against the greatest army of darkness ever seen. There is also an obscure reference to beating an ancient power in a place out of time, but I know nothing about that. There are many other signs like these, and they all point to you, Vydor.”
“A demon out of time? Such as in jump space?” I asked.
Zalith’s eyes went wide, “You actually did that?”
“Yes, Zalith, a demon that has hunted my family for countless generations. With the help of my Council of Wizards we were finally victorious, thus ending the disease that has plagued my family almost to extinction,” I answered. Before I said that I would never have thought a Zalionian could go pale, but now I knew better.
“I do not really know what to say in the face of all this. The treaty clearly states they are not under my command, but only serve out of mutual benefit until the ‘one’ … I guess you … returns,” said the captain.
“Well, Captain, at least this explains what happened just before I called you,” I said.
“What was that?” he asked.
“Their commander came up here and swore the loyalty of the entire squad to me,” I said.
“Then I guess they are yours now. It really is a wise move. You need a crew on that ship in case we find a battle waiting for us,” he responded.
“Zalith, are you happy with this?” I asked. I could not figure out what he was thinking, but he was obviously greatly torn over something.
“Vydor, not only am I happy about it, I am proud of them for following through on an ancient promise. I almost wish I could join them,” he said. “All Zalionians hold dearly to that prophecy.”
I thought about it for a minute, then said, “Zalith, I need you on the Dragon Claw as my official representative and to take care of the Zalionians who are still part of the fleet. The Empire needs our help, and I need you to spearhead it in the Navy.”
He smiled and said, “It will be a great honor to serve you in that way, thank you.”
The captain looked at me and said, “You are turning out to be a great leader, Vydor. I am proud of you.”
“Thank you, Captain, but we have more business to attend to. I have just learned that we will be jumping into a hot battle zone. The sorcerers are amassing their forces and plan to strike now before we have time to raise up an army of wizards to face them. Are there any fleets nearby that you can call on for help?” I asked.
“The Phantom’s fleet could probably make it in about twelve hours. They are the closest,” he said.
“We do not have the time to wait for them. Let them meet us at the battle. If they arrive after the fight starts, that could work to our advantage,” I said.
“I agree. If the sorcerers are still gathering power then we dare not let them have any more time than we have to. I will also shorten our jump a little so that we have some extra time to recover from the jump before rushing in,” he said.
“Captain, you must understand that everything is at stake here. Call in all who can make it. If the battle drags on long enough for them to reach us we will definitely need them,” I said.
“I will have to delay our jump, probably by an hour, so that we can prepare the fleet for this. Do not worry, Vydor, we will win, no matter what they bring against us. I have never lost a battle or war yet, and I do not plan to start now.”
With that I wrapped up the conversation and called all the wizards to meet me in the Crystal Room. Once inside we each took our official positions, and I said, “There is much to discuss. You heard some of it when I spoke to the captain, but there is more you must know. First, let me give you my memory of the meeting with Mantis.”
I looked around at each of them as they reviewed it. Long gone was the ragged-looking group that I had found last year. They no longer bore the effects of the stress of constantly hiding and fighting underground for months at a time. They all looked strong and vibrant now. The power each of them radiated was immense. Soon they had absorbed the memory and were waiting for me to talk.
“I have learned much since then. You heard some of it during my chat with the captain, so let me go back and fill in the details. I will start with the identity of the dark specter that we just defeated; he was the embodiment of a curse cast on my family line by the very first grandmaster sorcerer in the hope of preventing my birth. His power came from my anger and fear, and his destruction was brought about by your love and support.”
“So then, he is gone for good?” piped up Kellyn.
“Yes, Kellyn, we won.” I responded. That brought great joy to the room. It was our first great victory as wizards, and there was nothing like complete and total victory to cheer a team. Once the room was settled again I continued, “There is a lot more to cover, starting with what I was shown about the future. When we come out of the next jump the largest army of darkness ever created will meet us. It will be made up almost entirely of spirits, demons and other creatures from the darkest and foulest abyss. This massive fleet will be outnumbered almost three to one.”
I just let that settle in for a minute. No one said anything while they visualized what that might look like. Then I continued with the bad news. “I foresee a death toll amongst the forces of light greater than that of any previous war in the entire realm. I cannot see who will live and who will die. You may or may not want to believe in the prophecy that Zalith told us about, but the key is that our enemy does believe it, and they believe I am the one to fulfill it. Their plan is to wipe us out before we can reach full power.”
“Vydor, do we have the power to face them yet?” asked Andreya.
“The army of darkness we can handle. The lower-ranked sorcerers, regardless of their numbers, we can handle. But any one of the Seven is more than a match for us,” I said.
“Then how can we fight them?” asked Luke.
“Well, we have two major advantages in this war that offer us a chance, if we exploit them to their fullest. The first is the battlefield itself. This is interstellar space; this is where the Imperial Navy is at its most powerful, and it is a completely alien terrain to the sorcerers. As far as I can tell, they have only fought wars on planetary surfaces before. What we will see when we come out of the jump is a large army surrounding a lone space station. All the sorcerers will be on that station.”
“Destroy the summoner, and you remove the summoned,” commented Darnath.
“Exactly. The key to this fight will be that station. And you can be sure they know that. I fully expect the Seven to be on that station,” I said.
“But how do we beat them?” asked Gafar. “If they are greater than us, then that station is safe, and we lose.”
“No, they are not greater than us, but any one of them can defeat any one of us. You see, our second advantage is our ability to combine our powers. To do that you need a tremendous level of trust and loyalty,” I said.
“Something sorcerers are not known for,” said Kellyn.
“Yes, and when we combine our powers the result is far greater than the sum of the parts. No single one of them can match our combined power, just as the dark specter could not.”
“What of the weapon?” asked Gafar.
“I have found the weapon, and the funny thing is, I have known where it was all along,” I said.
“You are the weapon they were looking for,” stated Kellyn.
“Not just me, but all of us. They were trying to destroy me and prevent the creation of this Council before we discovered our powers. They foresaw our coming and they knew they could not match two Councils of Wizards, so they are moving pre-emptively to secure a victory,” I said.
I looked around the room, meeting each of their eyes and said, “This fight we are about to face seems daunting now, but each of you must remember that we are their worst fear. They are assembling all this power because they know their time is short, and that we come in great power to fight them. They are far more afraid of us than we are of them.”
“Vydor, did that other spirit tell you all this?” asked Kellyn.
“Some of it, and some I finally figured out. I also know who he is now; he is the same man from the history that Mantis told us, the one who raised up the twelve wizards to fight the sorcerers the first time,” I said.
“What else do we know about him?” asked Luke.
“Nothing, but that book back in my room is connected to him. I do not know how yet. Later, when we have peace again, I will take the time to read it, but now our main task is to prepare for this war. I plan to summon Mantis and see if they can spare any wizards to help us here.”
“Brilliant! Since they are amassing here in great numbers, they must be pulling forces from Mantis’ realm to use here,” said Kellyn.
“That is the hope,” I said. I then turned to the ball and summoned Mantis, for the first time using my full authority as grandmaster to command his appearance instead of merely requesting a chat.
He answered the call fairly quickly and appeared in a purple puff of smoke. When he saw me, he stopped and bowed and said, “Greetings, Grandmaster Vydor, what can I do for you?”
“Mantis, war is upon us. I have foreseen the army we are about to face and it is a great gathering of darkness, greater than has ever amassed before. The sorcerers are making their move now on this realm, and using all their might.”
He looked surprised at my statement and said, “Then they have found the weapon?”
“No, Mantis, you did. But it was not a weapon; it was this Council. They knew that if we were created they could not face both of us. They wished to strike us down before we ever got up,” I replied.
“Vydor, you have grown tremendously since last we met, but how can you know this?” he asked.
“I have met with the same man of light that you told of in your history lesson, and he revealed much to me, and opened my eyes to what I already knew,” I said.
The look of surprise that passed over his face was priceless; I had never had the edge on him before, and would have enjoyed it if not for the desperate times we faced. “Mantis, I have summoned you here to formally request any assistance your realm can provide. Even if it is just a handful of apprentices to scatter through our armies, anything would be of great help. We fully expect to fight the Seven in this battle and will not be able to lend our power to help the Imperial Navy.”
He slumped his shoulders and said, “I am sorry, but we cannot help at this time. In fact, I was instructed to ask you for help; it seems they are making a move in both of our realms. Our forces are already committed to battle. I do not know where they suddenly got the numbers from to achieve this, but it seems they are calling our bluff on the two-front war.”
“And they only need to win one to take it all,” I said.
“That is why you must not lose. You must bring everything you can to this fight. Both our realms depend on it.” He paused and looked around the room before continuing. “You are by far the best students I have ever seen. I have faith in your ability to win this. No matter how big their armies are, there are still only seven master-level sorcerers, and we have fourteen now. They will have to choose a place to make their stand, and it is likely to be here because they will underestimate the power you have acquired. When that happens, their power in our realm will dip considerably and we should be able to win on our front and then send reinforcements here, if you have not won already.”
“So we really just need to keep them busy once they arrive,” said Kellyn.
“I fear help will not be able to reach us in time. If we see the enemy, we must engage them to the fullest,” I said.
“Yes, Vydor is right. If they know you are stalling they will exploit that to their own advantage. Now, Grandmaster, with your permission I need to bring this news back to my realm and rejoin the fight,” said Mantis.
“Go forth, Mantis, and I expect to see you at the victory party,” I said. He smiled, winked and disappeared.
“So we are on our own,” said Luke.
“No, we are not. Not only do we have the seven most powerful wizards in the realm here, but we are also backed by the might of the most powerful military in history. We will win this so long as we continue to stand together and not waver,” said Kellyn.
“Well said, Kellyn. Do not forget they are used to fighting against men on horseback wielding swords, not massive battleships, destroyers and particle weapons. The only advantage they have is in numbers; the rest favors us. We will be victorious!” I said.
“Now, we are running out of time before we will be jumping into the battle and I must meet with the captain and discuss our fight plan, so unless there are any questions I am going to adjourn this meeting.” No one spoke, so I closed the meeting and we returned to the observation lounge.
“Commander, please come to the observation lounge for pre-battle briefing,” I said over the comm.
When he arrived I said, “Commander, when we come out of the jump we need to be in full stealth mode. We will not be joining the opening moves of the battle. Once the two armies are locked in battle we will move to hit their primary center of command. It is a space station that will be in the center of their forces. I want you to lead three groups of Dark Knights to penetrate and conquer the station. Once your men are on the station and actively fighting, I will send in the Council of Wizards and then follow to open a fourth front inside the station. Control of that station is key to this battle. Each sorcerer killed there will weaken the forces outside the station, and if we kill their leaders their whole army falls apart,” I ordered.
“It is a wise plan, Grandmaster, and we will gladly give our lives for it,” he said.
“Thank you, Commander. Go and prepare your men. Once our time to fight is at hand, speed of execution will be critical.” As he left to carry out my orders I went over to my comm station to call the captain. Kellyn came over and set up the call for me, then took a seat beside me.
“Hello, Master Vydor,” the captain said as he appeared on the screen. With him were several important officers, including Zalith.
“Pardon me, Captain, but his proper title is Grandmaster Vydor,” interrupted Kellyn.
“My apologies, Master Kellyn. I will make a note of that,” said the captain.
“Captain, I am aware that we do not have a lot of time, but we need to go over the battle plans before we jump,” I said.
“Definitely. We have been expecting your call. Since you know the enemy best, why don’t you tell us what you have in mind?” he replied
“Master Andreya, I need you,” I said, speaking aloud for everyone’s benefit. When she came over I asked her to show them a vision I had in my mind of the upcoming battlefield.
“As you can see, there is a large force waiting for us, grouped around that station. That station is key to our victory,” I said. “What I will need your forces to do is to engage their fleet with everything you have.”
“If the station is the key, it would make more sense to push through and destroy that,” said one of the officers.
“In a normal battle, yes, it would, but in this case that would grant them victory. That station is invulnerable to any attack this fleet can muster, but that is where we come in. Once you have them fully engaged, we will move on the station. You must keep their military engaged so that we can get on the station and take control.”
“What of their powers?” asked Zalith.
“Their powers will be tied up in creating and controlling the army that you fight. That is why you must keep them engaged. Once we are on the station they will have to start dividing their power between controlling their forces and fighting us, and you will start to see sections of their forces fall apart. It is important that you keep up the pressure on them so that they cannot bring their full strength to bear against us. If either your fleet or our men have to face their full might alone we will lose. It is only through this joint attack that we can overcome them.” I paused there for a moment, and memories of the first squad of Dark Knights I ever led came rushing back to me. “If something happens, and there is an opening in the shields on that station, you must destroy it regardless of who may still be on it.”
“Your plan sounds wise, Vydor. What can we expect to be fighting?” asked the captain. I knew that I could trust him to follow through with that order. He would not like it, but he would not hesitate. He had too much combat experience to do otherwise.
“Master Andreya, please show them this,” said Kellyn as she started mentally picturing all kinds of horrid creatures. As they were being displayed one by one to them, she said, “They are immune to most physical attacks, but your energy and particle weapons will work well. Many of them will have shields around them, but they can be overpowered. Just keep increasing your focus fire until you break through. I am just showing you a sample of the kinds of beings they have available to bring to bear, but they can all be defeated the same way. You just need to overwhelm their defenses by coordinating your attacks. Their primary weapons will all look very different, but in the end they are all pure energy-based attacks, so your defenses should be structured to take that into account.” Then she privately said to me, “I guess all that time spent in the library studying demons while trying to find your demon wasn’t wasted after all.”
“Do you have this data in a form we can load into our computers and share with the fleet?” asked Zalith.
“No, it is all in real books at present. If we had a couple of months to transcribe them, maybe, but we do not,” answered Kellyn.
“Captain, as far as I know they have only fought wars on planetary surfaces before this, so the battlefield strongly favors us,” I said. “Have you been able to call in any help?”
“We have two more fleets arriving. The first should arrive about four hours after the battle starts, and the second should arrive about two hours later. Combined, they will almost double our numbers,” he said.
“Excellent. At present I estimate their numbers to be about three times greater than the Dragon Claw’s fleet,” I said.
“Grandmaster Vydor, it sounds like you have thought of everything that could be thought of before the battle. If I understand you right, these things we will be fighting cannot function without their masters, and you will be attempting to eliminate their masters, while we kill the … things,” he said.
“Yes, Captain, that is it exactly,” I said.
“Then we will spread the plan to the ships, and jump in one hour. Good luck,” he said and signed off.