Resurgence of Ancient Darkness (28 page)

I could not fathom why she would sing such a song before she had even begun to fight, but she did. It was not calm and gentle like her normal voice; instead, her words echoed through the room, filling every nook and cranny. The power of that song drove us all to our knees. None of us could stand in the presence of such raw strength.

The room filled with the purest and brightest white light I had ever seen. It was bright enough to have burned the retinas out of our eyes, and yet it did not. It felt more like a warm blanket on a cool night under the stars, or a cool shower after a hard workout. It was somehow refreshing and comforting. For a moment I lost track of everything but that light; nothing else mattered.

As the light slowly faded away I saw Shea on her knees with her arms in the air and her face glowing with brilliant white light. Eventually even that faded and the room was once more the way it had been when we walked in, except that the crate was gone.

Shea said simply, “Master, it is done.”

None of us talked for a while. I dismissed the guards and told security to let the other Spiritualists out of their quarters. I kept a watch on Glimmer, for the present. Once that was done, I gathered everyone back in the conference room. We needed to discuss what had just happened. Once we had all settled in I asked, “Shea, what happened in there?”

“Master, I did very little, really,” she started.

“Very little? If that is what you call ‘very little’, I would hate to see you upset!” said Flame.

Shea smiled at that and blushed a little. “No, really. All I did was free the spirits that were trapped. They consumed the box and went on their way. Really, your fireball used more power than I did.”

“How?” I asked.

“Master, when you brought me here to this realm, I became the only representative of the Light, or so I thought. So, at that time, I dedicated myself to the following and became a cleric of Light,” she said.

“A cleric?” asked Kymberly.

“Yes. It’s like a priestess, but with a slightly different focus,” said Shea.

“I see. So what does that mean?” I asked.

“As a cleric, I am to build and promote Light, wherever I go, by being a living example,” she said.

“That you do wonderfully,” I said. “But that does not explain what just happened.”

“It does, Master. You see, as a cleric of Light, I am the natural enemy of the undead and anything unnatural. All I did in there was use my gifts to break the binding that trapped those poor spirits in those gems, and they did all the rest,” she said.

It seemed so amazing to talk about such a massive event in such dismissive terms. All she did was free enough power to destroy the entire sector, and she calls it nothing. Everyone thought I was the most powerful of the Dragon Guard, but I had to wonder how badly we had underestimated Shea? “Is that why you were attacked in the Spirit Realm?”

“Yes, Master. They recognize me and hate me,” she said.

“Why do they hate you?” asked Flame. “I can’t imagine anyone ever hating you!”

“Master, because those like me are the ones who banished them to that realm. If I came across an evil spirit here, I would unbind its connection to this world and it would be trapped in the Spirit Realm,” she said.

“Spectra tells me that that realm is filled with spirits banished from the physical realm over the eons. She says the Spirit Realm is the oldest of all the realms. Are you saying that people like you are the ones who banished them there?” I asked.

“Yes, Master,” she said. “At least, some of them. Others went for various reasons, but they all have one goal: that is, to get back to the physical realms, and they know it is people like me who
will stop them.”

“What else can you do?” asked Flame.

“Master, I am not sure. Usually a cleric is an apprentice for a very long time; I am just making it up as I go,” she said.

“Shea, the amount of power in that room was beyond anything I could have imagined, and all you did was sing. That is amazing,” I said.

“Oh, Master, the singing was merely me giving thanks for my success,” she said. “I always try to make sure the source of my power gets all the credit. Without Light, I could do nothing.”

“Yes, but you sang it before you were successful,” I said.

“Master, I would praise the Light regardless of failure or success, but the Light had already told me I would succeed. As I mentioned, the power was not mine; it was the spirits being released and moving on to their final destination,” she said.

“
Shadow, if this was anyone other than Shea, I would send him to Shea to get his head examined
,” sent Flame privately.
      

“Shea, I do not know what to make of all this, but we must return you to the Shadow Fox; you have patients there who need you,” I said.

“Thank you,” she answered.

I weavewalked out of the conference room back to the Shadow Fox and found Spectra and Dusty waiting for me. “The crate has been destroyed, and Shea is ready to return.”

They both looked very relieved at that and, once again, we traveled to the Spirit Realm. Again I was struck by both the absolute horror of the place and the power that Dusty and Spectra seemed to draw from it. I knew they were both good people, so the fact that they drew strength from an accursed place like this was baffling. I would have to investigate the matter further once the Shadow Fox returned to us.

“
Shadow, it is probably time you reported in,
” sent Flame privately, upon my return to the Nevermore.

“
Maybe, but I want to follow up the lead …”
I started.

“Shadow, you know better than that
,” she interrupted.

“
Yes, you are right.
” I sighed. I knew that the council wanted regular updates from me on this mission, and I had not yet sent one. I kept intending to, but had never got around to it. I suspect that was partly the reason Grandmaster Vydor had paid us that visit.

As I drifted down on a cloud of purple smoke into the room, I saw seated around my table Kellyn, Mathorn, Rannor, Bill, Shadow’s father, and Shadow. It had taken a few days to gather everyone for this briefing. Shadow and Mathorn were able to weavewalk directly here, but both Bill and Shadow’s father had to use more mundane means of
travel.

“Greetings, Grandmaster,” came from several as I took my seat.

“
Regal entrance, my love
,”
came a private message from Kellyn.

“Rannor, please start with a report on your findings regarding Phoenix and Dusty,” I said.

“Certainly, Grandmaster. Shea appears to have been completely correct about Phoenix. He never lost his powers; his body was just too weak to produce sufficient quantities of illuminescence. Now that he has recovered much of his health, he is nearing his full power again. I see no reason why he should not make a full recovery,” said Rannor.

“Headmaster, that is excellent news!” said Shadow. “Does this mean that all magi need to stay in a state of peak fitness?”

“Yes, and no. From what I can see, we need to remain healthy and in decent physical condition, but not abnormally so; just healthy enough for all our physical systems to work properly,” said Rannor.

“Does this mean that if my wizards get sick they might not be able to cast?” asked Doug.

“If they are sick enough, yes. It is also possible that a virus could at some point be discovered which would block their power,” said Rannor.

“That would be very bad, Headmaster. What about Dusty’s case?” asked Shadow.

“His case is much harder to understand. His DNA has changed, as we suspected, but not in any way that could explain his power changes. All I can say at this time is that both his powers and his DNA are different from what they were. Whether or not these changes are connected is mere conjecture at this point. Unfortunately, without more cases to compare, I doubt if I will be able to say more than that,” he said.

“What about Spectra, Headmaster? She was with him when this all happened,” asked Shadow.

“Yes, I thought of that, too, but her DNA is unchanged,” he said.

“Keep working on that, Rannor. I suspect you might yet find an answer. Now, Doug, do you have something to report from your operations?” I asked.

Doug reported on the operation to free the station and the trouble they had met there. He also mentioned the mysterious crate that had escaped them. He finished, “So we are just spreading our search nets wider, hoping to find some trace of where that crate got to.”

“I think I can answer that,” said Shadow. He picked up his tale from where Doug left off. It was a rather amazing story that climaxed with Shea becoming a hero. “So, Grandmaster, right now we are following a lead which should bring us to another table in a few months. We think the tables are a form of battery, and that these crates recharge them.”

“I can’t imagine how many poor people were killed by that box! I wonder how long it had been out there for,” said Kellyn.

“Ten thousand years, Master Kellyn, would be my guess,” said Mathorn.

“That would mean they were left by the original sorcerers?” asked Shadow.

“Yes, based on everyone’s reports I think one possibility is that when the master sorcerers knew their time was up, they sent the crates out to collect life forces,” he said.

“For what purpose?” asked Bill.

“Once they have collected enough lives, they will be able to return to life themselves,” Mathorn said. “It would be as if they had never left. They could conceivably return at the peak of their power.”

“Then the growing shadow is the slow return to power of the master sorcerers of old?” I asked.

“Yes, and that means we must find the rest of those boxes and destroy them,” said Mathorn.

“What of the tables?” I asked.

“I suggest you stay on target and destroy them also. If nothing else, it will slow them down,” said Mathorn.

“Then we set the Battle Wizards to find more boxes, and the Dragon Guard to destroy tables,” said Kellyn.

“Master, so far only Shea has successfully destroyed one of these crates,” said Shadow.

“Shadow, I know the pattern of the box, as I have had to deal with them in my former realm. I can teach you to unweave them,” said Mathorn.

“What else can you tell us about the box?” I asked.

“Grandmaster, a few centuries ago, we had a group of sorcerers who discovered how to create these spirit traps and tried to use them to make themselves immortal. They scattered the gems around the realm where traders and merchants would find them. We still have not found them all, but their plan was that once each gem was full they could suck the life out of them slowly and become unbeatable,” he said.

“What did you do?” asked Shadow.

“They only managed to acquire a few gems, not enough to complete their plans, before we found and stopped them. We assumed that their plan might have worked, but no one has tried it since,” he said.

“What of this green-hooded magus?” asked Bill.

“If Mathorn is right, this
is one of the master sorcerers of old, which could be very bad,” I said.

“Grandmaster, we will destroy the tables as fast as we can find them,” said Shadow. “We have three ships, so we can spread out to cover more space.”

“No more splitting up your wizards, Shadow. This is too dangerous. Keep your people close to each other, and call me in if you need me. You cannot face a master sorcerer, not even with the combined power of all your magi,” I said.

“Wise words, Grandmaster, but depending on how much life force they have managed to collect so far, they might possess far less power than they once had. Shadow might very well be able to defeat them. The key is the tables. Once those are destroyed, they will be limited to whatever power they were previously able to regain,” said Mathorn.

“Spectra seems to think that once all the tables are destroyed the magi will be banished,” said Shadow.

“That’s possible. It is difficult to say exactly what will happen, as the sorcerers in my former realm were not permitted to complete their plans,” said Mathorn. “If Spectra is right about them using the tables as binding points, then destroying the tables will banish them, at least until someone gets the bright idea to call them back again someday,” said Mathorn.

“How will we know we have succeeded?” asked Doug.

“I do not know if we can,” I said. “As each table is destroyed the shadow over the realm should weaken, but there may be a point when it is too weak to see, but still present. Even if we destroy all the tables, the crates will still be out there. We will probably be searching for those
for the rest of time.”

“What of the ‘old man’?” asked Shadow.

“I think we can safely assume that he wants these ancient sorcerers eliminated. If we are right about him, they are serious competition for him,” I said.

“I agree. This is just like his behavior during operation Show of Force,” said Bill.

“Is it wise to continue to eliminate his enemies?” asked Shadow.

“I do not see that we have a choice,” I said. “His enemies are our enemies also.”

After Shadow left to return to the Nevermore II, Spectra ran over to Shea to make sure she was okay.

“I am fine, really, I am,” said Shea.

“Shea, please sit and tell us what happened,” I said.

Shea eased into a chair. She looked tired, but that did not impair her cheerful demeanor. “Master, really it was nothing. I did the same thing you saw me do here. I merely set the spirits free. They consumed the box and gems on their way to wherever they were destined to go at death,” said Shea.

Spectra knelt in front of Shea’s seat and placed her hands on Shea’s knees. She looked her directly in the eye and said, “Shea, I trust you. You are very dear to me. Other than Dusty, there is no one else I really trust like I trust you, but what you are telling us is impossible. Once a spirit is locked in a spirit trap there is no way out.”

Shea smiled and took Spectra’s hands in hers and said, “That is very sweet of you to say, but you saw me do it before your eyes.”