Wizard Rebellion (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 5) Read online

  “Of course,” said Lord Crendemor with a half bow. “However, as much as I enjoy watching you play with your toys, I’ve other duties as well. May I be permitted to ask why you’ve summoned me to this place?”

  The Dalinfaust narrowed his eyes and stared at the dark elf. He almost changed his mind about allowing Lord Crendemor to remain alive. “I desire you to retrieve the device you stole from Zenthra and bring it here. I also want you to bring the bottle of DNA gas you have in your possession.”

  The dark elf stared back with a strange look in his eyes. The Dalinfaust noticed the dark elf’s hands twitch and wondered if the fool might be stupid enough to attack. He doubted it but prepared a defensive spell just in case. After a few seconds, the Dalinfaust noticed the dark elf’s hands stop their twitching and grow still.

  “I have plans for the DNA gas,” said Lord Crendemor.

  “Your plans mean nothing to me,” said the Dalinfaust. “However, in this case, you may keep your petty desires. I merely wish for someone to see the bottle. Their greed will take care of the rest.”

  Lord Crendemor didn’t answer immediately. Finally, he said, “Naturally, it will be done as you say. Will there be anything else?”

  “No,” replied the Dalinfaust. “You may go.”

  The dark elf gave a curt nod before turning and heading toward the only exit out of the bone-strewn cavern. Once he was gone, the Dalinfaust turned his attention back to the female elf. Her sobs soothed his irritation. He knew he’d need to replace her with a fresh toy soon but for now, she served his purpose. He lowered his dragon head and breathed on the female. She was a virgin. He could heal virgin females.

  Her wounds closed over with the touch of his breath. Within seconds, she was whole again.

  The Dalinfaust smiled. “Now, let us start again, shall we?”

  Chapter 50 – Demon Plots

  ____________________

  Although Lord Cancontus would never admit it to his brother, he actually had begun to wonder if his vampire minions could handle the wizard scouts on their own. As soon as his meeting with Zenthra ended, Cancontus teleported back to Drepdenor. When he arrived, he relaxed. All was as it should be.

  The wizard scouts were in the secret tunnel just as Zenthra had predicted. While Cancontus thought his brother’s selection of a computer for an avatar was a poor choice, it certainly worked to his advantage on this occasion. The processing power of both the Dragars’ computer system in the present and the Crosioians’ master computer in the future proved to be very reliable at making predictions. They weren’t perfect by any means, but they were useful.

  As he continued to ponder the situation, something drew Cancontus’s attention. The wizard scouts had stopped.

  Are they turning back? If so, why? Do they suspect a trap?

  Cancontus scanned the area in the tunnels. His vampires were still hidden by his stealth shields. Some were in the void, hidden in the walls near the wizard scouts. Others were in the hidden room near the middle of the secret tunnel. He was confident his spells hid his servants so well that even the abilities of the wizard scouts couldn’t detect them.

  Nevertheless, Cancontus began to have doubts. If all of the wizard scouts had been equipped with their advanced armor and weapons, he’d never have considered leaving the task to his vampire servants. He’d have been forced to take direct action himself. That wasn’t the case though. Only four of the scouts were in the Empire’s armor, and two of those scouts were in older models at that. The other four wizard scouts only had Dragar equipment along with a few magic swords. The dwarves and the human ranger were of no concern. They couldn’t even self-heal. Only the wizard scouts were a threat.

  Cancontus thought back to what his brother Efrestra had once told him. The Master’s variable was tricky. He thought back to how the Master’s variable had escaped his trap in the spiritual dimension. He’d come so close to capturing the foolish human, but the wizard scout had been lucky. Cancontus wondered if his luck had caused him to notice something this time that the others hadn’t.

  Did he warn them? Cancontus wondered. No. The fool’s still at the entrance. He’s as oblivious as the rest. The spell I used to create illusions of life forms has them all fooled. My vampires can still spring our trap. All of the wizard scouts will die. If my vampires are discovered prematurely, then I’ll take an active part. Otherwise, I’ll remain hidden. The Master wouldn’t be pleased if I killed his variable directly.

  Chapter 51 – Telsa

  ____________________

  Telsa kept her senses on high alert. She missed her battle suit. The magic armor she wore was good, but its helmet was inert. She preferred wearing Master Garis’s goggles.

  My battle computer would come in handy right about now. I don’t have it, so I’ll just have to make do with what I’ve got.

  After adjusting the filter on her passive scan, Telsa reduced the range until it extended only a few feet beyond the walls of the secret tunnel. Although she sensed nothing, something didn’t feel right. She remembered Rick telling her how he’d once found a secret room by looking for a spot where it just felt like something should be there.

  Telsa decided to use the technique her friend had taught her on the stone around her. She continued following Gaston but concentrated on the walls as well. After about twenty steps, Telsa stopped. Something to her right really did feel strange. Gaston and Tam stopped and looked at her.

  Her ex-TAC officer made a gesture with his hand as if saying, “What is it?”

  Telsa didn’t have an answer. She just knew something wasn’t right. Touching the side of her goggles, Telsa switched the left lens to the invisibility setting. The tunnel walls took on a double vision as her right lens displayed the tunnel in night-vision mode, and the left lens displayed it in a view resembling her battle helmet’s radiation filter.

  Her eyes were drawn to a particular spot on the tunnel wall. Part of the wall seemed to radiate a different energy than the rest. The spot was rectangular. It was about the height of a tall man and the width of two large men. Realization suddenly came over her.

  “There’s a door there,” Telsa whispered as she pointed at the hidden opening with the barrel of her rifle. “I think there’s something behind—”

  The hidden door burst open.

  Telsa pulled the trigger of her rifle as a creature from her worst nightmare leaped through the air straight toward her throat. The creature was a tall human male with red eyes and long fangs.

  Telsa heard Gaston yell, “Vampire!”

  Then everything began to happen at once.

  Chapter 52 – Boredom

  ____________________

  Richard quickly grew bored after the others left. “I’m not sure I like working as a team after all. I should be with one of the recon units, not Myers.”

  “Protecting their path of retreat is just as important as performing the recon,” said Nickelo. “The reason it’s called teamwork is because everyone does their part. I’d advise doing yours. Jerad told you to hold the exit. So hold it.”

  “I am holding it,” Richard said. He knew his battle computer was right, but he was a soldier. Sometimes he just liked to complain.

  Looking to his right, Richard eyed General Fenmar. The dwarf was sitting on an outcropping of rock just inside the entrance. The area where they were was the size of a small room about six paces across. The dwarf was in full-plate armor with the visor raised on his helmet. The dwarf wore a strange expression. His eyes were focused on the blue gem at the end of his war hammer.

  Since he was bored anyway, Richard decided to strike up a conversation. “Are your armor and weapons ones you made?”

  The dwarf continued to stare blankly at the gem.

  Richard wondered if he’d heard him. “Fenmar?” Richard said. “Are you okay?”

  “Huh?” asked the dwarf coming out of his daze. “Sorry. I was just thinking about my family. My son and I worked on parts of this very room together. He was a good lad.
You’d have liked him.”

  “I’m sure I would have,” Richard said immediately regretting his decision to start a conversation.

  The dwarf shook his head as if pulling himself back to the here and now. “You asked about my gear,” said Fenmar. “This armor is one of the new sets. While my old armor was magic, it wasn’t full plate, and it wasn’t made of the Holy Metal. My old armor was only enchanted with spells. Magic armor created with spells alone didn’t seem to provide any protection from the vampires when I was last here. Only the Holy Metal was able to stop them. Only armor and weapons with a piece of the Mountain’s Heart were effective against those creatures when they were in the void.”

  “Well,” Richard said, “they’ll have a tough time getting through your armor now. Once you pull your visor down, you’ll be completely encased in energized titanium, or the Holy Metal as you call it.”

  “True,” replied Fenmar, “but don’t think for one second that’ll make me invulnerable. It’ll stop their attacks from the void, but once they realize I’m immune to void attacks, they’ll shift to physical ones. Vampires are immensely strong. If they get a full swing with a magic sword, it’ll cut through even that armor of yours.”

  “Hmm,” said Nickelo. “Good safety tip. Don’t let vampires get a full swing.”

  “And your war hammer?” Richard asked.

  The dwarf raised the hammer. “This is Dawn’s Guardian. It’s been in my family for generations. It sent many of those vampire fiends to meet the Creator when they attacked our home, but not nearly enough.”

  The dwarf’s voice took on an edge. “Once we’ve forged the rest of the armor and weapons with the Holy Metal and gems you gave us, Queen Emerald will lead us to victory. We’ll rid our home of Lord Cancontus and his vampire filth. One day soon. Just wait and see.”

  Richard remained silent. He had no idea what to say. He’d been raised in an orphanage. The sisters had done their best, but their resources had been limited. The environment at the orphanage hadn’t exactly been one to induce bonding. The orphanage had been a place to stay, but it hadn’t been his home. He couldn’t relate to the dwarf’s obvious attachment to the tunnels of Drepdenor.

  Well, this is awkward, Richard thought as he looked for something else to do. He glanced at his passive scan.

  “That’s strange,” Richard commented to Fenmar. “The others have turned back.”

  “Why?” asked Fenmar.

  “I’m not sure,” Richard said. “Nick?”

  His battle computer’s answer came as a whispered reply over the external speaker of Richard’s battle helmet. “Margery says Gaston noticed the life forms he was picking up on his passive scan were remaining perfectly still. Jared’s aborting the mission until he figures out why.”

  Richard noted the life forms on his passive scan. There were thousands of the red, yellow, and orange dots.

  “Nick, plot me all movements since we’ve been here.”

  “Compliance.”

  The white dots of the members of the two recon teams turned into lines denoting their paths from the entrance. All the thousands of remaining dots on the heads-up display remained as stationary dots.

  “Hmm,” said Nickelo once again whispering over the helmet’s external speakers. “Gaston’s right to be suspicious. The energy levels of the life forms aren’t fluctuating either. I calculate that’s not possible.”

  A sense of dread swept over Richard. He unhooked his phase rod from his utility belt, but he didn’t activate it. Fenmar stood up, lowered his visor, and raised his war hammer into a ready position. Richard stood as well and clicked the safety off on his M63.

  Brrrp!

  The sound of an automatic rifle firing echoed through the tunnel.

  A dark shadow coming out of a wall caught Richard’s attention. “Vampire!” Richard warned using his battle helmet’s com-link.

  Spinning, Richard pulled the trigger on his M63. At the same time, he thought the command to activate his phase rod in destructive mode. He sensed the gem in his battle suit shimmer as the titanium flakes within the armor energized without him having to give the command.

  “Thanks, Nick,” Richard thought.

  “That’s what I’m here for, oh greatest of wizard scouts.”

  The attacking shadow was a vampire in the void. When it tried to bite into Richard’s neck, its fangs slid off the energized titanium of the battle suit. The force of the creature’s attack knocked Richard backward. As he fell, he brought the phase rod up between the vampire’s legs. It was a human male.

  “Arrgh!” groaned the vampire.

  Richard’s swing was only a half blow since he was off balance, but it was enough. He sensed the phase energy’s subatomic explosions taking a toll on the vampire’s flesh. Richard felt the demon essence within his phase rod sucking life force from the creature.

  The vampire screamed in pain.

  Suddenly, the vampire pushed out with his arms and knocked Richard away. Before Richard could renew his attack, two arms wrapped around him from behind. A set of fangs tried to bite into the back of his neck. Once again, the energized titanium kept the attacker at bay. The vampire behind him was in the void as well.

  A bearded head and another set of arms popped out of the stone floor in front of Richard as a third vampire grabbed for his legs.

  “There’s more coming,” said Nickelo. “You best do something, soldier, or you’re going to be one dead wizard scout.”

  Richard kicked at the vampire coming out of the stone floor. He heard a crunch as the creallium in his boot crushed the vampire’s nose. The vampire groaned, but no sooner had Richard’s foot moved away than he sensed the creature’s nose begin to heal.

  “Your phase rod’s your only effective weapon,” said Nickelo. “Use it.”

  With his arms pinned, Richard couldn’t swing his phase rod. However, he was able to twist his hand back enough to bring the rod’s tip into contact with the knee of the vampire holding him from behind. A feeling of immense hunger accompanied the vampire’s scream as the phase rod sucked life force out of the creature. The vampire released its grip and jumped back to escape the demon essence in the rod.

  The vampire coming through the floor was almost halfway out. Richard swung the phase rod at its head. The monster’s skull cracked as brain matter splattered into the air. Richard sensed the wound trying to heal, but the demon essence in his phase rod hungrily continued to suck life force out of the vampire as fast as the vampire could heal itself.

  “You’re taking too long,” Nickelo mentally yelled.

  More vampires were coming out of the walls and floor. Richard noticed Fenmar swinging his war hammer in wide arcs as he sought to keep a dozen of the monsters at bay. The bodies of two vampires, a dwarf and a human, lay at the general’s feet. Richard sensed no sign of life in them.

  “Are they really dead?” Richard asked his battle computer. “How’d he kill them?”

  “They’re vampires,” replied Nickelo. “Technically speaking, they were already dead. However, the dwarf destroyed what was keeping the vampires in their half-life state. He hit them on the left side of their chest with his hammer. Its magic destroyed the life force in the vampire’s heart. I calculate that’s their weak point.”

  The vampire to Richard’s front had just cleared the floor. Wasting no time on questions, Richard slammed his phase rod into the undead monster’s left side. Between the subatomic explosions of the phase energy and the loss of life force to the demon essence, the vampire didn’t stand a chance. Richard sensed its heart explode inside its chest. The vampire didn’t even have time to scream. It fell unmoving to the stone floor.

  Spinning on his heels, Richard thrust out with his phase rod and caught the vampire behind him on the left side of its chest. That vampire crumpled to the floor as well.

  A score of vampires were in the room by this time. Richard let his useless M63 hang by its shoulder strap. With his right hand, he grabbed for the starburst signaling gr
enade at his waist. With a single move, Richard pulled the pin and threw the grenade into the center of the room. With no time to warn the dwarf, Richard bulled his way past two vampires and tackled Fenmar to the floor. He covered the dwarf’s eyes with his right hand.

  “Nick,” Richard said in command voice, “tell the other battle computers the vampire’s hearts are their weak spots. Tell them to go for the hearts.”

  “Compliance.”

  Boom!

  Richard got his visor switched to its darkest filter just before the starburst grenade went off. The device wasn’t so much a grenade as it was a signaling tool. The bright light of its explosion was strong enough to be seen from a hundred kilometers overhead.

  Switching back to his normal night-vision filter, Richard jumped to his feet. Most of the vampires were staggering around with their hands over their eyes.

  “Hurry,” said Nickelo. “Their self-heal is already starting to repair the damage to their eyes.”

  Without taking time to reply, Richard began to methodically swing his phase rod at the left side of any vampire within reach. Four went down before they knew what had hit them. A fifth tried to parry Richard’s blow with a sword, but Richard powered his way through with the aid of his battle suit’s assistors. The phase rod crushed the left side of the vampire’s chest.

  A glance to his right showed Fenmar trading blows with a female dwarf dressed in gold-trimmed armor. The vampire carried a battle-axe with a blue gem in the handle. Whenever the female’s battle-axe struck Fenmar’s war hammer, the old general was forced to give way.

  “Good axe,” said Nickelo. “It’s definitely got Fenmar’s war hammer outclassed. I think it’s just a matter of time before he’s killed.”

  A glance at Richard’s heads-up display told the story of the ongoing battle. Farther up the tunnel, the two recon teams were surrounded on both sides by over a hundred life forms. Richard could only assume they were vampires. Hundreds more were heading their way. The decoy life forms, which he’d previously been picking up with his passive scan were no more.