Fantasy
Sixteen-hundred years after Cleopatra defeated the Roman Empire, the matriarchal and pagan Free Nations of Alexandria are locked in a cold war with the Norsemen.
But the real war is waged in secret magical skirmishes between the Free Nation’s clandestine Section-7 and the Valkyrie of the Norsemen. Squads of magical agents scour the world for clues and relics that will give them the advantage they need to win this war. In the spring of 1634 AE, Section-7 enrolls a new class of recruits to become secret agents and learn the lost art of magic – a type of music that manipulates the fundamental vibrations of the universe.
Petra is convinced The Fates are playing a cruel trick when she is reunited with childhood heart-breaker Alexander when they both join Section-7. Worse, his adopted twin siblings, Lydia and Sebastian, are back to torment her as well. But the twins are devastated to learn the magical origin of their parents’ deaths and soon become suspicious of the true motives of Section-7. After only a few months of training, everything goes horribly wrong when the Valkyrie destroy Jakarta, killing half a million civilians and most of Section-7’s active agents.
Now, they are thrust into their very first mission years before they are ready. They battle through a hidden library of magical knowledge in Greece and discover that the key to unlocking an ancient power is trapped in an Egyptian temple once lost to the sea. A temple that is currently guarded by the Præsidium, a magical organization allied with the Valkyrie that is somehow always one step ahead of Section-7 and already searching for the key. With too little training and time running out, the four friends struggle to stop the Præsidium and Valkyrie from wielding the limitless magical power concealed within the Pyramids of Giza.
Section-7’s HQ, a massive glass and steel pyramid that plunges into the crystal blue waters of the Karababa Dam reservoir.
An ancient temple, rediscovered when the Sinai Canal project drained the area. The massive steel seawall can be seen looming over the site.
Sample Chapters
Prologue
Furious winds lashed desert sands against the towering monument, the imposing statue of Empress Cleopatra unmarred over the last thousand years of her empire’s reign, its regal gaze indifferent to the tempest swirling at its base as Brita stared down the double agent, fighting her deepest instincts to run. Indecision seized her, a strange and irritating sensation as she contemplated what to do. Her thumb twitched towards the small silver plates on her gloved fingers; a quick snap, one unbinding charm later, and problem solved. But the Kynagós’ words earlier tonight won over: “We must have this information, no matter the cost.”
The bitter wind whipped under her hood, swirling fine wisps of blonde hair at her temples, as a spray of stinging sand caused her to flinch while she stared across the temple courtyard at the double agent. Brita heaved a sigh and schooled her face. She was a Valkyrie of high Norse birth and Loki the Deceiver was the patron of the Norstoga clan; she could handle this deviation from protocol, no matter how infuriating. Forcing a bright smile, she strode across the pale tiles that covered the inner sanctum to greet her mole within Section-7.
“My dear, this is quite unexpected!” she called over the howl of the sandstorm that raged above this temple complex tucked at the desert’s edge. She stopped short of the cloaked figure who leaned against one of the outer columns beneath the cheerless portico.
“You’ve taken an extraordinary risk with both our lives, I should be quite cross with you.” Brita kept her voice light and cheery and waged a finger playfully. She refused to let her anger show, even though this fool was going to get them both killed, or worse, captured. How hard was it to just leave the damn data drive at the dead drop and go, honestly.
The other agent, face wrapped from neck to nose, eyes barely visible in the shade of their hood, shrugged. “I couldn’t leave the drive, they started to key them to our bioscans after you showed up unexpectedly in Sumer. Thanks for that, by the way.” A gloved hand dug into a leather satchel and retrieved the small square of black steel. “And you’re going to want to read this, Brit. And make sure the Kynagós knows what they’ve found.”
“Still, it’s quite unlike you to imperil our mission and leave this to the whims of your Fates. Maybe the stress of this is getting to be too much for you.” She crumpled her eyebrows in mock concern, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth.
“Yes, that must be it. Just read the report already, you’ll see why I came.”
She pulled her slate from a pocket and swiped at the small sheet of glass. The data drive lit up with a faint blue glow as the slate scanned its information. Text and images scrolled across the screen and Brita’s icy blue eyes flicked from side to side as she committed the information to memory.
This wasn’t good. A new Library had been unearthed in Indonesia, deep within the Free Nations. And Section-7 already had the site secured. This would be… challenging. Brita glanced back up at the double agent, her brow furrowed.
The agent nodded and spoke, voice muffled under the hood. “They’ve already sent a translation team and Delta Squad. I can do what I can to slow them down, but-“
“But getting to them before the old man learns any more seems unlikely. Damn it.” Perhaps, just maybe, this had been worth the risk. Annoying. “I’ll report back. And…” She paused, searching the other agent’s eyes for any hint of deception, finding only a steady gaze in return. She had spent years learning how to watch faces for the smallest ticks and twitches that gave away one’s true thoughts. “And you’re sure your cover is intact, you weren’t followed?”
“I think I can be relied on to sneak out of HQ safely. And it was worth the risk to get this to you. And you know I was cleared by the Kynagós herself just last week. Again. One of these days you’ll realize you can actually trust me.”
Brita wasn’t sure that was true, but what choice did she have. They were all tangled in a complex game and there wasn’t much she could do about it now. She hummed an assent. “Right, well, let’s not make this a habit, shall we? I almost killed you just now.”
“You’d have tried.” The other agent turned and walked to the other end of the portico. A soft melody was buffeted away on the wind as a faint amber light came from their palm and a small craft rippled into view, seemingly out of nowhere. A door on the side slid up and open as the agent climbed aboard and turned to call back to her. “But maybe next time? Good fortune, Brit.”
She watched the small skiff ascend into the roiling dark clouds and disappear. She shook her head and smirked as she turned away. “And with you… ass.”
Chapter 1 – Alex
For a brief moment, the world was nothing but a smear of indistinct colors, eddies of candlelight swirling with ribbons of smoke, the small alcove spinning in and out of focus while Alexander Mellas knelt in prayer. He dropped his hands to the altar table to steady himself and shook his head as he caught his breath, the momentary disorientation fading quickly. Perhaps he’d inhaled a bit too much of the incense. Or maybe it was simply nerves and an empty stomach – he hadn’t eaten much at breakfast.
What had he just been thinking about?
Alex fiddled with the watch on his wrist that had once belonged to his grandmother. His mother had given it to him on his seventeenth birthday – the silver band inscribed with her mother’s favorite quote from Pericles – and he had cherished it in the years since. He had just been thinking about his grandmother and how-
A loud crash thundered behind him, piercing the silence of the nearly empty temple. Alex huffed a small laugh and shook his head as he heard his younger brother scrambling to right whatever had just been knocked over behind him. Sebastian had two left feet and it was a wonder he hadn’t burned down their house or schools or any place he’d ever entered, really.
The Temple of Isis had been, until a moment ago, oddly quiet for a Monday morning. That was perfectly fine with Alex, if he was being honest about it. He normally preferred the small shrine for their household gods and ancestors back at his parents’ villa in the suburbs: a few tall tapers and a smattering of votives in their glass cups surrounding a statue of Gaia that loomed over the center of the table; Athena, Demeter, and Hestia, smaller in their own spots scattered among the candles; and a small cluster of three statues of the Ahuric triad that was set aside for the twins.
He thought it was easier to make his offerings and ask for blessings when he was alone, rather than here, crowded among hundreds of supplicants in the largest temple in the capital city. Except this morning it had just been him and a few other people, and he had found himself deep in thought, offering a prayer to Athena for wisdom and guidance as his training transitioned into this new phase.
Alex pushed himself upright and turned to see Seb carefully placing a large candle back on its pedestal, the statue of Horus behind it blessedly unscathed. Seb grimaced at him and then bounded across to the alcove. “Alex, mate, sorry ‘bout that. I backed right into it, didn’t watch where I was goin’.”
“It’s fine. Where are mom and dad?” Alex looked around but couldn’t spot them – or Seb’s twin sister Lydia – anywhere in the murky dark of the temple.
“Lena stayed outside, y’know how she is. And Nicholas and Lyd left a minute ago. It’s just you an’ me.” Sebastian brushed his shaggy dark hair off his forehead and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, the square lenses catching some candlelight and flashing yellow-white for a moment. He smiled up at Alex. “Ready?” He nodded back towards the doors that led out of the temple.
“No, but let’s go anyways.” Alex wasn’t sure why he was suddenly so nervous about today. The last six months of his life had been crazy enough; today was just moving the crazy from Point A to Point B.
Seb elbowed him in the ribs as they pushed through the doors of the temple and out into the early morning light. “You have nothing to be nervous about. You’re going to be fine, Golden Boy.”
Alex groaned – he hated the dumb nickname.
“We’ve done really well so far, yeh? I mean, I am much better at it than you, but still, you’ll get to my level eventually.” Seb gave him a big toothy grin and Alex laughed. He grabbed at the high collar of Seb’s uniform, but Seb slapped at his hands and danced aside, wagging his finger. “Ah ah ah! Not today, Hades. Too slow!”
“Can you not?” Lydia called from a little ways down the path leading from the temple entrance. “We’re in public, can you behave for one minute?” But she was laughing as they chased each other past her and nearly collided with Alex’s dad.
“Sorry, Nicholas!” Seb cackled as he spun out of reach of Alex’s last grasp.
“We can’t take you anywhere,” Alex’s mom, Lena, sighed, shaking her head with a small smile, her hand cupped at the end of the slate she was holding to her ear. She was leaning against one of the dozen information kiosks that dotted the wide plaza of the Forum, a large slate on the side rotating through the morning’s headlines. Brief images and vids played silently beside her: a photo of some event with the Queen in the throne room; a vid of the Sinai Canal groundbreaking ceremony with Prince George; an ad for Visit Palmtrær with a couple lounging on Ipanema Beach.
Lena turned away from the path and held a finger in her other ear as she continued talking. “I don’t care what the Babylonian worker strike means for the region, tell him I need everything cleared through customs. Now. Thank you, I know you do.” Nicholas cleared his throat and nodded at the three of three of them standing there. “Uh, I’ve got to go, Kor. Good fortune.” She swiped at the slate and pocketed it, throwing Alex an exaggerated grimace at getting caught out on a work call. Seb gave a small laugh beside him.
Alex’s dad beamed at them. “Okay, well, this was fun, I’m glad we could sneak this family outing into your busy schedules. Next time, you’re paying for breakfast though!” He grabbed one of the rucksacks leaning against the shelter and handed it to Lydia. “And spare a thought for your poor old folks and give us a call, or at least write sometimes. You can’t just disappear into government bureaucracy for six months at a time. You’re barely out of university, you should be living it up, not locked away in some Imperial Senate basement.”
Alex ducked his head. He hated lying to his parents, but it was for their own protection. Better they think he and the twins worked a boring job as Senate interns than know the truth. He was pretty sure Security Directorate would kill to keep the secret.
Lena handed Sebastian his bag and then pulled him into a tight hug. “I’ll wait with bated breath for your letters. We just got you back, Seb. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
Seb rolled his eyes but Alex could see how tightly he was hugging her back, his warm sepia complexion blushing darker.
It was nice to see. It had taken Seb a while to accept Lena’s affections, just as it had taken Alex a while to adjust when the twins had first arrived after their parents’ deaths. Alex had been eleven, and his mother had been so attentive to the twins as they settled in, trying to make them feel welcome and loved. She had lost her best friends when their parents died and had channeled that grief into taking perfect care of them. He didn’t resent them for it, but it had been an adjustment, these two rambunctious ten-year-olds with the strange accents suddenly living with them and sharing in his parents’ attention.
His mom hadn’t coped very well when Seb’s junior officer reserve unit had been called to active service, sending him to Occupied Wales for two years of brutal fighting. The cold war between The Danelaw and the Free Nations had escalated when the cease fire had broken, and none of them had slept easy while he was away. Lena pulled back from the hug and held him at arm’s length, her knuckles white where she gripped his sleeves, her eyes searching his until he relented.
Seb’s head tilted back and he exclaimed, “Okay, I’ll write! Gods!”
Lena smirked and pulled him back into a hug.
“Okay hon, we’ve got to get back home, I promised the guys I’d set up the stall at the farmer’s market. Good fortune, you lot.” Nicholas grabbed Lena’s hand and gently tugged her towards the train station entrance at the far end of the plaza. She flashed a watery smile at the three of them, taking one last look before turning into Nicholas’ embrace as they walked.
The grass lining this path at the edge of the Forum looked freshly cut, and the sickly-sweet smell of it was overwhelming in the chilly morning. Alex watched his parents go before shouldering his rucksack and pulling his jacket tighter. They had been told last week that their training would continue at HQ instead of the abandoned army barracks they had been stationed at for the last six months, and it had meant jamming everything they could think of in their packs before today’s move. With just one day of leave in between, he’d been glad to spend it with his parents and regain a small sliver of normalcy within the insanity of his new life.
He turned to find the twins had already pushed into the crowds swarming the plaza, and followed. The vast shadow of the towering Imperial Senate building blanketed the Forum, intruding past the gates of the Royal Palace and suspending the gardens and manicured lawns of the sprawling estate in a brisk chill. The two massive buildings sat opposite each other on the western edge of the capital city, the public plaza linking the two halves of the nation’s civic center in eternal partnership. And perched on the northern edge of the plaza was the Temple of Isis, where people could freely worship any of the gods within their great coalition of nations.
It was a foreign architect, Leon Alberti, who had designed the dueling edifices when the capital of the Free Nations moved from Alexandria to Antioch a few hundred years ago. He had intended that the east-west axis of the site allow the sun to act as the arbiter between the two halves of the government: the cold impartiality of the law tempered by the royal light of the gods’ representative on earth; later that evening the setting sun would filter through the crystal canopy that capped the Great Hall of the Palace and rays of every color would splash across the stern limestone face of the Senate building, bestowing the Queen’s grace on the proceedings within.
But for now, Alex noted, the nip of the morning was unbroken and kept the scurrying denizens of the capital tucked tightly in their coats as they crisscrossed the plaza on their various errands. It had been an unusually cold spring for this region, and he was ready for summer to come and break the trend.
“Alex is nervous about today,” Seb said casually to Lydia, as they made their way south to the transport hub.
“I am not!” Alex shot a look at Seb. “I’m just… I don’t know. I was fine until this morning.”
Lydia gave him a sympathetic look. “It’s okay, nerves are good. This is exciting! We survived Level One and Two, and at least a dozen of the other recruits can’t say the same.”
“Speaking of surviving, can we please never have to go to another one of Lena’s parties ever again?” Seb asked. Alex’s mom had thrown a cocktail party the night before for her business partners, and it had been excruciating, he had to admit.
Seb shifted his rucksack on his shoulder. “I walked into the kitchen just in time to hear that ghoul Markos ranting his usual rubbish about the matriarchy and how the men of Crete would never stand for blah blah blah. Why do they invite him to anything?”
Lydia nodded. “I think he’s the only supplier for one of Lena’s shipping routes, so she has to put up with it? But honestly, at what cost.” She made a face that made Seb laugh.
Along the way, a crowd had gathered around a man standing on a small wood box, his accented voice raised and cutting across the general clamor of the morning crowds. His dark face was lined with a lifetime of hard living and the black and white checkered keffiyeh wrapped around his head couldn’t contain the wisps of white hairs that fell past his ears.
“-statues and tributes to Cleopatra, seventh of her name, are part of our glorious Queen’s effort to erase the diversity of unique cultures that we have cherished for so long.” The harsh way he said ‘glorious’ left no doubt how he felt about the royal family. “For a thousand years we have been a melting pot, a symbol to the world that we can all live together in peace and harmony.” At this, murmurs of agreement swept through the small crowd, though a few faces could be seen looking puzzled.
“And yet what do we hear now, from queens and politicians?” Again, his tone left no doubt as to his opinion of that ruling class. “The glory of Greece and her Infinite Empire! How great we are, us fellow Greeks! How great our works and achievements! But this is not who we are! We are Syrian, Babylonian, Judean, Armenian, Meroan! We are Cyprian, Turk, Palestinian, Albanian! And yes, we are Greek. But they cannot-“
The three of them had walked past the small crowd and the man’s carrying voice faded as they continued on. Alex wondered how someone could get so worked up over something like a statue to Cleopatra, but then again, he actually was Greek, so maybe he wasn’t the intended audience for the speaker. “Hang on, wasn’t Cleopatra the first of her name-“
“He’s not wrong,” Seb said at the same time, missing Alex’s question. “The promise of the Free Nations was home rule and freedom within a peaceful coalition. But all of this ‘Greek’ stuff is nonsense. Mom and dad didn’t leave Persia just to have their culture erased by fiat from some queen on a golden throne. A queen, by the way, who’s barely Greek. They’ve been marrying foreign princes for fifteen hundred years. Those kids are one-sixty-fourth Greek at best.” He was, as always, gesturing wildly with his hands for this entire rant.
“It’s just a statue?” Alex offered, puzzled.
Seb stopped and stared at him, his eyes narrowing. Lydia had also come to a stop, though the look on her face was more pitying. Seb might be shorter and smaller than Alex, but in these situations his piercing glare would make anyone feel tiny. Alex rubbed at the tickle from the collar at the nape of his neck. “Look, I hear you, I know your parents and their- your culture is really important to you. I didn’t realize this stuff was bothering you.”
Seb’s posture relaxed, his shoulders dropping back. “I know. Thank you. We,” he tilted his head in Lydia’s direction, “don’t talk about it much with you guys. I don’t want Lena and Nicholas to feel I don’t appreciate everythin’ they’ve done for us.”
“They love you both like their own. I do too. They would want to know if something – anything – is bothering you.” Alex considered his little brother for a moment, wondering what else the poor kid was keeping bottled up inside and if he found an outlet for it. He made a mental note to talk to Lydia about it tonight.
Seb was looking down at his feet, his left foot turned in and poking at his right.
“Yeh, maybe. Ugh gross, enough feelings. Anyways, we’re gonna be late.” His head popped back up with a huge grin as he hooked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing back to the nearby transport hub, and turned to keep walking.
Alex laughed. Five seconds of talking about their parents was ‘enough feelings’ for Seb. But he wasn’t going to push it. “Lead on.”
They continued to weave their way through the crowds until, finally, they arrived at the small building at the edge of the plaza. Alex pushed over to one of the slim white pedestals that curved up from the ground by the side of the road. The glass slate atop the pedestal glinted in the morning sun and he had to cup his hands around it to see what it said.
Lydia crowded beside him as he tapped in their destination. The screen changed and presented them with their choices. The first item was listed as “45 seconds away – octopod – one transfer – free” while the second listed “2 minutes away – quadpod – direct – ¢5”. Before Alex could react, Lydia tapped on the second option.
Alex shook his head at her with a small laugh. “You are such a snob. It wouldn’t kill us to ride with other people.”
“She pick the quadpod again?” Seb rolled his eyes.
“You’ve never had a lad enter an otherwise empty pod and sit in the seat right next to yours and stare at you the entire trip. I avoid octopods whenever possible, cheers.” Lydia sniffed the air haughtily and smirked at him. Alex wondered that a quadpod would be worse in that situation, but arguing with Lydia never ended well for him, she was somehow always right.
Two minutes later their pod slid around the corner with only a low hum and came to a halt in front of them, its slick white exterior throwing a sharp glare in the cold morning light. The pod was a smooth rounded cube of plastic carbide, slightly longer than it was tall. The top half curved into a dome made of tinted glass while the bottom sat a few inches off the ground, the magnetic strip in its base suspending it above the roadway. Alex quickly checked his hair in the tinted reflection before the door hinged up and open and the three of them stepped inside and took their seats.
The pod sat there motionless for a moment before Lydia exclaimed “Oh, right!” and pulled out her slate. She tapped it on the center console under the front window. The console and the slate screen both flashed an amber “¢5” and the pod began to slide forward.
The interior of the transport was decorated simply, the two rows of dual seats each upholstered in a supple gray leather. The fourth seat next to Sebastian was empty and he flipped the arm rest and put his feet up.
The pod made a few turns before merging onto the central highway that ran the length of the capital city, rising a hundred meters above the streets below, the crystal blue of the Mediterranean behind them stretching west to the horizon. Their pod merged into the middle lane and attached itself to a chain of other pods, all heading north as well. On their left, a longer chain rocketed by them, an express group headed for points farther and unknown.
They zipped through downtown, the gleaming spires at the heart of the city towering over the surrounding blocks, the varied colors and hues of the buildings sparking shards of morning light, a kaleidoscope of steel and glass. After a few minutes, they had merged into the express lane and were clipping along at nearly Mach 1, everything near the pod zipping by in a blur. But in the distance, Alex could see the mountains, sentinels standing against the horizon, their feet cloaked in mists that had yet to be defeated by the morning sun.
The slate on the center console had turned on as the pod slid forward and was showing the morning’s news. Alex was staring out the window and wasn’t paying much attention.
Vaguely, he heard a segment about the latest Ambassador from Hispania to be received by the Queen and they were playing a clip of the ceremony. The vid was showing the throne room and the Sergeant at Arms was welcoming the ambassador and introducing the Queen.
“-permission from Her Magnificent Grace, Queen Andromeda, Fifth of Her Name, Supreme Ruler of Egypt and Greece, Matron of the Free Nations of Alexandria-“
The giggle from Seb behind him made him glance back over his shoulder. Lydia was turned around and had clearly just said something.
“-Sovereign of the Euphrates, Daughter of the Uninterrupted Line of Queens from Cleopatra The First of Her-“
Lydia snorted. “Uninterrupted my ass. The whole family was slaughtered in Justinian’s Rebellion centuries ago. She’s a distant cousin thrice removed. It’s probably for the best, they were inbreeding like rabbits, so it gave the bloodline a fresh start.”
Seb gave a bark of laughter. “Awful.”
“Get it out of your system now. You know you can’t say that stuff once we’re back there.” Alex sighed. Lydia and Seb were known to go on a rant or two about the – now mainly ceremonial – royal family.
Seb rolled his eyes. “I’ll say whatever I want, cheers. Besides, if my dear little sister here can-“
“I’m seven minutes older than you,” Lydia insisted.
“-can survive working,” Seb carried on, ignoring her interruption and in fact getting louder, “with Princess Dorinda, then I think we’ll both be fine.”
Alex considered that. “How did you survive three months with Princess Dorinda at that archaeological dig if you’re like this?”
Lydia turned back around in her seat to face Alex. “Dorinda is the one who told me about the third cousin thing. She was great: couldn’t stand her mother and was determined to spend as much money as she could on her charitable causes. But don’t worry, we know our life in Section Seven is all protocol and ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘no ma’am’. We’ll be fine once we’re back in the swing of it.”
Alex doubted that very much, but why pick that fight now. Their life in Section-7 had been more than just protocol these last six months. It had been a roller coaster of secrets, revelations, and grueling hard work. It wasn’t every day you were recruited to a clandestine division of the Imperial Armed Forces just to have your entire world view flipped on its head.
A half hour later, the pod detached itself from the express chain and pulled off the highway, dropping down into an arid landscape with low hills covered in dry grasses that rolled to the horizon on all sides. Alex knew Section-7 HQ was remote, but this was the middle of nowhere.
As the pod crested a small hill, a vast lake spread out before them on their right. A large metal sign was posted at the side of the narrow road, welcoming them to the Karababa Dam Reservoir and Nature Preserve.
Standing in the middle of the road at the bottom of the hill were three figures in black cloaks, their faces indistinguishable in the gloom cast by their hoods. The central figure held a long metal staff in one hand, the crystal embedded at the top catching the midday sun and glinting it back in random flashes. She stepped forward and thrust the staff towards the oncoming pod.
Alex had only a moment to realize what was happening before the roiling, churning storm of magical green electricity consumed their transport and flung them off the road.
Rain pelted the sides of the pyramid while torrents of water ran down the windows along the far wall of the squad room. It created an odd cacophony as the heavy downpour slammed the glass sides and disrupted the sluicing of water running down from the higher levels, the uneven gurgling and smacking sounds making it hard to be heard without speaking up. The clouds were a dark gray and the morning sun was blocked out almost entirely. Flashes of lightning struck the reservoir and the roar of thunder shook the glass. It was an unusual storm for July and set a grim mood for their squad test.
Augmenting the mood in the room even further was the presence of Yao Lin and her translator Chen Jie, who they had only seen on rare occasions. She stood on a small platform that was pushed against the glass in the middle of the long room, the drumming of the rain unnoticed behind her, chatting amiably with Chen Jie next to her, both of their hands a flurry of motions.
Mateo was standing before the two squads, his arms gently at parade rest behind him. “Good fortune,” he said at a slightly higher volume than normal. “You will have two minutes to assess the landscape once it is cast, and on my signal will advance. Your goal is to capture the other team’s flag. Try not to kill each other, but anything goes.” He brought his hands forward and Petra saw for the first time that he was holding a small device. “Squads. Proceed to your flags.”
Each group marched across the empty room to the far ends and stood around the flags that had been erected on a small stand. Mateo held the small device up and closed his eyes, then flicked a few notes on his syntonus and the device lit up with a faint blue glow of lines curving around the outside in random patterns. The lines began to shift and swirl, and a complex melody issued from it for at least fifteen or twenty seconds; as it did so a faint green light spread out from Mateo’s palm and filled the whole room. The light began to solidify in to structures and terrain as the device’s melody finished.
“I wondered how they did that.” Lydia said at her side. Petra had also been curious to see how the squad room was populated with the gravimetric field that laid out their battle scenarios. “They must be able to program the field that they want and then the machine can strike the right melody while the holder channels their Oroth through their Shard? Impressive.” Lydia had stepped a few paces towards Mateo in interest, but Aylin snagged her elbow and drew her back. They only had two minutes to examine the field before them and plan their attack. Outside, another crack of thunder pealed across the sky.
After a few moments of examining the field, Sebastian turned to Petra with wide eyes. “We’re screwed. This map is tilted painfully against us. Antaeus curse us.” He was right. The room was a long rectangle with the sloped pyramid windows forming one long side, and each squad was gathered at their respective short opposite sides. Petra stood facing the opposite team and surveyed the field.
Her flag was behind her, against their short wall and completely exposed. To her left on the window side of the room was a long and thick wall that ran perpendicular to the window wall but didn’t quite come to the halfway point of the room, leaving their flag visible to the entire arena. And the wall didn’t reach the windows, leaving the flag vulnerable to anyone coming in on that left flank.
To her right were a series of towers clustered together and reaching various heights. The towers were close enough to the middle of the room that they might have created a choke point with the left half-wall, except they too didn’t extend to the long wall beyond them, leaving a vulnerable flank open on the right side as well.
Across the room, the other team was surrounded by a large rounded castle tower that filled the far quarter of the room, floor to ceiling and nearly wall to wall. It had windows set into it and the other squad was looking out, examining the scenario. The only way into the castle tower was through a long ramp that ran at an angle from the center of the room near the windows before Yao Lin’s platform and up to an open archway in the center of the castle wall, a few meters off the ground.
To the right of the ramp, strewn across the entire middle of the room were small rocky boulders piled a few meters high in a long uneven mound that nearly reached the towers near Petra and filled the room along the ramp to the castle wall. That entire right side of the castle would be nearly unapproachable. There were additional small boulders angled in a mound slightly past the thick left wall and reaching almost to the windows, creating another choke point with the small boulders along the ramp. And on the left of the rounded castle wall past the angled ramp, she could see large rectangular blocks that were tumbled and stacked at the side of the castle, cutting off that approach as well.
“The flag must be inside their walls?” Lydia asked. Sebastian nodded.
“And the only way into the castle is up the ramp. It’s a killing field. They can see us from any level and angle, and, gods-” Sebastian looked up suddenly and locked eyes with Petra who knew what he was about to say. “One of them could simply levitate our flag from where they are and drag it across to them!” Sebastian flung his arms up and swore.
“I’ll have to stay back and guard the flag from exactly that. I won’t be able to roam much beyond this wall.” Petra nodded at the thick wall on the left that only spanned half of the way to the windows. The blare of the starting horn sounded, and they had to begin. Petra gave each of them some quick instructions and watched as they headed to their positions. She strummed a quick stanza and conjured a light green Gravimetric Shell around herself and the flag. It would have to do for now.
Aylin had gone past the left wall and was crouched behind the mound of small boulders that ran towards the windows, waiting to ambush anyone who tried to flank the flag from the left. Sebastian had started to climb up the set of small towers to the right to try and gain a vantage point over the field and report back. Lydia and Alexander were both crouched behind the mound of boulders that ran along the ramp, searching the right side of the room for anything they had missed in their survey.
Petra heard Sebastian in her ear. “Oh c’mon!” She flinched. “From up here I can see into the castle through the archway the ramp runs to. There’s a platform that runs along the inside of the castle wall and the flag is down in a sunken trench. They have Reza down with the flag and Korina camped on the platform. They can deflect anyone who comes up the ramp. Thoughts?”
He would normally end their conversations with some form of “fearless leader” or “oh glorious squad queen” or whatever new quip he had. The fact that he didn’t now showed her how annoyed he was by this seemingly no-win scenario. Their only hope was to somehow draw Reza and Korina out of the castle. But how?
Utari and Ozan both sprinted from the archway down the ramp into the arena, Lydia and Alexander popping up from the boulder mounds on the right and sending volleys at them. Utari sprinted towards the windows, past Yao Lin and around the small mound of boulders on the left. Petra couldn’t see it but heard the crackle of electricity and saw a flash of orange light. Utari had run into Aylin and they were battling against the windows.
From the small towers to her right Petra saw a slash of green light as Sebastian fired something at Ozan, who was dueling Lydia. She was dodging backwards towards the pile of stones, slashing out with an impressive variety of quick attacks and feints. She fired off a gout of flame that drove him left but immediately fired a white javelin to the spot where she had just driven him. She was making him think he was driving the attack as she retreated, but she had drawn him to the choke point between the towers and field of stones.
At last, she strummed a shrieking pezzo that conjured a massive violet spider that leapt down from a tower and set upon Ozan, who panicked and slashed at it fruitlessly with his blazing white sabers. Petra had also read ahead to the Creature Conjuring section of the Synemmenon but hadn’t tried any of those charms yet. She smirked. Show off.
Petra suddenly noticed the gap before her and told Alexander there was an opening to the ramp past Ozan and he could get around to the large blocks on the far left and explore that side of the castle. They needed to recon that side of the room. “I can get up on the ramp from here, I see a foothold!” Alexander began to scramble up the mound of boulders towards the ramp.
“No! Alex! We need to know what our options are on the left! On the left!” But he was nearly to the ramp, the damned fool, as Gabriela stepped out from the archway right in front of him. “Protect Alexander!” Petra shouted at Sebastian at the same moment that Gabriela swung her staff in Alexander’s direction.
Sebastian was a moment too late and Alexander was flung back off the ramp in a shockwave of orange light and landed with a painful thud on the floor. At least the force of the blast had helped him clear the boulders below. “Alex?!” Petra shouted for him and took a lurching step forward before stopping herself.
“I’m… ah, gods, I’m not great. But I’m fine,” he muttered, and she saw him wave a hand at her from around the small towers where Sebastian was perched. She let out a deep breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.
Utari must have pushed past Aylin because suddenly there was a blast at Petra’s left and she felt her shell flicker under the assault. Utari was standing with her legs spread apart and her arm extended straight out before her while a blast of white light poured from her open palm, her other hand wrapped around her wrist to brace her from the force of her own blast. Her face was a snarl of rage – it looked like she was channeling all of her grief and anger about Jakarta into the attack. It continued in a constant barrage, crackling and flaring around the shell, and after a moment Petra began to concentrate so she could push the shell out and force Utari back.
Another moment later and she heard Aylin in her ear. “Sorry sorry sorry I’ve got her!” And Aylin came sprinting around the far corner of the wall and swung her staff. A truly painful set of notes rang out as she countered Utari’s assault on Petra’s shell. The force on her left disappeared at once, and Petra glanced over to see Aylin hook Utari’s foot with a green lasso and drag her back past the wall towards the windows.
The various sub-battles continued for several minutes as Petra kept close to their flag and shouted orders where she could see opportunities and advantages. Gabriela was tiring, and she jogged up the ramp back to the castle clutching her side. A moment later Korina emerged from the castle and sprinted down the ramp. It was a good strategy: they could rest their Arcmagi in rotations as needed. Her squad needed to get into that castle somehow!
Lydia and Sebastian were keeping Korina and Ozan at bay along the ramp and large boulder field to the right. Ozan was pretty good with that white sword and was battering at Lydia’s trident which kept her out of his reach even as they clashed, electric currents sizzling at the impacts. Sebastian kept throwing a defensive shield between them but Korina would dissipate it with a dissonant stanza.
Petra kept telling Sebastian to flank Korina on her right, and after a minute of that she heard him shout “Banana! Banana, Petra!” It was her codeword for micromanaging them and she let it go. She could see he and Lydia were working well and keeping the other two contained.
Utari suddenly appeared right in front of Petra as she rounded the wall to the left. Alexander stumbled from around the small towers and flung a series of white disks at her back. Gabriela had seen it from the archway and lobbed an orange shield with her staff halfway across the battle field. It crashed behind Utari and absorbed the impact of Alexander’s projectiles.
Utari had startled at the sound of the shield thudding behind her and had turned in time to see Alexander approaching. She charged at him, pulling a large war-hammer from her fist and swinging it right at his head. Even in his injured state, Alexander was still a natural athlete and he swung a leg forward while dropping the other to his knee and slid under her attack. As he went under her swinging arms he fired a concussive blast right at her armpit and she flew back towards the windows and hit the ground with a smack.
He came to a stop and smiled at Petra who lunged for him and grabbed him by both hands and swung him bodily around her to the right in almost a full circle as their momentum carried them around and to the left behind the thick wall. A moment later a crackle of blue light smashed into the wall and reverberated through them. Gabriela had sent a shockwave at Alexander’s back and Petra had seen it at the last second and saved them both.
They stood there heaving a few deep breaths, Alexander’s back pressed against the wall and Petra pressed against him. Alex peered around the side of the wall and shouted “Nice try!” at Gabriela before looking back at her with a grateful smile. “We’ve got this.” Alex held her gaze for a moment, his hands still clutched in hers as he grinned at her, before ducking back out of cover and charging forward.
After another ten minutes of battle, everyone was tired, but against all odds they had drawn to a stalemate. Neither side could advance beyond their entrenched positions. Sebastian had eventually made his way to the large slabs cantered on the left side of the castle wall and was huddled between a few. He had reported back that there were no secret entrances on this side either. The room intermittently flashed white as the bulk of the storm stalked towards the pyramid and the bolts of lightning grew closer.
Petra was down to one last crazy idea.
She whispered to her group. “What if we just storm them? We’ve tried everything we can to get Reza out of that hole and engage us, but he knows he’s safe and sound in there. Aylin you take lead, Alexander and Lydia follow close behind, while Seb brings up the rear, and maybe you can make it up the ramp and into the castle?” She heard murmurs of tired assent from the squad. “Alright, on my command, form up and hea-”
Sebastian’s voice crackled in her ear. “That’s it! Oi, he’s so arrogant, I should’ve guessed!” Petra saw Sebastian pop out from cover and sprint around the left side of the field and throw a stream of fire darts at Korina who was standing in the archway. She swung her staff but lost her balance and fell back off the ramp between the castle and the large blocks Sebastian had just vacated.
Petra shouted after him, “Biscuit! Biscuit, Seb!”
He sprinted up the ramp and stood in the archway and cackled his most delighted laugh. “I knew it! Such hubris, my dashing knights, my battle foes! Oh what a pity. For you that is.” And he swung his staff upwards in a massive arc while a simple stanza rang out.
A moment later he was blasted back down the ramp by a huge white shockwave and fell crumpled along its slope. Lydia and Aylin both cried out and ran towards him. Alexander stepped out from his cover behind the small mound of boulders and caught the other team’s flag which Sebastian had levitated out of the castle and flung in an arc back towards them a moment earlier.
Alex jogged back to Petra and their flag and the blare of the horn signaled their victory. He cheered and swept her up in a massive hug, then, remembering Sebastian, set her down before they both ran over to him.
Seb was sitting up, propped in Aylin’s arms and smiling. “Hubris! It’s the thing I hate most in other people. The fool didn’t bother to protect his flag with a shell.” He scrunched his face up in pain and Aylin ran her fingers through his hair whispering in his ear that he was the fool and he was never to do that ever again. “We won, right? I didn’t grandstand just for one of you lot to drop the flag in the end?”
Petra wanted to ring his neck and hug him at the same time. His improvisation had once again worked, but in a real battle it probably would have killed him. What was she going to do? Alexander groaned at Sebastian’s snark and turned to see Mateo standing there smiling at them all.
“Well done, to both teams. That was a true stalemate right to the end.” The rest of Reza’s team were walking down the ramp towards him. “Evaluations will be posted this evening.” Mateo walked over towards Yao Lin and Chen Jie and began conferring with them. After a moment he turned back to the group. “Take the rest of the afternoon off. You’ve earned it.”
Now all they could do was wait.