War Magi

You will be notified by email when your paperback has been dispatched. It's usually within a couple of working days.

Un-Sundered
Deep Space, somewhere in the Nexus

Anastasia stood on the bridge of her Aether ship, the Obsidian Fire, as it dropped out of Flux and returned to a more sedate speed. On the main viewer, the scene before the ship revealed a bright orb in the distance with glaring jets of light bursting from its poles that appeared to be rotating, making the steamers of light wobble around, illuminating the gases all around it. The vista it created was beautiful.
“It’s still here,” Glass said over the ship's speakers. “Dead ahead. Shall I set a course?”
Anastasia smiled at the ships AI’s pronouncement. “Intercept course. If they flee, let me know.”
“As you wish,” the AI replied as the Obsidian Fire boosted forwards towards the dark speck on the screen before her.
“You’re sure this is going to work?” Sapphira asked from across the bridge.
Anastasia smiled as she looked back at her second-in-command. She was a tough, strong person who looked imposing in her dark armour, but this nervousness didn’t suit her. Although, given the task ahead, she could understand her apprehension. “But of course,” she replied.
“It’s risky, taking on an Un-Sundered.”
“Nothing in life that’s worth doing is without risk, Sapphira. Not getting cold feet, are we?”
“Of course, not, my Baal,” Sapphira replied, suddenly puffing out her chest to look a little more confident. “I’ve just heard talk about the power of these Magi.”
Anastasia nodded. The Un-Sundered were legendary, that was true. The first Magi to leave Earth behind before the Archons enacted their global Magical effect of separating all Magi from Essentia, turning all Magi into normal humans. It didn’t go entirely to plan, though, and while the Magic didn’t neuter all Magi, it did weaken their connection to Essentia. Suddenly, a lot less Magi were appearing, and the Sundered Magi were no longer able to rely on having Magi children. It also took longer for the Magi to learn their Magic.
Those that had left the Earth before the Sundering were spared these effects and went on to create the dynasties of the Nexus. That was over ten thousand years ago, though, before the Demiurge banished the Archons to their prison deep in the Aetheric Realm.
Some of these Un-Sundered still lived with their dynasties, but others did not. Time was a cruel mistress, and even as powerful as these Magi were, they were still human and prone to hubris and madness.
The Aether ship before her was home to one such Un-Sundered, and he’d been here, orbiting this pulsar for years now after leaving Concord Prime.
She smiled to herself. It was a mistake he would regret.
“They can indeed be formidable,” Anastasia said, her gaze fixed on her Coven-mate as she spoke. “Do you wish to stay aboard the Obsidian Fire?”
“No. I was merely expressing concern for your safety, my Baal.”
“Cute. Very well, get everyone ready,” she said, and looked back at the viewer as they closed on the target ship, manoeuvring to match speed and direction.
Behind her, Anastasia felt Sapphira reach out and contact the rest of the crew. It only took a moment, and with a series of magical bursts of energy, the other members of her Coven appeared on the bridge. Ebony the vampire, Azerrad and Thorne, both of them Sage Magi, and Lyka, the mysterious Arch Master and Scion who had accompanied her from Earth.
“We’re ready,” Sapphira said as Magic flared from the Magi in the room.
“Commence attack,” Anastasia said, and reached out, summoning Essentia to her and sending it lancing out at the Aether ship just ahead of them. She could feel the other Magi doing the same, and as she watched, the two dragons aboard the Obsidian Fire, Kragen and Tallon, took off from the hull and flew towards the ship, blasting Essentia laced fire at the Aegis that surrounded it.
The shield did not last long under such an onslaught, and the moment it flickered and died, she reached in with her senses to find her target. It didn’t take long to find the most potent concentration of Essentia on the vessel. She smiled to herself as she looked upon the mighty Un-Sundered.
She was not impressed.
With a thought, she Ported herself and the rest of her crew across the void and into the Aether ship.
They appeared in a large room located just behind the bridge. There wasn’t much in here apart from the raised platform at the back with its single chair. Sat upon it, a lone figure looked up at her, moving only his eyes.
He was a middle-aged man, although that was by no means an indicator of how old he was. Dressed in robes, he looked thoroughly unimpressed with Anastasia’s sudden appearance.
Four Magi, two on either side of the throne, stepped forward, their Essentia flaring in her Aetheric Sight as Magical energy lashed out and slammed against her Aegis.
Beside her, her Coven retaliated, their Magic rushing out to meet the attackers and tear them apart. It only took a moment to leave the guards as smoking corpses on the floor while Anastasia reached into herself and called on the new, draconic part of herself to manifest.
She’d gained a little more control over it now. So, rather than transforming into a massive dragon and ripping this ship apart, her body instead grew by a couple of feet as horns sprouted from her forehead, leathery wings grew from her back, and her hands and feet transformed into scaly talons that she flexed to get a feel for them.
She stepped forward, smiling, revealing the fangs that had grown within her mouth as she approached the solitary figure.
Behind her, more guards were running into the room, but Sapphira and the others moved to take care of them.
“You should have moved on from here, Valkus,” Anastasia said as she neared the Un-Sundered.
The man blinked slowly as his voice filled her mind through an open Link. ~I have been living on borrowed time for too long, little Nomad. I welcome this release.~
Anastasia shrugged. “As you wish,” she answered, and worked her Magic, reaching out to the man before her and using her Magic to grip his soul and pull it from him. His Anima resisted, but the Magus himself did not. Instead, he was smiling. Anastasia pumped more power into her Magic, drawing on the local Essentia and leveraging its power to make her desires a reality.
A feeling of ripping washed over her as the Anima of the Un-Sundered finally tore free. Anastasia called on her new draconic heritage and pulled the Anima towards her, reversing the gifting of power that Void Dragons were able to do. Anastasia felt energy flood into her, through her body and out along her arms and legs, making her shake as it filled her up. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe and forgot where she was. Her whole attention was elsewhere, focused internally on the centuries of knowledge that rushed through her.
Her connection to Essentia strengthened as the new level of Magical understanding burnt itself into her mind.
It wasn’t the leap of power that had happened on consuming the dragon’s Anima. The increase in power was much smaller. Instead, the main change was a deeper understanding of the Magic she could use, and what she could actually do with it.
The blinding light that had filled her vision faded and drew back as she felt all her strength leave her for a brief moment. She fell. Dropping to her knees, she took a long, cleansing breath, filling her lungs with life-giving air once, twice, and then three times as her awareness returned.
Sitting up, she looked over to see a shrivelled corpse on the throne where Valkus had been moments before. She looked down at her hands and clenched her fists before opening them again. She was back in her human form once more, the draconic part of her having pulled back during the consumption.
Closing her eyes, Anastasia focused inwards and looked at her soul, her Anima. It was still here, but there was a darkness there now that wasn’t there before. It was faint, barely there at all, and probably not visible to any but the closest of observers. She knew what it meant. The cost of consuming the Anima of another tainted her own life force.
She didn’t care. She had what she needed now, and as she looked around, she found she already had a greater understanding of the Magic and Essentia she could see and feel.
Anastasia looked across the room as another group of guards moved into the room.
~These are mine,~ she announced through her Coven’s Link and informed them she was about to Port them off the ship. They all let her do it apart from Lyka, who Ported herself. Always the stubborn one, that one.
After she Ported her crew off the ship, she walked towards the approaching guards, all of whom were Magi. They glowed with power and Essentia, and as they approached, they called on that power. Essentia strikes, kinetic rams, and lightning bolts snapped across the space between them, but she wasn’t there.
Splitting her corporeal form, several versions of herself appeared around the room as Magic lashed out from them in the form of hideously powerful Essentia strikes. As she attacked, she Ported her bodies again and assaulted for a second time, before repeating it once more.
The speed at which she moved and attacked was blinding, and the guards didn’t stand a chance. With a thought, she Ported off the ship and back to the Obsidian Fire. For a moment, she considered obliterating the Aether ship, but then reconsidered. Let this be a warning to others; she thought with a smile as she turned away from the view screen.
“Get us out of here, Glass,” she said and walked off the bridge as the ship turned and fired up its Flux Drive.