Wizard's War Read online

  Contents

  Title

  Dedication

  Front Matter

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Epilogue

  ebook backmatter

  WIZARD’S WAR

  Book Three

  of

  GALACTIC KNIGHT

  Peter Bostrom

  For my three favorite admirals: Kirk, Adama, and Ackbar

  To be notified of future books in The Galactic Knight series, sign up here: smarturl.it/peterbostrom

  Peter Bostrom is the pen name of Nick Webb co-writing with other authors. Wizard’s War is by Nick Webb and Jacob Rennaker.

  Copyright 2021 by Hyperspace Media

  Other books by Peter Bostrom:

  The Last War Series:

  Book 1: The Last War

  Book 2: The Last Hero

  Book 3: The Last Dawn

  Book 4: The Last Champion

  Book 5: The Last Strike

  Other books by Nick Webb:

  Constitution, Book 1 of the Legacy Fleet Series

  Mercury’s Bane, Book 1 of the Earth Dawning Series

  The Terran Gambit, Book 1 of the Pax Humana Saga

  PROLOGUE

  “TO BE OR not to be, that is the question. Whether…whether…damn!”

  Richard rubbed his stubbled face, hoping it would jog his memory. It didn’t.

  “Line?” Richard said, over the tap-tap-tapping of his wife’s cane.

  Miranda exhaled loudly. “Honey, if we’re late one more time, you might not get another chance. There are only so many times people can forgive you—even if you are incredibly charming,” she said.

  Her mouth smiled, but her eyes didn’t. “And I can only go so fast…”

  The two sped down a poorly paved street, passing small apartments and even smaller stores. The street was empty in the growing light of the biodome’s dawn, except for the bags of garbage had been set out on the street the night before, filling the air with a sour aroma.

  “I know, I know,” Richard said. “It’s just—”

  Richard took a long step over a lumpy garbage bag that had spilled out onto the sidewalk, leaving a trail of empty water cartons and unidentifiable remains of synthetic meat. Miranda shuffled awkwardly around the spill. Richard hurried on while his wife fell behind, her cane crunching on one of the empty cartons.

  “It’s just…” Richard paused as looked down at the tattered script in his hands. “I just have to be in the right place mentally, you know? This could be my chance to finally land a leading role.”

  Miranda hobbled quickly to catch up with her husband, but he kept his eyes fixed on the script.

  “By the way, where’s Dessie? Was she at home this morning?” Richard said.

  The tapping of Miranda’s cane grew louder as she picked up her pace. “Yes—she wanted to get to the theater early. She’s sure this is her big break.”

  Richard finally came to a stop and spun around, his eyes gazing off into the distance. “Ah, it seemed like just yesterday I had my first spear carrier role,” he said with a smile. “And it really is a natural fit, what, with her always playing with your cane. She really is getting quite deft at twirling it.”

  The loud tapping stopped and was replaced by Miranda’s panting as she finally caught up to her husband. She looked up at Richard’s bedraggled hair and threadbare, faded jacket. She hesitated just a moment to reply, then said, “You know, maybe we should encourage her to consider other careers. I know she’s still young, but she needs an opportunity to do something that can pay … better than acting.”

  Richard’s smile fell suddenly. He planted his feet, put his hands on his hips, was about to respond, when Miranda looked down at her wrist display and cut him off before he could begin.

  “We won’t make it to the theater on time if we keep going this way. Here—” she said, nodding toward an alleyway that forked away from the main street. “This will get us there quicker.”

  Before Richard could protest, Miranda was already making her way down the narrow passage. There were no lights along this space, and the only illumination it received was from slowly brightening panels of the city’s biodome. Richard’s ratty boots struck several unidentifiable objects, and he let out quiet curses after each impact. Miranda, on the other hand, was making her way skillfully around these obstacles, her cane serving as a second pair of eyes in the dimness.

  Miranda stepped into a wider alleyway with slightly more light and turned to see her husband. “Come on, Hamlet,” she said with a grin. “We’re almost there.”

  As Richard took another halting step toward his wife, he saw something begin to materialize just behind her—a pale, bald head with wicked eyes that seemed to glow a deep shade of red. As it grew more clear, Richard saw its thin lips part to reveal two long, snaggled, and very pointed teeth.

  “Miranda – behind you!”

  In one fluid motion, Miranda spun on her good heel, quickly brought up her cane, and slammed it into the pale skull just behind her. The creature let out a nasally, high-pitched scream of pain and fell back into the darkness.

  Miranda raced awkwardly down the wide alleyway with Richard close behind her. She made a quick turn down another, smaller alleyway, and Richard skidded to a halt before backtracking and sprinting to catch up. A moment later, they both shot out into a wide plaza. A large building loomed before them with faded paint and a crooked sign that read, “The Bard’s Theater.”

  Richard smiled and raced forward, but just then an armored figure stepped out into the open. Its cream-colored armor and bright red cape set it apart from the dull blues and greens that colored the plaza. The figure’s oval helmet straightened and the dark T-shape on its surface seemed to focus on him.

  “Thank God—an extra! We’re being chased by something … something terrible,” Richard blurted.

  The armored figure quickly raised the object in its hands—a sleek, black crossbow. There was a bright red flash and Richard fell backward onto the ground with a thud. A thin, silver object stuck straight out of his chest, and Richard’s wide eyes stared blankly ahead of him.

  Miranda dropped her cane and fell to the ground next to her husband. “No – it can’t be … ”

  With a second flash, Miranda was on the ground with him, a matching silver object protruding from her chest.

  A pale-headed figure tore out from the alleyway, its long, dark coat billowing behind it. The figure glided to a halt and looked down at t
he fallen couple. His thick, wiry eyebrows knitted before coming together in a look of absolute rage as he raised his head. The armored figure quickly lowered his weapon and began staggering backward.

  “You fool,” the pale creature hissed. “You’ve contaminated them.”

  The armored figure stumbled backward a few short steps. “I apologize, your worshipfulness. I didn’t know—”

  In less than a heartbeat, the pale-headed creature instantly closed the space between them and sunk his sharp, snaggled teeth into the armored trooper’s neck. There was a sickening slurping sound, and the trooper’s knees buckled. The creature held the trooper upright while he continued to suck violently for several seconds. As he did so, his red eyes pulsed even more brightly.

  The creature would’ve continued until the trooper’s veins were dry, but he was suddenly interrupted when something just inside his dark coat began to cast a bright yellow glow onto his pale face. He let go of the lifeless body, which clattered to the ground. The creature wiped his bloodied mouth and reached his long-nailed, spindly fingers into his coat and removed a glowing gem attached to a necklace.

  A black, vulture-shaped medallion cradled a yellow gem that became brighter by the moment. A translucent image soon materialized beside the gem—a smooth, teardrop-shaped face with menacing eyes. Unlike the pale creature who held the yellow gem, this figure had no eyebrows. It didn't even have a nose – just two narrow, crooked slits, and as its mouth opened, it revealed matching rows of needle sharp teeth.

  “Lord Deathwish,” the pale creature’s voice faltered. “To what do I owe this great honor?”

  The yellow, translucent image expanded slightly to show the figure’s torso, which was concealed by a loose-fitting hooded robe. He cradled a short, twisted object in one hand, while he stroked it with the other. “I have been instructed to tell you that the Ultimate Magus will soon open an oculus near your location.”

  A grin tugged at the corner of the pale creature’s thin lips. “And then?”

  Lord Deathwish’s face grew hard. “I have been given something of a small army, since the Dragon and your disgusting furry beasts failed so miserably to conquer a single moon,” the image said with a hissing, almost snakelike voice. “But I have a special surprise for the warriors of this world—something they’ll be dying to see.”

  The image faded, and the pale creature exhaled loudly while he tucked his fading yellow stone back inside his coat. He shook his bald head, reached down to the lifeless trooper, and pried off the oval-shaped shield that had been attached to his arm. A purple gem sat in its center, with two ornate crosses directly beneath it. This would do, in case that pesky warrior from this universe showed up again.

  He slipped the shield inside his coat and looked around the plaza. Lights were coming on in the upper-story windows surrounding area, and he could hear voices growing louder from across the way. Without a sound, the creature drifted back into the alleyway to find a dark corner in which to hide from the coming day. Soon, all this hiding would be over.

  Soon, the Dominion would return.

  CHAPTER ONE

  I TORE DOWN a narrow alleyway, dodging the pipes that jutted out from the cracked walls and jumping over plastic bags of who-knows-what that littered the ground. Just ahead of me, I could see a bouncing wad of billowing darkness doing the same. A shaft of fluorescent light from a nearby window shone into the alley and revealed a pale, bald head and long, pointed ears that topped the dark splotch that was running from me.

  As he ran, the dark figure bent and grabbed a lumpy plastic bag off the ground with his long fingers, half-turned, and flung it backward. Almost without thinking, I summoned the sound of an orchestra tuning its instruments inside my head. With a flash, my yellow testing rod-turned-magic sword flared to life and sliced through the bag before it could reach me. But I only had a split second to feel smug about deflecting the attack before the bag’s contents rained down on me. The next thing I knew, I was running through a storm of dirty diapers.

  Here’s the thing about the Dominion—they’re real jerks. And it wasn’t the fact that one of their big shots had just thrown a bag of used diapers at me. It’d be one thing if they would just fight an all-out battle against our universe. Like they did back on Pluto. Clear villains, clear stakes, and plenty of warning. But they up and changed their winning formula when they reappeared. Okay, so it wasn’t a winning formula—I had used the magical power of their own philosopher’s stones to hand them their asses on a platter and defeat their Superior Magus. With the help of my team, of course.

  My team. They were the closest thing I had to friends out here—or anywhere, really. And now they were all gone. The Dominion had made sure of that when they moved on to Neptune. Instead of bringing a massive army to conquer all of Neptune’s moons, they sent a small group of troopers to a single city. And the results had been devastating—both for the city of Kalliste, and for me, personally.

  I exploded through the maelstrom of disposable diapers just in time to see the bald-headed figure coming up on an intersection.

  I raised my philosopher’s stone-studded glove and quickly summoned an exciting mix of an electric guitar riff and a heavy drum beat. The orange stone—mounted under the first knuckle—began to glow as I imagined I was twirling a glowing lasso in my hand before flinging it toward the figure, just before he turned down an adjoining alley. The lasso shot out and dropped around his shoulders, but when I yanked the lasso toward me, the imaginary lasso dissolved and my enemy disappeared around the corner.

  Damn! The bloodsucking bastard’s own philosopher’s stone was still too strong for my own to have any effect on him. He must’ve fed again, which meant more civilians had died. I couldn’t let this keep happening—if I didn’t stop this monster, nobody would.

  I skidded around the corner, the pale yellow light of my rod-sword illuminating the next stretch of alleyway. Lucky for me, it was a dead end. At the sound of my approach, the figure in the long, dark coat snapped his head back toward me, revealing wiry eyebrows, faintly glowing red eyes, and a hooked nose. At the sight of me, he let out a loud hissing noise, exposing his long, pointed, and slightly crooked front teeth.

  “Whoa, there, Snaggletooth,” I yelled.

  The vampire turned and scrambled up a tall, overflowing dumpster with a scratching noise as his claws skitted across its metal surface.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  As I brought to mind the brassy, heroic music of my glove’s purple stone—mounted under the knuckle of my middle finger—and pictured myself wearing a bright red, flowing cape. Focusing the stone’s power inward, I pushed myself forward faster than a speeding bullet—er, plasma slug.

  I swung my rod-sword in a high arc, but just missed the vampire as he scrambled up over the lip of the dumpster and onto its overflowing contents.

  I cut off the heroic music and planted my feet to stop my forward momentum, but not before banging my shoulder into the side of the dumpster. Shaking off the pain, I stepped back and looked up at the roach of a monster darting back and forth across the top of the garbage. I summoned my red stone’s sinister, imperial marching tune and pictured an over-sized red fist that enveloped my own. The stone glowed in its place beside the purple stone as I slammed my imaginary fist into the dumpster, blowing a large crater into its center and filling the air with soggy debris and rancid smells.

  The vampire leapt across the falling trash, landed gingerly on the still-upright front corner of the dumpster, and then leapt over my head. As I traced his path through the air, I saw a bright yellow light shine from somewhere around his neck and, in an instant, the figure had transformed into an ugly cat-sized creature with black, leathery wings.

  It was a terrifyingly ugly-ass bat, and it was about to get away from me. Before I could think twice, I dropped the image of the fist and brought back the swelling, heroic music of my purple stone. With a magical boost, I leapt high into the air and sliced upward with my still-glowing
rod-sword. The creature was speeding away, but the tip of my sword clipped the edge of his right wing and elicited a high-pitched shriek as it frantically pumped its smoldering wing to stay aloft.

  I landed in a crouch on the concrete path. I wasn’t about to let this thing get away again. I thought I’d taken care of this one back at the Kalliste City Courthouse, and then again when I’d blown up the transport he’d taken to get here. The armored Dominion troopers from the transport were still on the loose, but this one was much, much more dangerous. And I sort of had a score to settle with this vampire after his decently attractive leader had lied to me and cleverly made me lose the trust of my teammates.

  The ink-black furry bat bobbed in the air as it struggled to get away from me. Its injured wing wouldn’t let him get too high in the air, but that didn’t stop him from moving quickly back down the alleyway. I followed him around another corner or two, past more garbage bags—which, luckily, the bat was no longer in a position to throw at me—and out into a bustling plaza with a large, faded building at its end. In the biodome’s dimming lights, I could just make out a crooked sign outside that read, “The Bard’s Theater.” If, by some miracle or feat of science the Bard had lived long enough to seen this place, he’d probably sue for defamation.

  A small collection of artificial flowers, notes, and a cane lay where the ground met the wall to my left. This impromptu memorial must be for some of the civilians the Dominion had killed over the past few days. The vampire and his armored friends had left a trail of dead bodies here in the theater district, which is what led me here in the first place. Friends and family had been torn apart by this rash of attacks, and even if I couldn’t really have either anymore, I’d be damned if I allowed these Dominion bastards to take them from anyone else.