them.”
“Understood,” said Felix, who seemed to be very much afraid.
Narcion moved down the hall slowly with his assault rifle at the ready. I stayed three seconds behind him, as was my place. As he entered Engineering I heard weapon fire. I charged in with a yell and executed a shoulder roll to the left where I remembered there being some cover. Narcion was behind some debris on the right, and animated corpses of the station’s crew were marching towards both of us.
“Found the dead for you,” said Narcion as he continued his rapid fire into the approaching mass. “Concentrate your fire on their heads and spine. That is where the wraiths interface to them.”
Just then the magi came into the room and found cover with Narcion, adding their blasters to the mix.
“There are too many of them. We will just drain our guns and they will keep coming,” said Felix.
“Is that what normally happens?” asked Narcion.
“Yes,” said Felix.
“Can’t you conjure up some kind of spell to finish them off?” I asked.
“We have to save our magic for the wraiths. They seem to know the moment we get low and choose then and only then to attack,” said one of the other magi.
“Do it,” said Narcion. “We can handle the wraiths.”
They nodded and put away their blasters to free their hands for casting. Soon lightning, fire and stone flew at the line of approaching corpses, cutting them down far faster than we could have done even with ten times the number of guns. I stopped shooting and prepared for the wraiths to attack, but they never came.
“Fall back!” called Narcion as the magi began to weary.
I moved to cover the magi as they stumbled out of the room, barely able to walk from their exhaustion. They seemed to have destroyed hundreds of the enemy and yet others still came. Narcion and I slowly backed out of the room until we were in the hall. The magi had not made it very far when one of them collapsed.
“I will slow them down. Get those magi out of here,” ordered Narcion.
I holstered my weapon, scooped up the fallen magus, and pushed the others down the corridor which began to fill with a foul, thick, black smoke. Narcion came up beside me and picked up one of the other magi. I lift ed the final one and tossed him over the opposite shoulder from his companion.
Narcion and I jogged away from the smoke for about an hour before we finally stopped and put the magi down. He convinced them to eat and then turned to say something, but at that moment six wraiths appeared, three on either side of us. He turned so that his back was against mine and said, “It’s about time.”
I drew my knives and attempted to calm my nerves as I faced them. For a moment we stood there, frozen, staring each other down. I struggled mightily not to look away as I had done the last time, but I did not have to struggle for long: with a soul-chilling scream they attacked.
I could not dive towards them, as that would expose Narcion’s back and the magi, so I stood my ground and waited for them to close in. As they did I swung my tail hard at the one on the left while making a wide, sweeping slice at the other two. It worked perfectly as my tail contacted its target solidly and sent it flying backwards. Meanwhile, the other two pulled up from their charge to avoid the knife swing, which gave me a moment to twist my body back towards them and lunge a second time with the knives, this time slicing through the chest of the middle wraith.
The wounded wraith retreated behind the other two as they regrouped for another attack. I could not risk looking back to see how Narcion was doing; I just had to trust he had my back. I crouched, ready for their next run, but as they started it a lightning bolt arced over my shoulder and hit the wounded wraith, destroying it in a brilliant flash of light that left me briefly blinded.
Instinct took over as I felt a coldness approach me, which I knew indicated a wraith was closing in. Although I
“Understood,” said Felix, who seemed to be very much afraid.
Narcion moved down the hall slowly with his assault rifle at the ready. I stayed three seconds behind him, as was my place. As he entered Engineering I heard weapon fire. I charged in with a yell and executed a shoulder roll to the left where I remembered there being some cover. Narcion was behind some debris on the right, and animated corpses of the station’s crew were marching towards both of us.
“Found the dead for you,” said Narcion as he continued his rapid fire into the approaching mass. “Concentrate your fire on their heads and spine. That is where the wraiths interface to them.”
Just then the magi came into the room and found cover with Narcion, adding their blasters to the mix.
“There are too many of them. We will just drain our guns and they will keep coming,” said Felix.
“Is that what normally happens?” asked Narcion.
“Yes,” said Felix.
“Can’t you conjure up some kind of spell to finish them off?” I asked.
“We have to save our magic for the wraiths. They seem to know the moment we get low and choose then and only then to attack,” said one of the other magi.
“Do it,” said Narcion. “We can handle the wraiths.”
They nodded and put away their blasters to free their hands for casting. Soon lightning, fire and stone flew at the line of approaching corpses, cutting them down far faster than we could have done even with ten times the number of guns. I stopped shooting and prepared for the wraiths to attack, but they never came.
“Fall back!” called Narcion as the magi began to weary.
I moved to cover the magi as they stumbled out of the room, barely able to walk from their exhaustion. They seemed to have destroyed hundreds of the enemy and yet others still came. Narcion and I slowly backed out of the room until we were in the hall. The magi had not made it very far when one of them collapsed.
“I will slow them down. Get those magi out of here,” ordered Narcion.
I holstered my weapon, scooped up the fallen magus, and pushed the others down the corridor which began to fill with a foul, thick, black smoke. Narcion came up beside me and picked up one of the other magi. I lift ed the final one and tossed him over the opposite shoulder from his companion.
Narcion and I jogged away from the smoke for about an hour before we finally stopped and put the magi down. He convinced them to eat and then turned to say something, but at that moment six wraiths appeared, three on either side of us. He turned so that his back was against mine and said, “It’s about time.”
I drew my knives and attempted to calm my nerves as I faced them. For a moment we stood there, frozen, staring each other down. I struggled mightily not to look away as I had done the last time, but I did not have to struggle for long: with a soul-chilling scream they attacked.
I could not dive towards them, as that would expose Narcion’s back and the magi, so I stood my ground and waited for them to close in. As they did I swung my tail hard at the one on the left while making a wide, sweeping slice at the other two. It worked perfectly as my tail contacted its target solidly and sent it flying backwards. Meanwhile, the other two pulled up from their charge to avoid the knife swing, which gave me a moment to twist my body back towards them and lunge a second time with the knives, this time slicing through the chest of the middle wraith.
The wounded wraith retreated behind the other two as they regrouped for another attack. I could not risk looking back to see how Narcion was doing; I just had to trust he had my back. I crouched, ready for their next run, but as they started it a lightning bolt arced over my shoulder and hit the wounded wraith, destroying it in a brilliant flash of light that left me briefly blinded.
Instinct took over as I felt a coldness approach me, which I knew indicated a wraith was closing in. Although I
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