The Chosen Spacemage Read online

  That had been too close.

  Gritting my teeth, I focused my energy on moving the water container over the edge of the roof, hoping to get a direct hit on at least one of the men below.

  Slowly. Keep it steady…

  It tilted slowly until momentum took over and I released my magical hold. It tumbled to the floor. I heard the screams of panic below but didn’t have any time to relish them, because the edge of the metal foot—part of the water container stand—caught on the end of my shirt, yanking me over the edge to the ground.

  It all happened so quickly I didn’t have long to react. I was almost on the ground when I remembered to send out a blast of energy to try and cushion my fall. It didn’t work as well as it could have and my head cracked against the ground.

  My head swam, this time due to injury rather than drunkenness. I tried to lift my head, but I had no strength.

  I didn’t even have a chance to check if the water container had taken out the inquisitors before darkness consumed me.

  Chapter 2

  I don’t know how long I was unconscious, maybe minutes, maybe only seconds, but it took me a few seconds to realize the piercing ringing in my ears wasn’t a result of my fall, it was an alarm siren. People were waking up; lights flicked on in the windows of the buildings around me.

  I managed to push myself up to a sitting position, but my head swam. It was some comfort to see the inquisitors were worse off than me. I didn’t think they were dead, but they were definitely out of action. One of them lay groaning on the floor, and the other had his leg trapped beneath the water container and was howling with pain.

  I felt a pang of guilt, but self-preservation kicked in as I pushed myself to my feet and staggered off before anyone could stop me. Was it the fall or the blast to the head that had made me feel so dizzy? I wasn’t sure.

  As I walked back along the alleyway, I kept one hand against the wall to stop myself stumbling. Ahead of me, an elderly woman poked her head out of the doorway and recoiled in horror when she saw me. I guessed I must have looked a fright. The blood from my head wound was drying, but it had trickled down my face and left dark red streaks on my shirt.

  I untucked my shirt and used the shirttails to clean as much blood from my face as possible. But without a mirror, I had no idea how bad I really looked.

  Despite my thumping headache, I kept moving, scanning the area for Toddo. I guessed he’d made his escape once I’d scaled the building, and the inquisitors had stopped for me.

  Without Toddo, how could I help Trella? I didn’t even know where he’d been planning to take me or where I could find him now. He’d mentioned the docks, but he hadn’t said whereabouts. And the docks were a large area.

  Either way, I couldn’t handle this alone. I needed help. I took the only logical option open to me and headed back to the bar.

  The party was still in full swing when I got there. Bright lights blazed from the large tinted windows, and the place was still packed. As I pushed open the door, I kept my head down, but it didn’t stop people staring.

  A hush fell over the bar—even the band at the back skipped a couple of beats—as I made my way through the crowd. After a moment or two, the chatter started up again, but people didn’t stop staring. I was beyond caring.

  When I made it to my friends’ table, Bayliss saw me first.

  He stood up. “Tomas, what happened to you?”

  Beside him, Kira gasped and put a hand over her mouth. “You’re hurt.”

  I wanted to shrug it off and say it was worse than it looked, but I felt awful. My head was pounding, and I was sick with disappointment. I’d let Trella down.

  Looking down, I saw the bright lights in the bar made the blood on my shirt stand out far worse than it had in the alley. I looked like someone had thrown a bucket of blood over me.

  I fell into the seat beside Kira.

  Draylan watched me with a frown and Finn chewed nervously on his bottom lip.

  “I ran into inquisitors,” I said, starting my explanation.

  Before I got any further, Draylan interrupted, “In here?”

  “Of course not in here,” Bayliss said. “We would have seen or heard something.”

  “No, it was after I met the man at the bar.” I looked at Kira. “He was the man in the hooded cloak that I noticed following me. He told me Trella was in trouble and she needed my help and told me to follow him.”

  Draylan put down his drink. “Wait a minute. Let me get this straight, you followed some stranger out of the bar and got beaten up? How could you be so stupid? He probably doesn’t even know Trella. I bet he took your purse of money, didn’t he?”

  I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t like that although I had my suspicions at the start. We got separated when the inquisitors gave chase.”

  Finn’s eyes were wide as he stared at me. “You haven’t been gone long. How has all this happened without us noticing?”

  I shrugged and rubbed the spot between my eyebrows, trying to massage away the headache. “They shot at me.” I pointed to my head wound. “I managed to get up onto the roof, but I was trapped up there, so I threw a heavy water tank down on top of them. Unfortunately, it pulled me down with it.”

  Aware we were drawing looks from the people at the tables around us, Finn leaned forward. “I don’t think we should be talking about this here. It’s not safe.”

  “No, but we need to find Trella. The man—his name was Toddo— said Trella was part of the resistance and—”

  Finn quickly put up his hand, cutting me off. “Enough. We don’t talk about that here.” His voice was cold, but his eyes held sympathy. He reached out and put a hand on my forearm. “It’s not safe to talk here,” he continued in a softer tone. “You’d be signing your own death warrant.”

  Whether it was the two blows to my head or panic over Trella’s predicament, I didn’t heed Finn’s warning. All I knew was that I had to find Trella and help her.

  “Toddo told me she had been arrested, but there were people that could help. He was taking me to them somewhere at the docks.” I looked up at Bayliss. “Do you have any idea where they could be?”

  Bayliss exhaled a breath, puffing out his cheeks. The big man’s shoulders slumped. “I’ve no idea. There are so many places around the docks… They could be anywhere. Do you even know if they are on this level?”

  I groaned as I shook my head. I hadn’t even considered that possibility. “I’m not sure.”

  “What evidence do you have that this man was telling you the truth?” Draylan asked, looking skeptical.

  I opened my mouth to reply and realized he was right. I didn’t have any proof, just a feeling of mad panic that Trella was in trouble and needed our help.

  “Well, if she has been arrested then we need to get her back,” Kira said. “Trella isn’t part of the resistance. I’m sure this has all been a mistake.”

  I nodded, though I wasn’t so sure the arrest was a mistake. Toddo had said Trella was part of the rebellion.

  “It’s probably a mix-up, maybe something to do with her sister?” Kira looked at me hopefully.

  “Maybe.”

  We all fell silent as a barman made his way to our table. His eyes were flinty and cold as he turned to look at me.

  “I am sorry, sir, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Your appearance is causing distress to our other patrons.”

  I looked around and saw no one looking distressed. I did see lots of curious glances though.

  I nodded and pushed myself back up from the seat. “Very well. I’m leaving.”

  “We all are,” Bayliss said, slamming down his jar of beer. “And we won’t be coming back. My friend was attacked. He could do with some understanding and kindness.”

  The barman blinked, making a hasty retreat, muttering, “I’m sorry. It’s just business. I have to think about my customers.”

  Bayliss put a large heavy hand on my shoulder. “Come on, Tomas. Let’s get out of here.”


  Draylan left a few coins on the table to pay for the tab, and we walked from the bar.

  Finn looked nervous and edgy as he navigated the crowded bar. I could understand why. As a fellow mage, perhaps even associating with Trella or me would bring him under suspicion. He had his own family to worry about too.

  As Draylan, Bayliss, and Kira were not mages, they wouldn’t necessarily fear the inquisitors. They wouldn’t have grown up hearing the same horror stories as a mage child. Or if they’d heard them, they knew as non-magical folk they had nothing to fear from the red cloaks.

  “We should go straight to the docks and see if we can find Toddo,” I said, trying to formulate a plan through my muzzy thoughts. “I only hope he wasn’t captured.”

  Kira shook her head. “No, you need to get back to the boardinghouse and get cleaned up and changed first. You’re only going to attract suspicion walking around like that.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but Bayliss squeezed my shoulder. “She’s right, Tomas,” he said in a voice that brooked no argument.

  We left the bar and headed back to the main square in the mage district. Everyone was subdued and deep in thought. For a few minutes, no one spoke.

  The evening had started with a celebration after we’d seen Commander Taggert punished for his crimes, then it had morphed into one of the worst evenings of my life. The idea of Trella being locked away on a prison ship, terrified—

  “I still can’t believe you followed a random stranger out of the bar towards the docks,” Draylan muttered, putting a hand to his forehead and shaking his head. “He could have been anyone.”

  “I know. Normally I wouldn’t have…I agree it was risky, but he said Trella was in trouble. He knew about our time on the Morellic and—”

  “He could have got that from anyone,” Draylan said. “You really shouldn’t be so trusting, Tomas. It’s possible Trella is safe and well, staying with friends.”

  I really wanted to believe that, but deep down I knew something was wrong.

  Kira had been walking behind me, beside Finn, but she stepped between Draylan and me. “I think it’s unlikely. Trella hasn’t answered our messages sent over the comms system. She wanted to do this alone because she didn’t want Tomas or me to get in trouble.” Kira gave a deep sigh. “Trella isn’t cruel. She wouldn’t have just ignored our messages. She’d know we’d worry about her.” Kira looked up, her gaze meeting mine. “I believe Tomas. I think she’s in trouble.”

  “So how do we find out if she’s really been arrested?” Bayliss asked, looking at Kira and then me.

  Draylan huffed and folded his arms. “I suppose I can help with that. If your new friend, Toddo, is right, and she’s been arrested, there’ll be a record of it. I’ll find out tomorrow.”

  “You can do that?” Finn asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Draylan.

  “I know a man,” Draylan said, tapping the side of his nose.

  “In the security services?” Bayliss asked, a concerned frown furrowing his forehead.

  Draylan gave a sharp nod.

  Bayliss rubbed a weary hand over his face. “Be careful.”

  “I always am,” Draylan said, then turned to me, “unlike others I could mention.”

  I ignored the comment mainly because he was right. I hadn’t been taking care when I’d followed the hooded man. The threat of Trella being in danger was all it had taken for me to throw caution aside and follow a stranger into the dark streets of the spacestation.

  Draylan was content to leave things until tomorrow to get answers, but for me, that seemed too long to wait.

  I’d go back to the boardinghouse and get cleaned up, but then I was going to the docks to look for Toddo myself. There was no point in waiting until the morning. There was no way I’d be able to sleep with this hanging over me anyway.

  Chapter 3

  After the others left Kira and me at the boardinghouse, I got cleaned up and promised Kira I’d get a good night’s sleep. Instead, I snuck out of the boardinghouse after midnight to go to the docks.

  The Marrachi drinking dens and alehouses closed at midnight, and the area around the docks on this level was more or less deserted. The light was dim and grey. Above me, the artificial sky appeared thick with clouds. There were no stars visible tonight.

  The buildings looked drab and grey in the half-light. Shadowed doorways and recesses gave me pause before I passed them. Tonight they seemed ominous. I paid close attention to the buildings as I passed and eyed them critically. Which one would make an ideal hideout for the resistance?

  The odds were stacked against me. Their location would be well hidden from the authorities, who were trained to track resistance fighters down, so what hope did I have?

  The night passed slowly. My eyes sore from lack of sleep, my head still aching from the Inquisitor attack earlier.

  When the morning light began to glow above the rooftops, I noticed my comms device was broken. I cursed. It must have broken in the fall last night.

  A group of men passed me on their way to work at the docks, though as I was now cleaned up, they paid me no more than a cursory glance.

  At least I hadn’t been stopped by Marrachi security agents last night or run into the inquisitors again. That was one positive, I supposed.

  Lack of sleep and the first signs of a hangover were kicking in. I needed coffee and breakfast so I could focus on making a plan. Wandering around the docks was not helping anyone.

  I wanted to get back to the boardinghouse before breakfast so Kira wouldn’t worry. Now that my comms device was broken, I couldn’t send or receive messages. Draylan would speak to his contact this morning and find out what had really happened to Trella, so I couldn’t afford to miss communications.

  By the time I got back to the boardinghouse, Kira was already sitting in the room downstairs, awaiting breakfast. Madame Loren smiled at me and poured me an extra large cup of coffee. I thanked her and took a sip as Kira watched me closely.

  “You didn’t sleep at all, did you?” she said, narrowing her eyes.

  There was no point in lying. “I couldn’t.”

  “So you went to the docks? Did you find anything?”

  I shook my head. “No, it didn’t help that I have no idea what I was looking for. Maybe Toddo didn’t escape last night. Maybe he’s been captured, and none of them can help us now.”

  I put down my cup and raked my hands over my face, trying to wake up. I needed my wits about me. We needed a plan. The coffee was helping, but my mind still felt foggy and slow.

  Kira rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “We are not giving up. We’ll find out what happened and how we can help her. Draylan said he’d get in touch today. Let’s hope he really does have the contact he was boasting about.”

  I showed Kira my wrist device, pointing to a long crack running down the screen. “I don’t think any of Draylan’s messages are going to get through.”

  “That’s okay. He knows where we are staying, and he has my comms number.”

  Madame Loren served us up bacon and eggs. I managed to swallow a few bites. Kira watched me with a worried expression. I tried to reassure her that it was the side effects of the alcohol last night making it hard for me to eat, rather than the head injury, but I wasn’t sure she believed me.

  I’d barely made a dent in my breakfast when Kira’s wrist device beeped. After tapping on the screen, she looked up at me. “It’s a message from Draylan. He wants us to meet at a coffee shop near the market; it’s called Alonzo’s.”

  “When?”

  “Now. I guess he must have some news.”

  I got up so fast I nearly knocked my chair over, earning me a sharp look from Madame Loren.

  “Sorry,” I said as we passed her on the way out. “Breakfast was delicious.”

  We walked quickly to the coffee shop, passing the early morning traders setting up their wares.

  Alonzo’s was a small cafe, with smooth, plastic, molded tables both inside an
d outside the shop. It was busy inside, mostly due to traders buying coffee in takeaway flasks. Draylan and Bayliss were already sitting at a table outside.

  They had ordered a pot of coffee, and four cups sat on the table. But neither Draylan nor Bayliss were drinking. Draylan’s face was tight and expressionless. Bayliss wore a deep frown as he stared at the coffee pot, his massive forearms resting heavily on the white tabletop.

  That didn’t bode well. My stomach flipped over, and I prepared myself for bad news.

  “What is it?” Kira said as soon as we sat down.

  “It’s not good news,” Draylan said with a sigh. “She has been arrested, and rumor has it she’s on the Bloodhurst.”

  “What’s that?” Kira asked.

  “It’s one of the smaller prison ships. It’s usually used as a prisoner transport ship, but it’s been docked at Marrachi for some time,” Bayliss said, his gaze meeting mine. “I’m really sorry. She doesn’t deserve this. She’d always worked hard for the Kingdoms. Trella was one of the best mages I’ve ever worked with.”

  I leaned back in my seat. I’d known, deep down, Toddo had been telling the truth. So the news shouldn’t have come as a shock.

  Her arrest was why she hadn’t contacted us, so at least that made sense now. I’d been expecting the news, so why did it feel like a heavy rock sat on my chest, making it hard to breathe?

  I struggled to draw in a deep breath. To have it confirmed, meant I couldn’t hope it had all been a big mistake any longer. I had to face the truth. Trella was in mortal danger.

  “So the resistance must be able to help us,” I said. “We just need to find them.”

  Bayliss looked around nervously to make sure we weren’t overheard.

  Draylan shook his head. “They’re a criminal organization, Tomas. How exactly are they going to be able to help?”

  “I don’t know what their plan is, but last night Toddo seemed certain they could help Trella.”