| |
Marlena was reading the screen.
Her head was filled with incantations and spells. Yet, she noticed the spell was rather easy. In fact, it seemed that to cast this incantation depended on the will and experience of the magic user, rather than reciting a long series of magical words. At the bottom of the document, it stated that to invoke the teleportation spell all it really took was an anchor, such as a place or a person. She understood that if she focused on her mother and the Hive she could in theory transport them back to their time and space.
Her father was very smart and knowledgeable. He always had a contingency plan. Yet, there was a warning. If the magic user was not strong enough to control the flow, they could be transported to the wrong place or the Mage would die and explode with the raw power surging through her body.
Marlena also understood her powers. She was strong in teleportation and also offensive spells. She remembered she used her powers to transport Captain Romo and an elf onto her father's ship when the Vvong were attacking. She knew she could do this.
Shaking her head, she needed to believe in herself. Marlena wished she had the strength of any of the Alpha Mages, especially Lazarus. He was the strongest and most powerful of the four Alpha wizards. It's odd, she mused, that Lazarus doesn't understand the magic I possess.
She was in her quarters. The room was big enough to sleep inside with a small table and chair. She was reading on a Holo tablet on her small cot. Time was of the essence, and she was ready. Standing up, she walked out of her room and went to the bridge of the ship. Her father was helping Yaddle move some boxes.
"Hello dear, have you rested?"
"Yes, I'm ready. I know this is going to work."
"Good," Captain Grendel said. "We have been looking around. Yaddle was looking for magical crystals he had stored in here. Eastros told him to keep a few stones in case of emergency."
Marlena nodded and understood. Some magical crystals could be used as a talisman to boost certain spells and powers. "Did you find anything?"
Yaddle grumbled. "I thought I had it. Look over here."
The old dwarf pointed to an open cargo storage that they had been moving boxes from.
Marlena said, "Wait."
She walked inside the storage and saw a small box near the other boxes. She sensed something, but it was faint. Grabbing the box, she took it and moved back onto the bridge. She placed the small box on a console. It was heavy. She sensed magic, but it was muffled or blocked. Marlena tore open the top and saw another box, but it was made out of stout wood. An inscription was cut in the front. Taking the wooden box, she showed it to Yaddle.
"Is this what you are looking for?"
The dwarf nodded and came forward. "It is tricky to open. Eastros made me remember how to open this."
Captain Grendel asked, "What is it?"
Marlena responded. "I know what it is. It's a very powerful crystal." She placed her hand on the box.
Yaddle said, "Be careful. Give it to me. Only I know how to open it."
Marlena gave it to the old dwarf.
In Yaddle's large hands, the box looked very small. The dwarf touched the circular diagram on the top. While he did so, the box started to contort and change. The box became a white round crystal.
"Nice trick," Captain Grendel said.
"Eastros told me I’d be needing this. I didn't believe him. Can you use this?"
"Well," she said, "yes. I can feel the power radiating from it."
She touched the surface of the crystal. Magical lightning sizzled along the stone.
Marlena nodded. "I need a chair and a console. I will start the incantation when I'm ready."
Yaddle said, "Good, we are ready ourselves. I will bring the ship to the coordinates."
The vessel moved closer to Earth near a place at the very top of the polar region at its coldest spot. Marlena understood the magic was not the strongest here, but it was easiest to control the magical flow at this point.
She took the power crystal in her hands. She sat on a chair directly behind the Captain's seat. Her father sat at the commander's chair. Marlena placed the stone on the console.
Yaddle said, "We’ve reached our destination."
Captain Grendel said, "When you are ready, we will fly toward the sun."
"Yes," was all Marlena said.
She started the incantation, focusing on the power crystal. Energy started to flow into her from the Earth. It felt like taking a long drink from a bottomless ocean. Her body started to vibrate. She opened her eyes and everything around her started to morph and change. She still saw her father and Yaddle and the ship, but she looked beyond into the Earth below. She saw thick tendrils of power radiating from the top of the planet and entering her body.
She said through chattering teeth, "Go, now."
Marlena directed this power into the ship's engines. She felt as if her body was going to explode. Finishing the incantation, she thought and focused on her mother and the Hive. She controlled the ebbing of magic. Then something changed. Marlena felt another power source giving her magic. It was the sun. Her body was vibrating faster. She felt hot and then cold. Images started to flash before her. She saw her mom screaming and then the Hive surrounded by thousands of Vvong ships.
Yaddle said, "Marlena, hurry, we’re getting close to the sun."
She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. Magical powers were hitting her from both the Earth and the Sun. She was trying to hold the magic, but then the buildup of power shot downward into the ship’s engines.
Gritting her teeth, she said, "Is anything happening?"
"No," Yaddle said, “and we are getting closer to the sun.”
Marlena opened her eyes and saw the sun looming larger on the monitor screen. Despair started to flood through her. She recalled everything she’d read. She was doing exactly as the instructions said.
Captain Grendel chimed in. "Marlena, hurry!"
The temperature of the ship was rising fast. Sweat beaded her brow. Then she recalled she needed the anchor. She thought about her mom, and the memories flooded through her. A surge of power shot through her too. It was coming from the sun. A bright light exploded upwards from the surface of the burning sun. It was coming toward the ship. She felt helpless. Nothing was going to plan.
"Merlin!" Marlena cried.
The legendary Mage didn't answer her. She almost yelled, but she placed her hands on the power crystal and concentrated. Power exploded inside of her, destroying her constraints. Marlena gave into the magic and then lifted her hands.
A voice said, "Marlena, you can do it. Believe in yourself, and help me. I'm trapped in this mind."
The voice was not Merlin, but her mother. The last time Marlena saw her mom she was in the hospital and she was a raving lunatic. Her mom couldn't speak or acknowledge her. She focused into her magical source and took all the magic and gave one last push.
She heard her father yell her name and then everybody became deadly silent and she was falling down a dark tunnel.
