The Sorcerer and the Stargazer part 3
On board the Stargazer, Outskirts of Roswell, Midgard
Alex stood in one of the observation decks watching the desert roll by. It was nice to be home. Even if there was snow. He remembered how much he had wanted to leave Roswell when he was young.
He had left, all his friends had left. And though he'd made a life for himself elsewhere he always found himself coming back. To the point that he had built his ship here.
"Stargazer?"
"Yes, Captain?"
"Is the flitter ready?"
"Yes Captain."
"Remind Kyle that he is confined to the ship until we leave Roswell. How are our passengers?"
"Kyle is conducting a tour to Mr. Guerin, Mr. Evans demurred and is currently resting in his cabin."
"Very well, should they ask, inform them that I will be returning in a few hours."
"Understood Captain."
He walked from the observation deck to the launch bay. He started running the diagnostic check list. Being careful saved lives.
There was a pulse in his inner ear. "Yes Lizzie."
"Captain, no, Alex. I, I just want to tell you something."
Alex was fairly sure he knew what was coming. And he was right.
"Um, Alex, it's about our passengers. I know one of them."
"I know."
"It is Max, I know him. I loved him. I… I still do." There was a slight pause. "Wait, you know?"
"Yes. I wasn't sure until I saw him. I recognized him from some of the pictures in your room."
A long pause. "You could have told me."
"If I remember right you were busy threatening to destroy Denver at the time. Seriously, would you have nuked Crosslin if he shot me down?"
"Yes. I don't have many friends left Alex. I will protect the ones I have left with everything at my disposal. Or avenge them as necessary. You forget, I know Crosslin and he knows me. I don't bluff, Captain.."
Alex nodded to himself as he finished the checklist. "Is this going to be a problem, Lizzie?"
"No Captain."
It probably would, but nothing they couldn't handle. And he wished Liz the best. He closed his eyes and thought of the two women he had loved. One had left him without a word and the other was dead. He missed them both. His voice was a little thick with repressed emotion, "Well, I am off to town. Is there anything I can get for you?"
"No Captain." There was a slight pause, but Alex could tell she had not yet cut the link. "Say hi to Serena for me." The link closed.
Alex closed his eyes for a moment. But they were still dry when he opened them and took the flitter off the Stargazer.
-Scene Break-
On board the Stargazer, Outskirts of Roswell, Midgard
Max felt sorrow as he watched Captain Whitman place flowers on various graves. Usually he would say a few words, but mostly the Captain would just pause a few moments before moving to another part of the cemetery.
The humans had lost so many people.
He had tried in his shadow war against Nicholas. Tried and mostly failed.
Nicholas had the backing of the Dark Council, the closest thing the Dokkalfar had to a unified government. He had his friends. His father had been unwilling to help him. The heads of the Fire Wizard School had considered it pointless. Even his sister, the one who had originally set him on his path had given up after the Great War had destroyed so many of the human cities.
Kvar had persuaded her, just like he had their father. He'd persuaded, wooed, and eventually married her.
Max had tried to argue, had worked so hard to no avail. He'd even taken it to the last Grand Thing. But the Ljosalfar would maintain their neutrality in the affairs of the Dokkalfar… So long as the Dokkalfar maintained the peace with them.
The fools. How many times had a human hero saved them? How often had the Alfar called upon the Children of Ask and Embla in their eternal war against the Ice?
Could they not see? Did they not understand? Time grinds fastest in Midgard, and eventually what happens there would be reflected in the other worlds.
Did they not heed the legends that they themselves had taught him?
Max sighed and focused again upon his spell.
-Scene Break-
Field of Memory Cemetery, Roswell, Midgard
Alex stood there and stared at the headstone, Serena Faith Whitman.
His wife.
"Hi baby. I just came to say hello. And maybe goodbye. I left Federal Service today. I told you I would." Alex paused and looked over his shoulder. He could not quite shake the feeling he was being watched. He saw a raven perched on a tree nearby. Its black eyes glittered with an odd intelligence.
Alex shook himself. The events of the last few days were catching up to him. And he still needed to talk to Max Evans.
"I met a man yesterday evening. He says he knows what happened, why everything went crazy. I can't honestly see how he could know, but I just couldn't keep working for the Feds. Crosslin is slowly taking over and I still hate him for what he did to you."
Alex laughed gently, "You should have heard Liz today. She says hi, by the way. She threatened to nuke Denver if they wouldn't let me go? Can you believe it? Little Lizzie?"
Alex looked down for a moment, the tears finally coming. "I miss you, babe."
He heard someone walking up behind him, boots crunching in the snow. His hands drifted towards his pistol as he turned around. He still hated being armed, but these days it was unavoidable.
The woman stopped and looked at him. She was short with close cropped blonde hair. She wore old-style fatigues, covered with a biker-style ballistic jacket.
He met her green eyes . "Hey, Maria. I'm glad you came. I thought we were going to meet at the Crashdown Café?"
"I knew you would come here first."
"Maria…"
"I know what you are going to ask and the answer is no. I'm just here to visit. I…" She closed her eyes momentarily, her tough façade fading. She rushed to Alex's arms. "I've missed you."
He held her a moment before pushing her back to take a look at her. He could not help a small smile. "How would you like to visit your mother?"
She looked up at him. "Alex she's at Armstrong Station.. You know the moon? Maybe you've heard about it? If this is a trick…"
"No trick. I'm not a Fed anymore. And Liz would love to see you, too."
Maria squealed loudly in joy and kissed him on the cheek. She grabbed one of his arms and started to pull him away. She looked over her shoulder at the Serena's grave marker, "Sorry Ser, I've got to borrow Alex."
Alex took one last look at his wife's grave, this time with a slight smile. He could not avoid the guilt. For while he'd loved his Serena, it had never had the same fire that he'd held for his other lost love. But his first love had been as cold and as distant as the stars she had studied.
He missed them both. And deep in his heart he held the wish that Isabel, at least, was still alive.
"I hope you found Kevin. I hope your happy. I'll try to make you proud."
And they left. Never realizing that they were not alone.
-Scene Break-
On board Stargazer, Outskirts of Roswell, Midgard
Max thought of what he had seen through the raven. He'd known that Captain Whitman was meeting someone here, but he'd been afraid it was an enemy. That once more Nicholas had compromised his plans.
His link to the raven was still open.
Someone was trying to get his attention.
He quickly prepared a couple of counter spells and went to see who desired his attention.
She was tall, with a light brown complexion. She had a large smile underneath large luminous grey eyes. She was beautiful.
And she was dead.
He could tell she was not a draug, not one of the restless dead. But why was she here?
"Who are you!" He demanded.
"I think I should be asking that of you, don't you think?" She said in reply. She laughed for a moment before her face became very serious. "I greet you, Fire Wizard, what business do you have with my husband?"
"I wish his aid to save the world. To draw once more upon the strength of men to preserve the peace."
"You wish to avoid Ragnarok. Trust me, Fire Wizard, I know much now. By what right do you of the Ljosalfar demand aid? Where were you when your dark brethren whispered dark mysteries in the halls of power amongst men?"
"My people may have forsaken it, but I have not. I and my companion are of your race as well. I have not stood by nor will I hesitate to push back against the dark and the Ice. Your husband is a hero, and I need him. I will not demand anything of him that he is unwilling to give. But he too has striven against the darkness even if he knows it not. I will not demand your blessing, I will not coerce you in anyway, but I ask that you do not strive against me."
She stared at him for what seemed like hours. "Know this, Wizard, there will come a time when my husband will come across his true love. You will not gainsay or bar him from her. You will have many reasons to wish to, but if you do you will fail. You will need a paired ring of the Elements to have a chance of success. Even then, unless you can unlock the Quintessence, you will still fail. But know this, Wizard, if you do this, you will have a chance."
Max stared back at the spirit. Under his breath he muttered, "Is there a reason you folks always speak in riddles?"
She smiled, "Too much knowledge at the wrong time will skew your actions. Think now of the self destructive aims of the Dokkalfar. They compel their answers and receive the truth. But they become dependent on their necromancy and can no longer see that the journey can change the destination."
The raven blinked its eyes a couple of times. "Right. I think. Good day, Mrs. Whitman."
"Good day, Mr. Evans." The spirit began to fade away but delicately wafting on the wind, "Max, you have not demanded my blessing, but you have it. I wish you and my husband well. Remember my words!"
Max cut the link to the raven. He was exhausted. But despite his exhaustion he cast another quick spell and felt again his loves presence. Beth's essence filled the ship. She was everywhere.
He thought for a few moments the ramifications of what the spirit had told him. Captain Whitman might be more important than he'd initially considered.
He deserved the truth, Max decided. It would be hard to explain, and it was not something he was looking forward to. But he had promised.
Explaining it to Michael would be another unpleasant action.
And what was a paired ring of Elements anyway? Quintessence?
So few answers and so many questions. The world felt like it was weighing down on his shoulders.
But somehow it was not so bad.
Beth was alive.
He undressed and prepared to go to sleep. The last word on his lips as he drifted of to sleep was, "Beth."?
-Scene Break-
Stargazer CIC, Outskirts of Roswell, Midgard
Elizabeth Parker tore her mind away from stateroom three. "Goodnight Max."
He still looked so good. The intervening years had not marked him at all. He seemingly hadn't aged a day.
She accessed a CIC camera and looked at herself. She still looked good. She should as she'd had exercise equipment moved directly to the CIC for her own use.
She rarely left the room anymore.
Liz Parker was blind, her eyes destroyed viewing multiple nuclear blasts striking Boston. It had been a miracle that either she or Serena had survived that. That Serena had eventually succumbed to cancer filled her with guilt.
Had the wars never come, Liz was sure she would have been able to save Serena. They had been so close to a cure. As it was, Liz had been able to keep her friend in decent health for four years.
She missed her.
But Liz was also excited. Partly it was that Max Evans was on her ship. Close enough to touch. She was recording his every move, uncertain if she would ever have the courage to approach him.
And Maria was coming. This would be the best birthday ever.
Scene Break-
Varrissteading, Antar, Alfheim
Siyan knelt at the body of her master.
Oh, she hated Kvar, but there was little she could do about it. Long ago, she'd been kidnapped and sold to him.
But she was no ordinary thrall. She was Vaenir. And as such he had taken precautions against her running away or turning against him. So he had trapped her soul.
He owned her in a way that no mere thralldom could compare.
She looked at his large hands, still decked out in his rings. On one, inside the large emerald, if you looked closely you could see a small nude female. From time to time, if you kept watching she would move, would gesture. The tiny figure would plead for its freedom.
You could see Siyan.
On the other hand there was a large diamond. Like most of the gems on his hands it was empty. But if you knew how to look, you would see that it was ready for occupancy.
Siyan had little hope that Vilandra would truly escape. But she prayed to the Lady that it might happen. That her friend would escape the nightmare that her own life had been for so long.
The body before her began to shift and twist like smoke. Siyan found herself staring into the eyes of a large white tiger. She could not help but tremble at the sound of its deep growl. Kvar had returned.
"Siyan, where is she?"
"She has fled, master."
Kvar roared his anger. Siyan could hear the cries of fear coming from the rest of the household.
But she had warned them not to enter these chambers on pain of death. They knew very well that their lord was a powerful wizard.
Kvar halted his growling and turned to Siyan, who was still trembling. "Siyan, prepare for a journey. We must recover her."
Siyan nodded and bowed. And she prayed that Vilandra would escape this monster that she'd foolishly married. She began the preparations that could very well lead the to the loss of her friends soul.
But she did not have a choice in the matter.
She'd already lost hers.