Magi-Nation.com Fiction

"Morag's Discovery"
Invader, Part 8
By Mike Christopher
Read Part 7 "Zeel's Journey"

Morag watched the forest as the sun rose into the sky. The creeping tendrils of ice began to melt away, carrying the purplish taint of the void away with it, leaving behind crisp green leaves and the scent of fertile earth.

Those ridiculous fools, he thought, envisioning Warrada and her brother. They didn’t even last out the night! They’re probably fleeing for their useless lives even as I stand here. He thought of the plan’s Warrada had discovered in the Great Library, some of the Master’s old experiments, and wondered if she’d ever be able to find a powerful enough energy source to put them to some use. He had to admit, even though she wasn’t particularly brilliant, she was very determined and had a goodly amount of power all her own.

Morag watched the last of the ice melt before his glowing eyes. The ice could only mean one thing, unlikely as it seemed: the Narans had broken their 3000 year isolation and come south. Their presence would explain how easily the Twins had been routed. Still, if the Narans had finally seen their prophesied "celestial portent", causing them to break three millennia worth of traditions, it meant that he no longer had any time to waste. That atmospheric disturbance—the Narans "portent"—could only mean that the Invaders had returned to El and were assaulting the Dream Barrier once more.

Somehow, his Master had known they were near, although Morag could not fathom how. In fact, Agram’s whole great Shadow Geyser plan had been an effort to prepare the Moonlands for their coming, an attempt to show his old allies how he had exacted their revenge for them. And now they were finally here, or almost here.

He felt within his robes for the prizes he had found within the Great Library. He had spent a great many hours doing a little "research" of his own, unbeknownst to the Twins. The scrolls were still there, safely coiled around the greatest prize of all—the last of the Shadow Geyser seeds. The scrolls contained the knowledge he needed to convert the seed’s stored energy into a tool potent enough to release Agram from the wretched cage of daylight that Toneejones had left him imprisoned in…and apparently just in the nick of time.

Zeel woke with a start. He found himself surrounded by small, furry beasts. They were chittering and squealing and bouncing and leaping all throughout the hollow interior of his shelter. The little flying creature was zipping merrily through the air, teasing them with sudden dives into their midst.

He issued a loud buzz of his own, simultaneously sending his energy down to his poor battered tentacles, causing them to crackle with static discharge. The furry creatures scattered in alarm, scurrying out through the hollow tree’s entrance and into the bright morning sunlight beyond. Unfortunately, the flyer didn’t follow. Instead it drooped its fins and made soft cooing sounds of disappointment.

"Go on! Go with them!" Zeel shouted at the little creature. It turned to look at him with its large, sad eyes. "Go!" he roared.

Instead of leaving, the flyer bobbed closer to him, making a strange purring sound. Closing its eyes, it dipped down to brush softly against his skin, and then pirouetted before him, finally stopping to stare him right in the eye.

"I destroyed your little spying crystal, you are no longer doing your people a service. Can’t you leave me alone?"

The flyer pirouetted once more and purred even louder.

Exasperated, Zeel pushed past the recalcitrant beast and made his way out into the morning air. The forest was cool and moist, filled with the sounds of small creatures going about their business among the giant trees. There was no sign of the unwelcome guests that had so rudely awakened him. In fact, Zeel suddenly found himself feeling very much alone. He had no idea what to do now, where to go. In all his life, he had never had to make a choice on his own, and certainly not a choice amidst such an overwhelming myriad of unknowns. He was a soldier. He did what he was told, when he was told to do it. Anything other than obedience was unthinkable.

But now, Zeel had no one to obey. No one to tell him what to do and how to go about doing it. For the first time since his awakening in this dreadful world, he felt truly lost and alone. Back in the sky city, at least he had had the goal of escape. Now here he hovered, apparently free, and with no clue how to use his freedom.

Zeel slowly turned a circle, looking through the trees and trying to figure out which direction he should take. He wasn’t even certain what direction he had come from the night before. To make matters worse, his empty stomach was beginning to churn unhappily, and he had long since eaten the strange food he had brought with him from his cell back in the sky city. He thought longingly of the delectable fruit hanging ripe upon the limbs of the sky trees and fervently wished he had plucked more of it before deciding to leap off the cloud! Down here, where the sunlight was so heavily filtered by the mass of leaves overhead, he saw no sign of similar bounty…only leaves and more leaves.

The flyer buzzed about him, chirping happily in the morning air. Its cheerful mood made him feel even more lost and alone. With a heavy sigh, he looked at his erstwhile companion and asked, "Do you remember which way we were headed last night?" The creature reacted immediately and zipped off between the trees. Zeel flipped his paddles in a shrug and followed the flyer. It will probably lead me right back to its owners, he thought, but he found that the idea was no longer as threatening as it had been the day before. At least they have good food.

And so he journeyed on, not knowing where his path would take him, and growing hungrier all the while. Finally, he stopped at a small stream and drank thirstily of the chill water. It tasted strongly of minerals, but it refreshed him nevertheless. He hovered a moment, enjoying the sensation of having his thirst quenched. A small bush growing near the water suddenly caught his eye. Tiny globes of the brightest red grew in profusion from the lower branches. Food?

Gliding closer to the fruit-laden bush, he raised his arms and sniffed. The smell was sweet, although not nearly so appealing as the lovely pink fruits he had eaten up in the sky. Could be poisonous, he cautioned himself. Better to just eat a few and wait to see how they affect me. He reached out and carefully plucked a few of the small berries from their branches. He popped them into his mouth and savored their delicious sour-sweetness. Not as good as the sky-fruit, he decided, but still delicious. Unable to resist, he picked a few more berries and ate them greedily. Still feeling fine, he gobbled down more and more. He vaguely took note that his flying companion had returned to him and was contentedly humming somewhere nearby, but his attention was devoted to filling his aching stomach.

Morag had journeyed through the forest for most of the day, sliding swiftly between the trees like the half-ghost he was. He had covered a rather large distance this day and was nearing his destination. But even though he had no need to traverse the ground on legs like other magi, he was still susceptible to fatigue. And so it was that when he came upon a small stream, he decided to rest there for a while.

He settled down in the low brush and allowed himself to drift off into the hazy half-wakeful dream state that passed for sleep. Within another day’s travel, he should be able to reach an entrance to the Shadow Hold. Of course, there was an entrance much closer to Vash Naroom, but he dared not risk discovery so close to the site of the Twin’s depredations. The Twins didn’t know about the Shadow Hold and he planned to keep it that way.

His greatest achievement, the Shadow Hold existed in a strange in-between sort of place that was not quite real and not quite dream. Since the days of the Shadow Geysers, he had been working toward solidifying the corridors of the Shadow Hold so that they had anchors in the real world.

Toneejones had discovered a few of these portals and had used them to transport himself all around the Moonlands, not even guessing that they were all a part of Morag’s private domain. It had been an unforgivable violation and was a part of the reason that Morag had begged his Master to allow him to challenge the wretched Earth boy in the Arderian Shadow Geyser. But then Toneejoness had?/div>

Morag shook his head, his cowl flopping to and fro, refusing to allow himself to dwell on past failures. What mattered was now…and all the potentials were coming together so nicely.

He leaned back against a tree and allowed himself to fade into it, indulging in an ability that few left alive knew he was capable of. The gentle energies of the tree and surrounding forest flowed through him and he sighed in relief. He entered the meditative state that passed for his sleep and was aware of nothing at all for a short while. And then?/div>

A strange static discharge rippled through his body and he opened his eyes. Instinctively, he kept the rest of himself hidden from view. His slitted eyes grew wide in surprise, the biggest surprise the ancient magi had encountered in many centuries: an Invader was there before him, drinking greedily of the stream’s water! They’re already here! But…how? Morag’s mind was awhirl. If the Dream Barrier had fallen, there would be terrible storms raging right now from the backlash of energy! How did this one get here?

He studied the creature more closely. It appeared to be nothing more than an AGA, one of the near mindless drones that the Invaders sent out in suicidal waves to conquer the worlds that stood before them. Furthermore, it appeared to be injured. Its tentacles dangled limply and were covered in hideous red welts and jagged blood-crusted scabs.

Morag watched as the AGA took note of a nearby bush full of ripe berries. It ate them cautiously at first, but was soon stuffing its mouth greedily, as if it hadn’t eaten in days. He frowned invisibly. How odd! The Invaders never used to allow their AGA to partake of anything beyond their warrior rations…all a part of that weird philosophy of theirs. Still, he admitted to himself, in 3000 years, some things are bound to change. Morag’s resolve to hasten to the Shadow Hold was strengthened even further. He had to know what was going on!

And then his eyes fell to the tips of the invader’s second-prime tentacles. There, embedded in its flesh, glittered two shiny gems of animite. Invader dream creatures! Morag’s mind suddenly filled to almost bursting as he realized the full import of what those stones represented. Animite infused with patterns from beyond the Dream Barrier! Of course, the patterns would be inaccessible because of the Barrier—presuming it was indeed still holding and that this AGA’s presence here signified only a small advance force and not a full-scale Invasion. Still, if he were to fuse the greater Dream Plane animite with the energies of the Shadow Seed…he might be able to free his Master and punch a hole clean through the Barrier once and for all! He and his master could go to the Invaders and invite them to the Moonlands, to complete their long-awaited conquest, and assure that their old alliance with the alien conquerors still held. Agram would be so pleased!

Morag separated his energy from the surrounding landscape and his body formed before the tree trunk he’d selected as his resting place. The Invader, still engaged in its meal, took no notice. He began to advance toward the creature, trying to decide how best to capture the brute. Suddenly, an alaban kit buzzed in from the forest on the other side of the stream. It whirled merrily about the AGA’s head, apparently trying to get its attention. The AGA waved it off impatiently. ? Even more curious, Morag thought. They seem to know one another. How is it that an Invader has come to be in the Naroom forest with an Alaban kit? It all seemed terribly random to Morag, and it was exactly the kind of puzzle his analytical mind thrived on solving.

Then, the kit noticed his silent approach and gave a squeak of alarm. Morag wasted no time invoking a trio of ungula. Their long tentacular bodies erupted from the moss-covered ground. Two of the beasts quickly wrapped themselves about the AGA and the third snatched the alaban kit from mid-air. The AGA’s warrior instincts took over and Morag saw its tentacles crackle with energy. As he had suspected, the creature’s injuries prevented it from being much of a threat. Its tentacles snapped and sizzled and then the energy faded out all together. Morag smiled beneath his cowl and began to advance on his prey.

What happens next? Read Part 9 "Violation"