Resurgence of Ancient Darkness by Vincent Trigili Read Free Book Online Page A

line across the star chart that went nowhere near the place that Skryth pointed.
    “Interesting,” he said, lost in thought. “So the Thelthronians were apparently not in control of the supply ship, so that means that probably they were not in control of the station.” Then he turned to me and said, “That robot and those logs are definitely Thelthronian, Master. So either they are behind this, or they sold the technology to the people that are.”

Chapter Ten
    The old man stood in his office looking out his view port overlooking a grassy meadow. He stood there silently as if watching something, but all that could be seen through the view port was an endless, empty sea of grass. For no obvious reason, he suddenly turned to face the door and said, “Come in.”
    A rather plain-looking human with steel-grey eyes entered through the doorway and stood before him in silence.
    “Speak,” said the old man.
    “Dusty has eliminated the station,” said the steel-eyed man.
    “Yes, I expected he would. They were not ready for them yet.” The old man walked over to his desk and waved his hand over it. Soon a map of the galaxy appeared with sections highlighted in various colors above it. Numbers and symbols appeared and disappeared around the map at what seemed to be random intervals. He studied it for a while and said, “Soon Shadow and the Nevermore II will be finished with these training exercises and will depart on their first real mission. I wonder what it will be.”
    The steel-eyed man said, “I imagine they would try and find the owners of that station.”
    “No, that is probably the one thing I can say they won’t do.” He moved around the map, manipulating it as he went. The map turned and twisted, revealing differing levels of detail as he studied it.
    “Then what?”
    “They must know, as we do, that something is not right in this realm. There are more powers at play than just them and us. Considerably more,” he said.
    “So many?” asked the steel-eyed man.
    “Yes. Neither of us has organized a large enough presence to hold much of this galaxy under any kind of control; so powers are moving in to seize their share while they still can.”
    “What kind of powers?”
    “That is what I expect our old friend Shadow is going to try and find out,” said the old man.
    The steel-eyed man stood silently, considering that for a while, and then said, “With Alpha Academy locking down their borders, our recruiting has slowed.”
    “There are plenty of magi all over the galaxy who are lusting for the power and training we can provide. Cast your net wider, and we can get the numbers we need.”
    “Yes, sir,” he said.
    “Now what is this?” asked the old man. He manipulated the image and zoomed in on a small planet orbiting a yellow star. The planet appeared to be an average habitable world with a mixture of different kinds of environmental zones. There was nothing in orbit around it, and from space nothing could be seen to indicate the presence of any intelligent life on it.
    Then the old man zoomed in more and more until he was looking at a stone table in a secluded meadow. The table was very intricately carved. Each of its six legs portrayed a different beast, the table supported on their backs. The table itself was covered in a myriad strange and bizarre carvings. Seven massive thrones sat around the table, and a pool of some viscous silver fluid occupied the majority of the circular table.
    The chairs were empty, and no living thing was anywhere near the table. No insects crawled on to it, no birds flew over it, and no small animals took shelter under it. It was as if all living creatures were avoiding it.
    The old man studied the table for a bit and said, “I want to know more about that. That is where they will go.”
    “But how will they know to go there?” asked the steel-eyed man.
    “I will direct them, as we did last time.” He stood and walked back to his window and asked, “How are our