THE KEEPERS RISE

Chapter 12 - Blessing in Disguise - Part 2

She opened her eyes groggily and saw Will'ym getting ready to leave. He was sitting on a couch, strapping his dagger's sheath around his waist. The rest of the room's inhabitants were in various stages of wakefulness. Titus and Iyan were already bickering, while Ozul was still passed out on the floor with his vaya, Hesykhia, hovering over him nervously. Ivy nudged him in the side and he startled awake, extending his claws. "Oh," he said finally. "Good morning."

Velda stood, stretched, and joined Will'ym, Iyan, Ivy, and Ozul near the door. "Ready?" the tarrephaene asked them.

"I hope so," Velda sighed.

Ivy's eyes flashed with orange light. "Definitely," she said.

After checking that everyone remembered their job, the five of them left and headed for the bridge. As expected, the halls were dark and unoccupied. When the doors slid open, revealing the vastness of the ship's helm, they found Trycho, Councilor Quin, and only three other officers with them.

Velda scanned the room, searching for the ship's ventilation ports, and discretely pointed them out to Will'ym as Iyan approached Trycho and the Councilor. "We just saw something strange in the hallway," he told them. "I thought it looked a little like-"

He was interrupted by a glow coming from the bridge door, and they stared in shock as a Light mage walked onto the bridge. They wore radiant white clothing with a hood that covered their face. The mage crossed their arms unhurriedly, surveying Quin and Trycho. Then, without a word, the invader turned and bolted out of the room.

Quin looked like he had seen a spirit. He took out his sword and sprinted, albeit uncertainly, out the door, much to Trycho's chagrin. "Wait!" he chirped, dashing after the Councilor.

Ozul, Iyan, and Ivy followed them, and the other Dark officers looked like they were about to do the same when Velda whipped out her magic stream and slammed them each into the closest wall. "You'd do well to not get in our way," Will'ym told them. She held them pressed against the wall as he took their laser rifles and any other useful items. He stored them in his stone, then looked back at Velda. "Alright. Can you keep them there?"

She nodded and slid the officers near each other along one wall, sitting them down against it. One of them looked to the door, but Will'ym had already busied himself with forcing it to lock. "What are you doing?" an officer said indignantly, hugging her arms around herself. "We need to find that Light mage!"

Velda raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Who?"

Ozul and Iyan exchanged devilish grins as they followed the three mages down the long, dark hall. The ghostly white figure turned down a shorter hallway and Trycho called triumphantly, "You have nowhere to go!"

The mage stopped at a door, which slid open, and ducked inside. Councilor Quin pounded ahead, skidded to a stop at the door, and after catching his balance, stormed into the room after the Light mage. Trycho joined him and took out his staff, hissing at the intruder, "If you tell me where you came from, we might let you live for a little longer." Then, he paused, staring at the mage's shape. It seemed to waver slightly as if struck by a slight breeze. Then, the Light mage vanished without a trace.

"I've always wanted to do something like that," Ozul quipped from outside the room. Before Trycho and the Councilor had a chance to react, Iyan released his magical stream and formed a wall of ice in the doorway, using the moisture and cold around the ship to his advantage. Ivy spread her magic stream over its surface, and the ice began to glow orange.

"Fates," Trycho muttered, turning to stare at the three Keepers.

Councilor Quin didn't even bother to look. "They've... locked us in... haven't they?"