Let’s go again! Writing Prompt from the list number 3: A wizard from a fantasy realm casts a trans-dimensional portal spell which accidentally connects his world to a massive spaceship in deep space in the 23rd century.
I am a little starting to regret I chose this list rather than one that has some sci-fi and some fantasy and some mixes, rather than a mix on every single one, but I’ve committed. I’m stuck in it now I guess!
Oh also- I’ve enabled comments. I believe I’ve got them set up so that all comments must be approved before they get commented; a large part of the reason I didn’t have them enabled before was to preemptively banish bot comments which I suspected would be a large number of comments on a small-reach blog like mine. Well, I do like hearing what y’all think and I’d love to foster discussion so I’m trying it out to make sure it works like I think it should. If it does, I’ll go back and enable comments on past posts and also keep them enabled for future posts. I reserve the right to turn them back off though if things get too hectic to keep up with. So, you know, please play nice. And now back to space wizards!
“The trolls are coming!” hollered the page boy. The announcement was superfluous; loud baleful footfalls hailed their approach more emphatically than any shouted cry of alarm. No matter, Xanthis the Enigma had nearly completed his ritual. The runes lined the floor, double- and triple-checked and cross-referenced and peer reviewed and now only remained the channeling.
Xanthis planted his staff of maple and quartz on the edge of the circle and began to chant.
“Fenta Pellin Taumanorie
Pannas Ulpin Gramatorie
Elsan Quarmen Ballicoras
Velis Caris Dracatoras
Now the Way the Wizard Sunders,
Let the Air be Rent with Thunders,
Spears now Tremble, Axes Shake,
Feel the Way Begin to Quake!
Regnal Furnal Venamorie
Maltas Multas Welatorie
Split the Sky and Make the Path,
Now my Magic Summons Wrath!”
At those words, Xanthis pulled the staff from the ground, heaving as though the tip were mired in thick, gravitorial ooze. Behind the point, purple and golden light began to split and shine, tumbling upon itself. The staff arose, trailing behind it the veins and aortae of magic as it parted the air before him, splitting to the sides like the unfurling of scrolls and the ebb of the ocean. Finally, the beasts of the netherworld would be summoned to his side and the realm would be freed from–
Wait.
Xanhtis kept pushing against the tension of reality trying to seal the unformed portal but he was reasonably sure… yes, he was certain that the netherworld was made of brimstone and obsidian. Not… shining plates of steel?
The portal at last yawned fully open, and Xanthis stared with furrowed brows. And the people on the other side stared at him. Or he assumed they did; most of their faces were covered with opaque black faceplates. Their bodies were similarly clad in some form of… he assumed it was armor? It bore the bulk of boiled leather but seemed more flexible and yet seamless. And all of them were turned to him, tensed, hands on some form of metallic wand trained in his direction.
“State your name and purpose,” one of them barked. They wore what Xanthis would call epaulets, though they were certainly strangely made.
“Verily, creatures of the pit, I am Xanthis the Enigma! I have summoned thee to wage battle against the troll horde who even now encroach upon our gates. Fulfill thy contract and I shall release thee!” Xanthis said, following the script he’d memorized. But he couldn’t help a certain amount of tremor and quaver. Surely the “creatures of the pit” were supposed to be… more creature shaped?
“You what?” the same individual asked. “What are you doing on my bridge?”
“I… made a portal. I summoned you. To fulfill the oath to defend the realm of Triasse from the trolls.”
“I’m pretty sure we made no such oath.” The figure stood up, putting their wand against their shoulder. The rest of the people kept their wands trained on him. “Now, explain this… temporal phenomenon and what it’s doing here.” They waved at the edges of the portal.
“It’s… that’s the portal.”
“Is it going to vent my ship?”
“Your… sorry, are you on the ocean? I thought the nether world had no water?”
“Okay, look, we’re not in the nether world, whatever that is. We’re patrolling Sector 472 near the borders of Palanian space looking for anomalous entities and it sure seems like we found one. Though we were expecting steel lice to be honest, not… portals to… Trass?”
“Triasse,” Xanthis said, dazed. “So… you’re not creatures from the pit?”
The figure flipped up her face plate, revealing a face. Human, female, and very exasperated. “Do I look like one to you?”
“No,” he ventured.
“No, sir, when you’re on my ship,” she said.
From behind came screams and a ripping noise. Not just ripping of paper or cloth, but ripping stone and earth.
“Oh, dear,” Xanthis murmured. He felt hot prickles of shame and terror welling in his chest and eyes. “I thought we were safe now. I suppose I can… close the portal and try again… if I have the time.”
“Hold on,” she said. “What were you trying to do again?”
“The… the troll horde has marched upon us and surrounded the city. We are the last stop before they break through to raze the realm and salt the earth. I suppose now we shall fall but I will do what I can to stop them.” He pulled his staff into the air again, about to touch the portal and seal it back again.
“Wait a moment.” The woman approached the glowing circle and tentatively put a hand through, then a foot, then carefully stepped out onto the floor of his room. She looked around a few times, then held out her hand.
“Name’s Mater. Alma Mater. My parents thought they were funny.” Xanthis quirked a confused eyebrow and she waved her statement away. “Never mind. Point is, I feel a little bad abandoning you all to trolls if we can maybe do something about it.” She turned back to the bridge. “Cass, you’re in charge. Ted, call security and get our forces up here. Don’t worry, the crossing is safe.” She eyed Xanthis again. “This, uh, portal is stable, right? We’ll be able to get through?”
“Yes… Yes, it is,” he said, collecting himself. “In fact, the magic of the portal ensures that any being who exits through the portal will be recalled in the span of an hour to return to their own realm. Assuming that I got that part right. I still don’t understand how…”
“An hour, okay, we can do that. Show me where the trolls are.”
Ted, or who Xanthis assumed was Ted, came in with a whole troop of men, all wearing the strange armor and carrying quite large metallic wands. Alma beckoned them forward and they crossed the portal with only a small amount of hesitation and followed him outside. Xanthis led them from the room to the battlements, which were of course close by to allow quickest access for the creatures he’d assumed he’d gather from the pits. And there were the trolls.
Massive, granite-faced, gnarled of limb, long of teeth and claw, and with fury in their eyes and a wake of destruction behind them, the trolls carried clubs of entire trees studded with sharp rocks. They were hammering at the gates and at the crenelations along the fort’s outer wall. The archers and other defenders were at their mercy, their weapons insufficient to pierce the beast’s stonelike hide.
“Form ranks, each squad take a target, fire at will,” said Alma. They took aim with their strange wands. And suddenly the air was pierced with beams of light that hammered into the trolls, leaving scorching blast marks and knocking them backwards. The lead troll was down in seconds, sizzling and scorched. Another troll followed. Howls of alarm rose from the massed trolls and they began to flee, first by ones or pairs then by dozens, until the slope of the mountain was empty of enemy combatants.
“Well, that’s your problem sorted, then, I think,” said Alma. “We need to get back underway.”
Xanthis stared after the retreating trolls for a moment then stared at the wands their rescuers carried. “What manner of magic do these wands carry?” he asked, awed. “I heard no incantation!”
“What, you mean the guns?” asked another man. Presumably Ted. “No magic, just a little plasma braiding.”
“May I…?” he asked, hands reaching out to grab one.
Alma laughed but pushed him back. “No, afraid not. I don’t want to be responsible for what happens when these things don’t get their proper care and cleaning. You think the trolls were bad? You should see a plasgun explosion!”
“The trolls, yes, thank you!” Xanthis exclaimed. “I must repay you for your service to us!”
“Thought you summoned and commanded us?” Alma said, with a laugh that belied her words. “No need, it just took a moment.”
“Nonetheless, you said you sought something… steel tacks?”
“Ticks,” Alma said. “Yeah, they’re a real menace. They can damage a ship’s sublights or landing gear or weapons if you don’t root out a nest in time.”
“Perhaps I can help with that, then,” Xanthis said. He led them back to the portal, then, holding his breath, he stepped to the other side. It felt like a normal step but now he was in chilled air that smelled strange. Clean but bitter, with a lifeless edge. And outside the window, an endless night deeper than any sky he’d seen. Lights and buttons of strange materials and sources blinked and moved all around him on panels of metal like armor. A bizarre “ship” this was.
But that was not the issue. He held his staff and began the chant.
“Entropy and Fiends Beneath,
Find the Tick of Steel-Strong Teeth!
Lay their path to Alma bare
That she may her foes ensnare!
Belling Valling Trelling Tekk
Melling Molling Pelling Sekk
Carpalutamalastekk!”
The wand cracked onto the metal flagstones of the room and a green light spread out, dashing half into space and half into the lights on one of the panels.
“That should last for at least a day and indicate to you where these dastardly vermin can be found,” Xanthis said. “For your valiant efforts I salute you!”
“Incredible,” Alma said. She stuck out her hand as Xanthis went to salute with his staff, then there was a moment of confusion as they both tried to respond to the other, and eventually ended up finding each other’s hands.
“Thank you for your aid,” Xanthis said, “But if I may be so bold, I hope our paths never cross again as I do not know what ill-laid rune landed my spell here instead of where it should be. Normally a spell would explode on a backfire rather than misbehave so.”
“Now you tell me!” Alma laughed. “And to be honest, I have no idea how to log this either. Stay out of trouble, your Enigma-ness, and farewell.”
With one final nod of acknowledgement, Xanthis deftly exited the portal and swept it closed behind him, letting it swirl itself to nonexistence with a small pop.
And the trolls never braved the pass again, so long as their memory of burning light persisted.
If anyone’s interested, there are at least 2 cool space mages I know of. The Last Horizon series by Will Wight has a very competent space wizard at the helm of a magic ship, and Starship’s Mage by Glynn Stewart is the first in a long series about… well, starship mages.
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=D Love the simplicity and humor of the story.
Hey it worked! I can approve comments and reject the spam!
Yay for approved comments!
I love your skill in world building!
Your descriptions of the trolls did not match that image, but I could image both being vanquished.
Loved the story. Looking forward to your eventual collection of them all.
Nice to have comments available now.