THE KEEPERS RISE

Chapter 15 - Black Sheep - Part 4

*Remember to click the play button to listen to the soundtrack as you read!*

Once they got back to the intersection, Jessie looked right, down the pitch-black main hallway, and said, "If that's the bridge, we've got a long way to go." Velda had to remind herself that Jessie could see in the darkness, as featureless as it appeared to her Gray eyes. She and Ivy followed the two mages farther into the depths of the ship.

"On our ship, we would have walked right out by now," Reuben said flatly after a few more intersections went by. "Then again, this ship is massive. It's designed for transport and comfort, not war."

"Where did your ship go, anyway?" Velda asked him.

"The remaining crew was told to return to the Dark after Trycho thought he had everything under control. I'd assume they kept going even after this ship changed course. They know to follow orders." He stopped at another intersection, then said, "These are cell blocks. We're close."

Velda's heart dropped as she looked down the right hallway. It was too dark for her to recognize, but the memories of what had happened in that hall froze her in place. Reuben and Jessie started walking again, but Ivy caught herself when she saw Velda's state. "Velda," she said gently after a moment, "are you all right?" Velda felt someone touch her shoulder and jumped. She forced her gaze to the floor and nodded, letting Ivy take her hand and lead her forward.

They walked for a few more minutes, finally reaching the last intersection, where the main hall ended at a door. "If I remember correctly," Jessie mused, "there are sets of laser cannons at the ends of these passages, and this door leads to the hangar." She took the key card from Ivy and opened the door with a practiced hand.

The hangar was many times smaller than the one on the Light ship, and there seemed to be nothing in it, but it was hard to see very far into the room due to the dark and its expansiveness. Two layers of Dark magic shielding allowed starlight to barely illuminate the outer edge of the floor. "There's nothing here," Reuben sniffed. "Odd."

"Are you sure?" Velda asked him.

"I can see the whole room, kid. There's not even a speeder in here. It looks like it was cleared out."

They checked one of the weapon rooms that Jessie had pointed out and discovered that everything was speckled with laser impacts. Nothing worked, and the fuel cell that sat in the center of the room was cracked and slowly dripping the dregs of a strange, thick black liquid. To their disappointment, the other room was in a similar sorry state. "What can we do with a ship with no weapons?" Velda complained as they left. "We won't stand a chance against the Red Wolves."

Jessie glanced down at the orange stone that hung around Ivy's neck. "You seem to be plenty good at healing magic. Couldn't you just fix the weapons?"

"That is a different sort of healing. Will'ym could theoretically accomplish it with his creation magic, but not without any knowledge about the technology used on these ships." Ivy added, "Perhaps one of you know how the weapons are constructed?"

Reuben snorted. "We're officers, not mechanics."

Trying her best to not be too insulting, Velda asked, "Why don't you two know how stone specialties work, though?"

"They only exist for Gray stones," Reuben said. "I never bothered to memorize them."

That made sense to Velda, but it still raised a question. Why do all of the Keepers have Gray stones if Light or Dark ones would be so much less limiting?

Your singly-colored Gray stones are more powerful in their specialties than any other stone could ever be, Cha told her. Light and Dark stones have no specialties, so are just like Gray stones with equal proportions of each color; their strength is spread out among all abilities. The vaya decided to prioritize overall strength, as the size of the group of Keepers could provide the necessary versatility.