The Summer Vacation
Chapter 5
By Rachel76m
Edited by Don Kaufman

I wake up from a very restful sleep. But then I feel a weight on my chest. I look down and I see Amber lying on my chest asleep. She must have flown in during the night. Now why . . . why . . . did she do that? D.. D ... Does . . . someone . . . care . . . sniff . . . a.. b.b.bout...m.m..me? I start sniffling, trying to hold the tears back. I look toward the ceiling and tried to pray. Thank you, Maker.

Amber wakes up and smiles at me. But it turns to a concerned face when she sees a tear. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you.”

“You d..d..didn't.” As I try to look at her.

“I just felt you needed some comforting.”

“You're r..r..right. It just dawned on m..m..me I had the most wonderful night sleeping. I felt like I was back home when I was younger, safe in my parent's house. Now I feel safe again.”

“I'm glad. Are you ready to face a brand new day?” She gives a most beautiful smile. That smile really brightens my soul.

“I'm ready.” I get up and maneuver myself to sit on the edge of the bed.

Amber flies and hovers around us. “Are you awake, Renard?”

“Yes, I am. Give us a moment to clean up and change clothes.”

“I'll go see if Trianna is awake.”

“She should be. If she is still asleep, you can nudge her.”

“I will do that if she is.” Amber giggles and flies out the window to find the window to Trianna's room.

Renard and I chuckle as well and smile at each other.

We clean up and dress ourselves for the day. I put my satchel back on my shoulder. Once done Renard and I walk out of our room and we are met by Trianna and Amber.

“Good Morning, Trianna and Amber.” We both say it at the same time.

“Good morning to you both. Which one of you told Amber that she could nudge me awake this morning?”

I gave a quick defense, “It wasn't I, Trianna.” I put a hand to my chest and shake my head 'no'.

“I know you didn't say it, Richard. I knew it was Renard. He has done this in the past before.”

“I confess, Trianna,” Renard raises his right hand as making an oath and smiles. “Yes, I made the suggestion to Amber. I just want to make sure you're awake.”

Amber starts giggling and laughing. “Maybe you two should tie the knot and make it official.”

This time Renard and Trianna turn red in the face at the suggestion.

“We will some day, Amber, but right now we agreed to focus on this star ship problem first,” responds Trianna in defense of them both.

“I understand.” She smiles and flies around us several times while we walk down the hallways. She hums a song that helps lift our spirits as we walk.

We take the same route to walk to the dining room where we had dinner yesterday. When we arrive, we see Lord Tierion and Lady Shiranna there waiting for us.

Our meal consisted of fruits, breads, nuts and cooked fish served cold served on a bed of greens.

After having the morning repast Renard lead us to his room in the castle. We walk a flight of stairs up from the main floor. After making a few turns and walking past several doors, I see his symbol on the door. He opens it and we all go inside.

There are shelves of books. Crystal spheres on various pedestals. There are several tables and chairs scattered about. The room is about the same size as the King's private reading room we were in yesterday. I remember being in this room the last time I was here.

“Do you remember the Maranelle Island situation when you here last time?”

“I remember it very well. We were hoping the sickness can be removed from the families so that they can do magic again.”

“That’s right, Richard. We tried cleansing them of the sickness. We discovered that only a few of them were eating wild animal meat for a year. They were the easiest to restore. The harder ones were the ones who have eaten the wild animal meat the longest, like five years or more.”

“That seems to make sense.”

“Yes, it does. Some are still living on the Emerald Isles. Some of them have displayed the rage you talked about. Some people displayed a shaking body as well. Some people have gotten hurt. But, they know they have done wrong. They’re trying very hard to keep their focus on the Maker and remain calm. It seems the new herbs we found helped them very much. Most of them can do magic like using the light crystals. There are a few that are showing signs of resistance to the treatments.”

“That’s good to hear. Apparently the sickness affects people in different ways. We have the same problem. It is going to take some trial and error to determine the different combinations of treatment. The shakes can be controlled and they can live productive lives. But the illness can be passed on to the next generation or skip several generations before it shows up again.”

“That’s a good point. We will need to make note of that.”

“When this current problem is over, remind me and we’ll make another recording with the crystals as a following up.”

“Good idea, Richard, thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome. So, now we’re going to see if I can do any magic here?”

“That’s right. Did you bring the contact sphere and light crystal we gave you before you left?”

“I did.”

“We’re going to begin with the simple incantations to see what you can do. Bring out your contact crystal and hold it like I do.”

I open my satchel and bring out the contact crystal and hold it like Renard does in my left hand.

“Good, now with your right-hand palm facing the sphere, now you are going to try and contact me on my sphere.”

“All right Renard.”

“Now repeat after me, believe in the words . . . kena ar quet Renard , , , then focus on the sphere.”

“Kena ar quet Renard.” Then the sphere glows yellow.

Then Renard's crystal sphere glows yellow. Renard places his right palm above the sphere and concentrates, and then an image of my face from my shoulders up appears. But also at the same time an image of Renard appears above mine.

“Well done, Richard. That is great, this means you have the ability to learn magic.”

“Thank you, Renard. Just to let you know, I did try to use the light crystal when I was on Earth. The light crystal didn't light up.”

Then Trianna comes up and puts her hand on my shoulder. “I knew you can do it. All it takes is the belief that you can do anything.”

Amber begins flying around us all with laughter and singing.

To see and speak one's heart,
all is needed is the faith to send.
To see and speak to a friend,
is to bring him near from afar.

“Thank you, Amber. That is a sweet song to hear.”

“You’re welcome, Richard. Now you are ready to do more great and wonderful things.”

“Right, Amber. All right, Richard, onto the next test. Now I am going to transport to my cottage. You are going to do the same thing. This is a test of distance in trying to contact me. If you can do this, it means you have the ability to contact anyone on our world.”

“All right, Renard.”

Renard recites the transport spell and vanishes in a blink of an eye. I take the sphere in my hand as once before. I raise my right hand and face the palm toward the sphere.

“Kena ar quet, Renard.” I think of Renard and concentrate on the sphere. It glows yellow.

Then an image of Renard appears above the crystal sphere.

“Greetings, Richard.” He smiles at me.

“Greetings, Renard.” I smile back at him.

“Excellent, Richard, I knew you can do it. Now I'm going to transport back and continue onto the next stage and a new set of spells.”

Then in an instant, Renard appears in the room. “That is great, Richard. Now we go onto the next step.”

“I have a question, Renard, before we continue. Do the crystal spheres contain magic since it is from your world?”

“Ah, that is very astute, Richard. Yes, they do. But still it takes one's own belief and ability to reach me. But since you just stated the light crystals don’t work on Earth. That confirms that you can’t do magic there, except for the Earth Wizard and the Sorceress there.”

“I still find it amazing that you can reach me on my world with one of these. Obviously your ability is greater than mine, but a message sent from here shows up on my computer as an email with an attachment is a bit mind boggling. That must be some conversion that the Maker is doing.”

“But it is the same energy, just applied differently.”

“That sounds about right, onto the next lesson, Renard.”

“All right, the next lesson is to move an object. The key word is 'tyli'. You associate that with the object you wish to move.”

“Okay.”

“Here is an example. I going to move this book and slide it across the table from one end to the other.” He raises his right hand and faces the palm toward the book, “tyli shyl.” The book slides across the table.

“I noticed your concentration has to be the duration of the move, Renard.”

“That is right. If the concentration is too strong or weak before you are finished it could cause problems. All right, try it.”

I raise my right hand and face the palm toward it. I start to concentrate, “tyli shyl.” The book moves, but this time the book slides across too fast and falls to the floor before I have a chance to stop the concentration. “Oops, sorry about that, Renard.”

“That's all right.” Renard picks up the book and places it on the table. “It takes some practice, try it again. Remember the destination as well; that will help focus the duration of the concentration.”

“Right,” I focus again; I look at the book and see where I want it to go. I face my right palm toward the book. I concentrate on the book and look toward the destination. Right, remember the destination. “Tyli shyl,” The book moves an inch. Okay so far so good. I look toward the other end of the table. The book moves at a slower pace but it stops at the edge of the table.

“Pant . . . Pant . . . That was a little harder to do.”

“That’s excellent, Richard. Again with more practice you will be able to move it faster and with less energy.”

I practice it some more. Eventually I am able to slide the book very quickly from one end of the table to the other without much effort.

“All right, onto the next lesson; lights and fire.”

“Uh, don't you think we should be somewhere else? I don't want to cause damage to your room here.”

“Hmm, that’s a good idea. We can go outside for the fire later. We will do the light crystals here.” Renard picks up two light crystals. He then hands me one of them. “Now repeat after me, like before with the palms forward . . . jhol teirar.” His light crystal immediately brightens.

“I have a question Renard. Why do you need to raise the hands and face the palm toward what you are doing?”

“That's a good question. Why don't you try to light the crystal without the hands and just repeat the words and see what happens?”

“Sure,” I look at the light crystal, then I recite the words. “Jhol teirar,” The crystals did not brighten, not even to one candle flame brightness. “The crystal didn't light up. All right, I'll use the hand.”

I face my palm toward the crystal; I concentrate once again on the crystal. Once I was confident again, I recite the words. “Jhol teirar,” Then all of a sudden the crystal lights up. “What's going on? It seems the hands are needed. Why is that, Renard?”

“It is because of our planet, it emanates the magic through the Ethereal Space. The magic just sits there, but it takes a will and focus to channel that energy. That is why the hands and mind are needed, both together.”

“But what is the difference between a wizard and a farmer? Can't everyone be at a wizard level?”

“The farmer probably can, that's if he wants to. Many of the caretakers of the land are content with learning just enough magic to make life a little easier. But, yes if they put their mind to it, everyone can become a wizard or a sorceress. But, remember, with such power comes with great responsibility. Many of them remember the stories of the chaos, we just had two or three generations ago. They also remember last year as well. If we had not stopped the war, the Maker would not have invited us to our Local Group and receive the Outside Helpers.”

“Then I would not be here to help stop the coming horror from happening again.” I walk over to a chair and sit down. I bend over and put my hands to my face. “Oh . . . my . . . Maker … please help me . . . ” I start to shed some tears. I look up and I see my friends there gathering around with a hand on my shoulder. Amber is hovering in front of me with a smiling face.

“You're not alone, Richard. The Maker brought you here for redemption of us as well as for you.”

“Just remain strong in whom you are and with your abilities. The Maker will guide your steps and give you the insight to stop this horror.”

I look at them one by one, “You've no idea how many times I've heard that on my world. Maybe in not so many words, but the substance is the same.”

“We have no understanding of machines this star ship represents, but you do. Remember that. You're our eyes and ears in helping us understand this horror and how to fight it. There are some things magic can and cannot do. When the power that is coming against us is too large for our magic, then all hope is lost. That's why you're here.”

I shake my head up and down in agreement. “I understand now.” Trianna hands me a piece of cloth. I take it and wipe my eyes and clear my throat and take a big breath “cough . . . cough . . . Sigh . . . ” I stand up, “Okay, now where were we; something about fire?”

“Not yet, light this crystal up.”

“Okay.”

I put right hand toward the crystal. I concentrate on it and recite the words. “Jhol teirar.”

The light crystal brightens immediately.

“That’s very good, Richard. You can make it brighter or dimmer depending on the length of the concentration.”

“Thank you, Trianna.”

“Let's go outside and walk over to an area where the King's knights practice, it's safer there.”

We walk out of Renard's room. Then all four of us exit to a side door that leads to the knights’ practice field and housing quarters. I am amazed how large and long this chasm is in front of the castle. It gives a natural moat without water. They were able to fortify this chasm with the walls to give the additional height to make it more difficult for any would be attackers. The castle property and grounds are very large in front of the mesa. Even though the knights housing quarter hold two thousand in their own dorm buildings; there is enough land to bring in twenty thousand people in for a siege.

“I take it the knights know how to combat fire when it is very large like a forest fire?”

“They do. They must be prepared for all kinds of situations.”

“Different situations? I bet they have not come against weapons from a star ship such as this. Maybe I can help out there.”

“See. Your mind is open to make the impossible to be possible. Let's work with starting a simple flame on a candle.”

He walks over to a shed that is near the edge of the practice field. He opens it to look for what he needs. In the shed are various weapons, torches and other items needed to practice with. He takes a candle set in a mug and brings it out.

“Follow me, Richard,” We walk over to a set of stone stairs built into a small rise. He places the candle mug on the stairs. He faces his right hand towards the candle and recites the incantation, “jhol tali.” The candle immediately lights and is burning brightly.

“All right, now your turn.” Renard then blows out the candle.

I walk up to it and face my right palm towards the candle. I concentrate on the wick and speak the words, “jhol tali.” The candle wick produces a very small flame but then grows to normal size when established.

“Very good, it is a start. Now blow it out and do it again several times until you are comfortable with it.”

I blow the candle out. I begin to concentrate real hard again on the wick again, “jhol tali.” This time the flame is very large and almost melts the candle before Renard puts it out.

“Tali aezoler!” Immediately the flame disappears, but a thin stream of smoke lifts into the air from the wick. About an inch of candle has melted into the mug. “That was a little too strong, Richard.”

“That is obvious, Renard. I was not sure how strong the concentration had to be. I will ease up on it next time.” I concentrate again on the candle and try to judge the effort somewhere in the middle with the first two efforts. “Jhol tali.” Immediately the candle aflame just the way Renard did it.

“Excellent, Richard, a few more times like that.”

I blow out the candle and focus again on the candle. I am now able to do this about five more times before I am comfortable with it.

“That is great, Richard. Now you need to learn how to extinguish it without blowing it out. You heard the phrase that I used last time?”

“I think it was tali azelloor.”

“Almost, it is tali aezoler.”

“Aezoler.”

“You try it now. Now go and light the candle and extinguish it using the phrases.”

“Right,” I focus on the wick again, “jhol tali.” The candle immediately inflames to life. I smile. I focus on the flame again, “tali aezoler.” The flame extinguishes and only the small stream of smoke emits from the wick wafting through the air.

“Excellent, Richard, you're doing very well.”

“Thanks.”

“So what ideas are going through your mind about these weapons on the star ship?”

“Well, weapons as you know, can come in many forms.”

“Yes, for us it is arrows, the swords, the spear, even fire from the dragons.”

“Do you agree that magic can be used as weapon?”

“Yes, it can. When the words are right and said quickly it is very effective against an unsuspecting adversary.”

“But I’m guessing these weapons are more powerful. If they’re anything like the weapons from my world, you will need better training.”

“We will need to ask the King to set up a meeting with our commanders. They can give a better account of their readiness than I can.”

“Yes, please do. It will be very important. I’m not questioning their hand to hand combat; it’s the weapons that can inflict damage from afar.”

“We will go see the King, when we’re done here. I have a few more lessons that we need to address back inside.”

Soon Renard has me doing various spells; like cleaning my own clothes, refilling a pitcher of water, making the water cooler or warmer in temperature. There was one he has me trying to do; it is to mend my clothes if it gets torn. I just couldn’t get it right. It is doing all those threads and seams. There are too many to worry about. After awhile, I had to sit down to take a breather.

“Wow, that is some mental work out Renard, thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Richard. Don’t worry about the mending spell. Give it a rest. We’ll come back to it another day. Come, let’s go see the King and see what can be arranged.”

We walk out of Renard’s room and walk down some hallways. We soon meet the Chamberlain walking toward us on one of his errands.

“Hello, Sir Drexton, where is the King?”

“The King is with his military commanders in the war room.”

“Good, we need to see them all. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Drexton continues on his way.

“Come, Richard. The war room is not far from here.”

“Right behind you, lead the way, my friend.”

We walk down several hallways, stairs and making some turns heading toward a building that connects the castle with the knight’s quarters. We approach a door with the war room symbols displayed. Renard knocks on the door.

“Enter.”

Renard opens the door and I follow in behind.

We see the King and his leaders standing, walking and sitting around looking at maps. They look up toward us as we come in.”

“Welcome, Renard and Richard. What brings you here?”

“My Lord, Richard would like to provide some insight on the possible weapons they might have. He has some ideas that might help out your strategies and training.”

“Yes, by all means. Richard, these are my army and navy commanders. This Sir is Trenton, Thryson Legion Commander. This is Sir Valmar, Army Commander with his Lieutenant, Sir Carsen. Then we have Sir Leland, Navy Commander with his Lieutenant, Sir Palinar.”

“Please to meet you, sirs.”

“Do you have any military experience, Richard?”

“No sir, not directly, but I have knowledge of weapons and how they are made and work. By knowing that; it will give you an edge on what to expect.”

“Where did you get this knowledge?”

The King starts smiling to himself. My commanders are in for a treat.

Renard sees it and gives a slight smile to the King and he responds as well. One of the commanders takes notice of the exchange.

“Is there something going on here? What do you two know about Richard?”

“You’re observant as always, Trenton. Richard has a very active mind and constantly reading and learning the world around him. I would listen to Richard; he has a very good understanding of the math and sciences.”

“Yes, my Lord. Now I remember from the introductions when he was here last. Besides the few times we worked together. Is this true, Richard?”

“It is true Sir Trenton; most of it comes from classes in physics. We studied various problems and tried to come up with a math equation that will predict the behavior of what we’re seeing. For example, we studied projectile motions with arrows, bullets, cannonballs and falling objects. In physics we cover the basics of mechanics, light, gases, electricity and energy.”

“That's very good, Richard. What weapons do you think might be on this star ship?”

“My guess would be the light weapon.”

“Light weapon? How can light harm you?”

“Hmm . . . let me think . . . I know . . . do you have a glass lens?”

“Yes we do, let me get one from the cabinet.” Trenton goes to the cabinet behind him and opens a drawer. He takes a lens out and brings it to Richard.”

“Thank you, Sir Trenton. As you know from this shape, you can magnify your images to see small things bigger or bring them closer.”

“That's right, or you can put them into tubes to make telescopes to view objects from afar without using magic. We discovered this property a thousand years ago before we found the Seeing Stones that we use today.”

“Good. I understand your reasoning for using stealth as much as possible. If you used magic, you risk the chance of being detected.”

“Why…Yes, that is right, Richard.” Sir Trenton eyes begin to narrow and smile. Now I remember; he has a quick mind.

“Come with me outside, I will do a demonstration with the lens. I'm going to show another property of lenses. If I remember right, the dwarves’ designer enclaves have something similar. But considering the situation we are faced with, you need to know it now.”

We all walk out to the training yard where Renard and I were earlier. “Renard, if you please, set the candle over there where I practiced to light it before.”

“Sure, Richard.” Renard takes the candle from the shed; he takes it out and walks over to the stoned paved area as before and sets it down.

“What I am going to do is that I am going to light this candle without using magic or not even touch it.”

The commanders murmur among themselves. “What are you going to use to light the candle with?”

“I am going to use your sun and this lens to light it.”

“This we would like to see, go ahead, Richard.”

I take the lens in my hand and position it above the candle wick trying to find the focal length of the lens. Once I find the point of concentrated light, I move it to the candle wick. Within moments it begins to smoke and then bursts into a flame.

“That's incredible, Richard. Where did this idea come from?”

“Have you ever had a fire start in a grass field in the early morning when the sun comes up?”

“Yes, we do. But we always wondered how it happened.”

“It is because of the morning dew, there are small droplets of water on the grass. That droplet of water is acting like this lens. When the sun comes up in the morning, it shines its light rays through the droplet and causes the grass to burn. This is a natural process. But here I am doing it on purpose with this lens.”

“How did you know the distance to place the lens from the candle?”

“I'll show you, Sir Leland. Can you bend down to the ground and pick up a handful of dirt and grass, please?”

Sir Leland bends down and grabs a handful of grass and dirt.

“Good, now bring it over here. And slowly sprinkle it over this space on the other side of the lens.” I point to where I want it.

Sir Leland slowly releases the grass and dirt and then the light begins to reflect off the grass and dirt and two cones of light appear.

“That's incredible, Richard. I see it now.”

The other commanders agree as well.

“Now for your memory and to remember that it hurts I want you to put your hand like I'm doing know.” I put my right hand behind the lens and a very bright round spot appears there. “Right now my hand is a bit warm. As I move my hand away from the lens, the circle gets smaller and smaller. When it gets to the fine point, it will be so hot it can burn wood, cloth or even skin. I suggest you wrap a cloth around your hand, you are only going to leave it there for a moment before you have to jerk your hand away quickly.”

Each of the commanders, the king and Renard did as I instructed and they get the same reaction.

“Ouch . . . you're right Richard it does hurt; it is burning the cloth easily.” Everybody finally understands how a light weapon can cause injury and death.

“I see that now, Richard. But I can't carry a lens around with me and use it as a weapon; the clouds would get in the way.”

“This star ship would have hand-held weapons that can emit these light beams. It would be so intense it would burn right through trees, buildings and people like it was nothing. If it came from the star ship, it would scar your world's surface. Or they can send those rocks surrounding your star system and bombard everything.”

“Then what is the protection against this threat?”

“There is one property of light that has a weakness. It is reflection.”

“Reflection? You're talking about mirrored surfaces, right?”

“Yes, the surface can be glass, but really the best reflection would be your armor, shields, swords or any flat metal object. Have the metals polished, smooth like new and highly reflective to see yourself. It should handle most hand held weapons. But it probably won't stop the major weapon on the star ship.”

“I see, but you're going to the scout ship tomorrow to find their weakness to exploit.”

“That is right, Sir Trenton. Hopefully by examining their computers and security system I will be able to find that hole and exploit it to our advantage.”

“Then let us hope you find it quickly so that we can develop a plan to back you up.”

“That is the hope, commander. Let me give a demonstration on reflection. Do any of you have a small mirror on hand?”

“I do, Richard. My name is Sir Valmar.” He takes it out of his pocket and hands to me.

“Thank you, Sir Valmar. I am going to hold the mirror here on my chest. Sir Valmar, I want you stand over there to my right. Sir Trenton, please stand here to my left. Good, now I want you, Renard, to stand here in front of me but between them.”

“All right, Richard.”

“Now Sir Trenton and Sir Valmar can’t see each other directly because Renard is in the way. But if Sir Trenton and Sir Valmar were to look at this mirror on my chest they can see each other. They are seeing a reflection of each other.”

“Yes, I see Sir Valmar in the mirror.”

“Well, the light behaves the same way. If the sun reflects off the water at a certain angle, it will reflect back up at the same angle.”

“Now I see where you going with this Richard. If an enemy approaches us with these light weapons, we can use our armor, shields or swords to reflect it off us and we can point it else where, at least not to our own knights and dwarf warriors. We would need to be aware of this angle and where everybody is.”

“Of course the drawback to this reflection is if they bring in a weapon that can knock you off your feet or burn through your shields quickly.”

Everybody starts to smile in finally understanding this principle.

“If remember the last time I was here, your world developed explosive weapons.”

“Yes we have. It is part of our arsenal. We discovered centuries ago how to make an explosive compound that can do great damage.”

“What is your protection schemes for this?”

“We cast sealing and barrier shield spells around us to protect us from the flying debris.”

“That's good. Does the sealing spell protect against heat and fire?”

“Not really, the heat does pass through the sealing spell while it blocks the fire itself.”

“So there are limitations to the spell.”

“Yes, Richard. The sealing spell is effective against arrows, knives as such. Now I'm making a guess, Richard. If this light beam were to hit our sealing spell, it would probably not block it.”

“Well let’s test it. Put a sealing spell around that candle and I will try to light or melt the wax candle itself.”

“Very well, let's try it.” Sir Trenton puts his hands forward and recites the sealing spell to put a seal around the unlit candle.

I take the lens and focus the concentration point onto the wick. The wick smokes then burst into flame. I then point the focal point onto the candle itself. It heats up and melts part of the candle. The other commanders start to murmur among themselves.

“What happened to the candle, Sir Trenton?”

“The sealing spell will not block the light weapon.”

“That is right. It still inflicted damaged, the light passed through the sealing spell.”

“So there are still limitations to the sealing spell.”

“But you like you said earlier, when I'm on the scout ship tomorrow I might discover something that will tip the balance to our favor and provide new options for an offense and a defense.”

“Yes, you have given us more things to worry about. That is the problem about war, the enemy comes up with a weapon that you have never seen, and you have to think on the spot on how to counter that new weapon.”

“I would still keep up with the practice of hand to hand combat and disarming them. The rushing and dodging practice are still needed to avoid a direct hit. Think of using arrows for now. But remember the light weapon will be very fast, you only have a blink of an eye or two when they aim at you and pull the trigger. How good their aim will be is another factor to give you those few moments for a split decision. For the arrow practices have the knights rush and dodge against one archer, then increase it two archers, then to three archers shooting one right after the other. That should approximate the reaction time from one person using a hand-held light weapon. The knight will have to decide how to use his armor, shield and sword to block the arrow if he gets hit. If he can judge the angle right while doing this, he can send the light beam back to the enemy or someone else.”

“Do you think we can use our light crystals to help train with?”

“I see no reason not to. There is a device we have on my world; it is called a flashlight. It is a hand-held tube-shaped device that we turn off and on with a switch quickly. You can use a tube with the light crystal in it and point it at the knight; he can use that to help judge his angle to point the light beam back where he wants it.”

“That's very a good idea, Richard. Thank you for your insight today. You have really been helpful.”

“You’re welcome, Sir Trenton.” I smile at the compliment.

Then each of the commanders came up to me and shook my hand and said “Thank you.”

“Now you can see why the Maker sent Richard to us to be our Outside Helper.”

“You're right, my Lord. Richard is a very valuable source of information. Once he discovers their weakness tomorrow we can create more opportunities for our advantage. It would be nice to use the scout ship to infiltrate the star ship, but the scout ship is too small and probably carries less than ten people at the most. That will not be enough against a thousand on the star ship.”

“Oh don't worry, Sir Trenton. If I can find a weakness to exploit it, this will provide the means to take control of the entire star ship with one little set of commands.”

“What?!? You can do that? How?”

“Remember this star ship has a computer network. It has been known on my world that the greatest challenge is to disrupt a new system newly installed to see if it can withstand a take over.”

“I see; it was like our world war two generations ago. The two rogue nations tried to take over the world, but the other ten kingdoms were able to put up a fight.”

“But what was the weak point in the fighting, Sir Trenton?”

“It was the dragons, my Lord. They had the fire power, but that fire power was removed from everyone and we had to come up with a new strategy.”

“Of course, peace is always a good option when the means to destroy is removed.”

“Then those two rogue nations were put into a precarious position. If they decided to keep on fighting, they would have lost everything.”

“That's right, Sir Trenton. I can send in a small set of commands that will effectively turn off their ship weapons. But there is still the matter of the people on board with the hand-held weapons. Are they resourceful enough to change strategies and still bring the horror here?”

“Well that remains to be seen. We will keep up with our practices as you say Richard. But I have a new question Richard. You seem to have some experience and knowledge in this, where did it come from? I know you mentioned it the last time you were here.”

“It came from several sources. I'm the youngest and smallest of my two older brothers. My dad sent me to a school for self-defense, learning the basic skills to protect myself or someone else. This happened after I was attacked by four older boys trying to protect a neighborhood friend when I was six or so. The other is from a youth organization on my world. There are several such groups there. With my parents help going on family outings to the mountains and being part of this organization I learned the basics of wilderness survival and knowing what to do. It was like a young person’s camping/military group; it is designed for the ages from eight to 18. There are ranks awarded within this group, I was able to achieve their highest rank by the time I turned 18. I was in this group for eight years. Then I can make the decision if I want to be part of something larger to help others or for a career if I want to.”

“That’s impressive, Richard. We have something similar here for our young recruits, some make it through basic training, some do not.”

“Oh there is one more thing about this star ship. Let's see if you all come to the same conclusion. Have any of you seen this star ship through Seeing Stones last night?”

“We have. It is very large indeed.”

“What does it remind you of that you already have on your world?”

“What we already have? What are you talking about Richard?”

“Think for a moment, this is a star ship that moves in space from star system to star system. What poetic words would you use to describe this movement?”

“Poetic words?”

“Don't you have songs and stories of your sailing ships going from port to port around your world?”

“You're right, Richard. You're talking about that star ship as it sails through the black sky and the stars as if it were on an ocean.”

“That’s right, Sir Palinar. Now think about that star ship as if it were like your own sailing vessels. What is the largest sailing vessel that you have, Sir Palinar?”

“It would be the Windover. It can hold five hundred soldiers, with multiple decks.”

“You're right again, Richard. We need to practice our missions on our sailing vessels because of the close quarter fighting and the corridors with rooms.”

The others shout in agreement in finally seeing the prize.

“That's right, Sir Trenton. But you know the layouts of your own ship. Since at this moment we do not have the star ship's layout we can surmise certain goals to be achieved.”

“That's true, Richard. That would be the weapons room, the health center, the captains and leadership positions, etc. We're all familiar with those goals.”

“But here is the added twist for confined space fighting. Once on board the star ship you cannot shoot or fire at an outside window by all means. If that were to happen then the vacuum of space will occupy that room quickly. The air in that room will be sucked out into empty space and you with it, and you would die. The bulk head doors would come down to block off that section to prevent further loss to the ship.”

“We understand that completely. On the Windover we have these bottom floors that contain certain rooms of storage and sleeping quarters for the men. The doors and floors are extra shielded and layered, if the hull on the bottom were to get breached we can close these doors to prevent further damaged to the ship and sink.”

“Yes, it is the same thinking that goes on the star ship out there.”

“Well I think we can draw up some exercises on the Windover and put our knights through the paces. They will need to be taught about these light weapons and what they can do hurt you.”

“Sir Trenton, I just had a strategy thought, it depends on the situation. If you are standing in front of this glass window and they’re aiming their weapon at you, they would hesitate to fire or not. That gives you more time for a quick decision.”

“Yes, it would be, Sir Valmar. We’ll have to keep that in mind.”

“Sir Trenton, I think it would be advisable for each of the kingdoms to provide say 100 men each. Everybody gets trained doing this type of warfare. Then, when we get more information from Richard tomorrow we can adjust the fighting tactics to it.”

“That is a very good idea, my Lord. From our ground practices out here on the grounds we can pick out the top 100 men from our forces. Then with these twelve hundred men we can pick several elite forces from them that we will train on our sailing vessels to go on the star ship itself.”

“I will contact Lord Dryden and the others to send their commanders here so you can explain what is going on to begin preparation at this mark. We don't know when the star ship will move in on us, but we must begin now.”

“We all agree, my Lord.” The commanders nodded and gave their approval as well. “Yes, we must begin preparations now.”

Lord Tierion brings out his contact sphere. He raises his right palm to the sphere and recites the incantation. Soon the image of Lord Dryden appears above the sphere.

“Greetings, Lord Tierion, what brings this call?”

“We must have a war council now. We must get our troops together quickly together and train.”

“I agree, our commanders are at a loss where to start.”

“Well Richard was able to provide some early insight on what we can do until he gets on the scout ship tomorrow morning. Send all commanders, captains and sergeants here at our meeting hall. My commanders will show them what to do and how to prepare. “

“That is excellent, Lord Tierion. Richard has again proven to be an excellent resource. Is there anything else we should know?”

“If Richard can find a way for us to board that star ship, we will need to select several elite forces to be ready. By having the general training going on now, we can then select the top one hundred from each kingdom to do some further training on our sailing vessels.”

“I see; Richard made a connection to their star ship to our sailing vessels. We’ll be dealing with close quarter fighting. That is very good, Tierion. They should be there within two marks or sooner.”

“I agree, Lord Dryden; the sooner the better. I will serve the noon repast to make it easy for all. To save time; you call the five kingdoms on your list and I will take the other five that we agreed for such a time as this.”

“Yes Lord Tierion. It is going to be busy the next few days. Does Richard have any idea how long it takes for a ship that size to get here?”

“That question has not been asked yet, but I will.”

“Please do. Be safe until next time.”

“You do as well.”

The image disappears.

“Commanders, I’m going to contact the five kingdoms on my list, so if you will excuse me.”

“By all means, do so quickly.”

We all walk back into the war room.

Lord Tierion steps into his commander’s room adjacent to the war room.

“We all heard Lord Dryden ask the question to Lord Tierion. It is hard to say how long. “ I turn around to Renard. “Renard, has it been determined how far apart your planets are in your star system?”

“It has been calculated Richard. Sir Trenton, do you have a copy of the map of our star system here?”

“Yes I do, let me retrieve it.” He goes to the same cabinet where the lens is kept. He pulls out a rolled up parchment and brings it to the table. He unrolls it and lays it out. The other commanders place some weights on the corners to keep it flat.

“Here we are.” Trenton points to an orbit. “It is the third planet from the sun.”

“It is the same as mine.” Trenton nods as the other commanders as well.

“The distance is very large as you can see. We had to use several different scales to draw it out, but the distance numbers are written there.”

“I think there is a way to judge it. When it reaches the outermost planet’s orbit and the next one, you will then know how long it will take.”

“Yes, we will need to keep a diligent eye on it to know its movement.”

“Yes, that is a must. It could take seven or fourteen days to get here. I doubt it will be here in two days. A mass that large is very hard to move; unless they have the technology to circumvent the mass problem.”

“Kind of like getting a heavy cart to roll, it is slow in the beginning, but once it starts rolling it is easy. Then it is a matter of coming to a stop.”

“That’s right, Sir Valmar. If they were to stop just beyond your twin moons orbits, it will appear as a small vessel in the sky.”

“Well let’s hope; with what you find tomorrow. We will begin with what we can do now.”

“Sir Valmar, send the call out to all of our men. Have the captains and sergeants report here as quickly as possible.”

“They should be here within the quarter-mark. They were put on notice this morning.”

“Good, the other Kingdoms will be here shortly with their commanders for the noon repast. We will use the meeting hall tent for the noon repast and then assemble on the training yard. We need to get our captains and sergeants up to speed quickly to show them what to do.”

Sir Valmar gives a salute, turns and walks out the door.

“Do you need me and Renard by your side just in case, Sir Trenton?”

“Yes, for introductions and explanations that might needs some clarifying. You’ll probably get some questions that we have not brought up yet.”

“Yes, we can do that.”

Sir Valmar walks into the war room. “Sir, our captains and sergeants are in the Captain’s Meeting Room.”

“Very good; let’s go down the hallway. It is the next room.”

We all walk out of the war room and walk into the meeting room. I see rows of tables and chairs laid out like one of my classes in college. I smile at the memory. There are about seventy men in the room. It is a mixed group of men divided between the Army and Navy of the Thryson Legion. I also see some dwarf warrior leaders as well.

“Good morning, men.”

Everybody responds, “Good morning, sir.”

“I would first like to introduce you to Richard Moore. He is our Outside Helper. He actually confirmed the presence of the threat to our world.”

There are some claps of hands and ‘thank you’ from several of them.

“The king came to us this morning to see what kind of plan we have to defend ourselves against this horror. Well, the truth is we did not have anything. This threat is larger than our world. If we don’t do anything, our world is nothing. But when Richard came into the meeting, he was able to provide some early insight to the enemy and their possible weapons.”

“How can we fight them, or even bring the fight to them?”

“Captain Bratton, Richard is going to the scout ship tomorrow morning; it's in a dragon cave in Lord Keltan’s Kingdom. Hopefully by entering the ship, he can get access to the information that is hidden on their machines. Hopefully he will find that weakness in their defense so that we can exploit it to our advantage.”

“Yes, then let us hope.” The other captains and sergeants agree as well.

“I’m going to let Richard speak for a bit to try and explain some of the ideas. From that you will begin to see what we need to do train our men.”

“Thank you, Sir Trenton. I was asked the question of what type of weapon that they might have on board. I think they would have light weapons.” Immediately some hands shoot up. “I know, I was asked that earlier. How can light be a weapon? I just did a demonstration for your commanders to show how it can happen. I will now show it for you. We will need to go outside.”

Everybody in the room walks out to the training ground. This is where the stair pavement is located that Renard and I did the same practice as earlier. Then we showed them with a sealing spell around the candle. Needless to say they did not like the result. Then I did the same demonstration with the lens so that they know how it hurts them. I then tell them about the morning dew on the grass.

“So what can be used for protection?”

“There is a weakness in light. It can be reflected.”

“Yes, now I remember. We had some exercises where we used the morning sun to reflect the light back at the enemy to blind them on the battle field from our shields and armor.”

“Now you get the idea.”

The others nod and assent in agreement.

“But you will need to make sure your armor, shield and sword are polished and very smooth. You need to see yourself as if looking in a mirror. With that you should be able to reflect the hand-held light weapons they have.”

“What can we use on the training grounds to judge this angle?”

“Here, let me show you.” Sir Trenton takes a tube and puts a light crystal in it. He recites the light spell. He points the tube at the captains and sergeants armored chests. They see a round light spot shone there and reflected onto a nearby wall.

“Yes, that will work very well,” responds one of the dwarf warrior leaders.

“But here is one thing to remember; that light weapon is fast as that light from this tube to your body. You will need to be quick and very aware of everyone and everything around you when you reflect that light back.”

Soon everything is discussed in getting everybody trained and selecting the top one hundred soldiers. Because of the close-quarter fighting they agree that dwarf warriors must be included in the group. Everybody understands the emergency in getting prepared quickly while Richard is on the scout ship seeking out their weakness. Then at a later date one hundred will be chosen and sent to the sailing vessels for further training.

The commanders, captains and sergeants quickly hammer out a series of training methods for this new style of fighting plus some of the traditional fighting skills that will be needed. For the purpose of the demonstration only; they choose the top one hundred men from among all of their brigades. The Commanders, Captains and Sergeants quickly begin the process of training and how to show it to the other commanders from the other kingdoms who will arrive for the noon repast within the mark. The rest of the men in the Legion are practicing their hand to hand combat skills apart from the demonstration group.

After training for about a mark, Sir Trenton walks up to a waist high pedestal, with a bell mounted. He picks up the mallet and strikes the bell three times. “Bong!” “Bong!” “Bong!” All of the men come to a stop what they are doing, they come running up and form rows and groups according to their own brigade with their pennant flying high on a long staff. I also see a dwarf brigade among them as well.

Once everybody settles down and are standing in position in neat rows and columns; they look forward.

Sir Valmar shouts out the command, “Thryson Legion, attention!”

Everybody snaps to attention.

Sir Trenton speaks up. “At ease, men.”

The legion goes to a relaxed stance.

“Very good, you quickly grasped what is needed to be achieved. We have a show to put on for the rest of Twainor. The other kingdoms will be here shortly. We will break for the noon repast and reassemble here at first mark after. This demonstration should last about two marks at the most. The commanders will be milling around getting a closer look to see how it is done. You can stop and explain what you are trying to achieve. Are there any questions or comments?”

A hand goes up. Sir Trenton recognizes the hand. “Sir, are they aware that Richard needs to go to the scout ship tomorrow to get more information?”

“They do. They realize that they must begin somewhere. As Richard provides us new information, we will adjust our tactics and plans. Remember that we are picking the top one hundred from our own troops for further training on our sailing vessels. The ones who don’t go will still need to be ready if something new develops.”

“How long do we have before the enemy arrives?”

“We are watching them around the world while it is night. Once they move past our furthest two planets we will know when. Richard, our Outside Helper doubts they will be here in two days. They could be here in seven or fourteen days. Regardless, we must be prepared. The one hundred men that are chosen for this demonstration only, will then be helping the captains and sergeants train the others in our army and navy when the other kingdoms leave this afternoon. Are there any other questions?”

No movement is seen. Sir Trenton looks to Sir Valmar and nods his head.

Sir Valmar takes notice. “Thryson Legion, attention!”

Everybody snaps to attention.

“Legion dismissed!”

Everybody breaks apart and heads to their quarters and gets ready for the noon repast. The men begin to talk among themselves as they walk back to their buildings. Sir Trenton and his military staff remain to greet the eleven kingdoms who will be showing up soon. Renard and I are standing there with them as well.