The Captain (The Last Horizon Book 1)

Copyright © 2023 by Hidden Gnome Publishing Book and cover design by Patrick Foster Cover painting by Simon Carr/www.scarrindustries.com All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval without permission in writing from the author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. WillWight.com 230404.01 CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Epilogue Space Bloopers Join the mailing list! About the Author Also by Will Wight CHAPTER ONE Let me tell you how I died five times in one day. We were on the planet Nezarin, and I don’t blame you if you haven’t heard of it. If you’re not a student of rare astronomical phenomena, there’s no reason you should have. Standard blue-green planet with a mid-sized yellow sun. Its native sentient population moved on centuries ago, but they left behind records of an unexplained Aetheric occurrence. Every thousand years or so, the planet experiences something you might call a kind of eclipse. For reasons unknown, the Aether gathers around the planet, forming a concentration of magic that manifests itself in the sky. In this case, a natural spell blots out the sun regardless of the viewer’s perspective. But you don’t see the sun as a black disc. Instead, it’s like the sun is cut out, and you can see…beyond. The sun of Nezarin becomes a clear lens, through which you can see the future. Wizards throughout history have left behind a sizeable body of work about this phenomenon, which the locals had a dozen names for, from the Eye of God to the Future Fall. All mages have a particular interest in unique magical events, as they can be used to magnify spells. Which was why I came to Nezarin in the first place. Employees in the silver-and-blue uniforms of the Vallenar Corporation bustled around me, setting up equipment in a wide circle. Industrial lights loomed overhead, ready to activate when the sun gave up. Aluminum crates were stacked at specific points around the circle, precisely where I had indicated. The circle was one hundred yards in diameter, drawn in ancient stones placed by the locals. This was one of the thousands of sites around the planet where they had come to view the Eye of God, in the days before they’d abandoned their home planet entirely. In the center of that circle, I had marked out a new pattern. An intricate seal of complex magical meaning, with lines workers now traced by carefully pouring glittering dust from open containers. The dust was made of powdered diamonds. No, let me rephrase, because just about any planet has diamonds. These were made from Dornoth night-diamonds, one of that planet’s most prized natural substances. We’d had to negotiate an exemption with the planetary government before they would allow us to purchase a single night-diamond. Every half-second that a worker dispensed that glittering dust, they dumped out treasure worth more than the city of their birth. And the night-diamonds weren’t even close to the most valuable component the Vallenar Corporation had found for this ritual. The expense would bankrupt many civilized systems. Which was why I had double-checked, triple-checked, and had a team of experts in orbit verify my placement of every inch of the magic circle. And still, my stomach churned with worry and anticipation. I was about to reach beyond the limitations of the universe. To get a glimpse further into the Aether, further into magic, than anyone ever had. And to bring knowledge back with me. But we only had one shot. The sun started to fade from view, light dimming gradually. Our Vallenar Corporation camp occupied a large outcropping close to the peak of a mountain, but the air was still; magical barriers kept the wind from getting anywhere close to us. To an outside observer, it would look like a subtle, invisible dome over our entire operation. I pointed out directions to my team, guiding them through steps we’d practiced hundreds of times. As an experienced Archmage of sealing and binding magic, I had designed the program they were following. I’d written the spell we were all about to cast. They didn’t need my guidance, but still I drummed fingers on my thigh. In less than an hour, my life’s work would be complete. A shuttle slowly lowered from the sky, landing outside the wind-barrier so it didn’t kick up dust. A ramp extended and more workers in silver and blue came out in pairs, each carrying another aluminum crate or massive work of art between them. After six or seven pairs, my father strode down the ramp. All the members of the Vallenar Corporation straightened at the sight of him. He wore a tailored gray suit and carried himself as though he owned everything here. Some would say he did. We weren’t a military organization, but still some people saluted. Most of them had never seen the President of the Vallenar Corporation in person. Though, since everyone here was part of my team, they saw another Vallenar every day. Benri Vallenar ignored everyone else and marched my way. He looked like the older version of me: his dark skin had more wrinkles, and the sheen of