Crux Magi: The Star Magi Saga, #4

By Andrew Dobell

War has engulfed the Nexus.
Death and destruction are everywhere.
But Amanda has a plan.

The Nexus has fractured. Dynasties fight each other in a war that spans thousands of light-years.

Amanda and the Terran Foundation are at the heart of it.
The Dynasties want her help as they engage in brutal Magical warfare, but Amanda has other worries.

A distant colony has been attacked.
The invasion of the Crux has begun, just when the Nexus is at it's most vulnerable.

In a bid to end the war, Amanda takes on a perilous mission.
But the consequences of this action could be catastrophic.

Urban Fantasy goes intergalactic in this Epic Space Fantasy that fans of Warhammer 40K, Star Wars and Dune are sure to love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Creative Edge Publishing
• Release date: May 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224143580

Book preview

About this book

Thank you for choosing to read this novel.

This series chronicles the continuing adventures of Amanda-Jane Page and follows on from the seven-book Magi Saga series.

Star Magi is part of a wider universe of books that is growing all the time. There are events and characters in this book that have come from elsewhere in the universe, and even from outside of it.

While you don’t need to read any of the other books that contain events that are referenced in this book, they do add depth to the story.

Firstly, you might consider reading the first Magi Saga series to learn more about where Amanda comes from and her history.

Other series and books set in the Magi Saga Universe include:

Wasteland Road Knights (A Post-Apocalyptic adventure)

Arcanum Black Ops (A Supernatural Thriller.)

The Aetheric Academy (An Urban Fantasy series set in a magical school)

Magi Argent (A gritty, street level Urban Fantasy series)

All my books are available on my website.

www.andrewdobellauthor.co.uk

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Also, you might want to look at reading the Quantum Legends books, which detail Amanda’s adventures in the universes of other writers.

Along a similar line, the two BOB’s Bar Anthologies feature Amanda’s first encounters with characters from other universes.

The Quantum Legends books and BOB’s Bar books are available on Amazon.

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Thank you for reading.

Andrew

Lexicon

Terms

Essentia – An extra-dimensional exotic energy that when used to fuel the wishes of the Magi. Creates Magic.

Magi – (Pronounced Mah-Guy) Humans who can harness Essentia and bend it to their will to work ‘Magic’.

Archons – Ancient creatures of god-like power, creators of the Scions. They once ruled Earth, and they want to rule humanity again.

Scions – Creatures of nightmare and legends. Vampires, Werewolves, and more. Created by the Archons.

Nomad – Magi who serve the Archons or Crux. Magi who walk the dark path.

Crux – Ancient alien creatures of immense power who fought the first Star Magi and lost. They retreated to an area of space close to the galactic core. Similar to the Archons

Aegis – The Magical Shield that Magi use to protect themselves.

Aetheric Realm – The Spirit World.

Riven – Humans with no Magical ability.

Initiated Riven – Riven who are aware of Magic.

Aeon – Beings that live between universes and outside of time. Amanda’s mother, Sophia, is an Aeon.

The Sundering – 10,000 years ago, the Archons attempted to destroy the Magi with their Magic. It didn’t work as intended. Rather than separating the Magi from their Magic, it only weakened their connection to it, resulting in less new Magi, a slowing of a Magi’s advancement through their ranks, and no more guaranteed Magi children between two Magi parents.

The Un-Sundered – The Sundering only effected the Magi who were on Earth at the time, and all new Magi on Earth since. The Magi who had left Earth before this event were unaffected. They are the Un-Sundered.

The Restoration – The removal of the barrier to the Spirit world. When the Archons escaped their prison that the Demiurge had trapped them inside of.

Organisations & Locations

Nexus Arcadia – The central group of Magi in space. Primarily made up of Dynasties

Dynasties – Ancient, aristocratic, and powerful Magi families.

Terran Foundation – The merging of several pro-Sol groups, including The Foundation and the Terran Alliance. The organisation grew out of the old Sol Protectorate.

Created by the Tempus Dynasty, the Foundation was a neutral Magi group based at Proxima Centauri (The Star closest to Earth’s Sun) who hosted the Nexus Council.

The Terran Alliance was a collection of smaller groups, including the Ormond Dynasty, the Magi Council of Earth, the Wraith mercenary group, and several systems close to Sol.

The Accord – A group of Dynasties who oppose the Magi of Earth joining the Nexus and gaining as much power as they have so quickly. They see the swift rise to power of the Terrans as a threat to their power and are fighting back. Their actions are bringing the Nexus closer to war.

The Sol Protectorate – The exclusion zone around Earth, the rules that prevent Earth joining the Nexus, and the governing body that polices this.

The Earth was left to advance at its own rate by the Magi of the Nexus, so that while the Earth is still in the early twenty-first century, out beyond the solar system, there is a vast interstellar civilisation of humans. The Ormond Dynasty managed the Sol Protectorate with help from the Foundation of the Nexus, and the Sentinels of Earth.

Sol Prime – A huge city-sized space station about two hundred AU from Sol (Earth’s Sun).

Ultima Thule – A large castle on Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, the location of the Magi Council of Earth.

Axia – The city planet at Proxima Centauri, home of the Nexus Council.

The Quantum Realm – Amanda’s personal Magical realm located in the space between universes just outside of our universe.

The Sentinels – An Earth group dedicated to keeping Magi and Riven affairs separate, they were also the former prison guards for the Archons.

Crux – Ancient god-like creatures of evil who want to destroy the Nexus. Also, the group of Nomad Magi, Dragons, and Scions who follow them.

Dynasties of Note:

The Ormond Dynasty – A small Dynasty based at Sol Prime, led by Ylena Ormond.

The Tempus Dynasty – Leaders of the former Foundation, and custodians of the Nexus Council. They have a pro-Sol stance.

The Valk Dynasty – The first Dynasty to oppose the Terran Ascendancy. Tend to be isolationist and authoritarian.

The Wraxleith Dynasty – Allies of the Valk, between them they form the backbone of the Accord. A proud, fierce, and expansionist Dynasty.

The Septhian Dynasty – A part of the Terran Foundation, they are elegant and egalitarian with a focus on the natural world.

The Arcturus Dynasty – A part of the Terran Foundation, they are strong, stoic, and viewed as a little rough around the edges.

The Dimande Dynasty – A young but proud Dynasty, who set up further from the Nexus than most. Allies with the Solidaire Dynasty and supportive of Earth.

Concord Prime – Not really a Dynasty, they function independently of the Nexus. Ruled by a group formed from the oldest Un-Sundered Magi who left Earth before the Sundering.  They’re powerful, isolationist, but usually peaceful.

Characters

Amanda-Jane Page – A Magus from Earth. The daughter of an Aeon (extra-dimensional being) and human, she’s been marked as someone with a destiny in the fight against the darkness.

Sabine – A Magus from New Orleans, trained in Special Ops. She’s a sensation junkie and occasional lover of Amanda’s.

Rane Ormond – Daughter to the Matriarch of the Ormond Dynasty and the wild-child of that family.

Jinx – AI from another universe.

Matt Walker – A Riven human from Earth and a bit of a computer wiz.

Samhain – Amanda’s sabretooth cat and Familiar.

Trevelyan – Ancient Magus. Chair of the Earth Magi Council, and a member of the assembly leading the Terran Alliance.

Elden Tempus – Head of the Tempus Dynasty, speaker of the Nexus Council.

Dasha Ormond – Foppish brother to Rane.

Ylena Ormond – Magus. Mother to Dasha and Rane. The Matriarch of the Ormond Dynasty. Killed by Anastasia. Rane took her place as Matriarch.

Crystal – Leader of the Sentinels.

Valerya – A Weredragon woman who’s been fighting the Crux for thousands of years.

Aris – A stoic Riven soldier, undercover agent, and companion of Valerya.

Astrid – Magus leader of the paramilitary group, the Wraiths. Friend to Amanda.

Anastasia – Nomad Magus from Earth with plans to gain power.

The Demiurge – Ancient, powerful creature who first banished the Archons to their Spirit Realm prison ten thousand years ago. Has been missing ever since.

Sophia – An Aeon and Amanda’s mother.

Theletos – Powerful leader of the Crux.

Previously...

Freed from their prison in the Aetheric Realm, the Archons were liberated from Earth by the Crux during an attack by a flight of Dragons.

Having successfully covered up the attack, hiding it from humanity, the Magi of Earth realise that the Magi of the Nexus cannot protect Earth and take matters into their own hands.

Much to the displeasure of most of the Dynasties of the Nexus, who see the Terrans as a threat to their power, the Terrans join the Nexus, helped by a few within the Nexus who support them, such as the Foundation.

Amanda and the new Terran Alliance know that the Archons have joined with the Crux and are a growing threat to the Nexus. Amanda wishes only to unite the Magi to fight the Crux and Archons. The Dynasties, however, don’t see the danger. They defeated the Crux once before, thousands of years ago, and don’t understand why they couldn’t do the same again.

As the Terran Alliance ascends to the Nexus, several Dynasties who oppose them, and disbelieve their warnings about the Crux, join forces to create the Accord, an organisation of Magi whose goal is to stop the Terrans.

Violence breaks out, and Amanda is forced to deal with these incidents.

Meanwhile, growing frustrated with the politics of the Nexus, Crystal chooses to travel to Crux Space to find the Demiurge, who imprisoned the Archons thousands of years ago before going missing. Crystal eventually found Anka, a Magus and former lover of the Demiurge. She told her that the Demiurge was held by the Crux in Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the centre of the galaxy.

Fighting between the Terran Alliance and the Accord breaks out. Dynasty spies within the Foundation are expelled, and the Foundation begins to restructure.

Amanda fights Anastasia again, a Magus and Weredragon who has infiltrated the Accord and is pushing for war.

Following another battle, the Foundation and the Terran Alliance join to become the Terran Foundation. When this is announced to the Nexus Council, the Dynasties split, with several leaving the Nexus and joining the Accord in protest.

Anastasia hunts down a Powerful Un-Sundered Magus, and consumes their power, increasing hers.

War breaks out between the Nexus and the Accord, and Amanda helps fight off an Accord strike, defeating Admiral Orlan of the Valk. Later, Anastasia leads a strike at Sol Prime. Amanda helps defeat them and drives them off, but not before Anastasia kills Ylena Ormond, the Matriarch of the Ormond Dynasty.

In the aftermath, Rane discovers someone within the Ormond Dynasty helped Anastasia and the Accord.

Meanwhile, Amanda investigates an attack on a distant Septhian colony and discovers it was the work of the Crux. Before they leave, a ship appears with Crystal inside. Then, having followed her, the Crux attack. Amanda defeats them, and is keen to talk to Crystal about what she knows...

The Nexus War Map

Endless War

Sheridan, Velorum System, Terran Foundation, 250 Light-years from Sol

Dain stood on the rear ramp of the dropship as it banked and dropped towards the plascrete. He held onto one of the struts as they came in behind TFSF lines. They were on the outskirts of the city, and there was just a single forlorn squad left of the operation to take the airfield.

The Accord was fighting a losing battle on Sheridan, and with just one more push, they might be able to break their resolve and force them to retreat.

Dain hoped that taking this airfield might be part of that push.

As they dropped the last few metres, enemy fire struck the dropship's armour, with little effect at this range.

Dain ducked, but the armour held firm before they dropped out of sight.

~Trying to get yourself killed?~ Porsha asked.

Dain turned and looked back into the hold, where Porsha stood with the rest of his squad. His helmet withdrew, and he smiled at her. ~Why, would you miss me?~

Porsha raised her eyebrows. ~Perhaps a little.~

~I’ll take it.~

The intense fighting on Sheridan—a planet on the front lines of the Accord’s offensive against the Nexus—had served to tighten the bonds between his squadmates, including between himself and Porsha.

The dropship bumped down. Nearby, a man in TFSF armour with the markings of a sergeant stood waiting for them. His armour had seen better days, Dain noticed as he approached, flanked by two privates.

I warned you to stay out of their sightlines, sir, the sergeant remarked.

I know, Sergeant, Dain replied. But I wanted to see the lay of the land. How’s it going?

Well, as you can see, they have us pinned down. We’ve tried to get over there, but so far, no luck.

Well, Sergeant Orin, let’s see what we can do to change that.

Yes sir, he replied, glancing at Porsha. You’re a Magus, right?

I am, Porsha replied.

We both are, Dain added.

I think there’s at least one Accord Magus in there, from what I can infer.

We’ll take that under advisement, Sergeant, Dain answered, and turned to his squad. Fan out. Get a lay of the land, we want options.

Griff, Elva, and the others replied in the affirmative and moved out as Dain turned to Porsha. ~What do you think?~

~I think you’re enjoying ordering them around, aren’t you?~ she asked privately through their Mental Link.

Dain shrugged.

~Yeah, I thought so.~ Porsha turned to the nearby Sergeant and got his attention. Are there any sewers around here?

There are, but they’ve been blown to bits between here and there, he answered, pointing to the main building on the airbase where the Accord troops were holed up.

Porsha smiled. Then we’ll just have to make our own tunnel.

Oh, good, Dain cut in, for a moment there, I thought you were going to force us to walk through shit.

If I need someone to walk through shit, trust me, you’ll be the first to know, she replied.

Further investigation confirmed their suspicions that a tunnel was almost certainly going to be the only way over there for both squads, something that he