The elves are back, and this time they have no interest in taking prisoners. Dodging guile and dark magic, the Voidhawk is thrust from bad to worse. Escape seems impossible until Dexter and his crew discover an ancient secret long hidden by the elves. A secret so old even Jenna knows little about. Invoking the power of the elders is not for the weak it heart;  it could leave them lost forever.
Everything has a price in the void, and the cost the crew of the Voidhawk must face to survive is one they may not be willing to pay.

Word Count: 109,364

Mystery, romance

EXCERPT:

“Rosh, take the helm, we need to not be here anymore,” Dexter called a couple of hours later after the hole had been reinforced and covered as well as was possible.

Rosh looked up, surprised, then nodded and took off at a jog across the decking. He stumbled on a rope he had accidentally coiled around his leg, but recovered before he could fall and truly embarrass himself. Logan moved to assist Keshira at the mainsail while Bailynn and Willa stood ready. Xander, refreshed but not yet steady on his feet, was on the forecastle with Dexter, staring at the dark orb.
 

“Anything?” Dexter asked him, turning back to the wizard.
 

Xander shook his head, one hand going to massage his temples and forehead. “I saw… something.”
 

“Me too, but that was years ago and it was the most blessed thing the Gods could give a man,” Dexter replied smartly.
 

Xander looked at him, confused.
 

“My first woman,” Dexter said, rolling his eyes. “She’s as much help right now as you are!”
 

“Oh, right,” Xander mumbled. “Sorry Captain. I mean there was something there. I strained and almost broke through. I had a glimpse of something… I know it, but it’s gone. The memory was snatched from me by whatever it is that prevents me from seeing it.”
 

“And that… thing?” Dexter asked, jerking his thumb towards the black planet.
 

Xander shook his head. “That’s it… or part of it. There’s powerful magic about it. More than that I can not tell you.”
 

Dexter sighed. He knew no more now than he had when the wizard was unconscious. “You wizards and witches, you’re not good for much, you know?”
 

Xander bristled a little but shrugged as he realized he was of little use. “I can tell you to steer clear of it, would you know that much without me?”
 

Dexter chuckled. “Giant ball of nothing the size of a sun and you think I want to go near it?”
 Xander sighed and looked away at it again.
 

“Captain!” Rosh’s voice echoed up from below deck.
 

Dexter glanced around, making sure nothing was amiss, then hurried down to the bridge. He passed the door to his and Jenna’s cabin and saw her open the door and stick her head out. His eyes widened as she slipped her vest over shoulders and hurried after him. The glimpse of her athletic breasts was always a welcome sight, but this time he was glad to not be distracted by them.
 

“What is it?” He asked, ignoring his elven lover as she tied the laces of her vest beside him.
 

“There’s something out there,” Rosh said, his voice distant as he struggled to handle both his body and the ship at the same time.
 

“Aye, it’s big and dark,” Dexter said, not impressed.
 

“No… I mean something smaller. A… A port. It’s just coming around the planet, port side.”
 

“It’s rotating?” Dexter asked, surprised. “Well, take us in, let’s check it out.”
 

Rosh grunted and Dexter and Jenna turned to hurry back up to the main deck. Bekka, yawning, stuck her head out of her room as they passed by. Dexter caught a glimpse of her nude body and he gasped in disbelief. “Do any of the women on here wear any clothes?” He grumbled.
 

Bekka’s door shut behind them and Dexter put no more thought to it. In a few moments he was back on the deck and issuing orders to let out the sails and make way for the left side of the black ball of non-light. Bekka joined them a few moments later, still adjusting her clothing as she walked up to them. She said nothing but instead stood beside Xander and watched silently while they picked up speed.
 

The blackness grew at an agonizingly slow pace, proving not only how far away it was but also how massive it must be. Worried glances to the aft revealed nothing but a rapidly retreating field of rocks. No sign of their elven pursuit appeared.
 

“Did they give up?” Dexter mused aloud.
 

Jenna followed his gaze to the stern and beyond. “Not a chance,” she said. “We’re still in elven territory. They’re just waiting for us to come back out.”
 

“What if we come out somewhere else?”
 

The scolding expression she sported answered for her. “Dex, they’ll be surrounding it and waiting for us.”
 

“It’s pretty big,” he pointed out, gesturing with his arms around them. It was true, while they had managed to pass through the ring of asteroids in a matter of less than half an hour, the sphere of space rocks encircled the black orb they sailed towards at a considerable distance.
 

“Planets…”
 

“Where?” Dexter asked, turning to Bekka and trying to see where she was looking.
 

Bekka shook her head abruptly, as though bringing herself back around. “The rocks… they were planets.”