The older man blinked at the boy in surprise and replied, "I've known a lot of warlocks and wizards who know an unusual amount of spells, but I am not certain that I have met any who believe that they can commit books to memory." He paused looking upward in thought and said, "Well, if you can truly recall every word on a page, maybe you could work with the archivists to make copies of the books you have read some time. That would be a good use of your unusual skill at least."
Holdy wrinkled his nose in distaste at the thought of sitting at a desk simply rewriting a book for the long hours each individual tome would take. Even if he could write them as quickly as he could read and memorize a spell book, the amount of time spent on such a task would take him away from his real goal of being able to actually use the spells he had memorized.
"Well, maybe someday, if it was necessary. For now I would rather read and learn the spells first," the boy stated to the older wizard. Research wizards and librarians lived in the stacks of the library and seemed to forget about the actual practices of magic, Holdy thought looking at the old man who always seemed to be behind his desk. When Geerloc wasn't sitting there, he could be seen returning the books to their places in the library instead.
Giving a look of disappointment, the old man raised his finger in the air and replied, "Tut, tut, just remember if someone didn't take the time to write down their experiences and spells in the first place; you would have nothing to read. Young wizards like you should remember that as well."
"Maybe once I have read all the books in the library that I feel a need to read; then I will start writing them down or making my own books instead. For now, I need to learn how to be a warlock before I can write down my own experiences and spells, Wizard Geerloc."
The old wizard sighed and gave him a nod before waving the young wizard away.
Holdy walked away from the desk and climbed the stairs. He had been working on the books in the nature section, though many told of how to manipulate stone there as well. It was a topic that seemed on the mind of many warlocks who lived under the ceiling beneath the weight of a mountain. Every building and spire had been crafted by the emperor's goblins, orcs or armored viles to one extent or another. Their sense of how to work stone was almost magical, but the warlocks were often the ones who finished the process strengthening nature with their magic to make something stronger than the other creatures could provide just by their crafting.
After selecting a pair of books, the boy wandered to a familiar table. He set them down and peered over the railing seeing the tables of warlocks and apprentices below him. It also gave him a view of the front doors.
The nostalgia of the spot touched him for a moment. This was where his small group of friends had gathered because Palose had always been drawn to this place. Sylvaine had met him here and soon brought Defrienne and Maya, which in turn drew Turless and then Holdy to join them as well. The two former bullies, who were also friends of Turless, Malfaes and Selvor, had eventually joined their group as well though Holdy thought that they only came because of the pretty girls.
It was a stupid reason to come to the library, though admittedly the number of female wizards was much smaller than the males for some reason. He had yet to hear or read the reason for such things, though it was known that some warlocks had been born in the tanks of the Breeding Pit. Perhaps men had been chosen because they wouldn't have the risk of becoming pregnant. Mothers were useless as wizards once their attention was pulled away to tend children, even if wizards often birthed more wizards. Magic needed to continue, but the tanks avoided the natural part of that equation.
Even so, Selvor and Malfaes had taken a risk joining the group after having crossed Palose. The story of the resurrection man defeating the young wizards when they tried to bully him had spread throughout the other magic wielders in Ensolus. Warlocks whispered of the encounter at the library tables for weeks afterward and some had wondered if the resurrection man needed to be destroyed. He had laid hands on true men after all. They believed that was a foreshadowing of his turning into one of the failed creations that had been destroyed by generations of necromancers.
Palose was the first obvious resurrection man to be left to live in Ensolus by his master. All others that were recorded in the library archives had either killed their masters or been killed by them; though some had been killed after their masters' deaths instead, he supposed. For whatever reason, Master Atrouseon had chosen not to kill his creation and Palose had even become a favorite of the emperor as well making him as safe as anyone could be. Warlocks still spoke of destroying the resurrection man, Holdy knew, but now it was because of the power and wealth he had attained rather than because he wasn't a natural being.
Three ageless looking wizards suddenly wandered towards him from his left. Holdy wasn't even sure if it was their shadows or their magic that made him turn towards the three purposefully approaching his table.
Why did it always seem to take three to make a group of bullies, he wondered? Though perhaps he was judging too quickly, the boy thought; but he had been picked on by Selvor and Malfaes with Turless in tow until the last of their group convinced Selvor that Holdy should be treated as one of their own. He was billed as being smart enough to be of use to them. Though he was younger than the three bullies, Holdy was encouraged to help teach them spells that he found that could be of use.
Only Turless had actually been a friend to him. The last boy had been drawn in by the older warlocks because he was a cousin to Selvor and seemed to have little say in his incorporation into the trio.
"You are Holdy, right?" one of those approaching him inquired bluntly.
Holdy wondered if he should stand. If they wanted to be violent, they outnumbered him and the wizard knew very little of how to defend himself with his fists. Turless had offered to teach him what he knew from Palose's teachings or even to bring him to the trainings back when the resurrection man had been around more; but Holdy was too busy learning spells and reading to accept the offer. Perhaps he hadn't thought he needed it here in Ensolus. They were all protected by the emperor's power, but that didn't mean there weren't those who might tend towards violence in the city. Actually it was likely the opposite of that.
People who coveted power, wealth and just about anything else could kill for it here. Few would dare try to harm a warlock or wizard, but within their circles most tended to hide their true magical strength just to avoid drawing unwanted attention.
"I am," he answered after swallowing nervously.
"You are friends with that... resurrection man, aren't you?" the elven warlock asked though the last words seemed both hesitant and tainted with revulsion for the necromantic creation.
"It's hard to say with Palose," Holdy replied reserving judgment on that question. Palose was sort of the linchpin to their group, yet it was really Sylvaine who had drawn the others to him in the first place. "I think he just put up with us hanging around more than he was actually a friend," the boy put into words what he was thinking. "Why?"
A slight look of disappointment crossed the young elf's face. The two flanking him looked at each other quizzically. "Well, we were hoping that you knew him well enough to introduce us to him actually."
The boy paused again looking confused about what more he should say. Behind him a fourth figure approached quickly and complained, "Effenore, you three are completely useless, aren't you?"
The voice was feminine and almost musical in spite of the words of disgust coming from her mouth.
A beautiful young woman pushed through the three larger men as if they were just doors in her way.
Smiling at him, the blonde haired girl almost seemed to radiate light, which felt out of place in the dark city of Ensolus. "I am Talithia. I apologize for these three. When it comes to introductions, they really are quite useless."
The girl turned away from Holdy frowning at the elven men who took a step back and looked towards the floor. She was half a foot shorter than even the shortest of the
men and likely gave up at least forty pounds to the lightest, but apparently it was the girl who was in charge. She managed to rebuke them without any real malice saying, "These men serve my house, but they are much better at magic than diplomacy."
Turning to face Holdy once more, her left hand gestured to the chair beside the apprentice. The closest of the men drew the chair back and the girl sat.
"Allow me to introduce myself, since Effenore has been remiss in addressing that for all of us. I am Talithia De'Lytero, from the house Lytero, of course. That is Wizard Effenore and Wizard Adalyen. My fellow apprentice Seleyus is a distant cousin from my mother's side, though that isn't really important, I suppose. I just tend to have to justify letting him be around since he is only an apprentice.
"You are Holdy Lensher, not of a notable house; but we all have our burdens to bear, don't we?" she summed up with a musical giggle and a pretty smile.
Holdy thought that he had just been insulted, but her manner somehow softened her words to the point that he wasn't quite certain. "My family lives well enough, but we aren't nobles; if that is what you mean?"
The girl nodded holding a happy smile on her face even as he questioned her in turn.
"Well, Holdy... might I call you that?" she paused barely long enough for the boy to begin to nod. "Holdy, as a friend or acquaintance of this Palose, I was hoping to discover a little more about him; though that is only half the reason for wanting to meet with you."
"Half the reason?" he questioned suspiciously. Like any interaction in Ensolus, one often had to question the motive behind such meetings.
"Oh, don't look at me like that," Talithia grinned at him and gave him that giggle once more. "It is hardly as nefarious as you seem to think. I merely hope to become your friend in truth. You humans are so quick to judge, I swear. Only orcs seem to be more suspicious, I think."
"You hang around orcs?" Holdy queried in disbelief. This elven beauty, a lady of a royal house besides, hardly seemed the type to be hanging around the orc quarter. Holdy's home had been on the fringe of where the human and orc housing met. It was almost precise in the break between the two species as one street went from human in the east to orc in the west as they tended to avoid each other outside of the military.
Again the girl giggled, "Oh, my no, though we do have some in the garrison of our castle. The brutes have great value in that way, though I am not sure how much they have beyond being soldiers."
"I am told that most are surprisingly intelligent, which isn't that surprising since it is rumored that they were experiments grown from elven predecessors, unless the book I read about them was wrong."
The four elves looked insulted, though Holdy hadn't truly meant to insult them at all. One of the books he had read had addressed the monstrous races. Orcs were said to be elves that had been changed or perhaps cursed to become the physically more powerful creatures. It was supposedly an experiment performed by the emperor which he had started in his first life more than a thousand years ago. Orcs and goblins had been created as a controllable army for the emperor and his warlocks to dominate the old world.
When he had been cast into the silver void, all of his creations and servants tied to him had been pulled into the void with their emperor. Elves like these had given up the fight to serve the emperor also, or so another of the histories that he read had said. Holdy realized adding that would only make these four likely more hostile towards him, so he avoided adding any other insult as he waited for Talithia to continue.
"My family's bloodline is clean of such hideousness, I know; perhaps one of the lesser lines was deemed unworthy in the ancient past to create such beings; but that is not why I came to meet you, Holdy Lensher."
"You can just call me Holdy," the boy answered her earlier request again.
Her smile returned like the sun peeking out from a passing cloud. "Well, Holdy, you know this Palose well, don't you?"
He shrugged.
The gesture caused a momentary slip of her smile, but it returned quickly enough. "My family has watched as his power has grown. My uncle even worked with Atrouseon on some secret project for quite awhile. He met Palose on a number of occasions and seemed to be impressed with his magic. It was referred to as battle mage magic.
"Did he happen to teach you any of his spells?"
"Is that why you came to me?" Holdy asked in confusion, which was beginning to feel the nature of their relationship so far. "To learn of Palose's magic?"
Again the girl smiled brilliantly and she nodded. "Well, one of the reasons certainly. If this Palose has risen to draw the emperor's favor so much, his magic must be part of it.
"This Palose has only been in Ensolus for a little over a year and yet he has been drawn into the emperor's circle. He has led battles and even been made the emperor's guard on occasion from what we know.
"It was Palose's magic that led to the death of that atrocity Garosh and his fortress of rebels. His gates brought our armies to Southwall's great wall as well. We broke it hitting the defense from the north and south thanks to the resurrection man. Now he is a major force in Litsarin. We have nearly crushed all of the defenders there from what I am told."
Holdy listened to her regale him with the tales of Palose. Most he knew, but some of these were spun as more of a myth than truth. Listening to Talithia, her family appeared to believe them all.
"Palose learned the gate spell as a warlock's apprentice here. Atrouseon was a master of the spell also, so likely he taught his student as well; though Palose rarely said anything about what his master taught him. He actually seemed to think little of Atrouseon's teaching methods and spent at least half of his time here in the library.
"He was a full battle mage in Southwall in his previous life, though he is still pretty young. I would guess that he was pretty skilled, but the strength of his magic power was also limited until coming to Ensolus."
That last bit made all of the wizards listening to him perk up with interest. Palose had found a way to increase his power in magic steadily since arriving in Ensolus. Holdy had wondered how he had gone from being barely as strong as the weakest wizard to someone at least twice as strong since meeting the mage.
"His power in magic has increased? He isn't just politically more powerful?" Wizard Effenore couldn't help himself from asking from behind the girl.
Talithia turned her head and shushed him with a frown. "Be quiet, Effenore, you had your chance.
"Since it has been asked, however, you say that his magic has increased? That isn't something that he taught you or one of your friends is it?"
"Not to me..." his statement faded as Holdy suddenly remembered seeing Sylvaine, though she was supposed to be dead so maybe it wasn't her after all. At least, it shouldn't be her, but she had been with the other girl who had looked like Warwitch Oween also. Both had felt different to him and were likely more powerful than the people he believed them to be. He used his virtually photographic memory and tried to remember the feeling of their magic. Holdy hadn't thought about it then; but holding the feeling of the strangers' magic up against Sylvaine and Oween's, the boy wondered if that wasn't why they felt so similar yet different from before.
Palose knew Sylvaine well. Could he have somehow saved her? Holdy thought of the last time he had seen the resurrection man. How had his aura appeared to the apprentice? Was that oddness of his aura the same as the two women he had seen? That should be impossible though. Could Atrouseon have created other resurrection men or women before he died? It was improbable and Holdy wasn't sure how either man could have known Warwitch Oween anyway.
"You thought of someone he has trained?" Talithia asked tilting her head to the side in curiosity as she tried to read the younger boy in front of her.
Holdy's attention returned to the young woman in front of him. His memory didn't have her in it before this day, the apprentice realized. His memory couldn't find her face and even without his precise memory, Holdy would have remembered someone like her.
The questioned surprised Talithia, but the girl recovered quickly and answered, "I am an apprentice, but I have trained separately from your school. My family preferred to teach me privately using Effenore and Adalyen among others. Even my Uncle Thielius has taught me some of his alchemical skills, though that had little to do with spells as much as creating things from potions and such."
"How old are you? I can never tell with elves. You age differently than humans. You could be fifty years old and I would still think that you were sixteen, I bet."
Pulling back at his question, the wizards behind her stepped forward menacingly and Holdy guessed that he had said something to insult them again though the boy wasn't sure what it could be until Adalyen growled, "You don't ask a lady her age, boy!"
Talithia recovered from her initial start and patted the air as if to push the men back. "Oh, enough Adalyen, Holdy is still just a boy himself. He doesn't know any better.
"I am barely older than you, Holdy," the girl replied smiling again. "I am just sixteen rotations and you are... thirteen, I think?"
"Fourteen," the apprentice responded immediately thinking his unintentional guess was the reverse of his spoken opinion. She hadn't felt like someone fifty years old, however, but Talithia being only sixteen was quite the surprise. "Isn't being sixteen among your kind considered just a child?"
Given him a sniff of disgust, the girl gave him the haughty reply, "I have a lot longer before I can expect to die of old age, but being sixteen doesn't make me anymore of a baby than you are. I am still older than you in fact, but unlike you humans I will outlive you several times over. If you want me to remember you better, then you should try being nicer, Holdy. When you are talking about sore knees and bad hips, I will still be able to run like a young girl."
Battle Mage Broken Empire (Tales of Alus Book 14) Page 3