Battle Mage Broken Empire (Tales of Alus Book 14)

by Donald Wigboldy

  Torva kept his face as smooth as he could. His smile remained, but the hunter had noticed something in the wolf leader's words as well. Cravaugh was a pack leader, he knew, and the elf wondered if the wolf had remained behind for other reasons than the quiet mountains away from the covered city of Ensolus. Most might believe the wolves and mountain lions had been scattered or decided to remain behind because they hated being kept inside the cave city. It might even be part of their motivation.

  On the other hand, there was the possibility that Cravaugh and his pack had joined Garosh in leaving the emperor. The defensive words would make most wizard hunters curious. It was a technique of those trying to hide to use questions to try and throw off those looking for them also. The problem for Torva was that the pack leader didn't ask if the emperor wanted to reopen the fortress, but asked if 'someone' wanted to use it instead.

  He wanted to ask if the fortress had been reopened already. It was too blunt a question and might bring the remainder of Cravaugh's pack down on them. Even two trolls and his hunters couldn't face a full pack safely. If there were werelions around also to help, they could be severely outnumbered based on how many had stayed behind during the evacuation after Garosh's surrender.

  "Oh you know how the emperor and his generals are," he started to dance around the wolf's questions.

  "I do," the pack leader replied with a nod.

  Torva's elven eyes were better than a human man's from what he could tell and the squad leader noted subtle movement around them as if the nod were a cue instead for his pack.

  "Cravaugh, can I ask if someone holds the fortress now? It doesn't seem like a place wolves would want to use for their base. You have the run of the mountains, unless Southwall remains nearby keeping you from the hunt."

  Again the wolf's wariness passed behind those eyes. His thick black beard might obscure some of the emotion in his jaw, but Torva could catch much of what Cravaugh thought from those eyes.

  "We've known each other for awhile, haven't we, elf?" the pack leader asked and a new emotion crossed his face. It was a look of regret. Torva worried about that even more.

  "We have," the hunter answered.

  "Do we want to continue this dance? I know things that you want to know and maybe more that you haven't even considered." Cravaugh trailed off and Torva wondered if the wolf was considering telling him more for free. If he chose to answer the hunter's questions, did that mean the pack wouldn't even let them leave alive anyway?

  Cautiously, the elf mused, "I guess the more important question is, dare I receive the answer? You have your pack with you, don't you, Cravaugh?"

  "A pack is as strong as the weakest of its wolves and a wolf is as strong as its pack. No wolf strays too far from its family, elf. You hunters are a bit similar, at least when it comes to your hunt," the rough looking pack leader responded with his arms still crossed. Torva wondered if he changed his posture, would the pack descend upon them to test the hunters' mettle.

  Sighing, Torva asked the question that might get them killed. The wolf was right. This dance had to end sometime. "What do you know, Cravaugh? Is the fortress in Southwall's hands or have Garosh's men survived?"

  Cravaugh didn't respond as expected, however, as the wolf man asked in turn, "The emperor is dead, isn't he, squad leader?"

  Stiffening in shock, the elf wondered how someone so far from Ensolus could guess at that. A sudden thought crossed his mind. "Did the emperor bond you with his magic that might make you ask such a thing?"

  Surprising him again, Cravaugh shook his head. "You know as well as I that the emperor didn't have as many tied to him in this world. What are you really about, Torva?" he finished seeming to look into the elven leader as the wolf asked those words.

  Torva stepped away from the trolls without expressing an order to his men. Given the circumstances, he was exposing himself and weakening the team; but the hunter sensed that there was something that the wolf knew that might be best spoken between just the two of them. His true motives weren't known to all of the others. He could probably trust them all, but Ensolus didn't create trust in others easily. Trust was for fools, or so the expression went.

  He moved closer to the pack leader looking up several inches to the taller man. Torva was reasonably tall for his kind, but this human werewolf was much taller and likely outweighed him by fifty pounds, most of which appeared to be muscle.

  "How do you know about the emperor, if you are living so far away?"

  "That is why you have left the protection of your pack?" the wolf questioned with a frown.

  Wanting to growl in annoyance at yet another question answering his; Torva instead replied, "You obviously know that he is gone. I don't know how, but I guess it is best to simply level with you. As men go, I believe that you are honest. I thought you straightforward until today."

  Cravaugh chuckled at the last. "I never used to have things to hide until I came here. It is easy to be honest when you know nothing of importance to anyone."

  Agreeing with that bit of wisdom, Torva asked, "Does your pack side with Southwall now or do you simply hide here where they might not choose to look for you?"

  Sighing at the elf's question, the wolf leader responded, "Southwall knows we are here. We do not serve them, though I suppose one could say that we are aligned if not completely allied.

  "What are you really doing here, squad leader? If you hope to find a safe haven in the fortress or hope to use it as a base to attack Southwall, then turn around and go home."

  "It's... occupied then," Torva understood and cut through the warning. "Does Southwall hold it?"

  "As much as we are their allies, they do not live inside anymore than my people do."

  "Some of Garosh's people survived and reopened the fortress," was his assumption.

  Cravaugh shook his head and revealed the biggest surprise of all, "Garosh survived. He was one of those who fought the emperor. How else could an old wolf in the middle of nowhere know that the Dark One is dead?"

  The term was usually used by their enemies, but there were always those who knew of the cloak of darkness that the emperor used to mask his personage. It had made it easy for the name to stick when the lord never seemed to show himself to his people as anything other than the moving shadow with the powerful aura of his magic radiating out of that darkness to cow anyone with magic inside them.

  "But the emperor was supposed to have killed him."

  "The emperor took his magic back. His brother saved Garosh by giving him enough magic to survive. The lord's power isn't what it was, but he's gathered some strength with his resurrection men.

  "Unlike the Dark One's former hold, these men are bonded to each other like a family instead of a master and his slaves."

  Torva asked another tricky question in a series of many. "If we came seeking sanctuary here...?"

  Cravaugh's right hand rose from the cross of his chest to stroke his thick beard in thought. "Southwall does have a few smaller patrols outside the fortress. They seem to trust Garosh, but they haven't recalled them all. Sometimes they even weather inside the fortress, but the men don't seem comfortable inside; not that I can blame them. The stone collapsed once, who would want to risk it again?

  "Sanctuary might be possible, but not easily gained," the wolf man seemed to decide finally. "Why would you consider it? You would be in Southwall."

  "The city already begins to feel too dangerous. There are some wizards and warlocks of a mind to take some of the students and teachers away where it might be safer."

  A raucous laugh from the pack leader echoed in the mountains even as the snow tried to deaden it again. "Hiding in your enemy's home is safer than your own?"

  It was an odd choice of words to Torva's thinking, but he replied, "Do you think that we could hide in these mountains without Southwall coming to destroy us too soon?"

  Cravaugh considered the question and let out a sigh as his eyes rose to the blue sky above them. The elf could barely lift his eye
s to the sight after so many years kept beneath the stone of the mountain surrounding Ensolus.

  "Perhaps, but not here, I think. You would need to find a better place. Would your warlocks build a fortress in a mountain again?"

  The question made the elf look up squinting at the sky. It was too bright, but without a ceiling of stone above him, he did feel freer. The mountain was a comfort as it held them in its embrace, but his ancestry came from the forests of the old world. Stone was for goblins and armored viles.

  "Maybe they will choose to create a castle in the mountains. I am just a hunter, not a planner of a school for warlocks and wizards."

  Grunting at that, Cravaugh suggested, "If you are set on hiding in Southwall, I would suggest looking further to the south. The mountains are enough to keep most men away. My pack has sent runners a few days run in different directions. There is plenty of stone and deeper into the mountains there are no manmade trails at least." He shrugged and added, "I don't know what you hope to find, elf."

  "I'm not sure I do either," Torva sighed.

  "Holdy, open the gate for those without magic," the squad leader said upon his return.

  The boy frowned only slightly surprised, but his men turned to look at him less forgiving of his words.

  Telus argued, "At least with us and the trolls to protect you, we could fight these wolves if we had to..."

  "We're not here to fight them. The fortress is a bust. Cravaugh already warned me that there would be resistance inside, so it isn't safe."

  Effelo asked, "You trust him?"

  "Wolves aren't much for lying. I've known Cravaugh a long time. I don't have any reason to doubt his warning this time."

  Meyelius was their oldest member, though as an elf, he was still quite young. His intellect would have made him a good wizard if he had magic, but not all elves were blessed just as the other races had their limited numbers of magic wielders. "You are planning to continue on with just your warlocks and maybe this boy? What do you hope to accomplish, commander?" he asked using an elevated version of his title as the squad leader.

  "The guild sent us with enough amulets for changing into shrikes for us to continue to scout from the air. I'll send the kid back with you. I can take a lodestone with to let Holdy open another gate for us to return later."

  His men didn't seem to like the idea of using magic to change their form. It wasn't the same as the werewolves, but it felt too similar for many of them.

  Yelon suggested, "If you propose to fly, maybe just you and I should remain for now. If the enemy has scouts in the area, having four of us flying around might draw more attention than just the two of us, cousin."

  The idea had merit and Torva quickly considered it even though Effelo and Silas appeared ready to argue with it should their leader decide to send them home. "Perhaps you're right, Yelon. We don't need everyone, but even four might be more than necessary."

  "I know that he is your cousin," Silas began, "but either Effelo or I should go with you. We are your hunters, sir."

  Holdy had another worry. "How will I know when you'll need me?"

  Pulling a pair of stones from a pouch, Torva said, "Imbue your magic into these stones. This one I will keep for you to connect another gate. This one is a softer stone that I can break to signal for you to open the doorway for us when we're ready to return."

  The squad leader hated to bring extra attention on their mission, but he added to his men, "Remember to avoid saying anything about this mission to anyone. I will report in when I get back. I don't need idle lips causing trouble while I am gone."

  Most frowned at their leader and Telus said what they were thinking, "We know enough to keep quiet, Torva. It's your squad. It is your job to report, not ours."

  With enough nods, the elf waited for Holdy to imbue the two stones. A new gate opened as Effelo leant his power to the apprentice who was still recovering from the earlier trip. His regular hunters followed Silas through the doorway letting the trolls go last this time. Effelo left after and was quickly followed by Holdy.

  Yelon looked at his cousin and asked, "Do you plan to tell them of the real mission, cousin?"

  "...To create a sanctuary for Ensolus' apprentices?"

  At the nod, Torva considered the idea for only a moment before answering, "I believe that I can trust them all, but I don't plan on telling them too soon. The more who know, the more likely that the plan will get out, Yelon. We need to help Master Lesolas and the others do this without making the grand masters or generals suspicious.

  "Now come on. Use the incantation and we'll try these amulets out. Cravaugh makes me think perhaps following the mountains east while looking for a good place further south might work."

  "What is wrong with Garosh's fortress by the way?"

  "It's occupied already," he answered without telling his cousin the rest of the information the pack leader had told him. It was information best kept to himself for now, even if Yelon was family.

  Chapter 12- A Return Home

  "What's with the look, kid?"

  Holdy peered up at Effelo with a start. His eyes had rested on a point on the ground lost in thought. At the warlock's question, he simply shrugged before answering, "I hadn't planned on returning so soon. Now I'm not sure what I should do."

  Considering his dilemma, the young warlock suggested, "Well, whatever you do, kid, you might want to stop by and tell Megannah what happened. She'll probably be worrying about Torva. They're still that kind of couple... though not everyone knows that, I suppose."

  Though he was still much younger than Effelo, Holdy found it a bit amusing that the man would want to call him kid. The apprentice doubted that the warlock was even a decade older than him, but as he considered the suggestion, Holdy actually thought that he was probably correct.

  It was still early enough that he could make the morning class, but there was nothing being taught that he didn't already know and have a handle on. Talithia hadn't been incorrect that the current speed of the class was probably holding him back a bit. Most of the time, the apprentice would accomplish the chosen spell or task at the beginning and would spend the rest of the time helping his friends who might be struggling.

  While that might frustrate some, Holdy didn't mind helping either, especially Maya who almost always needed his help most. The thought of the girl made him start to smile and luckily the wizard hunters had already left the room he had brought them back to using the lodestones he had placed there earlier.

  The hunters broke up to do whatever they were supposed to do, but Holdy wasn't one of them really. He was the gate wizard and nothing more. His role was a bit disappointing as well, the apprentice thought with a sigh. He had hoped for some kind of adventure, but a short confrontation with the werewolves wasn't close to what the boy had hoped.

  Sighing, Holdy started to walk out of the room slowly. His lodestones would remain behind for the inevitable return of the squad leader and his cousin.

  The apprentice could feel the charged lodestones moving in the distance like a tickle at the back of his mind. When Torva decided to break the signal stone, the hunter could leave a pair of stones to mark the place where they would leave off. All Holdy would have to do is open the gate to bring them home. He didn't know when that would be. It could be later today or a few days from now. Torva and Yelon had supplies for three days, so at the latest, Holdy could assume that they would summon him by then.

  Another worry had been pushing at the back of his mind since the attack on the city. Thoughts of taking an unnecessary class or even going to the library started to take a backseat to the idea of checking on another part of the city, one he hadn't checked on for quite awhile. Basically he hadn't bothered since leaving for the magic training school.

  Holdy agreed with Effelo's opinion that he should tell Megannah, but that could wait. All he could say was that Torva was still in the mountains looking for an alternate site to build... the apprentice wasn't sure what it would be in truth. Would Master L
esolas send wizards to create a fortress or castle? Sending goblins and other creatures to dig out a small city was both unlikely and inconvenient to their plan, he would assume.

  They could send small groups like the wizard hunters led by Torva, but large scale crews of goblins and armored viles would certainly draw attention. Even if they wouldn't, would Lesolas want the creatures to know of his castle? Did they want others to come along that didn't have magic potential?

  Holdy considered the idea. If Lesolas hoped to make a sanctuary for the apprentices where he believed that they would be safe from men like Echolus, was it supposed to just be a school for wizards and warlocks? Did they want wizard hunters to come, even the ones without magic?

  There were more questions now than when the idea had first been proposed, and that was less than a day ago.

  The apprentice walked a bit faster upon leaving the wizard hunters' facility. He headed south, but that was hardly surprising since the fortress was set against the north wall of the cave. The protective walls surrounding the barracks ended in towers set against the wall of the cave. With the mountain serving as the fourth wall, the wizard hunters had a lot of security should Southwall come again.

  Holdy's feet eventually led him past a large amount of crumbled stone. Two masses of rubble covered two large squares set beside each other. The remains of the gate buildings, no one had taken the time to clear the stone or rebuild them. Secured buildings for wizards to use their magic to create gates, no one bothered to recreate what were basically no longer essential. They had been built to trap any enemies who might discover a way to piggyback on their gate spells. Soldiers and wizards had guarded the buildings day and night, yet somehow Southwall had discovered a way into the city using portal magic and they had destroyed the gate buildings besides.

  If Southwall believed that the buildings had been the source of magic used to create gates and send their forces around North continent, they had been quite naive. Surely whatever wizards had figured out how to enter Ensolus using the magic must realize that a portal could be made anywhere. The death of several gate wizards in attendance there at that early hour of morning had been the greater result in fact. Losing those capable of making gateways was certainly more important than the two stone buildings which had simply been a place to defend them.