Battle Mage Broken Empire (Tales of Alus Book 14)

by Donald Wigboldy

  Nodding at the wizard, Amelyer sent her away; but Megan didn't go looking for Holdy or his mother. She had learned of the boy's past and his mother during the time that she had spent as his teacher. Often with the new students, since they were so young; the veteran wizards would listen to their stories and fears to help the apprentices feel comfortable. Megan guessed that for some it was a chore, but she had never minded getting to know them better.

  She knew Holdy's mother and, since her memory was that of a wizard, Megan also knew that her name was Renelley and that she was a vendor specializing in clothing, in particular women's clothing. While she could likely find the merchant among those in the human quarter, the wizard didn't need Renelley to relay any messages. She knew where the boy was right now and how to get to him.

  The idea of helping the general in escaping might fly in the face of Grand Master Echolus and his plans, but Megannah thought perhaps it was one way to try and save as many of the innocent people living in Ensolus as she could. While the grand master might not care about them, she had discovered how much she did care. Magic and wizards might be her life now, but the young woman had once lived near the part of the city Holdy had been raised in and she knew many of the people. She couldn't completely push the thought of them away like many warlocks seemed to do as time went on and they hid among their fellow magic users.

  Megan did her best to make certain that she wasn't being followed before creating a gateway to her room in the school. Quickly changing; the wizard, having put on warmer clothing, opened another portal to Sanctuary to not only find Holdy, but Master Lesolas to discuss her idea.

  "I don't know about this," Torva said to the young woman beside him as well as to the air in general. It wasn't the first time the wizard hunter disputed the idea of sending Megan and Holdy back into the spire.

  It had been two days and the wizard had remained away from the general's rooms the entire time. She found Greta the day after her decision to involve Holdy in her plan. It would keep the general from knowing that she was a wizard, so Megan gave the servant woman a hand written note to bring to the general's rooms. The woman had questioned why she couldn't do so herself since she was his maid; but Megannah had done her best to make the woman believe that Heline had returned and she was no longer his maid.

  Greta offered to find her other work, but the wizard did her best to put her off by saying that she would take her up on her offer after a few days. There were other things going on in her life, she had said, which would require her attention since Megan suddenly had time to take care of them. She didn't need the money, but the wizard didn't say that to Greta.

  On the following day, Megannah met up with her student with Torva in tow. He was dressed differently from normal. The wizard hunter was in disguise as a wizard instead. He was supposed to pretend to be Holdy's mentor, even though Torva couldn't cast a gate properly by himself. Megan would continue to act as a simple servant woman whose only tie to the others was that she knew Renelley and her son from living in the human quarter.

  "Don't know about what?" she asked the taller man as the three walked towards the spire gate. "You don't know about taking Holdy to see the general to send him away safely or you don't know about pretending to be his teacher to keep an eye on things as they progress?"

  "You forgot about worrying that you are bringing us into danger here. If Amelyer figures out that you are a wizard or General Corven's forces attack again..."

  It had happened after she had given Greta the message to bring to Amelyer. Another fight broke out between the two generals' forces. This time the brawl spread out from one point into several places throughout the emperor's spire. There was another attack from orcs in the human quarter also, though it had apparently remained somewhat contained when the local guards showed up to drive them back into their neighborhood to protect the locals who had done their best to hide from the creatures for the most part.

  Unlike the human quarter, there were no guards who could stop the fighting inside the spire. It had been bad enough that they had heard about it in the school and not through the normal rumor mill of the spire servants.

  Touching his forearm, Megan smiled up at him and said, "That is why I have you here. If something should happen, you can protect us until either Holdy or I open a gate to escape."

  Holdy looked at her in confusion and questioned her saying, "Wouldn't that betray you to the spire making the whole point of my coming useless?"

  Nodding at her student, she replied, "True, but better all three of us are alive with my cover blown than risking our deaths. Sanctuary will be ready soon enough and then it won't matter who knows that I am a wizard. Until then, you will act like a boy I knew a bit from living in the human quarter and I will just be a servant helping General Amelyer. Torva is your mentor and we couldn't get you away from him, if Amelyer asks you directly."

  Again it was Torva who questioned the plan, "Won't he balk at my being there?"

  "Not if Holdy and I vouch for you. You are there to lend your magic to Holdy and he will open a gate to Soleste."

  She looked at the apprentice and said, "It is lucky for us that you met Lady De'Lytero recently and she left you with a lodestone."

  Holdy looked a little reluctant to be happy about that, but he said, "Her father and his people are willing to take in the general and as many of his people as the general wishes to bring with him this first trip."

  Nodding, Megan added, "Another bit of luck that. The lord of Soleste knows and likes Amelyer. I think Heline was right that the elven lords would gladly make him their king with his army to help coerce them; as long as they can sneak away in force at least."

  Holdy winced as he said, "About that... I might have an idea of how his men can get out of the city without General Corven or Grand Master Echolus noticing, at least not immediately."

  Though his elders looked at him questioningly, the boy replied, "I will tell the general once we are there. Better to have you both be surprised as well to avoid making him suspicious.

  "If you are a friend of my mother's you might have heard of it, but my mentor has been kept out of the loop for this one."

  Megan exchanged a look with Torva at the boy's secret being kept from them, but his real mentor had a feeling that Holdy knew what he was doing even if it did annoy and worry her for now. Neither of the veteran wizards liked being teased with information that might be very important to this mission, but Megan let the apprentice have his secret.

  "You're sure that we don't need to know this?" Torva questioned however. Though he had known Holdy for awhile, he didn't quite have the trust that his teacher had.

  The boy nodded and said no more.

  Getting past the guards at the gates was worrisome, but had been accounted for in the note to Amelyer. The general had sent word to the front gate to let Megan and her guests pass though she didn't think the trolls and other soldiers of the mixed squad were as comfortable with allowing people that they didn't know inside the spire fortress. On the other hand, the emperor was dead; so to an extent they were no longer needed. They had failed to protect their master and now followed their officers who in turn took orders from the generals. Those orders sometimes conflicted, but for the most part the royal guards had been left to do as they had always done.

  Megan noted a pair of servants working in an unusual way in the second hallway. Reddish marks stained the floor while dots of the same color had sprayed the wall on the right also, the wizard noticed. Though not familiar with these two people, she was dressed as they were, more or less, and Megan stopped to crouch beside the woman scrubbing the floor.

  The servant's eyes lifted to hers questioning her attention.

  "What happened here?" the young woman asked curiously.

  Frowning, the servant woman replied quietly, "The generals' men began an argument that led to several from each side being killed or wounded in a fight. Now we get to clean up the blood."

  "Another fight?" Megan questioned with a sh
ake of her head before standing up to move back towards Torva. "It seems to be getting worse. Fighting happens nearly every day now. I've heard that a few servants have been killed besides, so they aren't even making sure to avoid civilians when this happens."

  "Then the sooner you finish here the better," the blonde haired wizard hunter stated quietly. "Take us..." the man paused realizing that others might be able to hear, so he made sure to speak ambiguously of their destination, "to him as directly as possible."

  The three picked up the pace as Megan led them along the quickest route that she knew. There were more servants to be found, but many seemed like they were trying to remain inconspicuous to the point that they almost appeared to be hiding. Most of these halls were controlled by Amelyer's men and there was a strong presence of armed men ready for any new attacks as if they believed Corven's soldiers were picking these halls for their battlefield.

  When the three appeared before Amelyer's doors, the soldiers there all bristled tensely as if they believed the girl would lead dangerous men to their general. Megan frowned as Lukash stepped forward putting out his palm to stop their progress. There were more soldiers in the hall though spread out in clumps as if to make it less noticeable. It wasn't working the wizard thought to herself.

  "Really, Lukash, do we have to do this every time? These wizards are here to see the general at his request. Surely he's left notice with you to expect us," the young woman complained with a slight pout to her lips as her hands rested on her hips disapprovingly. A few of the men saw the look and their stern faces started to look amused. She was pretty and was observant enough to have noticed their looks the last month as Megan had been forced to endure the daily searches.

  "You know the rule," Lukash said though he didn't look completely happy to subject her to the humiliation. The guard had certainly acted more respectful to her since taking over for her deceased predecessor. "These men are wizards?"

  His expression sounded a little forced at the word men since Holdy was still a growing boy in truth, though at least his voice had changed and stopped squeaking a few months ago, Megan thought watching him closely.

  Nodding, the young woman replied, "So do you plan to search them when they wouldn't need a sword or knife to do harm? You keep searching me as if I could do much to the general as long as he can see me coming."

  She didn't want to express that almost anything could become a deadly weapon if it was an assault from behind. Trust came into play even if they did search her. Megan still had a feeling that it happened more for their enjoyment than from worry over the maid's possibility of being an assassin.

  Torva stepped forward and nodded with both hands out to the side with his palms up to show that he carried nothing. "You can search me if you'd like, but a wizard is a weapon. If that is a problem, then we won't bother helping your general. I can certainly find other things to do with my time and men who desire my help that won't waste my time at the door of the man who requested I come to him. Feel free to tell your general that when I leave."

  As Lukash sighed, Rystlin moved forward from his place near the wall and said, "Why don't you just let them through, Lukash? You know the general must trust her and like he said a wizard's magic is a weapon that can't be checked at the door.

  "I can go with them, if you want even though I am not sure what even a handful of soldiers could do to stop a wizard."

  Megan caught the lead guard roll his eyes as he turned to look at the other soldiers guarding the door. "Let them pass. Rystlin and Talbot go with them and keep your weapons ready until General Amelyer says otherwise."

  "He is inside waiting for us... them?" Megan asked as the wizard started to move towards the door since Lukash had stepped aside to let them through.

  "He left word to keep an eye out for you and that you might be bringing others with you today."

  Megan frowned at the man and chastened him saying, "Then stop being a pest. They have other work to do, you know."

  As they moved closer to the doors, the guards opened them sending one of their number ahead of Megan who led Torva and Holdy. Rystlin slid into line behind the wizards appearing unworried about the possibility of a betrayal as the four moved inside. The soldier closed the doors behind them, but Megan's attention was already on the company being kept inside the sitting room.

  General Amelyer looked at Megan asking as his eyes moved to the other two wizards, "I thought you were bringing an apprentice. Who is this wizard? You were to bring the boy alone, Megan."

  His familiarity of speech with the girl made Torva frown, but he answered for her, "Holdy is an apprentice, even if he is quite skilled. His ability to cast gates is good, but I am his mentor. If you have an unreasonable demand of him, it is my responsibility to make sure that he remains safe doing it."

  Megan interjected quickly, "Torva can supply more power if you plan to move a greater number of people than Holdy can move on his own. He wouldn't come without his mentor, just in case."

  "We wouldn't want to accidentally leave someone in the silver void now, would we?" Holdy asked with a chuckle and a smile. Though the boy meant it as a joke, it brought more frowns from those assembled around them.

  Some of those gathered wore military uniforms colored to show their loyalty to Amelyer, but there were a few men and women among them that appeared to be unassociated with the army at all. The women wore fine dresses and the men had clothing of a grade well beyond that found in the human quarter.

  The general stared at Holdy ignoring the other two before questioning, "He can safely open a gate to Aetelier or one of the elven fortresses at least? The boy doesn't look old enough to know much about magic."

  While Megan wanted to answer, the woman knew that she wasn't supposed to have knowledge of that sort in her position. She didn't want to lose what trust the general had in her at this juncture. It was more important to get him out of the city in an attempt to try and settle Ensolus back into peace, even if there might be others who might challenge Corven once Amelyer was gone.

  Torva replied as he knew Megan would want, since she had coached him for just such a question, "Holdy is a magical prodigy, general. The boy reads ahead and likely knows as much as many confirmed wizards already. He just needs the time to master all of the intricacies of spell work as well as needing to become seasoned enough for more dangerous work also. Time is still needed for maturity; but as a portal wizard Holdy has already mastered that skill.

  "You are also in luck that he has recently met one of the De'Lytero family, a young wizard. She gave him a stone to use to reach her and we have already met with the lords of Soleste to make sure that you will be welcomed there. The lords are excited to have you and whatever amounts of an army you wish to bring. Messengers were even sent to the other elven holds and Aetelier to bring word that you wish to unite them together in case Corven and the other orcs take over Ensolus."

  "I am not trying to start a civil war that pits one race against another," the general reminded Torva and perhaps said it aloud for the others gathered there as well. "If I wished to tear the empire apart, I would have sent my army against Corven's already. I do not necessarily dislike him because he is an orc, or half of one anyway; but I don't think he can lead the empire. Still to fight him will definitely make things worse here rather than make them better."

  Holdy shrugged and looked at the people assembled in his sitting room. Bags and other items sat by their feet or by the wall near the front door. "Were you planning on taking all of these people?"

  Glancing to the others, Amelyer returned his attention to the boy and said, "These are some of my supporters and friends. I wish to get them to safety. If I could bring my entire army with me, I would; but I am realistic enough to know that a single wizard can hardly be asked to do that much. Besides logistically, it would be impossible to get them all in one room and would draw too much attention if we gathered in the fields to the west.

  "I am still trying to figure out how to best send them out
of the city without drawing too much attention. Once my men begin to disappear, Corven or some other enemy might choose to attack the remainder of those left behind to make sure that I can't keep my army intact. That is also why I wish to take these people with me now."

  Holdy looked conflicted and Torva spoke thinking he knew why the boy had gone silent, "I will likely need to bolster his magic with mine for this endeavor alone. I am not certain if we could help send more of your people to Soleste with magic without it being noticed either."

  Shaking his head, Holdy said, "If you think that they could make the hike with it being winter, there might be an alternative to trying to sneak out through the main opening. I assume the biggest problem is getting past the rubble and the guards who watch over both them and the outer city wall and gates."

  Amelyer nodded examining the apprentice wondering what he might be thinking. He answered, "Even sending my men out in smaller squads might be too obvious. If dozens of squads of men left the city in a short period, let alone in a day Corven would know. There are too many eyes with mouths that would alert any who might be interested, besides making smaller units hike to Soleste or Aetelier would be dangerous at this point in winter."

  "If I told you there might be another way to sneak your men out of the city, would you be willing to escort and protect those who are more helpless as well?"

  Megan and Torva joined the others in looking at the apprentice in surprise. Another way out of the city, what had Holdy done, the wizard worried to herself?

  Chapter 26- Safe Passage

  "What do you mean there 'might' be another way out of the city?" Amelyer demanded with a deep frown for the boy. Ensolus had been created with one way in or out of the cave city. The mouth of the cave was quite wide, but two walls had been built with a single gate in the middle of each to maintain control of who came and left the city. Soldiers manned towers and walls as well as enforced tight security checks of all who moved through the gates as well making sure no spies or other enemies of the emperor could try escaping notice. It had been a system stringent enough to keep any enemy agent from entering unless they were in chains for over a hundred and fifty years.