"You're awake. Finally," a familiar feminine voice greeted him as the owner of the voice noticed his eyes opening.
Looking towards the source of both the greeting and the pressure squeezing his covers across his legs, Sebastian spied a pretty blonde haired girl. A young woman with brilliant blue eyes smiled at him, though he could see the relief there as well.
Exhaustion kept him from sitting up to greet Ashleen. They had become extremely close over the last few months and slept together when he wasn't busy running all over Alus.
"Where are we?" the mage asked sounding tired to his ears. His mouth was dry as if he hadn't had any liquids to drink for days making him wonder how long had been asleep. Of course, his confusion also stemmed from not remembering how he had found himself in a position where Ashleen would choose to sit on the bed rather than curling up against his side. She was quite affectionate, but the pretty girl seemed to love just being able to place her head on his shoulder and drape a hand across his chest.
"White Hall, apparently you were injured severely and managed to open a portal here before collapsing in the gate area," she replied with a slight frown creasing her forehead.
Echoing her expression, Sebastian queried aloud, "White Hall?"
Spreading her hands as she shrugged beside him, Ashleen answered, "I would have thought that you would have returned to Hala or our room. What made you come here?"
The mage shook his head trying to remember what had happened to bring him there. "New Harbor is a trap now. Something interrupted the destination of the portal when I tried to go to the gate that I thought was still hidden."
"Interrupted it?" the girl asked in surprise. "How can that happen?"
It wasn't the answer to her question, but after several months of using Ensolus' magic to move around Southwall and much of the North Sea, this new development was something unheard of so far. Though Sebastian had created anchor gates designed to draw enemy warlocks into a trapped area should they try to infiltrate Southwall, nothing had ever actually stopped a gate from opening in the correct place.
Sebastian suddenly recalled one moment and continued to think aloud even as he tried to answer her question as well as the ones in his mind. "It wasn't like when your lightning disrupted Palose's spell and left us in Silver World. This felt like a physical barrier. I tried to enter the city and bounced off whatever they created to stop my portal.
"When the exit opened, I was caught between a wall covered in runes and a unit designed to capture whoever might try the spell."
"They were waiting for you? The gate wasn't in a place that you had created one before was it?"
Shaking his head, he replied, "No, but it wasn't the only place like it. Within New Harbor, I could move through local gates without issue to try and escape the wizards and battle mages waiting there; but as soon as I tried to leave the city I was cast back into another alley protected by the same symbols.
"I moved to the docks and flew into the harbor far enough that I must have escaped the area protected to get here.
"They put up a pretty good fight and I was forced to burn through most of my energy for the runes. My magic was nearly spent when I tried to get to someplace safe."
"But why White Hall instead of Hala?" the girl questioned once more bringing the questioning full circle. "If you were trying to go somewhere safe, I would have thought you would go there first."
He nodded. "I wasn't completely thinking straight, but I guess that I am as familiar with White Hall as I am Hala. I did live here for several years and it is sort of like home.
"If I was thinking clearly, and could move to someone instead of somewhere, I am sure that I would have wound up near you."
Giving him a disapproving look, Ashleen complained, "It is too late to try flattery, mister."
She paused and glanced across his legs. Looking to the opposite side of the bed, Sebastian noted a familiar blonde haired girl asleep in a chair. The wilder said, "They sent messengers to Hala to find me as well as to let your corps know that you were here and too injured to return. By the time the wizards were finished healing you, Katya was already pushing to get into your room. She hasn't left your side since she was allowed in here."
Looking back at the wilder sitting on his bed, he noted the faintest shadows under her eyes. "I am guessing that you've been here the whole time as well."
He was smart enough to know not to say that she looked tired. A woman could take great offense if he was to say that she looked anything but perfect. Ashleen was less touchy about her appearance, but the wizard also dressed quite fashionably, though she more often wore dresses in fashion in Kardor more than in Southwall. Her current dress was no different, though Ashleen also wore a pair of shorts that reach to her knees letting her sit cross legged and avoiding being too exposed in a dress bound at the waist with a belt.
"The healers seemed certain enough that you would be fine, so I risked leaving to go to the cafeteria for regular meals. I can't say as much for your sister. Perhaps she doesn't know enough to trust the healers work, but I made sure to bring her food and that she ate." Pausing for a moment, Ashleen added, "Well maybe she just isn't as familiar with how often I seem to find you like this. You get injured... worry me that you might die, and somehow you manage to recover every time, so I guess that I am getting used to this," she finished with a sigh and a look that told him that the girl wasn't quite as comfortable with his near death experiences as she was saying.
"I was able to use my rune wells to keep my wounds from being too serious this time," the mage replied and finally tried to sit up before sliding back towards the headboard. His side and stomach felt weakened from the trauma that had been endured from his wounds, but Sebastian was still strong enough to do it by himself. From Ashleen's wince at the movements, it must have looked worse than he thought it felt, however.
He lifted the shirt covering him and realized quickly that it was longer than that. A gown that could be opened easily should the wizard healers need to undress a patient when magic was either unnecessary, or perhaps not enough, Sebastian had to expose more than he planned to look at the magically mended wounds. There was more noticeable scarring revealed to his probing sight he noticed with a frown. While his quick use of magic had likely kept him from being too close to death, the mage thought that perhaps his use of the spells had been too blunt in its use.
The blanket and sheet continued to cover much of him as the mage slid the gown back into place. He noted Ashleen's eyes watching him and a bemused smile on her lips. Surprised that the wilder wasn't actually angrier with what she might consider another lapse in his judgment, he caught her gaze and made the girl pull back slightly in surprise.
Recovering from being caught looking at him, Ashleen said, "I know some of you battle mages think that a girl will see your scars and think that they are manly or heroic, but I would prefer that you don't take on the appearance of a thatch roof, Sebastian. For some reason, these didn't heal as nicely as most of your wounds have."
The girl had seen all of his other scars and often ran her fingers along them lazily when they were just resting together in bed. Most of those were smooth, minimal white lines. Magic could usually heal with almost no scarring at all, but Sebastian thought that his newest ones weren't as clean.
"Well, most wizards can't heal their bodies at all, so I guess that we will have to live with the limitations as well. It did work at least. That kept me from bleeding more, so I should be healthy sooner also," the owl mage summed up his observations.
Ashleen made a noise seeming to scoff at his belief. "I don't know if your healers will be as quick to give you a clean bill of health as you think. They've seen you in this condition way too often, but you might hope that they don't release you too soon. Your officers didn't sound too happy to hear that you slipped away to New Harbor again, especially since this mission wasn't approved by anyone in Hala."
Wincing at the expected backlash initially, Sebastian countered by saying, "
No one seems willing to take charge and push to help the prisoners in New Harbor now that Raven Leros is retiring. He hasn't recovered enough to take charge to bring in his replacement yet. That is slowing things down among the battle mages, at least."
"Everyone is still recovering from the battle in Ensolus," the girl replied, "or more accurately they are trying to figure out what else needs to be done now that the Dark One has finally been dealt with. How will King Alain possibly approach the lords of New Harbor when they can say that Southwall no longer has to worry about him anymore?"
Sebastian shook his head and frowned. "Just because he is dead doesn't mean that we don't have a need for the army and no matter what happens we always need to be on the lookout for wizards in the country. If we don't continue the harvests, wilders will begin to cause destruction everywhere.
"We also can't forget about the people still loyal to the king in New Harbor that are being conditioned to turn against him in the dungeon there. We need to save them. I promised them that I would!"
His raised voice caused the youngest occupant to awaken from her sleep. She looked exhausted even if the girl was just thirteen years old and should have nearly endless energy at that age, Sebastian thought looking at his little sister. The baby of his family, Katya was nearly seven years younger than he was, though her next birthday was coming up soon.
"Bas, you're awake!" she noticed jumping to her feet and running to his bedside to halfway join him in the bed to throw her arms around his neck. Ashleen had yet to be so loving, he realized, and wondered if the wilder wasn't actually mad at him after all.
"Yup, just a little nap and I am nearly as good as new," the bedridden mage replied with a smile as the girl pulled back to look at him closer.
Her face questioned his good humor and retorted, "A little nap? You've been asleep for a day and a half."
Looking at Ashleen, he received a confirming nod. "Well, ok then, it was a long nap, but I am feeling fine... mostly."
Katya feigned a punch towards his stomach but finished pointing to his covered abdomen. "I should really hit you for that, but I am afraid that something would break open again or need healing inside. Bas, you have got to stop doing such stupid things. The men on watch at the gate said that you dropped the portal and collapsed almost immediately.
"You had to be carried into the school to be treated by the healers."
"That isn't exactly what happened," he protested quickly. "I used my magic to heal myself when I realized that the cuts were worse than I had first thought. That should have made the wizards' job pretty easy really."
A voice spoke from the doorway, "Easy can be a relative term, especially in your case."
He looked over and noticed someone that looked familiar, but Sebastian couldn't immediately put a name with the face or where he had seen the man before. Dressed in the yellow uniform of a healer, the mage guessed that this was likely one of the wizards in charge of his recovery.
Walking into the room, Sebastian noticed as the wizard's eyes appeared to glow as he took stock of the patient even before he was within arm's reach.
"It wasn't my best work perhaps, but I have never worked on myself that way before either," the owl mage commented. Fishing for the man's name, he added, "How many wizards do you have that can using healing on their own bodies, Wizard..."
"Davern," the man answered sounding slightly distracted. His glow faded after a moment and the healer stated, "You do appear to have mended reasonably well considering the damage you took, Falcon Sebastian."
"He's officially called an owl now," Ashleen reminded those in the room. A new position made to differentiate those who could heal in the mage corps, Sebastian was the first official owl. No one else had formally been given the title; so many of the people that he had worked with had nicknamed him owl before the leaders of his corps, the ravens, decided that the name would work as a title also.
Giving a dismissive grunt, the wizard retorted, "Aren't owls supposed to be wise? How did you wind up in this condition, if you believe that name suits you?"
"I was given the nickname. I didn't choose it for myself and then Raven Leros made it a new position.
"As to how I wound up in this condition, I can't say. It was part of a mission and it turned out to be more dangerous than planned," Sebastian answered Davern as politely as he could while not supplying the information to someone out of the loop. Even those in charge of him in Hala didn't actually know what had happened. The owl needed to at least brief Raven Leros, or whoever would be in charge of such things with the head of their order still recovering from injuries suffered in the Dark One's city.
The wizard glanced at the two young women and changed the subject, "You seem to still be surrounding yourself with pretty, young women. For you to be here, I am guessing that the girl who went with you to Hala as your personal healer is no longer with you?"
Commenting on his time with Yara reminded Sebastian where he had seen this wizard before and the mage replied, "You were one of those who tested Yara before she was promoted, weren't you?"
Managing not to appear hurt that he had been forgotten, if it was even a concern to the veteran healer, Davern nodded answering, "I was. You proved quite capable as her protégé when you were here. Of course with the other magic that you have discovered that has already been passed along, I suppose that you were just beginning to prove your real talent."
The wizard frowned and added a concern, "You are a battle mage, but while working on you we noticed several abnormalities in you, Falcon... I mean Owl."
"Abnormalities?" Ashleen asked worriedly glancing between the mage under his covers and the healer. "Is he ill or has he harmed himself from using his magic so recklessly?"
Davern's face looked startled realizing that his comment had caused more worry than intended. "He is not ill or truly harmed beyond the physical damage that was healed. I didn't mean that he was in any immediate danger just that Sebastian has... formed characteristics... no that isn't quite right either," the man sighed trying to explain himself as both Ashleen and Katya had grown alarmed.
Staring at the mage, Davern tried again saying, "You had the strength of a battle mage when you were tested, both when you were found and during the healer's testing as well. Though there has been no known cases of mages burgeoning in strength to become wizards or even wizards growing in strength beyond their initial power, your aura no longer reads like a battle mage.
"We found the surface runes that were passed along by those that you have trained as well as those that you took the time to share with our staff last fall, but we found six unknown runes in your chest that seem to be holding magic in an unexplained way. They seem to be leaking into your system adding to the flow of magic in your body.
"Again it doesn't seem to be harming you, but it has us concerned and curious also."
Sebastian's face seemed to erase his emotions. The worry at Davern's first comment faded by the time the mage nodded to his healer. "They are runes being tested at this time. I can't explain them to anyone not approved by the white wizards of Hala and the ravens.
"If they don't appear to be causing any harm, then there is little more that I can tell you about them."
Looking undeterred, the wizard commented, "I can't determine if they are harming you without observing longer. How have you charged them so much with only your original strength of magic? Do they charge over time or have you done something more reckless? Without knowing how you are doing it, I can't tell you if they will affect you adversely. If they overload, you might wind up being a danger to others as well, Sebastian. It has us concerned."
"Like I said, I have to limit telling how they work only to those I work with in Hala until they have been tested further," Sebastian stated crossing his arms on his chest without thinking about it. The gesture showed more defiance than he perhaps meant to show, but only the healers at Hala and High Wizard Darius, a close friend with more knowledge of magic than anyone he knew, were cleared for hi
s research at the moment.
"Well then it is good that we have portal magic nowadays," the man replied with a bit of a smirk. "We sent word and a few of them are on their way for second opinions. Between your injuries and these new runes, you will have to remain in bed until we can clear your health safely. Our associates from Hala might have more insight to bring to help us decide that quicker, but for now you will just have to remain content with your lovely nurses until that is decided."
Sebastian thought about all the work he had left to do. Nothing was perhaps set on an exact timer; but between the work he had been putting in with the smiths of Hala to produce his enchanted swords called Hollow Swords, the demands on him to teach and his worries over the innocent people trapped in both New Harbor and the Dark One's city, Ensolus; he felt pulled in too many directions with too little time. Sitting in a hospital for any length of time just didn't fit into his busy schedule, though he realized that he had already been laid up from his newest injuries for more time than he had planned as well.
He was just glad that Davern decided that was enough and left to continue his rounds. While Sebastian doubted that there were many patients in the school's healer wing, the wizard seemed content to leave him with Ashleen and Katya for now.
Releasing a pent up breath in annoyance, Sebastian looked at Ashleen again. Her blue eyes returned the stare and the girl didn't seem surprised when he complained, "I hope they don't plan on holding me here for long. I need to let the ravens and high wizards know what I ran into in New Harbor. If they try to send more wizards, we could lose everyone we send thanks to the strange magic blocking the portals now."
"You could write out what you found and send the message," Ashleen responded without missing a beat. It was as if she had planned for his complaint and was ready for an answer even if it wasn't agreement with his wishes. "You don't have to physically go to Hala. If they have questions, the ravens or wizards can send someone here. You heard Davern. You are confined to this bed."
Battle Mage Bonds (Tales of Alus Book 13) Page 2