Battle Mage Bonds (Tales of Alus Book 13)

by Donald Wigboldy

  "You must have been hurt terribly. Even after the use of magic, I sense that it will be another week before you will begin to return to full strength. Mending spells can't completely remove the entire trauma as you know, but they get you close."

  He nodded and decided to ask about something brought up by the earlier discussion. "How is Jana then? Everything seemed restored as it should be, but her heart failed even so. If the wells only help temporarily until the magic is used up..."

  "We have let her return home, since her family lives in lower Hala; but she has been warned to return every few days so that we can keep an eye on those runes. When they are nearly drained, we will keep her in the hospital for round the clock observation. If they need to be recharged to keep the girl alive, we know enough to do that also. There are enough of us who understand your runes to keep her safe."

  Her eyes revealed a bit of confusion and the healer asked, "Why is she so important to you anyway? I thought that you barely knew her."

  "Does that mean that I should care less about her? Do you care less for patients that you barely know or do you do your best for each of them?"

  His words made her blink in surprise at first and drew back. He hadn't sounded cross in his tone. His questions weren't meant to be judgments of the healer's diligence for her patients, but a frown drew the corners of her mouth down slightly and her brow furrowed a bit as well.

  "Of course, I treat everyone equally and by that I mean that I do my best to save every life that comes through the door, even annoying battle mages that seem to return every month to my table," she added sarcastically. "Even so, I think that you acted like she meant more to you than just another patient. You have someone who cares for you and I thought you felt the same about her, yet this seemed more personal."

  "She joined me for a dangerous mission. I didn't really wish to bring her along. Some of the spies in Ensolus were captured, however, and I could follow someone into the dungeon who was a recently captured wizard. Jana refused to remain behind and had the skills she believed would keep her safe even if we were heading into the Dark One's castle."

  "So she was injured and you blamed yourself? Is that why you apparently left Hala alone and received this injury too? You are refusing to bring help because you are afraid of someone dying and believe that would make you guilty."

  Sitting still a moment, Sebastian shrugged and thought Rilenier was close enough to the mark in her summation. "Sometimes it is best to bring an army. Other times one man can do more without being noticed.

  "It's better that only one person walks into a trap than dozens for no other reason than because they want to help."

  The woman stood silently a moment before rendering her opinion, "You may be trying to protect others, but you can't do everything alone. There is power in having friends and allies.

  "What is that saying? No man is an island."

  Not wanting to argue further, Rilenier pointed towards his stomach and said, "I would say you need to rest for another week, though you could perhaps find a different bed to warm. You will need exercise to feel like your old self, so don't remain too sedentary."

  "I'm ready to leave already," he responded. "I have just been confined here because of Davern and Master Alum wanting to know more about these runes."

  "Hegrone and I will tell them what we know including what you have told us before. You will still probably need to explain more about them at some point. I doubt that we truly know everything about those marks."

  His eyes narrowed slightly, though it was less from being annoyed by Rilenier's opinion. It was obvious that whether it was wizards or battle mages, no one was ever satisfied with his answers and wished for more. If he revealed everything he knew, then they would hope that he might discover something else that they could make their own by the time he was finished.

  "Not every piece of magic is safe and sometimes it is simply better to avoid giving wizards the chance to hurt themselves. I wish that people would let me work through things at my own pace. It isn't like pushing for more will necessarily get me to that place where I think it is safe any faster."

  "You think that you need to be the guardian of new magic?" she questioned curiously.

  "If it comes from me, then why not? You are free to discover magic on your own and keep that to yourself. Why do wizards think that everything I discover should be theirs automatically?" He wanted to add that wizards had never seemed to care what a battle mage knew until he suddenly knew things that they didn't. That was just a bitter thought, and after all his work to blur the lines between wizard and mage, it was something best left unsaid when Rilenier no longer seemed to be one of those wizards with that small mindset.

  Shrugging, the woman replied, "I suppose that is fair, though some of what you know came from wizards that shared with you first too remember."

  A polite wave as the woman left was accompanied by a sympathetic smile.

  She left him with his thoughts and Sebastian realized that at least that part was true. His first discoveries in healing magic and air spells had come from wizards willing to show him the spells. They had been patient and explained the magic long enough for him to work the spells out after all. From that stand point, he was being a hypocrite.

  Just because it was simpler to answer the questions of one mage than to help the hundreds of mages and wizards trying to figure out his magic, didn't mean that those wizards had to help him back then. Some magic he had gleaned from watching enemy wizards, but that didn't mean that he shouldn't pass his knowledge forward.

  Still he had made a promise to Darius about his most dangerous secret. The immortal had seen what it could do when the power of magic became too seductive. He would keep that secret as long as he could, even if Sebastian continued to risk his life using that information when necessary.

  Letting his mind return to the good news, the mage wondered how long they would keep him now that he had surrendered at least some of his secrets. The thought of returning to Hala where he could relax with Ashleen beside him called to him while he waited for the wilder to return to visit him again.

  Chapter 4- The Art of Magic

  Two more days he had remained confined to his hospital bed before the healers finally cleared him to leave, though he was ordered to rest and move around as little as possible for the next week. It wasn't as positive as Rilenier's opinion, but Sebastian wondered if Davern was being extra critical believing that he was likely to try to do more than he should if they didn't restrict him for his own good.

  Katya and Ashleen were there as he readied to leave. The latter had made sure to bring him fresh clothes since those he had arrived in had holes and blood stains ruining them. It wasn't something the mage had thought to ask for and made him realize that the wilder acted almost like she was his wife as much as a girlfriend. Thinking of that made him want to review his feelings, but the distraction of getting ready to leave kept him from that probably for the better.

  Over the last few days, he had annoyed his caregivers by doing things that he considered simple. The hospital room had an adjoining shared restroom and he had taken care of himself in spite of the apprentices and full healers that were supposed to make sure that he didn't hurt himself. Standing without assistance and walking were considered too much for a patient who had been healed of dangerous wounds to the abdomen, but the mage pushed through the odd way his stomach and side felt without any real problem.

  Even as he readied to leave, there were frowns from those wizards as the mage changed his clothing in the restroom on his own. Being treated like an invalid was something Sebastian preferred to avoid and his strength had come back enough that he didn't feel the need.

  Watching him return as she sat on his unmade bed, Ashleen shook her head at the young man before asking, "Do you really enjoy upsetting Clius and Sephelee?"

  He noticed a young girl in a white dress in the hall. Yellow bands were on her sleeves and at the bottom hem identifying the apprentice as a healer in t
raining. A pout on her lips was echoed by her disapproving green eyes and crossed arms. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail as most of the women tended to have in the healers' ward while they worked.

  Waving with a smile placed on his lips at the apprentice, he received an annoyed puff from her lips before she turned away to move from his sight.

  "I don't need anyone to help me get dressed, Ashleen. Well, maybe if you had asked, that could have been fun; but the apprentices won't learn by helping someone who is fine," he refuted her opinion of his actions. "If they really want to learn how to heal, then they should go find some patients that really need them."

  Katya sat in a chair across the bed from her brother and shook her head with a knowing smile. "He didn't even like when mother tried to take care of him when he was sick, if my memory serves. Bas will act like a big baby and want to be fine, but when he wasn't it wasn't pretty."

  Frowning at the younger girl, the mage retorted, "How would you know? I don't even remember the last time I was sick at the farm and you couldn't have been even seven at that point... probably younger than that even. Stop making up things you don't really remember."

  "I guess that is just how memorable it was if I remember you being sick and fighting mother over her giving you too much attention," Katya argued with a pout that looked similar to the one the apprentice had shown moments earlier.

  "Speaking of memorable," Sebastian said trying to change the subject, "have I lost track or is it your birthday tomorrow?"

  Her eyes widened in surprise before a grin brightened the younger girl's face. "You remembered!" she proclaimed jumping up from her seat.

  "I try to not forget family birthdays, even if I can't return home to celebrate them."

  The comment made his sister frown a moment. Like the sun had passed behind a cloud, the room seemed to gray as Katya realized her thoughts aloud. "I've missed every birthday since we left," she sighed. Her eyes widened slightly as if in horror as the little blonde added, "We missed Beatrice's wedding to Herron too!"

  If everything had gone according to plan, Sebastian recalled that their older sister would have been married last spring. That was already close to a year ago when he had visited the family farm on the way to Hala. He had discovered Katya's burgeoning power, which happened to start manifesting itself by influencing the minds of her family. When the girl had lost control of her power and made their father walk out of the house to jump in a mound of snow just from her irritation; their father, Marcel, was ready to send his youngest child away with Sebastian and his wizards after fighting the thought initially.

  Neither of them had been able to return for Beatrice's wedding day. Katya was already in White Hall learning to control her power while Sebastian was sailing the North Sea looking for the Grimnal. While he hadn't promised to be there for certain, the younger brother would have liked to have been since he had missed out on so many family moments since becoming a battle mage.

  "Too bad you don't have a portal gate at the farm," Katya said with a sigh. Her smile suddenly returned and the younger girl asked, "Will you be here to celebrate with me at least?"

  "You should buy her a present, Bas," Ashleen added with a nod.

  That made the younger girl's eyes brighten even more. "A present?"

  Sighing, the mage retorted, "Well, if you two keep slowing me down here; I can hardly go look for something now can I? We'll have to keep that quiet until we're out of here too or Davern and the other healers will never let me leave."

  "What do you need to keep secret from your healers?" an older woman dressed in yellow asked as she entered the room followed by the apprentice Sephelee. The younger healer looked at him confident that he was about to get in trouble with the master healer.

  "Oh, nothing, Saenic, we were just talking about celebrating Katya's birthday tomorrow," he said quickly. Like Davern, the woman had been part of those in charge of healing his injuries. She had been with him and Alum as the others grilled him for information on his runes as well, but the woman had always been rather quiet and let Davern lead the way with his care. There were probably enough patients around that she likely had others to worry over anyway, he thought.

  Glancing at the little blond haired apprentice, Saenic offered, "Happy birthday, apprentice, since I will not likely see you then. Your brother has finally been cleared to leave, though you must remember to take it easy, falcon... I mean owl. Your body still needs a little more time to finish healing."

  He nodded. "Of course, I will do my best to do as little as possible, Saenic."

  Sebastian noticed both Ashleen and Katya hiding smiles behind their hands as they doubted his sincerity, but the wizard appeared to miss them as she concentrated on the mage in front of her. Pointing at his chest, the woman replied, "You are cleared to leave, but we will want you back in a week to check both your wounds and these experimental runes of yours also. Don't forget."

  Doing what he could to assuage her worries, though the healer's face didn't reveal that she actually did worry, Sebastian hurried through the final check from the wizard before Saenic released him to the girls' care. In some ways, he almost thought that the woman looked relieved to be done with him. While she had always dealt with him politely, the mage thought that she didn't have the greatest way with her patients. He guessed that just because a wizard followed their talents in magic, didn't mean that they were perfect in all things related to it. Not all healers were actually good with people, just like not all fire wizards took to swords as combat wizards.

  The three walked out of the hospital area of the school. Located on the first floor, they could go one way and find the cafeteria or turn the other to walk towards the main doors of the classroom building. Katya's dorm room was a couple flights up where the diplomacy wizards had their rooms. All the wizards lived on the floors above them while Sebastian had been in the mages' dormitory on the far side of the cafeteria for most of his time in White Hall.

  "So anyway about my birthday..." Katya asked as they paused just beyond the hospital doors considering their next steps.

  Sebastian noticed that he didn't feel the fatigue from his wounds that the healers kept worrying about as they spoke of his leaving. Looking at his sister, the mage asked, "What do you want for your birthday anyway? Living here, it is kind of hard to keep a lot of possessions since you are just a student."

  The question made Katya stop and think. Eventually she shook her head and said, "Maybe just something to wear. These apprentice dresses do get boring and they don't let me wear the clothes I wore with the dragon mages since they can't practice."

  "It is pretty cold," he thought aloud thinking that flying higher up, even during the summer, always felt colder than the temperature on the ground. During North's winters, it was cold enough that adding to it seemed unnecessary as well as potentially dangerous. Dragon mages were still being trained in Sileoth even in winter though, he knew. They had set up a camp there with Sileoth's blessing since they were helping them with their war in Litsarin. The island south of their country was quite a bit warmer than its neighbor to the north making such training possible still.

  "I would still fly, if they'd let me. I'm sure that I could use my magic to keep me warmer. That is the best thing about being a wizard. We have magic for almost everything," his sister replied and Sebastian could tell that in less than a year, Katya had become spoiled from her ability to use magic. It was a common thing for wizards, he thought. The ability to use magic even for common things like lighting a lamp became their default response until using spells was the way they spent most of their lives.

  Another thought came to his mind, but he decided. "I think Ashleen and I will return to Hala for the night. Tomorrow we'll return for you around lunch time. There should be enough time to celebrate, even if I have to call in some favors with your teachers to get you that time," he finished with a smile.

  Blinking at the sudden decision, Katya asked, "You're going to leave now?"

  He nodde
d again and said, "Study or practice today and I'll find you tomorrow. I think I have an idea for a proper present or two."

  Moving into a nearby empty room, one of the study areas on that floor which wizards tended to use later in the day apparently; Sebastian gave his sister a quick hug before opening an illegal gate. While all portal magic activities were supposed to be done in the secured portal area beyond the cafeteria, Sebastian knew that an outside enemy was unlikely to find it. The larger protected doorway would draw a warlock's attention away from the smaller portal even if they tried to use their magic on a map to find them.

  After passing through the silver light of the Dark One's former prison dimension, Sebastian found the dim light of their destination surprising. His vision recalibrated to look around the dark room and noticed drapes pulled to block out the sun. Unfortunately, as he threw the drapes open to look out the window the mage found gray skies keeping the sun's rays at bay anyway.

  "Another cold, gray day in Hala," the mage stated looking out the second story window.

  Ashleen took a little longer to move from the entry gate and watched Sebastian as he moved from opening the drapes to let in more light to wardrobe. A small box seemed to appear from nowhere when he opened the cabinet and pulled it from where it sat hidden by magic on the lowest shelf.

  A single word imbued with magic unlocked the seal and the mage removed a small pouch.

  "What are you doing?" the wilder asked curiously and moved to sit on the edge of the bed watching him.

  Giving the pouch a little shake made a metallic clinking sound as Sebastian held it towards her a moment before releasing the drawstring to check the occupants inside the small bag. "I was thinking of going shopping for Katya's birthday gift."

  Ashleen gave him a slight frown before asking another question, "You know that you are supposed to be resting. Are you planning on walking around Hala looking for your sister's gift?"