Battle Mage Bonds (Tales of Alus Book 13)

by Donald Wigboldy

  "I can perform more elaborate rolls and turns. It might be a little more difficult with the two of us attached, of course, and I could climb higher into the air. Unfortunately it is probably a little too chilly to go much higher comfortably though."

  He started to turn back towards the island. In no real rush, the dragon mage didn't bother to push the pace any further. It had been too long since Sebastian had been able to fly like this, and the last time had been for that disastrous visit to New Harbor. Getting away to fly like this was definitely better than just using air magic to send his mind out into the air, though he still enjoyed the freedom of the wind riding spell as well.

  "The new rune seems to be working," Ashleen informed him. "I feel like I am still in contact with the ground for some reason. I mean I know my feet aren't touching, but the magic side of the connection seems to be strong even though we're quite high up now."

  "Well, my thinking was that magic doesn't always need a physical component for a wizard to be joined with his or her spell. We wind ride sending our minds on the air while our bodies remain on the ground sending energy outward to where we consciously are flying. There is a tether of magic, of course, but it doesn't make sense in the normal order of things.

  "So this rune is still receiving the power of the earth like you are still close to the ground, as long as it is doing what I planned anyway," he finished his explanation. Ashleen knew magic as well as he did and could probably have guessed at the nature of the rune, but the mage was used to explaining his theories to others by now. She was his assistant or apprentice in a way as well, so this was just another moment to be shared.

  "It seems to be working as planned then," the girl agreed.

  Closing in on the beach where Elzen and Serrena sat in the grass waiting for them to return, Sebastian descended until he could slow to a stop with the beats of his dragonfly wings. They touched down like he was stepping off of a stair and gently held Ashleen with his arms before releasing the dragon claw spell.

  The wilder turned in his arms as she noticed her freedom. Looking up at the taller man, Ashleen put her arms up until her hands rested on his shoulders near his neck.

  "So you have figured out another rune and dealt with another magic anomaly. You fixed me," she stated with an amused smile.

  "You weren't broken," the mage replied with a shake of his head. He still held her, but only lightly. Ashleen could easily have pulled free, if she had wanted to do so. "I just adjusted the range of your connection making it possible to fly."

  "Or to climb tall towers," the girl reminded him with a smirk.

  He merely nodded at the joke. "Most people rarely need to worry about either state of being. You wouldn't normally need the assistance, but having the ability to fly might come in handy in the future."

  "Are you planning on teaching me to fly as well?"

  "Fairly soon, though maybe when it is warmer. I don't even want to fly up north right now in those winter winds. I could use magic to probably keep me warm, but it would just be another drain on my magic reserves."

  Her right hand came off of his shoulder gesturing to the land around them. "With your portal magic, we could do it here; if you want."

  Elzen's voice came from behind Sebastian as he said wistfully, "Flying with dragon magic does look fun. Too bad I don't think I have enough magic power to use it."

  The couple turned in time to see Serrena nudging the mage in the side with a frown for his interruption. "They were having a moment. You couldn't have waited to speak a little longer?"

  Sebastian chuckled at the younger mage's surprised face. Like Elzen, Serrena was often one to speak first. The two were a matched pair in many ways, he thought.

  "There are battle mages who can use dragon magic. Falconi Martina doesn't seem to have any trouble with her amount of power. The two of you should be similar," the owl reminded his friend.

  "Hmm, I forgot about that," Elzen replied as he rubbed his chin. His eyes dropped to the sand in thought a moment before he added, "I guess power isn't as big a problem, though I thought using the wings would be limited by how much power you have."

  "Your range is a bit limited, but carrying a pouch with food can extend it with planning," Sebastian answered. He had made the long trip across the straight to Sileoth doing that same thing months ago before he had created the rune wells. His thoughts moved from dragon magic to other spells and he considered doing something that he had yet to do. With a frown of thought as the owl mage considered the ground a moment, he finally mused aloud, "There is one other way to add to your power, but it's still experimental."

  Serrena and Elzen looked at him curiously while Ashleen's eyes widened. The wilder knew of his rune wells. She knew all of his secrets, if he was honest with himself.

  "You aren't...?" the little blonde started as she worried over what was admittedly an experiment in magic power control that Sebastian had only used on his body. He had already needed to adjust the wells because of the power leaking from them in an uncontrolled way that could have killed him had he not tried expanding the number. Elzen was one of the few mages that could replicate runes by himself, so presumably he might be someone who could save himself similarly if need be.

  Elzen took a step closer towards the other mage as he asked, "What are you two talking about? Ashleen knows something. Did you come up with another spell that you haven't told anyone?"

  Removing his shirt that felt quite warm on the island, Sebastian pushed his magic to make the rune wells visible like normal tattoos.

  "What are those?" Elzen asked having been privy to the entire catalogue of runes that Sebastian had discovered from observing Gerid's guards on their trip to Hala.

  "They're my own creation. I originally set up two of these to siphon extra power into them for when I need it."

  Something in the way Sebastian mentioned it made Elzen ask, "Extra power? When do battle mages have extra power and you have six of those things now?"

  Giving a sideways glance to Ashleen, who could only shrug since he was the one who was giving away his secrets, the owl sighed. "What I am going to tell you has to remain a secret between us." He looked at Serrena and added, "It is something that I will caution you to never use unless you find a way to move beyond your fire magic."

  "What is wrong with my fire magic?" the girl, whose hair glinted red like fire in the late afternoon sunlight, questioned him with a frown.

  "There is nothing inherently wrong, but let me explain everything before you start pushing back," Sebastian pleaded moderating his voice to calm her. He stepped into the brush behind them and lifted out a fallen branch. Snapping off the extra branches sticking out from the center, he soon had a four foot long walking staff; if that was what he had planned for it.

  "We've all been taught that drawing power from the earth is too dangerous..."

  Serrena nodded as she interrupted him saying, "Of course it is. If you try to harness the power, it will overwhelm and destroy a wizard."

  Planting the staff in the sand as he held it up high with his right hand, Sebastian continued as her voice settled on the wind, "Drawing it directly into you should kill almost any wizard anyway. Perhaps someone like Darius would survive because he is immortal, but might collapse for a time.

  "On the other hand, drawing power indirectly can be done."

  Sebastian drew the energy from the ground up through the staff. It was a modest draw compared to what he had used in the tournament and some other dire circumstances, but it was still substantial enough that a wizard looking at him would think that his power had jumped from mage to someone of an elite level among their kind.

  "I knew it!" Serrena accused pointing at his chest. "All those times in the tournament and afterwards that I could have sworn that your power grew, it was your use of a staff! But wait, I've felt it other times when you've only had a sword also."

  "The Hollow Swords make use of the same technique. I touch the tip to the ground drawing on a stronger version of my
spell. There is a balance where the power will shatter the steel if the runes overload, but the length of a shortly worded spell is usually safe."

  Ashleen frowned at him as she reminded them, "His first test with the second Hollow Sword was going well enough until he tried this. Sebastian almost died when it exploded. There were others hurt that were watching also, even with several wizards shielding the observers."

  Nodding at the pretty girl, Sebastian continued, "A staff can help, but one made of just wood will burn up after just a few uses."

  He lifted the branch and they watched as it broke into bits of ash.

  Elzen shook his head and asked, "What does that have to do with these new runes?"

  Giving his friend a quizzical look as if Elzen should have guessed, Sebastian explained, "Using a Hollow Sword or my iron bound staff, Bairh'loore, I can draw some of that power into me. The rune wells can store that energy indefinitely."

  "Unless he overloads them; then like the second sword, he'll wind up killing himself with the magic," Ashleen stated folding her arms looking unhappy with his explanation.

  "Two wells weren't enough. They seeped magic into my system poisoning me, until I risked adding the extra wells. With six, four act as reservoirs for the first two. I can draw on them, but the flow out the secondary runes is slow enough to avoid killing me with the extra magic."

  This Elzen understood and his eyes widened as he came to the conclusion, "So you can make a battle mage as powerful as a wizard, more or less!"

  Giving the other mage a shrug that didn't look completely convinced of his impression, Sebastian added, "I can boost their power, but it doesn't change the pathing of our minds. A full wizard, like Serrena or Ashleen, has the ability to memorize longer, more complicated spells. They can also remember more of them than we can. Power isn't the only difference between us."

  Elzen looked a bit disappointed for a moment before he realized, "But wait that means we might be able to do the harder spells by ourselves. Serrena wouldn't need to share her power with me to open a gate for example."

  Nodding again, Sebastian added, "You'd be able to hold longer spells as well, or continue them longer to be more exact."

  "There is a catch," Ashleen reminded him.

  "Yes, Darius believes that like drawing on magic for chaotic spells that damage things, like fire spells," he added directing his attention to Serrena, "will age a wizard prematurely. My guess is it throws their bodies out of balance basically burning them out or poisoning their systems in a way that ages their bodies because they break down."

  Serrena frowned arguing, "But you've used this quite a few times, haven't you? Has your body begun to break down? Is this why you've created the runes?"

  "I rarely use the power for destruction and death; even when I have, I usually heal or do things that are more constructive or strengthening also. I have created Hollow Swords by borrowing power for example. My staff was created using power through it to build that as well. Things like that help keep harmony, I think.

  "Since I am unsure if it truly is working, I can hardly tell everyone about the trick now can I? A fire wizard would be one of those to be harmed the most besides, since they use fire to burn and destroy."

  "So I would kill myself if I tried," Serrena mused as she understood his suggestion. "Unless I can learn to heal or something; I would burn out quickly and die."

  He nodded.

  Elzen shook his head and asked, "Ok, but why are you telling us this then? Are you saying the runes are equally dangerous?"

  "Possibly," Sebastian answered quickly. "Even Darius doesn't know because no one has ever come up with this kind of rune before. The basis of them let me think of something to help Ashleen, but I have only had them for a short time."

  He looked at the younger mage torn by the conflicting beliefs in his mind, but the owl offered, "I am testing them on myself, but you have a lot of the same skills that I do. I could give you the rune wells also and that might open up some of what you can do also. You'd just have to remember that I don't know if they will be harmful or not, yet.

  "I would also follow Darius' caution in that the runes should probably be considered like drawing power from the earth. Too much harm done will probably damage your body as well."

  "So heal to balance the damage. I got it. Let's try them out then," Elzen said impulsively. It wasn't surprising to Sebastian. His friend was brave to a fault and willing to place himself in danger's path to protect others. The idea of increasing his power was more to increase his ability to do that than for some vainglorious attempt at becoming some ridiculously powerful wizard.

  Serrena was apparently more surprised by his willingness to take on something already admitted to be so dangerous, "Are you serious? They might kill you or make you an old man in just a few years. Bas already told you that he can't be certain that they are safe!"

  Reaching over to hold the wizard's hand, Elzen gave it a squeeze and said, "Well, then he shouldn't the only one risking his health. Besides if he is the only one trying the rune wells, we don't know how they will affect others. If we find that they can be used safely, we can increase the power of wizards and mages alike. There are always wizards looking for ways to increase their strength after all. This could be one of them, if Bas is right about needing balance. Not everyone will be safe to use them though. I can heal, so I should be fine."

  Releasing a frustrated cry, Serrena complained, "I don't want you risking your life, Elzen! If you turn into an old man... well, you can..."

  Her words started to jumble in her anger and she settled into a last inarticulate growl that pretty much told him her resistance to the idea.

  Taking both of her hands in his, he pulled Serrena in front of him and looked her in the eyes. "It'll be fine. Bas shouldn't be the only one taking risks to advance mages, right? He's actually more important than I am and he's taking the risk."

  "Not more important to me," she whispered to the point that even Sebastian and Ashleen couldn't hear her.

  Kissing the wizard on the forehead, Elzen pulled off his shirt and said, "Alright, let's do this. Does this mean I need to draw power from the ground like you now?"

  Sebastian used the oval rune and drew out the last of his spare Hollow Swords. Tossing it to the younger mage, he shook his head. "They can draw off extra energy naturally like you restore energy eating. If you try to draw in more power through the sword or through a staff, you can feed them much faster. You'll need to cut yourself off before they overload, of course. They can't completely deal with the full force of the earth after all."

  "A Hollow Sword?" Elzen questioned as he caught the weapon in its sheath.

  "King Alain said that I can keep the people I want as my team, so you might as well carry one as well."

  The owl placed his hand near the center of Elzen's chest before copying the runes onto his friend. The first pair that circulated the energy into his system was placed before connecting the next two pairs. Each tied to the set before them and would only fill if the pair closer to his circulatory system filled first. In contrast, the outer runes would seem to empty first as the mage used up the magic in the first duo.

  "That's it?" Elzen asked curiously. "I don't feel any different."

  "They don't really make me feel different either normally, but you haven't even charged yours yet. You can let them fill slowly or trying drawing in more magic through the sword, if you are more daring."

  Adopting a cocky grin, the younger man pointed at the owl mage and asked, "Did you just dare me?"

  Blinking at the remark, Sebastian shook his head quickly and started, "No... I just meant..."

  A hiss as the Hollow Sword left its sheath cut through the sound of the waves on the beach. Touching the tip to the ground, Elzen began to try drawing on the power as he asked, "You just let it flow into you?"

  "Careful!" he warned sensing the surge of power as the runes of the Hollow Sword began to glow. "The sword will act as a buffer, so you don't need to forc
e it. You do need to get used to filling the sword and your runes also. If you're too blunt, you'll break the sword or burn out the runes."

  The second part was more of a guess based off his experience with the rune wells so far. Three pairs of wells seemed to be the right number from his experience, but Sebastian had been working with the Alus energy for over a year now also. He worried that without practice, the younger mage might overdo his pull on the power.

  Elzen seemed to glow as he let the power envelope him. The wells began to fill according to his magic sense; once filled they weren't as obvious since they joined the power to his system, but the initial draw could be seen by a wizard or someone with the talents of a mage like him apparently.

  He could see the first pair fill with energy. The second followed, but Elzen seemed to control the flow well enough. His new access to power wasn't being abused as Sebastian had guessed knowing his friend. He was impetuous at times, but smart enough to be wary as well.

  Elzen filled the second pair, but stopped shortly afterward leaving the last pair only slightly filled.

  "That should be enough for now," the younger mage said releasing the words like a gasp. "Now I feel some of the power you warned me about."

  The sword was replaced in its sheath and placed on the ground beside his clothing. The runes still glowed on the weapon, but the sword wasn't being pushed beyond its capabilities. If Elzen didn't use the magic, eventually the power would release gently from the sword. Hollow Sword runes were temporary in their hold, unlike the rune wells.

  Placing his hand over the tattoos still marked since the mage had yet to use his magic to make them disappear, Elzen felt the warmth of the wells. "They're warm. Does that settle over time?"

  Sebastian nodded.

  "Door," Elzen ordered and the gold glow of the magic gate appeared in front of him without Serrena's help. The woman looked slightly disappointed, Sebastian noticed before looking at Elzen again. "It seems so much easier now. Part of that is practice, I guess; but it's quite manageable. I barely tapped into the extra power even. It's like I just needed that last little boost in order to do it by myself."