"Are there others?" Erethia asked which Sebastian thought was the better question. The woman didn't look to have a pleasant personality, but her mind was as sharp as the look of her face.
"I have discovered about two dozen, including those used in the portal gates and swords," he replied.
"You must show us!" Gefflen virtually ordered the mage. There was no sign of humility or respect for the mage in his tone again. He was a wizard demanding knowledge and expected a battle mage to answer. The fact that he was deigning to ask to be taught by an inferior battle mage had yet to dawn on the man, if it ever truly would; Sebastian thought to himself.
Elzen smiled and said what Sebastian was thinking as he pointed to the squares standing on the table. Made of rods of steel, the mage had attached them each to a base so they could stand with a locking rune in an upper corner. More runes traced a path around the square with only his locking rune breaking the pattern. With magic, he could turn the lock and flip a gate's opening. Without knowledge of the lock, an invading force could be trapped between the open gate and a reinforced stone wall armed with guards.
"You wanted to see the gates and locks. You want a Hollow Sword and now you want to know everything Sebastian does about runes. Do you think he is a magical restaurant just waiting for your orders? Only gluttons order everything from the menu at once, but I suppose that you thought that since he was just a battle mage you knew everything he did already?"
"Quiet, boy," Gefflen grumbled. His irritation at Elzen was muffled by the fact that he was right. A mage and a boy less than half his age lacking the magical strength of a full wizard, Elzen appeared less than Sebastian to his eyes. Like most wizards, who had little knowledge of what battle mages could truly do, Gefflen wanted to write him off as useless save as a shield in battle.
Pushing magic into a rune wrapping around the boy's wrist and forearm, ink in the shape of barbed wire appeared from under his sleeve save the last piece on his hand. The glow, as the strand grew out from his wrist and hand before writhing in the air between him and the wizards, was more apparent and caused their eyes to grow wider. Like Sebastian, Elzen was tattooed with the magic symbols which he hid with his magic just as easily as his friend.
"Well, I can remain quiet, but that would mean you would be ignoring another battle mage who has studied all of Sebastian's runes. Well, suit yourself then. I think I'll just sit here waiting for him to tell you a possible problem you're going to have.
"I can't wait until you find out that Bas can fly by the way," the young mage said smugly before releasing the magic in his rune. It disappeared into his skin leaving his arm as normal as a battle mage's arm could ever be considered to be.
The last information sent the five wizards into confusion again as Sebastian rolled his eyes at his friend.
Chapter 4- The Gluttony of Wizards
Sebastian let the wizards stew in the fact that there was even more that they didn't know. While he wasn't the type to usually rub someone's face in their false beliefs, the owl mage had to admit that Elzen had played them perfectly. His friend was a well known prankster during his days as a student at White Hall and, though he had matured to a point, Elzen hadn't lost much of that part of his youth. Of course, he was still eighteen, so saying that he was completely grownup would have been assuming a lot.
The five Red Hall wizards had recovered enough to begin asking questions trying to outshout their fellow wizards. Their attack as a solid group had faltered under their individual greed. Wizards collected spells with a passion that rivaled the greediest men trying to accumulate gold. It was their currency and unique unknown spells were the treasure they wanted most.
By the time they realized that those they were drilling had refused to answer, as if they could have figured out who to answer in the confusion anyway; Wizard Gefflen was able to regain control as their leader. The man stared them down, though admittedly Orlen and Hassar looked ready to ignore him if it wouldn't further wear down their position with their hosts.
"Where should we start?" their leader asked as the others' voices ceased the cavalcade of questions.
Sebastian gestured to the two squares. "You are familiar with portal magic obviously. There is no likelihood that you five traveled by horse from Red Hall at this point of winter. Even this kind of knowledge could have waited until spring, otherwise, even if it is months away."
Winter hadn't truly struck the north hard until a few weeks ago, though cooler air and rain had preceded it for a few weeks before that. Southwall seemed like that almost every year. One moment there was warmth in the air. The next snow and ice slowed the land to almost a stand still.
As far north as they were, Hala and the cities along the wall had always been cut off from each other except for messages passed along the wall. Travelers between the guardian cities were rare. The wizards' schools trained their students inside their walls waiting for spring to begin sending the apprentices and cadets to the wall or cities once more.
Their nods were a quiet answer for once; but like the battle mage, these were intelligent people who knew the value of listening over wasting their breath with unnecessary questions. Sebastian placed his hand in front of the closer of the two squares while Ashleen put her hand on his shoulder. The wilder would supply the extra strength he needed to open a gate.
While the owl knew another way to get the power he needed, like he had used moving between Ensolus and Hala; it was another bit of knowledge that most of his friends didn't even know. Ashleen knew his secret and guarded it well. Not letting these vultures for knowledge discover his use of the earth for strength was more important than proving that he could open a gate by himself. Let these wizards believe that he was weak. His strength in magic wasn't that of a wizard, but the cheat he knew was also a possible death sentence if it were to get out to the rest of his community.
"Door," he commanded and the glow appeared in both squares. He touched his finger to the right hand corner of the near gate and explained, "This is the lock. It is a simple rune. You merely envision the arrow and turn it."
His magic grasped the rune lock and twisted. Flipping the rune meant flipping the gate. The glow switched from the side facing him to the other side while a dull pearl looking surface faced him. He flicked the back of the portal with his finger creating a light thumping sound as he struck a solid construct, before releasing the magic.
Ashleen took her hand from his shoulder. His eyes sought her face and she smiled lightly. The power used was significant for a mage; but shared between them it was more like a minor spell for each as long as it wasn't a prolonged use of the magic. This portal was small, much smaller than the ones used to travel between the cities; so it was less draining as well.
The research wizard introduced as Vareen frowned slightly and commented, "Such a simple rune. That is all there is to it? Anyone could make that."
Elzen proceeded to poke the bear, so to speak, and said, "So simple even a wizard could do it. It just took a battle mage to figure it out is all."
Gritting his teeth, the wizard turned on the smaller man, who had remained seated kicking the air with his leg still over the arm of the chair. "So you know his runes? Have you created any of your own? Such a smart mouth rarely seems to have as sharp a mind behind it.
"You're still a child. Perhaps the saying is correct? Why not be seen but not heard?"
"Silence is overrated," Elzen waved off the comment lazily. "You still haven't figured out that you're unlikely to be able to recreate the runes with this group. You never did bother to ask why.
"I may be a child, but if the smart ass in the room made the comment, I would have asked why by now."
Eyes narrowing, Vareen's green eyes blazed at the falcon in his chair. Through gritted teeth, he asked, "Why?"
"Because none of you are healers," the boy said with a knowing smile.
Erethia answered before Vareen's anger could continue to rise. They all looked annoyed at his answer and she got to the point as
king, "What do you mean we can't use the runes because we aren't healers? You are a healer? Both of you are?"
Bringing his leg down, the boy leaned on the table steepling his fingers before his mouth. Sebastian left the answer to his friend. He hated stepping on his fun and it was a distraction that meant he could remain out of the fire of their questions for a moment.
"Well, my fine wizards, I never said that you couldn't use the runes; but it is unlikely that you will be able to make or transfer them. Without a healer's gift, and I don't sense it in any of you since we know our own; you won't have the feel for them to create or pass them on. I may not be smart enough to have made one of my own yet, as you so perceptively said; but I can recreate any of them to pass it on to another.
"You don't need magic for them to work either. That's probably a real blow for you wizards. These runes can be placed on regular soldiers and battle mages. They're probably more useful for us than you anyway, since they are mostly combat related. Still, you'll probably want them to pass on to your people.
"If you show them to your healers, they might be able to use them; but just seeing them on paper isn't that helpful either.
"You said that you were experts on runes. How many can you actually use anyway?"
Gefflen answered the last with his recurring frown as he did. "Many runes are used for greater spells. Writing one in the air can create a wind for example."
"You mean like this? Gust," Elzen pointed his palm towards the ceiling and a breeze stirred the air. The boy wasn't trying hard; but like most battle mages who had been exposed to Sebastian's way of casting, which was based on that of their founder Hurst, he thought using a single word was superior to the advanced hand techniques used by wizards.
"I said greater spells," the elder wizard managed to say without snarling at the aggravating mage. "Drawn in a longer sequence, a wizard can access power beyond the normal spells. Drawn on stones in the correct way, a rune can become a trap.
"Imagine walking down a narrow path to attack a fortress to suddenly be caught in a tornado. An army could be blocked for a time and a smaller force might be eliminated all together with just one well placed rune."
Giving the man an appreciative nod, Elzen leaned back into his chair again and commented, "Well played, sir. I give that one to the wizard."
He waved the admission to Gefflen, but the look and gesture were certainly a barely veiled joke at the man's expense. Wizard Gefflen turned from the annoyance and asked Sebastian, "We will still want to see these runes. If we can't decipher them, as the boy attests, then we will summon our best healers to try.
"Is there any problem with the Hollow Swords or this locking rune?"
Sebastian thought on the question even as he answered it truthfully, "Healers seem best suited to using the runes placed on a body. They can feel them both as the ink and the magic used to make them. A wizard with sensitivity like that could probably do that also, but so far only healers from the mages and wizards have been able to duplicate them.
"Maura's had one for months and as far as I know, she's never been able to recreate it. She can use the rune easily though."
At the sudden turn of their eyes to the research wizard, the woman started. Marveling at the collapse of Maura's confidence before these wizards, Sebastian listened with the rest as she admitted, "Sebastian copied mine from my arm, the oval rune, and placed a second shielding rune on my other arm. I can use both, but I've never been able to move them like he has.
"The original use of the rune was limited to placing a dagger through the ink on an arm to hide weapons. Sebastian discovered channeling magic into them could hide the runes and make the oval lift from his skin to enlarge it for much larger items."
"And no other types of wizards have been able to make them you said?" Erethia asked sounding a bit disappointed.
Gefflen was intelligent and noticed a hole in the information. He said, "The mage traded runes and discovered the other uses. Where did he get them from in the first place?"
It was a question that Sebastian was prepared for and even Maura couldn't answer with the complete truth thanks to the vow that they had taken.
"You know that we found the Grimnal, Gerid Aramathea, yes?"
"How does he pertain to the runes? The myth was always that the Grimnal was immune to magic."
"To some types of magic," Sebastian stated offhandedly and continued onward. "It doesn't pertain to him exactly, however. His guardsmen have runes on their bodies. Their shaman gave us a few for helping to save the Grimnal's island from the emperor's men.
"He said that the only way they were willing to teach us more was if we could figure them out. I haven't gone back to find more, but Gerid was kind enough to allow me to trace them from his guards.
"If there are more, I would have to go back to his island to find out."
Erethia mused the idea as she questioned, "There are people with this magic still practicing it?"
"Some of the nomads north of the wall use runes similarly," he answered. Sebastian had met some of the nomads peacefully. It was his belief that after the Cataclysm some of the merfolk had given up life beneath the sea and become nomads. Not every group was likely to know of the markings, but those in the east, north of Hala, were part of the descendants still using runes.
The comment set Vareen and Erethia discussing the revelation as Gefflen sighed.
"It looks like we underestimated the depth of this new magic. We may have to spend more than a day in this abysmal cold after all."
Elzen perked up and asked, "Is Red Hall still warm?"
The head wizard glanced to the boy with confusion and admitted casually, "Warmer than here at least."
"Oh, Bas, why don't we take a trip there instead?" the younger falcon asked with a bit of hope in his eyes. Even the stoutest of north men preferred warm weather to the freezing cold which made up most of their winters. Just because they could survive it, didn't mean that they would rather not.
"I already have too much work here," Sebastian replied thinking of the complaints already voiced concerning his production of Hollow Swords.
Elzen looked towards the ceiling and raised a finger as he thought aloud, "Red Hall does have an unprotected gate though, which could be a security issue. Maybe it is time to head south and make a new gate for them. I mean, we wouldn't want the emperor's warlocks to use it to invade the school after all."
Rilena nudged the boy with a frown and complained, "Stop trying to get Bas to take you to other places. I know you well enough to guess that it isn't about escaping the cold weather as much as escaping your work here."
Though Elzen and Rilena typically weren't given assignments, since they were assumed to be working with the owl mage; battle mages and wizards in the city had to report to command. From there they were assigned various duties from having set patrols or guard duty to cleaning duties that most viewed as punishment. When no one was in trouble, even mages with sparkling records could wind up with work that they hated.
It was all part of what they had to do to earn their stipend, which was sizable for mages and wizards. They were basically conscripted soldiers, since magic was too dangerous to remain ungoverned. Few found a way out of service at a young age, so they were paid fairly well for their service.
Waving off the pretty mage's remarks, the younger falcon replied, "Well, I'm sure that he'd bring you along too, so I don't know why you're picking on just me here. Besides, we would be working, just not here in the cold."
Rilena could complain and tease Elzen, but in truth, since he could heal and perform many of the spells that Sebastian could, the boy was less likely to be forced into the worst jobs. Unlike him, she was no healer or able to transfer runes. Elzen often was assigned to rune duty as new soldiers and mages were given the protection and other useful runes.
Appearing to like the idea, Wizard Gefflen nodded. "I could run the idea by the high wizards. I'm sure we could get you a few days in Red Hall. If you build a gate, how muc
h time would that take? We could schedule more time to pass on the other magic and have more students on hand to try them."
Sebastian waved off the man's insistence and answered, "If that is what they want, I will go where they need me. You'll have to get that past Raven Leros and maybe even King Alain. He tends to want to know where I am working as well."
A chuckle from Serrena drew his attention. The fire wizard commented, "Well, he's basically a national treasure. Alain even sends him to visit kings like King Qeyless of Sileoth."
The thought wasn't exactly wrong. Sebastian had been allowed to sail off to look for the Grimnal based on a hunch and some equipment loaned to him by High Wizard Darius. When he returned with even more new spells, Raven Leros and the other battle mages started trying to keep him out of dangerous situations. It didn't always work because he was also the most adept at using portal magic. If more wizards or battle mages learned how to do what he did, Sebastian had no doubt that he would end up confined to Hala or one of the schools to train more wizards and mages.
"Red Hall could use his training as much as any school and spread the magic faster," Gefflen stated and the owl mage wondered if he said it aloud to see if the argument sounded convincing. It was likely to be a similar statement that would be the man's argument to get the leaders of Hala to send him away for any length of time.
"Well, until then," the fire wizard Hassar moved the conversation back to the magic that they had come to see, "what of these Hollow Swords?"
Wizard Gefflen had kept his people on task. Before Sebastian tried to show them how to make the Hollow Swords, they checked out the gate apparatus. Erethia drew the runes onto a large pad of paper. Using a glued spine, several large sheets were bound together. Only among wizards and their schools was such a thing likely to be found. Paper makers charged a greater price than regular people could usually afford. Using up paper for drawings was virtually unheard of because there was the possibility of waste.
Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) Page 5