"Now tell me, can you remove this collar?"
She held out for a moment, but as he squeezed enough to make the sound of her blood drum in her ears and her vision darken, Zeria pulled at his arm crying out. "No, not without the key!"
Releasing the pressure, Sebastian asked a new question, "Who has the key?
"I want it off. I've put up with enough torture for a lifetime, now I am ready to go home."
"They won't let you go, not alive in any case," the woman breathed sounding a little labored. He loosened his grip, but could tighten it before the wizard could get off a spell.
"I won't give them a chance. Who are you serving anyway?"
"You don't care about the key anymore?" she replied sounding almost amused.
"Try answering both questions before I decide to break your neck instead."
"You wouldn't do that. You're a nice guy, a healer too. If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead already," Zeria stated almost laughing, but she also sounded like it meant more to her than as an insult.
"I'm a battle mage. I've killed dozens in battle already. Why wouldn't I snap your neck?"
Zeria didn't bother to answer the last question. Instead she answered his first, "Xaren is one of the keepers of the key. It is really more his guild that keeps it. Even if I wanted to help you escape, I couldn't get to the key. Only his school of magic would be allowed where they keep it, which is also a secret for anyone not part of the diplomacy wizards."
"Is there another way to break it?" the owl asked already having ideas in mind for breaking the collar if necessary.
"Not that I know of," she replied shifting in his grip. Her hands had been holding his forearm, but as the wizard turned she sat onto legs as he knelt behind her. Her right hand touched his leg moving upward in a suggestive way.
Calling his bluff, which was less a bluff than Zeria realized; Sebastian let her win this time. He slid his arms from around her neck and shoulders standing despite her posterior trying to block him. Zeria slipped to the floor.
"Ow, stop doing that. This floor is stone, you know?" she complained again appearing not to see the potential danger that she was in with the battle mage. As the woman moved to stand, the mage could see it in her eyes that she truly didn't believe that he would harm her.
"Where are we?"
"New Harbor, as if you hadn't actually guessed," Zeria stated brushing off some straw from her knees. Marks from the straw were left behind from being pressed between the woman and the floor.
"Have the people rebelled and taken over the city?"
That question made the wizard laugh even harder. "The people rebelling against who? Count Terris has pulled everyone who likes the idea of separating from Southwall together. Lords, wizards, mages, generals, whoever and begun to push back already.
"If you don't agree with him or his people, they either find a way for you to be transferred out of the city or make you just disappear."
Sebastian looked at the pretty red head and ignored her antics. When speaking of the changes, he could see it in her eyes that she was also afraid.
"Would you help me escape?"
The blunt question made the wizard's eyes widen before she shook her head strongly. "No way, if I did something like that I'd be in a cell too or dead."
"If I can get this collar off, I can get us both out of here easily," the mage stated thinking of his portal magic. It was often on his mind, since he had been cut off from the source of his power.
Puffing out her cheeks in thought before releasing the breath, Zeria shook her head once more. "I have family here. If I disappear, then they will too, Sebastian."
"I will find a way to escape, Zeria," he declared with certainty that made the woman cringe. His confidence led her to doubt only her safety should it happen on her watch.
He thought beyond such things and asked, "If your attempt to convert me fails, what will they do then?"
Zeria's eyes lifted to him curiously and the wizard replied, "He has picked up a few advisors that aren't even from Southwall. Most likely he will let one of them work on you using their magic."
"Their magic isn't like yours, you know the wizards of Southwall?"
Shaking her head in answer, she added, "I think they might be from Litsarin or... you know."
He did know and had a feeling that he even might know some of these new advisors to the count.
"Fine, then you can let them know that you failed. I want to see who they send next," the mage said as he set his jaw. If it was who he believed it was, killing them wouldn't bother him the way hurting or killing Zeria would. The woman was right that he wouldn't kill someone like her easily, but if it came down to it, in war the mage would do what was necessary.
Pursing her lips, Zeria considered his words before a slightly wicked smile crossed her face. "I don't have to do that right away, do I? We could still play a little more."
His eyes rolled at the woman, who smiled again.
Two weeks had passed and no new clues were found. Darius had been called in to help them. Though no one felt confident in going to Red Hall, or the security provided by the school, Ashleen joined the high wizard as an assembled group of wizards, mages and guards met at the portal gate in Hala.
Darius saw the girl who looked to have lost some of the light that once was easily seen in her face.
"Don't fret. We will find him, Ashleen. Sebastian is strong and intelligent enough that I fear we will probably find him just in time to see him back here safe from doing whatever he needed to do," the man said trying to be of comfort.
She looked tired. After suffering through a drunken hangover from that first night, the girl refused to try that again. Unfortunately that meant many restless nights trying to fall asleep. Her friends seemed to have found a different way to get through the night.
When Ashleen went for dinner at the inn, Serrena and Elzen would join her. When she would go to bed, they continued to remain behind every night after the first. They had begun giving each other strange looks and once Ashleen asked Hilda if she knew what was going on. The wilder was pretty sure that the other two had been drunk enough to wind up in bed together that first night.
It had made her angry at first. With their friend gone who knew where and probably in trouble, two of his best friends were busy drinking, dancing and sleeping together. Ashleen had gone to Serrena's door ready to berate them, but realized that she couldn't fault the two of them for finding solace where they could. She had returned to her room and never bothered to complain to her friends.
Sebastian had always talked about the problems of having long lasting relationships as a battle mage or wizard in Southwall with the probability of being transferred regularly. Relationships formed quickly and broke as swiftly whether they wished it or not.
Their happiness, however, only added to her misery. Ashleen wished someone were there to lie beside her and help her sleep. She missed Evie, who the wilder had viewed as part pest and partly like a child to care for. Though she didn't want the girl in her bed while lying with Sebastian, right now Ashleen wished for a friend to hold her if he couldn't be there instead.
"It's been two weeks," Ashleen reminded the wizard. "A lot can happen in two weeks. If he hasn't come home by now, I am afraid of what he is going through."
"Don't give up on him. You need to remain strong too. You wouldn't want to find him and have Sebastian worrying over you because you let yourself get sick from not sleeping," he chided her with a fatherly smile.
"That is easier said than done, Darius," she replied and turned her head to yawn.
"We will find him. I am sure of it."
"I wish we could have found you sooner though. If we had followed through that portal when we found it, maybe he'd be safe already."
Sighing as the man realized that this fight was never going to be over until they found Sebastian, Darius answered, "Perhaps, but dashing through unknown portals is a good way to get yourself killed just as easily. I'll do my best to make s
ure that it is safe enough to follow first. If not, I think that I can trace the gate to the other side and form a new one nearby where they won't be expecting us."
"You can do that?" she asked in surprise.
"I haven't just been sitting back letting Sebastian do all the work," chuckled the high wizard. "With my background in closing gates, it has helped me figure out several things related to them; but come on, young lady. Let's check out this gate and find him already."
Not needing to be encouraged further, Ashleen watched the portal wizards open their gate to Red Hall.
Diomar was there to meet with them, but the wilder didn't need him to show her Sebastian's guest room or where the closed portal was inside. The girl nearly ran over the wizard dragging Darius behind her to show him the offending room.
Setting up some equipment that she didn't understand, Ashleen stood to the side as the high wizard and his grandsons worked to first expose the gate with strange dust and a cast of a spell. Treya had come to watch and stood near the wilder as they worked. A device was produced with a smooth green gem set in the disc attached to a handle.
As Darterian pushed his magic into the device, his grandfather created a small hole in the air. The size of a small coin, the new portal only opened for a moment before Darius closed it again.
A map was laid on the desk in the room and after the wizards had done their calculations, the high wizard nodded to Ashleen. "It is New Harbor. Treya was correct."
The named wizard blushed at the attention of the immortal, but Ashleen ignored her fan worship. "Then we can follow?"
"After I test the far landing," the wizard replied. "We still need to know if it is guarded. We don't want to land in a trap or have someone killed. This should be a rescue mission not a suicide mission."
Pulling out a strangely crafted, round stone that sort of looked like a fake eye, Darius passed the rock to Elias who began casting a spell on it. The high wizard proceeded to recreate the small portal, though it was about twice as large as the first. Elias placed the eye stone close to the miniature gate and popped it through the hole.
Covering his right eye, the wizard used his magic to guide the talisman and linked his sight to the magic stone. While Elias maintained his reconnaissance spell, Darterian opened a new map. Drawn down to the individual street lines, New Harbor was on display for the wizard to see in surprising detail.
Ashleen moved closer to the man as he looked over the map and asked, "You think that this will show Sebastian's whereabouts?"
Glancing to the wilder with a sympathetic smile, the Enchwold wizard stated, "Perhaps, but for now we are charting the other end of this portal. If you would give me a moment, I will mark it to go along with the other ones we know so far."
On the map, Ashleen noticed a pair of markings that seemed out of place on the map. A dot of green and one of purple stood out for her eyes. They were in very different places on the map. The purple one sat near an area marked out as New Harbor's castle.
Darterian ran his fingers over the city map for several seconds before resting over a spot long enough to generate a yellow mark for the magic being used. After it was done, the man looked at the wilder waiting for her questions; but first he spoke to his grandfather and cousin.
"I have it," the wizard spoke simply.
The stone was recalled by Elias before Darius dropped his miniature portal.
"It looks like another warehouse, though it was mostly empty," Elias said to those gathered there, although he directed his observations to his grandfather in particular.
Ashleen noted that the new mark was closer to the castle than the third dot. "What is this one over here by itself?"
"That is the portal Sebastian hid from Count Terris' wizards," Darterian answered for the other men. Darius looked ready to speak, but allowed his grandson his time. "The other is the official portal for New Harbor, but it was made from imbued stones made by High Wizard Herrol in White Hall instead of Darius."
"I didn't know Herrol could make portals," Ashleen said in surprise. Others listening looked equally caught off guard by the news.
"He doesn't," Darius stated grimly. "With all the problems going on in the southern cities and specifically New Harbor, it was decided to give them a different locator stone. Being different from the northern gates, any wizards who learn how to make portals there will need to be taught the other magic markers."
Frowning at the explanation, the young woman shook her head. "But once they find a few wizards who can use the spell, won't they have that? It isn't much of a defense if you give them the markers anyway."
Darterian spoke up again and said, "The only portal wizards they have were trained in the north. They were stationed there well after the trouble began. King Alain and his advisors believe those wizards are loyal and will protect the secret of the other gates until we are certain that New Harbor is safe."
Having listened from the door Elzen remarked, "And since we are hiding that from Count Terris and his wizards, I assume that we never felt it was safe."
"I can't say that I know all of the politics within Southwall or the current circumstances caused by the Dark One's men sowing poisonous thoughts of rebellion," Darius replied. "As a wizard of Enchwold, I don't really even involve myself or the school in the disputes between nations near the school unless they need a neutral party to arbitrate in fact.
"What I do know, is that Hala has been keeping an eye on all of New Harbor; so I believe that you are correct in saying that even the king's cousin isn't completely trusted. This isn't surprising to me. Most kings are dethroned by family with ties to the throne and greedy hearts.
"I don't remember too many rebellions thrown by just one city though. If the count or someone else with political or military power has plans to try and separate from Hala, it would be a brazen move. Southwall has a rather large army and I can't see Alain letting even family try to wrest part of the kingdom away from him."
Ashleen mused, "King Alain doesn't seem like a greedy monarch with the need to hold on just because a city is part of his kingdom."
"Said like a wizard," Darius chuckled at her remark. "Alain isn't someone driven by a need for conquest, except maybe the wish to conquer and remove the threat of the Dark One; but if he lets a city try to break away, it will make him look weak. More cities and provinces might try to leave or another man might try to usurp his crown completely.
"Like I said, I am not one who watches such things closely, but in my time many kingdoms have changed family lines from such things."
Sighing at the distraction of the conversation, Ashleen asked, "If New Harbor is considering breaking from Southwall, what purpose would kidnapping Sebastian serve? This just helps point the finger at them more than we already were."
"I can think of multiple reasons. First, they might hope to use him to find more magic to give them an edge. Second, if they can't convince him to join them just removing him from play helps remove that variable from Southwall's options. I'm sure we could find more reasons, but those are likely the main reasons that he might have been grabbed from Red Hall."
Falcondi Yenest moved towards the wizards and asked, "That is all well and good, but did your search of the other side of the portal reveal if it is safe for us to use it? We can start our trackers from that point and make it easier to find any traces of Sebastian's passing from there."
Glancing to Elias, Darius received a shrug. The younger wizard replied, "It did look clear. We could check Sebastian's gate, if you would rather."
Yenest shook his head. "We believe that it may be compromised. There has been no word from the guards there for weeks.
"The king has been sending his contacts through the official gate just in case someone decided to capture anyone sneaking into the city unofficially. It wouldn't be unusual for someone using the other portal to be considered spies since there is an official gate that the count's people know about already."
Darius considered the options and offered, "I ha
ve practiced enough that I can probably use an existing point and add a random factor to it moving the arrival gate away to sufficiently avoid someone guarding it."
"But that wouldn't prevent someone else from seeing a group of wizards and mages using the random gate," Yenest countered. "That could cause an alarm and bring even more attention to us from the local guards."
"Then I guess we should risk this new portal," the high wizard said looking like he didn't feel as comfortable with the idea in spite of his words.
Elzen spoke up again and said, "Then send me. I'll go first."
A worried look from Serrena behind him was caught by Ashleen, but the wilder said nothing. If there was a new relationship between the two, it was a matter for them only and not for her to stick her nose into.
A large shadow filling the doorway behind the smaller mage said, "I'll go. He's a little small to entrust with holding the line for an unknown position."
Elzen glared at Jeriah and argued, "Just because you're large doesn't mean that I'm not capable of doing anything you can, big boy. Sebastian is a lot smaller than you and kicked your rear before. Don't think that I can't just because you're bigger. You're also a lot older, so I bet that you're a lot slower in your old age."
"You little..." Jeriah started reddening angrily at the insults.
"Shut up both of you!" Ashleen yelled at the two mages. "We don't need you two starting fights with each other when Sebastian's life is in danger. If Darius makes the portal large enough, you two idiots can go at the same time. That will give you twice the advantage and twice as many eyes to keep a look out for the rest of us to arrive."
The men glared at each other a moment longer before they looked at Ashleen. Shrinking from her withering look, they missed the amusement hidden by Darius with his hand. The wizard turned back to the point where this side of the gate would open and said, "Making it large enough for us to pass two at a time is probably a good idea anyway. We don't want to leave the gate open any longer than we have to."
With that decided, the wizard made sure that everyone was ready both in the room and out in the hall. The same team which had come to Red Hall would be joined by Darius and his grandsons. It was a surprising commitment from the wizards of Enchwold when this technically didn't involve them, but Ashleen felt better having the immortal wizard coming along. He was a steadying presence and had seemed to be in Sebastian's corner from the moment that the two men had met at the Winter's Edge tournament.
Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) Page 28