Battle Mage: Winter's Edge

by Donald Wigboldy

  He shrugged and dismissed the thought. It mattered little. Soon the carriage was running once more, but this time nine battle mages accompanied the three remaining guardsmen on their ride to the wall.

  Chapter 2- Curiosity

  The dark rock of Falcon’s Keep, one of the six main fortresses that backed the great wall, rose impressively behind its lower, though still lofty, gray, defensive walls. A fair sized town sprawled along its south and west walls into the farmlands currently under a light layer of snow. Guarded by the ebony keep, the town was the true life’s blood of Falcon’s Keep. The markets brought in produce and animals, clothes and steel, artisans and smiths. All could be found in the town which subsidized much of the defense needed.

  As busy as the town could be, the Keep had its own activity even in winter. While the citizens could hide from the cold inside their homes and taverns, the soldiers, battle mages and wizards all needed to train no matter what the season. Squads still needed to patrol. Guards needed to be set and the great wall to the north needed to be garrisoned. Only a half mile north of the keep, the nearest garrison tower supplied men to the next several towers in each direction. Ever vigilant, the men of Southwall stood ready as recruits from across the country and trained to become wizards, battle mages or soldiers to defend their land.

  With a fresh snowfall, the black rock of the keep stood out even more as the carriage and its new guardians wandered to the western side of the defenses to enter from the entry gate. Though convenience would dictate a north gate, thought had been given to the inconvenience of an enemy that could over run the wall and its towers. A small gate in a lower wall surrounding the town admitted them on the north side, but the clacking of hooves had to follow a street west before turning south and finally the last turn east to face the huge wooden doors opened to either side of the street. The twisting pathways were designed to force an enemy to follow the path where Falcon’s Keep soldiers could rain arrows and stones down upon them from the top of business roofs surrounding it. The access to the roofs could only be gained from the keep walls thru a smaller doorway, a little known fact that only those who guarded the keep knew.

  As the party approached the gates to the castle defensive wall, Bas let his eyes wander to the black stone archway holding the wooden doors. The doors though impressive were not the true gates. They were opened and closed at night, but should the enemy breech the town and approach the walls, the true gates of iron would be slid into place. The falcon had seen them rarely. They were giant steel and iron gates recessed into the ten foot thick walls. The pair of reinforcement gates, that required four men to open and close for each, could be put into place to deter any invader that might manage to damage the lighter weight wood doors.

  It was a stronger defense than at first glance and such surprises were excellent for a defender. The home field advantage of a castle and its walls needed to be built up as much as possible, especially when confronted by the Dark One’s hordes. With such defenses, a wizard could rain down fire, an archer could pick off an enemy forced to run a gauntlet, and a battle mage would have a safe haven for falling back in the face of overwhelming numbers.

  The guardsmen and the apprentice driving the coach looked upon the wooden doors in awe only seeing a small part of the keep’s true power.

  Sebastian smiled tightly to himself. Visitors would have little enough to take back even if they wanted to scout this fortress.

  The inner courtyard kept its stables to the right as they entered and the battle mage led the party to the waiting stable hands turning his horse over to an older stable boy before moving to the carriage. By that time, Deiclonus had already exited the ebony wagon, though Sebastian arrived quickly enough to lend a gentlemanly hand down the pull out carriage step for the apprentice Ashleen and the lord’s daughter, Helena. Lord Romonus simply used the door frame for his hand hold and the round man nimbly made his descent to the brown, paving stones already swept of snow.

  “Thank you, Falcon Trillon,” the older man nodded with a gracious smile. “I appreciate all that you have done getting me and the others in my party here safely.”

  “You’re welcome, sir, though if you wish I can also escort you to Lord Dorwyn or Falconi Saren, while a suite is set up in the keep for you and your daughter, if you would like. That is, unless you would rather stay in one of the inns in the town, of course. I merely assumed that you would like to visit the keep for your stay.”

  Looking contemplative for a mere second, Lord Romonus nodded to himself and replied, “If his lordship wouldn’t be too bothered, I would love to meet with the man.”

  Sebastian smiled politely and gestured toward a double door. “We can certainly see.”

  Upon entering the castle, the steward of Falcon’s Keep was there to meet them. Word had gotten ahead of them that the castle had guests. Sebastian was even pulled aside a moment by the steward to find out about their visitors. Having never had the opportunity thrust upon him before, the mage explained the ambassador’s party to the man who quickly responded by calling forth a handful of servants to bring the luggage stowed on the carriage.

  “I am Master Manweyn, steward of Falcon’s Keep, ambassador. Lord Dorwyn has been notified of your arrival and can see you now if you wish?” stated the older man with graying brown hair.

  Nodding assent, Lord Romonus replied, “If he is not too busy, I would love to meet with the lord of Falcon’s Keep.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but the man was used to negotiations and revealing only the information that was needed, so the ambassador simply held his tongue and waited for his guide to lead.

  As the lord and his daughter moved towards the inner keep, Sebastian ordered his squad to get some rest and dinner before following their guests. He would need to stand in to make sure the events were told properly and the introductions were made. The trio of kardorian wizards had joined their charges as well on their journey into the castle. Increasing his pace, Sebastian hurried to catch up to the group passing through the doorway.

  Once inside, the visitors half looked at the simply worked stone and hangings of the hall. As an outpost city, Falcon’s Keep was not as strong on the amenities of art as other castles might have. There were some wall hangings spread along the pathway hanging from their rods hooked into the stone on either side. Paintings of lords and soldiers were here and there as well. Hanging oil lamps were lit inside serving to highlight some of the art. They were also required for lighting just to see, however, as no windows had been created in the lower floor of the keep due to the need for safety and defense.

  Climbing a few stairways to eventually gain the lord’s main audience room, the group came upon Southwall soldiers lining the walls though in light numbers. Lord Dorwyn was hardly fearful of attack here inside his castle, but still the men guarded as much for show as true guardians this day. If they weren’t enough deterrent, Sebastian’s added presence would be enough to protect the man most days. A battle mage’s magic was powerful against most enemies and his magic shield and sword would buy the man time to flee in a crisis.

  The visitors’ eyes noted the decoration of the audience chamber had become more impressive than the halls that had delivered them here, however, and eyes drifted. More luxurious wall hangings were uniformly hung across from one another. Brightly colored and long enough to reach from nearly floor to ceiling, the hangings also served to mask doors and sometimes more soldiers or wizards. For all that it was designed to impress a visitor of the regal nature of the lord they faced, it was an unspoken design of power and diligence as well.

  Lit by five, large, impressive chandeliers above them the room was easily rid of any darkness despite being an inner chamber with no outside walls. A small dais held a desk and a pair of chairs with only one occupied at this time.

  The man sitting atop the dais looked up from the papers on his desk with a smile. “Ambassador Romonus, I believe?” questioned the man with dark brown hair which had begun to gray. As he rose to greet them, they
noted that his clothing, while finer than most of the commoners, did little to change the look of a military man. With a polite smile, the lord of the castle gestured towards the small crowd and added, “The rest are your people, I would presume.”

  With a little bow, the round Kardorian with his bald head revealed as he held his hat gestured to the young woman next to him saying, “My daughter, Helena, my Lord Dorwyn.” With a slight twist he introduced the wizards, “Deiclonus, wizard of the first order, his apprentices Wendle and Ashleen, and of course our savior, Falcon Trillon, who is one of yours, of course. We thank you for his timely assistance, Lord Dorwyn.”

  The man raised his eyebrow in query. “It sounds like there is a bit of a story that I have not yet heard. Was there trouble north of the wall?”

  Romonus nodded in return and answered for them all, “Our party was set upon by a force of were-things, wolves and the like. We were quite outnumbered and surrounded. I thought for sure we were doomed, when your battle mages arrived to the save the day just in time.

  “I, for one, am greatly thankful to this young man,” he said patting Sebastian on the shoulder fondly. “I am on business from the capitol and my death would have meant great delays, not to mention my wife would have missed me greatly,” the man finished with a laugh. As ambassador, Sebastian figured it was the way of such men to make light and try to be charming to other lords and ladies.

  Lord Dorwyn answered, “I am sure you would have been missed.” A light smile was upon his lips for the story though the feeling seemed to not quite work into his eyes due to the darker information of another Dark Emperor hunting party. The man’s eyes strayed to Sebastian briefly as he continued, “Our Falcon Trillon has had a habit of arriving just in time throughout his short career. I am glad he could arrange the stars so well once again.

  “Well, if you have no true business with our little keep beyond that of a stay over, I offer you and yours my hospitality. Manweyn will see to your rooms. We have a fair amount of guest room here at the moment thanks to the winter’s snows. Not everyone enjoys trying to ride through such weather after all.

  “I also extend the offer to attend dinner with us. We will set an abundant table for you, I can assure you.”

  The ambassador inclined his head in a half bow. “I accept your hospitality, sir. If you would not mind, I think I would like to head to my room and rest from our adventure. If your schedule brings you to dine with us, perhaps we might talk some more, my lord.”

  Lord Dorwyn nodded, “Of course, ambassador, I can imagine how tired you must be after such a harrowing battle and the long trip.”

  The apprentices surreptitiously rolled their eyes at the thought of the round bellied ambassador’s true part in the conflict, but quietly followed the lord and their master from the room. Ashleen spotted Sebastian watching the exchange and colored slightly, before nodding slightly to the falcon as she passed.

  Once the visitors had left the room, Lord Dorwyn gestured for the falcon squad leader to approach. The young man stood straight and walked forward. From behind one of the wall hangings, a new source of movement caught the corner of Sebastian’s eye. He let his eyes flick to Falconi Saren even though the falcon had known the man was there for quite awhile. One of the gifts of most wizards and many battle mages was that they could sense the magic of others. Though weaker in magical power than a typical wizard, a mage like Sebastian could make out the magic from a fair range and had felt the falconi approach while they had been talking.

  Lord Dorwyn noted the falconi as well and nodded. “Good timing, Falconi Saren. Did you hear much of their report?”

  A fit man of middle age, the falconi made a striking figure in his black uniform with silver bars on his shoulders. A full beard and barely thinning brown hair framed a strong face that could turn fierce in battle. The man was the ranking leader of the battle mages in Falcon’s Keep until spring when one of the ravens would return. Acknowledging the falcon and lord with nods in that order, the falconi stated, “Apparently, the lord and his entourage were attacked by a pack of the Dark One’s beasts. Though judging from the man’s … condition… I would hazard that he had little enough to do with fighting the creatures. Perhaps the falcon would be so kind as to enlighten us as to his perspective?”

  Though left as a question, the falcon knew that he was to respond. “Yes, sir, I had the squad on patrol when luckily for the Kardorians we began to hear the howling. The wind carried the sound out to us and we hurried to the road. By the time we had arrived, they were completely surrounded and several of the guardsmen had been killed. While the wizards were still putting up a good fight, the apprentices had both been injured also.

  “With the werebeasts distracted by our new friends, our charge went unnoticed until our lances killed most of the nearby forces. We drove the wolves away and tended to the Kardorian wounded. Unfortunately, most of their guardsmen were slain by the time we arrived, but the three wizards and their two charges in the carriage remained safe.

  “After that, we made sure to escort them straight to the wall just in case the enemy chose to regroup or if there might be another band in the area. Our patrol hadn’t found any tracks to suggest anything more, but we had only been out for a few hours and hadn’t finished covering our planned route yet, which leads us to here. I hope that bringing them to the keep was appropriate, sir.”

  “Of course it was, Falcon Trillon,” Lord Dorwyn stated for the falconi, though Saren nodded agreement with the lord. Turning his sights on the senior mage, the lord added, “Perhaps we should double our patrols the next two days, just in case we are looking at more than a single straggler group, falconi.”

  Nodding agreement, Saren added, “Of course, my lord, I’ll let the other division leaders know immediately. Should I also have someone keeping watch on our guests?”

  Lord Dorwyn shook his head. “I don’t think we have a need to do more than maintain the usual guards in the keep, though I am debating on whether we should offer an escort to their destination. I assume the ambassador has a reason for traveling in winter to Southwall. If it’s important to our relations with Kardor, then it could be in our best interests to assist our allies on the rest of their trip. It would also give us a way to make sure they don’t get into or cause anymore trouble.”

  The lord dismissed the mages a moment later and Sebastian followed the falcons’ leader from the hall.

  “The lord may not think that they need watching, Sebastian, but it might not be a bad idea for you to check in on them this evening and expand your relationship with them. As it’s said, keep your friends near and keep your enemies closer. Also gathering any information as to their actual mission might not be a bad idea either. I know you’re not a spy or diplomat, but you have a good way with wizards beyond any other mage. Maybe you can get a little more out of them, but be subtle. No need to cause an incident over it,” Saren suggested.

  “Yes, sir. You don’t think they’re trying to deceive us about why they’re here do you? If they’re from Kardor, shouldn’t they be our allies and working with us against our mutual enemies?”

  Saren agreed. “That doesn’t mean it couldn’t be a deception of the Dark One or even maybe someone in Kardor with an agenda of his own.” The man smiled and patted down the air in dismissal, “but don’t get all worried on my account, Sebastian. I’m not truly worried over them just staying guarded after the trouble in Windmeer last summer. I just figure that it’s better to be safe rather than sorry.”

  Sebastian’s face darkened at the thought of Windmeer. He had been there for the trouble referred to and knew exactly what the falconi was suggesting. A deception of such vile magnitude could make anyone more guarded even against friends. After all, it was a falcon that was used to infiltrate the other fortress. A battle mage he knew well and fought alongside as well.

  It was a tragic mission with Palose, who at that time was a cadet along with Sebastian, which had caused the man’s death seemingly. Bas had been forced to f
lee from the Dark Emperor’s creatures leaving his friend for dead after the cadet had fallen from his horse and fell breaking his neck. Weeks later, Palose had straggled in seemingly fine after all, or so they had thought. Palose pretended to be injured from the fall, but of course never killed. The Dark One’s wizards had somehow brought the man back to life, with full memories, but with a catch. Palose’s mind had been turned dark. Perhaps it was a ghost within him. Perhaps it was truly Palose himself angry at the seeming betrayal and abandonment. Sebastian had never truly known, but in a battle that had nearly ended his own life, the falcon had fought the dark falcon, two other dark wizards, and a mass of orcs and goblins in the bowels of the castle.

  Saved by the other defenders of Windmeer and the healing powers of the wizards there, Sebastian had survived just barely. But questions remained, and unfortunately the only one who could answer them, Palose, had escaped and not been seen since then.

  Noting Sebastian’s lost thoughts on his face Saren clapped the younger man on the shoulder. “Don’t look so grim, lad. I’m not suggesting such a thing is happening, but better safe than sorry.

  “Now go write up a report of this trip and get it onto my desk, maybe later I will see you at dinner. Also you may want to hit the wizards’ halls while you have the time and see if anyone is interested in teaching you more magic for us. I know you’ve been busy with your own falcon work lately, but keeping yourself busy with the wizards might be a good way to get yourself out of these doldrums.”

  Twisting a smile, Sebastian half chuckled, “Sorry, sir, but thinking of Windmeer tends to make me distracted. I still wonder over what has become of Palose, if that truly was him.”

  “Enough!” the senior mage ordered raising a hand gesturing for a halt to such words. “Go take care of your report. If you’re still thinking like this after that, then hit the practice fields instead. I don’t care if it is cold. The exercise will do you good.”