Sebastian noted the two young men on either side of the wizard. One dressed in the white and blue of a water apprentice was Linus, one of Magnus’ friends and a former co-tormentor of the mage. The third man wore the red of a fire wizard like Magnus, but he was unfamiliar to Sebastian.
Magnus was starting to lose his smile as Yara continued to berate him in front of a slowly growing crowd. He confessed, “I do appreciate what Bas did for me. I wasn’t pranking him to be a jerk. Honest.
“Didn’t you notice that I called that fireball differently from the other wizards?”
Sebastian hadn’t seen the wizard cast any spell, but his memory suddenly recalled that the spell sounded like a battle mage command. “You called it from a battle mage spell?” he asked trying to discern the element that the wizard was trying to get across.
Clapping his hands together, Magnus grinned, “Exactly!”
“But why?”
Noting the eyes still watching their conversation, Magnus gestured towards a bench away from prying ears and eyes. “Though some of White Hall know that I have been practicing the battle mage way of casting, perhaps we can discuss it where there’s a little less of a crowd?”
Yara and Sebastian followed Magnus along with the other two wizards beside him. Magnus quickly introduced his friends. “I think you both know Linus well enough,” he said of the apprentice. “Embrell, here is a fellow fire wizard and my dueling partner.”
A quick exchange of hellos led to Magnus revealing, “Embrell and I have been trying to bring in the battle mage way of casting to our duels.”
“Why?” Sebastian asked though he had a pretty good idea.
“Well, after you soundly humiliated me in the battle circle, I first began to realize that for all our strength our magic has a big flaw. It’s based on casting and building up strength unlike the faster, less draining spells of your mages. Then I was there for that battle where you coordinated both the remainder of the falcons and our wizards to turn the enemy when we should have been overwhelmed by their numbers.
“It led me to a couple conclusions. First, if fire wizards are supposed to be combat wizards, then we should look for the best combat spells. A quick, strong, magic shield can turn a fight as easily as a large fire spell depending on the situation. Knowing how to do both, whether it’s the battle mage way of thinking or our original wizard’s training, shouldn’t matter. Second, you personally have instincts that rival the best wizard I’ve ever seen. If only because of what I have seen and heard of the magic you have created and the battles you have won, I knew I should take your mage spells seriously.
“So last fall after you left, I went to my superiors and asked if I could return to White Hall to see what I could learn. We have a common enemy. If mages need to be more like wizards, perhaps the opposite is true as well. Embrell was assigned to train with me and, with Falconi Garrett and Martina for support, we’ve been learning alongside some of the cadets and falcons stationed here.”
The news surprised Sebastian coming from the wizard it did and yet, all of it made sense to him. Just as the mages were learning and improving from the new magic he was discovering from the wizards, Magnus was right that the wizards could learn from the speed of their spells. “Then I guess we both learned something last summer.”
Half bowing his head, Magnus nodded, “Well, if nothing else, most would consider wizards intelligent enough to learn from their mistakes. Too bad no falcon ever taught us this lesson sooner.”
Embrell began to chuckle and added, “Unfortunately, I think it will take more than just Magnus and a few others to get the message across to the rest of the wizards. Not everyone is embracing the idea. In fact, Winter’s Edge will be our true testing ground. If we fail to show well, I think the elders will scrap the whole idea.”
Magnus smiled a little slyly as he added, “Though maybe if a battle mage wins a few battles at Winter’s Edge, it might not matter what we do. Have I heard correctly that you have joined the duels?”
“I have,” Sebastian affirmed and continued, “I’ve brought a team from Windmeer to help train for it.”
“Excellent then perhaps you would duel me? After all, I do need a chance to get even after the thrashing you gave me in the battle circle last summer, don’t I?” Magnus asked with a grin. The other two wizards with him looked eager to see such a match as well.
It was not a matter to be thought of lightly to Sebastian, however. He knew Magnus was a strong fire wizard and despite only being made a full wizard last fall following the summer’s battles he was capable of doing well in the tournament. The fact that he was beginning to adapt battle mage spells into his skills might give him an even bigger edge than before. Sebastian battled with the curiosity of seeing Magnus’s new skills with wanting to hide his own.
“I’ve only really dueled a few times now. I doubt that it would be the match that you wanted at this point. Give me a few more weeks and perhaps we’ll meet in the tournament.”
Magnus looked disappointed. “Come on, Bas, I really was hoping to see you fight. My spells are still a work in progress as well, so I would think that it will be a fair fight.”
Looking towards the duels still continuing and the onlookers watching every contest closely trying to find weaknesses and strengths to avoid, Sebastian frowned slightly. Giving away what he already could do, might not mean anything in three weeks really. With the training he was planning, the mage might be an entirely different sort of dueler by the time he reached Hala. On the other hand, if he learned very little and could not change his tactics by then, the few advantages he might have could be given away.
“Perhaps we could find a less public area to test what you have learned,” he said cautiously. “Maybe the battle mage courtyard would do?”
Eager to test himself, Magnus nodded and said, “Let’s go!”
As they started to walk towards a small wooden door in the wall to their left, Yara caught his arm and asked, “Are you sure that you want to do this here?”
With a noncommittal shrug, Sebastian replied quietly, “I’m not sure. I am sure that I am being eaten up with curiosity about what Magnus has been learning.”
She frowned worriedly. “If he’s learned everything you know from being a battle mage, then won’t he just be a stronger version of you?”
A little smile played at his lips thinking of that. “Perhaps he will be a stronger version of a battle mage, but I doubt that he has mastered every spell. Even if he has, I know that he hasn’t learned every spell that I have figured out since being a cadet.”
Sighing, the girl followed the men to the mage’s courtyard. Several sets of eyes turned to see who had decided to use the small door in their wall. Only wizards were likely to peek in on their cousins from that door, but upon seeing Sebastian in his falcon’s gear faces brightened noticeably. Weapons were put down and practicing in general shut down at his approach.
Whispering between the young men and women proceeded as Sebastian approached a ranking falcon trainer. “Would it be all right if the fire wizard and I had a practice match here?”
The falcon was decades older than Sebastian. Nearly retired from the service, the mage had to guess, the grey haired man in his brown jacket and black pants had most likely chosen to help train at White Hall rather than fully retire. He still looked fit enough to fight, but the mizard could sense that his energy wasn’t what it once was.
“You need a sword, lad?” the older man asked.
Shaking his head, he stated, “No, we just need that side of the court cleared.” He gestured towards the opposite side of the clearing where only a couple cadets had remained with wooden swords in hand. Sebastian thought they looked to be twelve and wondered how he had become so old so fast.
The falcon gestured for the boys to leave their side of the field and watched as the two duelists set up across from each other.
“Do we want to set up substitutes like at Windmeer since we don’t have a team of wizards to make sure
that we don’t kill each other with a stray spell?” Sebastian asked noticing just three wizards stood with them, if they even knew the spells of protection.
Magnus noted a pair of practice dummies for the cadets’ weapon’s training. “Perhaps we should think of safety first. I wouldn’t want to kill you before you could go to Winter’s Edge and more importantly I don’t want you to kill me,” he laughed good naturedly.
A pair of cadets was set to moving the two dummies where Magnus and Sebastian indicated and quickly moved away.
“You need the usual ten seconds to set your defenses?” the wizard asked the mage with a grin.
“Probably not,” Sebastian said as he gathered several wooden practice staves and three metal rods. Used for weapons in different scenarios so that cadets could learn to be versatile in a fight, the rods and staves would settle for stand-ins for the normal props allowed at Winter’s Edge. It wasn’t considered part of the duel gathering materials to use for differing spells. As long as a wizard didn’t cast a spell to get ready, nearly everything was allowed.
Magnus on the side of the field brought nothing, which was to be assumed of a fire mage since that type of magic rarely used other components for a spell. Fire merely needed air to be effective.
When they were ready, Embrell raised a hand checking with each man. Dropping his hand, he declared, “Ten seconds to prepare.”
Sebastian repeated his technique of the three shields. So far they had yet to fail him in a match; Magnus on the other side surprised him by using two mage shields called similarly. Between the two, glowing, blue shields the wizard had to go back to the slower casting of the fiery, solid walls that Sebastian had seen with other fire wizards. A solid defense of three walls to guard his flammable target, Sebastian thought and both were finished with time to spare.
“Match on!” Embrell shouted after a few seconds of waiting longer.
“Lance, lance!” Sebastian commanded launching two of the air wizards’ lances at Magnus’s walls. A wave of fire rose up heading towards Sebastian’s target with a single command of power from the wizard surprising the mage slightly. It was as powerful as any fire spell Sebastian had seen in a duel, but the wizard had used a mage’s speed to attack with it.
The two lances pierced the wave as Sebastian concentrated on damaging Magnus’s walls. The first shield collapsed instantly with the first hit. A second impact into the fire shield went deeper and even cracked the third wall. Instead of crumbling, however, the fire seemed to regenerate healing itself.
“Gust!” Sebastian ordered created a strong wind to try and hold back the wizard’s wave of fire. It wasn’t enough as it broke the first wall. The wave faltered between the wind and thick shield ending the threat for the moment.
Fireballs swarmed through the air as the wave subsided. Another mage command style spell, the swarm followed the wave quickly hoping to overwhelm the mage’s last two walls before he could recover.
Sebastian flipped a wooden staff to hand as he summoned power from the earth to create a counter to the fire. Shields about a foot in diameter appeared to stop the fireballs about midway between the wizard and the target. This time it was the mage who returned fire as Magnus reacted to his nullified threat.
Creating air lances around two of the metal rods, the mage sent the pair of spears through the air towards the two walls. White hot fire shields appeared midair in a similar way to his mage shields. One of the spears crumbled as the sheathing wind gave out and the rod inside melted like ice before a blaze. The second pierced both walls driving a stake into the ground directly before the practice dummy. Once again the fire wall healed, but the second mage shield was gone.
Worried over how easily Sebastian had pierced his defenses, Magnus quickly called forth another pair of mage shields on either side of the fire wall. While the wizard built his defenses, the mage called forth a more powerful spell.
“Tornado,” he commanded. The word drew Magnus’s attention even as his defenses were set. It was a new spell for a mage.
A burning wood smell made its way to Sebastian’s nostrils as the wooden staff in his hand began to give under the draw of power. His foot kicked up a second shaft to his hand before he tossed the used piece of wood aside. His spell grew in strength as his concentration held the winds as he desired.
Spinning faster and faster, a spout of concentrated wind began making its way across the field pulling up dirt and brown grass as it ripped at the ground. Magnus tested the growing tornado with a powerful fire wall that merely shattered and joined the wind in a burning torrent. A second attempt only added to the flames as the tornado began to light up the courtyard feeding the flames rather than snuffing it out.
Sebastian maintained the spell and augmented it with the wizard’s own fire as it stalked slowly across the yard. Winds whipped at hair and clothing. The mage only managed to control the powerful entity with the power he stole from the earth. A third staff was needed and the second used up weapon crumbled to ash as it fell to the ground.
Blue shields were raised desperately by the wizard across from him trying to stave off the inexorable power of the tornado. More shields were raised by the spectators as debris swept around the enclosed courtyard.
No shield could stall the fiery tornado’s path, however, and the dummy began to burn as it was picked up by the magical construct. Magnus backed away from the area having lost and not wanting to remain any closer to the tornado of fire. It was up to Sebastian to rein in his monster, but it fought him for control.
“Gust, gust,” he commanded sending a pair of forceful winds into the sides of the monstrosity to slow it’s speed. The efforts worked and he was able to drain the wind of both fire and speed before it reached the far wall of the courtyard.
Looking at his hand, the third staff turned to powder in his grasp as the job was done. His knees gave way forcing him to kneel in relief in the ash of three wooden staves. Breathing a sigh of relief, the mage had to consider whether he should try such a spell again. The power of it was magnificent, but he had barely managed to control the beast.
He heard clapping from a single set of hands quickly joined by others. Darkness hovered at the sides of his vision. The mage had almost pushed too far. Even augmented by the power of the land, it was still his body that was part of the conduit needed to use that power. Like the wood staves, the energy of the earth could burn him up if he wasn’t careful. He didn’t know the limitations of using his magic like that and he was afraid that finding out would be the end of him.
“Amazing!” Magnus proclaimed as he walked up to the kneeling mage as he gathered his strength back. “Where did you learn that spell? Have you become an air wizard now? You know more importantly how did you manage to pull that off? I can tell that it took an immense amount of magic to cast. You shouldn’t even be able to do that.”
Taking a proffered hand, the mage stood facing the slightly taller wizard seeing that his silver eyes held both humor and curiosity.
“Perhaps once the tournament is over I will share my secret,” he replied hoarsely. The fire and smoke paired with his over use of magic had dried his throat and mouth uncomfortably.
It was Yara to his rescue as she stole a bottle of water from one of the mage’s tables.
“I will hold you to that,” Magnus said pointing to the mage’s face. “Don’t think that I won’t.”
Passing the bottle of water to Sebastian, who took it and began to drink gratefully, Yara glanced at Magnus looking surprised. Noticing a good natured grace in the face of defeat from a rival, the young woman wondered at how the wizard had changed from mere months ago. A defeat in the battle circle had left the young man angry and bitter for days. He had even tried to undermine Sebastian with other plots at Windmeer before that terrifying battle where the mizard had risen up to lead their company to defeat a horde of the emperor’s army.
She wondered at what could have happened to change Magnus so drastically. Could it truly be that he respected Sebas
tian the way he said? It seemed like it might be at least one motivator.
The girl finally had to say, “You’re taking the loss surprisingly well.”
Shrugging, he replied, “He seems to find a way to surprise his opponents and thus finds a way to win. How can I be angry when he beat me here? This is basically practice after all. I wanted him to come at me with something I hadn’t seen before and he did. Though as they say I should have been careful what I asked for.”
Sebastian shook the fire wizard’s out stretched hand. The mage also found the wizard’s changes surprising, but at least it was a good surprise.
Magnus was rejoined by his friends and added as he turned to walk away, “But just remember, Bas, I’ve seen this trick now too. I’ll come up with something better by the time I see you again as Winter’s Edge. Trust me.”
Giving a tired wave and grim smile, Sebastian watched the wizards go.
“A fire tornado?” the girl asked after the battle mages had a chance to congratulate him and ask how he had done so many air spells. They entered the nearest door into the school leading them through the battle mage’s wing this time.
He shrugged and emptied the last drop of water into his mouth. Eyeing the empty flask, Sebastian knew that he needed to head to the eating hall for some food. The duel had been incredibly draining. He wondered if using Bairh’loore would reduce some of the strain, but looking at Yara his mind returned to her question answering, “I’d seen a similar spell used during the matches at Windmeer. If I can keep using different styles of magic, then perhaps no one will be able to keep up with my switching up schools and spells.
“If I can keep these wizards guessing, I think it will give me a much better chance, don’t you?”
Sighing, Yara replied, “Just try not to kill yourself in the process. I’d hate to lose you when we just finally freed me to be a wizard to be with you.”
“Agreed,” he replied giving a kiss on her head in the empty hall. Maybe they didn’t have to hide their relationship, but they didn’t necessarily want to go flaunting it too much yet.
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