Even after finding the Grimnal, they had remained with his group, but more because he couldn't figure out how to get them back home safely. For now, they remained his responsibility and he also hid their secret as well. The two women were from another clan which had once been merfolk like the ones he had received rune magic from, but only the two girls and a few others from their people retained the ability to change into mermaids.
Naoromi, the younger of the two sisters, touched his shoulder sliding her fingers over his shoulder as she found a chair on the other side of Ashleen. The touch was less flirtatious than a need to feel safe. The mage had saved them and, without his team of mages in attendance, Sebastian was their only true protector. He had been forced to protect them since arriving in the city as well, but Sebastian knew they were safe with Darius and his elves.
The elder sister, Yaroma, asked again, "What were you saying of the merfolk writing?"
Pushing a little of his power into the runes on his left arm, Sebastian reminded the young woman of the strange lettering that held power on its own as well. A normal man or woman could wear the runes and still find protection from weapons even without using magic. Sebastian had discovered that mages and wizards could push their magic into the runes making them exhibit new more powerful abilities.
"The runes are a form of writing from the people living near Gerid's island," he stated. Those people were also a secret to the world in general, but those in hearing distance were in the loop who knew of the merfolk. "The shaman who first drew them on my arm, and the other four runes as well, said that if I managed to understand the runes on my own, he would teach me more. Since I figured out how to use my magic to move and copy the runes of the others, I have begun to understand them better. I don't know if the shamans of the tribe would acknowledge it as understanding, but I feel like I have begun to comprehend more about them."
Yaroma nodded and apologized with the words, "I wish Naoromi and I could help you with those. We grew up only able to learn what our people could pass on verbally. The slavers who kept us prisoner wouldn't allow any writing.
"I think they knew that such knowledge in our hands might help us gain our freedom if we could use those which were magic," the young woman said showing no real reaction to her words. While they had been treated poorly and seen many of their people sold off into slavery while the children grew up in large cages to hold them until they grew old enough to be sold as well, Yaroma and her sister never appeared to dwell too deeply on their past tragedies.
Pointing to the stone necklace around her neck partially obscured by her blouse and long hair, Sebastian said, "Your necklace has several runes on it actually. Do you know what any of them mean?"
After pulling her hair behind her shoulders, Yaroma lifted the stone attached to a bronzed chain from the concealment of her blouse noting the markings on the stone. Made of what appeared to be common stone one might find from the Dimple Mountains, the material would draw no pickpockets or cutpurses. Even the chain had little more value than the stone to an eye looking for profit.
The young woman proceeded to pull the necklace from around her neck and looked reticent to do so. Sebastian couldn't remember either of the women removing their necklaces since he had first met them on their island. They had used their siren song to try and pull the men of his ship into the water where they would have drowned. Unfortunately for the young women, they were countered by several female wizards and mages from his team. Using magic to counter magic, even Sebastian was able to escape their control using a spell before he could lose his mind to their magic.
Defeated and having their necklaces stripped from them at first, it was only after speaking with the sirens that they had discovered they were using their powers against their will for the slavers who held their people hostage. The necklaces had been returned to allow the women to change into mermaids again. Without them, once changed into human form, the mermaids were as human as Ashleen or Rilena.
Sebastian took the necklace looking at it closely. His eyes spied a few of the markings which looked familiar to him, but closed his lids before running his fingers over them as well. He knew the markings by sight and feel on his skin as the one who had placed most of them himself. The feel of magic was within the piece as well and the mage thought that he could feel texture to that which couldn't be seen by his eyes at all, even searching for magic.
After opening his eyes, Darius asked him, "May I see that as well? I can't say that I am familiar with your people's magic or writing, but some words of power tend to cross from one language to another. Some have theorized that magic comes from a single ancient language that transcends all others incorporating similar figures among all of them that are actually the same."
Sebastian passed the high wizard the amulet after Yaroma nodded her assent. The piece was invaluable to her people, so he knew that the young woman was trusting Sebastian wouldn't give it to someone they couldn't trust. Living up to such trust had been possible so far, but he was still just a mage and unsure if there would be a time that he couldn't protect the girls.
"Hmm," the wizard hummed touching the cuts in the stone similarly to Sebastian though he didn't close his eyes like the mage. "I think these two look familiar. If I am not off in my translation, this one is for sleep while this one is 'mind'. There are others here that I am unsure of both before and between the two I recognize, however."
Ashleen commented, "Well, if it has something to do with sleeping minds, maybe that would cover part of what their siren song can do."
The wilder had been there after being rescued by Sebastian also. She had helped the other wizards from Southwall and Malaiy stop the sirens, though perhaps it was more accurate to say that she helped Sebastian. They had been close even by then, though the mage had his heart on a healer from his team instead.
Sebastian directed his next comment to Yaroma saying, "Perhaps when I have a chance to find some paper, you will let me copy the runes to examine them further?"
The mermaid nodded replying, "Of course, we owe you too much to refuse such a simple favor. The only thing I would have to refuse is if you might somehow damage or erase its magic."
"Well, I don't think drawing the runes will harm the amulet or its magic in anyway, but I will be careful," he acknowledged her worry.
Darius questioned, "Were there more amulets with your people on the island?"
Sebastian wondered at the question, but felt that there was a reason for such an odd query. It was just beyond being obvious for his mind to come up with the answer to his wondering.
"There are a few more held by our other sisters," Naoromi answered for Yaroma. He guessed that the younger woman was getting bored being ignored by her sibling, but the sisters she mentioned were not her actual blood sisters like Yaroma. The girls who could use the siren magic of the amulets were limited to just a few and they called each other 'sister' because of the closeness they shared in the power.
Darius didn't release the thought which had prompted the question right away as the immortal seemed lost in his thinking, but Sebastian was beginning to grasp why he would ask now. The wizard knew that the younger man had been wrestling with a way to return them home to unite the mermaids with their people.
There was a gateway on the Grimnal's island, which Sebastian had stolen from the Betrayer. How the dark mage had managed to set up the portal there was still a mystery, but even if he sent the girls to that island, there were hundreds of miles of ocean between the portal and the home of their people. The dangers of such a trip made him worry about setting the mermaids free in such a way.
Yaroma and Naoromi might be mermaids, but they weren't as knowledgeable of the ocean as the merfolk living near Grimnal Island. They had been confined to the islands or their cages for their entire existence and had only left after Sebastian and his crew had freed them. It would be like releasing a fish from a pond near his home into the North Sea and expecting it to know the dangers it would face there. It was unreasona
ble to believe something unfamiliar with a new area would be safe.
Darius looked at the mage and nodded to the younger man as if transferring his thoughts.
It didn't take a spell to make him figure out the line of reflection. Sebastian had found Palose's portals by tracing the man's magic. The amulets on the Siren Isles would likely let him trace a bridge to them through Silver World and the portals he could make.
Passing the amulet back to the mermaid, Darius asked, "If we could use the tie of your amulets to the others, would you wish to return home to your family?"
He had said it, but not told them that it was entirely possible. Sebastian only had to get out his map and try.
Looking surprised, the sisters exchanged glances a moment before Yaroma answered, "We followed Sebastian to try and pay him back for what he has done for us and our people. If we have become too much of a burden of late, then, if it was possible, I suppose we would prefer to return to the islands to check on our families again. We would rather leave him, even if Naoromi and I feel that the debt isn't paid in full, than be a burden."
Naoromi sighed and nodded. "We know that he pays for our room at the inn. Perhaps we should ask Hilda to allow us to work to pay for our room instead. The use of Sebastian's money to pay our way means that we have begun to owe him more rather than finding a way to pay our debt to him."
Shaking his head, the mage replied, "You helped enough in finding the Grimnal. If I had felt comfortable sending you home from there, I think you could have considered your debt paid."
Both girls frowned at his answer.
Yaroma countered, "We hardly did anything. We swam as scouts beneath the waves and tested the barrier at the island. That hardly equals freeing all our people."
The mage sighed. He knew that their sense of honor, or whatever they wished to call it, meant the mermaids wanted to do something big for him; but he didn't know how they could pay him back in such a way that they would feel equal once more. Until then, the man was stuck with them unless maybe they felt that they were becoming a burden.
Naoromi added, "Perhaps I am being selfish, but I am not sure that I want to go back to the islands yet. Hala and the other cities we have been allowed to explore are much more fun than living on some island in the middle of nowhere. I'm not sure why our ancestors picked them at all."
"It was because of the Cataclysm, little sister," Yaroma answered giving her a look that appeared to question Naoromi's memory. They had all the knowledge their parents and the other adults could pass to them orally. Such a culture relied on the memories of the entire tribe to try and keep track of their history. Many things were probably lost because they couldn't write them down to maintain consistency in the stories.
Darius spoke up saying, "If Sebastian could return you home; he could also create a permanent gate. Perhaps that would allow him to return you to your family. I am sure that you must worry about them also.
"With the gate there, it would be easy enough to bring you or any of your people to him or one of the other gates in Southwall," the wizard said sounding like he was trying to be helpful.
The mage, on the other hand, wondered if it was truly helpful. If the two didn't wish to return home, then he was still stuck with them or forced to make them go home making the mermaids unhappy that they couldn't fulfill their need to help him. The thought and words his mind chose made Sebastian question if he was ready to return them as well. Perhaps he had grown fonder of them than he had realized.
Yaroma's face fell slightly with the idea, which made Sebastian a little surprised. Darius had just gift wrapped the best possibilities into one scenario. They could return home and still have a chance to help him, if he simply called them through a portal.
Another worry came to the mage's mind though. "We will be opening another gate that the Dark One might use against us."
Darius actually laughed at the excuse. "And of what value would these islands be to the Dark One? Will he use them as a winter retreat when the mountains are too cold for him?
"You have said that there appear to be portals outside of Southwall and the north which his armies and ships can use to escape the mountains. What use would a portal 'in the middle of nowhere', as the girls said, be to him?"
"Would I be able to tell Olan that I had to go?" Yaroma asked in a voice that was small and meek. Olan was another battle mage and one of the team who had traveled with Sebastian on his journey. The other mage was only a few years older than the owl and had become quite close to the mermaid. Some believed that they were in love.
"If we try this, then of course you would have time to talk to Olan," Ashleen replied ignoring that it was actually Sebastian's magic that would send the girl away and that she had no real say in the matter. On the other hand, the wilder was a friend to the others and also essentially Sebastian's girlfriend as well. Making her unhappy was likely to make him unhappy, he thought, and didn't bother to contradict her opinion.
"Well, there you go then," Darius nodded to the girl. "Of course, this is all a matter of conjecture. Sebastian still has to help build the gate in the fire wizard's courtyard tomorrow and who knows how much time he will have working to secure the other cities that I have seeded throughout Southwall. He is likely to be a very busy man for the next few weeks, unless he chooses to spend extra time trying to find the islands."
It was as if the high wizard had created the drama of sending the mermaids back home only to try and give them all an out to let them stay as long as they wanted. Sebastian thought the man's opinion on the matter a little flighty and inconsistent. Usually a fan of the high wizard, the mage found himself slightly annoyed by the circumstances.
"I will think about it later," Sebastian stated aloud. "For now, we will just keep things as they are. Once I discover if I can even find their islands, then I have to figure out where to place the portal."
His answer was just as weak as the high wizard's, he thought in annoyance.
"Well, perhaps having dinner and enjoying ourselves afterwards will help right the mood," Darius added gesturing for Helga's eldest daughter to come take their orders. While they had talked, more patrons had begun to arrive signaling the beginnings of the dinner rush.
Before dinner was over, a collection of battle mages and wizards arrived to greet those already there. Olan, a tall mage with dusty brown hair, greeted the mermaids in particular with a fond smile. He managed to sit beside Yaroma, mainly because the group knew that he was smitten by the woman. Even without using her siren magic, Olan seemed unable to resist her.
Two other mages from his old team were with him. Mecklin, the eldest of the three remaining mages, found a seat across from them near Naoromi who greeted him civilly. He was more than a decade older than the younger sister and uninterested in her beyond as an acquaintance.
The last battle mage was the blonde haired, Frell. She was the lone female mage following him and had the spirit of a redhead like the wizard next to her. Frell was a close friend of the fire wizard, Serrena, who had followed him since he was recruiting wizards to train with in Windmeer. The fire wizard had become enamored of him and Sebastian had a feeling that she wished he wanted more than just the working relationship between them. Serrena had followed him like an apprentice followed a master almost from the first, but with first his romantic relationship with Yara, a healer, and now Ashleen, he was pretty sure that she had given up on him that way.
Still they were all friends and he was glad to have them.
The final wizard, dressed in the blue of a water wizard, sat beside Sebastian as the group expanded from two to three tables. He sighed loud enough to be obvious beyond his disappointed looking expression that Liam was at least slightly depressed.
"It isn't the same without Collin and Nara here," Liam complained with another sigh. He spoke of another pair of wizards who had been part of their team to the tournament. They had also followed him on his mission to find the Grimnal. Collin was a close friend to the water wizard despit
e being an earth wizard and had become one of Sebastian's best friends as well. His original group of five wizards was now down to two.
"Well, Nara received an assigned to the Dimple Mountains near Fort Maradith and Collin asked to be transferred with her. He didn't want to separate now that they have finally come together," Sebastian nodded.
"Come together is a rather unromantic way to put it," Ashleen stated leaned forward to look around Sebastian to see the water wizard. "Is it wrong to call them lovers at this point?"
She giggled as the two men looked uncomfortable with her words. Liam, however, shook his head replying, "Those two had been hiding their feelings for each other for years. I think they were already hooked on each other back in White Hall as apprentices.
"I've had to watch Collin pine after her since we were classmates," the water wizard laughed a single chiding bark.
"I'm slightly surprised he managed to get the assignment with her," Sebastian said avoiding talking about the romance of the two wizards which had blossomed along the way partially because of his own romance with Yara. His relationship had faltered making the healer decide to leave him, while his friends' seemed to continue to get stronger. He wasn't a true romantic, but Sebastian was glad the two could stay together to see if they wanted to possibly marry in the future.
Relationships between wizards sometimes managed to get that far, but working within the wizard guilds and the military made it harder.
"Collin told me that he had to nearly beg and even confessed that he might want to marry her to the leader of the earth wizards here in Hala to get the assignment. I guess that meant Nara was brought before her guild leaders as well to determine whether it would be allowed."
Ashleen shook her head saying, "Your wizard guilds are ridiculously strict. Why can't they be together?"
Liam answered, "It isn't that they can't but Nara is only twenty-five. The guilds don't like risking their female wizards getting pregnant before age thirty, though it isn't a written rule. Pairing wizards for children is actually a fairly popular idea, they just prefer waiting until they are older."
Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) Page 7