Sebastian still wanted to talk with Cheleya as well, so they waited near the Tower of War, the nickname for the mage administration tower on the north side of the building. Shouts of congratulations became sporadic by the time Katya had gathered Cheleya and Kel'lor, and surprisingly the fire apprentice Arrimus followed at their heels grinning like a fool.
Before the four could get close, Arrimus hurried past to address Sebastian first. His congratulations had an odd tone as the younger wizard said to the mage, "I have been waiting all summer to see Magnus get his come upance and you beat his arrogant ass impressively. Do I even see a bead of sweat on your forehead?"
Unsure of why a friend, who had been part of Magnus' group of bullies, would be so happy to see the wizard defeated by anyone let alone a battle mage, Sebastian questioned, "You've been waiting to see him beaten? I thought you were one of his friends, Arrimus."
Looking slightly taken aback the apprentice noted, "You remembered my name. I'm not sure if that is good or bad."
He finished with a laugh and Katya glanced to the apprentice disapprovingly. Informing Sebastian of an incident that had happened when they first arrived at the school, the girl said, "Arrimus challenged Magnus to a match the first night we got here. I don't even think Magnus had a chance at a bite to eat before they rushed out of the dining hall to duel in the entry courtyard."
Arrimus winced at the reminder, but added, "He beat me with your new spell, the darkness shield. We hadn't heard of it at that point."
The apprentice paused a moment, but everyone could tell that he had more to say. Finally breaking his silence, Arrimus said, "Until I saw it, I really couldn't believe that a battle mage could truly take on and beat a full wizard. I don't know if Magnus is the best, but you are impressive.
"You don't even seem like a battle mage in the wizards' duel circles. Lightning, tornadoes, and all that magic that have never been mage spells. It was enlightening."
The younger man bowed his head slightly before heading back towards the fire wizard courtyard.
Katya frowned, "That was weird. Arrimus has been in check since Magnus returned with us, but I've heard a few stories that he was quite the bully for awhile."
Nodding, Sebastian looked ready to go inside, but held his ground telling his sister, "Magnus and several other fire apprentices took it on themselves to bully the mage cadets when they were here. They wanted us to know that we were inferior to them and shouldn't even bother to learn magic, or something to that point.
"It put Magnus in my path for awhile, even after leaving White Hall, since he was in the same group that went with me to Windmeer. It wasn't his first time there and he used his connections to mess with me. He also hated that Yara and I had gotten along so well. He didn't think mages and wizards should socialize at all."
Serrena looked a little quiet at the conversation. The wizard had never acted that way with him, but she had only asked to join him after he won a duel against an earth wizard who had just beaten her. Collin had joined him as well after being asked and had vouched for the female, fire wizard despite her losses.
Sebastian wondered how much of the fire wizard mentality of putting down the mages had been in her before he changed her mind. She and Frell had become the best of friends also and some thought that she wanted to be his lover besides.
"Maybe you have changed his mind for the better as well," Katya replied thinking of the way Magnus had sometimes stuck up for Sebastian. She added, "Magnus has said good things about you, even if he seemed to be obsessed with getting this rematch with you. I don't think it was a mean spirited thing, but I can't say that I have ever understood his mind."
"Magnus saying good things about me would certainly be a switch from a year and a half ago, but he appeared to have turned over a new leaf when we met in Hala as well," the mage mused on the last few times he had seen the fire wizard.
"He was pretty arrogant when you were teaching him the darkness shield and light spell to disrupt it though," Frell reminded him of the time after the tournament where Sebastian did his best to pass on the magic he had discovered during the tournament and during his training before it.
Katya considered the dual sides of the fire wizard's character that sometimes seemed to contradict his actions and said, "He is arrogant, but that is because he wants to be the best. Winning the tournament certainly didn't deflate his ego either, but I think he is also smart enough to realize that he can learn some things from you at least."
Shrugging at the idea of Magnus being willing to learn anything from him, Sebastian looked to Cheleya beside his sister and said, "I actually went to the roof to see you. My sister said that you have a problem that no one has been able to solve so far. Maybe we can find a classroom and I can take a look?"
The dragoness brightened at his words and replied, "I am willing to discuss my curse with anyone who can help, but what do you know of shape changing amulets?"
Chuckling, he replied, "Well, this would be my first time seeing one up close, but I did see your country woman change into a dragon, er, I mean che'ther in the ring during the tournament."
Kel'lor frowned and said in his low gravelly voice, "I don't want you to get your hopes up, little sister. He is a battle mage and unlikely to have seen our magic."
The mage retorted without taking offense, "I am a quick learner, but I would hardly want to raise her hopes. I am willing to take a look, since I can at least heal normal maladies."
Katya waved them towards the door to the tower saying, "Let's see if we can find a classroom to have a little privacy at least."
Chapter 12- Unlocking the Puzzle
It took a little time to find an empty classroom. Though most jointly taken classes were in the morning, young wizards with the same kind of magic were often using the rooms while their mentors taught them the spells of their specific school in the afternoon as well.
Katya had to disappear in fact when her mentor spotted her walking through the halls with the others.
"Katya, where have you been? You know that you are supposed to be in class now," a taller dark haired wizard complained in her black wizard's robes trimmed with silver.
"Sorry, Ylena, my brother arrived and I wanted him to meet Cheleya to see if he can help her."
Not everyone knew of the dragon's curse on the girl. Katya had managed to keep it secret even from her mentor, but Ylena did understand enough that she knew Cheleya was there for more than just learning how to become a healer and mage.
"Well, he has found her. Now come on." The woman shook her empty hands at the novice and complained, "You don't even have your books with you."
Sighing, the wizard gestured for Katya to follow. The younger girl quickly said, "Good luck, you two. I hope Bas can figure something out."
Finding an empty room shortly after Katya's loss, Sebastian sent Mecklin and Frell to get some food. The fight had been intense and normally after a duel, the wizards would find a table of food nearby to gorge themselves on to restore their energy. It had been almost half an hour and, though he wasn't starving surprisingly, the mage was beginning to feel the urge to eat and drink.
Liam left as well to go find out if Herrol and his wizards had decided on a plan yet leaving Sebastian with Serrena, Rilena and Elzen as his audience. The fire wizard sat on one of the tables designed to accommodate at least two people side by side. The young woman was relatively short and had to hop up to achieve the height and began to kick her legs idly.
While Rilena and Ashleen looked equally helpless taking seats on a pair of stools, Elzen, who could heal remained close by hoping to see Sebastian in action.
Sebastian was about to ask Cheleya more about her condition when he noticed a little red haired girl peeking through the doorway. "Can I help you?"
The others turned and Rilena hopped off her stool, "Evie, I was wondering where you were."
"You know her?" he asked.
Cheleya answered surprising him, "We all know her. High Wizard Darius brought
Evie here to see if I could learn to shape shift. She is a wilder type and is an expert at changing into various animals."
The girl had long, dark red hair and big, green eyes, but if not for her being just over five feet in height, she reminded him more of a child dressed in just her tunic and bare feet. Her tentative look at the strangers she didn't know kept her rooted in the doorway until Rilena hugged her and drew her inside.
"Has her help worked for you?" he questioned Cheleya putting the girl's presence in the back of his mind. With her in Rilena's care, he figured that the new girl wouldn't be any trouble.
The dragoness paused but shook her head. "I don't know if I have a knack for it. Evie says that I simply don't truly want it to work, so that means I am the only reason I can't make the change."
He nodded, "Katya told me that you were locked in this form. What exactly happened?"
Cheleya glanced to the large mar'goyn'lya, who was so massive that Sebastian thought the monster would crush any stool he might hope to sit on in the classroom. She had called him brother, but if he was a gargoyle and she a dragon, it was doubtful that it would be by blood, he thought dismissively.
Taking in a big breath, the girl began, "I am not sure how detailed I should get. There are probably things that pertain to Mar'kal that I shouldn't even say to an ally."
"I only need the details that best tell me why you say that you are cursed."
She nodded, "My mentor was a traitor human, who had come to Mar'kal to learn our magic. Though he was tested as far as our wizards could, the man was secretly learning our magic for the Dark One. When I caught him attempting to steal certain relics from our Academy, he used another amulet to control the one I wore which let me change back and forth between human and che'ther.
"You saw the amulet Isstmira wore, correct?"
"I saw an amulet though it wasn't near enough for me to say that I noted much about it."
Kel'lor pulled out a chain attached to a stone amulet and placed it on the table between them.
"My brother uses a similar amulet to become human." She noted his size with a small smile and stated, "His mar'goyn'lya size and weight aren't conducive to your world anymore than a che'ther's bulk would be. I doubt any of these stools could support him for instance."
The mar'goyn'lya grunted at the little girl's words, though he didn't dispute them. She continued, "Both races use the amulets to become smaller and lighter, though Kel'lor prefers a large scary human male to my much smaller body."
"Could I see a demonstration of the change?" Sebastian asked trying to keep the facts most important in his mind. The girl had an amulet and this was like it. "I also don't see one on you, at least in sight."
Kel'lor picked up the amulet and intoned the unintelligible words, "Ekam emet tahway et ma desopus ot ebem."
Light encompassed the gargoyle and it shrank again quickly as Kel'lor became human. He was a large man who still loomed over Sebastian, who was just a little taller than average himself.
The mage nodded and said, "I assume that you prefer to be mar'goyn'lya to human. You may return to that form if you wish."
He didn't have to tell Kel'lor twice, the large man uttered another set of words that meant nothing to Sebastian's ears and mind. "Neruter emis ot flesym sa et sawen."
The light returned and grew turning Kel'lor back into his massive, gray, winged mar'goyn'lya body. He placed the amulet on the table for Sebastian to use as reference before stepping back slightly. The mage thought that Kel'lor was intimidating in either form.
"You were saying that you had an amulet that this human used against you," Sebastian reminded the girl of where she had left off.
Nodding to the mage, Cheleya continued, "First, Malaketh used his amulet to make me do as he said. When he told me to move, I walked unable to stop my feet. I could speak, when allowed, but my mind had no control over my body. He had used it on others older than I, so I guess that I can't blame being young on his power over me.
"When we came to a balcony outside one of the rooms of the Academy, Malaketh used his magic to break my amulet, but he didn't just break it. He used his curse to embed the stones inside my body. It bound me to this form and nearly cut off all of my magic.
"He threw me from the tower hoping to kill me. I had just enough power left to save myself from the fall by making my dragon wings with the last of my magic."
"You said that the stones were placed inside your body to lock your form and power. How did you find this out? I assume that after seeing your amulet destroyed, that you would believe it was gone," Sebastian said staying on track with the magic used against the che'ther more than Cheleya saving herself with her magic. If she was thrown from a balcony to be killed, and still lived to speak to him, the girl had found a way to save herself; but that didn't matter when the curse was the problem he faced.
"An earth wizard from Staron we met on the way to Hala discovered them by trying to search my body for traces of the magic used. She discovered nine pieces of stone grafted to the bones inside of me. They still held magic that she could see."
The girl pointed to her forehead, center of her chest, six more points on collar bone and ribs, before turning to touch her back. It was as if she could still feel where they were.
"High Wizard Darius tried removing the stones from my body; but even pulled from me, the magic holding me in this human form remains. I've tried using Kel'lor's amulet and another that was given to me by another friend, but they can't override what was done."
Sebastian frowned slightly. With the stones removed, there had to be magic remaining inside the girl preventing her change. Asking permission before placing his hand on the girl, Sebastian said, "Is it all right to touch you? I can probably reach out with my magic, but contact is easier."
At her nod and reply, "Of course, I can remove my shirt too if you need to see my skin as well, though the pieces were inside of me and I could never see them at all."
He shook his head and said, "No, just a touch. Heal."
With his hand on her forearm, the owl used his magic to move into the body of Cheleya. His eyes closed. The mage could feel everything about her and marveled that she felt like any human he had ever healed. Both Ashleen and Yara, who he had known intimately using their shared ability to heal, were different only in shape. Little things were different because all humans were unique to a point, but nothing was glaringly different about her until he looked deeper searching for the magic trapping her.
He started with her forehead and noted something odd. "Ashleen, could you grab some paper quickly."
Opening his eyes, Sebastian saw a thick handful of paper stolen from the desk in front that Serrena had steered the wilder too. The fire wizard had been to the school as well and knew that the front desk was the teacher's and often had supplies that students might need.
The sheets were large and Sebastian separated one from the pile unsure if he would actually need more. Closing his eyes, the mage held Cheleya's arm with his off hand and drew what he felt from the magic attached to the bone of her skull. It had a shape that felt like a rune. Drawing it was easy, since it was a fairly simple form. It also felt incomplete.
Moving to each point the girl had pointed to; Sebastian repeated drawing the runes he saw in the remaining magic. When he had finished with all nine points, the mage looked at what he had drawn. Then he picked up Kel'lor's amulet placing it beside the paper. Like a puzzle, he picked out the pieces of each rune he had drawn.
He took a second piece of paper after numbering the nine runes. Luckily he had thought to arrange them on the paper roughly in the position they held in the dragoness' body. On the second sheet, Sebastian placed the amulet in the center and redrew eight of the nine runes around the amulet making sure to put the number it corresponded with just outside of the circle of runes.
He lifted the amulet free and noted how each rune combined. Taking the last unused rune, the mage had to turn it to match the position on the amulet; but when he was fi
nished they found the pattern of runes matched that on Kel'lor's amulet.
"The magic of the amulet was bonded to you beyond just the physical stone. When he placed them inside you, this wizard rearranged them making it impossible to change. The center was twisted and moved to your back. Those on your ribs are turned and out of place as well. Only the one on your forehead is roughly in place."
Cheleya looked surprised as were the rest looking over at the sheets of paper and amulet. The girl asked, "Is there anything that you think you can do to fix it?"
Chuckling, Sebastian nodded and said, "Actually it should be rather easy if it works like the runes I already use."
"Simple?" Cheleya disputed before countering with a frown of discontent. "I have had che'ther, who were familiar with the amulets, the healers at Hala, and High Wizard Darius all try to fix this; and you say that it is simple? I know that you may have wizard tendencies, but you are saying that you can fix this where a thousand year old che'ther and a seven hundred year old human wizard could not?"
He shrugged, "The rune magic is something none of those have seen most likely. I only know of two tribes that use similar markings and only one of those can use them for magic.
"Even someone a thousand years old, doesn't know everything. That should probably be of some comfort to us if the Dark One is as old as he is said to be."
Mecklin and Frell returned with a couple platters of food and bottles of water and juice. Sebastian took a moment to eat and drink a little to feed his reserves and restore his strength as much as he could. While the owl was pretty sure that the bonds of the runes, which had bound the curse to Cheleya, would respond similarly to those he knew; there was the possibility that the warlock magic known as a curse spell could have been involved.
He had come across a few pieces of such magic on his journey and been able to destroy some with the help of combining magic with Yara. If this was a similar spell, the mage wasn't sure he could force them to move at all. Hopefully, the spell used by a single caster could be countered in a similar way.
Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) Page 17