Ashleen looked ready to pout spurring the mage to place his finger on her lips as she groaned in annoyance. "It shouldn't take long. I'll be back in a little while then, I guess."
Leaving the three women before more complaints could be vented, Sebastian walked to the castle. The gate guards all seemed to know him by now and, though he showed the pass from Raven Leros, the mage guessed that it would probably just take his word for entry these days.
By the time he was led to his leader's office, the mage was beginning to feel some aches in his legs. His body told him it had been a long time since breakfast and a lot of miles spent walking. The Dark One's city was actually a little bigger than the walled city of Hala in spite of the confines of the mountain it was hidden within.
"Good morning, Falcon Sebastian," the older man greeted him looking over a stack of sheets held together on a clip board. The falcon thought the man looked a little more tired than usual as well, as if he had been getting less sleep than normal.
"Good morning, sir," he returned the greeting. "You left a message to report in as soon as possible."
Nodding his bald head, the raven placed the clipboard and its contents on his desk, which was cluttered with even more papers and scrolls. "The king has expressed worry over the war in Litsarin. No word of the war has reached Hala since we sent an armada with troops to assist Sileoth in repelling the Dark One's invasion. Our ally only has a few walled cities to defend its interest there. Most of their people live outside of Litsarin's fortifications meaning that they will either wind up filling the cities to exploding or have to risk being killed while hiding outside.
"At least, that was the impression we were under when your people returned two months ago."
"On our trip back, we sailed from one end of Litsarin to the other. By the time we crossed the island using the southern route, signs of the Dark One's forces had been seen by the cities on the west coast of the island," Sebastian reiterated what he knew from his time away from Southwall. "With portal magic available, it is hard to tell how quickly they will move on Sileoth's holdings."
Raven Leros let the report lie in silence a moment before musing, "What made him decide to move now, I wonder?"
Worry over one of the reasons why flit through the younger mage's mind. Believing the raven's question rhetorical until the man gestured for him to speak, Sebastian wasn't forthcoming with all his opinions at first.
"It might be our fault for looking for King Gerid," he stated getting one worry off of his chest. "We triggered their black ships. We defeated them and at least one used a portal. Assuming that they ran home, the Dark One knows that we defeated them as well.
"Of course, we also freed the Grimnal from his island prison by the end of it all. That alone might make his armies choose to move and create chaos. The emperor might wish to remind us that he can strike at any time.
"His new monsters are more powerful than ever and I fear that the ones we have seen aren't all that he will hit us with either. Certainly if Sileoth doesn't hurry, the magical might of the warlocks and those monsters could level their cities soon enough."
"But why Litsarin and the attack on the Twins?" Raven Leros questioned once more to discover the mage's beliefs after being to Litsarin and being involved in the fighting at the Twin Towers as well.
"We saw enough evidence to believe the eastern cities of the island are actually seed cities of the Dark One. They might even have been originally settled by his people after the Cataclysm. Most of the people we met were human, but there were a few who tried to avoid us. We found men and women that looked a lot like the orcs we've fought north of the wall.
"If they were afraid that we might act against Litsarin, maybe they simply chose to take action first. It would be hard to hold an entire island that size. It's as big as Sileoth or Marianis after all. Pushing out Sileoth to take their cities, it wouldn't take much to reinforce them to fend off anything Sileoth can send.
"The Dark One knows that Southwall doesn't have enough soldiers to watch the wall and sail off to take such a large place. If Sileoth wasn't our ally, the king would have been forced to let the matter lie. Even if letting the Dark One have Litsarin is a cause for worry, in other situations we would let him have the island.
"Strategically, this gives them a stronger presence on the North Sea. If they can establish trade, they have the resources north of the wall and Litsarin thanks to the portals. They can seed the island with gates and move his armies easily from one end to another or to his capitol to protect his interests."
The older man nodded, "Much of what you said is what we have been thinking. The biggest question no one has been able to answer is; why haven't we received a message by now? Trained birds should have flown to New Harbor or Southpoint by now. Those should have been switched over to birds which could be sent to Hala, but we have heard nothing from the armada or Sileoth since your people returned here months ago."
Having a feeling that this was why he had actually been called, Sebastian waited rather than volunteering to use his gate in New Harbor. It wouldn't help if something was going on in New Harbor to risk someone being captured at the other end of his gate.
"We were thinking of having you bring a team of messengers to New Harbor. They can take a ship to Tarmand from there."
Sebastian shook his head as he listened to the idea. Leros wasn't giving this to him as an order. There was a question unasked by the man that Sebastian heard even so. "If there is a faction intercepting the messages or something else equally efficient, then our messengers could be intercepted as well. The portal spell is known to the wizards and soldiers of New Harbor, even if they aren't certain how to use it or where. As long as they aren't part of the problem, then it is safe."
"But if Count Terris or someone else with some influence is behind the silence from the front, then we're sending men into a situation that they might not be ready to escape. The weakness of these portals would make anyone using them vulnerable."
Sebastian thought of his trip through Palose's gate and said, "I may have an answer for that, but once through the portal door, we still can't be sure that they can catch a ship to Sileoth or return."
Leros looked at the younger man quizzically. "What are you thinking then?"
"Maybe we need to take out the middle man and all that distance," the owl answered even as Sebastian thought about what he was about to say. "You have heard that there are people from Mar'kal teaching a new type of magic that they call 'Dragon Magic', correct?"
"You have learned this magic already?" the raven asked incredulously.
"It is remarkably similar to battle mage spell casting, but one of the spells unique to it is the creation of magic wings for flight."
Eyes narrowing at the thought as he scrutinized the younger man before him, Leros finally asked, "What are you thinking?"
"I can use the gate to New Harbor and implement my plan if there are men waiting for us to make our move. Once I am past the portal area, I can fly to Tarmand and meet the king. I can set up a new portal there for them, if King Qeyless allows a gate; then our problems of interception should be solved.
"At worst, I can make a gate outside the city that they won't know about," the mage added thinking of how to work around the king, if necessary.
"That would be a breach of faith, Sebastian," the raven cautioned him. Again the raven hadn't technically told him no. "Can you actually fly that far though?"
"I can fly faster than any ship under full sail with a strong wind. I can probably make it to Tarmand between an hour and two hours, sir."
The man's eyes widened and he asked without thought, "That quickly?'
A nod was the mage's only answer.
"How soon can you be ready to go?"
"I was supposed to go to Windmeer tomorrow to secure their gate. Depending on how you rate the necessity of each, I can do one or the other, unless I do it today," he finished with a bit of a tired sigh.
"We're pushing you harder than we
should, aren't we?" the older man replied noticing that Sebastian also looked a little worn. "Would you even have the strength to do it today?"
"If I return to the inn and eat a large lunch, I should be alright, sir."
Wincing slightly before giving the order, Leros finally said, "Try to do it today then. If you run short on time, set a gate on Sileoth's side of the channel and you can use that to get into the capitol quicker. If Windmeer has to wait an extra day or two, so be it. They have precautions in place and have since Darius first opened the gates."
Another mission, Sebastian thought wearily, but this one would give him a chance to test his wings more thoroughly than he had so far. Falconi Martina had told him that she could fly for a couple hours, so the fledgling dragon mage hoped that on a full stomach that he could do the same. His speed was about triple a fast ship under full sail, so it shouldn't be outside the window of his ability to fly across the channel between the countries in that amount of time.
After leaving the castle, Sebastian hurried back to the inn. The healers were still there looking hopeful to get some training in with the battle mage. Another idea about that had come to mind during the walk back from the raven's office.
"Helmar, I'm being sent off on another errand after lunch that will take the rest of the day. I need you to see if you can find someone who can make books this large," he indicated the length of his forearm from elbow to the middle of his hand. "We will need at least four, more if this works and you want to train more wizards the same way."
The lead wizard looked confused as well as disappointed to hear that they had waited in vain. "What will you do with these books?"
"Get them, or at least one for me for now, and I will show you. You three can continue with studying the runes you have for now otherwise. None of you have made a copy and you're barely able to push your magic into them. Even without me here, that should be your focus.
"Sitting in the inn all day isn't the best use of your time. You should be taking control of your time and making the best of it, unless you have reconsidered learning how to use these runes?" he finished basically questioning their motive and dedication to learning the magic. While Sebastian didn't doubt Helmar and Nefen's dedication, Ilira had begun to fall behind the men and seemed less inclined to push herself to learn the runes or how to use them.
Helmar stood up with a frown on his face and looked determinedly at the mage. "Of course I haven't reconsidered, but you're right. We have been wasting time just waiting for you. You've given us enough to continue our studies. After all, you had less to learn from before mastering the runes."
"I wouldn't say that I have exactly mastered them. I am still learning as well, but aside from learning to fight or at least defend yourselves with a good teacher, you have the basics. You know what you need to do, but if you'll get those blank books with maybe fifty to one hundred pages, I think I may have another way to add to your knowledge of the magic."
Nodding to the younger man, Wizard Helmar said, "I will head to the scribes and paper merchants to see what can be found. I will bring the books to you by the evening as long as I find them."
"You can give one to Ashleen and keep the others for yourselves. Come back for breakfast tomorrow and I'll explain later," Sebastian urged before turning to go back to his room. Ashleen was quick to follow as a questioning look chased his back.
Once back to his inn room, Sebastian pulled his map of portal locations from the oval rune and unfolded it before placing it on the spare bed. A second blank scroll was removed as well and placed on the pillows against the headboard. The mage examined the map and thought of the spell he had used to discover Palose's gates. The marks for Darius, Palose, the general points and his own marked the map with different colors for each to keep track of them. His mind felt the magic of each user or the gray feeling of multiple users and used the colors to guide him to a gate even if he had never been there before.
Now he placed his hand over the gate in the enemy's city and closed his eyes. The color turned pink and the mage began moving his fingers over the remaining map looking for the same feel. Southwall was the first area covered and he found new gates in New Harbor, South Point, Siltrene and Mariport. He felt both the pink and generic gray gates.
Opening his eyes, Sebastian frowned at the map.
"What are those new points? Some have changed to pink as well," Ashleen said noting the gate in the enemy city.
"I followed the gate to Palose's home or base this morning." Before the girl could rail at him about being careless or foolish, the owl continued, "Do you remember the dark haired girl you fought in New Harbor? This is her magic signature."
"She's making gates instead of Palose?" the wilder asked as surprise misplaced the need to scold him for his morning jaunt behind enemy lines.
Shaking his head, the man answered, "No, she's setting the points. Her magic is charging lodestones that Palose can use without me noticing; or at least until now anyway. He might try using one of the other wizards I found there after me discovering his place, but Palose might not believe that I can search for anyone I know well enough."
"You know her well?" Ashleen asked sounding slightly jealous in her expression.
"As well as those who made the general gates anyway," he replied.
"How did you manage to get in and out without being discovered, Sebastian?" the wizard questioned getting away from the mystery girl's part of the conversation.
"I did a test run with the light corrinuts. They worked perfectly. Four of the people there were still reeling from the light when I made it through and I put them all to sleep.
"The girl must have been in the other room, but I surprised her and put her to sleep as well," the mage said looking at Ashleen with a tight smile of accomplishment.
"You put them to sleep? Why didn't you kill them? You didn't kill them, correct? You aren't just using 'put to sleep' as a way to cushion the blow, right?" the girl asked as worry for the near strangers washed over her. While Ashleen was a lightning wilder capable of great destruction and could easily kill with her magic, she had a good and caring heart also.
"I used the sleep spell. I would prefer not killing anyone and I get the impression that they might not be able to tell anyone about my intrusion without getting into trouble as well. Since no one saw my face, I doubt that they will know for sure who entered the house.
"Since the gate lodestones have been changed, Palose might not even be able to guess that it was me. Even if he does, there is little that he can do about it now."
The girl looked at him trying to judge if he was being overconfident or not, but understood less about the gates so Ashleen couldn't dispute his beliefs. She just hoped that he wasn't wrong.
Settling into silence, Sebastian began to move his hand over the other areas covered by the map looking to see if there were more points with the young warlock's magic. When he found marks where Palose's gates had been closed previously, the mage frowned. When his hand reached the Grimnal's island and found a mark nearly on top of the one he had usurped there, his frown became a scowl.
"He managed to take back the other gates with her magic holding the places?" Ashleen asked though she comprehended the fact from the new marks on the map virtually overlaying Sebastian's replacement gates. Palose, or this girl he knew, had managed to place new gates in Southwall and the islands close to his own, but far enough away to avoid his notice.
"And I didn't spot them when the other gates disappeared," he managed to complain without sounding too disappointed. Portal magic could become a war of wills if both sides could discover their enemies' gates. Reinforcing the guardian cities was looking more important by the minute.
"Of course, Palose may have had both sets of stones there as back up just in case someone should find them, before this even started," Ashleen hazarded a guess that might make things seem a little better.
He could only shrug, but doubted it. The portal in Palose's home base was the girl's and his pers
onal magic was no longer there at all.
Sebastian supposed that they were lucky that more redundant points hadn't been discovered. The former gates known of in northern Southwall hadn't been replaced. Darius had placed traps on those within Windmeer and at the fortress. Other gates, like the one at the Twins, had been moved or completely destroyed in an effort to both bait the emperor and prevent more invasions.
Once the owl felt certain that he had found all the gates that he was going to find this way, Sebastian folded the map and put it aside. The scroll of paper was about the same size as his map. Sebastian did his best to recreate what he had seen in Ensolus. The spatial relations of the capitol city of the Dark One would be important for making better entries on the map to return to the lodestones he had left behind. An extended oval basically, the mage recreated the pink point of Palose's gate before setting the five markings for the new ones that he had planted. The owl also did his best to draw in the sectors that he had walked that morning.
The cave opening and double wall were roughed in, but in time, the mage hoped to return and better understand the city. He drew in where he had felt other magic of significant strength. One that Sebastian felt the least certain of after his exploration was that of the emperor. The Dark One's power was supposed to dwarf any man's, but the mage had seen nothing more than strong auras. There was nothing to set any apart drastically, but the mage marked where he remembered feeling those on his map.
Finished with his map making, Sebastian took Ashleen downstairs to eat. The meal was still before noon and the owl mage hoped that by leaving early, he could reach Tarmand soon enough to see the king of Sileoth before it was too late for an audience today.
Giving Ashleen a kiss outside behind the Black Smith Inn, Sebastian stepped through a portal disappearing from her sight.
Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) Page 37