"No one can do what task exactly, or am I prying too much?" Darius questioned curiously.
Ashleen answered before the mage could formulate a reply, "Sebastian was ordered to New Harbor to bridge the distance and bring King Qeyless a message from Alain. Instead he took it upon himself to try out his new dragon magic to fly from New Harbor to Tarmand in an afternoon."
The girl's scorn for his dangerous attempt wasn't even slightly masked by the wilder's words. She had sent Evie along to help protect him, though no one knew if the changeling's transformation would have worked if things went poorly. Ashleen seemed to be shadowing him as much as he would allow just to keep the owl mage from hurting himself.
"As you can tell, Ashleen was against the attempt; but I managed the crossing in a few hours. I even managed to make it to the king's audience chamber in time to turn in the message before the castle was closed to petitioners."
Evie moved to join them with a big smile and said to Darius, "I had to dress prettily to see the king."
She was wearing another of the dresses that Ashleen had helped the girl buy. Darius looked on the redhead appreciatively seeing Sebastian's influence on the girl had at least some of a domesticating influence on her. She was no longer wearing frocks that made her look like an impoverished waif barely able to find cloth to cover her developing body.
"This is a pretty dress as well," the wizard commented with a smile to the young girl. "Did Sebastian buy that for you?"
Ashleen frowned and replied, "I took her shopping with the other girls to dress her like a young woman, unlike a certain high wizard; but don't think that I don't see you trying to change the subject. Sebastian is acting like he did in that tournament. He keeps pushing himself too far!"
Darius laughed and retorted in amusement, "Now you sound like his healer. I thought you were just a lightning wilder. One would think that you had changed to a healer as well."
After pulling back in surprise, Ashleen folded her arms angrily complaining, "He would drive any girl to complain with all of his dangerous stunts. I can barely heal a wound and he throws himself into the air where a fall would kill him even if a healer was there to catch him after his first bounce.
"He won't tell me everything he does, but Sebastian went against his commander's orders and has used his portals to go where he was told not to go besides."
Darius raised an eyebrow in surprise and asked, "Really and where did you go that you weren't supposed to go?"
Wincing as he was called out not only by Darius, but Ashleen in the first place; Sebastian answered, "I've been afraid that if I waited too long to test the portal used by Palose that its strength would fade too much to use it. There was an individualized gate, so I assumed that it wouldn't be protected well if at all. While I've known about it from the first time I tested using the map magic to find his portals, I didn't want to alert Palose to my knowledge of his magic signature.
"He figured out enough to erase his marks with another person's magic, but he never erased the echo of his magic lingering at each point. Leaping to the cave city right away would have put them on alert; but when I went there, I discovered that it was centered on a simple home.
"From what has been said in the history books about the emperor's need to control his people, I would guess that it was an illegal portal kept for Palose's personal use. He might not be able to report a break in there. Even if he does, I placed a handful of lodestones around the city while I scouted it. If King Alain and his generals choose to try to attack the Dark One, we can use them to hit the city from the inside and out."
"So someone has finally entered Ensolus," Darius mused.
"Ensolus?" Ashleen queried at the name.
"Southwall isn't the only country keeping an eye on the Dark One's empire. The name, Ensolus, has been heard from various merchants dealing with the cave city. It isn't surprising though, he called his home in his old world Ensolus as well among other names."
A moment of silence as each of them was left with their thoughts passed and it was Darius who counseled, "You need to tell your raven of this new resource. With the battle over Litsarin taking place as a distraction, it could be a good time for Southwall to strike back. Maybe with use of portals, your other allies can help join you."
"That is another reason why he is so tired," Ashleen continued to complain making Sebastian frown. It was unlike the girl, but Ashleen wasn't one to just sit back when she felt there was something wrong either. "It isn't enough that he bridged the distance to Tarmand, now Sebastian is trying to influence the kings to let him figure out a plan to help defeat the black ships too."
He hadn't told Ashleen his plan to involve the dragon mages of Mar'kal and the merfolk of Gerid's tribe, but she knew enough to guess whatever the owl planned centered around him doing a lot of the work. That usually meant the battle mage would insert himself into danger to her mind.
"What is your plan then?" the wizard questioned the mage. With Ashleen telling the high wizard so much, Sebastian realized that he must truly be testing her last nerve with all his brushes with danger.
"I need to talk to Cheleya and Kel'lor, but perhaps they can talk with their rulers to bring some of their dragon mages to Sileoth to assist in attacking the black ships. Even if the Dark One brings his shrikes, a few units of dragon mages can dissuade both the ships and the birds from attacking our forces.
"Second, I need to talk to Gerid to see if his people would be willing to help attack from the water."
Darius likely didn't know of the merfolk and it wasn't Sebastian's place to speak of them, though the mage knew such information in the high wizard's hands would be safe enough. The fear of the merfolk being hunted or otherwise abused was a worry, however, and there were still other ears nearby.
"So you don't have a true plan placing you in direct danger for once," the immortal finished jokingly.
"Just the start of a plan really," Sebastian acknowledged.
Darius looked at Ashleen and said with a comforting smile on his lips, "Well you can relax a little at least. This plan sounds safer than some of his ideas but keep an eye on him.
"For now, show me again how you are making these gates. Perhaps I will be have to pick up some of the slack to help you out by making more, since my magic is the basis for the current lodestones making them."
Glad to get away from what he was doing that others didn't agree with, Sebastian began to show Darius how he made the gates once more.
Chapter 28- Requests for Help
Eventually with allies as with life, you had to learn how to trust. For Sebastian as well as Southwall, the time to trust had come and the mage had been given permission to approach Cheleya and Kel'lor to eventually try to speak with Mar'kal. It led the mage back to White Hall once more. This time the mage's team wasn't alone.
Raven Leros with a trio of high level assistants from Hala stood at the front of the large classroom. Falconi Neven, his lieutenant, Falcondi Westlin and Falconi Brelan, a woman who was closer in age to the falcondi, varied in the intensity of their presence. Neven was the elder falconi and only male aside from Raven Leros. The man looked put out that he had to leave Hala, a position of prestige among any of the corps serving the king from his capitol and even inside of the king's castle.
Westlin was a reasonably young woman, with blonde hair and a slim though muscular body. If not for the echo of her falconi's attitude making the woman appear so serious most of the time, Sebastian thought that she would look pretty. A warrior of the falcondi's skill level wasn't the smartest to dismiss as just another pretty face, however.
Then there was Falconi Brelan, though only a couple years older than the falcondi, she was the matron of the group, an actual married woman still serving in the military. Her maintaining her position even after marriage helped Sebastian think that there could be more to his life than just serving Southwall as a falcon in his future. Unlike the other two, both Brelan and Raven Leros seemed happy to be there. Their relaxed attitudes h
elped the others gathered to feel somewhat at ease despite being called to the meeting with little notice or information as to why.
That Kel'lor and Cheleya had been called into a meeting otherwise consisting of Southwall citizens was also a curious point. A few eyes from the dragon mage students and those of his team attending continued to glance at the little, blonde beauty and her hulking bodyguard.
"So, I can assume that you are all curious as to why you are all here," Leros stated simply. "You can thank Falcon Sebastian and his concept of a plan for it."
Eyes moved to the mage almost like they were drawn to him because of the raven's words.
The leader of the mage corps continued, "The war for Litsarin hasn't been going well. Sileoth has little answers for the black ships of the Dark One, which means the towns and cities are nearly on their own over there. News has been spotty thanks to the aforementioned problems in the straight between the two islands. We aren't even certain if our ships all made it there safely in support."
Magnus' friends began to talk between themselves in surprise, but at their unofficial leader's glares at them, they were moved to silence.
The raven barely paused for the interruption and rolled on with his speech, "With the influx of new magic recently, some discovered by Sebastian and of course our friends from Mar'kal who have brought us the magic of flight in dragon mage magic, we have a few new possibilities to turn the tide against the enemy.
"First, we need to know if Kel'lor and Cheleya would be willing to bring our request to Mar'kal for us. We can send officials with, but what it comes down to is; will your people support us and Sileoth against the Dark One to save west Litsarin?"
Kel'lor frowned and looked ready to reply negatively; but Cheleya spoke up first saying, "Our people have always been there for our allies. My father and many of our wizards came to help after the Cataclysm. He told me a little about his time here using an amulet to look human while living amongst your ancestors. Now as to how they will help, I can't be certain."
"What is your request?" the mar'goyn'lya gruffly added with suspicion after the young dragoness had finished.
After a nod from the raven, Sebastian answered, "Unless we can find a way to produce a significant number of trained dragon mages very quickly, we could use whatever Mar'kal would be willing to lend us until we can silence those black ships."
Frowning as he tried to make sense of the request, Kel'lor countered, "Lending them to do what exactly? Aside from a few more candidates that haven't really started their training, the number we have here will likely be it until spring. Your people can't take the cold the way ours can."
Winter would be brutal. For the last two weeks cold air had come in from the west and north ending summer abruptly. There were still warm days, but that was coming to an end. Though they called the next month and a half fall, it would feel like winter in the north well before that and then no one would want to risk their health in long exposures to the cold.
"We haven't completely worked out everything, but my proposal is that each new fleet leaving Sileoth to reinforce their remaining cities will have a portal wizard capable of bringing a force of dragon mages to defend the ships if the enemy vessels appear. There is a second force I am hoping to add as well, but right now the dragon mages are at least here.
"Getting your people to add even a score of flyers to assist would likely make all the difference. Like our small numbers of dragon mages here, we have limited numbers of wizards capable of using portal magic. We will place a wizard with a fleet or on a separate ship to call a waiting squad of dragon mages to drive off or sink the black ships. The more we can send through a gate the more likely our plan will work," Sebastian finished explaining what he had for a plan aside from what might happen if the merfolk could be added to the mix.
His sister surprised him by speaking a question. She was only thirteen, but her confidence made her brave enough to speak in front of the officers and wizards without fear.
"Can the portals even be used on a moving ship? They aren't going to stop to try bringing us there while being chased, are they?" Katya asked a surprisingly insightful question into the magic for a novice.
Sebastian replied, "They can be bonded to a moving deck. It varies from trying to move a portal once it is set on land, because bonding it to the deck, even though it moves, seems to get around the limitation. That said; a wizard could form a portal beside the ship, behind it or in the air above, leaving it in place even as they continue to move away from it."
When Magnus spoke up next his question came at the problem differently. "If it is just us, who will lead it? Will Kel'lor or Cheleya be team leaders or will a wizard or the falconi do it?"
The last person referred to was Falconi Martina. She had been one of two mages to pass the tests to study the new magic. Unfortunately, the other falcon had died along with one of the wizards during a battle two months ago, which was another worry for Southwall. One problem at a time was best, so they looked to this war for Litsarin before doing more than watching a mysterious gate that had brought creatures from yet another world to Alus.
Kel'lor shook his head and responded, "If Mar'kal doesn't support this war, we can't lead."
"That is only if they know that we are doing it," Cheleya replied ready to defy such a verdict apparently. "Likely you will have to return to Mar'kal to try and encourage them to send support for our allies."
The dragoness frowned at her own words and asked, "Even if Kel'lor flies everyday; it will take at least a few weeks to return home. This war could be over before they could send anyone to Southwall let alone traveling all the way to Sileoth. Winter could be in full bloom by then, which might make it longer even."
Kel'lor questioned, "Why would I go?"
Rolling her green eyes at the giant, Cheleya replied, "Even if I can turn back into my che'ther body, do you think that the council will give me much of a thought? We're both young, but at least you are twice my age and can get a bit of respect. I might be able to talk to my father on my behalf, I suppose, but they would look at me like I was a baby speaking to them."
Growling at the thought that the mar'goyn'lya might have to undertake such a long mission, Kel'lor said nothing more but look hopeful that her opinion of the long time would make it a waste of consideration. Then another thought crossed his mind, and he added, "If you hope to send your diplomacy wizards to help sell your idea, it will take even longer to get there."
Popping his balloon of hope, Sebastian pointed at the amulet around the human looking mar'goyn'lya. Even with high ceilings, it was easier to move around the school in human form than in that of a mar'goyn'lya. He wore his amulet to maintain the large, dark haired, mountain of a man they saw before them.
"I have already tried using another set of magical amulets to cross the world to somewhere without a portal. All I need is one of your amulets, and we can cross to Mar'kal in a matter of minutes. With your permission, of course," the young man added quickly realizing that they had yet to agree to anything.
Cheleya's eyes widened with astonishment at the notion, while Kel'lor looked a bit deflated at the idea of returning to Mar'kal so easily. While his words rang in their ears, the dragoness asked, "You can do that so easily? Does that mean the emperor's warlocks have the same magic? Anyone with an amulet could bring an army before we knew what was happening."
Trying to gloss over the new worry, the owl mage shook his head. "If it was so easy for them, I think they would have found a way to do it already."
The che'ther girl shook her head and informed the room, "I was attacked by someone using the gates you use. They brought wolves to attack me, but they have never attacked Mar'kal before."
Magnus suddenly laughed and asked, "What idiot would bring a pack of wolves to fight a city full of dragons? Would their teeth even get past your armored scales?"
More laughter followed the thought.
Raven Leros was smiling as some of the tension left the room at Magnus' word
s. He added, "Mar'kal is just one city. As powerful as your two races are, you don't have the numbers to truly bother the Dark One. You won't be attacking his capitol most likely and your people stay up in their mountain city for the most part.
"Attacking Mar'kal with little reason isn't like the emperor. He usually has a reason for things, even if we don't see it at first. There would be little strategic grounds to attack your people, at least for now."
A few more minutes' discussion led Cheleya to look at Kel'lor and say, "Well, if Sebastian can cross the distance as he says, then I think you should at least take the time to ask. I will be fine here until your return.
"I can even see if there are any others who can handle the heights to try training them, I guess."
It was as good as a 'yes' to Sebastian's ears and the next few minutes covered how soon they could gather the diplomats to join Kel'lor. Word would be relayed to the wizards and King Alain, who knew of their plan. The right people would be gathered and sent to White Hall first. Sebastian would then form the portal to send them through to the mountain city.
With the first step in his plan to help Litsarin in play, the mage mentally checked it off and knew that there was a lot of work ahead of him to move things forward.
The giant, silver haired man stood with crossed arms and a frown. Nearly the size of a mar'goyn'lya, Gerid Aramathea was easily as powerful as the gargoyle-like creatures and even had a history with the monsters which were alien to their world. His virtual immortality seemed equally alien and it was hard to believe the man was the Grimnal of legend.
He started pacing as Sebastian sat against a table in the living chamber of the suite of rooms lent to the immortal king. Gerid's position within castle Grimnal was uncertain in some ways, but King Alain treated him like the most special of dignitaries and treasured of family members just the same. Not everyone in the city might truly believe that Gerid was a twelve hundred year old man, but it didn't matter since the king believed in him.
Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) Page 42