Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11)

by Donald Wigboldy

  "Master, there is a shift in the lines. Lord Liev looks ready to attack," Balish stated bringing his attention to the world around him.

  The dark army's flanks had begun to shift and break up creating points along the line of troops. He felt powerful magic rising among the warlocks near each point as well. Balish couldn't read the magic preparing to be cast, but the wraith's eyes had definitely caught the rest.

  "We will need to be ready to move to," Palose stated to his wraiths.

  Looking behind him, two new wraiths had been added to their number. These two were a prize that he had not thought he would get to have. Warlocks of good strength, Palose would have preferred incorporating them into his coven of resurrection men; but using the magic was complicated. These were also seasoned warlocks with strong magic and minds. Bringing them back without more of a relationship or knowledge of them would make it difficult to control them.

  Not everyone he had brought back had necessarily required more than gratitude for being saved and returned to life; but normal humans like Stasia and Talia, who were made to love him with the magic, weren't the same as warlocks used to magic with goals and ambitions of their own. One only had to look at the dark mage himself to realize the folly of using the magic indiscriminately. Atrouseon was dead now and the necromancer had used wards to keep him from killing his master, yet he had accomplished that task even though it had been from self preservation.

  "You two can keep to the rear when we attack. Your magic will be more useful than your swords," he stated probably without need to the warlocks. A man and a woman, Nalack was much older with light brown hair, while the woman, Oween was still in her twenties. She reminded him slightly of Sylvaine with her long dark hair or maybe Acheri except older. Either way, the dark mage was already feeling a little more protective of her and not just because she was a prize that he could change to part of his coven when he had the time.

  Nalack smirked and said, "You wouldn't want us to stand before you as just another set of meat shields." The warlock gestured at three armored viles standing near the front of over twenty men raised from the dead to fight. Some had the wizard hunter armor, though most were from the basic rank and file wearing normal armor instead. Being undead puppets, it barely mattered which equipment they wore.

  The woman glanced at the older warlock frowning slightly at the man with her eyes, though it was mostly a tightening of her eyes which Palose caught. Wraiths or not, these two had enough will power to be a concern without the natural bond created between wraiths and their masters.

  Nodding at Nalack, Palose replied, "It would be a waste of talent as well, though I suppose pointing out that your power in magic wasn't enough to avoid death, might raise a question of just how much talent you had."

  The wraith frowned at his master. Palose was maybe half his age and, in life, Nalack would have been one of those condemning the wisdom of creating resurrection men like him. Now the dead warlock was at the mercy of what he considered an inferior being. If that attitude couldn't be changed in some way, Palose knew that this man would have to be cast away when he was done with him. Oween was yet to be judged so unfavorably.

  She spoke up next, but sounded bored with the conversation as she said, "Well, the enemy did surprise us. We used the power of over twenty warlocks to create that fog. It should have resisted anything the enemy could have thrown at us, especially in smaller numbers.

  "Unfortunately the fog kept me from seeing what they used to destroy our weapon. The power of light was incredible though and the fire, from what I saw of it before it struck my shield, was like someone unleashed the power of a volcano on us."

  The woman added with a slight nod, "I doubt that even a resurrection man would have survived such an attack head on, but perhaps you are more powerful than I was led to believe."

  Palose wanted to ask who had given her such an evaluation, but he could tell that she wanted him to ask. Even under his spell, this woman chose to test him.

  "Keep your attention on the enemy and perhaps we will see if I am to be tested the same way. Of course, your existence rests on mine, so you might hope that I can withstand their power. There were warlocks who survived that assault, though there were also those so burned that I couldn't bring them back at all; so I guess you two fall somewhere in the middle.

  "Now ready yourselves. When we advance, you will need to support the others until we can reach the enemy to rout them."

  He wondered why was wasting this much effort on the two warlocks, but guessed that it was just his hopes for the future that made him speak to these two like novices. They were newly made into wraiths, but their minds were those of trained warlocks, he had to remind himself.

  Palose closed his eyes again and immediately opened them again. The feeling of familiar magic made him curse in surprise. Sebastian had joined this battle after all. He would have his rematch with his foe and this time the dark mage would make sure to destroy him once and for all.

  Sebastian stood with the other dragon mages talking strategy for a time, but when the enemy began to move the horns sounded bringing the eyes of all the defenders to the advancing forces. The catapults continued to fire, however, so even the impending attack could only receive so much of their attention.

  He had given Falconi Martina the Hollow Sword that Ashleen had used the day before. With three of the weapons in play, Sebastian could only hope that they would give them the ability to drive the enemy back once more.

  "They've broken up their lines into wedges," Magnus commented as the dragon mages remained together. "We can assume that they have some defense ready for our magic, but what do they think they can do to stop us? We hit them pretty hard yesterday and that was with them pooling their magic."

  Sebastian used his magic to enhance his vision. Even from a distance the mage could look for powerful auras. It was far from a perfect idea since trained wizards could stifle their auras when necessary, but with the battle just beginning he was rewarded. A handful of powerful individual auras identified warlocks stronger than anyone on his side of the field. Even Magnus, who had a powerful aura and above average talent, would have trouble standing up to a single one of them.

  "They've brought reinforcements and some of the warlocks might be as powerful as you using the sword," the mage warned the fire wizard.

  Falconi Martina placed her hand on the Hollow Sword buckled to her hip and asked the mage with her eyes before the words came to her mouth. "Maybe I should yield the sword to one of the wizards to increase our power?"

  Shaking his head, Sebastian replied, "We aren't going to win this battle with sheer power alone. Talent and skill will be as important today."

  He evaluated what the owl had seen and knew that not every powerful warlock had been committed to the initial attack. The enemy waited to see how they would act and were ready to counter if it should be needed.

  "Magnus should take the center with his team," Sebastian started and everyone knew that Embrell and Wellas would join the champion of Winter's Edge once again. "Falconi take Katya and Iris to the south. There are enough wizards there to help your team and both of the girls can give you power, but I have shown you how to charge the sword. You won't need more than your own strength and the earth to charge the Hollow Sword to full."

  His eyes took in the remaining wizards and nodded to the men. "Edwar and Arrimus can back me up in the north. Try to conceal your dragon magic, if possible, but I don't think we'll be able to hold back forever."

  Martina and the older wizards didn't even blink as the owl took charge of the assignments. He had been through enough battles to mark him as a veteran and only Falconi Martina actually had more experience than he did now. It had been a busy year thanks to the emperor's need to continue hammering away at Southwall.

  Magnus didn't argue either and left with his men to reinforce the center of the defenses. It was a place of prestige as well as danger. It was where the fire wizard wanted to be, but Sebastian knew that there would be
enough danger for them all today. Something felt off about what they faced, but he didn't want to worry them needlessly. They were already fighting a battle which might kill them all. Such words could place doubt in their minds and they needed to be as confident as they could be facing the enemy.

  Before everyone could separate, Sebastian moved to catch Martina and said quietly, "Keep my sister safe. I am seeing too much of myself in her already."

  His face was sober enough, but the falconi had to laugh. "So you admit that you are giving your senior officers heart attacks regularly with your continuous need to try and do everything yourself? Well, at least I can let the ravens know that you already know this about yourself."

  "If we live," he mumbled, but knew that she heard his words even as he looked away. Smoke rose in places and wizards from Sileoth were beginning to test the range of the advancing troops.

  "We will live," the falconi replied adding, "We have you and your new spells to save us."

  Refusing to answer her encouraging words, Sebastian moved towards the south followed by two wizards.

  "Why'd you choose the north?" Arrimus asked as they walked using the various walls along the way to stay out of the enemy's direct fire. Arrows and stones still hurled through the air. Most were fired hoping for dumb luck as well as to make their foes keep their heads down. Sebastian wanted to avoid being a casualty from such an attack. "I would have thought that the battle mage who could defeat Magnus would take his place."

  "Magnus already proved himself capable. It is a good place to put a powerful team of wizards as well. You are the ones saddled with a battle mage. We'll leave the center to those with the most powerful team."

  Wizard Edwar commented, "I don't think anyone would consider you a weaker man than Magnus."

  Sebastian glanced back and said, "It's too late to argue about it now. Get ready to fight. You may need to leave me to help at the other attack points. The enemy is trying to draw out our strongest defenders to see what we have left to give. They'll try to spread us thin, but they don't know about our dragon magic yet; so you two might have to surprise them."

  With that warning, the other two men moved to silence as they prepared to back him up in the fight.

  Magnus charged the sword with fire and the extra power of the earth. As a mass of stone flew towards them from the enemy, the fire wizard cut with his weapon. Fire moved through the air like an extension of the sword cutting the stone breaking it into pebbles well before it reached the outer line of their defenses.

  "You are making yourself a target?" Wellas asked believing that his leader knew what he was doing though he feared the answer.

  "Ready yourselves. If we can draw them out, then Sebastian and Martina's team can mop up the weaker wizards before coming to back us up."

  "If we need them," Embrell snorted derisively.

  Magnus didn't refute the man's confidence. He had used his magic to see what Sebastian had seen. There were new players on the field today and they were much more powerful than those he had defeated in larger numbers.

  "On our left!" Wellas warned as Magnus made sure that that they had picked the place to intercept the first tendrils of the attacking force.

  Fighting erupted and even from their position, Magnus could see the massive armored viles, powerful trolls and the stone skinned fire urchins towering over the stone wall embankments. Wizards fought back trying to extend their power to the soldiers in front of them. It was the symbiotic relationship of the two often overlooked as soldiers feared wizards and those with magic considered those without it beneath them. When it came time to fight, those superficial differences disappeared leaving men and women with the same goal, surviving at any means.

  "Wellas take the sword and touch it to the ground. I need you to make an ice spell," he requested of the air wizard. While water wizards were generally believed to be the only ones who would choose to create ice, Wellas wasn't pigeonholed into just the one category of magic. Air and water worked well together if used properly.

  Wellas did as he was asked and handed the charged weapon back to the fire wizard.

  Pointing the Hollow Sword towards the fire urchins and viles, the weapon released the power of the spell chilling the air before them. Fire urchins screamed in surprise and enemy shock troops were in turn shocked as the creatures cracked under the power of the ice. Lava red skin turned black and froze into rock before breaking. The ice drove into the liquid magma within their bodies rupturing the skin tearing the monsters apart.

  Viles and trolls were equally ravaged by the power of the ice. Frost coated the ground and many of the monsters stood alarmingly still, frozen to death where they stood.

  Wellas let loose an expletive at the power created by his hands. It was a short lived win as the enemy ignored the loss of one limb extending more to attack the defenders all around the wizards. The three men held their ground attacking where they could. Magnus quickly found a piece of high ground. Embrell and Wellas made shields to protect their leader as the fire wizard continued picking out his targets. Magic was borrowed and the variety of spells eventually drew the attention of the ones Magnus had hoped for, but when they finally attacked it still came as a surprise.

  Sebastian cut at the orc closest to him. The Hollow Sword was charged with light now and cut through the magically enhanced black armor of the Wizard Hunters. The battle mage kept his use of magic in check, however, letting sword's impact release enough of light to do the job. While the owl knew that he had become stronger, it was likely that this battle would become one of attrition. He couldn't waste his magic and strength needlessly.

  Fire struck a troll causing the monster to pull up for a split second.

  "Use light, Arrimus! This black armor is designed to kill fire wizards like you. You need to think differently!"

  It was a longer warning than he would have bothered to use a few months before this battle. The owl had been through too many fights to forget himself too easily, so Sebastian controlled his body and magic equally. He wasn't even breathing hard as the battle mage seemed to be picking his targets at his own pace. The enemy charged, but somehow the owl continued to make his defense look effortless, at least to the two wizards following him.

  Light struck the troll thanks to Edwar on his right as the wizard made up for the apprentice's lack of experience. Arrimus never argued. He was out of his depth and scared, but strangely enough the wizard found the battle mage's calm demeanor settling. Light spells and dragon magic began to cut through the enemy armor from the apprentice even as Sebastian continued to lead them through the fighting. He didn't reprimand the apprentice for using dragon spells, though he had hoped to keep them for later. This was battle and whatever worked best to survive was the real rule.

  Runes extended from his left arm blocking a troll's axe. The Hollow Sword in his right sliced at another orc, even as Sebastian seemed to dance between their attacks. The rune shield relaxed until the next attack, but Arrimus struck the monster with his light spell.

  The three men started to attract more defenders from Sileoth as they moved forward. Soldiers and wizards fought hard centering on the resistance of Sebastian and his wingmen. Unfortunately it was only a matter of time before the enemy also honed in on this arm of the resistance.

  He heard screams from his left and only the swift reaction of his rune shield saved Sebastian from a quick end. Purple crystals peppered the soldiers nearby and even the dark army suffered deaths as the warlocks attacking them sacrificed their own just to eradicate the owl and his compatriots.

  "Shields up!" was the only warning he could give the other men as the battle mage used his reflex spell to change his pace.

  His enemies seemed to change quality immediately. Black armor resisted longer and the orcs and trolls were joined by men. Magic enhanced these soldiers making them quicker, but his spell was still faster and Sebastian wondered if it wasn't because of the changes to his body as well.

  The light in the sword erupted as he
struck their armor cutting deep with precise cuts. Sometimes the battle mage could use the weaknesses and gaps in the armor to avoid using up the magic, but eventually Sebastian had to drop his guard touching the sword's tip to the ground to recharge.

  Like a whirlwind that the enemies seemed unable to compensate for, the owl aimed for the power he sensed just beyond this wall of soldiers.

  When his sword was countered by weapons which shrugged off the power and matched his speed, the battle mage was surprised. The fight had been going his way, even though this was just one part of the battle field.

  Two Wizard Hunters matched him, but they were the guardians of the powerful sorcerer who had attacked them. More crystals fired out slicing through the stone walls hiding defenders. Arrimus's rune shield resisted the attack for both wizards. The strength of the apprentice's magic gave the shield strength capable of stopping the strange purple crystals, but the power of the warlock still caused him to stumble behind his shield.

  Edwar sent spells of light towards the enemy. Shields of crystal deflected the spells, but one of the elves fighting Sebastian was caught in the reflected blast. The battle mage closed his eyes to the light and twisted blindly to bring his weapon across his opponent's neck dropping him while the armor on the man's back cracked.

  Pushing the dying soldier into the other man, Sebastian cast his left hand into his enemy's face calling on his sleep spell. The extra range of his magic reached past the man's defenses catching him by surprise. Eyes closed as he was bowled over by the dying man, Sebastian's last obstacle was removed sending him after three warlocks of immense power.

  An armored vile suddenly barred his way and it was joined by another, forcing Sebastian to step back. His speed was greater, but their power and defenses were enough to drive him back. He spotted their eyes and realized that he had stepped into a different kind of warrior entirely.