Battle Mage: Forging New Steel (Tales of Alus Book 9)

by Donald Wigboldy

  “Come on,” he said drawing the girl toward the glowing rectangle confidently.

  Her eyes opened seeing the doorway and he felt the mild shock of her electricity running through him and stopped. “Calm down or you might strand us there again.”

  She nodded as the wilder took a deep breath letting her nervous magic disappear. Sebastian pulled her into the void willing them across the courtyard to the Hollow Sword nearly depositing her at the barrel seat.

  “Does this mean that the owl has mastered portal spells too now?” the girl asked as Sebastian picked her up with his free arm to carry her the last few feet to the barrel.

  Leaning the staff against the wall of the workshop freed up his other hand letting him lift the girl onto the barrel to sit.

  Sebastian looked at the air where the glowing doorways had been and he stated, “I haven’t mastered them until I can learn to cast without the crutch of the staff pulling the earth’s magic into me, but at least I can do it if I have the link set.”

  “You could leave Bairh’loore between our beds in the room and use it to save us a walk home from a restaurant,” Ashleen stated with a grin.

  “Then I wouldn’t have to carry you home if you get drunk.”

  Frowning at him, Ashleen leveling an admonishing finger at him and said, “If you would stay with me and dance all evening instead of letting other men buy me drinks, I wouldn’t lose track of how much I’ve drank.”

  “Most wizards I know try not to drink too much alcohol.”

  The girl wrinkled her nose in the way she often did when confronted with things that were unappealing to her. “They buy me drinks with funny names and I don’t always realize how much alcohol is in them. I don’t drink mead or beer very often, but those sweet drinks confuse me.”

  He laughed, “So all I need to do is buy you sweet drinks to confuse you?”

  Ashleen stuck out her tongue at his teasing.

  Her mind moved away from the talk of drinking as she added, “But seriously, if you leave Bairh’loore in the room, you can show the others it is possible.”

  Knowing that having portal magic known to Southwall’s wizards and mages was quite important, Sebastian wasn’t sure that he was quite ready to unveil the ability until he could figure out how to compensate for the extra power needed. “I can’t show off how I draw power through the earth into a staff in public. If someone tries it the wrong way, they could be killed in the attempt. A staff makes it safer, but Darius warned me that wizards of hundreds of years ago died young from abusing the power of the earth.”

  Ashleen sighed and rebuked, “Then don’t do it in public, per say. We can walk into an alleyway after we are finished dancing before portaling home.”

  “You just don’t want to walk home after dancing all night, do you?”

  The girl laughed and smiled before giving him a shrug.

  “I suppose that I will need to inform Raven Leros and the high wizards that it I am on the verge of figuring out the magic.”

  Hopping off of her perch, the girl pressed her forefinger to his bare chest before flattening it against him with a distracted look on her face as she said, “You might want to put a shirt on first. Raven Leros probably wouldn’t want you walking around Castle Grimnal all sweaty either.”

  Sebastian bent to pick up her shoes, before tossing the girl over his shoulder saying, “Like you are one to talk.”

  “I’m just the apprentice,” she laughed as her voice carried from behind him. “I blame my master for not knowing any better.”

  Placing the girl in the workshop on one of the stools beside his bench, their antics were noticed by Ivol and Aric, but the men didn’t comment beyond the smiles for the playful couple. It was too late to avoid being called a couple, Sebastian thought catching their looks.

  “Put on your boots at least and we’ll go inside to clean up before lunch. I’ll go collect my tools while you change.”

  The mage collected both staves and his sword, the last of which he attached to his belt. By the time he faced the workshop doorway; Ashleen was there and threw his shirt to him. The girl held her tunic and said, “Putting it on before I can clean up would just mean more laundry.”

  Passing through the back door, the two retreated up the back stairs without being seen by Hilda to find their room. Once inside, Ashleen took off her boots placing them next her bed. She took off her top in front of him without any embarrassment before removing her skirt. She walked to the dresser while Sebastian poured water from a pitcher into a large empty bowl on the one holding his clothing.

  Ashleen withdrew a pair of the knee length shorts and blouse from a drawer before taking a towel from on top of the dresser to wrap around her torso. As if it was completely natural to be undressed in front of him but knowing it was inappropriate to walk the corridor to one of the inn bathrooms, the girl wrinkled her nose at his attempt to clean up.

  “You should take a bath. You could even come share one with me, if you want,” she giggled knowing that Sebastian would decline as he was too much of a gentleman to have rumors of such a thing spreading through the inn.

  “I will be fine. Go ahead and take a bath. I’ll meet you in the dining room when you are done.”

  “One of these days I will wear you down,” she laughed and waved to him as the girl stepped out into the corridor.

  After the door closed, Sebastian had to admit, that Ashleen might be right. Flirting with the girl had become almost second nature, even when he hadn’t meant to do so. Since he had liked her from the first and was free to pursue her, Ashleen was feeling like the right person for him after all.

  He tried not to think of Yara, since the young man didn’t regret any of his time with her and hated thinking that he might have caused her any pain; instead Sebastian pulled out a couple stones that he had placed in his pocket.

  Looking at one sitting in the palm of his hand, the mage thought back to another spell and commanded, “Spark.”

  The last time he had used the spell, Sebastian had been deep inside of a mountain readying a distraction of charged corrinuts. Those sparks were used to set off explosions which brought down the stone of an enemy fortress’s tunnels. He didn’t need such a thing from these stones and the mage attempted to saturate the material of the rock with the essence of his magic rather than trying to store it in the stone.

  His magic became part of the round rock and Sebastian repeated the process with the second stone before placing one in front of his dresser and the other at the foot of the bed. If he were to use them to create a portal, they should help him make it between the two avoiding damaging anything in the room. He decided not to tell Ashleen and quickly cleaned up using a wash cloth and the water.

  “Are you sure that I should come along?” Ashleen questioned facing the falcon guardsmen standing before the raven’s door. They were still far enough to avoid being heard as the stairs led to a brief corridor between them and the men.

  “Well, you saw what I did and accompanied me through a portal, so if they have questions that need a different view point, it makes sense to bring you,” he replied.

  The wilder wore her knee length shorts and blouse with the short, leather boots that had become her favorites since finding them in Hala. Her clothes didn’t have the look of a wizard to them, but it also didn’t resemble a uniform so Sebastian could imagine the guards questioning who she was. Whether bringing Ashleen with him was necessary or not was probably still a pertinent question. Why he had brought her he wasn’t quite sure, though Ashleen had become his assistant or apprentice and been by his side almost constantly for a couple months.

  Ashleen seemed unsure in spite of his answer, but she said nothing more as they closed in on the guardsmen.

  “Falcon Sebastian Trillon to see Raven Leros, if he has the time,” the mage stated holding a stiff, military posture. Saluting wasn’t as common among battle mages and wizards, though common soldiers had such gestures ingrained into them.

  “We kn
ow who you are,” the man on the left replied with a smirk.

  From the right he heard, “We were not informed that you were coming today.”

  “I am here to inform him of some new magic, and didn’t send a message ahead of me or make an appointment,” he confessed.

  The first man sighed and crossed his arms only a moment before his shoulders dropped again as he turned to knock on the raven’s door. A voice could barely be heard, but the guard opened the door and announced, “Falcon Sebastian’s here for you, sir.”

  Though Sebastian couldn’t make out the exact words used in the answer, the guard nodded. When Ashleen moved to join him, the mages looked to stop her.

  “She’s my assistant, so I need her to join me also.”

  The men glanced to each other shrugging. Even if they could judge her power to be that of a wizard, Sebastian vouched for her and the mage guessed that they figured even a wizard wouldn’t be very dangerous in a small room with battle mages inside.

  Raven Leros had a pair of assistants behind the desk with him. One held a folder thick with papers, while the other held a pouch holding scrolls and envelopes. As the leader of the corps looked up and noted Ashleen trailing the mage, the older man said with a confused smile, “You seem to have picked up an attractive shadow.”

  “This is Ashleen Karderos, a wizard of Kardor currently studying with me and helping me with certain projects. You’ve met her before, sir,” Sebastian introduced the girl gesturing with an open palm towards Ashleen.

  “I have indeed, but why is it that she is here? In fact, what is it that you have to show me? Most of the time it feels like pulling teeth to get you over here to give me an update, so I assume something important has come up,” Leros said placing the quill he was using into the inkwell before him. The large desk was a clutter of paper piles in front of the raven. Sebastian couldn’t remember seeing so many envelopes and letters on the desk ever. Being a raven obviously involved many duties, one of which was corresponding with both subordinates and the government based in Hala.

  The mage thought that it wasn’t a position that many would wish to have if they knew of the many hassles a raven had to deal with daily.

  Turning to the reason he had come, Sebastian stated bluntly, “I have succeeded in creating portals. I only practiced moving from one side of the Black Smith Inn’s courtyard to the other, but I am pretty confident that distance doesn’t really matter.”

  Raven Leros looked slightly surprised, but knew that the young mage had been trying to create the magical gateways since before returning to Hala. “Is this a spell that can be used by battle mages?”

  The raven knew that not every spell Sebastian discovered was usable by every mage. Not only that, but some were exclusive to the young man called mizard and the owl. His performance in the wizard’s tournament had shown that Sebastian’s power and skill went to a different level than his fellow mages. While the high wizards had gauged the battle mage as still being no more powerful inherently than most mages, the owl had shown surges in his strength that defied explanation and it came from at least one secret that Sebastian hadn’t fully shared.

  “Well, not by themselves, but I was able to perform the spell with Ashleen’s power helping me. If I can teach other battle mages my current technique, a pairing of a mage and wizard can get the job done.

  “Though the wizards haven’t come to learn from me very often; if I had portal magic to dangle in front of them, there might be a line to try. I am not sure yet if portal magic is like healing in that it is a rare talent or not, but the warlocks we grilled about the basics were a pair among many that couldn’t do the spell without help.

  “Magic power has some limitation to who can use the spell solo, but talent for it probably comes into play as well.”

  He expected Leros to be more enthusiastic about his discovery, but the raven nodded looking introspective.

  “Is there something wrong, sir?”

  Leros stood up walking towards his window, the raven’s view looked out towards the east from the castle through the opening. An early afternoon sun already cast a shadow into the courtyards below. “The wizards received a message a few days ago that High Wizard Darius also discovered how to use portals. He has been inside the fortress and discussed the topic more thoroughly with Garosh and his warlocks.

  “Apparently along with the message, Darius proclaimed that he was going to try and establish a series of gates from one side of Southwall to the other. He will unite the fortresses along the wall so that our military will be able to make troop movements instantly.”

  While the fact that he hadn’t been the first was somewhat deflating, Sebastian knew High Wizard Darius well and was glad that the man had chosen to take the time to try and improve Southwall. He was one of the wizards of Eirdhen, a kingdom far to the south on the continent of Taltan, who had made the journey for the wizards’ tournament. Now several months had passed and still the immortal remained. He had gone to Windmeer to discover the relation between the giant in an enemy fortress to the west and Gerid Aramathea, the former prisoner of the emperor.

  “When will he try to come here?”

  “The wizards didn’t relay every detail of preparation, but Darius says that he will come two days from now.”

  Sebastian shook his head at the sudden change in power that this could bring. “If he can create usable gateways and teach our wizards to use the magic, we can turn the war against the emperor. He won’t have the advantage of being the only one capable of infiltrating our cities at will with a portal.”

  Turning from the view through his window, Leros nodded. “Should I get you a pass to join us for the arrival of Darius? You have seen portals created and been through them before, so I don’t know how much this will benefit you.”

  “I would like to meet and speak with High Wizard Darius, if you don’t mind arranging for me to be there. Perhaps a pass for Ashleen as well, since she has been helping me figure out the magic also.” He was giving the wilder more credit than was true, though she had helped him at times. Still, his power would have required the wizard, if he didn’t continue to steal power from the earth, which was less desirable.

  The older man nodded as his white hair seemed to glow in the light cast from the window. “It shouldn’t be a problem.

  “How has the Hollow Sword work been progressing, while you are here to answer?”

  “I have another new sword following Master Iylish’s advice. The last one is patched up ready to try. If I succeed, do you want me to pass the knowledge on to the wizards?”

  “Let me know first, but if you are the only one who can do this, we will need to take it to the wizards anyway.”

  Sebastian nodded.

  Leros raised an eyebrow and asked, “Is there anything else that I should know about your research?”

  “I am close to being able to transfer runes to others at will. Though I can recreate them from the ones I know, it would be helpful if you could get word to Captain Drayden that I would like to see if I can copy his as well. Hopefully the king will answer you, because I have been unable to get any information on the captain’s whereabouts to see the last runes.”

  “I will make the inquiry for you.”

  There was a pause in the conversation and the raven surprised him as he changed the subject, “You have heard that the nomads north of the wall have been acting strangely this summer, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, something about the patrols seeing fewer tribes than in recent years.”

  Raven Leros walked to the front of his desk before leaning against it with his hands holding the edge of the desktop. The older man frowned as he relayed, “Something like that. Patrols have discovered that they seem to be moving towards two new epicenters. They haven’t been able to find out what goal is driving them, but those closest to the east have drawn some attention thanks to word of your runes spreading to the other falcons.”

  “How so?” Sebastian asked in confusion. What he had to
do with the nomads of the plains was beyond him.

  “Our occasional attempt at forming treaties with them, have led to several mages noticing that the eastern tribes have runes similar to what you found. There will be another diplomatic mission to them before it gets cold again. I would like to send you with to see if there is any relation to the magic runes you received and these runes.”

  Nodding, Sebastian replied, “I can certainly go; but even if there was a correlation between them, the nomads would need druids to make the ink magical. The odds of them having all the needed components to make these runes are unlikely I would think; but it can’t hurt to go look.”

  “I know that you picked them up at the Grimnal’s Island, but maybe another tribe broke off at some point to sail there or left the island to come to the main continent. Whatever the reason, I will plan on sending you once plans are ready.”

  Sebastian’s eyes suddenly lit up with Leros’s final summary. His attempt to discover more runes to copy more spells had seemed limited to what he and his people had been gifted with after the defeat of the black ships. The fact that Gerid had several body guards along, many of which came from his tattooed warriors, had escaped him for all that it should have been obvious.

  With such a good relationship between them, Sebastian was sure that he could get word to the immortal and receive permission to check the other runes that they might have.

  “Well, I will work on procuring permission to be there for Darius’s arrival and the trip to see the nomads. If there’s nothing more that you need from me, I have a very busy day today, Falcon Trillon.”

  Understanding that he was being dismissed, Sebastian decided to show what he had learned. He took Ashleen’s hand and had the girl pass him some of her power.

  “Door,” he ordered with his eyes closed a moment to visualize the glowing portal. Leros’ eyes widened along with his assistants as Sebastian bid him goodbye.