“This one is healed. A few days’ rest and he will be ready to hunt again,” the mage stated with a nod. He took some cheese and bread making a quick sandwich. Eating quickly, the young man moved to the next warrior in need.
When Sebastian finished, he shook his head putting out his hand. Ashleen could tell that this wound had taken a lot out of him. After a quick drink, the owl stated, “I managed to save the arm. Everything is reattached and the disease has been eliminated. Who is the next worst?”
Odja knelt to check the warrior who was breathing quietly. She felt his forehead finding it cool and began to remove the bandages. When she saw the shoulder and the pink skin where the wound had been; the woman gasped, “Amazing. I checked it a few hours ago and saw the gangrene changing the color. It was a bloody mess between the stitches.”
Ashleen nodded and said, “That’s magic healing for you.”
Directing Sebastian to the next warrior, he took a bite of food similarly to Elzen and started once more.
Arkoness Smrajni walked through the tent extending a word to those men and women conscious enough to benefit from her presence. When she came to a young girl, so pale from blood loss, the woman stopped to kneel beside her. The girl had flaxen hair and the lighter skin of one of the northern tribes. Most likely she was one of the Drays or Zelesh who had come south for the protection of the larger tribe.
“We will get to her soon,” Ashleen said sounding full of compassion.
The arkoness looked up seeing the wilder fighting back tears in her eyes at the sight of the young girl. There were several children along with mothers who were untrained in fighting. It was one thing to see warriors, either male or female, in the hospital fighting for their lives; but the children made the pretty girl want to sob.
“You look so sad, though she isn’t one of your people,” Smrajni said only slightly surprised. “I am surprised that you wallers are willing to help with your magic.”
Sighing, Ashleen shook her head which knocked loose her tears. As she wiped at her eyes, the wilder replied, “She is just a little girl. Darker or lighter skin, she is still a girl.
“Sebastian doesn’t worry over whether someone is from his country. That is for certain. I was with my lord coming from Kardor, a different country from his when we were attacked by the wolves. He led the charge of several other battle mages straight into them driving them off and saving the rest of us when we surely would have died.
“We are from their allies, sure; but if we had died north of the wall, with no witnesses, our country wouldn’t have scolded Southwall for not saving our lives.
“He has saved people from other countries, many of which have nothing to do with Southwall at all. He freed an island of people enslaved by pirates, even though they were used against him first. Instead of just killing both the innocents being used against their will and the pirates, he protected them and saved their lives.
They were a different kind of people living on some unnamed island in the ocean with no strategic importance or anything; but he saved them.”
There was a moment’s silence as Ashleen looked towards Sebastian working on his fifth patient. He would be finished soon and she needed to make sure that his drink and food were near enough to continue. Elzen had a nurse by his side put there by Odja as she learned that the boy was as skilled as Sebastian in healing, or nearly so.
“He will heal them all or die trying,” stated the wilder with an emphatic nod.
Smrajni looked at the two men working so hard without seeming to do anything to her untrained eyes, and yet people were being healed beyond the skills of her best healers. “It is quite a skill, this magic. We have some who can use spells; but we have none that can heal, though there have been a few in the past.”
“Healing is a rare skill even among wizards,” Ashleen replied and started to move towards Sebastian. She could feel his magic change as he wrapped up another miraculous piece of work.
The arkoness rose from her knees to follow the wilder and asked, “Do you think that they would be willing to pass on the knowledge? So many die from wounds that our medicine can not heal quickly enough.”
Ashleen shrugged and held out a bottle half emptied by Sebastian already. “You would have to ask him.”
“Ask me what?” the owl questioned after taking a drink.
“Could you teach our druids to heal?”
Sebastian sighed and replied, “If they have any talent for it, I can try. I can’t do it right away, however, there are too many for just the two of us to heal in one day. We’re going to need rest before getting the next wave and a chance to recover before I start trying to figure out if you have anyone with the right magic talent for it.”
Nodding at his answer and feeling more positive by his response than the tired mage appeared giving it, the arkoness responded, “I do not even know how we can repay you for all that you have done so far. You have saved the lives of several who would likely not have lived to see next week.”
Sebastian didn’t even stand as he turned on his knees to the next patient on the blanket behind him. “We don’t need repayment, but you could at least hear Oltus out. If the emperor is sending creatures into the plains to test them on your people, it shows how little he cares about you.
“If you had any sort of alliance with the Dark One; he appears to have cancelled it.”
Darkening with anger, the woman replied, “The Khagan have never allied with the monster who tried to destroy the world. None of my allies have either, but word has come from the west that some of those who worked with Ensolus have been attacked as well.
“Perhaps you are right that the monster doesn’t care about the plains folk. I will talk the others into listening to your wizard.”
“That is good, now if you’ll excuse me; I have another patient to help.”
Ashleen looked at the arkoness and smiled feeling Sebastian’s magic surge as he touched a woman of the tribe to heal her.
Elzen had to stop and wiped at the sweat beading on his brow. Looking over towards Sebastian, he watched as the other mage continued to heal another wounded nomad. Ashleen noticed his look and came closer to place her hands on his shoulders while he took a large swallow of the juice held in the bottle in his hands.
The mage noticed the bottle shook as his hands had begun to tremble. He was hitting his limit even with Ashleen’s extra magic channeled into him to resupply his finite reservoir of energy.
“He’s still going?” Elzen asked the wilder as he brushed back his sweaty brown hair from his forehead. He couldn’t stop sweating and felt like he had run ten miles or more. “How often have you given him more magic?”
This was the third time the wizard had shared her strength with him, but the mage didn’t think it would be enough. It wasn’t just power that was used up while healing. His mind was exhausted with the details of the magic and the fine tuning each patient needed, as he worked to mend flesh and halt gangrene or other infections, the biggest killer of wounded in such conditions.
“Once so far,” the girl answered his second question first.
“How can that be? I know that Bas deserves the title owl because of the way his mind works, but I’ve felt his aura and it doesn’t seem stronger than most mages. Where is he getting the energy from to continue?”
Ashleen looked at the other mage and understood what Elzen saw as well. Unless a wizard looked into the owl with healing magic, his strength was indistinguishable from any other mage. “He’s been through a lot since you two were cadets. I think some of what he has learned and done has created a reservoir of strength that you just can’t see with normal sight.
“He has been working in a forge since returning to Hala and the best example I can give is that his magic is like steel. A raw piece of metal is strong, but he is like a sword. The metal is folded in on itself over and over. Beaten and tempered, that worked steel becomes much stronger than what it was to begin with,” she finished thoughtfully.
�
�I wonder if I took up sword smithing would my magic would become more like that,” Elzen asked wistfully, “but I don’t like to use swords that much. My feet and hands can do as much damage in a fight, so a blade isn’t that necessary.”
Ashleen released his shoulders and could feel her own strength waning just from aiding the two men. The nurse passed her a second bottle that the wilder had been working through as she needed it. “You don’t need to try and be him. I’ve seen what you can do here and it is impressive. When I tried to heal, it made me pass out the first time, almost the second as well. I can’t do what you two do, even with my extra magical strength.”
Surprised to hear the girl mention healing, he turned to sit with crossed legs. Elzen wasn’t sure if he could heal another nomad right now and thought he needed sleep or at least a break before he tried. “You’ve healed?”
Blushing at the shock in voice, the blonde haired wizard knelt to sit in front of him. Even kneeling, her eyes were only about even with his making the conversation more comfortable for both of them. “I have healed Sebastian. He wasn’t careful when he tested his first sword. When his magic overloaded the runes on the blade, it exploded.
“We were far from the closest healer and he would have bled out before anyone else could have helped him. He had been trying to teach me how to heal and in desperation I managed to stop the worst of his wounds from bleeding out, but I couldn’t finish them all and passed out,” she confessed with cheeks still red from the thought of her weakness. “I’m not even sure if it had been anyone else that I could have managed to do as much as I did.”
The boy before her analyzed her like a wizened old soul and replied, “So you’re in love with him and that helped you through the block?”
Smiling before giving him a short nod, the young woman agreed, “I had been fighting the feeling because we were from different nations and likely to be merely passing each other by in our lives; but life threw us together over and over again until I finally couldn’t help throwing myself at him. I knew that he was in love with Yara, but something seemed to fall apart between them so I let him know that I was interested.
“Maybe his trying to teach me healing was his way of making us more alike so he could justify letting Yara go?”
Elzen looked at his friend as his head rose from his work. The nurse was there to help him with food and drink. “I doubt that Sebastian would just do something like that to create a replacement for Yara. He obviously has other ties to you than healing magic.
“You introduced yourself as his apprentice, even if it was jokingly. Bas would try teaching everything he knows to someone like you. Healing is just one skill that can lead to others. Strange that most healers can’t see beyond the one school of learning when the senses created from healing can do so many other things.”
Starting at his loss of attention to their conversation, Elzen smirked and said, “Well, that does it. It’s obvious that I need some rest. I just wish Rilena and the others were able to be here for support. It’s interesting how you get used to having certain people around, even when the magic needed is just yours.”
Ashleen grinned and needled, “You like her too.”
He shrugged and replied, “When she returned from Garosh’s fortress, I thought maybe we were going to have a relationship more like yours; but Rilena has problems giving herself to anyone. Oh well, I’ll just enjoy what I can get.”
The wilder’s look turned sad, but suddenly she smiled once more and added, “Maybe if you stay together long enough, she will change her mind. Sebastian was determined not to fall in love for the longest time, but now we’re a lot closer.”
Pushing to his feet a little unsteadily, Elzen nodded with a polite smile, “Maybe, but for now I need a spot to rest up. My mind can’t concentrate enough to do anymore. Thanks, Ashleen, for the support. Bas is lucky to have you.”
Watching the mage as the nurse led him to a place where he could rest; Ashleen looked at Sebastian already healing his next patient so tirelessly. He did seem to love her, even if Sebastian wouldn’t go as far with her as he had Yara. She thought that his excuses were true enough. Since he wasn’t ready to just go from one girl to another, Ashleen tried to be patient.
The wilder moved to kneel beside the owl and placed her hand on his shoulder as he worked. Lending him her strength once more, even without being asked, Ashleen would stick by him no matter what.
Sebastian sat with Ashleen in the tent he had been lent while resting from his healing. The wilder had remained at his side and wondered how often she slept as she seemed to watch over him each night. Sleeping inside the camp let the mage see things that he wouldn’t have from where the remainder of their platoon camped outside of the nomads’ circle.
Apparently warriors watched those who had come to negotiate peace with them. Neither side fully trusted the other, but Sebastian thought that the efforts of he and Elzen went a long way to ease those tensions, at least for the nomads.
He only hoped the three days of healing had given Oltus the time to speak with the arkhein enough to create a rapport. Healing took time; even though the two mage’s worked as quickly as they could to make sure no one died. There were just so many injured people and they were only two mages. He doubted even full wizard healers could have done much more, however, they simply needed more numbers.
The mage had considered using portal magic to try and bring more healers to the nomads, but that was quickly refuted in his mind as he thought their new access to the emperor’s magic should remain a secret. In addition to that, he feared that the tribes would think that they were hiding who they really were if they saw something once belonging to just the warlocks of the emperor.
A small bell rang from the doorway drawing their attention to figures standing in the opening of the tent. Sunlight highlighted the one who had come to speak with him.
“Is it all right that I have come?” Arkoness Smrajni asked from just outside.
“Come in, unless it would be more appropriate that we come outside to you?” Sebastian queried still unsure of all these people’s customs.
“By no means, please stay seated and rest,” the dark haired arkoness replied stepping into the tent barely ducking her head to enter the low doorway. “You have done so much. I can imagine that you and your comrades would be tired.”
The mage was surprised that he wasn’t more worn down by the three days of healing, but the rewards of already seeing some of the more dire cases awake and asking for food and drink was also strong. Since he enjoyed helping people there were certainly perks being a healer and, seeing the innocents injured by the monsters sent to harm these people, Sebastian was glad that he could help.
“Did your hunters track these monsters down after the attack?” the battle mage part of him came to the fore and asked.
“It wasn’t hard to track the directions that they came and went,” the woman sighed as she sat on one of the pillows before them. Her eyes showed a tiredness that came with leadership during hard times, he thought. “The beasts that seemed to be on fire can step in dry grass causing it too spread their flames. We had had rain recently enough that much of the grass is green and filled with water, however, so their foot steps still burned the places they walked; but for the most part fire didn’t spread which left a trail any child could follow.”
“So you found them?” he asked sensing that something wasn’t being told yet.
Shaking her head and venting a second sigh, Smrajni replied, “The hunters followed the path, but the burn marks ended in a seemingly straight line cutting across their trail. Even if they could turn off their flames, my hunters would have been able to follow a trail of some sort; but they tell me there was nothing but a couple lighter weight booted foot prints nearby.”
Sebastian nodded figuring that their allegations that these monsters were sent by the emperor were likely correct. If the warlocks who had created a portal weren’t from the emperor, they certainly followed his methods and used a c
omparable magic.
“Once we have a chance to recover, I would like to see this place where they disappeared; if I may,” the owl requested knowing that this area was considered tribal lands and that Southwall forcing itself into this matter would destroy everything they had been working to create so far if the arkoness refused the interference.
Eyes narrowing a bit as she considered the request, Smrajni questioned his motive as she asked, “My hunters found no trail. How will going there help you? There are no monsters to face.”
Giving a polite smile, Sebastian bowed his head slightly answering, “I have been working to turn the emperor’s magic against him. One of those kinds of magic I have attempted is that of his portal magic. If warlocks created a gate, they could move these monsters anywhere without your hunters finding any more signs until they return.
“I think that is why your hunters have found a trail ending in nowhere. While I am no expert, I believe that I can find signs of a magical doorway if I looked. It would tell you if these attacks were intentional or not, as we believe.”
Smrajni frowned at the idea, but replied, “I will ask one of the druids to go with you, perhaps two, when you search this trail. Maybe you can show them this magic you believe was used against us.”
“As you wish, arkoness,” the owl acquiesced thinking that was to his advantage as well. The druids had remained distant while he had been there. Word came to him through the nurses that they often appeared in the hospital tent soon after he and Elzen had left. He had offered, through Smrajni and the other attendants to see if he could teach them how to heal; but the druids had refused to see him so far. Admittedly, he had remained quite busy the last few days and probably wouldn’t have had enough energy to teach the spells he needed; but they hadn’t given him that chance either.
“Smrajni,” the woman corrected him with a gentle smile, “you and your friend have done too much for us to waste time on a title that means nothing to your people.”
Battle Mage: Forging New Steel (Tales of Alus Book 9) Page 33