“We have heard that the tribes of the east use runes to ward their warriors against harm, but nothing they did stopped the urchins. However,” the warlock paused taking a steadying breath, “we watched as a platoon from Southwall joined the hunters to follow the path of the urchins to our gate. When we sent the urchins through to kill the mages and wizards with their soldiers and nomads, it looked like they would be unstoppable once more.
“We noted some strange magic among these people. Some of the mages wielded greater power than they should and used their swords to fling various spells at the fire urchins. Some did little. Some did more damage; but when they began to use the darkness spells the beasts’ fire seemed to be leeched away with the magic. If they avoid wizards knowing these spells, they are nearly invincible. Unfortunately the darkness magic can drain away their power and leave them vulnerable to attack.”
The man paused letting the emperor weigh in if he wished.
“There is more?” Kolban questioned as they began to walk towards the light leading outside of the chamber.
“We brought reinforcements to try and save the dozen urchins. The winged cats and shrikes were brought through a third portal. The man who shot down the shrike fought all that we brought with only a nomad and wizard helping him. His wind spells killed several more before the birds thought to attack him. With just the two others helping him, the shrikes didn’t have a prayer against them on the ground. It is another weakness, though I have seen the creatures train here and can’t believe a single battle mage or wizard would be a match for them. Certainly fifteen shrikes shouldn’t have failed against three.
“The winged cats were more of a success. Their screams slowed the enemy down and their tails stunned any without a magic shield. They are vicious beasts, though again these battle mages can fight well.”
Toban paused again and looked like he debated on telling the emperor something.
“Speak up. What is on your mind?” Kolban asked him.
“This group used several spells that I have never seen from Southwall. Strange orange shields were used that looked almost like runes but seemed stronger than their normal blue shields of magic. They used light and darkness spells like they had been trained in Ensolus. This new sword magic was only used by a few, but it gave the mages attack power rivaling our warlocks.”
“I have seen a sword like that in person,” Palose said bringing the eyes of the warlocks to him curiously. “The mizard had a strange sword covered in runes. With it, he seemed to store more power than he should be able to use. I knew him before leaving Southwall. He was no stronger than any other mage, just more brilliant in his use of magic.”
Kolban mused aloud to share the thought intentionally with the others, “Perhaps this mage has found a way to make other swords like this one you encountered. It may have been made to counter our wizard hunter armor.”
“I wouldn’t put it past Sebastian to do so,” the dark mage stated feeling annoyed that the mizard seemed to always be a step ahead no matter how much the dark mage learned.
The elderly looking Getraud asked, “Does this change your plans, my lord?”
“No,” Kolban announced, “the fire urchins will be used in the taking of Litsarin. We can use the crag trolls and armored viles to attack the Twin Towers.”
“You will wage war on two fronts at once?” the man’s gray eyes widened slightly in surprise.
“Attacking the wall will give the impression that we have finally come to destroy Southwall. That will make them unwilling to divert much of their attention to helping their ally, Sileoth, when the armies attack the cities of western Litsarin.
“Sileoth won’t be able to help their ally in return and, if we are in luck, both kings will believe that the other didn’t honor their bond to help their ally.”
Palose heard the news and thought that, like the spies calling for war and separation; the two nations would be facing strife from within and out. He had been in the southern cities and the fires had begun to catch among the citizens and even some of the nobility. They had too little true ties to those along Northwall and the idea of less taxes to a distant king had gripped many.
The dissent sown in Sileoth had seemed to work to a lesser degree, but if Southwall didn’t help them, surely there would be more who questioned the alliance between the two countries.
Palose noticed stone spires rising from the center of Ponfies as he thought on the countries to the south. A gray sky blocked the sun and the air felt cool with the first taste of the future winter. It had been warm in Ensolus far to the southwest, but the elevation into the mountains meant this city was colder than the emperor’s capitol.
A neat grid lined up the buildings with the spires at the center, but it appeared much smaller than Ensolus even though that city was confined to a large cave. Looking to the mountains surrounding the valley, there appeared to be only a single path between the mountains heading to the south.
“They’ve built into three of the mountains creating fortresses less affected by the weather,” Acheri said quietly taking his arm. She had noticed him looking around as they followed the others to review part of the army being assembled for the next battles with Southwall and Sileoth. “Ponfies is built that any attacker might see these buildings and believe it is the entire city. The true power lies in the three fortresses in their mountains.”
“I think it would be defended enough just from the remoteness of these mountains alone,” he replied noticing snow still upon their peaks and assumed that the remainder of the city must be built deep into those mountains.
“It is not quite as remote as you might think, but your old people of Southwall aren’t the only ones who might wish to see this place destroyed and not everyone is so deterred by a mere climb,” the princess stated mysteriously.
Palose wondered what other enemies the empire might have made which would make her say such a thing, but he didn’t pry for now. The dark mage did drop a pair of his lodestones on the ground as they walked thinking that one day he would have to return and explore Ponfies. His attention returned to listening to the girl as he looked around the city.
Sebastian awoke feeling warm breathing on his neck. Glancing with his eyes to the weight on his shoulder, the young man noted Ashleen’s blond hair brushing against him as she slept. They had shared the bed during the night, but little had truly happened. While they had kissed and touched, exhaustion from their travels won out making them pull back the covers to place their heads on pillows to sleep.
Reaching over with his right hand, he brushed her bare side remembering that Ashleen had taken advantage of their relationship to sleep in almost nothing. Her left arm was draped across his chest so he tried to ease her off of him gently so as not to wake her. After rolling her onto the pillow beside them, Sebastian sat up trying to gather himself for the day.
As he stood, his eyes traced her form bare save for her underpants. Trying not to compare his first love, Yara, to Ashleen, his mind still took him there. Ashleen’s figure had a little less curve to it, but her lines were beautiful just in a different way. While he looked at her, the girl rolled away from him onto her side still breathing deeply. She never had become a morning person, so Sebastian didn’t bother to wake her as he gathered a change of clothes and walked to the bathroom.
He made sure to lock the door knowing that Ashleen wouldn’t want someone walking in on her. She showed him her body, but he doubted she would wish to do so for anyone else.
Walking down the hall, one of the two doors opened revealing Yaroma with wet hair wound up in a towel. She was already dressed in a nice outfit, though her feet were bare.
“Thank you again for saving us last night,” the young woman said quietly trying not to disturb anyone else who might be a light sleeper nearby.
“Like I told them, I feel responsible for you and your sister, but I am surprised to see you up so early.”
Blushing slightly, Yaroma replied, “I want to go see Olan, since he ha
s returned. I miss him.”
He nodded with a slight smile and let the girl go to finish getting ready to walk to the city barracks for mages. Cleaning up in short order as well, Sebastian returned to the room and drew out the map he had created to find the various portals in the north.
Tapping his lip, the mage tried to decide the best course of action. Perhaps telling Raven Leros of his considerations was best, but he had yet to try using his magic to do what he was thinking.
Glancing over to the bare back of Ashleen with her blond hair draping from the pillow onto the sheet, Sebastian thought he could try something before she awoke.
Holding onto Bairh’loore for the needed power, he whispered the spell, “Door,” with his map in the other hand to concentrate on New Harbor, and stepped through the gate. A rush of wind and flash of silver light ended quickly in the shadows of an alleyway. It was still early in the morning in New Harbor. The sun was so close to the eastern horizon that the golden rays only touched the rooftops this far into the city.
It was quiet.
Letting the portal magic wane, the glowing doorway winked out of sight as Sebastian looked for the magically charged stones which had brought him here. Finding one in the debris to his left, the mage searched for the second in a near straight line from the other.
To someone without magic, they looked no different from any other rock, though they were dark gray and perhaps unusual to the southern city. Sebastian was neither earth wizard nor geologist, so he didn’t truly know; though without looking for the magic he knew they would mean nothing to him.
Holding both in his hand, the mage closed his fingers around them and closed his eyes. Like with the runes on his skin, Bas tried to push Palose’s magic out of the stones. While the other’s magic had a deep root in the rocks, the owl’s power was sent in to destroy the spell on the lodestones and replace the magic with his own.
It took over a minute and brought sweat to his forehead before he felt the locked spell melt away into the air. The stones took on the new magic cleansed of the dark mage’s influence and he took out his map before replacing them where he had found them.
The red mark on New Harbor turned black for his new portal. His eyes looked to all the marks denoting Palose’s influence between Southwall, Litsarin and Ensolus. There was even the one he was pretty sure had been attached to the Grimnal’s Island. It was this influence which had brought the spies into Southwall and made it easy for them to reach Sileoth and the cities on Litsarin as well, he was certain.
If Palose could see the change or feel it, he would quickly know that someone had found a way to track down his markers. If the dark mage knew how to trace Sebastian’s magic in a similar way, leaving his own markers in place of the enemy’s would eventually become a test of wills to maintain; but he had to test that as well.
Looking at the map, Sebastian pointed at Banosh on Litsarin and tested the theory by calling for a second gate.
From the shadows of the alleyway, the mage found himself under bright sunshine standing on a hill overlooking the island town and the sparkling waves of the ocean. It was further east than Hala and the sun could be seen higher in the sky. Seeing the sun’s movement appear changed in an instant made the mage frown with the thought. It was odd to think that the sun could change in relation to where he was on Alus so quickly. The map showed that he was further east and he knew that the sun always came from that direction no matter where he stood.
Quickly finding the markers of Palose, Sebastian repeated the process before placing them on the ground. The fact that they were nearly in the exact position as before spoke to the audacity of the other man.
While he was there, Sebastian felt for signs of another gate and noticed a different kind of link. Like magic had been infused into the ground, the mage discovered how the Dark One’s warlocks had anchored this gate as well. While he thought about changing this link, Sebastian first tried to read the magic used and added both a black mark and one of green to Banosh.
Nodding at the feel of magic, Sebastian sat on the ground spreading out the map on top of the larger gate. He used his magic like the day he had first discovered how to mark each gate around the continent. A second and third gate could be felt where he had marked Palose’s smaller gate in the emperor’s city.
Humming to himself, the mage ran his hand over the Dragon Spine Mountains and discovered several more green marks all made of double gates. A new red marker for Palose appeared in the eastern mountains where one of the green marks was as well. This meant that he had found all of the emperor’s secret and not so secret cities.
“Well, this could change things,” he mumbled before standing up considering the marks on his map. The red marker on Grimnal Island bothered him still. Sebastian had promised to do his best to protect Gerid’s people after all when he had convinced the immortal to return to Hala and Southwall for him.
Using the marker to direct the next doorway, the mage summoned a third door. Trees stood overhead when he exited this gate. The sound of the ocean was more obvious to his ears than above Banosh, though he saw no sea birds flying in the air like he had over the town.
While he picked up the set of lodestones, Sebastian was surprised as a blond haired girl suddenly leaped into view with a spear in her hands crying out, “Halt right there!”
Looking at the girl, who appeared barely into her early teens, the mage nearly laughed. She wore only shorts and a swimmer’s top that only covered her underdeveloped breasts. Runes could be seen across her body, though her marks were not as complete as the older warriors. She had protection runes and the one to store weapons; but other than a rune for hearing on her left ear that was all she possessed so far.
“Careful, I am a friend.”
The girl raised one eyebrow while lowering the other in confusion. “I do not know you. Where did you come from?”
“I am the mage who left with the Grimnal, the father to the tribe beneath the waves and to many on this island. I came with those who fought the emperor’s creatures to protect the village?” he finished wondering if the girl had been in the village while his people had been on the island.
Understanding dawned on the girl’s face, though he noted a slightly suspicious look to her eyes.
“How did you get here? Did you bring the Father back with another boat?” the girl asked.
“No, I have learned new magic to come back, though I may be able to bring him back the same way now that I know this gate is here.”
“Gate?” she questioned again almost as an echo.
“That’s what we call the glowing doorway, though door, gate or portal are all accurate.
“What is your name by the way? I am Sebastian,” he said introducing himself properly.
“I am Ulia. Along with my brother, I am one of those who watch the northern point of the island.”
He looked at the tattoos marring her young skin and asked, “Do you like those tattoos?”
Again confusion covered her face. “They protect me and let me store my short weapons. Why wouldn’t I like them?”
“Do you ever wish that they weren’t dark marks on your skin?”
She shrugged. “It is just the way of a rune warrior or so my brother tells me.”
Holding up his left arm, the mage willed the color back into his protection runes. Her eyes widened in surprise and she asked, “How did you do that?”
“Magic. Let me show you,” he said and touched her arm. His magic flowed into her runes and they both watched as the blue markings turned clear.
Gasping in fear, Ulia cried, “You made them go away! Where did they go?”
“Watch,” Sebastian said with a smile and slapped down hard on the left arm he had touched. The runes glowed with the strike and slowly faded again. “See, you are still protected. You just don’t have to look at them all the time. I think it makes it more of a surprise if an enemy doesn’t know that you have special protection don’t you?”
The girl’s eyes
turned big with wonder. “Yes, I can see that it would take an enemy by surprise. Having a weapon ready that they can not see would give an advantage in a fight.”
Sebastian stepped back making his runes disappear from sight again. He had finished changing the magic in the stones and spread them to either side drawing Ulia’s frown again.
“What were you doing with those stones?”
“Oh, I just picked them up out of curiosity when I arrived.” He decided not to tell the girl of their importance, but asked, “Can you tell Shaman Porleyr that I was here and show him how I made the runes transparent?”
The girl nodded.
Picking up his staff once more; the mage said, “Thank you, Ulia. Now I had better go home. It is about time for breakfast where I came from today.”
“Door,” he ordered and stepped through the glowing portal with his map. Fixing the point could be done in Hala rather than in front of the girl, Sebastian decided as he returned home to Ashleen.
Chapter 28- A Mage’s Interference
“Master Darius, welcome back!” Hilda greeted the wizard as he entered leading a handful of men and Rilena.
“Good morning, Hilda,” Darius greeted her warmly. The high wizard had a way of making people comfortable around him. He was very likeable, Sebastian thought, as he sat with Ashleen and the mermaids waiting for the wizard to sit.
Elzen quickly flipped a chair around to sit in it backwards beside Naoromi.
“Well, hello, pretty ladies,” he greeted the girls sweeping his eyes across all three even though he knew that Ashleen only had eyes for Sebastian.
Rilena sat on his other side placing a lock of her brunette hair over her right ear as if to make sure that she could keep an eye on the younger mage who was now to her right. Her look was disapproving as she complained, “Do you have to do that so early, Elzen?”
Battle Mage: Forging New Steel (Tales of Alus Book 9) Page 39