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

by Donald Wigboldy

  Arrows followed the troll striking the golden portal where they disappeared as well.

  Pushing out her lower lip in a brief pout, the girl declared, “Well, that was less than satisfying. Now what will they do?”

  More archers and those who could cast magic began to flow to either side of the tower waiting to see what would happen next, since the doorway remained open.

  Only moments later what looked like two walls drove through the light blocking his view of most of the gateway. Armored viles, already hard to kill and virtually impossible with arrows, held giant shields nearly as big as the creatures holding them. They ducked behind them looking like massive armadillos partially balled as they sunk behind the shields. A third shield nearly as big followed taking the center as a troll hid in the overlap between the viles.

  When two orcs snuck through the door, they were virtually invisible to the defenders on the wall. Each had a body shield though they looked miniscule next to the larger creatures holding thick defenses in front of the gate. They each grabbed a stone and shouted to the creatures guarding their backs to begin the retreat.

  Fire crashed into shields or struck the ground as the five shielded creatures hurried north in a retreat. Shaylene’s aim remained a bit inaccurate as she aimed for the viles and the fire disappeared into the golden light. Unlike the stray arrows entering the portal, this wasn’t ignored and suddenly the light disappeared.

  Like having a night light or lantern vanishing from sight, Xander’s eyes played tricks on him as a purple blur remained etched into his vision for a little while longer. It mattered little as the cadet hadn’t bothered to fire an arrow. There were no openings to catch the enemy to try and pierce their armor. He had heard of other mages driving the air spears well beyond an arm’s throw, but the cadet was still trying to master that technique.

  “What are they doing?” Evan asked, who like Xander, hadn’t wasted his arrows. The archers had fired less understanding the futility of their attacks for the moment.

  The cadet thought about the matter and said quickly, “Either they have given up on trying to use the portal, or they have taken what was used to make it.”

  “The stones?” Shaylene questioned. “They did all that to reclaim the stones?”

  “More likely they did it to move the stones out of our range. Once it is beyond our attack, they can bring their army here without any worries.”

  The soldier, Brennan, asked, “But why do they need that? They already marched an army to within a couple miles of the Towers.”

  That question the youth could not answer.

  Palose stood with his eyes closed waiting with the army inside the chamber. The warlocks remained ready beside the portal anchor and watched as the dark mage was using his magical senses to try and decide when to open the gate once more.

  Unlike the warlocks, Acheri stood impatiently before him with a pout on her lips.

  “Well?” she asked without expressing the full question.

  “It’s still moving. They need to move it beyond the range of the wizards’ spells as well as the arrows.

  “Once it stops, I will assume that they have set the lodestones again,” Palose answered without opening his eyes. The princess knew how the magic worked and how sensitive the mage was to the movements of the stones. He had known when Sebastian moved the anchors in Banosh and again when the cities had become lost to him.

  The girl tapped her booted foot anxiously before beginning to pace in front of the dark mage.

  When the stones halted, Palose gave them a moment to make sure that they were finished. His eyes opened and he nodded.

  “I will go through and set a new gate on the south side of the wall before I reopen the portal here,” he stated for the warlocks who would hold his gate open once Palose was certain that he could enact the plan, even if it was being modified. His battle mage training had made him know to come to a battle field with a plan, but be ready to adjust with the flow of battle as it changed.

  Acheri didn’t look happy to see him go, but she was a princess and he was just a resurrection man after all.

  A quick casting of the magic created a new, smaller door in front of Palose. He stepped through to find that he was in the slight valley created between a pair of short hills.

  Looking to the sky, the dark mage saw the darkening sky and first twinkling lights of the stars appearing as the day moved towards night. A lack of light played into their strategy, but they had planned to be in Southwall on the march to the wall already. He had been deceived into walking into a trap without ever noticing it.

  Had Sebastian chosen to simply move these stones rather than destroy them as he appeared to have done at the other points? It was certainly a trick that would not surprise him to have come from that mind.

  The gate winked out behind Palose and he took in the small unit which had accomplished the movement. Soot blackened their skin and the shields had been damaged by the magic used against them, but the five looked relatively unscathed even so.

  He ordered them to join up with the army marching this way. The orcs would let the general know to stall the attack for a little longer.

  Looking to the south, Palose couldn’t see North Wall, but he had no doubt that air wizards would be working to keep track of the movements of the army. If they had followed the five unit squad to see what they planned, the surprise of his next actions might have less impact; but if it was done correctly Southwall would quickly find the Twin Towers in dire straights.

  Taking the stones in hand, the dark mage used one of his rival’s spells, “Air lance.”

  Sealed inside of the shaft of air, Palose tried to make it nearly invisible before calling on his stealth spell. He hated the idea of taking a long walk through the clinging grass and bumpy ground using the limited senses he would have under the influence of the spell, but it was better than facing the might of the wizards, mages and archers of the wall.

  He set off half blind. The only positive point of using the strange phantom sight within the stealth spell was that the darkening light outside didn’t affect him in anyway. Night or day, the senses one gained and lost using the magic weren’t affected at all.

  Crossing the distance trying to remain lost in the valleys of the hills even with the spell in place, Palose eventually stood to the west of the Twins. He used the gap between the Twin Towers and the next one to cast his spear over the wall. Pushing his skills as far as he ever had, the mage had to literally have blind faith in his throw; because the next step would be crucial to the attack.

  Slipping back out of easy arrow range, the dark mage quickly cast his portal spell placing it between him and any defenders which might spot him in time. His stealth spell dropped to cast the portal making Palose a target, but he had become an expert at casting the magic and could do so as fast as anyone.

  He could just make out the calls of warning from the wall after the glowing doorway drew their eyes to what he was doing. It was almost better that they did notice his activity to the north first, since it was connected to the stones blindly cast into Southwall by his spear. As arrows left bows, the dark mage stepped through the gate disappearing before the first shafts dropped to the ground short of their target. A fireball cast frantically from closer to the next tower would not even find the gateway as Palose released the gates to avoid being noticed where the air spear had landed.

  Turning to look to the north to see how well he done shooting the spear without sight of his target, Palose found that he had been lucky. The second gate had landed in the depression between the slight hills, though standing on his toe tips the mage could see the wall on an angle to the northeast. Since there were no further alarms, he had to assume that whatever glow the second doorway had made must have been missed with the distraction to the north.

  Palose reassumed the stealth spell after gathering the lodestones and moved to a safer place to begin calling up the next portal to Ensolus. Their second army would need space to assemble for t
he attack from behind the wall. Caught between two forces, the Twins would surely fall. The towers and wall were designed to keep the enemy out from the north. Doors on the south side would be much more vulnerable than the twenty feet thick magically enhanced stone of the wall.

  Kolban’s plan to catch Southwall’s defense forces in a vise looked impossible to stop.

  Warning bells ringing from Grimnal Castle to the western towers of Hala’s outer walls brought immediate worry to every citizen’s mind. Sebastian was in the middle of eating dinner with Ashleen and many of his friends at the Eternal Phoenix when the first warnings came. The music had not started, but every conversation paused hearing the clanging of the bells throughout the entire city at once.

  Olan, sitting next to Yaroma, looked confused as he asked after a moment, “Has the Dark One sent an army all the way to Hala?”

  Mages and wizards alike stood to hurry to their respective guilds. Ashleen followed Sebastian and Olan after telling the mermaids to wait for the rush to end before returning to the Black Smith Inn. Being inside of the inner wall, it would be more secure than the restaurant would be if there was an invasion about to happen.

  Feeling Ashleen’s hand touch his arm as they hurried along, Sebastian gripped it in his receiving a smile from the girl though his attention remained on the crowd created by the pandemonium of the bells. The soldiers, mages and wizards who had been out in the city for the night had to fight their way through hordes of civilians creating even more chaos since many were unsure of what to do. Crowds were dangerous. Few had true direction and were prone to riots if left unchecked.

  Cries of panic mingled with those of surprise and pain. The disorder of the citizens looking unsure where to go, or simply running to who knew where, began to take its toll.

  A man fell only a few feet from Sebastian. The mage moved to block the mass of people as a woman was dragged into the man by one towing her along as they ran. It was about to become an even larger mess until he extended the rune shield pushing people away long enough to help both of them up. The man who had been with the woman was swept away crying her name.

  “Thank you, wizard,” the man said as he was helped up by Sebastian. Ashleen assisted the young woman who thanked them similarly.

  “I’m glad to help, though I am not a wizard,” he stated already looking to the crowd’s increasing mania. “I would recommend just waiting here out of the way for now. There is no need to panic. If the enemy is near, they couldn’t be closer than the north wall now could they?”

  The two looked like they had never considered the idea.

  “But the bells...” the young woman started.

  “Are just a warning. If there were enemies at the gates, there would be soldiers shooing the citizens to safety wouldn’t they?” he asked calmly.

  Leaving the two unfortunates in the shelter of a building’s doorway, Sebastian kept the shield around them and said, “I wish I had a better spell to shout loud enough to calm these people. Someone may very well get killed if they don’t slow down and watch out for each other.”

  “I have a spell,” the wilder said surprising him.

  “I can amplify my vocal chords already, but it takes its toll,” he replied thinking the girl meant the battle mage standard.

  “No, you just use air to amplify it like fanning a fire,” Ashleen replied shaking her head.

  “Does it work just for you?”

  She shook her head and at his insistence, the wizard cast her spell and Sebastian spoke out with an amplified voice startling those closest to them, “Calm down everyone. The city is not under attack. Calm down and move quickly but carefully to your homes. We will update you soon.”

  Repeating the same things over and over again, the crowds around them began to slow. He cast a ball of light overhead drawing more eyes and shining light on the nearby street. As the crowds calmed around them, the mage felt like he was leading a rally as the people around them seemed to move in a more controlled march following his pace and voice.

  The move to caution spread and other voices became magically amplified echoing the sentiment from other streets as wizards stuck among the masses chose to become pillars of strength and stability for the people. Spreading across the city, Sebastian could almost feel the people give a sigh of relief.

  By the time the two neared the mage corps headquarters on the south side of Hala; the crowds were beginning to thin and those remaining were walking quickly, but without the anarchy earlier. While he and the wizards in the crowd didn’t know exactly what was happening, it seemed obvious that there wasn’t an enemy attacking the city so far. There were no explosions or other sounds of war often associated with wizards trying to destroy the monsters of the Dark One.

  A gathering of mages was being held outside of the hall. There were too many to easily fit inside of any of the larger rooms of the mage corps. The building wasn’t designed for meetings of every battle mage in the city at once.

  To his surprise, Raven Leros was already there standing on the steps of the building.

  “The rumor that Hala is not under attack is true!” the white haired leader of the corps called out loudly without the aid of a spell. Battle mages were used to war at least on a smaller scale and these were among the best in the entire corps, so they were not panicked and waited on the raven for their orders. “Thanks to the warning lights and our newly acquired use of portal magic, we know that the Twin Towers are under attack by the Dark One’s army. The wizards have a couple capable of using portal magic here and will begin sending reinforcements to the Twins as soon as possible.”

  Sebastian raised his hand towards the back of the crowd drawing the raven’s attention.

  “Sebastian, what is it boy?”

  “Where is the gate to reinforce the Twins located, sir?”

  Leros looked perplexed by the question, but he answered, “At the base of each tower from what I was told by the wizards.”

  “Do we have any information about whether the enemy has managed to transport any forces behind the wall?”

  This question managed to make the mages start to murmur in confusion and worry. Why would the enemy be behind the wall, most asked? Portal magic and the fact that so many cities had been compromised by the Betrayer hadn’t become public record as of yet apparently. Sebastian still had to close the gates he could find in Southwall, but from what he gathered the leaders in Hala hoped to make the problem disappear before most knew that it existed.

  “We don’t have exact information yet. The warning lights can only tell us so much.”

  “Might I make a suggestion, sir?” At the wave of the old man’s hand to continue, Sebastian said, “I left a gate by the bridge to the south in case the Betrayer decided to try and use his markers. His were thrown in front of the western twin as a trap, but there is the chance that Palose might find another way to move them behind the wall again.

  “We can send a large force to the bridge and march up to the Twins. If there are no forces behind the wall, our battle mages can make it to the wall in less than half an hour adding our number to the Twins defenses; but if they do get behind the wall...”

  The raven nodded and asked, “Shall I call the wizards to assist you?”

  With the approval all but given, Sebastian shook his head as he pushed magic into the summoning rune to draw out Bairh’loore. “I can get us there, but you may want to alert the others to our plan. The battle mages can take point while the wizards and units of soldiers can follow.”

  Raven Leros had the young mage hurry to speak with him and the falconi standing beside the man to confirm his plan. After only a few minutes; Sebastian took out his map feeling more assured of the portal point in his mind before moving to an open space.

  “Mages ready your shields,” he told the men and women who would be going first. “If there is any trouble, the first three will be given a minute to return before the next wave follows. There will be a gate exactly like the one here which is joined to it. Yo
u can come and go, but you will risk colliding with each other and I do not know whether you will get stuck between. Let’s not do that,” he finished seeing some of their faces pale in the dim light of the first moon. Lamps were lit, but night was taking over the city now.

  Ashleen stood close and asked quietly, “Do you want me to help with this? You know that it is dangerous to use the staff.”

  The girl had become privy to the secret of using a staff to increase a mage or wizard’s power, and also knew the penalty for overusing it as well.

  He shook his head, “Once it is open, it doesn’t require much to hold it. I will be fine this time.”

  “Door,” he called opening a large gold rectangle of light wide enough for five or six to use at once, but the first three to scout the portal site advanced first.

  Half a minute passed and one of the mages returned saying, “It’s clear.”

  His face looked slightly awed. The first time through the gates always seemed to accomplish that sense of wonder from those who used them, Sebastian thought. His first trip had left him stranded on an island inside the silver light, but after Palose had disappeared, his mind began to marvel at the world hidden within the portal.

  Raven Leros moved to stand beside the young mage along with Falconi Neven and Falcondi Westlin.

  “Impressive, lad,” the white haired leader stated looking at the golden doorway. “Not just the portal magic either, you held back something on me, didn’t you? I am not necessarily the best at reading the strength of auras like the wizards do, but there is certainly more power coming from you.”

  “It isn’t safe to use from what Darius says,” the mage stated watching the mages hurrying through the gate. Many paused nervously before the light, but they were all brave battle mages and were magical as well after all. It was a new spell for them, but it was still magic.

  His leaders all seemed to frown at once, but it was Leros who asked, “Why would he say that and do you believe him?”