Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus) (57 page)

“Get ready to use the longboats,” Liam gave the order. If the mermen could continue to harass the enemy, then his wizards could split that attention and give their new allies a chance to finish the warlocks. It was a bit risky going after a unit designed to capture or kill wizards specifically, but they had resisted two ships worth of power too many times to remember. A force of less than fifty total, along with the mermen assisting, would be no match for what he would bring.

Annalicia questioned his thoughts, “Do you think that we should split our forces? The other ship could return.”

Shaking his head, the wizard replied, “If they were planning on returning, they would have shown by now. Either their spell stranded them somewhere between gates, which means they won’t be back, or they went somewhere else entirely. Perhaps they retreated for good.”

Mecklin surprised them as he turned Liam and pointed towards the warlocks on the beach. “Look!” the battle mage ordered and Liam looked on in shock as three of the warlocks drew blades and stabbed three of the orcs in the back. Power rose as the creatures fell screaming to the ground bleeding out onto the sand.

Another smaller gate appeared through which the remaining warlocks abandoned the shore. The rest of their forces fell back though a few lost focus on the rune warriors in the ocean to be pulled into the water before they all could leave. Only the dying orcs left on the beach remained of the wizard hunters and the gate faded away.

Seeing the last of the armored trolls and orcs disappear from sight, Liam knew that his belief was correct. This was not a simple change of position. This was a complete rout and withdrawal by the Dark One’s army.

Cries of victory came from the water and the Sea Dragon as well. Liam changed the direction of the longboats. He led a team to the beached vessel and looked for survivors. A dozen sacrificed bodies had slid to the rail of the tilting ship and, though they checked for more survivors below deck, no living soul was left to find.

Ashleen cried out when the bodies of the dead were brought to the shore by the mermen. Like the sacrificed men she recognized from the Carnivore’s crew, two faces in particular were well known to the girl. Deiclonus and Lord Romonus were pulled on shore and lay with those of the enemy. Warlocks and their minions became nothing to the wilder, who had lost both her mentor and the employer. She wondered briefly where Wendle and the others she knew from their trip to Hala had gone. If the ship that disappeared held them, then her friends were most likely as lost as the dead were to her.

Several of the mermen had begun to explain their involvement in the battle to Liam and the rest. It was a relief to know that Sebastian and the others had managed to find the Grimnal and gain his help.

After they had recovered, the Sea Dragon escorted by the new allies set sail to the south and the village hidden from sight.

Sebastian wiped his brow before taking a drink from a glass of prapple juice. Apparently among the items the Grimnal had taken with him on his original voyage was a variety of seeds including those from the prapple tree. The juice was refreshing and held nutrients to help resupply the mage as he continued to try and heal the wounded among the warriors that had fought at his side.

Frell had been his first patient. Bleeding from a blow to her head and several nasty wounds on her arms and legs, Sebastian had been mildly surprised to see the woman still on her feet after the blood loss. He had made his patient eat as well. Healing required both the healer and the one being healed to have the strength to survive the magic. If the patient were too far gone, even magic couldn’t heal without most likely killing the patient in the process.

It had taken awhile for him to finish the magic and by that time food and drink had been brought to the battle field. Yara had asked for someone to bring them as the girl had gone straight to work healing the men and women as she came to them. She had also taken charge ordering those still in relatively good condition to begin bringing those they could move safely and warn of those they dared not.

Nara joined the healer offering both her energy and helping heal the less injured. As a nature wizard, the woman had picked up a few basic healing skills since her kind both used nature and worked to help it. The two women saved as many as they could, while Sebastian did what he could working from his end of the field.

More assistance came from the ocean. A handful of shaman used their amulets to walk the beach using their own variation of healing magic. Using amulets and components taken from the sea, the men and women worked their spells with similar skill to the young healer. Dozens were saved that would have surely died without the aid of magic.

The morning’s battle passed and the sun rose towards noon before the Sea Dragon limped around the bend in the island with an escort of rune warrior merfolk. Sebastian missed the return of their ship as he continued to heal, but Collin came to the mage alerting him.

“Sebastian, it looks like the Sea Dragon had a pretty rough time of it, but it survived,” Collin stated as Sebastian took another break following his field healing of a woman rune warrior. Little larger than Yara, the young woman looked barely older than Sebastian, but had fought hard to earn some nasty wounds that her rune armor couldn’t withstand.

Looking wearily to the two ships sitting out from the beach, the mage nodded. There were torn and burned sails, broken cross members and some obvious damage to the hull. It would need some repairs before daring to return all the way home, he thought.

“Looks like they could have used Nara to save damage to the hull,” the mage noted critically of his leadership planning. He had known the enemy had two ships waiting for them to spring the trap, but he had left the Sea Dragon to fend for itself. Liam and Annalicia had done well to only take minor damage apparently. “Can you go out to the ship and check if they need any healers?”

Nodding to his leader, Collin responded, “You fought hard here. Make sure that you don’t overdo the healing. You wouldn’t want Yara scolding you again.” The last brought a chuckle as he moved towards the pier already searching for a longboat to bring him out to the Sea Dragon.

It was while he was resting from healing another injured warrior that Yara finally met up with the healing mage. She looked as tired as he felt and knew that the healer had probably used more of her strength than he saving the worst of the wounded. He looked for Nara and found the nature wizard taking a break as she spoke with Serrena and Frell.

“It looks like we have taken care of the worst of the injuries,” Yara stated as she sat on an elongated rock sitting half buried by the sand. It had been his seat alone, but Sebastian quickly made room for her beside him. “They still had quite a few deaths, but considering the odds against us their people came out relatively unscathed. There will be a few buried sadly, but most survived.”

“Did you check on those buying time to the east?” he asked wearily. The battle had been spread across most of the island by the time the battle with the Sea Dragon in the north, the delaying action to the east and the main battle west of the village were all factored into the equation. With so many enemy soldiers and warlocks and as well trained as they were, only the training and powers of the rune warriors had kept so many alive. He still waited on the report from the Sea Dragon, but it looked like most of the warriors returned from the north at least.

Yara nodded and drank from a cup. Apparently one of the village women had offered tea for the busy wizard. The healer’s contribution during the battle wasn’t nearly as important as all the lives she saved after the fighting was done. “They ambushed the enemy several times and wore them down with almost no injuries. The few wounded they had were healed about an hour ago.”

Her eyes took in the ragged looking battle mage. “Maybe I should check you? You look awful.”

He laughed and replied, “You say the kindest things.”

She smiled and the girl shook her head at him. “No, really, I mean it. I hope that you didn’t push yourself too far again. We don’t have Darius to cover anything I don’t understand about your use of magic, if you hurt yourself again.”

Patting the sheath and the Hollow Sword within, Sebastian shook his head as he answered, “No, this lets me do more without risking myself in the process. I do tend to learn my lesson after awhile.” He smiled knowing that he had failed to learn his lesson on the first try more than once in his life. To save others, the mage knew that he would push himself beyond what he should again, but at least for this battle Sebastian had been able to use a little restraint thanks to the abilities of his new weapon.

Unsure that she completely believed him, Yara still decided to ask with a nod towards the ships anchored in the water nearby, “Do you think that we should check on our friends?”

Sebastian looked at the distance to the ships and knew that he would regret getting up, but it was better to do it now before all the aches and pains of battle showed themselves. Once the adrenaline drifted away and he stopped moving for too long, his muscles would begin to tell him just how far he had pushed himself in the battle. Bruises and pain from the battering his body took during the fighting was already beginning to seep into his mind more and more.

Nodding to the woman, who looked even more beautiful to him at times like these, Sebastian stood with a groan before offering her a hand up. Yara smiled and followed him to the pier where people were gathering as several members from each ship debarked.

Ashleen stood with Helena Romonus as both girls were crying when Sebastian arrived. Knowing that at least some of the people from Kardor must have died, he could assume that Lord Romonus must be among that number from their shared tears.

“Sebastian!” Ashleen cried out seeing him walking closer. The wilder surprised him as she ran over to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug. Head buried in his chest she tried to tell him what had happened as the girl sniffled and hiccupped emotionally, “De-de-deiclonus is d-d-dead a-and...”

Her voice trailed off unable to get her words out. The air wizard Themenor tried to help as he related what they had found, “Master Deiclonus and Lord Romonus were found among the dead on the ship the merfolk helped us beach. The lord was stabbed in the back and looked to have been dead well before the ship was defeated. There were dozens of the Kardorian crew killed similarly.

“If I had to guess, I would say that they use the blood sacrifices to power their gates.

“Master Deiclonus was among those drowned, though it was strange that the wizard should have just given up so close to the shore. There were no wounds on him. I wonder if one of the warlocks had him under the puppeteer spell. It would explain why, without a command to save himself, the man might have been unable to do anything at all.” The wizard looked to both girls still sobbing uncontrollably and the man’s eyes looked saddened as he finished, “Her friend, the apprentice Wendle and a fire wizard from our number were on the third ship before it retreated.”

His final words he left at that, but even so Sebastian knew the meaning behind them. If Wendle and the others of the black ship were even still alive, the odds were that they were now well beyond his reach to save. They would be at the mercy of the warlocks and the mage knew at least some of what they could do to a man, even if he was a wizard.

Nodding his understanding, Sebastian did what he could to be a steadying place for Ashleen. His arms hugged her shoulders as more reports came in about the Carnivore. Many of their crew had been taken from the ship to power the black ships during their attack on the Sea Dragon. Those that had remained onboard, Helena among them, had been saved by the surprise attack from the mermen. The black soldiers had watched the shore and never noticed the unit of rune warriors attacking from the ocean side.

There were few casualties among the crew on the Carnivore, but those that had been taken were all lost save a few from the beached ship.

After a time, Ashleen and Helena had managed to settle their emotions more, though occasional new waves of sadness would force tears from their eyes as they continued to mourn. Sebastian could feel for the women and rest of the crew that were all experiencing degrees of loss from companions’ deaths. Wendle had been a friend of his and Deiclonus to a lesser degree after all.

Meeting in the Grimnal’s home, Sebastian and much of his team ate and tried to rest as best they could. Plans had to be discussed as well now that they had defeated the enemy and yet they knew that they could return again.

Gerid sat with his wife and daughters beside him after the food had been consumed and looked at the mage with an even gaze. “You are sure that you can destroy the barrier imprisoning me on this island. Correct?”

He nodded. “Of course, my lord, Yara and I can break down the regular barrier then anyone can topple the stones used to create the one that holds you and those most similar to you among your family as well. Whether you choose to return with us or not, I do plan on freeing you to do as you want. With the black ships able to come and go, we wouldn’t want to leave any of you trapped here.”

Sighing, the man leaned back in his chair as it creaked despite its sturdy construction. “I have spoken with Sherari and most of my children,” he used children broadly for the many descendants beyond the first generation, “and we have come an agreement. I will come back with you along with a chosen few of my family. If the enemy returns my children and allies can defend themselves well enough and, without the barrier trapping them, escape easily also if need be.