Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus) (58 page)

“This island isn’t the end of my clan’s reach after all. If the island has to be abandoned, there are ways to save everyone. And speaking of children, I guess perhaps it is time to check on those that remained behind in Marshalla and the rest.” He paused and clarified, “Southwall and the others that might still exist might want to see me return, though I have little idea of what I can do for them.”

“You would bring hope, my lord,” Yara stated sitting beside Sebastian. Ashleen leaned against him on the other side, but the healer simply sat holding his hand trying not to become annoyed by the wilder’s attention. She knew loss and as probably her best friend here, Ashleen had come to Sebastian for comfort. Her eyes on the Grimnal, Yara tried to smile though it wasn’t the largest of smiles.

Nodding at her words, the giant managed a freer, larger smile than the healer. “Perhaps you are right and it will give my children here a chance to see more beyond this island and the waves around it. Anyway, if you can give us a little time to repair and recover before heading out, then I will come with you. Your mission to find immortals reminds me of a couple stories that I could tell of my attempts at looking for the ancients.

“With all your looking for me, I wonder if that little compass of yours could find any of them lurking around the continent. A group I searched with once found one hiding in the mountains, you know.”

An elbow from Sherari beside him, caused the giant to start and give an apologetic smile to his wife. “I digress and there will be plenty of time for stories on the return voyage. Meanwhile, take the time to see as much of the island as you all would like. We will bury our dead and mourn them as we must. Then I am yours for a time at least. This is still my home now after all.

“No offense to you all who came so far to find me, but I have less of a tie to your world after all this time than I do here. Though I must say that I feel I do owe the Dark Emperor a return if only to annoy him.”

Sebastian answered after Gerid had said his all, “According to the stories, he broke the world and killed thousands with the earthquakes, floods, tidal waves and other devastation caused in the Cataclysm. You would know the truth better than I. If it were me, I would certainly want to bring down the Dark One and make him pay.”

Wagging a finger warningly, the giant stated, “Be careful that revenge and vengeance don’t take you over with that thinking. He is evil, but such motives can take you down the wrong path also. Don’t become what you hate.”

The mage shook his head. “I know why I fight, sir. It isn’t for revenge though I have a few reasons to want that. I fight to protect my family and friends. Saving lives is more important than taking them to me, but sometimes I have to do both.”

His face suddenly lit up with a smile as he changed the dreary path the conversation had fallen into and added, “But enough of that problem. We can worry about all that later. For now, we get to celebrate defeating our enemies and your return to the world.”

The night would continue as his daughters would sing and the celebration moved into the streets where much of the village joined in singing and dancing. For Sebastian who had finished his mission, it was a relief and he wondered what would be in his future. There was a long voyage still ahead, but he was sure that there would be more for him to do once he was back in Southwall.

Chapter 36- Epilogue

He had heard the warning bells from the harbor again. It was late morning in Ensolus and Atrouseon had left him to his own devices as usual. The warlock was a member of a committee that served near the Dark Emperor. He gave them his orders and they did all they could to meet and exceed his expectations. No one would dare do less than that for fear that the Dark One would find disfavor with them.

Disappointing him had consequences that no one wished to see.

For Palose, that meant his ‘master’ was almost always busy and seldom brought his ‘apprentice’ with him. The council knew what he was and why he was there, but that didn’t mean that they looked at him as a true man anymore. A resurrection man was less than human and rated among the beasts that served the emperor’s forces. He was closer to being a wraith than man.

That was just their opinion, however, and Palose was fine with letting them believe that. The former mage was steadily beginning to have larger ambitions than simply serving a warlock as a pet. Hadn’t he led their forces into Windmeer and nearly wiped the castle out? That had been a simple test of his loyalty and skill, but it mattered little to the warlocks or to Palose either.

The return of another black ship from its mission, and noticeably missing the last ship was another bit of interest to the man.

Looking like it had been through a battle, the ship coasted to the pier where ropes moored the vessel as planks were lowered for the passengers. Leading the way off of the ship was the leader of the wizard hunters and Palose was close enough to see that the man looked worse than his ship. Someone had cracked or broken his armor and he looked like he had been beaten and burned.

Another warlock from the council smirked and said lightly, “Lord Devolus, didn’t the mission go well?”

Whether the man had more to say didn’t matter as the man in black armor punched the warlock in the throat. Dropping to his knees gasping for air, he was kicked aside by the lord whose anger rode so close to the surface that it should have been obvious to the warlock to be quiet. Admittedly, Palose had to smile at the treatment of the obnoxious man.

Giving him a little more space, Atrouseon and the other members of the committee followed trying to find out what had happened on his mission.

Palose let them go and remained nearby as he watched over the clean up of the ship. For a ship to travel through the gate, he knew that either there had to be a great use of several warlocks’ power or a blood sacrifice was made. After having fought a battle that still clung to their leader, the mage assumed that someone had died for the portal.

Wakaraq, as Palose had hoped, was in charge of the clean up. Several other orcs and goblins made their way onto the black ship after being told to remove all the dead bodies. The mage watched as cart after cart wheeled away the dead.

When Wakaraq made eye contact with Palose, he nodded. Something or someone of interest was in this collection of dead. The orc knew what he was looking for and, shortly after the dead lay covered in their carts waiting for an incinerator to fire up for the disposal, the mage met with the orc beside a special cart.

When the covering canvas was pulled back to reveal two men, their boots scavenged but wearing clothing of wizards, Palose knew that he had found the first pieces to a puzzle that he was still trying to put together in his mind. What they could tell him of the battle and the future use of their magic in his cause, thrilled the mage to even think about it.

Trying to look only mildly impressed by the luck of receiving two wizards into his hands, Palose nodded to Wakaraq and said, “Yes, these two will do. Are these the best you could find?”

With a snort of amusement, Wakaraq stated, “Just two wizards for you to play with in this bunch, though there are dozens of sailors stabbed and left for dead as well, if you want more.”

Even though he didn’t truly need them, Palose wandered through the rest checking for men of interest. There were no women, so it must have been mainly a crew of men. Whether they were taken in battle before or after whatever happened to the ship, the mage was unsure, but it didn’t take long for him to rule out the rest.

Trying to appear bored to keep his price low, Palose stated with a wave of his hand. “I guess these two will do for now.”

Pulling a pouch similar in size to the one given for the women, Wakaraq shook his head at the weight, “These are worth more.”

“You still owe me,” the man countered from the conversation they had weeks before in the basement. While the orc hadn’t damaged Talia when he had brought her in, it had been implied.

The orc grumbled, but took the pouch and lifted the handles of the two wheeled cart readying to follow Palose once more to the building that he still kept for the girls to live inside. As he led, the dark mage thought to the fun he had been having with the two women and knew that there was nothing wrong with Talia indeed.

His future in Ensolus was certainly beginning to look promising, Palose decided with a smile.

***************************

For World Maps and More Go To:

https://www.facebook.com/BattleMageATaleOfAlus

Previews of Other Books by Donald L.
Wigboldy

For the Original Story of Gerid the Grimnal Read:

The High King: A Tale of Alus

Preview

Chapter 11- A Berserker Among Us

Gerid wiped the sweat from his dirty brow.
Leaning on his shovel, he turned to survey his progress.
The dark line of the new irrigation channel, which he had
been working on, appeared dark against the summer
sun's bleached earth. The scrawny shoots of the Taltan
continent's main staple, cracker corn sprang up in rows
to either side.

Summer was half over now. Nearly two months of
slavery showed themselves in the hard calluses that were
even rougher than from working in his family holdings.
His upper body and face were dark brown from exposure
to the sun, a stark contrast to his silvery, white hair. The
youth still had to smile in satisfaction at his progress.
The herculean feats that he had performed had begun to
get Holtein's notice by now. New plans to impress the
slave holders and ways of finally winning his freedom
continually played in his mind. This channel, for instance,
would normally take five men to complete in the same
amount of time his pace would complete it, if he could keep it up. The smile played about his lips still as he
returned to the hard labor.

"Gerid!"

He looked up to see Mateil coming through the
path between patches of growth. The shovel was
powerfully driven into the earth one more time and he left
it to stand by itself. "What can I do for you, Mateil?"

"
Leoltus wants you to come to the soldiers'
barracks immediately along with most of the servants. He
wouldn't say why, but that it was extremely urgent."

Gerid tugged the tool free of the earth and followed. On their arrival at the barracks, they found
nearly every male slave that the Holteins owned gathered
around the foreman. The men stood in various states of
anxiousness awaiting Leoltus' news, but, when Gerid was
entering the building, he had spied three men that he had

seen very seldom in his stay at the farm. Karma, the only
son of Master Carter Holtein, a dark haired, handsome
young man, stood with two of his bodyguards wearing
their light armor. Upon seeing the master’s son in his
armor, the men all began whispering to each other in
their surprise and a new wave of questions were
whispered about.

"Quiet! Quiet, all of you,"
Leoltus ordered. "Master Karma has come to deliver some important news, so be quiet."

The slaves quieted as the young man moved to
the center of those gathered there. "I'll get straight to the
point. We've had word that there are bandits in the area
headed here from the southern hills. We don't know if they're Tolmonan soldiers or simply bandits, but until
King Colona can recall a brigade to deal with them, the
farms to the south of the capitol are on their own.

"My father cannot come here now, so I will lead
you in the defense of our home in his absence."

"And what do we fight with, our hands?" Gerid
asked casually.

Karma's eyes narrowed from annoyance. The
guardsmen tensed towards their weapons in slight
surprise at the rare questioning of the master's authority.
Seeing that it was the rather intimidating giant, Gerid
who had spoken, Karma held up a restraining hand to his
men. Gerid thought that he saw relief in their eyes
despite the weapons in their hands. He was nearly a head taller than even the tallest man here and holding a shovel
that could be used as a weapon gave him a strong
presence within the room. On top of that, they all knew
the feats of strength that he had performed in the past
months even within the main house as well. "That's why I
had you all called here. Though you are all only slaves

and untrained in battle, we still have weapons and
shields. There is even leather armor here, such as it is. My men and I can try and show you what we can before the bandits arrive. They may not even arrive here, since the reports are not completely clear, but we must still
prepare for the worst."