Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus) (9 page)

Again he shook his head. “I have no idea how long this task will take or how dangerous it will be. Your powers need to be watched and trained properly or you’ll be a potential danger to yourself and others. This decision is final, Katya, so I will need you to go with Brenner, Vord and Ardost to White Hall without me.”

“You said that you were going to take care of me! You told mother and father as much too!” Katya argued as she began to get angry. Sebastian could also sense another potential problem as he felt her magical power begin to rise.

“I also wasn’t being sent on a mission, but I will take care of you by sending you with Brenner and the others. They’ll watch over you as good as I can. Once you’re at the school, I’ll be able to visit you when I get back.”

“But I want to go with you, Bas,” his sister demanded again as her power continued to spike uncontrolled.

When the pupils of her eyes began to widen, the mage instinctively activated the only spell he knew to defend against a mind control spell. “Freedom,” he breathed so subtly Katya missed it as she continued to complain.

“She’s right,” Annalicia stated though her eyes seemed to lose focus despite directing her words from just a few feet from Sebastian. “You really should take her with you.”

Mecklin and Olan were like a perfect chorus saying, “Yes, take your sister with you.”

Footsteps from elsewhere on the deck and from below as they climbed the plank forewarned that her power was wide sweeping. Deckhands and dockworkers alike were coming towards him already telling him his sister’s wish.

“You need to learn how to control your powers,” the mage’s voice came out sounding like it came from afar. His mind was free from her control only because it was no longer within his body. Using an air spell usually used for scouting, the mage had learned to use it while still remotely controlling his body as he protected his mind. He hovered on the winds near the conversation as his focus remained on his sister and his form as he continued to hope that he wouldn’t need to use any magic to defend himself from those controlled by his little sister.

Katya began to look around in surprise. As he had warned her, the thirteen year old just didn’t have the knowledge to control her magic. Leaving her untrained for much longer left her likely to become a wilder and a dangerous one besides from just the occasional slip he had seen so far. The problem was, for all that she wished it, Sebastian knew that he didn’t have the tools to teach her that control. A battle mage and the challenges of being one were a far cry from the problems of training a more powerful future wizard like Katya was destined to become.

A small flood of people began to appear on the deck of the Sea Dragon, even as Annalicia and the rest of the nearby crew began to move towards the pair of them. Grasping hands and hazed over eyes revealed their lack of control of their bodies and minds. They began to speak with one voice saying the exact same thing, “Take her. Take her.”

“Stop! Stop!” Katya cried as the thralls began to pull at her and Sebastian. The magic within her seemed to tremble like a flame about to go out, when it suddenly burst out in a torrent. Uncontrolled, Katya was simply the source feeding the problem, but could do nothing to stop the spell as more people began to appear heeding her call.

Before the hapless mind controlled masses could cause either of them harm, Sebastian made his body move quickly to pull his struggling sister from their grasp. “Shield,” he ordered from afar as they slid to the side of the deck house. Crouched down beneath the shimmering blue, half dome and against the wood wall of the cabin, the two waited as Sebastian tried to figure out how to break her spell and save them all.

From his perspective on the winds, the mage first heard and then spotted a new figure seemingly cloaked in darkness. His senses felt confused by the cloak which didn’t seem to be cloth and which seemed to flow as if it were alive. Words that made no sense to him seemed to come in the form of a chant as the darkness weaved through the clawing mass. As the cloak brushed against one of the throng, the darkness seemed to shed a little portion leaving the man at peace. He no longer called or attempted to reach the two huddled beneath the shield, but neither did he come to his senses.

The shedding of the cloak continued with each one it touched until the figure was within arm length of Sebastian and his sister. With both hands, the shadowed figure reached through the mage shield as if it wasn’t there and placed them on either side of Katya’s head. Sebastian wanted to shout against the touch, but had a feeling this being only had everyone’s best interest in mind. Like a cover going over a light, the magic flowing from the girl seemed to simply stop.

Pulling away from the Katya, the figure released his shadow cloak revealing Darius as their savior. His eyes stayed on the girl for a moment longer until he nodded his head satisfied with whatever the high wizard had done to stop the flow of uncontrolled magic. Turning to look at the mage who dropped his protective shield, the wizard stated with a weak smile, “It looks like you might have a little problem with this one.”

After returning his mind from the winds, Sebastian nodded towards his sister who still looked confused by what had happened. “Katya got a little emotional when I tried to explain that I couldn’t take her with me. She needs to go to White Hall so that… well, this won’t happen again.”

Meekly looking at her brother, Katya spoke quietly as tears began to flow down her cheeks, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop it. I really wanted to go with you, Bas. You’ve been gone so long. I was just hoping to spend a little more time with you.”

Her brother nodded and put an arm around her shoulders, though the gesture felt a little awkward. He had been away from his family for over five years and even a few weeks with Katya hadn’t completely mended the distance Sebastian had built between his family and him. “This is why I was trying to tell you that I can’t keep you safe from what is building inside of you. Magic can be very dangerous if it isn’t kept in check and that only happens by learning how to control it.

“I’m a battle mage. Our power is much more limited than a full wizard’s. The odds are lower that our magic will get out of control and in fact almost has to be pulled out of some recruits. You’re going to be much more powerful than I can ever hope to be, but someone who knows how to train wizards needs to teach you that control. I’m afraid that can’t be me.

“I’ve tried to teach you some of the way I was taught, but I can see that hasn’t done much good and the others aren’t skilled in your kind of magic.” He sighed feeling useless. “You need to go train at White Hall, but when I get back maybe I can come visit you there.”

The last was thrown in as a hope, but he was a battle mage and at the mercy of those higher than himself. If it was in their interest to let him visit White Hall, so be it, but if not he couldn’t be sure when they would allow him to do what we wanted again.

“She does need someone that can understand what she is going through,” Darius stated surprising them. The crew and others all around them were beginning to groggily shake off the remains of Katya’s powerful spell, but no one was fully back to their right minds yet. “I will be traveling west to Windmeer. Perhaps I can help you by taking charge of Katya until White Hall. I do have experience in training various kinds of wizards, even those with power over the mind. If that would be alright with you, I will gladly volunteer my time to help you two.”

Sebastian felt as if a weight had been removed from his shoulders. Looking at Katya, he asked, “Would that be alright with you Katya? I can’t imagine anyone who could possibly help you out more than High Wizard Darius.”

Appearing less certain of the idea than the two men, it was Annalicia who had caught the last of the conversation who added, “Wizards from around the world travel from far and wide to get my grandfather’s training. It is a gift that many would kill for, little one. If I were you, I would jump at the chance to learn from High Wizard Darius.”

With a chuckle, her grandfather replied, “Though Anna may be a little biased.”

Bringing a small smile to Katya’s lips, the girl nodded slowly. Doubt still lingered behind her eyes, but she could see that Darius obviously knew how to help. He had saved them from her loss of control when her own brother was unable. “I still wish I could go with Bas, but I guess that I need to learn to control this before I hurt someone.”

“Your brother is correct, you know. You have the potential to be a truly powerful wizard,” Anna stated. “Your brother may be powerful for a battle mage, but your aura is as strong as any I’ve seen and dwarf’s his.”

Grimacing at the backhanded compliment, Sebastian elaborated, “I can hold my own with wizards with my… meager power. It took training and experience to get there. White Hall helped train the tournament champion also, so I think that proves that they know what they are doing as well,” he finished thinking of Magnus who had defeated Annalicia as well on his way to that win.

Darius jumped in as Anna frowned slightly at the reference to the opponent who had defeated her. “Well, if that is settled we can start making sure preparations for your trip are complete.”

“What about Katya’s magic?” Sebastian asked not trying to second guess what the wizard had done, but trying to understand it.

Waving off the question with a hand, the high wizard replied, “My spell locked her power down to less than most battle mages can summon. It’s not safe to fully trap a burgeoning wizard’s powers. They need room to grow so a complete trapping of the magic is not necessary and in fact makes the locks that much easier to maintain. I can check them each day and fine tune the spell if a need arises.

“Now let’s go into the cabin. I need a table to show you something.”

Leading the others before anyone had a chance to dispute him, Darius led Annalicia as he took hold of her shoulders in a gesture of warmth that also helped to turn the girl. He pushed open the door and they were quickly inside.

Sebastian felt as confused as those leaving the deck to return to whatever business they had been on before Katya’s outburst of power, but gestured for his sister to enter before following them inside as well.

Hands gripping the rail of the Carnivore, a warship of Kardorian design, the wizard dressed in his light blue cloak and travel clothes shuddered briefly as his mind returned to his body. Surfing the winds, Themenor had discovered the source of the strange magical power coming from several hundred feet down the pier.

“Well?” the question came from Deiclonus, a fire wizard from Kardor that had accompanied Ambassador Romonus from one side of Southwall to the other.

“Apparently a young wilder threw a tantrum. Her power of diplomacy is apparently quite strong.”

“Diplomacy,” Deiclonus sniffed derisively, “only Southwall would call coercion diplomacy I think.”

“Oh, don’t be that way,” a third man, portly and dressed in the rich clothes of a lord, commented quickly. “Our allies may be a little more polite about the terms for the magic, but they’re not exactly inaccurate.”

“Yes, Lord Romonus,” the fire wizard responded obediently. The lord was ambassador and in charge of Deiclonus and the trio of wizards that had accompanied him on the special mission. The fire wizard was just beginning to understand the true scope of that mission as Themenor and a trio of southern wizards joined them on the Carnivore for the trip back to Kardor. “I hadn’t meant anything by it.”

“Many wizards of Southwall, believe the term is a little inaccurate as well, Lord Romonus,” Themenor replied amenably. “It is just a broad term for the many things the wizards of the mind are capable of doing. Coercion is just one type of spell their guild uses after all.”

“What else did you find out, Themenor?” Lord Romonus asked as he grew bored with the wizards disputing vernacular. “I find it a might strange to see that mage from Southwall appearing ready to set sail on a Malaiy frigate. He’s been seen going into the castle almost everyday including to see everyone from mages to wizards to the king himself, if my sources are correct.”

“He has been doing more than just training wizards and mages on the night shields of Gray Hall,” Wizard Themenor confirmed. “The high wizard took them into the ship’s cabin to show them something, but I can’t make out what I am afraid.”

Rubbing his chin where just a patch of beard hair pointed down to the tip of his chin, the lord contemplated the situation. If he couldn’t discover what they were up to with an air wizard of Themenor’s caliber then perhaps he would have to change to a different kind of wizard. “Deiclonus, can you have Ashleen work what magic she might have on Falcon Trillon for me? Perhaps if you send her with Wendle, the two of them can delve into this where simple observation can not.”

The fire wizard’s face revealed a bit of conflict from the order, but he replied, “I will have them do what they can, my lord.”

Lord Romonus wasn’t sure why he felt the need to find out more about this mage and the apparent mission he was about to undertake, but something in his gut told him that there was something going on here worthy of his attention. A joining of Malaiy, Eirdhen and Southwall for anything would seem to be momentous. The High Wizard Darius was known even to him and rarely seemed to undertake things lightly.

Perhaps there was something that would benefit Kardor as well, but the man had too little to go on just yet. If the lightning wilder could get under the mage’s skin enough to find out, he would rest much easier.

Chapter 7- Final Dance

The device was simple in appearance and so simple that it would have raised doubts in Sebastian’s mind if it had come from anyone but Darius. A flattened piece of metal, so smooth that he doubted any smith could match its surface, held a rounded piece of green crystal. Like green glass, it too was smooth but had a soft curvature raising the piece from the flat metal. In the shine of the green stone a red glow appeared on each side of the round field.

Darius had placed the device on a wood table set in the middle of the cabin near the center of the frigate. Used as a captain’s room and bridge, the wizards had taken it over as a meeting room. Darius and his two grandsons along with his granddaughter, Annalicia, stood to one side while Sebastian, Katya and his two mages stood on the other. A final wizard stood within arm’s reach of Annalicia. Her guard, Reynolvan, seemed to frown continually since the lady had begun making friends with the men and women of Southwall and in particular Sebastian and his team.

The feel of magic in use was minor, but Sebastian could feel Darius pushing his power into the device though no words of magic had been used. His hands touched the piece where two rods protruded from the metal to be held or simply touched as the wizard did now.

“Why are there two red lights?” Katya asked, though strangely she was the only one that would not be going on the voyage.

Smiling at the girl, Darius replied, “This device has been modified from the ones used to shut down gates. Where a gate shows up on this scanner as a yellow light and points the way towards its location, this one now searches for clues of the Grimnal. The red lights show items or maybe even the man. Since there are items kept here that were once in Gerid’s possession, which I used to devise this search, the signal to our west is Hala and the treasure room where his various remaining items like old weapons are stored.

“The light to the southeast is likely to lead you to an island or perhaps even undiscovered lands where he is being kept. It could just be a place he stayed or left something behind, so you will have to check if the track ends at an island or is simply in the path.”

“So we could find various places he has been without ever truly finding the Grimnal?” Reynolvan responded sounding rather unimpressed. “He may not even be alive and we could simply be chasing the ghosts of the man.”

Annalicia frowned at her countryman, and scolded him, “Reynolvan! We know that there is a possibility that this is a hopeless quest, but try and be positive. Please!”

“Yes, my lady,” he replied still sounding like his mind was unchanged.

To be honest, Sebastian thought, all of them were probably thinking the same way.

Darius smiled sympathetically and added, “There is that possibility, but I have a feeling that he is still alive. Like the immortals of my generation, Dante and Valenia and a few more that came after, I have always seemed able to sense them in the world. When one has been killed, I have felt those flames wink out and the Grimnal’s fire still blazes.”

Whether Darius was correct or not, Sebastian also felt that belief in the man’s continued life even though he had no idea how he knew.

“Darterian will go along with you in my stead. He is experienced with the tracker and can be helpful with his magic also,” the high wizard stated of his brown haired grandson. The two men were the same height and their faces held similar features. Beyond that the silver hair of Darius was an immediate deviation, but the man’s magical skill could not be refuted. He had made the final eight in the tournament. “Have you selected who will go with you also?”

Nodding, Sebastian answered, “Most of my team will be coming along. Brenner, Ardost and Vord will return to Windmeer with you and Katya. The others will join me on the Sea Dragon.”

“Have the wizards or Raven Leros pushed anyone else on you yet?”

Confusion crossed the mage’s face and he shook his head. “No, as far as I know just my team and Darterian will join Annalicia’s crew on the Sea Dragon.”

With a brief nod, the high wizard confided, “I wouldn’t guarantee that will be all. If I know the bureaucracy of wizards, they won’t be satisfied to have someone as young as you leading the mission without someone else around to supervise. Despite your magical skill and leadership abilities, it seldom goes that way.

“I would say figure to add four or five more to your counts and make sure you have food enough for that many more. If I am wrong, your first launch will simply have a little more food than you need and beds ready,” Darius smiled slightly at the idea.

“They haven’t said anything,” Sebastian began.

“Trust me, falcon, I know how these people work. Well, I think that settles everything that I have. You set sail tomorrow and I’ll be off to Windmeer and White Hall after I finish tidying up in Hala.”

Sebastian gave him a last nod and gathered up his men and sister. With a last farewell to Annalicia and Darius, the mage led them back up the stone stairs leading up from the harbor to Hala and the city’s center.

His mind worried over many things and he was quiet as he led the way. He worried over Katya and how her time with Darius would be. The high wizard obviously had the ability to train her if his ability to restrain her magic was any evidence. Seven centuries of skill and training backed the wizard. Sebastian wondered just how much the man must know with so many lifetimes to learn. His ability to use the darkness cloak and simply pushing through his shield were things that the mage had never seen nor even heard of before or read in his books.

Worry for what lay ahead on this trip was suddenly tied to wondering if Darius were correct about his superiors. If they were going to spring any additions to his party, they were waiting to the last minute to tell him. Would they really wait so long to send extra people with him?

Inwardly shrugging, Sebastian decided to stop worrying as much as he could. Anything his superiors chose now was pretty much beyond his control anyway.

With most of his preparations completed, the mage was looking forward to the evening to enjoy and relax. Over the last week’s training sessions, and before that the tournament, Sebastian had truly worn himself down physically. If things went well, the time spent aboard ship was likely to be a vacation compared to the last several weeks.

Evening and the darkness of a late winter’s night encompassed the city of Hala. Sebastian and his team were able to ignore the chill of the night air by remaining inside the Black Smith’s Inn. After a short nap and later dinner, the mage felt more himself as his strength continued to return.

The tables were still set for the meal as dozens ate their supper, when Sebastian noted a pair of friendly faces letting in a cold breeze from the front door of the inn. He was spotted in turn which was easier when sitting with his wizards in their brightly colored robes. Ashleen’s face lit up with a smile as she hurried towards her friends with Wendle following in her wake.

“Good evening everyone,” the wilder greeted happily. Wendle drew a chair from a nearby table and offered it to the young woman before getting another for himself.

“Good evening strangers,” Sebastian returned with a smile of his own as Ashleen slid in beside him on the left. Turned away from Yara on his right, the mage missed a less enthusiastic smile from the healer, which was echoed by Serrena’s slight frown. “We haven’t seen much of you since the king’s gala.”

Spreading her hands expressing her inability to change things, Ashleen replied, “It has been a busy time since then. Deiclonus and Lord Romonus have kept us occupied as they’ve been meeting with wizards and lords. We have also been preparing for our long trip back to Kardor, of course. It should be a little more comfortable aboard ship than a long cold ride in a carriage, though we’ll be covering more miles going around Southwall.” Catching her words, the wilder added, “No offense to our gracious guides and saviors. You can’t control the weather after all.”

With a chuckle, Sebastian shook his head, “I can cast an air shield around myself to keep warm and dry, but I am afraid changing the weather is well beyond my control.

“So you are traveling by ship this time? That seems odd. I guess that Lord Romonus tired of his carriage like you said.”