Battle Mage: Forging New Steel (Tales of Alus Book 9) (41 page)

With the conditions well within acceptable limits, the hunters walked in a more easterly way making the platoon question their purpose. They all knew which way the camp lay, but when the hunters returned to three younger men minding a number of horses it became clear. The youngsters eyed the lighter skinned riders warily; but after a quickly spoken explanation from the older man, all of the hunters took to their horses turning towards the northwest this time.

Sebastian noted the feel of the breeze and understood why the horses had been kept to the east of the hunt. Horses and men dealt with wild prey with better than human senses. If their scents or sounds followed the wind to the antelope or other game they hunted, they would hide or run away well ahead of the hunters. While the mage had rarely hunted, even as a boy; he knew of the science behind stalking prey.

Trees popped up in large numbers as they moved north. The dark green soon held the horizon from north of them towards the east as the greenery followed the turns of the stream. Life on the plains consisted of more woods and forests between the mountains and wall than many realized. It had a wealth of resources that the men of Southwall might covet enough to risk their lives if it had been made known. Lords of the six fortresses knew as much since those who rode north told them in their reports, but merchants didn’t need to know such things and it was for their own good that the king tried to keep their enterprises focused south of the wall.

Their path wasn’t quite parallel to the trees as they moved northwest and eventually Sebastian could make out the bark of the closest trees even without a spell. When they reached the western edge of the forest, their guides made them wait. From his earlier scouting, the mage thought that they were less than half a mile from the encampment now. Only the trees blocked their view as the older man rode ahead leaving the other hunters to watch them closely.

Looking like they hadn’t a care in the world that they were being detained, the column broke out canteens and even snacks speaking with each other conversationally. Though they tried to appear calm and uncaring about the situation; most tended to focus their eyes on the trees. If there was going to be an ambush, the forest was the likely way that a trap would spring.

“Hound,” the owl spoke quietly as he sat on his horse beside Ashleen. Sound and smells were magnified, which meant horses and riders that hadn’t been able to fully wash for three days were noticed quickly. Chirps and other calls from deeper inside the woods came to his ears as well. While the tribe’s camp was somewhat close to the trees to the north, it was still far enough away for the creatures to ignore the human element while out of sight.

When the older man returned, he was accompanied by nearly two score riders. They weren’t all as dark skinned as those the platoon had seen in the hunting party and in fact nearly half could have passed for men of Southwall save for the runes noticeable on exposed arms and necks. Some even appeared to have the sense runes which Sebastian had yet to pass on to the others. They weren’t a necessary set of runes for soldiers, but hunters probably benefited greatly in the fields and forests of the plains.

“The arkhein is willing to meet with you, but only a handful may enter the camp. The rest of your people will remain outside where we tell them to wait,” the older man stated as spokesman for the new group.

Oltus merely nodded. It wasn’t outside of their assumptions to be told such a thing and the column rode forward as the hunters split to either side of the riders. If there was a problem, Sebastian supposed that they believed keeping their enemy between two sides was the best way to fight. It would certainly give an enemy more to think about, he agreed, though against battle mages and wizards it was unlikely to hold up long unless their runes could even the score.

As they rounded the edge of the woods, they could see the camp and it appeared much larger from the ground than it had from above. Sprawling though it appeared, the camp was situated between forest to the south and the stream to the northeast. It gave the camp a view of all directions, except the south, should someone show up to threaten them. Why he would think such a thing so quickly, made Sebastian wonder what had made him so leery of the tribe before them.

Being told to wait midway between the forest and the camp, Oltus and Neven were obvious candidates to go into the camp and dismounted as they were told. The falconi gestured towards Sebastian to follow, even as he came closer to the owl. Speaking quietly, the officer stated, “I need you to come along as well, Bas. You were sent to see if they had rune magic like your discovery, and I think your eyes may catch things that ours will not.”

Sebastian took a deep breath and noticed something on the air. It was distant, but the winds coming from the northwest swirled enough for his heightened senses to catch the scent of blood. While slaughtered animals from hunters would have been an obvious conclusion, Sebastian thought there was something else to it. The smell was from humans.

He noted scratches on the hunters as the owl considered the possibility. They had mentioned things changing on the plains and more than one tribe appeared to have gathered here, he thought.

“I’ll need Elzen and Ashleen to come with me,” Sebastian stated as he dismounted casually. The other two were close enough to hear and seemed slightly surprised, though Ashleen moved quickly to join him.

“Why them? I could have Oltus bring one of the wizards or have the lieutenant come along.”

“There may be another way to build goodwill with the tribes, sir. Trust me.”

Elzen moved to obey as Falconi Neven nodded to the mage. “Oltus is the one we need to protect if something happens, just remember that.”

They nodded and followed the falconi back to Oltus, who didn’t show surprise though some of the other wizards frowned at seeing not only mages, but a Kardorian joining the mission leader while they remained behind.

Oltus said a quick word to Aufrienne letting everyone know that the lieutenant was in charge, though Westlin and the wizards might not follow the soldier completely as they outranked him normally. Then the wizard gestured for the older hunter to lead the way. The others dismounted or remained in their saddles depending on which way they felt most comfortable while the hunters continued to surround them.

Sebastian looked at the surrounding tents as they walked. The outer ring was mostly round tents coming to a point far above his head. They weren’t the typical square military enclosures used in Southwall’s campaigns, though deeper in they found those also. Colors varied as well, though he quickly noted those to the right of their path differed from those on the left. Deeper into the circle of tents, the square versions often had colored flags and Sebastian realized that they were correct, the tribes were pulling together for some reason.

There had been no precedent that he knew of where so many tribes’ folk had come together at one time. It made him worry about why. Had they been forced to come together out of fear or was this just a forewarning of a war? If it was war; who was their enemy?

The smell of blood became more noticeable as they moved towards the center of the encampment and Sebastian thought that Elzen had picked up the scent as well. While the shorter mage caught his glance and nodded, the owl thought that this tribe probably didn’t wish for another fight on their hands. There was a lot of blood, if his senses didn’t mislead him; and he wondered how so many had been injured?

When they arrived at a large tent, it had a large welcoming party of warriors beside it. Their destination was well guarded outside with nearly a score of men and women on either side of a flap held open in the summer heat to allow for air flow inside. His eyes spotted wood poles where canvas was intentionally pulled away to let the heat rise from the inner sanctum of the arkhein.

Though the younger mages were frowned at and even momentarily held back as the older men entered freely, Falconi Neven’s quickly spoken request allowed the rest to enter. Inside, Sebastian noted the exposed framework holding the canvas aloft. Thick wood poles held the outer corners with only slightly less powerful looking members crossing each other as they worked towards the exposed point in the center. It was an intricate weave of wood, but it had the strength to support the canvas upon it even during winter snows apparently.

Four men and a woman, who was maybe a decade older than Sebastian; sat on pillows upon the ground while four times their number of warriors ringed the walls of the tent. They had been permitted inside, but the nomads weren’t wasting precautions with these unknown men either. Sebastian searched them all noting only one man trying to appear inconspicuous on the far side who held magical power. He wasn’t as strong as Oltus, but the man was stronger than the mages by a lot.

Releasing the powers of the hound, which had been set in a way that required almost no power beyond the spell’s initial creation; Sebastian let his attention move to those sitting on the pillows before them.

“Sit,” a gray haired elder ordered them as pillows were brought to them. Sebastian joined the others crossing his legs beneath him mirroring the elders. He corrected his opinion of the nomadic leaders. Two were gray haired men, one other appeared in his middle years, while the woman was perhaps a decade younger and only the last male appeared to be a man in his early twenties. He could hardly have been more than a year or two older than Sebastian, or so the mage thought.

“You have come seeking the arkhein according to Chiltai. He implied that you have knowledge of the changes on the plains. Speak your information, wall man,” the elder had the brown skin of the hunters they had met and Sebastian could make out some runes as well.

“I am Wizard Oltus, Arkhein,” the man began bringing frowns to all those assembled before him in a single short sentence.

“I am not Arkhein. We are the arkhein. I am Arkon Eratoi. These are the arkons of four other tribes. Now continue and try not to sound like an ignorant fool,” the old man stated gruffly.

Oltus managed to nod though it was not a good start for the diplomat wizard. The man was used to the world of Southwall and its cities. This arkon had made sure not to introduce himself, Sebastian thought, to make sure that he had the upper hand and not the wizard. His eyes glanced to the magi near the back of the tent as the light of the sun kept the visitors partially light blind to those closer to the walls.

“We have fought the emperor and his armies for centuries,” the wizard tried again, “and in the past year he has altered his ways. Armies stride through your lands pushing the tribes aside. New creatures come from the mountains most likely spurred into the plains by the Dark One as well.

“Now the tribes have begun to draw together against the threats to your way of life.”

The five managed to frown at his words and the youngest man growled, “You lay blame on this Dark One, but you know nothing of the plains or the mountains beyond them. You guess at why the tribes have gathered and why we do so. You have no answers. Stop wasting our time and go back to your wall while I still have patience to let you leave in one piece.”

These words brought stronger looks, but not at the people of Southwall. The elder beside him placed an arm before him as if to stop the young man from jumping forward, “Tame your words, Arkon Anax. These are our guests for the moment. We do not need to threaten and make new enemies at this juncture.”

“Do not tell me to hold my tongue, Jurtrub. The Drays might consider letting the south men waste their time with hollow words, but the Zelesh have better things to do like putting together a hunting party to kill those beasts!” Anax retorted nearly coming to his feet as he rocked on his pillow angrily. Sebastian could tell that there was another enemy on the man’s mind.

“Did these creatures cause all the wounded?” Sebastian asked drawing their eyes at his question. He wasn’t supposed to speak, but matters were volatile under Oltus’s attempts. As long as he didn’t push matters over the edge, his words couldn’t hurt.

“How do you...?” the young arkon started finally jumping to his feet.

“You told him, Anax. Now sit down before you start something,” the woman stated in annoyance. She was older than he, but the woman was next youngest, if Sebastian guessed correctly. Her eyes stared Arkon Anax down and turned her green eyes on the battle mage. “That is how you decided this. Am I correct?” the woman asked with the raise of her eyebrows.

“It explained why I could smell the blood nearby and why your people seem extra cautious. I suppose having Southwall at your door doesn’t help of course,” he replied with a smile that didn’t show his teeth. One of the rumors was that showing one’s teeth to the nomads was like daring a predator to fight, so he kept his lips together as the owl tried to make himself appear friendly.

“You could smell the blood so easily?” the woman asked looking interested in the mage before her as she ignored the others. The other arkons looked to the woman curiously without interrupting her conversation, however.

“I could smell them before I entered the camp. Like your hunters, we mages use our senses to our advantage in the wild. It is best to be as part of nature as one can, if you don’t want the antelope to turn on you,” he said with a laugh. It was a hunter’s joke that a bad hunter would be hunted by antelope if he wasn’t properly careful. The woman chuckled showing a sense of humor and even a couple of the other arkons joined her.

“True, but do you need your senses to hunt us then?” she asked with attentive eyes even as she hid her mouth with her hand.