Battle Mage: Forging New Steel (Tales of Alus Book 9) (43 page)

Sebastian sighed and replied, “If they have any talent for it, I can try. I can’t do it right away, however, there are too many for just the two of us to heal in one day. We’re going to need rest before getting the next wave and a chance to recover before I start trying to figure out if you have anyone with the right magic talent for it.”

Nodding at his answer and feeling more positive by his response than the tired mage appeared giving it, the arkoness responded, “I do not even know how we can repay you for all that you have done so far. You have saved the lives of several who would likely not have lived to see next week.”

Sebastian didn’t even stand as he turned on his knees to the next patient on the blanket behind him. “We don’t need repayment, but you could at least hear Oltus out. If the emperor is sending creatures into the plains to test them on your people, it shows how little he cares about you.

“If you had any sort of alliance with the Dark One; he appears to have cancelled it.”

Darkening with anger, the woman replied, “The Khagan have never allied with the monster who tried to destroy the world. None of my allies have either, but word has come from the west that some of those who worked with Ensolus have been attacked as well.

“Perhaps you are right that the monster doesn’t care about the plains folk. I will talk the others into listening to your wizard.”

“That is good, now if you’ll excuse me; I have another patient to help.”

Ashleen looked at the arkoness and smiled feeling Sebastian’s magic surge as he touched a woman of the tribe to heal her.

Elzen had to stop and wiped at the sweat beading on his brow. Looking over towards Sebastian, he watched as the other mage continued to heal another wounded nomad. Ashleen noticed his look and came closer to place her hands on his shoulders while he took a large swallow of the juice held in the bottle in his hands.

The mage noticed the bottle shook as his hands had begun to tremble. He was hitting his limit even with Ashleen’s extra magic channeled into him to resupply his finite reservoir of energy.

“He’s still going?” Elzen asked the wilder as he brushed back his sweaty brown hair from his forehead. He couldn’t stop sweating and felt like he had run ten miles or more. “How often have you given him more magic?”

This was the third time the wizard had shared her strength with him, but the mage didn’t think it would be enough. It wasn’t just power that was used up while healing. His mind was exhausted with the details of the magic and the fine tuning each patient needed, as he worked to mend flesh and halt gangrene or other infections, the biggest killer of wounded in such conditions.

“Once so far,” the girl answered his second question first.

“How can that be? I know that Bas deserves the title owl because of the way his mind works, but I’ve felt his aura and it doesn’t seem stronger than most mages. Where is he getting the energy from to continue?”

Ashleen looked at the other mage and understood what Elzen saw as well. Unless a wizard looked into the owl with healing magic, his strength was indistinguishable from any other mage. “He’s been through a lot since you two were cadets. I think some of what he has learned and done has created a reservoir of strength that you just can’t see with normal sight.

“He has been working in a forge since returning to Hala and the best example I can give is that his magic is like steel. A raw piece of metal is strong, but he is like a sword. The metal is folded in on itself over and over. Beaten and tempered, that worked steel becomes much stronger than what it was to begin with,” she finished thoughtfully.

“I wonder if I took up sword smithing would my magic would become more like that,” Elzen asked wistfully, “but I don’t like to use swords that much. My feet and hands can do as much damage in a fight, so a blade isn’t that necessary.”

Ashleen released his shoulders and could feel her own strength waning just from aiding the two men. The nurse passed her a second bottle that the wilder had been working through as she needed it. “You don’t need to try and be him. I’ve seen what you can do here and it is impressive. When I tried to heal, it made me pass out the first time, almost the second as well. I can’t do what you two do, even with my extra magical strength.”

Surprised to hear the girl mention healing, he turned to sit with crossed legs. Elzen wasn’t sure if he could heal another nomad right now and thought he needed sleep or at least a break before he tried. “You’ve healed?”

Blushing at the shock in voice, the blonde haired wizard knelt to sit in front of him. Even kneeling, her eyes were only about even with his making the conversation more comfortable for both of them. “I have healed Sebastian. He wasn’t careful when he tested his first sword. When his magic overloaded the runes on the blade, it exploded.

“We were far from the closest healer and he would have bled out before anyone else could have helped him. He had been trying to teach me how to heal and in desperation I managed to stop the worst of his wounds from bleeding out, but I couldn’t finish them all and passed out,” she confessed with cheeks still red from the thought of her weakness. “I’m not even sure if it had been anyone else that I could have managed to do as much as I did.”

The boy before her analyzed her like a wizened old soul and replied, “So you’re in love with him and that helped you through the block?”

Smiling before giving him a short nod, the young woman agreed, “I had been fighting the feeling because we were from different nations and likely to be merely passing each other by in our lives; but life threw us together over and over again until I finally couldn’t help throwing myself at him. I knew that he was in love with Yara, but something seemed to fall apart between them so I let him know that I was interested.

“Maybe his trying to teach me healing was his way of making us more alike so he could justify letting Yara go?”

Elzen looked at his friend as his head rose from his work. The nurse was there to help him with food and drink. “I doubt that Sebastian would just do something like that to create a replacement for Yara. He obviously has other ties to you than healing magic.

“You introduced yourself as his apprentice, even if it was jokingly. Bas would try teaching everything he knows to someone like you. Healing is just one skill that can lead to others. Strange that most healers can’t see beyond the one school of learning when the senses created from healing can do so many other things.”

Starting at his loss of attention to their conversation, Elzen smirked and said, “Well, that does it. It’s obvious that I need some rest. I just wish Rilena and the others were able to be here for support. It’s interesting how you get used to having certain people around, even when the magic needed is just yours.”

Ashleen grinned and needled, “You like her too.”

He shrugged and replied, “When she returned from Garosh’s fortress, I thought maybe we were going to have a relationship more like yours; but Rilena has problems giving herself to anyone. Oh well, I’ll just enjoy what I can get.”

The wilder’s look turned sad, but suddenly she smiled once more and added, “Maybe if you stay together long enough, she will change her mind. Sebastian was determined not to fall in love for the longest time, but now we’re a lot closer.”

Pushing to his feet a little unsteadily, Elzen nodded with a polite smile, “Maybe, but for now I need a spot to rest up. My mind can’t concentrate enough to do anymore. Thanks, Ashleen, for the support. Bas is lucky to have you.”

Watching the mage as the nurse led him to a place where he could rest; Ashleen looked at Sebastian already healing his next patient so tirelessly. He did seem to love her, even if Sebastian wouldn’t go as far with her as he had Yara. She thought that his excuses were true enough. Since he wasn’t ready to just go from one girl to another, Ashleen tried to be patient.

The wilder moved to kneel beside the owl and placed her hand on his shoulder as he worked. Lending him her strength once more, even without being asked, Ashleen would stick by him no matter what.

Sebastian sat with Ashleen in the tent he had been lent while resting from his healing. The wilder had remained at his side and wondered how often she slept as she seemed to watch over him each night. Sleeping inside the camp let the mage see things that he wouldn’t have from where the remainder of their platoon camped outside of the nomads’ circle.

Apparently warriors watched those who had come to negotiate peace with them. Neither side fully trusted the other, but Sebastian thought that the efforts of he and Elzen went a long way to ease those tensions, at least for the nomads.

He only hoped the three days of healing had given Oltus the time to speak with the arkhein enough to create a rapport. Healing took time; even though the two mage’s worked as quickly as they could to make sure no one died. There were just so many injured people and they were only two mages. He doubted even full wizard healers could have done much more, however, they simply needed more numbers.

The mage had considered using portal magic to try and bring more healers to the nomads, but that was quickly refuted in his mind as he thought their new access to the emperor’s magic should remain a secret. In addition to that, he feared that the tribes would think that they were hiding who they really were if they saw something once belonging to just the warlocks of the emperor.

A small bell rang from the doorway drawing their attention to figures standing in the opening of the tent. Sunlight highlighted the one who had come to speak with him.

“Is it all right that I have come?” Arkoness Smrajni asked from just outside.

“Come in, unless it would be more appropriate that we come outside to you?” Sebastian queried still unsure of all these people’s customs.

“By no means, please stay seated and rest,” the dark haired arkoness replied stepping into the tent barely ducking her head to enter the low doorway. “You have done so much. I can imagine that you and your comrades would be tired.”

The mage was surprised that he wasn’t more worn down by the three days of healing, but the rewards of already seeing some of the more dire cases awake and asking for food and drink was also strong. Since he enjoyed helping people there were certainly perks being a healer and, seeing the innocents injured by the monsters sent to harm these people, Sebastian was glad that he could help.

“Did your hunters track these monsters down after the attack?” the battle mage part of him came to the fore and asked.

“It wasn’t hard to track the directions that they came and went,” the woman sighed as she sat on one of the pillows before them. Her eyes showed a tiredness that came with leadership during hard times, he thought. “The beasts that seemed to be on fire can step in dry grass causing it too spread their flames. We had had rain recently enough that much of the grass is green and filled with water, however, so their foot steps still burned the places they walked; but for the most part fire didn’t spread which left a trail any child could follow.”

“So you found them?” he asked sensing that something wasn’t being told yet.

Shaking her head and venting a second sigh, Smrajni replied, “The hunters followed the path, but the burn marks ended in a seemingly straight line cutting across their trail. Even if they could turn off their flames, my hunters would have been able to follow a trail of some sort; but they tell me there was nothing but a couple lighter weight booted foot prints nearby.”

Sebastian nodded figuring that their allegations that these monsters were sent by the emperor were likely correct. If the warlocks who had created a portal weren’t from the emperor, they certainly followed his methods and used a comparable magic.

“Once we have a chance to recover, I would like to see this place where they disappeared; if I may,” the owl requested knowing that this area was considered tribal lands and that Southwall forcing itself into this matter would destroy everything they had been working to create so far if the arkoness refused the interference.

Eyes narrowing a bit as she considered the request, Smrajni questioned his motive as she asked, “My hunters found no trail. How will going there help you? There are no monsters to face.”

Giving a polite smile, Sebastian bowed his head slightly answering, “I have been working to turn the emperor’s magic against him. One of those kinds of magic I have attempted is that of his portal magic. If warlocks created a gate, they could move these monsters anywhere without your hunters finding any more signs until they return.

“I think that is why your hunters have found a trail ending in nowhere. While I am no expert, I believe that I can find signs of a magical doorway if I looked. It would tell you if these attacks were intentional or not, as we believe.”

Smrajni frowned at the idea, but replied, “I will ask one of the druids to go with you, perhaps two, when you search this trail. Maybe you can show them this magic you believe was used against us.”

“As you wish, arkoness,” the owl acquiesced thinking that was to his advantage as well. The druids had remained distant while he had been there. Word came to him through the nurses that they often appeared in the hospital tent soon after he and Elzen had left. He had offered, through Smrajni and the other attendants to see if he could teach them how to heal; but the druids had refused to see him so far. Admittedly, he had remained quite busy the last few days and probably wouldn’t have had enough energy to teach the spells he needed; but they hadn’t given him that chance either.

“Smrajni,” the woman corrected him with a gentle smile, “you and your friend have done too much for us to waste time on a title that means nothing to your people.”

“Admittedly I was not familiar with the titles of arkon and arkoness before meeting you and the arkhein. It is not among the titles usually used among the descendants of Taltan. Did your people come from somewhere else after the Cataclysm?” he asked trying to remain conversational. His belief that there must be at least some history with the merfolk was a complicated one to try and bring up. Those he had met among Gerid’s people wished to keep their existence quiet, so even if these were descendants of other merfolk, they might be hiding that secret as well.

Smrajni looked thoughtful and shook her head, “I do not truly know. My father was arkon as was my grandfather, but the people have to agree with the succession so other tribes have had numerous changes in the families governing them. Arkon Anax is one of those who took the position as the strongest in his tribe for example. The title has always just been there.”

Hoping not to alienate her with questions too guarded, he asked, “Some of your people are dark skinned. Few on North continent should have as dark of skin, since most who settled here are from Taltan. Even the Dark One’s armies are made up of those he found here after the Cataclysm and those tend to look more like the people of Southwall. Do your people have stories or songs from the Cataclysm that would tell how they got here?”

The arkoness didn’t look too happy to answer him, but the woman said, “The Cataclysm drove some people from the sea. When the islands sank and rose, those with ships looked for a safe place to live. When the dark armies followed to this land, some joined as you said and some formed the tribes moving always to be free.

“Your people behind the wall chose to restrict themselves behind their walls, but the tribes chose the freedom to move where they please,” she almost managed to not sound judgmental in her declaration, but not quite.

Ashleen spoke into the lull between their words and said, “They built a wall, but are free behind it to trade or settle as farmers. Kardor is the same in that they have cities with walls to protect their people, but most live in homes outside of the castles and we have the rivers to keep the Dark One from easily taking our freedom away.”

“Freedom comes in different forms,” Sebastian suggested to prevent the women from arguing. “Do all the nomads on the plains consider themselves part of a larger tribe like these grouped together under the arkhein?”

Smrajni looked a bit guarded, but after a moment she chose to answer, “Not all those on the plains are family to one another. Khagan has allies beyond those here, but not every tribe can be considered a friend. Those who chose to ally with the people of Ensolus are viewed to have sold part of their freedom, but now a call has passed through the tribes saying that we should all join together. Those who thought the mountain people could be trusted say that a host of animated dead killed at least one tribe showing that the mountain people aren’t friends at all.”

Managing to avoid a look of satisfaction at finally hearing the news that was likely to be the reason for so much change in the patterns of the plains folk, Sebastian tried to clarify, “People that were already dead attacked the tribes?”

“According to the story, which was brief; a group of dead warlocks and hunters descended on a tribe southeast of the emperor’s city. Since dead numbered among both, they decided that it must have been a betrayal from Ensolus which caused the dead to rise and attack so mercilessly. One of the smaller tribes is said to have lost nearly every man, woman and child in the slaughter.”

He wanted to ask more, but Smrajni had already said that the story was short. She probably knew little more than what was said. Whether Ensolus started the deaths or not, raising dead bodies to fight was definitely among the magic spells taught to the warlocks. He had seen wraiths, dead men beyond the puppets that some might be able to move to fight, which revealed intelligence. Wraiths were also very hard to kill, or destroy, depending on whether they could be considered alive.

Perhaps this knowledge would help solidify Southwall’s bond with the tribes. New allies against the emperor would certainly not be turned away.

“Well, if you think that your druids would be ready to come with us to chase down the fire monsters tomorrow morning, I think that we will be refreshed enough to ride,” Sebastian stated returning to the original subject to ease the tension in the woman at speaking of things perhaps that she shouldn’t to a waller.

The arkoness nodded and they moved on to speak of things less important as Sebastian continued to try and build his relationship with the woman and her tribes.

Chapter 24- The Burned Path

Sebastian walked through the tall grass into another bare area burned to the ground. Whatever kind of monsters these creatures were, they were not natural to Alus. Such thoughts brought the mage to believe that they were either created by the emperor or brought to this world through a gateway. If they weren’t with the Dark One’s forces, he would be more worried. They didn’t need monsters from another world invading them, since they were still dealing with the most recent intrusion of Alus, the emperor.

A woman in a green tunic and brown pants knelt in the burns noting the strange tracks forced into the ground by the passing of the beasts. Wizard Nartreya halted the small group as they waited for the nature wizard to tell them the same thing she had been saying almost the entire time they had been following the trail.

“It is still the same tracks. No more have been added and I can see no sign of humans or nearly humans anywhere.” She looked to Sebastian and asked, “They said that they appeared from nowhere and then marched north again to disappear once more? How did they know where to meet the warlocks out in the middle of nowhere?”

A brown skinned hunter marked with runes stated with annoyance, “There are many landmarks to use for finding your way on the plains or in the forests, if you know what to look for.” His tone insinuated that the woman did not.

Sebastian prevented her retort as he mused aloud, “Still I have only seen this magic used with some kind of marker to draw the warlock for the gateway. If they were creating them out on the plain, does that mean that they scouted the area first or did something else to bring the markers here?”

The hunter was quiet a moment thinking. “Our hunters had mentioned seeing large shrikes flying in the distance of late, but even an intelligent bird is unlikely to know how to sow these markers you speak of.”

“They can be a pair of stones or possibly just one,” the mage clarified beginning to follow Nartreya as she moved through the grass towards their destination. “A bird could drop it from the sky or someone could have walked here. Once the lodestone is created, it requires no other talent for magic to set them here.”

Nartreya glanced to the battle mage and asked, “Have you heard that nature wizards can be used as scouts like an air or earth wizard?”

For the owl, who had been only trying to learn other wizard spells for a little over a year; it was news though it didn’t exactly surprise him. “The nature wizards I have worked with never mentioned it,” he confessed and wondered why Nara or one of the others had never brought up the spell. Perhaps his ability to ride the winds already had kept them from speaking of it before.

“Not every nature wizard can do it, but there are spells which let us commune with a creature to the point that we can see through their eyes,” confided the woman lowering her voice as if the nomad wasn’t still close enough to hear her. They were the advanced scouts for the column which was following them. Ashleen and his closest friends hadn’t been happy to be left behind, but the falconi had ordered it that way, since three people were less likely to mess up the evidence as they advanced towards where the nomads had lost the monsters. “There is actually a multitude of spells that all try to do the same thing, since each spell is tailored towards working with a certain creature.

“For example, a wizard could work with a mouse in a castle or a dog could wander through a town unnoticed. They can also work with birds,” she finished pointing towards the sky.

Sebastian considered the implication of such a spell. If a warlock were to use the large black birds known as shrikes to see the area to work a portal, could they cast the spell like they were there physically? It was something to consider, but he had never tried such a thing himself.

The temptation to try the wind riding spell to move his mind beyond his vision was overridden by the presence of the nomad walking nearby him. Falconi Neven and Wizard Oltus had agreed with him that displaying his ability to cast a portal had best be left to an emergency only. They weren’t sure how the plains tribes would react if they knew that Southwall had managed to learn the magic of the Dark One.

When they came to the clearing of burnt grass at the base of a hill, Sebastian could see that the nomads had been correct. Nartreya frowned knowing that, for all her attempts to say otherwise; there was a straight line that seemed to halt the damage from the burning flesh of the monsters. The mage was also familiar with the feel of the gates formed by portal magic and had learned the process to find one from Darius and his grandson Darterian, who had traveled with him closing some of the emperor’s gates to the south.

Sebastian sniffed at the air smelling the scent of charred plants even now after several days. Wrinkling his nose at the scent, the mage knelt looking at the ground. Not every portal touched the earth when it was cast. An inch or two above the earth would avoid leaving evidence for those without magic to find. Land was rarely perfectly flat after all, so a gap would be fine and exiting a portal was a bit of a leap anyway so no one would truly notice using it.

He found a straight gash where a large stone, once hidden by the grass, had been cut by the magic doorway. Looking both ways, the mage found a second to the left and judged that this gate had formed very close to the earth for some reason.

“There was definitely a gate formed here,” Sebastian stated pointing out the marks to the wizard. Placing his hand where the doorway had been, he added a new spell, “Reveal.”

Dust and charred plant material rose around them and seemed to cling to an unseen glass door. Like dust on glass revealing the clear covering of a window, the debris formed into a large rectangle that was the remnant magic of the portal.

A low whistle from Nartreya proved that even wizards could be surprised.

The hunter stated less impressed, “A doorway in the middle of nowhere as you said.”

Squinting in annoyance, the woman complained, “Fine, I was wrong. Are you happy?”

Scowling at the gray rectangle, the hunter shook his head, “I would be happy if we could have caught and destroyed these creatures. Too many people were hurt or killed when they rampaged through the north side of the camp. If they were sent by someone, then I won’t be happy until they pay as well.”

As they looked at the echo of the door, a shadow passed over head bringing new frowns of worry to their faces.

Sebastian asked, “Is that a shrike?”

Nartreya shook her head saying, “Maybe a raven, but the mountain shrikes don’t usually come this far south.”

“How would you know wizard?” the hunter asked the woman. “Your kind stay south of your wall. We live here and watch as the north adjusts to time. The Cataclysm may have driven many of the birds away for awhile, but shrikes have been more common in recent years.