Battle Mage: Forging New Steel (Tales of Alus Book 9) (55 page)

Kolban’s plan to catch Southwall’s defense forces in a vise looked impossible to stop.

Warning bells ringing from Grimnal Castle to the western towers of Hala’s outer walls brought immediate worry to every citizen’s mind. Sebastian was in the middle of eating dinner with Ashleen and many of his friends at the Eternal Phoenix when the first warnings came. The music had not started, but every conversation paused hearing the clanging of the bells throughout the entire city at once.

Olan, sitting next to Yaroma, looked confused as he asked after a moment, “Has the Dark One sent an army all the way to Hala?”

Mages and wizards alike stood to hurry to their respective guilds. Ashleen followed Sebastian and Olan after telling the mermaids to wait for the rush to end before returning to the Black Smith Inn. Being inside of the inner wall, it would be more secure than the restaurant would be if there was an invasion about to happen.

Feeling Ashleen’s hand touch his arm as they hurried along, Sebastian gripped it in his receiving a smile from the girl though his attention remained on the crowd created by the pandemonium of the bells. The soldiers, mages and wizards who had been out in the city for the night had to fight their way through hordes of civilians creating even more chaos since many were unsure of what to do. Crowds were dangerous. Few had true direction and were prone to riots if left unchecked.

Cries of panic mingled with those of surprise and pain. The disorder of the citizens looking unsure where to go, or simply running to who knew where, began to take its toll.

A man fell only a few feet from Sebastian. The mage moved to block the mass of people as a woman was dragged into the man by one towing her along as they ran. It was about to become an even larger mess until he extended the rune shield pushing people away long enough to help both of them up. The man who had been with the woman was swept away crying her name.

“Thank you, wizard,” the man said as he was helped up by Sebastian. Ashleen assisted the young woman who thanked them similarly.

“I’m glad to help, though I am not a wizard,” he stated already looking to the crowd’s increasing mania. “I would recommend just waiting here out of the way for now. There is no need to panic. If the enemy is near, they couldn’t be closer than the north wall now could they?”

The two looked like they had never considered the idea.

“But the bells...” the young woman started.

“Are just a warning. If there were enemies at the gates, there would be soldiers shooing the citizens to safety wouldn’t they?” he asked calmly.

Leaving the two unfortunates in the shelter of a building’s doorway, Sebastian kept the shield around them and said, “I wish I had a better spell to shout loud enough to calm these people. Someone may very well get killed if they don’t slow down and watch out for each other.”

“I have a spell,” the wilder said surprising him.

“I can amplify my vocal chords already, but it takes its toll,” he replied thinking the girl meant the battle mage standard.

“No, you just use air to amplify it like fanning a fire,” Ashleen replied shaking her head.

“Does it work just for you?”

She shook her head and at his insistence, the wizard cast her spell and Sebastian spoke out with an amplified voice startling those closest to them, “Calm down everyone. The city is not under attack. Calm down and move quickly but carefully to your homes. We will update you soon.”

Repeating the same things over and over again, the crowds around them began to slow. He cast a ball of light overhead drawing more eyes and shining light on the nearby street. As the crowds calmed around them, the mage felt like he was leading a rally as the people around them seemed to move in a more controlled march following his pace and voice.

The move to caution spread and other voices became magically amplified echoing the sentiment from other streets as wizards stuck among the masses chose to become pillars of strength and stability for the people. Spreading across the city, Sebastian could almost feel the people give a sigh of relief.

By the time the two neared the mage corps headquarters on the south side of Hala; the crowds were beginning to thin and those remaining were walking quickly, but without the anarchy earlier. While he and the wizards in the crowd didn’t know exactly what was happening, it seemed obvious that there wasn’t an enemy attacking the city so far. There were no explosions or other sounds of war often associated with wizards trying to destroy the monsters of the Dark One.

A gathering of mages was being held outside of the hall. There were too many to easily fit inside of any of the larger rooms of the mage corps. The building wasn’t designed for meetings of every battle mage in the city at once.

To his surprise, Raven Leros was already there standing on the steps of the building.

“The rumor that Hala is not under attack is true!” the white haired leader of the corps called out loudly without the aid of a spell. Battle mages were used to war at least on a smaller scale and these were among the best in the entire corps, so they were not panicked and waited on the raven for their orders. “Thanks to the warning lights and our newly acquired use of portal magic, we know that the Twin Towers are under attack by the Dark One’s army. The wizards have a couple capable of using portal magic here and will begin sending reinforcements to the Twins as soon as possible.”

Sebastian raised his hand towards the back of the crowd drawing the raven’s attention.

“Sebastian, what is it boy?”

“Where is the gate to reinforce the Twins located, sir?”

Leros looked perplexed by the question, but he answered, “At the base of each tower from what I was told by the wizards.”

“Do we have any information about whether the enemy has managed to transport any forces behind the wall?”

This question managed to make the mages start to murmur in confusion and worry. Why would the enemy be behind the wall, most asked? Portal magic and the fact that so many cities had been compromised by the Betrayer hadn’t become public record as of yet apparently. Sebastian still had to close the gates he could find in Southwall, but from what he gathered the leaders in Hala hoped to make the problem disappear before most knew that it existed.

“We don’t have exact information yet. The warning lights can only tell us so much.”

“Might I make a suggestion, sir?” At the wave of the old man’s hand to continue, Sebastian said, “I left a gate by the bridge to the south in case the Betrayer decided to try and use his markers. His were thrown in front of the western twin as a trap, but there is the chance that Palose might find another way to move them behind the wall again.

“We can send a large force to the bridge and march up to the Twins. If there are no forces behind the wall, our battle mages can make it to the wall in less than half an hour adding our number to the Twins defenses; but if they do get behind the wall...”

The raven nodded and asked, “Shall I call the wizards to assist you?”

With the approval all but given, Sebastian shook his head as he pushed magic into the summoning rune to draw out Bairh’loore. “I can get us there, but you may want to alert the others to our plan. The battle mages can take point while the wizards and units of soldiers can follow.”

Raven Leros had the young mage hurry to speak with him and the falconi standing beside the man to confirm his plan. After only a few minutes; Sebastian took out his map feeling more assured of the portal point in his mind before moving to an open space.

“Mages ready your shields,” he told the men and women who would be going first. “If there is any trouble, the first three will be given a minute to return before the next wave follows. There will be a gate exactly like the one here which is joined to it. You can come and go, but you will risk colliding with each other and I do not know whether you will get stuck between. Let’s not do that,” he finished seeing some of their faces pale in the dim light of the first moon. Lamps were lit, but night was taking over the city now.

Ashleen stood close and asked quietly, “Do you want me to help with this? You know that it is dangerous to use the staff.”

The girl had become privy to the secret of using a staff to increase a mage or wizard’s power, and also knew the penalty for overusing it as well.

He shook his head, “Once it is open, it doesn’t require much to hold it. I will be fine this time.”

“Door,” he called opening a large gold rectangle of light wide enough for five or six to use at once, but the first three to scout the portal site advanced first.

Half a minute passed and one of the mages returned saying, “It’s clear.”

His face looked slightly awed. The first time through the gates always seemed to accomplish that sense of wonder from those who used them, Sebastian thought. His first trip had left him stranded on an island inside the silver light, but after Palose had disappeared, his mind began to marvel at the world hidden within the portal.

Raven Leros moved to stand beside the young mage along with Falconi Neven and Falcondi Westlin.

“Impressive, lad,” the white haired leader stated looking at the golden doorway. “Not just the portal magic either, you held back something on me, didn’t you? I am not necessarily the best at reading the strength of auras like the wizards do, but there is certainly more power coming from you.”

“It isn’t safe to use from what Darius says,” the mage stated watching the mages hurrying through the gate. Many paused nervously before the light, but they were all brave battle mages and were magical as well after all. It was a new spell for them, but it was still magic.

His leaders all seemed to frown at once, but it was Leros who asked, “Why would he say that and do you believe him?”

His eyes flicked to the mage leaders reluctantly. “I almost killed myself doing this during the tournament. His warnings are real enough. I can’t risk others telling me they will be careful, especially not battle mages.”

Westlin couldn’t hold it in and asked angrily, “What do you mean by that? Why would you say mages can’t handle whatever you are doing, if you are a battle mage, Sebastian?”

Sighing, the young man looked to the remaining mages who were set to use the gateway. “Darius told me that when he was young, he also discovered how to draw more power from the earth. The first time it basically killed him, but he is immortal so he could survive. Later, wizards used what he taught them and those who used it to perform the most deadly magic often died very young turning into old men inside and out.

“Few battle mages will need to draw more power than they have for a spell aside from doing things like creating more powerful fireballs and such. If you believe that our mages would use it in other ways, perhaps I might one day teach how to do it without killing them on the first try.”

Before Leros or the others could try and refute his logic, a pair of wizards hurried into view. They were two of the portal wizards apparently and Sebastian had to show them how to find his portal near the bridge. It had not been created to hide the place from anyone after all, and now was the time to share the destination with the wizards so that everyone could use it as well.

Each of the wizards gated away. One was to return to the wizards and the other went to share the second coordinates with the other castles readying to send troops to the wall. It was the first time in history that Southwall could coordinate the power of multiple castles to protect an area of the wall and that made Sebastian realize that the world was changing quickly, perhaps too quickly; but it was to Southwall’s advantage for once it seemed.

As Sebastian readied to head through his portal, he stopped Ashleen who looked ready to join him. Shaking his head, he said, “Wait here. We are going to be pushing a hard pace for the wall and you won’t be able to keep up.”

The blond haired girl complained, “You just don’t want me there, do you? You don’t have to coddle me, Sebastian, you know I can fight.”

It was a blanket statement for what the wilder could do in a battle. She had no standard combat skills aside from her magic, though her lighting was very powerful.

Picking up a stone from the ground from a cracked paver, Sebastian placed his magic in it giving him a link to the otherwise ordinary piece of rock. He pressed it into one hand as he took both of her hands in his and bowed his head to kiss the girl. “As long as I can, I will come to you once we get there. If it is safe to use a gate, then I will find you with my magic.”

Ashleen blinked in surprise feeling the warmth in the simple keepsake from the mage’s power as well as the warmth on her lips. Blushing at his attention, the girl found no more words ready to protest. She didn’t believe that he would return to bring her to the wall, at least not during the battle; but he had kissed her even though the raven and his aides could see.

Disappearing through the golden light, Sebastian left Ashleen to wait with the rest of the mages who would be held in reserve.

Chapter 31- Cannon Fire

The wizards in the towers sent down word to those on the wall when they spied the army of the Dark One. Xander and those on the forty foot high wall spotted them almost as quickly as those twenty feet above them and even in the faltering light it was a frightening sight.