Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) (20 page)

While Garosh's men could elaborate on some of what their leader said, even they had little knowledge of the emperor's spire fortress. Only the giant had been close enough to the emperor to both visit and even live in the spire for a time. Even though Sebastian knew that seeing the man again confused Rilena, it had been invaluable to Southwall's hopes for possibly destroying the Dark One once and for all.

Gerid and his entourage arrived first. They had received the message from Elzen, whom he had sent since the mage had a decent rapport with the immortal. Elzen hadn't looked put out to go when he could see Elien and Melura again, which Sebastian guessed was part of the reason he happily carried the message.

Looking around at those gathered and waiting for him, Gerid shook his head saying to Sebastian, "I would have thought that boy would have beaten me here. We were packed and ready to go, but we were waiting for him after all."

Rilena spoke in Garosh's defense. "He probably had to return to the inn and finish packing to follow you."

"I suppose, but still it is surprising," Gerid replied stroking his silver beard. The afternoon light had turned gray once more after a bit of morning sunshine. Sebastian had a feeling that Hala was going to be struck by snow again, which made it all the more urgent to leave for lands much further south.

The Red Hall wizards had been annoyed and argumentative about having to wait for him; but he threw the Grimnal's name at them. Trying to insist they were more important than Gerid would have required more arrogance than even Gefflen and his wizards could assume.

A strange sight soon came to their eyes. Into view Garosh and half of his accompanying warlocks came hurrying towards them, but under one of the giant's arms he carried a squirming little red haired girl.

"Why are you carrying Evie like that?" he was forced to ask what everyone was thinking.

Refusing to put the girl down even after they had arrived, Garosh smirked and said, "I told her that if she wasn't ready in five minutes, I was going to drag her here whether she was ready or not. The changeling can swim in one of my shirts, if she can't finish packing when she knows that we need to leave."

Evie kicked him in the leg and complained, "You're the one that keeps telling me I need to dress like a lady, Garosh! Now put me down!"

The girl forgot all about pleasantries and the title that his followers threw out nearly every time they addressed the giant. She was that upset.

When he put her down, Sebastian realized that Evie wasn't wearing shoes or boots. He wanted to shiver at the sight of her bare feet on the cold stone. She was a warlock and changeling, however, and didn't appear to even notice the cold as the girl moved quickly towards Sebastian.

Looking apologetic, Evie said, "I'm sorry, Sebastian, I wanted to make sure that I hadn't forgotten any of the gifts you gave me."

Garosh reached back taking a poorly packed bag from one of his warlocks, who looked ready to be free of the extra pack. "You checked the room three times, girl. If something is missing, I am sure Madame Hilda will give it to Sebastian later to send to you."

Looking at the mage, he added, "When she followed Darius and Rilena, I know they hoped to civilize the child; but now she acts like clothing is the only thing she worries about. She wasn't like this in the fortress."

Frowning back at the giant, Evie reminded him, "No one cares under the mountain. The packs roaming outside are in wolf and cat form all the time. Clothes aren't very important there, but they made sure I understood how to dress properly here. Besides, they were gifts!"

The last was said in such a way that reminded Sebastian that Evie was basically an orphan looking for family and approval. Garosh was like her father, while he and his friends were the girl's older siblings. She wanted to receive their praise for fear that letting them down would make them want her less, or so he believed.

"If something is missing, I am sure we will find it by the time you return, Evie," Sebastian assured the girl. No one knew how long Garosh would spend on the island with Gerid and his family. A week or so was likely, but during that time Sebastian had to be in Red Hall. He would make sure to have Mrs. Alamore and her family keep an eye out. The room would remain ready for Rilena and Serrena anyway, since the girl had stayed with her friends last night.

Rilena hadn't decided if she was going to stay on the island or follow Sebastian to Red Hall. He wasn't going to require anyone to follow him to the school. Ashleen and Serrena would be enough to build Red Hall's new gate. Elzen was planning on coming as his security, though Bas had a feeling it was more to get away from the cold for awhile. Everyone was sick of winter and it was still less than halfway over if it lasted as long as normal.

The girl was somewhat pacified, though she continued to glare at Garosh from time to time. With everyone finally gathered together, the mage started to call up a new portal. Ashleen supplied the power behind it once more. They were in the courtyard by the gate held in the fire wizard's yard. In the lee of the inner city wall, towers and defendable walls surrounded the portal gate that was large enough for several men across to enter. It was also much higher than either of the giants' heads, which was even more noticeable as the glow of a new portal was formed by the owl mage.

Wizards in charge of the gate looked on in amazement as a battle mage operated something only a handful of wizards in the city could. They had seen Sebastian do it before, but it was still surprising to wizards who often believed that mages were nearly useless just because their magic reserves were much smaller.

With the large glowing doorway open, Gerid and his accompanying people went through first. If there were soldiers watching for the magic doorway, they would see their leader first and be less afraid. Sebastian had used it only a few times and the same sentries always seemed to be there when he did.

Garosh and the others followed until it was just Ashleen and Bas. The couple stepped through together as the wilder held their link to keep the gate open with his help. Despite her power and familiarity with the magic, Ashleen wasn't comfortable with portals. She had never made one beyond a couple small ones using his smaller squares used for demonstrations.

The gray light vanished, but the silver light of the void wasn't much different as they stepped through one doorway to another. It was actually a series of gates within the void that felt like just two as they moved through them seamlessly. Each gate shortened the distance in his world by hundreds if not thousands of miles in an instant. In a blink, the void was left behind.

Golden light of a late afternoon sunset replaced the cold lighting of Hala and the void. After a moment to recalibrate to the new part of the world they stood in, Sebastian looked at the tropical trees, long grasses mixed with sand blown from the beach only about fifty feet away, and listened to the thrum of waves washing the shore behind him.

Warm air nearly made him start to sweat immediately. His jacket held his temperature inside comfortably for a moment, but his exposed skin told him that it would be cooler to ditch the outer layers designed to keep him safe from winter.

The glow of the gateway disappeared leaving them on a fair sized island. He knew that they were on the north shore roughly a mile away from Gerid's house. It was a decent walk, but in the beautiful tropical air he didn't mind the idea. He didn't have to be back in Hala at all and Red Hall was an instant away using his map.

Unlike the gate on the island, which he could feel without having to use the map; Red Hall had been set up using Darius's magic. Stones had been sent out to various cities and the schools. Red Hall still needed a rune gate to keep out the enemy, but it was ready for him otherwise.

A teenage girl stood with a frown as she spotted the mage.

Gerid stood beside a young rune warrior. His face held a similarity to the girl's. They were both blonde though her hair was lighter than his as was her build, which wasn't surprising since he looked a few years older than his sister.

Sebastian noted the look on the girl's face and wondered why she was angry. He had found her here when the mage had followed Palose's magic to this gate. Destroying it, the owl hoped to hamper both the Betrayer and the Dark one. He had also tested his ability to change the color runes on her as well. Though her skin looked clear of the ink used to make the markings by the local shaman, she still had several basic runes to protect her.

Since the girl was young, she hadn't been given every rune yet. There were no new markings to be seen and since the girl wore just a tied skirt low on her waist and bikini top to cover her small breasts, it would have been hard to miss them even in the waning sunlight.

"Ulia, I think is your name, correct," he said pointing to the girl. "Did you show Kanook and the other shamans how to change the color of the runes?"

Folding her arms, the young teen replied, "Yes, and they were very impressed, now can you change them back? The mark of a rune warrior should be shown off. The rest of the tribe can't see them to know that I am old enough to serve our people."

The older rune soldier laughed and said, "You're a sentry, when mother doesn't send you to school or make you weave with her. You might have a few runes, but you're still a kid, Ulia."

"I am not, Erik!" she complained to her brother and stomped her bare foot making her look more childish for it.

"Whatever you say, little sister," her brother laughed at the girl.

Sebastian looked at her more seriously and said, "I can change them back, but I've found that if you hide them you gain the advantage of surprise in a fight."

Looking unimpressed with his reasoning, Ulia stood her ground with her arms crossed before her. Her lips pursed in annoyance almost made him laugh. Since she wanted to be taken seriously, he did his best to hold it in and stepped closer.

From his right arm, a glow appeared and the barbed wire began to writhe. Splitting into three snakelike projections each had a spike at the end making them look even more like snakes ready to strike. His magic added to their ability to move and had created the split. Without magic inside of them, Ulia and her brother wouldn't be able to create more than one with the runes. A harpoon in their hands, the ink magic had still been able to pierce the hulls of the black ships of the Dark One.

"Of course, I don't like the blue ink much anyway, but anyone familiar with runes wouldn't see this coming, would they?"

Erik stood taller and moved ahead of his sister pointing at the writhing snakes. "How are you doing that? I've never seen a rune warrior able to make that mark do that before."

Pushing magic into the defensive rune on his left arm, the mage made it lift away to make an orange glowing shield. "I have magic. With a little push, I can make the runes do more than just sit on my arm waiting to be struck."

Releasing the flow of his power, the two runes settled back onto his skin showing the original markings before seeming to disappear once more. The color matched his skin making them transparent, though he could actually make them transparent as well. Many of the soldiers outfitted with the new runes preferred them hidden since tattoos weren't that popular with the northern kingdom.

During the exchange, Garosh's eyes began to glow. He had looked curious one moment, but now he was frowning.

Ignoring the man for a minute, Sebastian moved within arm's reach of the girl and placed his hand on her forehead. The maneuver made Ulia look annoyed. His teasing manner masked his new push of magic into the girl. Her rune markings reappeared in an instant, but instead of blue he made them a rosy pink. More feminine in color, it was meant to be a joke as well. He could change the color back to blue just as easily.

Ulia looked down at her left arm following the new markings up her shoulder to her chest. Defensive runes, ones for speed and strength as well were already there covering her in lines. They weren't filled in everywhere, since other runes would likely be added in the future giving her more powers as she grew into them. Sebastian guessed that dangerous runes like the harpoon and knifelike spikes would be given once she had matured and proven herself to her tribe.

Her brother noticed the color change and began to laugh. Surprisingly Ulia looked content with the change.

"Why are you laughing, Erik? My marks are back, so is my status as a rune warrior."

"But they're pink!" he chortled.

"Making me unique," she said before sticking out her tongue at her older sibling.

Sebastian's attention returned to Garosh a moment before the mage used his magic to look for an aura on these warriors. The siblings should have no magic at all, since rune warriors were normal humans given the power of runes to protect the island. There were merfolk that could stay underwater with the same markings, but they had the ability to use amulets to transform. Many of Gerid's people were unable to use the transformation amulets presumably because they were lacking in any magic.

Now his eyes saw what the giant must have noticed. A strange aura that was muddy, if he could describe it at all, was a bit subtle on these two; but it was there. It also felt familiar.

His smile and amusement faded with the awareness. Sebastian knew the signature of magic now making up theirs.

"You were here when Palose made his gate," he accused the two rune warriors. The name made the two look nervous.