Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) (47 page)

"For the reason that you are here, that is what I am. You seek to find someone from the lost arts who helped guide the world when it was in trouble, yet you can't believe that any of them wouldn't find a way to stop the disaster we call the Cataclysm.

"How can people who called themselves 'Visionaries' possibly not do more to stop the Dark One from killing so many and altering this world? It is a question most people ask in Southwall in particular, but then someone will say that they must not have seen it coming."

The woman shrugged and gestured towards the chair on the left before retreating to the one on the right where her cup sat within reach from the chair. Crossing her legs knee over knee, the dress slid up a bit revealing her lower legs and feet. Toe nails painted green matched her dress making the wizard wonder if she bothered to change colors everyday to match her dress.

Holding out her cup, Evic was already at her side with a teapot to pour more of the liquid for the woman.

A glass was presented to him and placed on the table beside the wizard's chair after he sat across from her.

"Prapple juice, since you don't like most tea," she said with that knowing smile of hers. Like most women, she seemed to know what a man wanted. That didn't make her a seer, since most women could make a man believe that he wanted what she gave him.

"I am Narissa. My last name isn't important, but it also isn't from a lineage that you would know. While you aren't a man that would judge me for it, I am just saying that it doesn't matter in most ways."

"Narissa," he greeted her with a nod as his right hand covered his glass. Not quite thirsty, the wizard felt the cool glass and wondered if some wizardry had cooled the liquid. While Mariport wasn't hot, the air would make it warmer than this pretty quickly. It was freshly delivered just as the wizard arrived. Even Evic wouldn't have been able to coordinate the time this accurately.

"Now you will want me to give you information to prove myself to you. Being a Visionary, which is such a long name for a seer, is very hard to qualify in this day and age. Most believe them all dead because of the Cataclysm."

Her smile faded towards sadness and Narissa informed the man before her, "Most people don't realize that many of the Visionaries committed suicide before the tragedy happened. They had always been there to guide the world, but there was nothing that they could do to save this world from the Dark One's revenge. It was too well planned with magic that couldn't be countered. With failure seen well before the disaster, many couldn't take it and killed themselves out of despair."

Dorgred frowned. History had never spoken of such a thing. If Narissa was telling the truth, it would explain why there were no seers of any quality left; except the wizard had to consider the possibility that she still had the sight needed.

"Some must have survived then," he questioned as much as stated the assumption.

"Well, of course, some did. Some even worked to mitigate the damage saving people who would have a strong bearing on their future. The deaths of those who couldn't abide the inevitable tragedy had likely been prophesied as well, but that didn't change it.

"That's the problem with many who wish to know the future. Do they choose to see it as fate and follow the path, or do they try to defy the prophecy to rewrite what is told to them. If it's fate, or destiny optionally, then how do you change it or should you?"

Dorgred waved off the woman's tangent about destiny and fate. "I'm not looking to have my future read and have my destiny told to me."

"Aren't you?" she asked with that knowing smile that continued to unnerve the wizard. "You went to others professing to know the future, but saw through them because they only wished to tell you your part in the world. I'm not saying that you stand at the pinnacle of the age capable of changing everything like the emperor of the north can or that handsome owl I keep seeing in my dreams; but you do have a part, everyone does."

Narissa's ability to toy with him without trying made the fire wizard want to squirm in his chair nearly every moment, but her beauty and charm could hold him captive in spite of himself. It was unnerving.

"So now what?" he finally asked.

Raising an eyebrow, Narissa countered, "Don't you know already? The one you are tied to will return and take me to speak to the Dark One."

Her face clouded slightly in confusion and she added, "I do admit that the cloud around the emperor manages to confuse me at times. I see an ancient man and a boy, but not just one boy but two and a girl."

She shook her head. "I was trained to read the meaning of my dreams, but some things I need to see to truly understand."

Grunting at the confusion, the wizard stated, "Well, that part I can decipher for you, seer. The Dark One discarded his old body, but apparently wasn't satisfied with just using one. He created a sister and brother from two that could hold part of his essence, but kept most for himself in the boy's body he chose."

Looking uncertain if the wizard was toying with her in turn and making Dorgred enjoy having a leg up on her for once, Narissa replied, "Matters of magic are often hard to read properly. Even the Cataclysm had different meanings for different Visionaries. It is interesting to read the books of prophecies to see how what should be one future path can be viewed so differently."

With a shake of her head that sent her auburn tresses moving from her shoulders, Narissa reset herself and said, "Anyway, you can take your time and enjoy your drink before calling your maker here. I think that is what they call him, but again it is magic involved making things a little cloudy. Your kind are going to make things happen, but cloud the future because of your nature, I suppose."

"My kind? My nature?" Dorgred started to protest, not because he didn't feel that she was correct; but because he didn't want to admit it.

That smile reappeared and Narissa nodded, "You are one who has been given a second chance by defying death. Reading someone who has played such a trick isn't as easy. If the Dark One has changed bodies, he might be a similar problem; but my dreams lead me to him none the less."

Dorgred took a drink from his glass and wished it was something stronger. His left hand felt for the pouch holding both his coins and the imbued stone. He didn't relish sending this woman to the Dark One and feared what it meant for her to go.

Sighing, the wizard decided that it wasn't his problem to decide; but she was so beautiful.

Chapter 25- Spies and Seers

Returning home through the gateway, Palose was surprised by what he found waiting for him. Wendle in particular looked unsure of himself and Stasia was noticeably missing from the living area. Talia appeared calm until the mage noticed that the dark haired, young woman had a dusting of flour on her and several plates of baked goods sitting covered on the table or cooling off without a covering. She tended to cook when she was nervous and the amount made was usually directly linked to how anxious she was.

"What's wrong? Where's Stasia?" the dark mage asked quickly trying to verify the feeling of the room. Without Dorgred in Ensolus, there was no one else to worry about outside of his vision.

Wendle rubbed his head uneasily before answering, "She's downstairs with a... new guest."

Frowning at the delicate use of the wizard's words, Palose demanded, "Just tell me what kind of guest you would be keeping in my basement. We don't keep secrets from each other that might compromise this house, Wendle."

With a big sigh, the wizard answered, "Stasia and I were keeping an eye on the portal you showed me, the one that Sebastian must have created when he ambushed us here."

"And?"

"And a different wizard appeared after opening it. At least I am assuming that he opened the portal by himself anyway. I wonder if Bas has taught more wizards to create the gates already," Wendle mused getting off of the topic.

"He has. Now what about this guest?" he could feel Sylvaine's hand squeezing his anxiously. Being a house of reborn men and women brought back by him, they always feared being found out by the warlocks of Ensolus. Only Palose had been left alone after being raised by the dead in the history of resurrection men; so if it was made known what he could do, they couldn't be certain what the rest of Ensolus' warlocks would do.

"Stasia distracted him when he arrived. I don't think he knew where he was going actually, so we had plenty of time for her to intercept him by the wall. Once she had him suitably distracted, I used ice magic to capture him.

"We brought him back here because we figured that you might want to bring him to the emperor or his men. It would be another way to stay in his good graces, unless you think it would be better to just eliminate him," Wendle finished wincing at the callousness of his words. The young wizard wasn't a killer and refused to let Palose make him attack his people; but Southwall wasn't his nation, so it barely let him act against someone from the allied nation of Kardor.

"Did you let him see the house when you brought him here?" the mage asked deciding if it was worth giving up his hidden home within the city by yielding up the wizard. A portal wizard from Southwall being discovered inside the cavern would be important news to Kolban, but Palose was trying his best to avoid making the house known to anyone outside of his people.

"No, Stasia covered his eyes with a scarf," Wendle replied showing that the wizard knew better. "We put him in the basement and tied him up until you could decide what to do with him."

Releasing a deep breath as he considered the implications of other wizards already finding their way into Ensolus, Palose waved Wendle towards the door. "Well, show him to me then. This can't be good if other people from Southwall are winding up here. If the cave walls and towers blocking the entrance can no longer keep Southwall out, then it isn't going to take much to believe that they will attack sooner or later."

Wendle nodded. Opening the door to the basement, the wizard led the way. Sylvaine followed the men out of curiosity as well. An outsider brought into their home could affect them all equally, so it wasn't unexpected for Palose.

He could hear a quiet conversation being held even before they arrived and frowned as he noticed the captive with his mouth unbound. Stasia was sitting with the wizard conversing as if it was just a casual visit by a friend in their sitting room.

"Why isn't he gagged?" the dark mage demanded with a frown.

Stasia waved him off with a smile. "Oh, don't be that way. Istrias isn't being any trouble and I was bored just watching him sit there all miserable."

"He's a spy and sent from the enemy. Since he was caught infiltrating the city, it is the punishment for getting caught," Palose stated for the girl. Stasia often acted like all she had inside of her skull was air, but the dark mage knew that the girl was more intelligent than she let on.

"Pfft, you go to Southwall all the time. You're technically one of them. How much of an enemy does that make them or Istrias here? He wasn't doing anything to hurt anyone."

The man in the chair didn't have the face of someone innocent as he sat there looking at the mage warily. Even if he hadn't done anything yet, it was likely that he was there for a reason that wasn't good for Ensolus.

"Why don't you go and bring your guest some food and drink then? Talia has been cooking up a storm since we left apparently," he ordered the little blonde from the room. Having her distracting them with her naiveté would only annoy him in the end.

After the girl had walked up the stairs, Palose spoke after sizing up the wizard. "So now Southwall is using Sebastian's gates to seed the city, I am assuming."

Istrias held his tongue despite his mouth being unsecured.

"Bas didn't exactly make his entrance quietly. Did you know that he managed to follow me through one of my old gates?"

His revelation didn't seem a surprise to the wizard, so Palose continued, "How many other wizards are capable of using his gates and how many more does he have? I know Bas well enough to know that he wouldn't be satisfied with just one gate here, though I still don't know how he managed to use an old portal in the first place."

Istrias remained silent.

Palose pulled up one of the extra chairs. There were only two in the basement, since they mostly remained upstairs. This chamber had mainly been of use for bringing in the bodies of the dead and the ritual used to bring them back to life. The remainder of the time, the others kept away as if the reminder of their deaths made it all the more frightening to visit the room designated as storage.

"You may as well know that you can keep your mouth shut and keep your secrets from me all you want. I suspect answering my questions here will go a lot easier than once we hand you over to the emperor's interrogators. They have magic that I have never bothered to study. It isn't something that I would enjoy. I actually dislike hurting people. Maybe that is why I honed my talents in saving lives instead."

"You're a healer?" Istrias questioned looking at the man's confusing aura. "I don't read anything like that in you."

"Ah, my aura, yes, you wizards just love classifying everything by a man's aura, don't you? With a weak aura, you are a battle mage, stronger makes you a wizard; but I see that you aren't a particularly powerful one. That would make you just a single step above a mage, I would guess. Your kind's pecking order is mostly based on power as well."