Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus)

by Wigboldy, Donald

  Battle Mage: The Lost King

  By

  Donald L. Wigboldy Jr.

  Copywrite October 2013

  For World Maps and More Go To:

  https://www.facebook.com/BattleMageATaleOfAlus

  Other books by Donald L. Wigboldy Jr.

  From the Tales of Alus series:

  Battle Mage: A Tale of Alus

  Battle Mage: Winter’s Edge

  The High King: A Tale of Alus

  The Emperor’s Shadow War

  Modern Tales:

  Voran the Night Guardian

  The Mermaid’s Chest

  Chapter 1- Celebration

  Music sounded through the great hall with its vaulted ceilings and colorful pageantry flowing out into the smaller hallways of Grimnal Keep, the king’s castle and heart of the city of Hala. An immense room, the hall’s normal decorations had been switched out for the silver and blue decorations representing the cold and snow of the winter that was beginning to lose its strength in Southwall even near the North Wall. It was the edge of winter and spring held the promise of warmer weather.

  Within the largest room in all of Hala, the brightly colored robes of hundreds of wizards intermingled with the richly clothed nobles from both Southwall and the many nations that had sent representatives to the Winter’s Edge wizard tournament that had just ended early that afternoon. More than two hundred thirty men and women had dueled with magic that completely awed those watching. It had been a treat of the rarest kind for the common folk of Southwall. Even the nobility seldom were privy to the sight of wizards unrestrained and dueling one another.

  Dueling with swords and other weapons of metal could not compare to the elements unleashed in tornadoes, earthquakes, walls of fire and more. The power of the men and women in the tournament had been on display for all of Southwall and the people had found their favorites. Such feelings of endearment from their fans had probably brought the varied people as close together as they had been in almost two hundred years when the cataclysm and subsequent invasion by the Dark Emperor’s armies had brought the survivors together as one to save their land.

  Into the chaos, wizards and soldiers alike had stepped up to halt the emperor’s advance, but the number of wizards had been very scarce. Their magic could drive back entire armies if they had the numbers, but even sending out parties of wizards to look for people possessing magic had brought limited amounts of men and women with true power. As desperate as they had become, even those with lesser talents had been called.

  At first they had simply been given the weapons of soldiers and their limited potential for magic was left mostly ignored, until one rose from among them. The first mage had been a mere farmer’s son, but he had the gift to learn wizard magic and make it his own. Bringing a quick spell casting to his peers, a new corps arose called battle mages. They became something more than a mere soldier, if not as powerful as a true wizard.

  With wizards judging worth by magical strength only, the mages were still looked down upon even as the common soldier saw them as strange, magical and thus were set apart from them as well. They wore their uniforms of black and brown and not the robes of their wizard cousins. It was both a badge of honor to the mages who wore the uniform and the symbol of inferiority to a wizard. Ostracized and separate from the others, the corps took on their own identity as the war raged on for nearly two hundred years.

  Like a blemish, the room of colorful wizards and nobles seemed to feel the darker uniforms of the battle mages as they joined the others celebrating winter’s end in the royal hall, but this time one of their own had become one of the most celebrated casters in the city. The falcons didn’t come alone, but hand in hand with an equal number of wizards. Times were changing and these were at the forefront of that change.

  Sebastian escorted a pretty blond wizard dressed in her yellow dress at the front of the dozen men and women in his team. Yara had actually shopped in the city during the week using some extra money the mage had received from his father, another man that could see little of the true strength of the mages in his son at first. Ignoring where the money had come from, the young man couldn’t help admire the wizard in her dress. With a lace pattern of yellow overlaid on a cream colored silk, the intricate pattern tricked the eye from a distance appearing a true yellow like any healer might wear.

  For all her beauty and the upbeat atmosphere of the revelers, the falcon was forced to turn his head and cover his mouth as he yawned.

  “Are you sure that you’re up for this, Bas?” Yara asked from where she held his left arm with both hands. It was a gesture that caught more than a few eyes. A wizard socializing with a battle mage was odd enough, but female healers were guarded as treasures by their guilds as they were rare and believed best kept as virgins.

  Feeling those eyes, Sebastian managed to all but ignore them as he turned a bright eyed smile back to the girl. “The tournament wore me out, but I’m fine and I wouldn’t miss taking you dancing in the king’s castle for anything. When will we ever be able to do this again?”

  Her green eyes searched the huge hall with all the banners and decorations. With a big smile, Yara nodded and answered, “Well, that’s true. This is so amazing, Bas. Look at all the lords and ladies!”

  “It is a little much, isn’t it?” a man’s voice said over his shoulder. Dressed in the brown of an earth wizard, Collin’s eyes betrayed a certain amount of awe. The brunette dressed in the green robes of the nature guild next to him brought her hazel eyes to his face to see if he was serious about his declaration. Feeling the look before even seeing Nara’s face staring up at him, he back pedaled saying, “I mean it’s nice and all, but very extravagant.”

  She nodded and said to the first couple, “This tournament is the first of its kind, but it seems to have gone over well. Maybe the king will have another, but how soon would be the question. You’re right, Sebastian, this might not happen again anytime soon plus, for those of us who lost, we’re unlikely to get the chance to compete here again.”

  A curly, auburn haired wizard moved closer to the conversation dressed in her best red robes representing her fire school. Serrena jumped into the conversation in her usual blunt way as she argued, “I bet Falcon Sebastian will get called to come again. If he hadn’t become so worn down, I think he would have won the whole tournament.”

  Serrena’s voice pulled the attention of several men and women of the nobility to their entrance. A man, dark of hair and bearded, dressed in the rich clothing of a Southwall noble, frowned noticing a half dozen battle mages mixed with the other wizards. “Why would anyone think the king would want another battle mage in a wizard’s tournament? He was too weak to finish. Oh, I admit that he had a lucky run, but anyone who saw you fight would take you more seriously next time and wipe you out early in the rounds.

  “Take your little victories and go home before someone decides to call your success what it is, Luck.”

  Sebastian could feel his friends, both wizard and mage, tensing behind him. “There were a few times that a wizard underestimated my skills, but it didn’t take long for the rest to try their hardest against me, my lord. Perhaps the luck of finding people too full of themselves is my lot in life?

  “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ve come to dance,” the young man said dismissing the narrow minded lord.

  The man looked satisfied with the answer for a moment, until the insinuation of the mage’s remark sunk in and made itself clear, but by that time it was too late as the dozen members of Sebastian’s team had blended into the crowd. There were a number of smiles hidden behind glasses around him as the noble turned red from both anger and embarrassm
ent.

  “I ought to go back and burn that beard off of him,” Serrena grumbled irately.

  Sebastian shrugged as he turned his head to look at the girl over his shoulder. “Most people aren’t ready to believe that a mage can stand toe to toe with a wizard. It’s been the common assumption for hundreds of years. One tournament isn’t going to change that for everyone and I couldn’t make it to the end, so that lends people like him extra strength to their beliefs.”

  “But you were casting spells that a lot of full wizards couldn’t have done without exhausting themselves just as much. Speaking of which, you still haven’t told us how you did that,” Serrena frowned as she noted his intentional lapse. The mage had discovered a dangerous technique that let him harness a portion of the earth’s potential energy and, after nearly killing himself in the process, Sebastian was even more certain that people weren’t ready for this new piece of magic. In fact, he wasn’t alone as High Wizard Darius had basically let the knowledge die out on Taltan during his nearly seven hundred years of life.

  Simply smiling, Sebastian played it down as he replied, “I didn’t? Maybe I’m not even sure myself. If I figure it out though, I will make sure and let you know.”

  “I know that you know!” the fiery woman argued as she began to frown. Serrena had come to him like a student. A wizard learning from a mere mage was unusual and he knew of only one other wizard to try and that was his rival Magnus, another fire wizard who had taken what he had learned and won Winter’s Edge in fact. Serrena, unlike Magnus, had come to him after he had defeated her in a wizard’s duel, a duel with magic that according to all previous preconceptions he should never have been able to win. As the tournament was over, Sebastian wondered what would become of her and the rest of the team assembled for learning how to duel. They had become good friends for the most part and it would seem strange to lose them back to the status quo of normal wizard and mage separate lives.

  The exchange of words ended as Olan, the youngest of his assembled mages took the young woman’s hand asking her to dance. Sebastian smiled; a few weeks ago he doubted that such an act would ever have happened. Appreciating his fellow mage’s attempt to end a discussion best left where there were no prying ears, Bas nearly wanted to chuckle as Serrena blushed lightly taking his hand.

  Leading Yara towards the tables laden with food already, the mage tiredly looked for energy before trying to dance. The healer let him lead her but, unlike Serrena, Yara didn’t let the matter lie asking, “Do you think that you’ll ever tell them about using the staff to channel more power?”

  With a quick shrug before pulling a chair out for the beauty in yellow, Sebastian answered as the others began to converge on the large round table covered by a silver and blue table cloth, “I’m not sure that I should. You saw how close I came to killing myself using it.”

  Nodding, Yara kept her voice just loud enough to be heard by the mage and no one else, “High Wizard Darius said that you were lucky and we still have no idea how you managed to not kill yourself pulling that much power without any staff.”

  She referred to the final match between Magnus and the High Wizard’s granddaughter, Lady Annalicia from Malaiy. When the fire wizard had used a blend of mage and wizard casting to turn her tornado into a fiery blaze around her, Sebastian had found a way to pull energy from the ground, stone and air to channel more power than he had ever held to use a spell to save the woman. What should have burned his body to a crisp from the overload of power, left him drained beyond belief, but he hadn’t died and the girl had been saved.

  Neither the ancient High Wizard from the southern country of Eirdhen nor the mage who had accomplished the feat could explain just how it had happened. Awash in desperation to save a friend and fellow wizard, Sebastian had acted without thought of his own life and simply drawn the power he needed for a spell that had drained a lake and two ponds from beneath the forty foot battlement to put out the fire above them. Like Serrena had said, he doubted few wizards could have used such a powerful spell without draining all their strength, but a mere mage had and the story was soon all over the city.

  “There you are!” a familiar male voice declared. The red robe of a fire wizard moved into view from his right. Not waiting for Collin to move, Magnus Trekanus shoved his way between the two. Ignoring Collin’s frown and quick vacation of the chair, which the fire wizard promptly began to use as he sat facing Sebastian, Magnus simply continued intent on the mage, “It took me all winter to feel comfortable with using battle mage magic and now you show me up in my final match!” His words were more excited than heated as he complained to the man he most wanted to duel.

  Magnus and Sebastian’s history went back nearly to the mage’s first days at White Hall where they trained, but back then the wizard had simply acted the schoolyard bully taunting and teasing the battle mage. Only last summer, when Sebastian had essentially saved his life, did that change. Still there was that discomfort between the two that Magnus seemed better at ignoring. He almost made it seem like they were best friends.

  “You still were crowned champion of the Winter’s Edge tournament, so I don’t think that my helping save Anna’s life really caused any harm to your reputation,” the mage said confidently, though he felt uncertain if his words would have any affect. Magnus seemed to hear what he wanted to hear and did what he wanted despite others’ thoughts and feelings way too often.

  “Oh, sure I’m champion, but the amazing Mizard Sebastian pulls off the most powerful spell of the whole tournament better than most wizards could ever hope. Nice timing, Bas,” sarcastically the wizard half laughed at the comment and slapped the mage on his shoulder. Though there was a smile to soften the words, Sebastian had a feeling that at least some of what he said revealed his true feelings.

  “If you hadn’t created those mage tubes, I doubt that it would have mattered,” the mage said of the wizard’s own hand in saving the girl. Like they were of one mind, Magnus had reacted to the flood of water lifting into the sky by creating several glowing tubes using the blue magic of a mage spell. With the aid of the tubes, the flood put out the intense flames trapped inside that were killing the fire wizard’s opponent and instead saved Anna’s life. It had been a close thing, but the two had managed to defeat the death trap in time.

  Waving off the compliment, Magnus replied, “I just modified your battle mage shields to create the tubes, though I guess that you’re right. You couldn’t have done it without me. I guess that’s why I am the champion,” he finished with a grin.

  Sebastian just wanted to sigh. He was still trying to decide if he liked Magnus better as his antagonist or his new friend.

  “But seriously, Bas, I felt your power surge higher than any wizard I can think of that I have met. That’s how I knew something was about to happen and I reacted when I saw the water coming. Any mage could pull off my spell, but how did you do yours?”

  Once again a fire wizard was pushing for him to reveal his secrets. Was it just something about fire practitioners that made them unable to wait for answers when he was ready? At least in this case, Sebastian could be relatively honest as he confessed, “I am not truly sure. When I realized that Lady Annalicia was trapped with your fire and probably unable to dispel her own magic, something desperate made me cast the spell. I managed to draw in the power from around me somehow and that’s where it came from, but I still have no idea why it didn’t kill me trying.”

  Eyes narrowed slightly as Magnus judged his words before his charming, happy smile returned as he clapped the mage on the shoulder again. “Well, if you ever figure it out, just let me know, Bas. As you’ve already proven, it’s better for us to share and learn from each other. Right?”

  It was an interesting twist of words that sounded much like his own, the mage thought though he managed to maintain a lesser smile of his own. “Of course, anything for Southwall.”

  “That’s the spirit,” the fire wizard quickly replied even as Sebastian noticed the man’s
attention starting to wander to the crowd beyond the mage and his table. “Well, as much as I would like to continue chatting about this all night, I do have some responsibilities tonight. The head table calls and I hear the king might even present the award himself.”

  As the fire wizard moved away, Collin regained his seat watching the man in red with a frown. “Winner by default maybe,” the earth wizard said sarcastically, “I think that you could have beaten him if you could have fought him.”

  “Winning was only the secondary goal of this tournament for me,” Sebastian replied casually even as most of the eyes of his team looked to him in surprise. “I’m not saying that I didn’t like the idea of winning, but simply proving that a battle mage can hold his own and even win a few rounds can be considered a victory here. Maybe after this, wizards and mages can start seeing each other as equals rather than the falcons being cast offs for the military.”

  Four wizards looked ready to defend themselves against the statement. The twelve had grown pretty close over the last few weeks between training, riding and cheering their friends on in the tournament. Despite his remark, they all knew that present company was excluded by the generalization.

  It was Brenner, calmly aloof as usual, who responded, “Perhaps they will look at you as an equal and with such respect but, until a few more falcons step up to prove their equality, I suspect that will be the extent of it for now. The good news is that your name will be on the lips of those who have seen you duel. If one mage can give some of the most talented wizards a run for their money, it should put the question in their minds about whether there are more like you at least.”

  Again the other wizards looked like they wished to argue, but unfortunately they could see the man’s point. Collin added, “If only we had a little more time to train the rest, maybe one or more could have challenged the wizards as well. It’s kind of a shame that we didn’t start sooner.”