The air wizard shook his head. “After Lord Romonus talked me into coming to Kardor for a visit, I was busy getting ready for the longer trip. I’m not sure any of us can do it? How about you three? You’ve known him longer, even if you are from Kardor. Did he teach you?”
Shaking her head, Ashleen had to admit, “He was nice enough to try coaching me briefly, but my lightning doesn’t transcend to the sun spell. Deiclonus might know it, but he said that it took two of them uniting to make it work. That means if one of the others with Deiclonus can help it should work, but would Dorgred be able to use it?”
Groaning Themenor shook his head wearily. “I’m not sure, but a fire wizard might know something that will help. Fedwin is here as well. Maybe between the three of them...”
Chuckling from where he sat Maldus spoke as their eyes looked on him warningly, “You may want to hurry. I can feel the emperor’s pull on me. He is sending his warlocks to investigate. I can tell.” An unrestrained cackle broke into a hacking cough as the armless man continued to prove that his mind was addled.
Ashleen pulled the men with her saying, “If he’s right, then we had better hurry and figure this out.”
Shrugging at the idea, Hyren asked, “How can the emperor send his men so quickly that we would need to fear? His empire is thousands of miles away, and land locked as well. This is insane. He’s insane.”
“He’s been truthful for the most part. He may not even have realized that the trap was there,” Ashleen replied descending the steps quickly. “I think that we need to hurry before we find out if he’s telling the truth again.”
Chapter 23- Wizard Catcher
The stone arch rose up for over fifty feet into the air, yet it didn’t make it into the dark of the cavern’s heights. Lake End, as the indoor lake was called, covered the back third of the cave holding Ensolus. It was an odd place to see three warships, Palose thought. Black sails furled and waiting for a wind that could only take them from one end of the lake and back, if not for the mysterious stone archway. Standing in the water only fifty feet from the eastern wall, the arch stood as more than a symbol to the men and beasts serving the emperor. Runes laced each stone making up the archway. Two wide stone bases extended to either side of the arch and held a stone table beside each. A little trough reached from the tables to the thick stone base of the arch.
Palose stood with Atrouseon on one platform uniting their magic with ten others on their side. A matching dozen stood doing the same on the far base, but Palose wasn’t watching them. The very young woman screaming and pulling at the men binding her to the table knew what was coming.
Most likely a virgin, the dark haired woman was laid on the table bare and chained in place. Tired of her screaming, the thirteenth wizard in charge of their circle, placed a spell upon her putting her into a daze. The screaming stopped as a softer, quieter moaning took over. She needed to be awake, but the spell didn’t require her to be in her right mind. Across the way a second sacrifice was placed on the opposing table or altar more accurately.
Magic seemed to hum as the twenty four warlocks and mage brought their part of the spell to fruition. The thirteenth warlock and his counterpart plunged daggers gleaming with runes on the blades just for this ritual into their victims. New screams of pain rose into the air. This time they wouldn’t be silenced. The spirits required blood and screams announced the pain of the sacrifice.
As the blood pooled, it quickly followed the trough as if the stones drank the liquid. The blood met the stones and the runes began to light from the base lifting quickly to the point in the heights. A louder buzzing filled the air over the sounds of warlocks and screaming women. A light began near the center of the archway in midair.
The black ships began to move forward as orcs and trolls pulled at their oars. It was a slow movement while the archway continued to build its power. The crack of a thousand whips heralded the opening of the portal. From lake to sea, the distance had become as nothing to the portal and the ships increased their speed.
When the prow of the first ship entered the light, it simply pushed through disappearing into the glowing archway. In seconds the entire ship passed through the light and was gone from sight. One after the other, the emperor’s warships moved through the archway and disappeared into the light.
With the ritual over, the warlocks released their power. Their job done, the men went away leaving Palose to wonder where the ships were now. He had been told that someone was interfering with the emperor’s lands far away. They were lands that he had never known existed nor had he known of the emperor’s reach beyond his little empire in the mountains.
Palose didn’t follow Atrouseon back to the suite they shared. He tried to rarely be near the warlock. The man was a remembrance to what he was and what he once had been. While his mind was constantly told to follow and serve his master and his master’s master, the mage’s dead heart seemed to tell him something else.
Finding his way to a building that he knew was the destination for the sacrifices, Palose intercepted the orc in charge of the clean up.
“Hello, Wakaraq,” the mage greeted the brown skinned orc. The creature was nearly twice as wide as Palose, though a few inches shorter. If the tusked orc were to fight him, the mage doubted that he could match the thing’s power easily.
“Mage,” he replied gruffly, though for most orcs gruff could be the most friendly they could achieve anyway.
Holding out a purse, the mage jingled it three times letting the orc see the weight inside of the soft leather. “You know our deal,” the man reminded Wakaraq.
Snorting at him, the orc swiped at the bag fast enough to make the mage wonder if his reflex spell would be fast enough to dodge the nasty creature. Pulling the strings, Wakaraq opened the bag fumbling with gold and silver coins that would take the orc most of his life to ever accumulate in his position. Even in Ensolus, commerce ruled what the emperor did not.
Before the orc could make the bag disappear, Palose laid his hand on the bark hard skin halting him. “Do you mind if I check the merchandise, my friend?”
Grunting, Wakaraq replied more brusquely, “You saw them for yourself, mage, but suit yourself. Just don’t take too long. We can’t stand here all day without questions.”
Raising an appraising eyebrow at the orc, Palose realized that Wakaraq was smarter than he looked. Perhaps when he needed an ally, this creature might do, but that was in the future. For now he needed to check on his test subjects. The dark haired girl was tall and slender. Her body appeared unharmed aside from the knife wound delivered just below her breast bone. Her face was even comely in her sleep, he thought, before looking at the second girl. Young women perhaps better described them, for they looked to be nearly his age. Blond and pretty, the second girl was shorter and petite, but her features were more curvaceous. Lifting her hands, the mage noted that these weren’t the hands of a peasant girl. He wondered if the girl had been the daughter of some noble requiring a new incentive to serve the master properly.
If his experiment went well, Palose would have to ask her.
Snorting, the orc asked sarcastically, “Do I need to find you a room, mage? I wouldn’t think a former Southwaller would be into this kind of kinky stuff.”
Palose glared at the orc, but simply answered, “I need bodies that aren’t too damaged, but they also need to be something that won’t have people coming back to me when they are missing.”
Frowning in confusion, Wakaraq asked, “Who goes looking for a dead woman? They were sacrificed, so no one will be looking for them.”
Waving the orc to cover them up and follow, the man replied, “I’m not afraid of someone looking for them, but looking at them.”
Continuing to look confused, the powerful orc followed the mage to a small building nestled in an area of the nondescript part of the city. Men with money and power purchased homes in towers or in the light near the outer wall. Those with hope might live outside the city hoping to make a living farm
ing or trading. Nestled near the east wall, this area was left to those who just tried to survive and stay out of the sight of those with power.
A door lifted up for the cart to enter and closed again to hide the remainder of the transaction. Magnus lifted the smaller girl over his shoulder and pushed through a door revealing a stairway leading into a basement. Wakaraq carried the second girl in an effort to earn his money as quickly as was still possible.
Lighting the way with his magic, Palose deposited the first girl on a wooden table in the middle of a dingy stonewalled room. Wood beams supported a floor above him, but there were no windows and only four magically lit lanterns provided any light. The orc grunted at him and the man gestured to a pile of sheets and linens left by the former owner of the building. Nearly dropping the girl onto the pile, Palose admonished the orc, “If you break her, I’m taking back some of the money or you’ll owe me a larger favor than this.”
Grunting his annoyance, the orc stated, “I’d rather owe you.”
Smiling to himself, the mage looked at the girl long enough to hide his enjoyment of thinking he could make the orc owe him more. Palose walked the creature back up and opened the door for the cart to leave. He watched the orc for only a moment longer before hurrying down to the bodies awaiting him.
He had found the information on the spell that had been used to raise him from the dead or partially dead as the text made mention. A body couldn’t be too far gone from its spirit or into rot, unless they were to be made merely into puppets. The idea of a human puppet might have sickened the man before his own death, but life in the emperor’s warlocks had broadened his mind and he accepted more than he once had.
Taking a knife, the mage cut each of his hands. He drew the runes that he had spent months memorizing with his blood. Runes instilled the power of the wielder on the target and placed any restrictions that he had in mind on his future servant. Atrouseon had either failed to place the right restrictions on the mage in his return or had failed to do them right, Palose thought briefly before he gathered up his power.
He placed his right hand between the girl’s breasts directly above her heart and the left still dripping his blood opened her mouth to take on a portion of his life force from his blood. Chanting the words of power needed, the mage transcended his meager beginnings. More magical force than he could have used before he had died was in his grasp as the mage with the power of a warlock used the black magic.
Long minutes passed as he worked the spell, Palose was beginning to wonder if it was going to work when he felt her tongue and lips sucking more of his blood. Her heart began to beat as well. Pale green eyes opened without fear as she looked at the man above her. Moving his hand from her lips, the girl reached for his hand not wanting him to release her apparently.
“Master, you have saved me,” the pretty girl stated adoringly. Palose moved his right hand from her chest wiping his blood on her wound. The blood was pulled into the wound and made it seal up seamlessly. To look at her, one would never know that she had been dead.
He had made sure to place runes that would make them love and want to protect him. Apparently he had done that part of the spell too well, but it was his first attempt and he was pretty sure that they would never want to turn on him willingly. He couldn’t say the same for himself. While he was slightly grateful to Atrouseon for bringing him back, the mage was at war inside with the dark impulses the warlock foisted on him and his former life as a battle mage.
One thing this test had affirmed for him was that he was alive. As alive as anyone in fact, because the spell said that only a living sacrifice of blood could return someone to life. If he was alive, then that meant he no longer needed the warlock. What he should and would do about his bond to the man was still unclear, but for the time being he was just glad that he was alive.
The pretty blond placed her right hand on his shoulder pulling him closer to kiss his lips in her gratitude. Removing her hand gently, Palose smiled, “There will be time for that later... uh, what is your name?”
“Stasia,” the petite blond said looking at him coyly. It was cute, but the mage had work to do.
“Stasia, I need you to get down so that I can save our friend here,” he said pointing to the other body lying in the linens.
“Oh, what happened to her?” the girl asked appearing genuinely caring for the other girl.
She helped Palose place the second girl on the table as he explained as if talking to a child, “They used her as a sacrifice like you, Stasia. Once I bring her back that will make you two like sisters.”
Thinking about the word, Stasia frowned, “Did I have a sister before? I can’t remember anything right now.”
“It will come back to you in time,” the mage assured her as he placed the runes on the dark haired girl. “I can remember everything that happened before I was brought back.”
“Brought back?” the girl looked a little concerned and began to notice the blood on her bare skin. “Brought back from where?”
He didn’t really have time for questions, but to ease the girl’s worries Palose replied, “From the brink of death. It was a close one, now why don’t you sit and maybe use one of the blankets to keep warm until I am finished here. You wouldn’t want this girl to die now would you?”
Stasia looked unsure of whether she did want him to save the other girl, but moved to wrap a sheet like a toga around her body. “I have blood on me, master,” she said without true worry as the girl pointed out a simple fact.
“We can take care of that in a minute, Stasia. Now be a dear and let me concentrate,” the mage said gathering his power. It was like dealing with a child and he wondered if Stasia was like this before the ritual or if it was just her mind taking awhile to cope with the strangeness of it all.
The second ritual went the same as the first, though he now had an audience. When the second girl awoke, it was a similar experience as she took his blood. Her name was Talia and she wanted to kiss him as well, which made Stasia pout until he could divide his attention between them.
Feeling tired from the use of so much magic, the dark mage gathered the girls and moved upstairs to find the food he had stashed for both him and his hungry new servants. They would serve him in the city finding more information if he could teach them enough. They were a successful experiment, at least, and given time Palose believed that he might find even better servants. Wakaraq might find someone with magical power to resurrect, but whether he did or not, the mage was on a new path. Power and freedom would be his one day, he vowed.
Ashleen squatted with her back against the stone wall feeling frustrated. Her legs were showing well up her thigh where the robe parted, but she didn’t care. The wizard and the other men trying to break the barrier to free the men on the stairs were all pushing into exhaustion. Hands on either side of her head and elbows on her knees, the apprentice tried to think of any way that they might break down the fragile looking wall.
An hour of attempts had sent Hyren and Fedwin down to the ship to bring supplies. Everyone was hungry and for wizards food was nearly equal to magic. When their reserves ran low, food was the quickest way to return the energy into their bodies just like it did for anyone exerting a lot of energy in their work. While those outside were able to eat and resupply from the ship, they had found that no food could be send through the glass like barrier.
When Dorgred, Deiclonus and Wendle used up their magic and wanted to regenerate their energy they had no food or water to do so. Exploring the cellar had yielded some old wine, but it was barely drinkable after all this time and left untended. Of food, there was no hope.
Their search discovered the tables, cages and chemicals that Maldus had once used for his experiments, but there was nothing of use in any of that. What wasn’t already decayed, couldn’t help them escape and nothing was edible to that end.
Deiclonus had known a light spell and he teamed with the other two wizards in an attempt to break the barrier, but the glass mer
ely rippled slightly resisting them. Could Yara be so powerful that she could make up for Sebastian’s lesser strength to break the curse? The wilder didn’t know that either and everything she didn’t know was beginning to give her a headache.
Themenor handed the lightning wizard a canteen of water. Normally not a drinker, Ashleen wished that she had something stronger.
“Anything?” he asked as the air wizard tore a piece of bread from a loaf and handed it to the girl. His eyes rested on the purple barrier trying to think of something that they hadn’t so far. A battle mage had succeeded after all, so surely a group of wizards had a better chance yet.
“Nothing,” she began in their exhausted shorthand. “They’ve used up their magic trying to beat the thing with Deiclonus’s light spell, but it must vary from the spell used by Bas. I know that they’re stronger than Yara and he must be, but the barrier only appears to give slightly.
“We’ve tried lightning, fire and earth as well, but nothing phases this curse. It will ripple or buckle, but it never breaks and from what Maldus said I think that the curse may be weaker now than when Sebastian and Yara broke the first barriers.”
Shaking his head, Themenor added, “I can’t see a healer and battle mage being stronger than us, so it almost has to be the type of spell that they used.”
“It could be the bond they share,” Hyren stated from the doorway as he held his canteen between drinks. At their stares, he shrugged saying, “It’s rumored that the two might be lovers, though no one has caught them. The healer’s guild is pretty stringent on their women staying pure, but that mage has figured his way around a lot of rules this year hasn’t he?”
Ashleen frowned and found that she didn’t want to think about that aspect of her friends’ relationship. If what Hyren said was true, however, she wondered if two magic users in love might have a strong enough bond beyond the spell to break a curse. It was unlikely, but stranger things had happened when it came to magic. The two were also healers, unlike any of her group. They could cause damage with their magic, but perhaps to deal with the curse, healing had been part of the light spell?
Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus) Page 29
