“Our allies believe that they stand against the enemy. Whether we can trust them is another question entirely. It is hard to trust anyone not of your own race.”
Glancing up to the stands, Cheleya was spotted by Colbie and Evantus, who both waved to the dragoness. She smiled and waved back saying, “I don’t know. Like anyone, you have to get to know them to trust them, big brother.”
Kel’lor noticed the brief interaction and nodded. “It takes a personal connection to trust some one, but even then we can be betrayed. You should know that as well as anyone, little sister.”
Her emerald eyes looked up to the monster that was her closest friend and most trusted of confidantes. Such a relationship would be impossible in Kel’lor’s opinion. Placing her small hand in his hard palm, Cheleya smiled and said, “You need faith too. Living without trust is a hard thing, don’t you think?”
A great sigh preceded his bending down to grab her gently around the waist. Lifting the petite girl effortlessly to his shoulder, the gargoyle finally nodded before replying, “I suppose that is true also, little sister.”
The fourth day of the Winter’s Edge tournament arrived and Cheleya, with her friends from Staron, made use of the ambassador’s status to find a place within the castle keep. Since wizards were involved, even the upper walls of the castle had seen a change for the duels. Balconies had been created and doorways were formed from former windows to be able look down on the courtyards which held the remaining duels for the final sixteen.
While the view meant being able to see both courtyards for all the duels, the one sight Cheleya continued to miss seeing was the return of her father and the trackers. Malaketh couldn’t have outrun them this long, could he? The girl wondered.
Beginning the morning’s rounds, another wizard from Gray Hall fought a water wizard from Southwall on one side; while a beautiful, platinum blond haired woman wearing light blue clothing which appeared made for a different climate fought in the Royal Garden on the other side. Cheleya found the woman interesting between the wizard’s hair that was similar to hers and her similar ability to ignore the cold. She could have been a che’ther as she stood comfortably in her flowing, lightweight dress.
Though both duels were interesting, the second match of the morning drew her in fully and for a time worrying about Malaketh faded away. The battle mage that had done so well in a wizard’s contest was there again to face a nature wizard. While Cheleya could sense their disparate strengths in magic, she had no doubt that he would surprise them again.
The mage’s usual use of fire and lightning were hardly a surprise to anyone who had watched his earlier matches, but as he cast his early spells Cheleya could tell that he was simply testing the wizard’s defenses as she did his. Using vines and manipulating the trees beside his ring, the nature wizard in turn tested and attempted to crush his defenses. He used the power of water to send her trees back into the woman’s hedge defenses, and she even responded to the water around her by raising the ground to avoid his lightning attack.
Planting his staff in the ground, Cheleya nodded as she felt his power rise to shift the pond on the far side of the courtyard. The wave created washed out much the nature wizard’s defenses on that side, and as she struggled to replace it the mage finished toying with her. A spout rose up around the woman as he followed up freezing her in place with the water on her clothes and the thick ice created from the geyser.
The match was another impressive win for the young man, but the dragoness had guessed correctly. Using the power drawn from the earth through his staff gave the mage the strength of a wizard, if only temporarily. It was amazing that he had figured out such a trick.
“He uses the power of the earth fearlessly,” she stated for Theress’s ear as well as Kel’lor and her other friends in attendance. “Did you feel his power grow once he planted the staff? I didn’t think anyone used that technique since it is so dangerous.”
Smiling politely, the ambassador stated, “It was outlawed among many of the human wizard schools and believed forgotten by most. This young mage must have not only figured it out on his own, but survived the discovery. Most young wizards that have the wit to tap into the power don’t have the wisdom to use a staff to temper the limitless flow of energy. Fewer still are able to refrain from overusing the power before it kills them young.”
The old dragon’s face saddened at the idea of so many young wizards foolishly shortening their lives for the sake of power.
As the remainder of the morning’s battles continued, Mar’kal’s hopes of having the victor dwindled quickly. While the mage had battled; Resh’val, a mar’goyn’lya, fought with another wizard of Gray Hall. The gargoyle had actually lost in the four way matches but earned the final spot thanks to the uneven numbers and his strong demonstration of magic previously. He didn’t disappoint the tournament directors as Resh’val gave it everything he had.
The mage and his competition were long gone after finishing, yet the other two waged a war of attrition. Each seemed well matched in strength and skill. Finally it began to look like only the one with the strongest will would survive. When the gray wizard finally defeated Resh’val, it was with a well placed lightning bolt. The move felt like a copy of the battle mage in his four way match, but it was none the less equally effective as the mar’goyn’lya’s defenses were in tatters. Exposed and running on fumes, he was driven from the ring, but the human dropped to his knees in exhaustion proving how much they had left in the courtyard.
“Do you think the mage will be able to defeat these wizards from Gray Hall?” Kel’lor asked surprising her as Resh’val was helped from the ring in exhaustion along with the victor.
It was Evantus who had the first opinion, “Not if he let’s them draw out the battle like this one. I don’t know how he is able to draw power from the earth like you said, but he’s looked tired after the last couple fights and they were much shorter.”
Theress nodded replying, “Indeed. The battle mage has proven himself worthy, but if he doesn’t stay within his limits the boy might die here.”
“He needs to fight like a battle mage then,” Orlerin said surprising them all. The squad leader was often quiet preferring to think over hearing his own voice. “This Sebastian has been wrapping up his fights quickly. The only way he will win is to continue driving them out of the ring with his power or ensnaring them with a bit of trickery as he’s been doing.”
No one could argue with that logic and, while they watched the remaining matches of the morning. Mar’kal’s final hope, Fa’Steleneth, faced off against a fire wizard of Southwall. The dragon had dealt with other fire wizards and Cheleya hoped that he could continue to do so.
“I have seen this one fight,” Isstmira said sounding strangely impressed by the young wizard. “They say that he trained with the battle mages for this tournament in an effort to merge their style of casting with that of a wizard. If he has mastered the speed of a mage, he may well be a more powerful version of the young battle mage you were admiring earlier.”
Cheleya glanced to the che’ther with her copper colored hair and green eyes which mirrored her own. The magician didn’t appear to be maligning the mage as most wizards tended to do. Strength of magic created the two main levels of casters and wizards of greater power often looked down on the mages as lesser brethren.
Not wanting to argue, Cheleya watched as the two wizards started to duel in Two Ponds while the last Gray Hall wizard fought with a Tolmonan in the Royal Garden. Both matches were fierce as the remaining sixteen proved that they weren’t here by accident.
The dragoness found her attention torn between the two duels from her excellent vantage point. Fire roared and the use of battle mage shields mixed well with the fire wizard’s school of spells. His speed of casting put Fa’Steleneth on his heals almost from the start. Unlike the mage, the level of fire spells pushed far beyond the norm with their rapidity.
Roars of fire competed with the rumble of earth as the To
lmonan shook the courtyard to the south trying to push the gray wizard out of his ring.
Like the mage, the fire wizard known as Magnus fought hard enough to earn a relatively quick defeat of Steleneth. Her heart was a bit disappointed as a vortex of fire finally drove the dragon from the circle despite calling up a personal shield of green energy.
The fire wizard looked smug as Cheleya’s vision spell helped her see the distant man wave to the crowd. He did give a quick bow of the head to Steleneth before he exited the courtyard, but it seemed like a cursory gesture to gain favor with the crowd more than to give respect to his opponent.
When her eyes returned to the Royal Garden, the match was wrapping up as well. While elemental attacks weren’t very effective against the black shields, stone was. Even the strange magic of Gray Hall couldn’t make solid rock disappear. The power of the short Tolmonan wizard was enough to destroy his defenses in short order making him the only one of the gray wizards to lose so far today.
“So it is possible to defeat them,” Colbie said looking impressed by the wizard from the old continent of Taltan.
Lunch followed the morning matches and Theress disappeared for awhile. In fact, the afternoon matches had even begun before the elder dragon returned. Even without the ambassador, their group was allowed to stay with his reserved balcony and Cheleya watched as the battle mage returned to the field. His opponent was from Gray Hall and she found herself concerned for him, though she knew little of this man from a place called Windmeer.
Once again he didn’t fail to impress her and the rest of the crowd. Though Sebastian’s initial volley of fireballs were absorbed by a quickly raised shield of night, it was the next moment that shocked them all.
In his arrogance, the wizard from Gray Hall, Szurken, cast three powerful torrents of swirling flame at the mage. To everyone’s surprise, a black shield rose before the young man to absorb the fire as the Gray Hall wizards had been doing to their opponents since the four way matches.
Szurken laughed before saying something to the mage that Cheleya could not hear and wished that she had used a spell for hearing. Whatever the man said, it mattered little as another surprising spell, this one of light, cut through the mage’s shield from the gray wizard. The shield of night had lasted only a moment before the bright light and Cheleya realized that this was the counter to the shield that they had all been looking for since those dark spells had been unveiled.
She heard a few curses from behind and beside her. Even the crowd below could be heard groaning as they believed the mage had actually gained the edge on the Gray Hall wizard.
Evantus complained, “He figured out the night shield during the tournament and now it’s already useless? That isn’t fair!”
Colbie nodded looking equally disappointed and even a bit angry.
Keeping her eyes on the battle mage, she noted that he didn’t appear worried despite the setback. Had he guessed that Gray Hall had an answer for their night spell? If so, Cheleya had to admit that he was taking it better than everyone else watching. The crowd had grown loud as they gasped and groaned with the ups and downs of the new set of circumstances going on before them.
The mage whipped up a tornado using just his strength, which was impressive to see. It was directly over the lake sitting between the two duelists and began to absorb the water into a spout. While it was powerful for a mage, the Gray Hall wizard created a tornado consisting of fire which turned in reverse of the water spout. As the two struck and began to slow, the mage launched three wood staves into the wizard’s circle.
Unlike the battle mage’s poise as the duel shifted, the move flustered the wizard. Rapidly casting fire to drive the shafts away from him, Szurken followed up sending a whip of dark energy towards the battle mage’s blue energy shields. Sebastian flipped his staff to his hand while he stopped the stream of force with a black shield sparing his defenses.
Seeming a simple spell to the battle mage already, it wasn’t surprising that the Gray Hall wizard used another light spell to wipe the offending night shield from the field. What was surprising to Cheleya was Sebastian’s slight smile and a nod to the gray wizard. He had not only expected it, but seemed to want Szurken to expend his magic in destroying the shield.
“What is he up to?” the girl asked the air.
“What do you mean?” Colbie asked being the closest to Cheleya.
“I think he wanted Szurken to cast that light spell at his shield. What kind of strategy is that?”
Evantus spoke up, “It stopped the black magic pretty well though. Maybe he just expected the wizard to destroy it after his defense.”
A large wave was rising from the lake headed for the Gray Hall wizard. Gathering speed and strength, Szurken called up a powerful wind to try and stall the massive force of water while he hid under a black dome of magic hoping to avoid being driven from his ring.
Her eyes had been on the wave, but a flare of light as bright as the sun emblazoned itself on her eyes as it raced past the dying mass of water to strike the dome of night. Splintering like the black shield’s before the Gray Hall spell of light, Szurken was left exposed and looking frightened. His cocky, easygoing attitude had sheered away like his night shield in an instant.
Sebastian seemed to be daring the wizard to react as he waited a moment to see what he would do. Cheleya watched as the mage must have decided to act and risk the wizard’s magic reprisal. Six spears of air delivered wood and iron shafts through the fire wall, but the gray wizard had seen them coming as he used a wall of wind and fire to burn or knock them all back towards the lake.
The wizard wasn’t done as his winds drove two large blocks of stone towards the mage. A pair of blue mage shields split the stones breaking them up, but their mass still broke the front shield of his defenses. A wedge created from his remaining two mage shields were all that remained of his defenses that had been minimal to start.
It mattered little though as a second large wave raced towards Szurken. The wizard used a pair of night shields formed into a wedge to split the wave only to see Sebastian clap his hands as he controlled the wave to close behind the wedge aiming for the wizard. Another sphere of darkness barely saved the wizard as the water crashed onto the shore washing away the remains of his original defenses. A single bolt of sunlight shredded both the floating wedge and the sphere in a moment.
Szurken jumped up readying to continue the fight, but his opponent had set him up as he had so many opponents before him.
“Bind him!” the two words carried even to those in the balconies before a pair of iron rods, washed to Szurken’s feet by the second wave, leapt up like serpents to ensnare the man. His hands and arms were caught and pulled tight to his chest by the iron. Immobilized, the black robed moderator declared Sebastian’s victory as those watching cried out with whoops of joy.
“I can’t believe it! He actually beat him at his own game!” Evan cried out in delight. While the mage wasn’t from Staron, there was a brotherhood that made all the mages cheer for the man like no other competitor. He was one of them and he was victorious.
The afternoon matches had been staggered to allow all four matches to be seen by all those attending. Following Szurken’s defeat, the wind wizard from Malaiy, the beautiful, popular, blond haired girl named Annalicia defeated the last remaining gray wizard.
While Cheleya had been glad to see the last of the strange men go, she was a bit saddened when the fire wizard, Magnus, defeated the elf she had watched for the last two days. Kinship or not, he was done as was a wilder casting lightning from Kardor when the Tolmonan defeated her.
The final four were set to duel the next day, but before she could leave to return to her inn, Theress pulled her aside.
“What is it, Theress?” the girl questioned slightly confused. He had returned without saying where he had gone or offering any excuse for his absence.
The elder dragon smiled and asked quietly, “Do you still wish to train at the school that created the ba
ttle mage in the tournament?”
Her eyes widened slightly, “You have talked to the wizards of Southwall on my behalf, Kev’Theress?”
Bobbing his head in a nod as his smile grew, the old man replied, “I have been given permission for you to go to their school called White Hall. It is a little over a week’s ride to the west, but I made sure to discover that it was the school that both he and this fire wizard using mage magic are from.”
“I could probably fly there faster,” the girl stated thinking of the time she could save.
An emphatic shake of his head preceded the ambassador’s warning, “No, my dear, I think that it would be best that you ride out with one of the wizard groups returning to the school. I have already begun discussing those arrangements as well. You should probably try and avoid flying for a time.”
Now the girl was truly confused. Flight was one of her favorite things and had been the chief reason that the girl had become a dragon mage apprentice so early in her studies. “But why, Kev’Theress? I could be there a day or two sooner and begin my studies.”
Patting the air to slow the girl’s exuberance, he said, “You have to remember that these people believe that their wall protects them from the Dark One. To simply fly over these walls that the humans have constructed, would undermine all their efforts of the last two hundred years, Cheleya. Besides, it is probably best to keep our magic to ourselves, at least for now. Please just try and follow an old man’s advice. Do it for me. Would you?”
A smile of warmth for the dragon who had already done so much for her came easily to her eyes as Cheleya shrugged, “If that is your wish, Kev’Theress, then I shall try to restrain myself.”
Chuckling at her less than perfect sounding affirmation, the ambassador shook his head taking the girl’s hand to place it on his arm. Directing Cheleya towards the room that would lead them to a hall and onward through the castle, Theress patted her hand affectionately and said, “If I had a daughter, I think that I would like her to be like you, Cheleya. Now let us leave that we may return again tomorrow.”
Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) Page 47
