Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12)

by Donald Wigboldy

  "Oops, it slipped," the girl stated without a bit of shock to her voice. After catching sight of the shock in his eyes before he could look away from her striking curves and crevices, Oween started giggling; which just made it harder for Palose to stop blushing. "Oh, you should see your face, Palose! It is hysterical."

  It was the teasing of an older woman, but as he took the envelope from her fingers. His stern look brought back the tentative nature of the woman who had never been confident in her looks. A blush centering on her chest and face signaled the loss of her advantage.

  Oween covered her breasts with her right hand and started to crouch down to retrieve her towel. When Palose stepped on the wet towel, the girl stood back up using her left hand to cover below her navel. Her eyes looked at him questioningly and with a certain amount of fear, he thought.

  She had trifled with the one who had resurrected her and Oween was suddenly unsure of just why he had not only made her whole, but more beautiful than she had probably ever been.

  Staring her down, Palose used his ability to control his face despite her initial break down of his facade. He gestured towards the room she used and said, "Well, get dressed and if that 'sack' as you called it is all that you have, maybe I will need to send you out with the other girls for more clothes. Of course, you are supposed to be a warlock, so buying dresses might not be what you should be wearing."

  A little impudence worked into the warlock's face and she retorted, "I lived in those stuffy old robes and dresses for most of my first life. Maybe it is a time for a change."

  "Then get dressed," he countered with a wave of his hand causing the woman to turn towards the bedroom. The opening made him slap her rear end, which he found amazingly firm.

  Connecting with her cheek elicited a squeak of surprise which spurred her to nearly tiptoe hurriedly towards the other room. She looked back over her shoulder curiously, but the mage had already shifted his attention to the envelope in his hand.

  Ignoring Oween while he tore the envelope to get to its contents, Palose found a message that wasn't as surprising as his newest warlock. Kolban had sent a short message to come to him at his earliest convenience. While it wasn't good to keep someone that was an emperor waiting, even Kolban wouldn't know exactly when he had received the letter.

  Daring to wait a little longer than normal, Palose didn't have to wait long for the new girl to return. Her feet were still bare, but she had donned the black robe common to the warlocks of Ensolus. They didn't bother with the colorful attire of Southwall's wizards. It didn't pay to identify your school of magic, since it announced your limitations as well.

  In Ensolus, revealing weakness was never a good thing. One who hated you could seek to kill you that way. One who wished power over you could gain that as well and make a servant of a rival. Palose had seen a little of what could be, but so far he existed outside of the squabbles of Ensolus.

  She held her boots and gave him askance with her brown eyes. Palose looked at them and thought that her eye color didn't work as well with her hair as blue or green eyes might. Perhaps he had missed a chance to alter those as well. It was too late for regrets, unless he planned on killing Oween to try again; but that was probably too petty.

  "I'll take you to the other house. Sylvaine and the other girls can take you shopping, if you think it will help," he said sounding less convinced. While Palose had enjoyed putting Sylvaine into pretty clothes and buying her jewelry as well, normally he would consider such things a bit of a waste. Still, the mage had also considered the possibilities of having Oween in his group. She was a new face, though familiar enough to possibly be believed to be her younger sister. There were places a young warlock could go without being truly noticed. Like Stasia and Talia, pretty women were often looked at but dismissed giving them entry where a smart mind could make use of that weakness of men.

  Oween gave him an inquisitive look, but the warlock simply nodded. For her, Palose was like having an allegiance to a new lord. It would take time to see if the new relationship could benefit her as well; but at least he had given her a new life with possibilities.

  Chapter 8- New Visions

  Wizard Gefflen looked over the newest Hollow Sword with a scowl of disapproval. The man had arrived with his team as the battle mage was concluding the final runes. Serrena had signaled Ashleen with barely enough time to let the wilder substitute the power the man was using on the sword.

  Letting the staff drop to the floor in an attempt to divert notice of his use of a dangerous technique that he had promised Darius he would do his best to avoid giving away, the mage felt her hands on his shoulders contributing her power without disrupting the flow needed to finish the sword. While he had narrowly missed giving away that secret; Sebastian now had to deal with another which had been noticed quite easily.

  Hassar picked up the staff drawing the eyes of the other wizards.

  "This staff was made by magic like your sword, but it lacks the runes. Still it remains warm and I can feel something that I would almost classify as being alive," the fire wizard proclaimed.

  Sebastian could feel a reaction in the staff to being held by the wizard. If it was sentient, the mage might call it revulsion.

  Continuing to glare at the owl mage, Gefflen added, "Word of this has been kept from us. What use is this staff? Surely something holding magic like this piece must have some purpose. Maybe it is designed for wizards since fewer of us could truly use the sword the way your kind can."

  There it was again, Sebastian thought, words of division between what a wizard believed made them different and his 'kind'. While his tone was less negative than the previous day after being won over by what Sebastian, a battle mage, had accomplished; Gefflen and his wizards still seemed like locusts ready to devour what he knew without truly appreciating the men and women with less raw magical power.

  "It isn't something useful to anyone but me unfortunately. I wouldn't call it a waste of my time, since it eventually led to the sword; but it is just a reinforced staff. Wrap any length of wood in iron and it will be a stronger weapon if you need it. Maybe using my new steel would make it even better. That was just iron," the mage revealed what he wanted them to know. He was skating around the truth mixing some into his words as well. That made the lie stronger and harder to see through or so he had been told by his little sister studying to be a diplomacy wizard. Her school of magic was mixed with controlling others by their words and twists of truth when need be.

  Wizard Vareen touched the staff while Hassar was still focused on it drawing a look of ill will from the fire wizard. A researcher, Vareen seemed typical of his kind in Sebastian's opinion. Though a blanket statement rarely held true for individuals, one thing did seem true of those who experimented with magic investigating everything they could about it; they seemed to ignore most of the world around them. He was the kind of man to ignore pleasantries and protocols, if that would lead to a new discovery. Those were the most dangerous kinds of wizards since they could as likely find a discovery that might save lives or destroy a city in contrast without thinking of the consequences.

  If he had put the thought out loud, Serrena and Ashleen might have told him that he rode that line too often in his pursuit of new magic for the mages as well.

  "Have you ever considered making staves with your runes for wizards?" the researcher asked even as he looked for what made Bairh'loore unique. It had been called a wizard's staff by the white wizards; but since he had made it, Sebastian would have to debate the label. He had created it by mistake really while trying to make a staff that could control the flow of power from the earth. Normal wood burned away after a few uses, but iron by itself had too little control of the power and let too much seep into him. It conducted the power like lightning flowing into the user from a lightning strike making it more likely to kill him.

  Every wizard and mage knew that drawing in too much power was dangerous and most often deadly. Few knew that using a staff properly could mediate o
r completely counter the damage a direct pull would do. The wrong magic being used was just as bad, which had led to his creating reservoirs in the Hollow Swords.

  "I would need to work them in metal or bond it to wood like this one. If I used the right runes, it could store a spell in it like the sword. My question is, does a wizard need that? It can amplify the power of a spell, I suppose; but that only works on simpler spells."

  Gefflen's face showed that the man was interested in the line that this discussion was heading. It would help wizards, so that made it useful. Sebastian just didn't want to let the man know that it could hold some of the power of the earth to augment the spell even more. There was that point where the power would overwhelm and destroy the runes; which would likely lead to more deaths caused directly by those who couldn't restrain themselves from using too much.

  "Yes, amplifying a wizard's strength in magic would certainly be worthwhile," the wizard said brightening with the thought. "There are stories of wizards using staves in the past. Perhaps this is why. I always found it strange that they used them, but no one really says why. If they found out the same runes to increase a spell's power, then that might be why."

  Sebastian contemplated the fine line he was treading as the owl tried to avoid dropping a dangerous technique into the wizards' hands. If it was fire wizards and others who used damaging magic, whether to kill or destroy, Darius had warned that the use of the earth's power to increase that spell could shave decades off of a wizard's life. Being the early death of Southwall's wizards was not what the mage wanted, but a possible solution might be to create something smaller, yet similar to a staff.

  "Carrying the thing around during a battle might turn into more of a burden than would make it useful, especially if we use metal for such a large piece," Sebastian began trying to turn the wizards' minds to the discomfort of carrying such a heavy chunk of wood and metal. A battle mage was used to carrying his sword. In an extended battle, fingers would grow numb and he had seen soldiers drop their weapons because a sword weighing between three and ten pounds had started to feel like the weight of a horse.

  One of the spells Sebastian had discovered were weapons made of just magic. Fire swords and air lances or spears were lightweight yet solid as long as his magic was there to reinforce the construct. It saved his hands, but drained his magic reservoirs; so even then there was that trade off.

  Gefflen looked at him still frowning. It was a look that often seemed permanent while speaking to the mage. "What is a little discomfort, if the result is increasing your power for a battle of magic?"

  "Men lean on staves all the time to help them walk," Erethia added and the mage noted that she cast that knowledge as being a strictly masculine tool to lean on as a crutch.

  Pointing towards the ceiling as if the idea had just struck him, Sebastian proposed, "While that may be; if the staff became too heavy to bear, a man might throw it away when the crutch turned into a burden or it might just become something to lean onto. When the staff was supposed to be something to increase your power, it would just become a very heavy rod.

  "What I am thinking could be much easier to use. Why not shorten the length? A stick or wand just a foot or so in length, bonded with steel or made of it, would be much lighter. Adding a handle or grip would make it easy enough to pass through a loop when you weren't using it. Your body could support the wand almost without notice then."

  It took a moment for the thought to sink in, but when it had the wizards began to exchange glances as if to see if the others agreed. As usual it was Gefflen who had to sign off on it for the others, even though Sebastian noted the looks he often received from the others behind his back.

  "A wand, a wizard's wand, I believe that there has also been writings of such things in the past. Could you truly make one so that the wizards might benefit from one of your creations for once?"

  Sebastian ignored the last bit. For once, as if the magic and swords he had shared with them already wasn't as useful to a wizard as anyone else? They had followed where he had led them, however, and the mage hoped that making the wands too short to tempt them into touching them to the ground would keep the danger he feared from occurring.

  "I think the runes would be similar. I would just have to adjust to the size of a wand as opposed to the flat sides of a blade, but I think that it could be made almost as easily as the Hollow Swords."

  The wizard leader nodded and added, "Perhaps you can work up a working model for one by the time you visit Red Hall? It won't leave you much time; but if you do it before your trip, it will save you time that can better be served teaching other students in the school."

  "I am going to Red Hall? When is that supposed to happen?" the mage asked feeling his stomach curdle at the assumption that he would just go when the wizard snapped his fingers to do so.

  "It is already cleared with the high wizards and your Raven Leros," Gefflen stated waving off the bulk of his question. "Unless there is a reason to delay, we expect you tomorrow."

  Managing to avoid a frown, though Ashleen failed to conceal hers, Sebastian answered, "Then I guess that I will need to spend some time working out the problems that will inevitably arise making that wand. If you have at least worked out some of what I have tried to teach you, my visit shouldn't need to be too long at least."

  Wizard Hassar raised an eyebrow and returned, "Well, you might change your mind. It is quite a bit warmer in Red Hall at this time of year. Our winters tend to be much milder than what you are seeing here.

  "Perhaps we can make it so that you will wish to stay with us beyond a few days, once you feel the warmth on your skin once more."

  The wizards joined him in a laugh, but Sebastian merely smiled. He doubted that Red Hall would be as inviting as returning to Gerid's island far to the southeast. While the mage had never been to Red Hall, especially during winter; he doubted that it was nearly as warm as that island.

  "We will see," was all the more that he would commit.

  On the walk home, Ashleen started to complain, "How can they just ask you to uproot at a moment's notice? That is insane. These wizards just show up, belittle you as a mage, then seeing that you're smarter than the lot of them combined, they get you transferred to their school?"

  "It's not quite as bad as that," Sebastian answered. He noted his breath wafting before his face. It was late enough in the afternoon that what little increase in temperature they had experienced had already faded. Sebastian would have taken her hand in his to try and comfort his girlfriend, but they both were hiding within the warmth of their coats and cloaks. "It's more like when I went to White Hall to build the gate and had to stay on for a time to help train the teachers what I could to pass on to the students.

  "If I can get a few people to understand what I am teaching, then we can get back to what we were doing. At least, if I can train others what I know, then it should free me up to return to being a battle mage."

  Serrena snickered at the thought and shook her head at the younger mage. "You will never be that free, you know? Everyone expects more from you, myself included. I mean, I am not sitting here every day demanding that you make up some new magic or artifact; but after all that you've done over the last year and a half it is kind of hard to believe that you are done.

  "The ravens and high wizards will probably seek to protect you until you're mind has run dry. Of course, the odds of that happening soon are pretty low."

  Sighing at the idea, Sebastian shook his head in turn. "If they could tie me to a chair in one of the king's towers to keep me safe, they very well might try it. I keep telling them that most of my best ideas come to me while I am in the field or free to play around with thoughts that come into my head after a mission. Of course, I don't think the high wizards really care about that fact, but at least Leros seems to understand that I need a free rein to learn."

  Ashleen's blue eyes looked at him from beneath the hood pulled up to contain her body's heat. The girl looked unhappy with the conve
rsation and the whole issue of his leaving. "We'll be returning to the Black Smith each night?"

  Looking up slightly in thought, the owl thought aloud saying, "Red Hall is slightly to the west gaining us an hour or so. We can stay through the afternoons and return using a portal, I would think."

  Serrena broke into the thought and added, "That is the other reason that they will never try keeping you in a tower. You would just use your magic to make a portal and leave anyway."

  It made them all smile, but the afternoon's news had drained them enough to prevent any laughter at the thought.

  "I suppose having gate spells does prevent that," the mage replied.

  "Unless they decide to tie you up so that you couldn't use your hands," Ashleen countered and held back on speaking of using the staff to attain the power he would need to cast a powerful spell like a gate. "A wizard or mage would be useless without their hands. A wilder like me might shock them, but certainly if another wizard used magic and the right bonds you'd be unable to leave."

  Sebastian thought about the idea as he spoke. "Well, that might be true, but it would hardly make someone want to help. The only thing that would likely be on my mind would be escaping after awhile."

  "When the Dark One's wizard hunters had me tied up on that ship, all I thought about was trying to escape. Until they were about to make us use our magic against your ship, I couldn't do anything at all. My hands were tied and I was lashed to a mast with two more wizards. The three of us together could do nothing, but they had magic that could make us do what they wanted. It was frightening."

  "So you jumped into the ocean just to avoid being used," Sebastian nodded thinking of the event. Liam, his water wizard, had been able to use his magic to pull Ashleen from the sea during the battle between the two ships. It had ended up all right and they had freed all the prisoners aboard the black ship; but it had apparently stuck with the wilder all this time.