Rilena hadn't decided if she was going to stay on the island or follow Sebastian to Red Hall. He wasn't going to require anyone to follow him to the school. Ashleen and Serrena would be enough to build Red Hall's new gate. Elzen was planning on coming as his security, though Bas had a feeling it was more to get away from the cold for awhile. Everyone was sick of winter and it was still less than halfway over if it lasted as long as normal.
The girl was somewhat pacified, though she continued to glare at Garosh from time to time. With everyone finally gathered together, the mage started to call up a new portal. Ashleen supplied the power behind it once more. They were in the courtyard by the gate held in the fire wizard's yard. In the lee of the inner city wall, towers and defendable walls surrounded the portal gate that was large enough for several men across to enter. It was also much higher than either of the giants' heads, which was even more noticeable as the glow of a new portal was formed by the owl mage.
Wizards in charge of the gate looked on in amazement as a battle mage operated something only a handful of wizards in the city could. They had seen Sebastian do it before, but it was still surprising to wizards who often believed that mages were nearly useless just because their magic reserves were much smaller.
With the large glowing doorway open, Gerid and his accompanying people went through first. If there were soldiers watching for the magic doorway, they would see their leader first and be less afraid. Sebastian had used it only a few times and the same sentries always seemed to be there when he did.
Garosh and the others followed until it was just Ashleen and Bas. The couple stepped through together as the wilder held their link to keep the gate open with his help. Despite her power and familiarity with the magic, Ashleen wasn't comfortable with portals. She had never made one beyond a couple small ones using his smaller squares used for demonstrations.
The gray light vanished, but the silver light of the void wasn't much different as they stepped through one doorway to another. It was actually a series of gates within the void that felt like just two as they moved through them seamlessly. Each gate shortened the distance in his world by hundreds if not thousands of miles in an instant. In a blink, the void was left behind.
Golden light of a late afternoon sunset replaced the cold lighting of Hala and the void. After a moment to recalibrate to the new part of the world they stood in, Sebastian looked at the tropical trees, long grasses mixed with sand blown from the beach only about fifty feet away, and listened to the thrum of waves washing the shore behind him.
Warm air nearly made him start to sweat immediately. His jacket held his temperature inside comfortably for a moment, but his exposed skin told him that it would be cooler to ditch the outer layers designed to keep him safe from winter.
The glow of the gateway disappeared leaving them on a fair sized island. He knew that they were on the north shore roughly a mile away from Gerid's house. It was a decent walk, but in the beautiful tropical air he didn't mind the idea. He didn't have to be back in Hala at all and Red Hall was an instant away using his map.
Unlike the gate on the island, which he could feel without having to use the map; Red Hall had been set up using Darius's magic. Stones had been sent out to various cities and the schools. Red Hall still needed a rune gate to keep out the enemy, but it was ready for him otherwise.
A teenage girl stood with a frown as she spotted the mage.
Gerid stood beside a young rune warrior. His face held a similarity to the girl's. They were both blonde though her hair was lighter than his as was her build, which wasn't surprising since he looked a few years older than his sister.
Sebastian noted the look on the girl's face and wondered why she was angry. He had found her here when the mage had followed Palose's magic to this gate. Destroying it, the owl hoped to hamper both the Betrayer and the Dark one. He had also tested his ability to change the color runes on her as well. Though her skin looked clear of the ink used to make the markings by the local shaman, she still had several basic runes to protect her.
Since the girl was young, she hadn't been given every rune yet. There were no new markings to be seen and since the girl wore just a tied skirt low on her waist and bikini top to cover her small breasts, it would have been hard to miss them even in the waning sunlight.
"Ulia, I think is your name, correct," he said pointing to the girl. "Did you show Kanook and the other shamans how to change the color of the runes?"
Folding her arms, the young teen replied, "Yes, and they were very impressed, now can you change them back? The mark of a rune warrior should be shown off. The rest of the tribe can't see them to know that I am old enough to serve our people."
The older rune soldier laughed and said, "You're a sentry, when mother doesn't send you to school or make you weave with her. You might have a few runes, but you're still a kid, Ulia."
"I am not, Erik!" she complained to her brother and stomped her bare foot making her look more childish for it.
"Whatever you say, little sister," her brother laughed at the girl.
Sebastian looked at her more seriously and said, "I can change them back, but I've found that if you hide them you gain the advantage of surprise in a fight."
Looking unimpressed with his reasoning, Ulia stood her ground with her arms crossed before her. Her lips pursed in annoyance almost made him laugh. Since she wanted to be taken seriously, he did his best to hold it in and stepped closer.
From his right arm, a glow appeared and the barbed wire began to writhe. Splitting into three snakelike projections each had a spike at the end making them look even more like snakes ready to strike. His magic added to their ability to move and had created the split. Without magic inside of them, Ulia and her brother wouldn't be able to create more than one with the runes. A harpoon in their hands, the ink magic had still been able to pierce the hulls of the black ships of the Dark One.
"Of course, I don't like the blue ink much anyway, but anyone familiar with runes wouldn't see this coming, would they?"
Erik stood taller and moved ahead of his sister pointing at the writhing snakes. "How are you doing that? I've never seen a rune warrior able to make that mark do that before."
Pushing magic into the defensive rune on his left arm, the mage made it lift away to make an orange glowing shield. "I have magic. With a little push, I can make the runes do more than just sit on my arm waiting to be struck."
Releasing the flow of his power, the two runes settled back onto his skin showing the original markings before seeming to disappear once more. The color matched his skin making them transparent, though he could actually make them transparent as well. Many of the soldiers outfitted with the new runes preferred them hidden since tattoos weren't that popular with the northern kingdom.
During the exchange, Garosh's eyes began to glow. He had looked curious one moment, but now he was frowning.
Ignoring the man for a minute, Sebastian moved within arm's reach of the girl and placed his hand on her forehead. The maneuver made Ulia look annoyed. His teasing manner masked his new push of magic into the girl. Her rune markings reappeared in an instant, but instead of blue he made them a rosy pink. More feminine in color, it was meant to be a joke as well. He could change the color back to blue just as easily.
Ulia looked down at her left arm following the new markings up her shoulder to her chest. Defensive runes, ones for speed and strength as well were already there covering her in lines. They weren't filled in everywhere, since other runes would likely be added in the future giving her more powers as she grew into them. Sebastian guessed that dangerous runes like the harpoon and knifelike spikes would be given once she had matured and proven herself to her tribe.
Her brother noticed the color change and began to laugh. Surprisingly Ulia looked content with the change.
"Why are you laughing, Erik? My marks are back, so is my status as a rune warrior."
"But they're pink!" he chortled.
"Making me unique," sh
e said before sticking out her tongue at her older sibling.
Sebastian's attention returned to Garosh a moment before the mage used his magic to look for an aura on these warriors. The siblings should have no magic at all, since rune warriors were normal humans given the power of runes to protect the island. There were merfolk that could stay underwater with the same markings, but they had the ability to use amulets to transform. Many of Gerid's people were unable to use the transformation amulets presumably because they were lacking in any magic.
Now his eyes saw what the giant must have noticed. A strange aura that was muddy, if he could describe it at all, was a bit subtle on these two; but it was there. It also felt familiar.
His smile and amusement faded with the awareness. Sebastian knew the signature of magic now making up theirs.
"You were here when Palose made his gate," he accused the two rune warriors. The name made the two look nervous.
"They were likely left as his guardians and perhaps his tie to the islands," Garosh stated moving closer to the siblings. They began to look afraid, while Gerid looked confused.
"What are you two talking about?"
"They've been tainted by Palose's magic. He was here. It was how I returned to the island to make this gate. I destroyed his stones, but when I met Ulia I didn't notice that she was wrapped in his spell," Sebastian explained.
Garosh moved closer and Ulia was pushed behind Erik. The brother looked ready to protect his sister even in the face of the giant.
Shaking his head, the man said sadly, "He killed them and brought them back to serve him as resurrection men."
Shock ran through most of those gathered there. Sebastian knew that Palose had been called back from the dead, though he had never heard the term resurrection man. It was the only thing that had made sense concerning Palose's sudden change of heart. He had come back to Windmeer only a little while after Sebastian had eluded the Dark One's warlocks and werewolves. He had seemed the same, but had been used to create a portal inside the guardian castle to bring a horde of the emperor's monsters into Windmeer to kill everyone and take the city.
The plan had been thwarted, but many people had died.
"If they are dead, then why do they look normal and healthy?" Gerid questioned as the immortal king flanked the pair that he would have referred to as family, though they weren't directly from his line.
Garosh glanced from the pair to his warlocks. Sebastian's eyes followed and found a similar cloudiness to Hereseth and the warlock called Ioran, a red haired elf. Both looked normal, except their auras looked like a blend of more than one.
"Resurrection men are brought back using blood magic or necromancy, if you'd rather. Ensolus still has men willing to use the magic and the emperor doesn't prohibit it. In fact, I have heard that Kolban wrote some of the tomes a warlock can use to learn more about it."
Sebastian's eyes noted the fear in Ulia and Erik. It wasn't something faked and they had acted like one would expect. Ulia still had pride in being a rune warrior and had been angry at his removing the appearance of her marks. Her brother experienced amusement at her expense much like most siblings.
"Will they betray their people here?"
Garosh moved closer extending a hand towards Erik. While Sebastian could feel the extension of his magic to read the young warrior, the spear in Erik's hand looked about ready to be thrust into Garosh's abdomen.
Moving faster than one would expect for a large man, Gerid was on the rune warrior before he could react. His hands clamped over the smaller Erik's arms. The strength of the giant was irresistible and the spear dropped from the man's hand as the muscles were squeezed making his fingers numb.
Erik wore no shirt, though he still wore leather pants and boots. New marks began to glow in response to Garosh's magic. The giant's hand moved along his chest activating the marks until he hovered over a certain one. Closing his hand, the mark flared causing Erik to scream in pain. The glow faded even as the warlock continued to search the pattern of hidden marks.
Sebastian knew runes when he saw them, but these were all new to him. Blood magic, Garosh had called it. Necromancy was outlawed in Southwall, but he could see what might drive a warlock to learn it.
Thinking that these two teens had been killed and brought back to life again, he realized that Palose had covered his trail perfectly. They had likely stumbled across the dark mage or seen him arrive. Standing up to a former battle mage with the power of a warlock and with much of their knowledge, the rune warriors hadn't had a chance against him.
He looked at Ulia who had paled watching her brother's pain. Though young, the girl knew that she was looking at her fate in the near future.
"Was there anyone else that he killed that he did this to, Ulia?" his voice was gentle and the mage approached her like he would a scared child. His hands were empty and lowered, but he was a battle mage. He was never truly unarmed and the runes could be activated in a blink.
"Nolan," she said numbly. "He and Erik held my arms while the master killed me."
Tears began to fill her eyes to tumble down her cheeks. Ashleen gasped hearing her words and the wilder wasn't alone. Tears were in many of their eyes. Ulia was very young, much too young to have been killed by the dark mage or anyone. Her life had been cut short.
The strangeness of it was that Palose had restarted that life once more. Sebastian wasn't sure what to make of it. Garosh made it sound like they were still alive, but his explanation had been brief.
He looked at Hereseth and asked, "What is it like?"
The warlock jumped at the mage's insight. Acting like he needed to justify why they had used dark magic, the man replied, "The assassins killed so many of us."
He held up his hands. Faint marks across one forearm were echoed on his right hand and fingers on display. "Palose fought through our spells. The wraiths were destroyed by him and the emperor's brother; but that wasn't enough. They wanted Garosh dead and anyone they could find who might side with our lord. He wanted peace with Southwall and they wanted us all dead."
In a calming voice, Sebastian asked again, "What is it like?"
"Garosh and Verian used both healing magic to put me back together and blood magic to restore my life. I was just the first. Any who could be saved were brought back and we still lost many who were too damaged to heal."
His eyes were determined as he said, "Garosh set no wards or conditions on our return. We are exactly as we were in our first lives."
Another gasp of pain caused Erik to go slack in the immortal's hands. Gerid helped him sink to his knees. Staring ahead of him, Erik could only utter the words, "I let him kill her."
Garosh looked from Gerid to Sebastian as he said, "I can break the conditions set, but if I do more it would kill him. He is part of Palose's circle. The magic that resurrected him ties all those involved together. Hereseth, Ioran and I are joined together with the rest. My magic is greater than it had been too. We found that the weakest of us grew stronger. The strongest lost a little bit of power as well, but I don't think anyone brought back cares that his or her power is slightly less for it."
His gaze lingered on Sebastian as the giant continued, "Palose is a lot stronger than he was, isn't he? He was just a battle mage in strength, but now he wields a warlock's power."
Nodding at his assessment, Sebastian asked, "So this is the source of his power?"
"A warlock named Atrouseon resurrected him to betray you. He must have grown in strength with their shared pact. If he just brought the rune warriors here into his circle, then the shift in power would have weakened him. He must have found some warlocks to join with him."
Garosh looked at Ulia with a sigh and said gently, "Just hold still little one. I am only trying to remove the controls he placed on your mind. It might hurt a bit, but I think most of your brother's pain comes from realizing that he harmed you."
Sebastian moved to place his arm over her shoulder. It put him in danger should the girl decide to try to atta
ck him. He didn't have the defensive runes all over his body to form armor like Ulia had, so his trust came from feeling that the girl wasn't someone who killed by nature.
"It'll be all right," he said trying to assure her.
Ulia held still, but as Garosh started the process, Sebastian felt a surge of power from within the girl. It was magic, but it wasn't the washed out leavings that were in her brother. This power came from Ulia.
Garosh was thrown back even as Sebastian pushed his magic into the defensive runes making them expand along his exposed side creating partial armor. A flash of light and explosive force threw him back from the girl.
Caught off guard, the rest of those gathered covered their eyes and stumbled back. It wasn't some safeguard set by Palose to guard his creation. This was the magical tantrum of a wizard panicking. Unlike a wilder whose power grew unchecked over time, this felt like the first loss of control over her magic.
Gerid stepped through the power radiating from the girl and placed his right hand over her left arm. Holding her hand, the immortal slipped a large ring over her two smallest fingers. The magic flowing out of the scared girl fizzled out appearing contained.
Looking closer, Sebastian recognized the ring. He had used it once to protect himself in a jungle corrupted by dark magic. Yara had been at his side and they had walked through the raging plants making a path in the face of the ring. It was magical in a sense, but it mimicked the nature of Gerid. He was resistant to magic and the ring pushed the boundary by forcing magic away when worn.
Ulia was breathing hard in a panic attack as she looked at the man considered a father to the people of the island. The giant tried to soothe the girl as he stroked her hair. "Don't worry, Ulia, you are amongst friends. I won't let you be harmed, child."
Garosh picked himself up and after a minute to let the girl catch her breath, he reminded Gerid, "This might hurt as I remove the runes, but it won't last long. I'll try to be as gentle as I can."
Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) Page 16
