Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12)

by Donald Wigboldy

  Leading Palose through the plants, Acheri led him to the edge of the stone floor. A railing was driven into the stone for safety since the edge dropped straight down for twenty feet with a gap between stone and glass. The windows spanned thirty feet across and rose to almost twenty feet above the floor as it dropped down as many feet to join the column of stone below them.

  The room was heated like a botanical garden defying the cold of Ensolus and making it very comfortable to walk through it even without a coat. Acheri wore a dress, perhaps heavier than she would wear during the summer months, but it wouldn't be enough for the bitter cold of winter. Palose still wore his coat, but it was opened since most of the emperor's castle was reasonably warm.

  "This is what he calls an observatory?" Palose asked looking out over the city. The morning sunlight poured through the gap above the walls and towers guarding the city's entry. Often cold and gray, this winter day was just the former this rare winter day.

  "Kolban, both the previous version and the one he is now, often comes up here to look out over the city. I don't recall why now. It seems the longer I am alive, the more his past fades from my memories," the girl mused looking out through the glass.

  "From here, the city looks much more attractive. The stone shapes have more character than when walking the streets down below," the dark mage stated considering the light playing across the other spires holding up the cave roof. One of those spires was the one that had been where Atrouseon had lived. It was his now and had a view of the south as well. Closer to the opening, his apartment enjoyed more of the light and yet the observatory seemed very bright. Perhaps it was because of all the windows or maybe there was something magical at work here too.

  "Why did you bring that woman here, Palose?" Acheri asked turning her dark, blue eyes on the mage as she pulled away from the view before her.

  "The emperor asked that I look for a true seer, one that could see more than just the lines on a hand to try predicting the future. They used to be called Visionaries, among other names; but many died right before the Cataclysm."

  "Cataclysm?" the girl chuckled. "We call it the Arrival, if we label it as a major event at all. You north men trembled before Kolban's wrath. Cities were broken, sunk into the ocean while new islands appeared. He shook your world and it became the 'Cataclysm' to your people."

  "They aren't my people anymore," Palose reminded her. "I was brought back to serve the emperor, so I did. Narissa appears to be what he was looking for."

  Frowning at the seer's name, Acheri complained, "I don't like her. She seems too familiar with him. It is almost like she desires him. She is too old to be interested in a boy."

  That made the dark mage laugh. "If he is the same man that lived for eight hundred years or more, I think that Narissa would be way too young for him; but I don't think that is it anyway."

  Slapping at his arm, Acheri replied, "Don't tease me. You know what I mean. Kolban is in a boy's body and she looks too... too... old," the girl settled on the word bluntly.

  "You know your brother better than I do. You were once a part of him after all. Would he be interested in her?"

  "She's pretty, too pretty to see the future, I think. The woman probably managed to fool you and now she will try to fool my brother. Perhaps I should make her disappear just to save him. You men are too easily swayed by a pretty girl's legs and face."

  "You liked it when she called you pretty too," Palose said with a bit of a smile on his lips. It wasn't a look that Acheri appreciated, but the princess didn't hit him this time.

  Giving an irritated sigh, the princess didn't correct him, but looked out over the city again.

  "Palose?"

  "Yes, princess," he answered curious to hear what she would say now.

  "Do you miss walking south of the wall making your gates? I miss walking with you. Can we go for another walk in the sun some time?" the girl asked wistfully.

  "Of course, you are the princess and I am just here to serve," Palose said thinking it would be what she wanted to hear.

  "We are alone. Just call me Acheri like you used to. All this 'princess this' and 'princess that' isn't necessary between us and you know it."

  Pausing a moment to consider it, the mage nodded and said, "Yes, Acheri, but I don't know when that time will be. I still need to return to the front regularly and recently we have found a wizard from Southwall in the city. We need to make sure that more can't find their way inside of our defenses and we need to finish breaking Sileoth and Southwall's armies on Litsarin.

  "The emperor keeps me very busy I am afraid."

  "Is that why Kolban wanted a seer, because a wizard snuck into the city?" Acheri asked looking at him with less concern than he would have expected after hearing that their defenses had been breached.

  "He asked me to look for one before that happened actually. Maybe the emperor had something troubling his mind that made him want to find one. They say that Visionaries can see the future well enough to place their feet in front of your path, if they wish to. I wonder if Narissa didn't intentionally find us as much as we found her."

  The thought made Acheri frown again. Perhaps she believed that Narissa had done so for a different reason than being able to answer the emperor's questions, but Palose figured that Kolban was an old enough soul that he could see through the woman if she was a fraud.

  He felt a tremor of energy from beneath the castle and looked down. It felt familiar and that familiarity made him frown as he worried that it might be Sebastian. After a moment, the feeling subsided; but it didn't repeat strong enough for him to feel it again until the sensation of the mizard's magic was no longer beneath the castle.

  A much larger spell drew his attention towards the south. It continued on longer than a mage would be expected to last; but, if it was Sebastian, the mage had figured out how to increase his power beyond that of a common battle mage. Palose stepped away from the rail and ordered, "Stay here. I think we have another intruder."

  "But I can help," Acheri offered.

  "You're the princess. I am not as important, so you must stay here or Kolban will kill me."

  The threat was probably unlikely, but it made the princess pause in thought long enough for him to call up a portal and disappear from her sight. She didn't hold the gateway open to follow either. For once, Acheri listened making it easy for Palose.

  Jumping through the doorway, the dark mage recovered almost instantly and spotted Sebastian in front of him. A wicked grin as he readied to attack the mizard spread across his face.

  "Bas, I have you now!" he proclaimed starting to surge forward towards his rival and enemy.

  His joy for another chance at defeating Sebastian made the dark mage a bit indecisive. Trying to decide which spell to begin with, he was stunned when Sebastian frowned and waved him away dismissively.

  "Not now, Palose, gust... door," the battle mage chained two spells together in a row without a pause.

  As the gust rushed forward throwing the dark mage back into the air, the glow of a doorway lit his back. In the path of the flailing man, Palose disappeared into the silver void only to topple through the other side. Rolling end over end, he crashed into solid metal bars.

  His eyes didn't adjust the way he expected. It was dark and Palose realized that he had been cast away only to land in a cell.

  Head and body hurting, the man recalled the moment he had spied the battle mage for the first time in months. Sebastian looked different. He had felt the mage's aura and thought him more powerful than he should be. His face had been both preoccupied and grim. There were other men there and someone lying on a table.

  Had he found a nest of spies just to be cast out casually by the mizard? He couldn't be more powerful. Palose shared the power of five wizards and held the lion's share of Atrouseon' magic inside of him after the warlock's death; but Sebastian had dealt with him like he was a gnat. It couldn't be that the mage had evolved and grown more powerful again?

  Sitting on
the cell floor, the dark mage didn't jump up to attack again. He had been humiliated, but returning now without a plan was likely to end up the same way. If he was to attack his old friend, then Palose had to decide a better plan of attack.

  Magic could make any man capable of throwing someone aside like that. The dark mage needed to remember that he had attacked blindly. Surely, it was just because Sebastian didn't need to recover from the disorientation of the portal spell that had turned his attack fully back on itself.

  Palose sat in the dim light and contemplated what he should do. At least, Acheri wasn't there bugging him about why he was now sitting in a dungeon and not trying to leave already. The silence and dark were friendly companions as the dark mage remained where he was for a time in thought.

  Chapter 29- Power Wells

  Drayden stood looking at the portal as it faded from sight along with their attacker. He looked at Sebastian feeling the power of the man's magic playing around him and asked, "Wasn't that the warlock we ran into in New Harbor, the one who stranded you in limbo?"

  Looking at the captain still holding onto the power coming from the staff, Sebastian replied, "It was Palose, you know, the Betrayer, and my old friend. By the way, it wasn't limbo exactly.

  "There's a silver void that once held the Dark One inside of it. You've passed through it using the portals," Sebastian replied wearily. "Well, I guess that we need to move. He knows where the safe house is. We'd better leave before he brings more warlocks and wizard hunters after us."

  Drayden looked at the others gathered around them. "I have had time to find alternate safe houses elsewhere in the city. We can go to one of them."

  "I need to go to Hala," Sebastian stated. "I'm not sure that my healing of Jana will last. The healers will need to see her and I am not feeling like myself either.

  "It is time to pull back before more of your people get caught. I can't guarantee that I can rescue them again. They know that we're here and that I can use portals into the city, or work with someone who can anyway. They'll be after us and on their guard."

  Shaking his head, the captain replied, "Take the wounded and get them fixed up. If you're actually sick or something, by all means go. I'll stay here. I still have other assets in Ensolus that need to be taken care of."

  "I can't be here to help you if they find you again," Sebastian warned once more.

  "I can take care of myself and without you painting a welcome sign on my buildings, I'm sure that I'll be fine."

  Wanting to ask him if he was sure, Sebastian knew that he was just fighting leaving the spy captain behind. Looking at Jana lying on the table looking pale, as well as at the three spies he had rescued; the mage stated, "I think everyone we rescued had better go get checked out as well. If you need them to come back after things settle down, I will try."

  He pulled one of the talc stones from his pouch and handed it to Drayden.

  "You can break this easily letting me know that you are in trouble. I will come if I can."

  The captain nodded before making it disappear into a pouch on his belt.

  Drayden looked at the other men and women mostly looking worn down. Both women were in need of healing and time to recover. They might never be ready to return to the life of spies, but that would be something to consider later. The men looked little better, though they had survived being outnumbered by orcs and trolls long enough for Sebastian to save them all. One hadn't made it back, but it was still a better result than they might have expected.

  The owl mage just kept getting better, the captain thought to himself. "Take them back to the healers. Like you said, we can see about their return to this kind of life later; but they were discovered here, so I doubt that I will be able to use them in Ensolus any longer with their covers blown."

  Knowing that Drayden was just helping him by preventing the others from thinking that they should stay, Sebastian ordered a new portal, "Door."

  One of the men picked up Jana from the table, while the other one gently herded the other woman through the glowing doorway. Istrias had already escaped back to Hala with his own magic apparently, so Sebastian held the door only a moment longer before nodding to Drayden. He wasn't sure when or if he would see the captain again, but he had given the man what he could to protect him.

  Disappearing through his gate, Sebastian found his room in the Black Smith Inn welcoming him back. The others all looked at him in confusion.

  "Where are we now?" one of the men asked.

  "Hala, inside the inner wall, I thought that it would be better to come here than using the wizard's gate. You can all borrow warmer clothes for the walk to the hospital. It isn't that far from here at least."

  The mage didn't have a lot of extra clothes though it was easy enough to find something in Ashleen's closet for Jana and the other woman. She was able to sit on the bed, while Sebastian retrieved an extra blanket to wrap around her. Unlike the spies who had been taken to the dungeon, she still had her jacket and the clothes that she had on when entering the dungeon; but with her blood loss, even healing the woman meant that they needed to do their best to keep her body warm.

  Gathering jackets and a spare dress for the female spy who still seemed to be in a bit of shock from her ordeal, the other three were ready quickly enough. He helped Jana down the stairs, while the men guided the other woman behind them.

  Madame Hilda and the others watching over the remaining lunch crowd looked shocked by the sight of so many coming from the mage's room.

  "Falcon Sebastian, what are these people doing here? You can't be taking so many people up to your room, at least without warning me," the inn keeper scolded him lightly. She was more confused than angry after their prolonged relationship at the inn.

  "It was an unexpected trip, Hilda. We have injured to move. Would I be able to borrow a wagon to carry them to the hospital?" he asked infringing on their relationship a bit more. "I can pay you for the use of one."

  "You don't need to pay me for the use of a wagon to the hospital, Sebastian; but where did you find someone needing a healer? Why were they up in your room?"

  Smiling at the woman, the mage shook his head slightly as he replied, "It is probably best that you don't ask, Hilda. Just suffice it to say that it involves magic."

  The woman shooed her son away with a wave of her hand. One of Hilda's daughters joined her brother to head out back to get Ivol to set up a wagon for the mage. Turning back to Sebastian, the woman stated, "For a man who is only supposed to be a battle mage, you sure seem to be the center of a lot of magic."

  Grunting in agreement, he replied, "Tell me something that I don't know. I miss my days just leading a squad north of the wall driving off wolves sometimes," the man added settling Jana onto a chair for a moment. His head felt a little dizzy at times as well. The extra magic in the rune wells must be bleeding into his system, the owl thought. He would have to send word to Darius to join him at the hospital or back at the inn soon.

  The high wizard had said that he would be visiting with King Alain and the queen today, since he was here. Other men like Leros and the high wizards were likely to infringe on the wizard's time as well, but unsure of what was going on with the new runes, Sebastian felt that Darius was likely to figure it out faster than one of Hala's healers.

  Once the wagon was brought in front of the inn, they loaded up and let the pair of horses draw them to the healer's guild hospital. Magical healing went far beyond what someone without magic could do. They could pull a man from the brink of death and even reattach limbs, if they caught the injury fast enough. Hala was as much a center for healing as the three schools. Many advancements had been discovered by the wizards here, but Darius had centuries on even the most veteran of Southwall's wizards.

  Guards helped the injured and gathered help from the healers. Sebastian had them bring back the wagon to the Black Smith Inn. It was well known, so he didn't fear them getting lost within the inner city of all places.

  A female wizard with s
hort brown hair hurried to join them looking from Jana to the mage before saying, "Why am I not surprised to see you, falcon? Trouble seems to follow you, doesn't it?"

  "Owl," Jana interrupted the healer, "Sebastian has earned a new title from what I have heard; besides I am the injured one here."

  "If he was so wise, then maybe I wouldn't be seeing him again so soon," the healer countered quickly.

  Jana was placed in a wheel chair and one of the apprentices looked ready to wheel her off, but Wizard Rilenier replied to the spy, "You are also not the only one who needs attention by looking at Sebastian's face. Owl, falcon or whatever bird he wishes to call himself, the battle mage's magic is all out of balance."

  Her blue eyes began to glow as the wizard pushed more of her power into her eyes. She glanced to the woman sitting in the chair and asked, "Is she a battle mage also? I sense magic inside of her flowing through her veins."

  "I had to try something new to save her life," Sebastian replied placing a hand against the wall as he shook his head. The dizziness continued and Rilenier signaled another apprentice to bring a chair for the mage.

  "Well, you look to be a mess again, Owl Sebastian. Sit and we will see to you as well."

  "Send a messenger to the castle and let High Wizard Darius know that I am here. He might be able to help."

  Rilenier's eyes widened slightly and she asked, "He is in the city again?"

  The man nodded even as he glanced back to the wheel chair. Not believing that he needed to be doted upon by the wizards, Sebastian wanted to protest that he could walk; but his head was beginning to swim. He couldn't use his magic to monitor what was going on in his body and Ashleen had been away from the inn with Serrena according to Hilda.

  "He is," the mage answered giving in to the apprentice pushing the chair against the back of his legs. "If I could use my magic on myself, I could probably solve what is going on in my body," he added. "When Ashleen arrives, let her visit me. We have a technique that will let me see what is going on with my runes."