Battle Mage, The Caves of Time

by Donald Wigboldy

  A pretty blonde haired girl stood and moved into their way. Her forehead wrinkled slightly before asking, "You are that battle mage, Sebastian, right?"

  He nodded.

  "Hmm, I thought that you'd be taller, but I suppose that your sister isn't that tall either."

  His sister was about Ashleen's height, but his addresser was only marginally taller, he noticed. Reading her aura almost as an afterthought, Sebastian noticed a wizard of reasonable strength. She might be above average, though it was a little harder for him to be certain where that exact line was set.

  Before he could answer, Ashleen retorted, "He's tall enough."

  Sebastian shrugged, "If you're too big, you're a bigger target on the battlefield too. Maybe wizards don't consider that as good if they need someone blocking for them, but otherwise I don't usually have too many problems with my size."

  "Me neither," Ashleen added with a smirk making him roll his eyes.

  The girl addressing them didn't seem to get it, but as an apprentice wizard that wasn't exactly surprising. They were supposed to remain chaste if their guild leaders did their work properly after all.

  Her eyes dropped noting the flash of silver in the light of the sun peeking through the windows set high on the south wall. "How does a battle mage come by so much money? Your sister wears an expensive looking necklace and your girlfriend has that fancy bracelet, unless she has a richer boyfriend than you."

  Sebastian gave a minimal frown as his eyes followed her look a moment. "I am no longer just a battle mage, first of all. I work for the king directly. Maybe if you ever do anything of worth, someone will reward you as well. That means you need to work to earn that respect though."

  Looking unimpressed, the girl frowned back without trying to hide her emotions. "You've come up with a few spells, but that doesn't explain anything. Did you steal it from someone?"

  Ashleen's eyes turned dangerous, but she managed to maintain calm in her voice, "You have some nerve, little girl. You know nothing of the world or what we have done or seen."

  "Little girl? I am taller than you and probably almost the same age besides."

  Reddening slightly as her anger began to build, sparks began playing along the wilder's skin just enough for him to notice. Sebastian took Ashleen's hand receiving a familiar shock.

  "Don't you have studying to do, apprentice? Someone in your position might want to remember that you are speaking to a full wizard and battle mage. You might be close in age, but you have a lot to learn."

  A pair of wizards poked their heads out of a doorway behind the girl. Office workers for the high wizard, they must have been used to dealing with arguments outside their door from time to time. A woman dressed in blue robes noted the three and asked, "Apprentice Ristol, do I have to summon Wizard Yferrus to talk to you again? Girl, either go to lunch or to your room to study... now!"

  "Yes, ma'am," the girl said turning with a smile to the older wizard. She appeared chipper and carefree as if she hadn't just been trying to pick a fight with him a moment ago.

  "Oh, Falcon Sebastian, you're back?" the woman asked stepping into the common area followed by the other wizard. Both appeared genuinely happy to see him. More wizards seemed to appreciate the battle mage as his new lines of magic and spells were shared with wizards and mages alike, he noticed.

  "Just visiting," he said with a smile and nod.

  "You should really think about coming to teach. I've worked with a few wizards that have brought your new spells and shared your take on magic. It is quite impressive, especially considering that you didn't go through a research wizard's type of training." The air wizard turned to the woman dressed in brown and asked, "Don't you think so, Margareth?"

  "If the boy has time, Ceref; he stays busy as you have already noted," the woman who was likely from the branch of research wizards returned smiling at Sebastian as well.

  "Well, you're very popular," Ashleen stated under her breath as Sebastian acknowledged the women with an answer than committed him to nothing. The wizards probably didn't know of his change of service, though working for the king didn't make him any less of a battle mage he supposed.

  Doing his best to politely excuse them to go find the object of his search, Sebastian hurried along finally pushing through the doors. Ashleen looked up noting a high ceiling. Wood flooring clacked with each step of her boots. It was probably the only room inside with a floor like it. Polished and reasonably smooth, there were pads in places around the room. This was a gymnasium of sorts. Wizards exercised here from time to time, but mostly it was a place that cadets could use to train in when the weather was too bad to use the outer courtyards.

  Even though many had gone to eat, there were still a handful of cadets practicing their art. Their entry drew more attention once again. "I think that they're just looking at you actually, Sebastian noted jokingly. "It isn't often that battle mages get to see such a pretty wizard walking through here."

  "Right," she replied without sounding convinced. Ashleen lifted her arm with the silver bracelet on it. Five small blue stones ran along the strands of silver looped around her wrist with a sixth larger stone being the apparent center piece of the looped metal. Thin runes marked the surface of the wound band. They could be activated with her magic, the wizard knew, but mostly the piece of jewelry was just pretty.

  One of the students who had been sparring with a young woman separated from his partner and moved towards the visitors. He was almost as tall as Sebastian in height though a bit lighter in build. Both he and the girl, who had started to follow him, had heavy cloth wrapped around their hands. He guessed that they had been boxing or perhaps using one of the other bare handed martial arts. Sebastian ended his approach for fear of running into the younger cadet.

  "Owl Sebastian, are you here to teach us more magic?" the boy asked eagerly.

  "Not today, it is my day off," he replied with a half truth. With his new position, Sebastian tended to follow his own work schedule. Weeks of training Kardor's wizards had gone on without a break, but he could take time off any time he wished as long as no need or emergency came up from the king. A messenger could change his plans quickly enough, the agent knew.

  The cadets looked disappointed. Though the girl appeared too shy to say anything to him, the boy said, "It would be an honor if you ever have the time, sir. I've heard so much about you. It would... would... well just be an honor like I said, sir."

  Awestruck, the boy was already repeating himself nervously.

  "Perhaps soon, a mission has been keeping me busy but soon," he said with a smile watching the cadet's face turn to disappointment. The mage wanted to sigh. It was the same look his elders gave him over the last year or so every time they looked to him to create a new spell as if his ability worked on command. Magic rarely just came by inspiration, and never just from an order to make something up. "Besides, the teachers know all my secrets. If I come up with something else, maybe then it would be worth your time."

  "Yes, he's dried up like an old well in summer," Ashleen added still holding his hand. The cadets glanced at her as if surprised to see her there. It didn't surprise her in spite of Sebastian's words that she was too interesting to be missed by the mages.

  "Who are you?" the boy asked sounding less rude than confused by her presence.

  "She is Wizard Ashleen from Kardor. She was one of the top champions in Winter's Edge last year."

  Other cadets had started to move towards them noticing who the boy was talking with as they grew more excited as well.

  The cadet frowned slightly and retorted, "That was a wizards' tournament. You should have won, but they set it up unfairly to keep you from winning from what I have heard. They say that you are more powerful now than then and could probably win it, if they were brave enough to invite you to another one."

  Though he wanted to dispute his increased magical strength, Sebastian actually realized that it was true. On the other hand, the rest of the rumor repeated was false. "I
went there knowing the rules. Other wizards had a hard time finishing as well, and I went far enough in the tournament to at least prove a point to the wizards that we have more potential than they realized, right? Winning it wasn't important at all, so feel free to remind the other cadets of that.

  "Being the strongest or best wasn't the point of entering the tournament. A lot of very strong wizards were defeated by the time my stamina ran out."

  "They forced you to fight too many times in a row," the cadet complained.

  "Again, the rules are the rules and if I were to do it again, I now know more like you said. I'd be a veteran and figure out how to manage my power to make it last at least until I was forced to use it all up anyway," he said with a sympathetic smile. "You just keep practicing. One day maybe you'll be in a tournament like it and win it instead."

  Crossing his arms defiantly, the boy replied, "If you became our teacher, I bet we'd show those wizards soon enough."

  Sebastian's eyes flicked to Ashleen. The wilder was calm enough and the cadet's words didn't seem to bother her at all. "Well, like I said, keep practicing and put your all into becoming more powerful. It doesn't matter what other people believe about battle mages. In fact, it is better that they underestimate us, don't you think?"

  "Why?" the boy asked in confusion.

  "It is easier to defeat an opponent that overlooks you and doesn't prepare. Now, you all should get back to work. I hope to see you one day fighting and showing that battle mages are as worthy as any wizard."

  A small cheer went up at his words from the students gathered around them. He hadn't meant it to be something to be cheered, and was glad enough when the cadets took his advice and returned to their practicing.

  "Like I said, you are awfully popular around here," Ashleen giggled quietly as they crossed the last several feet to an open doorway set in a curved part of wall.

  Chapter 4- Revisiting Old Haunts

  The gymnasium wall was an odd shape. Expected to be a simple rectangle, this room was also against the outer wall of the school. Built both for defense like a castle and set up for classrooms and housing for the magic students, the school had five towers attached to the straight walls. Centered on the back wall of the remainder of the school, the circular shape extended inside the walls as much it did outside.

  These towers served as additional offices for some, while others just held staircases to move between floors. This particular tower held the offices of the leaders of the battle mages. No raven was here to head the school. Their place was said to be nearest the danger to Southwall. Ravens served and guided the rest of the corps from the guardian cities for the most part, though with the trouble happening in the southern cities, he had heard talk of sending one somewhere close to lead whatever forces might be needed in the near future.

  Entering the curved room, they spotted a couple of desks as well as a staircase leading upwards along one side. A man dressed in falcon brown glanced up and took a moment before clarity filled his eyes, "Owl Sebastian, I didn't expect you here. Is there something I can help you with?"

  Sebastian was pretty sure that he had never met this mage. Falcons were chosen to assist the falconi in charge and rotated in and out fairly regularly, so he guessed that this assistant was rather new.

  "I came to see, Falconi Garrett. It wasn't a scheduled visit or anything."

  "Ah, well, I believe he is in his office," the falcon stated pointing upward.

  Nodding, Sebastian said, "Uh, thank you, falcon."

  Though the mage corps was an arm of Southwall's military, this was only a school and training facility. The falcon looked ready to talk with him more, but didn't bother to interfere as they moved to the stairs and began to head upward. He wasn't security for the falconi and simply went back to the paperwork that he had been studying when they had arrived.

  The next floor found a room similar to the other and the stairs continued to circle as they went to the next floor. A man dressed in black looked up as the pair crested the rise onto the flat stone making up this level. His brown eyes matched his full beard and the slightly mussed looking hair on his head. Noting who it was; Falconi Garrett's eyes widened slightly as a smile crossed his face.

  "Sebastian, what brings you here today?"

  "I can't just visit my old teacher?" the younger mage asked with an echoing smile.

  "Ach, really do you have to use the word 'old' on me? I'm not really that old after all," Garrett replied. He looked a bit tired and Sebastian wondered what had made his former mentor so worn.

  "You look tired at least," he replied. "Does it have something to do with this odd training session or whatever that I heard left from here recently?"

  Brief confusion passed across his face before the falconi realized what he meant. "Ah, it wasn't for training exactly. Who told you it was training?"

  "I guess that I just inferred that it must be. There was some trip to the Dimple Mountains. I just assumed that an early training run had been scheduled, since there is usually at least one a year to evaluate the students."

  Shaking his head, Garrett clarified, "I am not sure how much I should share, but I suppose that this falls in your area of expertise. There have been some unusual uses of magic in the mountains this year. Well, I suppose that it started with the breech last fall that you likely know about."

  "Katya and some of the others mentioned that a small army of creatures that we have never seen before came through a doorway made of magic unlike the type that we use. They drove them back with just the first years and their mentors though.

  "I assume that guards have remained there since then."

  "Until it grew too cold actually," the falconi informed him. "A gate wizard crew has been based here keeping regular watch on the mountain, not that they haven't always; but they've been extra diligent since the skirmish with this new group of travelers. There were some weaker magic incidents since the Dark One's death, but they were faint and disappeared so quickly that we weren't surprised that the search parties sent didn't find anything. With the snow and cold, they didn't want to spend too much time up there but they did try from what I am told."

  "Did they send another group to try again?"

  Shaking his head, Garrett answered, "Not for that reason, no; the portal watchers caught another use of magic that corresponded to the opening that brought their army last time. This was much smaller, but we sent word to Hala and a company was sent to join the gate wizards in checking the mountains. It was close to the spot that they arrived last summer."

  "And there were no guards up there then to see what they might have done?"

  Again the falconi shook his head. "If these breeches continue, we'll need to set up a fortress in the foothills and make a base to deal with this. Our wizards believed that the original gate was sealed shut permanently, but it appears that they can still find us and open their doors."

  "I heard about them. The ones I spoke to said that the gate didn't have the same coloring or feel as the ones we make."

  "If they are from another world, it wouldn't be that surprising to see their wizards had different spells from ours."

  Considering his words for only a moment, Sebastian asked, "Why did they send Katya along? Do they think that she has some insight into this matter?"

  Falconi Garrett shrugged, "I was only consulted on the battle mages assigned from White Hall as security."

  "They needed more security in addition to that sent by Hala?"

  "A group of research wizards were sent as well as a couple portal magic using wizards and the gate closing team. Your sister probably went along because her mentor was assigned to the mission first. A few other wizards went with their apprentices also.

  "Your sister is a bit of an oddity in that she's already seen a lot of combat in Litsarin as a dragon mage. She can take care of herself or flee faster than most if things get too dangerous, Sebastian. Don't worry."

  Easily said, but the mage did worry. "Well, I guess that I can't free
her from the school for a day or two to visit our family, if she isn't here."

  "You can still fly to your parent's home to visit, Bas," Ashleen stated crossing her arms defiantly. He had seen her family recently and, while he could argue that was harder on him than her, Sebastian knew that the girl had become more interested in visiting with his because of that. They had become so close that it was almost natural to bring her to meet his parents, he supposed, though nothing was ever exactly normal being a battle mage.

  Sighing, the mage replied, "I suppose that we can fly there and set up a temporary portal point at least. When Katya gets back, I can take her to the farm in an instant then."

  Garrett noted the back and forth between the couple with a bemused smile. "So you're going to show her off to your parents, it must be serious."

  Reddening slightly, Sebastian said, "Well, we're together all the time and I'm no longer trapped in a system that can send me away to another base to uproot any family I might create. You know how hard it can be on the soldiers in Southwall's army. We never know how long a tour will last or where we will serve next. With portal magic, I can go nearly anywhere and can return to my own bed almost every night."

  "Technically it is the Black Smith Inn's property or the Alamores," Ashleen reminded him. "You are just renting the room."

  "Having our own place sounds good until you remember that we would have to make our meals and take the time to do our laundry," Sebastian chuckled. Though they hadn't spoken of such things, it had come to mind. They couldn't live in the mage corps run barracks anymore with his current disconnection from the corps anyway.

  Ashleen made a face and she shook her head, "I kind of forgot about that and staying at the Black Smith has come to feel like home. Hilda has become like an aunt and the inn is like staying with extended family."

  "That we pay monthly to stay," he chuckled.

  "So you've made a home away from the corps?" Garrett questioned rhetorically.