Battle Mage, The Caves of Time

by Donald Wigboldy

  The pretty blonde apprentice nodded. "I came as soon as it was sealed to try and warn you."

  Her voice sounded sad making Ylena rest a hand against her shoulder for moral support as if she leant her some of the master's strength. "I don't think you could have done anything more about it. The room opened too quickly and without a trigger. Then the cloud came rushing out."

  Looking confused, Katya asked, "Yes, but what is the point? You said that I couldn't have come soon enough. Why? Was it another part of the trap?"

  "We were at separate places and the trap sprung, but not because we opened it here. They were likely set to trigger each other. If this is magic, then the chests were likely magically linked also.

  "That you saved anyone near the cave is lucky, I think, Katya. Only a dragon mage could have done that before the second cloud could have escaped."

  "What would have happened if the clouds had escaped their caves?" the younger girl asked suddenly realizing the potential threat. "Would they have dissipated as they moved?"

  "If this dust doesn't fade with time or contact, then it could very well have been carried eastward. Who knows how many more people would have been killed in one way or another? Maybe entire villages would have aged to dust or disappeared back in time or whatever this white stuff does?"

  "A few bits got on my clothes also and dissolved the pieces that I tore free. They did eventually wear out and disappeared leaving a little bit behind.

  "Could those creatures have left this to kill off the people in the north somehow?"

  "I don't think two chests would be enough to kill everyone, but they were also hidden behind magically formed stone walls. If it was designed for a time release, then maybe that was the plan; but I almost don't believe this sounds correct either."

  "Then what were they here to do?"

  The two young women gave up their guessing game as they moved closer to the others waiting with the horses.

  Katya spoke for the two of them as Falconi Martina confronted them quickly. "Wizard Ylena?" the battle mage questioned her own eyes looking at the dark haired girl.

  The transformed wizard still looked like herself. It wasn't that Ylena had changed that much physically. Her face looked younger, but still as it had been full grown. Ylena did appear a couple inches shorter based on her height beside her apprentice, but the dark haired wizard was easily recognizable.

  "It's her," the blonde apprentice answered for her. "She still remembers everything, but the dust inside the cave seems to have removed time from her body. She's younger, but her mind remains the same."

  Pausing Martina could tell that there was something more. Not just Ylena had been affected and there had been losses.

  Breathing in deeply to steady her nerves, Katya added, "Her magic isn't completely under control. Until we can see if a necklace can be used to put it in check, her voice is exceptionally powerful on men. She's like a wilder siren or something.

  "Also the others deeper in these tunnels disappeared as their lives appeared to reverse back into nothingness."

  "Nothingness?"

  "Ukor went from his current age to a baby continuing on to whatever material conceived him and even that was gone," Katya tried to explain and realized that she didn't exactly know the process of procreation enough to say it correctly most likely. She knew enough from the animals on the farm perhaps, but it wasn't like she had ever been curious enough to watch them doing it.

  Martina looked at the stone that sealed the tunnel and asked, "Is it contained then?"

  "The stone should hold it, but we have no idea how long it will remain active inside the cave," the apprentice summed up what she knew of the matter. "It should be safe for now since stone doesn't seem to be affected.

  "It happened similarly at the other cave. Ylena thinks that the two were likely tied together magically. One trap set off the other."

  Martina sighed and decided, "With Ukor dead, I'm not sure what else we can do here. We'll return to the main company. Why don't you fly ahead and let the captain know what has happened here as well? We'll be there shortly."

  Glancing at her mentor standing beside Martina prettily, Katya suggested, "Maybe I should stay near Ylena just in case her power gets free again."

  A frown from the dark haired girl right before Ylena mimed keeping silent by covering her mouth with her hand was her mentor's answer. Her other hand waved the apprentice away even as the falconi chuckled at her antics.

  "Well, I shouldn't be affected accidentally and there are a few other women in this group as well. If Ylena just stays silent, we should be all right. Any men enthralled by her beauty or ambient magic shouldn't be too far gone.

  "Go warn the captain and the others that we'll be back in a few minutes," Martina ordered with a nod.

  Letting out a small sigh, Katya called up her wings and flew back to the main company wondering what they could do now. The strange magic clouds seemed to be trapped at least and any possible rifts were contained within those same tunnels. Their mission appeared to be more disaster than success, however, and several men and women had died already. Worse, they had died in such extreme ways that there was no way to even honor the dead with burials.

  Even the joyous feeling of flight wasn't enough to make the girl feel happy as she returned to fulfill her orders.

  Chapter 11- Binding

  Sebastian stood in the field looking at the half frozen ground surveying his father's land. Conner stood beside him appearing curious as to what his brother was proposing. Their father, who stood nearby, looked ready to put a stop to his battle mage son's intended actions if things went poorly. Marcel seemed certain that they would too.

  "I can just till the earth like normal, Sebastian. It's the same spring task that I've been doing since before you were even born. Why do you have to bring magic into the mix, boy?"

  It had been three days since he had fixed the plow, but he had returned to find little accomplished. The ground still held ice from North's winter making it hard to the point of risking his father breaking his equipment once more.

  Sebastian had tried to stay out of the way and hadn't come back the next day, but Ashleen had encouraged him to return and he had said that they would the first day.

  Squatting down to look closer at the edge of the field, Elzen examined the frozen earth and had little to say. His upbringing hadn't been on a farm, so the younger mage had less knowledge of what the land had to be like to be ready for planting.

  "If you want to keep waiting, I don't need to do anything," Sebastian answered his father and noted the emotions warring on the older man's face. While Marcel wanted to plow the fields and knew that it wasn't possible by normal means, he also distrusted magic so much that he appeared ready to put off planting instead of letting the battle mages or wizards adjust the fields for him with their magic.

  Grumbling under his breath a moment, his father grudgingly said, "I suppose as long as you don't ruin the land, there isn't much that you can do that I can't fix later."

  It wasn't the most solid of endorsements. Sebastian also knew that using magic could actually ruin a farm. That would take malicious intent to do damage unless a wilder was around and out of control. Magic could do many things and his skeptical parents weren't wrong that it could do a lot of harm.

  Without bothering to fish for a stronger commitment, the mage pointed across the long patch of field towards his younger brother. Edgar planted a long piece of wood on the ground, but the earth was too hard for it to make a dent. Holding it steady as his brother had requested before sending the twins to the far side of the field, Sebastian was able to judge how far to send his use of magic. He wanted clean lines and to make them uniform for the later part of his father's planting.

  There was no actual battle mage spell for this, though there were a few more destructive versions; so the owl had to customize another spell. It was strange that the words meant less to a battle mage than to wizards constrained by their spells written in an anci
ent language of power. He merely needed focus and the word that seemed to fit that was, "Plow."

  Kneeling to touch his hand to the ground, they watched as the earth rippled away from the battle mage. He maintained his attention as the ground was made to look like a plow had just been run through this piece of land, though there were no horse hoof prints or those of the farmer guiding his animal. It wasn't the fastest of spells, but the channel created reached his younger brother and the piece of wood faster than a horse would have even unencumbered by a plow.

  Sebastian gestured for Edgar to shift the board over. Both he and his brother across from him moved to the mage's right preparing to repeat the process.

  "Can't you just do that standing up and channeling the spell through your foot?" Elzen asked as he watched his friend kneel down once more.

  "I suppose as long as I remain careful with the power of the spell," Sebastian answered before repeating the quick spell. The ground rumbled again as the second row formed in front of the mage.

  He stood again and waved his hand for Edgar to shift once more. His attention slipped as Bas glanced to his companion and said, "If you think that you can do better, feel free to make your own. I saw what you did in the field in front of Tenalin. That might create more of a mess here, but it looks like you have good control over earth magic so you could try at least. We can get this done in half the time if we do it together."

  "By that logic, then I should help as well," Ashleen interjected with a smile. "I can furrow the land with a similar spell."

  Looking uncertain of the third assistant, Sebastian looked across the field noting Everet standing ready beside his twin. The idea that Elzen would help had been half decided already, but Ashleen's affinity for the earth had been forgotten by the owl. He always thought of her ability with wind and lightning. While many wizards failed to control those two elements at the same time, it was her wilder ability that made her skilled with both.

  "I suppose that we could take turns here," he suggested gesturing towards the point of the next row. "Unless we start a second field it will be a little difficult to keep the lanes even with three."

  Elzen was already walking off towards the opposite side of the first field chosen for the practice of this spell with Serrena walking beside him. If he should run low on power, the fire wizard could always lend the mage her strength. The same could have been said for Ashleen with Sebastian, but the owl knew that she wanted to help in a more direct way. She was still trying to get to know his family and if she was part of the help here, he assumed that she hoped it would earn her some points with them as well.

  The pretty blonde stood at the edge of the field and extended her booted foot as far as the end of his two rows. "You know, Elzen is right. The magic will work the same from any part of your body touching the ground. Some wizards can extend the point of contact well beyond their touch, even though they are technically still standing on the earth."

  She recited a spell in the magical language. Several words ran into a phrase that made the air around her vibrate to his vision. Even without using a spell to enhance his sight, he could see the power forming around the girl.

  A third line extended quickly from the point of her toe. It was a little faster than his, but he noticed a bit more dust created in the process, Sebastian thought. Of course, he had taken that into account when the owl had used his spell. It wasn't out of control, however, and the dust was still kept to a minimum.

  "Your girlfriend was quicker, but I don't understand the words," Conner said from his left.

  Looking at his older brother, Sebastian nodded. "Ashleen uses wizard spells to do her work. A battle mage uses whatever works. The words mean less than the intent to us."

  Conner gave him a perplexed look before asking, "How is that possible? Don't you two work with the same magic? Shouldn't you both have to do the same thing to make it work?"

  Giving him a shrug, the battle mage stepped past Ashleen to the next point for the start of the line of magic. "In the end, I find that magic is just using your will to make your wishes happen. Line," he added touching his right foot to the place on the ground and made sure to use a different word for emphasis.

  The ground rippled the same way it had the first time while the mage kept his hands in his pockets as if he was simply dipping a toe into water. While he added no extra speed, Sebastian had only glanced at the marker on the far side a moment before turning to look at Conner again.

  "Show off," Ashleen said with a giggle passing him to the next point. Her hand slid across his forearm teasingly before taking her place as she waited for Edgar to realign his marker. The teenage farmer looked surprised at the speed of their work as he hurried to move over another row. "You're stirring up less dirt by going slower, I see."

  The wilder nodded and recited her words of power before sending the next wave of magic roughly at the pace of his previous attempts. As she had noted, there was less dust in the air while taking only seconds longer.

  Conner crossed his arms and shook his head. "You know, you two could probably earn a decent living plowing for the farmers around here," he said with a chuckle.

  "As long as your magic doesn't ruin the land in the process," Marcel countered with a slight frown on his face. There had been the briefest moment of wonder as the man had watched the two magic users seeming to create channels in the earth without any effort in seconds. Unfortunately, his father still refused to see the good in magic, even after his son had done his best to prove it the last few trips to his childhood home.

  There were times where Sebastian wondered if his father would ever relent and see the good magic could do. Certainly it could be dangerous and deadly, but it had many good uses too.

  "It won't harm the land. Wizards have been saving and nurturing the forests and farms of Southwall since before the Cataclysm. They even removed the salt from new islands creating perfectly good farmland from ground that had been under the salt water of the North Sea forever," Sebastian informed him calmly as he took his position for the next row. "No one ever translated this kind of spell for battle mages, because no one ever believed that they could do more than just fight. We've only begun to shift that thinking, but with time there will be more mages capable of helping nature or our farmers."

  A dismissive snort from his father preceded his comment, "But will they bother to come even if they can? Farming is hardly as exciting as fighting monsters and less glamorized. Even you kids used to play at fighting orcs using sticks for swords."

  Conner noted the Hollow Sword attached to his brother's belt and commented, "Bas was pretty good at that back then too. I guess it came naturally when you went to school."

  Grunting with a shake of his head, the mage replied, "Hardly, it took a lot of work and practice to become decent with a sword for real."

  "Ha, that's not what I have heard!" Ashleen scoffed at his attempt at modesty. "They still speak of a time where you fought Falconi Martina to a draw in practice. They make it sounds like you defeated a god or something."

  "Who told you that?" he asked rubbing the back of his neck self consciously.

  "A lot of people actually, when you've been busy and other battle mages have noticed that we are together. They have come over and told me a lot of stories about your time as a cadet. A lot of them talk of their hopes for the future because of you also," the girl bragged making him uncomfortable. She was saying it to try and reach his father, he knew; but Sebastian wasn't one to talk about himself or his accomplishments normally.

  "Should we get a couple sticks and I can challenge the great swordsman?" Conner asked with a laugh. His older brother knew when Sebastian was uncomfortable and how to try to alleviate the problem with humor.

  "I could take it easy on you and use my left hand, if you want?" he laughed before they got back to work.

  With the three magic users creating row after row in seconds, the plot of land was soon ready for spring planting. Eventually Conner even got his rematch with his lit
tle brother. Even using his left hand, Sebastian was able to defeat all of his brothers easily though he tried to make it look good for a little while at least.

  It was good to have fun with his family and by the end his father seemed to forget about the magic that he disliked, at least for a time.

  As Katya landed near the captain; wizards and mages converged to hear her report as well. Forming a rather sizable group around the blond haired girl in her torn apprentice's dress, Katya glanced towards the many faces she knew and realized that she could list off nearly every name now. Her extra activity of mingling with the others had led the diplomacy wizard to gain at least passable relationships with many of them besides.

  "What is your report?" Captain Anon asked looking uncertain of what more to say. Her ragged appearance meant that something had likely happened at least. His tone was gruff, curt and precise in the question's simplicity, however, and Katya knew what he meant.

  "The sites seemed to be linked somehow, likely through magic, and once we triggered this chest it set off a delayed reaction at a second tunnel. A hidden wall dropped open and a second cloud was released. Wizard Ukor and a handful of others were exposed to a white sand cloud as opposed to the black dust we experienced here. The tunnel was sealed before too much could escape, but those caught inside were..."

  Words failed her and Katya had to think out what she had seen. "The white dust was different from the first though similar. Instead of aging our people to dust, time seemed to reverse. Ylena said that Ukor grew younger changing into a young man, a child and then he could no longer be seen as if whatever made the man no longer existed. He was simply erased.

  "Wizard Ylena was exposed too, though she was not engulfed and survived the trap, but she was changed by the contact."

  "Changed how?" the research wizard Nyus asked before the captain or anyone else could think to try. He was Lius' mentor and the only other research wizard that the guilds had bothered to send. It was like they had been sent as an afterthought in case there might be something of interest to study as opposed to an enemy to battle.