Battle Mage, The Caves of Time

by Donald Wigboldy

  Katya followed close enough at Ylena's heels to keep her in sight as they moved down the hill. She could only see two others nearby with the dust cloud covering everything. The ground even as far as the rise had been cleared of everything down to the stone. Bare rock was laid open everywhere in the valley as far as she could tell.

  Noting her mentor still walking barefoot as if it was nothing to her, Katya wondered at her childhood. If the beautiful wizard had spent her youth like this, had she been poor or a child on a farm? Making a mental note to ask her friend sometime, Katya realized that she wasn't a great friend if she hadn't asked her before. Ylena was her mentor, of course, but she still considered her a friend.

  "Nyus?" Ylena called out bringing the blonde haired girl's eyes up from her path to the young woman in front of her. She called out again as they continued to move forward, but Katya wasn't even certain if they had walked far enough to be in earshot of the wizard if he even lived.

  A roar of wind sounded above her and to the left. Swirling in the dust, a tornado controlled by one of the air wizards sat high in the air trying to draw the dirt to it. Another roar sounded farther back probably following the direction of whichever wizard had started the first. The air wizards were the only ones with the control to hold such things, but they only had four true air wizards and one of them was Arwen, an apprentice.

  The noise made calling out almost useless as well, Katya quickly realized. They might see sooner, but the noise was a hindrance to their search.

  Ylena suddenly ran forward to drop to her knees in her protective swirl of air. Hurrying towards her mentor, Katya held her breath before dropping her shield. The spin of her spell would have cancelled out Ylena's but, jumping into the sphere of her mentor's influence, the apprentice was held safely by the other's swirling wind as she looked down to see Nyus on the ground before her.

  "Is he...?" she started worriedly.

  "He's alive, but barely. We need to get him to the healers or the healers to him."

  They had four healers as well. None of them had been unfortunate enough to be killed in either of the caves, but Katya wondered if the wizards in yellow would be able to find them in the dust anytime soon. She also wasn't sure if they would be able to move Nyus if he was injured.

  Sighing, Katya thought of her brother. He was a battle mage, but he was a rarity that also knew how to heal. But Sebastian wasn't here either, the girl chided herself.

  "Do you know any way to heal?" she asked the dark haired girl kneeling with the battered looking man's head in her lap.

  Shaking her head, Ylena replied, "No. Can you create a few flares of light to bring the healers here, Katya?"

  Her voice trembled to her apprentice's ears. Wondering if the two wizards had been closer than she had thought in their past; Katya nodded and thought of the brightest types of magic that she could cast. Mumbling the words and moving her fingers in the appropriate way, the apprentice sent out bright balls of light. It was a variation of one of the spells her brother had discovered, she thought absently again. Even without him there, Sebastian seemed to be with her in spirit, Katya believed as she waited for more help to arrive.

  Chapter 13- Breaking the Seal

  Four figures moved back into the shelter of a stone outcropping.

  "What in the hells was that?" the blonde haired elf asked keeping his back to the base of the mountain wall. He was the only one without the protection of magic among the four, but a shield of air spread out from the only man with brown hair among them. Three also had the pointed ears of elves.

  "Has Southwall discovered a new weapon?" an elf with a goatee asked rubbing the facial hair thoughtfully. "The emperor is dead and still they wish to destroy the remaining empire?"

  The tallest among them responded, "I am not certain that this destruction was planned, Yelon."

  "But Torva, where better to test a weapon of such destructive abilities than out among the mountains that they believe are deserted?"

  Sighing, the leader of the small squad thought on his cousin's words. "Effian, do you think that they could possibly know that Sanctuary is out here?"

  The man with the brown hair answered, "I can't know the abilities of the wizards which scout, but I think that if they had discovered our refuge they wouldn't have stopped here."

  Torva peeked around the wall of stone to look at the cloud of dust still holding over the valley between the mountains. Their small squad had come to inspect the strange magic that had been felt by some of their wizards. Some of those who used magic in Sanctuary were sensitive to the feeling of portal magic, though the same wizards had told him that this felt different from their spells as well.

  The warlock hunter had been the one to find the site for the new school, which had been dubbed Sanctuary. In the aftermath of the fall of the emperor, more than just wizards, warlocks and apprentices had been moved away from the dangers of an orc driven regime. Humans and elves had either slipped away through an escape tunnel to the lands southeast of Ensolus or been taken by portal to these mountains south of Southwall's formerly impenetrable Northwall. They had built a school that was equally a fortress and a town's worth of buildings below it as well. There were farms, or at least future farms, once the weather permitted their attempts to plant. Animals had been brought from many of the outlying farms of Ensolus along with feed intended to last for many months.

  It was still a small community, fragile and inserted into the wilds of a country set against them. While they had once fought against these people, Torva and those gathered here hoped to one day join them as friends and allies. For now, however, Sanctuary was supposed to remain a secret and hidden. This strange magic that had drawn Southwall's forces was the same that had made the warlock leery of coming here, but the place chosen had been their best bet.

  They had watched this command of well over a hundred men and women from the safety of the next mountain to the west. Hiding in the shadows, something that he and his hunters could do very well using their magic, the four had been watching Southwall from the time they had entered the valley. While they hadn't dared to check out the magic in the caves, this army had brazenly gone in and they had paid for their audacity with several lives. Effian had kept track of their numbers and knew how many had already died.

  He had also watched the girl who could fly with her strange magical wings as she had raced to save another woman. The changes caused by the magic had been witnessed as well. It was dangerous and now these crazy Southwallers had just set off an explosion that could likely level all of Sanctuary if it was placed inside the fortress.

  "We had better continue to watch. When the dust settles, Effian you'll need to keep an eye on these wizards. They could be the death of us all. We need to be wary."

  The wizard nodded to the man who many considered to be the leader of their new community. He wasn't the head of the school, but Torva and his lover seemed to be the ones who joined them all together and maintained the peace. He also led the remaining wizard hunters. Torva was the fledgling city's protector and he would do everything that he could to keep them from being destroyed if this was Southwall's plan.

  It was still early in Hala when Sebastian rose to go to the restaurant area of the Black Smith Inn. The mage had grown up on a farm and was used to getting up early even before he had gone to White Hall. There he had often risen with the first bell of the day. During the winter, that bell was rung in darkness and the sun was only just beginning to lighten the world with the second bell, but Sebastian had usually been finishing his breakfast or was already in the practice yard by that time.

  Ashleen had barely stirred when he had kissed her on the forehead. Unlike him, the daughter of a lord had grown up sleeping in compared to him. She could also blame being born further west, but the wilder had been living with him here for months now. Her internal clock was simply set to rise sometime closer to midmorning.

  Looking at his girlfriend each morning and often having to slip free from her embrace; th
e young man felt good about each day. She was a positive part of his life now and held his heart even if he needed to extricate his body from her arms nearly every morning.

  "All alone for breakfast again?" the voice of Hilda Alamore seemed amused by the site of the young man in her nearly empty main room. Other than the woman, a sleepy looking younger version of the woman leaned on her elbows on the counter where Hilda often stood as she checked in her guests.

  "Well, it would be stranger if Ashleen were up already, don't you think?" he retorted with a smile. This woman was almost like a second mother to him. She was surprisingly protective of her long time guest. Sebastian and Ashleen had kept their room in the Black Smith even when occasional travels had kept them away from their comfy bed. She worried over them when they were ill and, though she didn't pry too closely, Hilda would ask about their days.

  "True, that girl does love her beauty sleep. It also does wonders for her, so I suppose I could learn a thing or two from her. You'd think that she was a princess the way she sleeps in though," the woman added making him smile again.

  It hadn't been brought up to Hilda that Ashleen was the daughter of one of the most important lords in Kardor. Even if she was, Ashleen was also a wizard and wilder. People with magic were rarely prized as leaders, however. Kings tended to prefer others in power that couldn't also level a castle with their spells.

  "Are you going to wait for them today or should I just have Henry start up the stove for you?"

  "If he's up, I could go for some eggs and maybe some ham."

  She nodded. "And your usual sides."

  He nodded back. This was a bit of a routine and his diet, at least for breakfast, didn't change very often. She could have just asked if he wanted his usual, but Hilda let him order anyway.

  Barely served, Sebastian was surprised when a man came hurrying through the front doors. He was dressed like a royal courier and his eyes found the mage immediately.

  "Owl Sebastian," he called out. Though the title was technically his battle mage one, he merely waved the courier towards him. This was one that he had seen before as well.

  Pulling an envelope from a pouch slung across his chest, Sebastian wondered if the courier had more messages to deliver this early in the morning. Often while traveling there would be messages waiting for him at the desk. This was a rarity to see someone so early and before the rest of his friends had risen from bed.

  The man released the envelope to his care and promptly turned to leave. Sebastian guessed that either he was supposed to go to the castle or the message inside would be his direction without needing to send an answer back with the courier.

  Breaking the seal, Sebastian quickly read a rather brief letter. It was a combined message telling of word from White Hall. Wizards from both the school and Hala had discerned a powerful magic signature. It had come from the Dimple Mountains and specifically in the area that had been in danger at the end of last summer. He knew of the battle that his sister had fought alongside the other apprentices and their mentors as well as a new mission sent to approximately the same place.

  The message suggested that he might wish to go to White Hall for more information. Since it was from the king's office, Sebastian had to assume that the suggestion was closer to an order. King Alain was worried that something had happened and knew that his only agent capable of getting there quickly was the owl.

  The benefit of receiving this information in Hala, which was far to the east of both the school and the mountains, was that he had time to wait. Though he could rush to White Hall, the odds that he would be waking people up with the knowledge he needed was likely. It would be dark and still a couple hours before the first bells would ring at the school. If he was brazen enough to try heading directly to the mountains without that information, he would arrive in darkness with no preparation or knowledge of what he might face as well.

  A cup and a pot of kaffe were brought out along with a glass of prapple juice. The mage had begun to drink the warm black liquid more often since leaving White Hall. It gave one extra energy and helped awaken him with its strong scent as well as whatever was in it that made the drink so effective.

  "Bad news?" the inn keeper asked him seeing his face as he had read the message.

  "Hard to say, though it isn't likely good," he responded cryptically.

  "Ah," the older woman said with a knowing nod. It was another bit of information that the young man couldn't share with the general population. Sebastian wasn't always the most forthcoming with what he was up to normally anyway since almost everything he did was either a secret of the nation or one of his own. "Will this keep you close or send you far away again? I do suppose that you somehow manage to return nearly every evening one way or another with your magic. I never know whether you are in your room or have disappeared on us, however."

  "Magic is handy," he replied. "We should be back tonight, I would guess though."

  Again he omitted the key information requested by the woman.

  "Are you taking your girlfriend with you? It is alright that I call her that isn't it? You two are rarely separated. Those days when you were... lost she certainly was beside herself with worry. Even good friends don't fret like that."

  Hilda implied an unfortunate few weeks when he had been kidnapped to New Harbor, another place that was dangerous. It was also a city he wished that he was allowed to delve into as well.

  "Girlfriend wouldn't be an unwarranted title," he replied with a smile. "Ashleen and the others will likely all accompany me. We've become a team of sorts."

  "It is good to have close friends that you can trust that you can bring with you," the woman acknowledged.

  Breakfast arrived and Sebastian delved into it calmly. He could wolf his food down like most soldiers. In the field and under certain situations for training, they were often kept with little time to eat. It cultivated bad table manners, but prepared them for the need which might happen in the field. The enemy wasn't always so accommodating when it came to having time to eat.

  Elzen was next to arrive followed shortly by Serrena. She looked put together for the day. The wizard wasn't as driven by her need to look good as she was at improving her skills in magic, but since dating Elzen, Sebastian had noted that she seemed to be trying harder with her preparation. As Ashleen had told him, it also took girls longer to get ready. She never explained why, but the owl knew enough to leave it at that.

  Shoving the envelope towards the other mage, who shared it with Serrena, Sebastian said quietly, "We need to go to White Hall and find out more about this. I assume that they will want us to transport to there to check out this new source of magic. The wizards sensed something yesterday that was supposed to be many times greater than any of the portals. We'll need to check on the company that went to check on the rifts and see what happened, since they haven't made contact since the event happened."

  "Do you think this enemy that they fought brought a new weapon to destroy them?" Elzen asked keeping his voice low as the mage's eyes glanced around warily looking for anyone too intent on their conversation.

  Shrugging, the owl answered, "It is too hard to say based on what little is in the message. I am not even certain that anyone in Hala would know, maybe not in the school either. Few wizards can create portals and fewer still can find them without a lodestone."

  "Which means it is the owl to the rescue as usual," Serrena stated with a shake of her head. "You left the mage corps and seem just as drawn into their issues. We all are, since we're with you, of course."

  "If I wanted to retire and hide, I could have done so. I still want to help and protect the country. If I discover more magic, I am also more than willing to share.

  "Remaining in the corps, I was more likely to be retired to one school or another and kept away from danger just so that they could hope I would still discover more magic for them."

  "You learn more by doing and watching," Elzen replied sitting back in his chair. Food was already on its way a
fter the two had ordered. His eyes looked to the door leading to the kitchen hungrily as he waited.

  Though the younger mage wasn't looking at him, Sebastian nodded. "I might learn something, but most of the new magic I've discovered in the field or in combat. Hiding away I could just study, I suppose, but that would be harder for me."

  "You're a man of action. A battle mage doesn't just sit still," his friend added with a smile. It became a grin when he spotted Hilda's daughter carrying a tray with their food on it. Elzen glanced towards the stairs he had used earlier and asked, "So do we want to bet on what time Ashleen will come join us or are you going to try and wake the princess so we can get going sooner?"

  "There's time. It's still not even the first bell in White Hall."

  "How do you even keep track of that?" the other mage asked looking surprised. "These jumps throw me off sometimes. It's daylight there and night here. It's sun up here and night there. When it's time for supper someone else is readying lunch. It gets confusing."

  "I've been keeping track as much as I can comparing local times for each jump," Sebastian replied. "Other wizards using the portals have been doing the same. I suppose at some point someone will make a map to gauge the time change between cities. It doesn't really matter too much to those who don't use magic though. It isn't like a farmer will out run the sun leading his horse."

  "But that would be one fast farmer if he could," Elzen said smugly as he began to dive into the plates of food in front of him.