Battle Mage, The Caves of Time

by Donald Wigboldy

  She recognized him and Sebastian called on another spell, "Vision."

  Gray light disappeared as his magic helped him both see farther and through darkness. His forehead frowned as the mage tried to understand what he saw in the strange girl.

  "Ylena, slow down," Katya called after her and this made the owl even more surprised. This didn't look like his sister's mentor. Maybe she looked similar to the point that he might think that she could be a much younger sister. She would even have looked young enough to be the wizard's daughter, if she had one.

  They met the crowd of sentries about the time that Ylena and Katya caught up to them. Beyond this group, Sebastian could see Falconi Martina and Falcondi Pikun leading other falcons that he knew at least in passing.

  "Owl Sebastian?" the girl greeted him curiously. "Why are you and your team here?"

  "White Hall and Hala monitored a powerful emanation of magic from your position and got worried when they couldn't communicate with you. You have a gate wizard or two with you, so they were hoping to receive word through a gate, but no one came," he replied eyeing both the soldiers gathered before him, many of whom still had hands on the hilts of their swords though none had drawn them, and the diplomacy wizards which continued to perplex his senses.

  "You are Ylena? What happened to you?"

  The brunette suddenly blushed. Her right hand released her gathered robes. She had raised the hem enough to run after the eager sentries, which made it even more obvious that the girl wasn't wearing any boots or shoes.

  "That is a bit of a story as is the release of magic."

  "And the loss of our gate wizards," Katya said breathing a bit heavily from the run from camp.

  "The loss of... Maybe we should just wait for Falconi Martina to join us. Knowing her, she will want to be part of the conversation, if only to make sure what facts I receive."

  A small smile flit across the faces of the young women and handful of battle mages among those gathered. The falconi had a bit of a reputation, he guessed.

  The owl led the others towards the camp even as Katya caught his arm. "You won't believe what happened or wouldn't if not for what you can see anyway."

  A few moments later, Martina and Pikun met up with their group returning to the camp. Captain Anon hurried to join them looking only half put together. His uniform was a bit mussed and his officers marching with him looked in various degrees of readiness as well. The battle mages seemed fresh and ready for the day making the soldiers look a bit shoddy by comparison.

  "Good morning, Sebastian," Martina greeted him without use of title. The two knew each other well enough that even if he was still tied to the corps, the falconi might not call him falcon or owl.

  "Good morning, Falconi," he returned the greeting more formally. He had been her junior officer and she was his elder either way. Unlike her, Sebastian felt obliged to use her title.

  The woman frowned and said, "White Hall called for you to join us here? If you could just use your gate to reach here, you could have saved us the days of riding."

  "I needed something familiar to lock in on and I couldn't just travel here that way. It isn't that easy," he clarified.

  The woman nodded and noted Captain Anon's presence as he and the other soldiers caught up to her. "If you say so," she replied in turn. "I can't say I understand portal magic, so you are the expert."

  In a brief pause, Sebastian thumbed his way towards the devastated valley behind them and said, "I can assume what they felt in White Hall and Hala happened in the valley."

  Sighing as if exasperated, Martina nodded as she answered, "Wizard Nyus decided to experiment with what we found here."

  "We were waiting to tell him until you arrived," Ylena added to those newly joined. "Perhaps it would be better told around the fire. We were about to eat breakfast. Are you hungry?"

  The very attractive brunette gestured towards the camp acting like a hostess at a restaurant or one of the inns he had visited. Sebastian was still trying to piece together how this girl could be Wizard Ylena. She must have noticed and added, "We discovered a trap left by the creatures we expected to find here."

  "We still don't know if it was supposed to be a trap for the unsuspecting or if it was in fact a weapon planned for use on Southwall that was triggered by our exploration," Captain Anon spoke up apparently wishing to voice his opinion.

  Again Martina sighed and said, "Can we explain what we found before overwhelming our owl with a variety of guesses? We still can't be sure. Perhaps he will have a fresh perspective."

  The explanation of what had been found in the caves was almost complete by the time the group found one of the fires. Waving off the thought of food for himself, Sebastian let the others take turns telling him the rest of the story. He was told of the aging dust inside the first chest and the loss of one of the gate wizards there. Apparently this Beyrieth was also the only one capable of creating a portal as well, he learned.

  Katya told of her attempt to save the second group checking the other cave. Her ability to save Ylena, even if the woman appeared to be permanently changed, was conveyed. Ylena told of watching the other gate wizard reverse his aging to the point of death, or whatever one might call disappearing into nothingness in such a way. It was death of an unusual sort. That was for sure, and like Katya had said, only seeing the diplomacy wizard appearing to be barely into her teens and multiple decades younger made it feel real.

  He knew a lot of magic and had seen more, but this was new to him.

  They also told of their research wizard's impetuous attempt to combine the two types of dust. The apparent power of combining the two forces had been devastating. He had seen the valley.

  "If we hadn't tried to take precautions, Nyus would likely be dead," Ylena explained in summation. "The stone fortifications were still razed as you probably could tell from looking down into the valley."

  He nodded.

  "Can you replicate such a thing?" Falcondi Pikun asked as if the newly arrived mage had even seen a sample of the dust.

  Frowning slightly, the owl replied, "I haven't seen any of this dust, nor have I seen how it was produced. It is unlikely that I could break any of it down without some of that kind of help."

  Martina looked ready to slap the other man in the back of the head. Her eyes glanced at him and her jaw tightened slightly apparently considering the thought.

  Turning back to Sebastian, the falconi said, "We have a few grains of each kind of sand. You will probably want to examine them and the valley closer. Even if you can't make use of the magic or decipher it fully to replicate it, maybe you will have a better opinion of what we are dealing with here. Our research wizard is still unconscious and his apprentice is unlikely to be of much use without him.

  "You are likely our best bet at the moment."

  There were other wizards in the immediate area. Many could hear the woman's words, but despite a few frowns, no one questioned her opinion on the matter.

  "I will do what I can. While I am here, I can also set some stones to guide our portal wizards. Once they know what to look for, we can send other researchers from Hala or White Hall.

  "I can also send anyone back, if this mission is no longer necessary."

  Captain Anon looked uncomfortable with his last questioning of the mission's continuation. Martina watched the captain and, realizing that he was uncertain, she made the decision. "We will need to keep some sort of force here to keep an eye on the situation. If this unknown enemy did plan on combining the dust to destroy Southwall or hoped to release the dust in clouds to kill our people, we certainly need to try and prevent them from gathering what they hid here."

  There was a consensus of nods from the others gathered around them. Chalman cleared his throat and interjected, "If we plan to make a more permanent guard post here, we could create a small stone fort in a fairly short time using our magic. With the owl's stones, it wouldn't be hard to refresh the sentries left here regularly either.

  "
Winter is mostly over, but no one will likely want to be stuck here for too long."

  "That is a good idea, Wizard Chalman," the falconi replied. "Could you put a detail of earth wizards together? Any others willing to help make the work go quicker could join you.

  "It will give Sebastian time to investigate the magic here. Maybe Nyus will wake up and be of help also by then."

  Captain Anon reminded her, "We have enough supplies for a few weeks, even without the mage's portal. If the company needs to remain to protect them until it is done, we have both time and the resources to stay."

  There was more unsaid, Sebastian thought. The captain had most likely never used a wizard's portal and, if he was like most of the people of Southwall without magic, the man probably hoped to never need to use one either. Magic worried people. It wasn't just simple farmers like his parents that didn't trust magic.

  "With a portal set up, supplies can come through to keep anyone stationed here going indefinitely.

  "Now if I could see these samples of this time dust, I will see what I can figure out," the owl said steering the conversation to something more helpful.

  The group began to break up as the owl's team was led towards a tent guarded by a pair of soldiers standing in front of it. Not overly large, the tent was still taller than the smaller ones put up for most to sleep in and was tall enough for him to stand if he bent his head. Ylena and Katya led the way.

  His team joined the diplomacy wizards inside. The guards looked slightly nervous to let them enter, but Ylena was a full wizard and still held enough power even if she looked little older than a child.

  The girl in her black dress opened a metal reinforced box with a key. It was padded inside and held two small jars. Based off the devastation he had seen in the valley upon entry, the mage wondered if keeping them in the same box was unwise. If just two motes of dust combined could do so much damage, then how much more would the handful of grains in each jar do if they joined together?

  "The black ones age you apparently," Ylena stated pointing towards the jar. "I didn't see it, but Katya said that it was pretty horrible."

  His sister nodded. Her face turned a bit white as she related the details that the apprentice had seen two days earlier. The telling of it seemed to make the girl relive it in her mind as well. Perhaps the biggest drawback to the often photographic memories that many wizards had was that such horrors could be relived with just the mere retelling of a tale.

  "Clothing and flesh just turned to dust. Beyrieth wasn't that far from me. She was young one moment and only a skeleton was left the next. I just hope that they didn't suffer as quickly as it happened."

  Ylena, who was pale to begin with, somehow managed to look even whiter as the dark haired wizard said, "It was almost as awful watching Ukor die in front of me. If it wasn't for Katya's timely arrival, I wouldn't be here at all."

  Elzen looked at the beautiful looking wizard and said without thinking, "Well, you certainly wound up looking incredible. You're gorgeous."

  An elbow from Serrena, as well as a scowl, made the mage grunt in surprise and real pain.

  "Ow! What? I mean look at her. She's incredible looking. I'm not..."

  Ashleen covered the younger mage's mouth much gentler than the fire wizard's elbow. Sebastian judged that he was about to discover how much control Serrena had over both her temper and her fire, if Ashleen hadn't judiciously interrupted his ill advised rant on Ylena's beauty.

  "Quiet, Elzen, before you say something you will truly wind up regretting," the wilder said with a smile that lacked any humor.

  Sighing, Katya said, "It may not be entirely his fault. Ylena's magic acted up like a wilder's when she regressed. Anything she said just about made the men around here drool over her at first. She had to stop talking until we could go through a binding ceremony to try to control her power."

  Ylena lifted the necklace and the sparkling pink jewel attached to it. "I haven't really felt myself since being exposed to the white dust. If I am just supposed be reliving my earlier years, I don't recall feeling quite like this. I had way more control of my magic... and my emotions too, I think."

  Looking a bit surprised, Katya asked, "What do you mean? Are your emotions out of control? You seem fairly poised most of the time, though I think that I've caught you making eyes at some of the nicer looking men in camp."

  Fidgeting, the dark haired wizard replied, "It happens almost without thought. I can feel my body wanting to... to fill needs that I was always able to control throughout my life. Without the necklace, I don't know what would have happened by now."

  Her admission made those in the room all look rather uncomfortable, except perhaps Elzen who started to open his mouth to make a comment. Ashleen must have felt it coming and her hand slapped over his lips preventing whatever was about to be said from being uttered.

  Sebastian cleared his throat and said, "Have you had one of the healers check on you?"

  Her eyes lifted to his and a slight smile caught the edges of her lips. It was echoed in her eyes as if the young woman had suddenly noticed him in a new way.

  "I hadn't. You know healing magic, don't you? You could examine me," she suggested. Her fingers toyed with her neckline coyly making Katya's eyes widen with disgust.

  "Ylena, what are you doing?"

  The brunette shook her head and glanced to Katya. Her lips opened twice before she said, "I- I wasn't trying to do anything. I mean..."

  Taking a deep breath, Sebastian did his best to change the subject. "Let me try to get a feel for this dust. While I check out the other sites, maybe you should see one of the healers. If they can't help, I suppose that I can check you later."

  Ashleen glanced at him curiously. He wondered if she feared that he was fighting the diplomacy wizard's magic in the same way that sirens could try and seduce a man with their song.

  "Anyway..." he said turning from the beautiful girl to look at the jars of dust.

  Chapter 15- Evaluations

  Sebastian knelt near a spot that had been pointed out to him by his sister. He could feel a residue of magic, the mage thought, but like the dust in the jars, it wasn't a particularly concrete feeling for him. It certainly lacked the substance the owl had felt while watching other wizards using their spells.

  It wasn't that surprising to him, however. He had learned mostly by watching wizards repeatedly doing their spells. Reading their books had created ideas and suggestions to try, but the written words lacked that feeling he needed to break it down in his mind.

  This dust was likely made by magic and the combining of it certainly reacted like magic, but it gave him very little to work with just observing what was already made. If those in the company had their hopes set on the mage deciphering this mystery, he was afraid that he was going to be disappointing them. Of course, he had given that warning before he even tried.

  "You getting anything, Bas?" Elzen asked him as they stood before the cave entrance where Ylena had been struck by the magic which had turned back her biological clock by almost twenty-five years.

  "I can sense magic, but I can't say that I could decode anything about it."

  "There is more behind the sealed wall," Katya suggested pointing towards the plug created by the wizards. Even done swiftly and frantically, their work had created a perfect seal. He had been told of Nyus' use of Chalman's earth magic afterwards and there was no sign of any marks where he had opened it enough to let the dust filter through it either. "It is more active than this; I mean, compared to the few grains on my jacket and clothing which seemed to get used up eating the remaining scraps thrown aside."

  Sebastian stood up and looked over the lip of the ground breaking his connection with the rest of the valley below them. The devastation hadn't made it here and had left what little residue remained of the clothing thrown here undisturbed, but even so there was little for him to see or feel.

  Frowning, the mage couldn't help the feeling that he was being watched. He looked in the dire
ction of the camp and saw sentries looking in his direction. Shrugging off the feeling as just being nervous about working near this strange, new, dangerous magic, Sebastian turned back to the seal.

  "I don't think it will matter. There was little that I could discover from the grains trapped in the glass jars. Even in greater amounts, if I can sense them through the wall, I doubt that I will get anymore from them than I have with the others.

  "While I sense the magic to a point, I have no idea how it was created. If I can't figure that out, the rest is kind of moot. We know what the two kinds of sand do and what happens when they are combined. Other than seeing them in action, which I don't recommend, there isn't much more that I can do I am afraid."

  Ylena stood close by and brightened slightly in spite of his negative answer. "You could study me. You can heal, so you can look inside me to see what has happened, right?"

  It wasn't the first time she had mentioned the idea since leaving the camp and Sebastian had to admit that the wizard's condition was about the only thing left that he could use to discover anything else about this time related magic. The only drawback was the way Ylena seemed to look at him. It wasn't a look reserved only for him, but his sister had mentioned a change in her behavior since her reversal. The wizard's memory seemed intact; but maybe, like her physical changes, there had been something changed in her mind as well.

  "I suppose," he acquiesced grudgingly.

  "He isn't the only one who can use healing," Elzen announced with a smile. "I could check you out, if you'd rather."

  The pretty brunette looked at him and the smile faded slightly before she shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I will hold out for either Sebastian or just let the healing wizards double check me. Thank you."

  Serrena frowned at Elzen and looked ready to hit him again, but the younger mage seemed oblivious. Others hearing him kept their shakes of their heads minimal as they watched him continue digging his grave.