Battle Mage, The Caves of Time

by Donald Wigboldy

  Nodding to the nomad girl, he questioned, "You are called Erasme, I believe."

  His memory told him it was so. It might not be as good at remembering difficult spells like a wizard, but it was still good enough apparently as she returned the nod.

  "I am. I am also called Speaker for the derashti."

  It was Elzen's turn to ask, "They can't speak for their selves?"

  "It is tradition for one to be chosen to speak to outsiders for the derashti," Erasme replied looking a little put off by the continued questioning.

  Ylena must have noticed and asked a question that was very respectful, "Will the vahnin speak with all of us or were they only expecting Sebastian?"

  Noting the dark haired beauty dressed in her simple skirt and blouse as well as her boots that looked like they could have been made by one of the local leather workers, Erasme answered, "They will speak to the owl, but you may enter. Please remain respectful and quiet unless the vahnin address you."

  Sebastian could feel Serrena and Elzen become uncomfortable with being relegated to the background, but they had been with him last time and understood some of the nomads' treatment of outsiders. They weren't the most welcoming of people.

  With most of their questions sorted out, Erasme invited them to follow her inside the tent.

  Moving inside, the mage's eyes took a moment to adjust from the bright light outside under a midday sun to the comparative darkness within the sheltering hides. After that moment, Sebastian noted about twenty men and women standing or sitting in front of him. Three sat on pillows on the leather covered floor. They appeared a bit older, certainly older than Erasme or the owl. Only Ylena might have been close to their age and the diplomacy wizard now looked like a young teen instead.

  The remaining druids either stood or knelt behind the three or spread out along the sides lining the interior walls. All of them watched their entry, but they all tried to hide their reactions to the outsiders joining them. He didn't think that this was supposed to be a show of force meant to cow him, but with so many people gathered around him the mage was certainly uncomfortable.

  He did his best to hide his emotions as well. Giving a polite smile, he remained quiet and let Erasme do her job.

  "Owl Sebastian, this is Vahnin Sirot, leader of the Khagan derashti," she stated gesturing to the man sitting in the center. His skin was brown like many of the nomads whose range of coloring went to the more common light skins of most of Southwall to dark skins that rivaled those come from Ch'thal, a continent with black skinned inhabitants. Some cities of western Southwall were said to have many descendants from that continent, while most others could trace their ancestry to Taltan.

  Sirot appeared to be of early middle age, if Sebastian's guess was correct. The man simply nodded at the mage.

  "Vahnin Eretreb represents the Drays and Vahnin Otra the Turbuis tribe," the girl said quickly going from a man likely a bit younger than the first to a graying woman that looked to be older than the other vahnin by at least a decade. Both greeted them in a similar way and Sebastian wondered if everything was going to be forced through Erasme, even the training he assumed was to be given.

  To his surprise, the older woman, Otra, spoke up asking, "So this is the one who seems to know so much about our runes?"

  Eyes widening slightly at the break from apparent protocol, the much younger speaker for the druids agreed with a nod and said, "Yes, Vahnin, the one called the owl was here last summer as you might recall."

  "I am old of body, but my mind works just fine girl," Vahnin Otra retorted with a bit of a frown for Erasme before returning her attention to the mage and his group in front of her. "You're little more than a boy, but tales of what you have done are already likely being exaggerated by the warriors you and your people fought alongside. The healers are even more generous with their praise."

  Resting in a lull, as if deciding what more to say, Sebastian answered, "I may be fairly young, but I am reasonably well traveled as of late. There has been a lot of new, or perhaps more accurately, foreign magic that I have come across recently. I also seem to have a knack for picking up and translating much of it into something that we can use as well."

  The druid in the center, apparently freed by Otra's speaking up, tried to clarify, "So you have only learned of our runes recently and yet you have demonstrated mastery of them in ways that our warriors have never seen?"

  Pushing his magic into the shield runes, they began to glow with an orange light. He expanded them away from his forearm and replied, "The initial runes were a gift from a shaman for helping his people. He told me that if I could use them to understand the magic behind the runes, then maybe I could be taught more."

  Releasing the magic given to the shield runes, the owl instead manipulated the ones on his other arm to create a short harpoon attached to its tether. Warriors he had seen use the rune regularly would make the harpoon as long as a short spear, but for demonstration purposes Sebastian kept it short as a dagger while the barbed line attached swirled and twisted making the head bob like some convoluted snake. It was his magic that let him use so much control. Soldiers and warriors without magic could only throw the spear and draw it back on the line. The line split into three like a mythical hydra. Each moved independently of the others though all remained attached to his hand and wrist.

  There were gasps and some of the druids reacted either moving forward a step ready to fight or back hoping to avoid an attack.

  "I found that those of us with magic can do more than what they are intended for those without it. The more I've played with the runes the more that I think I understand as well. I've even been able to transfer other runes from their warriors saving me the trouble of having to experiment with them to discover those. Also the more marks that I find, I can add to our soldiers and mages as well."

  The Vahnin in front of him looked both impressed and annoyed by his display, so the owl recalled the harpoons making the runes dormant and invisible once more.

  "We have magic, yet I have never seen such a display," Vahnin Otra stated with a frown before glancing to the man beside her.

  The darker skinned druid noticed her look and moved his eyes to the marks on his forearm and hands. He concentrated on the runes and Sebastian felt the man's power escalate to the point that, when the marks of shielding suddenly began to glow before expanding outward, the mage wasn't that surprised. In spite of his achievement, Vahnin Sirot frowned and he asked aloud, "How did no one ever discover this?"

  Otra had less rune marks visible, but she shared the shielding runes so she concentrated on hers eventually achieving the same results.

  "Owl indeed," the elder noted the mage before her. "He has better vision than us in this matter apparently and those before us as well.

  "How many other tricks do you have that you are allowed to show us, Owl? The Vahnin and our derashti would like to learn more."

  The third and youngest of those still sitting in positions of respect and honor looked beyond the mage before asking, "You surround yourself with youths and children. Can they be as remarkable as you also?"

  "Each have their own talents. Elzen you likely know can heal and has learned almost all of my spells. Ashleen and Serrena can teach a lot of them as well. My sister has her talents and Ylena is her mentor."

  The last of those named received confused looks and Vahnin Eretreb asked a follow up question, "But this girl looks younger than your sister or at least she is no older."

  Elzen chuckled and said, "Ylena's almost as old as the lot of you."

  Frowning at the young mage, Ylena complained, "You make it sound like I am an old biddy ready for retirement, Elzen." She turned her eyes on the vahnin and explained briefly, "I am only thirty seven, but there was... an... accident, I suppose it could be called, that recently made me look as I am now."

  Murmuring from the crowd of derashti at her admission received a hand raised towards them by the center vahnin. Otra looked surprised only for a moment before
she said, "There have been those in the past who have tried to roll back the years. Then there are the immortals who never age, but this girl doesn't have the white or silver hair. In fact, her shrike colored hair is completely the opposite; so what magic was used in this accident?"

  Not certain of how much to say, Sebastian was surprised when Ylena answered with probably the perfect words, "It was foreign magic."

  Again the voices rose into a murmur as the derashti appeared willing to try and decipher what the diplomat wizard actually met.

  Vahnin Otra rose using Sirot's shoulder as she did not seem to worry if the man might mind. "Well, that is perhaps another story to visit later. You have returned to teach us how to heal, have you not?"

  Sebastian nodded and it wasn't long before he was discussing and demonstrating healing magic as he understood it.

  The high elf dressed in black leaned against the stone of the mountain behind him with crossed arms watching the boy with a bored expression. What the attractive woman who looked perhaps twice his age was doing with this teenager was beyond him. Certainly the boy calling himself Kolban was unusual. He was powerful, more powerful than the warlock's senses led him to believe. There had been that single glimpse of incredible magical power when Sandiyan had triggered the invisible barrier.

  Shadows seemed to cling to the area now. Without the warlock's magic, the three might have been spotted by the dozens of Southwall guardians. He wondered why Southwall remained and had even created a set of towers here. Yes, there had been a massive surge of power and Torva had felt a lingering source of magic here even before they had chosen the sight of their new school and town. Their Sanctuary was several miles deeper into the mountain range, but he still feared being found out and having these people come to destroy them.

  He didn't want Southwall as an enemy. That had been true even before the emperor had been killed.

  The thought made the man look at the boy again. He tried to avoid looking too interested, but Kolban wasn't even paying attention to the wizard hunters behind him. His being so secure, even with two warlocks waiting so close behind him; made Torva continue to worry. Kolban's attention on the sealed caves made him wonder if this boy was going to do something to compromise their secrecy as well.

  Shifting back from the low rock wall in front of him, the boy with the light brown hair turned to look at the warlock. It was a curious look and it worried Torva.

  "Keep my friend safe," the boy ordered quietly.

  Frowning at him, Torva raised an eyebrow curiously and asked, "Are you going somewhere?"

  He wasn't the only one looking worried. Torva could feel his men tense at the boy's words. Flicking his vision to the woman's blue eyes, he noted her nervousness and realized that Narissa didn't know the boy's mind anymore than he did. What was he up to now, Torva wondered?

  "I need to see what is in those caves," Kolban said simply and yet the warlock went cold.

  Skin prickling as his fears seemed ready to manifest, Torva started to shake his head incredulously. "But they seem to be watching both sealed caves quite closely. How will you escape attention, especially if you wish to see what is inside them? It will require you to use magic to release the seal."

  Giving the warlock a sly smile, the boy looked like a typical teenager believing that he was invincible. "I can avoid detection."

  It was all that would be given apparently as silence rested between them until Torva replied, "We will keep her safe enough. It is you that I fear will get in trouble."

  "Thank you for worrying," Kolban quipped with a smirk.

  Sighing at the boy, the older looking man stated, "I worry that you will bring their attention on us and I can't risk you bringing them onto the ones we are trying to protect."

  "It will be fine. Your people will be safe as long as Narissa remains unharmed," the boy warned him before turning back towards the valley. His hands started to move in a series of gestures letting them know that he was already beginning a spell.

  First, Kolban disappeared from sight. If Torva hadn't known where he had been from the start, the warlock would never have known that he was there. It was also an odd start, since casting spells that created invisibility could be broken by doing anything else. Since it would be a long walk down the slope of the mountain to the far side where the nearest cave lay, the man wondered why the boy would cast it unless he planned to walk all the way down to the cave.

  Second, Torva noticed shadows gathering where the boy had been seen only a moment beforehand. He had heard no words even under Kolban's breath and another spell should have been audible from this distance.

  They pooled turning darker within the warlock's masking shadows until the nearly black pool suddenly disappeared as well. His eyes opened slightly wider and he was certain that the boy was no longer near them. Moving to where Kolban had been only a moment before, Torva used his magic to enhance his vision and cast his attention towards the closer of the two caves. Shadows flickered on the stone before the light of day was released there once again.

  His breath held. Torva watched the cave and valley nearby hoping that no one from Southwall noticed.

  Xander sat on a large stone and yawned. His eyes watched the sealed cave occasionally, but there was so little to look at beyond the bare stone that the cadet couldn't help glancing away regularly. His position was across the valley. From here, he could watch the entire valley and the near side of the mountain easily enough. The only real problem was that there wasn't much to see.

  They had been here for almost a week and nothing had really happened. The new fort was well underway; but aside from the activity in the east pass above the valley, there had been nothing new. It led to very boring guard duty, though the cadet wasn't exactly complaining.

  "Try to stay awake, Xander," Kharrik chided the cadet. The falcon was standing nearby in conversation with Wizard Haylee, as he tended to be while the four stood on watch duty.

  Their fourth was Shaylene. Since all four had worked together under Sebastian's tutelage to learn portal magic, among other things that the cadet had started to gather from the already legendary young mage; they had been chosen to continue working together since their pairings could use the new portal magic without other assistance. They could have worked in pairs instead, the teenage boy thought, but Haylee continued to have trust issues with the younger two.

  "It's boring. I can't help it," he returned sounding almost glum from the tedious task.

  Fingers touched his shoulder and lightly brushed his neck. The feel of Shaylene's gentle gesture made the boy sigh. A tingle akin to being tickled raised the flesh on his neck continuing down both arms. It wasn't so much that it tickled as he felt exhilarated by her.

  The girl with the light brown hair and hazel eyes would likely be considered pretty by anyone, but the apprentice who had started as his friend had definitely become more than that to Xander. He wanted to spend all of his time with her and she seemed of the same desire which made the order to work together not feel like work at all. Only Haylee's continual watching over them like a mother protecting her daughter's chastity was annoying about it actually.

  Kharrik helped alleviate some of that at least, Xander thought, and noted that Haylee looked at the taller falcon with eyes conflicted with longing and the need to set a good example for her charge. The man was a buffer and distraction to the older wizard. He even encouraged Haylee to ease up and allow them some alone time off and on.

  Ignoring a slight frown for Shaylene's proximity to the cadet from her mentor, Xander said, "Maybe we could take a walk over to the caves instead of just sitting here. It would be better exercise and less boring."

  Kharrik turned away from the cadet and looked at the mountain opposite them. "Guard duty is usually boring. Get used to it, since as battle mages we do it a lot."

  "We're portal mages now," Xander countered with a smug smile. "Hopefully we'll have other things to do instead."

  A frown aimed at the cadet was easily seen t
hrough by the younger man. Kharrik tried to be a strong influence that appeared strict, at least in front of Haylee, but the older man was more like a brother and guided by example with less strictness than the wizard next to him.

  "We're still battle mages. Don't think that you won't."

  Sighing exasperatedly, the cadet stood up and stretched. His spine corrected with the new position giving a little crack that felt good. His rear end told him that he needed to stand just from the ache beginning to grow there.

  He looked across the valley and used the word 'vision' to enhance his sight. Able to see the cave quite clearly, the spell made it like he was only a few feet away instead. Something seemed to shift on the ground. A brief shadow made the cadet look up to the sky curiously. There were a few clouds, but he couldn't figure out what had made the shadow. Shadows could shift oddly with clouds, he supposed, and didn't see anything else there as his attention returned once more.

  Looking at the ground before the cave, the cadet missed a new hole form in the sealed entrance. Solid stone opened no larger than the size of one of Southwall's coins of currency. White dust sluggishly began to pull through the small hole as if coaxed by a small breeze yet there didn't seem to be any new currents in the air.

  Swirling slightly they remained in a tight loop until they stopped only a few inches away. Forming briefly into a dusty looking flask, the flakes disappeared almost immediately before the hole was sealed once again.

  Kharrik looked in the direction of Xander's frown, but even with augmented vision the two of them were unable to see the dust from their vantage point at all. A shadow formed once more drawing both mages' attention, however, but it was so brief that they couldn't connect what they had seen as an invasion of sorts.

  Rubbing his eyes, Xander sighed. "When is our shift over?"

  Kolban slipped in front of the second cave as the shadow rift deposited the warlock once more from under the ground. He worked with the darkness that always existed beneath one's feet. The connections existing inside the earth could be used with the right spell, if one knew it, to move from one place to another. It was similar to portal magic, but the former emperor never had to leave this world to move between points that he could see.