Battle Mage, The Caves of Time

by Donald Wigboldy

  The shadow movements weren't completely restricted by his sight lines, but the distance was considerably limited compared to the other spell. Restrictions and limitations of a spell few others knew, if any aside from the boy who had lived for nearly a thousand years in one body or another actually did, weren't on his mind at all as Kolban produced a second glass flask. A spell opened a new hole in the stone before him. Another coaxed the dark dust that he had seen in his dreams from it. A gentle tightly controlled flow of air pulled the dust out and deposited it into the flask.

  Concentrated inside, the black particles swirled but couldn't leave the space created by the only material believed capable of restraining the manifestations of time. Glass closed sealing the deadly black dust as he pushed the mites back inside the cave and made the stone close around them once more.

  A last shadow formed beneath the boy's feet drawing his body inside. Reduced to darkness for an instant, Kolban felt an uneasiness in his stomach and head caused by the spell. The feeling passed as he reformed seeming to pop up from the ground next to the taller, elven warlock.

  Releasing his invisibility spell caused those waiting to jump at his reappearance. Narissa even gasped, but the sound wasn't enough to carry beyond their location thanks to the breezes among the mountains and Torva's spell.

  Unable to speak or think of a proper question for the boy, Torva and the others waited for an explanation.

  Kolban turned to look down into the valley and seemed to test the air as he closed his eyes.

  "If you wish to maintain the secrets of your people, wizard hunter, then I suggest you return home soon."

  The statement made the men of his team frown. Torva didn't hear this as a threat though so much as a warning, but he didn't understand the comment anymore than the others did. "What do you mean?" he asked keeping his voice low and vaguely threatening.

  Kolban turned to look at the warlock and his face held a small, knowing smile. "If my visions and that of my companion are true, they'll be back... soon."

  "They who?" Yelon questioned for the others listening to the short conversation.

  "The ones who placed this dust here to ripen."

  "You know what this is about?" Torva asked as his brow furrowed in confusion.

  "Only that the ones who slipped into our world here want this dust back for whatever purpose they have for it."

  Torva glanced from the boy to his men. Even looking at the woman beside Kolban, he could find no better answers.

  "And what are you going to do?" the warlock asked the teenager in front of him.

  "For now, I will return home to study this dust. Stay safe, team leader," he added with a nod before extending his hand to create the next portal. Kolban's hand guided Narissa forward touching the small of her back in a surprisingly intimate connection to the woman. The two of them disappeared into the golden light before the portal blinked out of their sight once more.

  "What do you think, Torva?" Yelon asked looking to his cousin for leadership.

  "I think that if he is correct, we had better think of falling back tonight," the other man replied looking out into the valley worriedly.

  Chapter 25- Picnic Surprise

  Vahnin Otra stood beside Sebastian watching several other druids working with the magic he had brought to show them. Some were pushing magic into their runes creating the new effects that the owl had discovered. Others were playing with the spells of light and dark. Elsewhere, he knew more were trying to develop their powers of healing. He had found a few that might be quite capable with more practice. Following their skills in nature, healing might not be that much of a leap for them, the mage believed.

  Orange runes expanded from the older woman's arm for a moment before the vahnin retracted her power once again. Her eyes strayed to the young looking dark haired girl working with one of her derashti.

  "It is hard to believe that girl is actually more than three decades old."

  Sebastian looked at Ylena as well. She was shadowed by Katya whether the older diplomat wizard realized it or not. His sister remained concerned, though Ylena hadn't shown any slips with her magic since arriving among the nomads several days ago. He supposed that with the two being tied to the necklace; Katya might feel something that he could not, however.

  "I knew her somewhat before the accident happened. She still acts mostly like herself. Ylena is both a teacher and good at speaking with others, like Oltus."

  The vahnin's face wrinkled as if she disagreed and the woman clarified saying, "I think the girl is more adept at... what do your people call it... diplomacy?"

  He didn't think that his face betrayed any surprise at the druid's use of the word. It didn't seem natural coming from a nomad's mouth, but he supposed that living on the plains the way they did such a term might come up more rarely. The nomads were only different from Southwall and their allies in that they lived without walls and a permanent home, but he doubted that they met with others outside of the other tribes very often to truly need to learn the intricacies of diplomacy in the way that Southwall's wizards had.

  "Yes, we know that they use magic designed to control or at least sway others," the gray haired woman said with a smug looking little smile. "You aren't the only ones that can feel others' magic or sense when they are trying to use more subtle spells."

  His eyes glanced to Katya and thought of her early, wilder moments using magic and said, "Not all of their spells are so subtle."

  The comment made the other woman's eyebrows raise considering him.

  "That may be, but we know of the magic. It isn't common among our people, but we do know of it."

  "How much of your magic comes from what has been written down?" he asked curiously watching Ylena cast a spell. Fire formed above her hand before dancing from one palm to the other without truly touching her skin. The wizard was smiling and looked like just about any other girl aside from the fact that she could use magic, of course.

  Two female derashti watched her and talked to the girl like they were already good friends with Ylena. It was a quality she shared with his sister, he thought.

  "Much was lost in the Cataclysm. Most of our spells have been shared by word of mouth or what might be written in the dirt. Once committed to memory, the spells can always be rewritten for the next student to learn when it is needed."

  It was a dangerous way of doing things, the battle mage thought, but he understood. The Cataclysm had shaken the world up and sent its people scrambling for safety. If his suspicions that at least a few of these nomads' ancestors came from those capable of surviving beneath the waves of the North Sea, then merfolk were unlikely to be ones to use books much anyway. Paper wouldn't survive beneath the surface of the sea unless magic was used to preserve it and he wasn't sure if they would use stone tablets or something like it instead.

  "Do you preserve your tribes' history in the same way?"

  Her eyes narrowed slightly trying to figure out what the younger man was getting at with his questions. "Again, to a point that is true. There are some bards in the tribes that likely have found paper and written things down, but our history is mostly of an oral tradition, yes."

  "Do any of those stories speak of where the tribe came from before the disaster?"

  "Most of those stories simply say that we come from lands that fell beneath the sea. When the Cataclysm shook our world, it caused our ancestors to flee. Best I can guess, we come from the east."

  "Do any of the tales say anything about coming from the islands or something similar?"

  The woman frowned and asked, "Why does it matter, owl? My people have lived as they have in these lands for nearly two centuries now. Where we came from means less than where we are now."

  "It's always good to know where we come from. Some pasts tell cautionary tales, so that we can avoid them hopefully," he replied with a smile.

  Letting the matter rest for perhaps another time, as many of his conversations seemed to need breaks whenever he tried to find out
more from these guarded people, Sebastian went back to just observing. Occasionally derashti would come up to him to ask more questions related to various spells.

  Otra left him for awhile to circulate amongst the others. His eyes found Ashleen among them. She caught his look as the wilder often seemed to know when his attention was on her, unless her eyes were merely on him enough to be looking at the same time, he supposed.

  After awhile, Otra moved back to his side and her eyes watched Ylena once more. "Do you think that she would let us examine what has happened to her?"

  It didn't take Sebastian much effort to understand who she meant. Ylena's name came up often from the vahnin since they had first arrived. Her initial revelation of her age and how she had found herself about two decades younger seemed to fascinate the druids as much as it had the wizards of Southwall.

  "Ylena has been poked and prodded a lot since this happened. I'm not sure if she would have the patience at this point, though you could ask her. Her mind is her own. I don't control her."

  The vahnin's eyes strayed to his face looking uncertain of his statement. "She stays with those closest to you in the camp."

  "She's Katya's mentor and since the accident, my sister has remained close to her."

  "The student guards her mentor now. It is sort of like when a child has to take care of their parents in old age," commented the druid.

  He wondered if Otra had registered that the necklace which bound Ylena's magic was in fact controllable by Katya. The younger girl could lock her ability down with a special word of power even beyond hearing distance as magic was something beyond natural laws. The necklace wasn't obviously imbued with Ylena's magic, however, at least to his eyes; but looking at it close enough might lead a wizard to see that it was a dam to her current magic powers.

  "They're close friends," was all that Sebastian would say.

  As if she knew that she was being talked about, Ylena walked in their direction. "Sebastian," the diplomacy wizard started without any other greeting, "I was thinking of heading out to our camp to check in with Oltus and Falconi Ralto."

  The last name was managed without showing any distaste from the girl but Otra frowned slightly. The falconi had come into camp after continually pushing to join the diplomacy wizard in talking with the nomads. He had believed himself a good diplomat as well. Unfortunately from the few conversations leaked to him from the nomads, Ralto seemed to be as grating on the leaders of the tribe as he was on Sebastian.

  He hadn't ruined the talks or stopped Oltus and the other diplomat wizards from building stronger ties at least. Ylena and Katya had been able to smooth over any damage the man might have caused as they continued to assist Oltus who was the lead in the peace talks.

  Nodding to the wizard, Otra surprised him by asking, "Wizard Ylena, would you mind if we took a look at you some time? I admit to being curious about this accident you experienced. At my age, I guess the idea of such an event returning my body to the days where I didn't wake up with various aches would be quite welcome."

  Ylena laughed just enough to flatter the mild joke. Her smile was warm and inviting. Her eyes met the older woman's and she said, "It is hard to believe that you would feel that way. Age has its benefits too. A few gray hairs might keep everyone from talking to me like I'm a child when they don't know me at least for example."

  Ylena's sparkling laugh was infectious making those nearby smile. While it wasn't an overt use of her magic, Sebastian felt the taste of the wildness her magic brought to nearly everything she said despite the controlling necklace.

  Letting the girl's laughter rest, Otra answered, "Even before your change, you weren't quite as old as I. Now you will have to wait twice as long to know what I mean." She paused and seemed to size the girl up before adding, "You are also incredibly beautiful. I wonder if your magic helped make you this way."

  Ylena's smile faltered slightly. "I couldn't say if magic might make one more or less beautiful to be honest. While some of that theory could be correct, my sisters and brother have no magic and I look similar to all of them. My family is rather attractive I suppose I can say without sounding too biased."

  The last comment made Otra laugh. "Well, I suppose with more like you out there without magic I suppose that I should concede the point." Her brow furrowed momentarily and the vahnin asked, "Would you mind us trying to find out what we can about your condition then?"

  Letting out a little sigh, the dark haired beauty acquiesced with a slow nod. "Not now, but perhaps tomorrow. I really should check on Oltus and the others."

  "Of course, young lady," Otra said seeming to add the young part as her sense of humor dictated.

  With Ylena heading off, the battle mage noted the sun and decided, "I think that I will take a break and get something to eat."

  The older woman nodded and watched as Ashleen seemed to know his mind. The petite blond haired wilder appeared at his side before joining hands to walk towards a tent set aside for those using magic.

  "Xander, slow down," Shaylene complained to the cadet as she hurried to try and keep up with his longer legs and better conditioning. Battle mages were pushed to hone their bodies for combat. It was training that few wizards would ever approach to become as fit.

  Extending his hand from up the slope, the dark haired cadet smiled down at the girl with fondness. Pulling the apprentice towards him caused her light brown hair to flutter behind her before resetting across her back and shoulders. Her eyes widened and her mouth gave a little gasp making him want to smile even more.

  Her lips spread in a smile noticing that his hand had released hers to pull her to him with an arm around her waist.

  "You didn't have to come with me you know," he said still sporting that smile which said that he was glad that she had.

  Blushing at his attention, Shaylene looked back down the hill worrying if anyone was watching them. "I am your portal partner. If something happens, you'll need my magic to get back to the fort quickly."

  Sighing, Xander answered, "There's been nothing to do since we got here other than working on the fort occasionally and they've pretty much finished it the way that they want it.

  "Exploring a little bit gives me something to do. It's not like there is anything out here that we can't deal with anyway. If a mountain cat shows up it will likely run away and if not I have magic that can take care of it."

  The girl frowned at him and wagged a finger under his chin being so close to him, yet half a foot shorter. "You will not go around hurting poor animals, Master Darof," she ordered sounding genuinely vexed with the idea enough to use his surname.

  "I won't hurt any animals, Miss Aylin," he returned using her last name with a chuckle.

  She pouted at him and ordered, "Don't make fun of me."

  Since the girl's face was tilted upward towards him, Xander took the opportunity to lean closer to kiss her. Shaylene didn't fight the boy and kissed him back, even though they were half arguing. She knew him well enough to know that he would likely simply scare off a wild animal with his magic rather than bothering to harm one anyway.

  Her hands suddenly resisted by pressing against his chest. She looked back over her shoulder towards where other guards might be able to watch them. The stone towers and spanning bridge that encompassed a heavy wood door reinforced with metal straps stood to the east but was quite far away now.

  The two had walked up the path to the north using a pass between two mountains. There was no true valley between them here, though he knew that there was another a few miles further on where the mountain range separated a little more.

  "What if someone sees us?" she asked worriedly.

  Looking over her head, his brow wrinkled and he queried, "Who's going to see us here? The guard positions are out of sight."

  She pointed upward and said, "There are air wizards around, you know, and Haylee's bound to realize that we slipped away sooner or later to make them look."

  The two had wandered off on the pretense of t
aking a hike long enough to scout over the ridge. Haylee had been reluctant to give permission, but Kharrik had managed to talk her into it saying that it wouldn't hurt to check beyond what they could see easily. Xander had a feeling that his mentor knew that he wanted some time alone with Shaylene and wouldn't go too far in more than one way.

  "Portal," the boy said extending his free hand to the side before adding, "Well, we can move further away if you want."

  Drawing her after him, the two slipped into a golden portal. Silver light encompassed them for a moment. Shaylene glanced past his shoulder seeing the distant floating islands that were always of interest to the girl when traveling through these portals. Though the travel was nearly instantaneous, for those willing to pay attention, you could see them if only briefly.

  Returning to their world, the girl felt a little dizziness. Momentary blindness was reduced to almost nothing for the mage who had grown more used to the magic with ongoing use.

  The girl's senses returned and she looked around curiously. She felt safe with Xander. He had saved her life at the Twins and she thought that she had loved him even before that. If they were normal people and had no magic, she would hope that he would ask to marry her. It was a teenage girl's wish though and one that a future, full wizard couldn't afford to dwell on too long.

  "Where are we?"

  He pointed behind her and said, "We're just in a valley a few miles away from the fort. If they're looking for us, I doubt that they will look this far away initially."

  Looking up at him cautiously, Shaylene asked, "And why have you taken me here?"

  "We never get to just be alone. At least in White Hall we could slip into the courtyard behind the dining hall," he said still holding the girl close. "I just like being with you, even if that is all we can do."