Battle Mage: Winter's Edge

by Donald Wigboldy

  In desperation, the mage felt a rush of power as he panicked. “Flood!” he called out and felt the stones sending their power into him. The earth and air seemed to give him a sudden rush of strength filling him to the point that he wished to burst and just as quickly he released their energy as a powerful spell.

  Water from the Ponds and the lake of the Royal Gardens seemed to leap from the ground below the Heights. A combination of two deluges rose up to strike the vortex and the fire caught within.

  “Mage cylinder!” Magnus ordered just as the waters closed in on the defensive wall cutting into the winds once more.

  As the flood of water struck the wind, the vortex began to collapse, but before it could be struck the water made it inside the defensive wall putting out the fire. When the wind dispersed, the water ran from the wall. The girl lay still as death sending Magnus and the wizards meant to protect her running to her side.

  Healers kept nearby for emergencies rushed from the tower to help the fallen wizard, as everyone could see that she still didn’t move.

  In the commotion, another girl screamed and ran to another who had fallen. Yara raced with the rest of Sebastian’s friends. With the release of power, the mage had collapsed as his spell ran its course.

  The repetition of thunder sounded in Sebastian’s head. He tried to raise his hands to cover his ears, but he wasn’t sure that they listened. Beyond the ache in his head, the mage could feel nothing.

  He thought to open his eyes, but they didn’t want to listen. His ears heard nothing over the thunder and there was only darkness. An eternity passed and still Sebastian remained sealed inside the crushing darkness.

  Lightning struck and thunder erupted out of order from the repetitious rumbles. Stars flared and were gone. A strange scent made its way into his consciousness and it was awful. He wondered what had died and brought him this new hell. Another strike of lightning made him think that he felt his cheek and it hurt.

  Flutters of light seemed to diminish the thunder and released the throbbing in his head that was the rush of blood drumming inside. A flash of Yara’s face and a blue sky behind her made it into his mind. Moments later the flutters ended and the man could see once more.

  The beautiful blond healer was there with tears in her eyes. She was crying and he felt her power within him. Had he been hurt? He couldn’t remember a thing.

  “Bas, you’re awake!” Katya’s voice cried out and he spied his sister with tears rolling down her cheeks.

  Other voices cried out his name and others seemed to be telling others that he lived.

  “What happened?” his voice asked sounding distant and disconnected from his head.

  “You stupid, stupid man!” Yara yelled at him and he could still feel her magic throughout his body. This was no touch tying them together in joy, it was a spell of desperation designed to save. “I told you that you weren’t up to a duel so you go and cast a spell like that? A full wizard would have passed out trying that spell, you idiot!”

  “What spell?” he asked trying to remember. Apparently he had done something stupid… again. Unable to move yet, the mage was at her mercy.

  Blinking through the tears, the healer tried be calm as she realized that he was probably still in shock, “You called all the water up from both courtyards to strike Annalicia’s wind wall.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  Yara let out a cry of exasperation. “I can’t believe you don’t remember! She was on fire and trapped inside her defense wall. You were the first to realize that she was unconscious inside while the spells continued to run uncontrolled all around her. If you and Magnus hadn’t worked to destroy her barrier and put out the fire, she would probably be dead right now.”

  Memory began to return and with it Sebastian could also feel his body again, but quickly wished that he couldn’t. The pain of a thousand cramping muscles, starvation in his stomach and his head ready to burst threatened to knock him back to unconscious. If not for the wizard’s magic, he probably would have.

  “Drink this carefully, Sebastian,” a familiar voice ordered and he felt liquid touching his lips from a bottle’s top. His eyes found Darius kneeling beside him holding a new canister to his lips. He remembered this awful taste, but couldn’t remember when he had tasted such a drink, and then he realized that it must have been the liquid that Yara had told him about from yesterday’s collapse.

  Several minutes later, Yara sat back and took a second flask from Darius. Making a face at the taste, the healer took her medicine to restore the energy she had spent on the fallen mage.

  “Is Annalicia all right?” Sebastian finally asked with the drink consumed. The thunder was beginning to subside and the aches and pains seemed to be going out one by one as the liquid flowed through him distributing the magical energy contained within the drink.

  “Your foolish stunt saved her. She’s already awake and almost completely unharmed,” Darius answered and Sebastian knew that he had worried over his granddaughter, but he had stayed to help Yara with him. “Her breathing had stopped since the fire had burned away all the air inside the vortex. It’s an amazing thought to think that she could be surrounded by so much air and still suffocate. The fire had caught her off guard and by the time she tried to speak a spell to save herself, the air was gone that was needed to say it.

  “I owe you her life, Falcon Trillon,” the wizard spoke soberly. This was a man that had lived to see many deaths, but Sebastian could tell that each life was still very precious to him. An immortal perhaps, but he was not jaded to those around him.

  Sebastian felt the strength to sit up finally. Pulling his legs into a cross, the mage returned the sentiment to Darius saying, “Well, it looks like I owe you another one for saving my life again too, I guess.” He tried to laugh but his head hurt too much and told him a sarcastic laugh wasn’t worth the pain.

  “Well, I think once you are well, perhaps we can talk about favors. For now, let’s just make sure that you are well. That was an amazing amount of power that you held, even if only for a moment. With no staff or other grounding device to help you, I am surprised that you didn’t just burn up in front of us really.”

  At Yara’s gasp, the silver haired man winced realizing the bluntness of such an observation. “That flow seemed like something beyond just a flow from the ground. Do you have any idea how you did that?”

  Wanting to shake his head, the mage avoided the ache there and simply answered, “No idea. It felt different from the other pulls on power that I’ve tried. Maybe my panic to save a friend just pushed me to do something reckless?”

  With a chuckle and a shake of his head, Darius replied, “Well, I think Anna is lucky that you consider her a friend. I am sure that once she is up to it, that she will want to come thank you for saving her life, but for now I do it for her.”

  Sebastian’s mind wandered from those surrounding him as he tried to tackle the new question posed. How had he managed such a reckless maneuver without just burning out like a snuffed flame? His eyes glanced to Yara, who still watched over him, but only kept connected with a trace of her magic. The spell was one they used to feel closer to one another, but it had nothing to do with actual healing.

  The sight of the healer brought back an old conversation. “Perhaps a side benefit of being able to heal is that when I use my power to save, it is the balance to the chaos of fighting?”

  Yara frowned and Collin, who had been listening to it all asked in frustration, “What does that have to do with anything? I know you just came close to dying, so maybe your brain is just too addled to explain things, but that makes no sense.”

  Shaking his head, which he had been right to avoid until now as stars appeared behind his eyes threatening unconsciousness from a new flood of pain, Sebastian tried to explain, “A healer has to risk losing their ability to heal if they turn to using destruction magic. When it was mentioned to me, I thought that I had never had a problem with using my other magic because I could he
al and such.

  “In spells like the flood, I think there is something to the intent of the spell. With my dueling, I don’t try to kill. I mostly just immobilize or drive a wizard from his circle. Even when I have knocked people out from using lightning, it was a safe way to win without truly hurting them.”

  “But what does that have to do with this surge in power?” Collin questioned impatiently. Now that his friend appeared out of the woods, the earth wizard’s worry was beginning to make him terse.

  “To save Annalicia, I accidentally pulled power from the stone of the wall, the earth and even the air, I think. I didn’t burst from containing all that power, but not because I was quick to use it. I didn’t die because I was using all the destructive potential to save. When I heal, I can harm as well as long as there is some balance. I can use chaos and destructive magic and balance it as I save someone.

  “Holding the balance between the two, made me stronger and the magic safer to use… I think anyway,” he finished with a self deprecating smile.

  Darius seemed to appreciate the theory more than the others and Sebastian realized that they had more in common than he had realized. The mage didn’t think he could fathom the mind of a man seven centuries old, but one thing they definitely had in common was a thirst for understanding.

  The High Wizard of Eirdhen considered a moment and nodded, “Perhaps you are right. Most wizards trying to use the earth for magic use the power to destroy. It increases the damage of a spell, but I can’t think of a single soul that actually used the extra power to heal or save. Maybe like steel strengthened by alternate uses of fire and water, you are becoming more powerful as well. Whether your base magic increases or not, I think that you may one day be able to channel more power than many wizards by bending the elements to strengthen you, but as I’ve already warned before, be careful in your use of the power you have found, my friend.”

  Sebastian nodded and felt much less pain. Pulling his feet underneath him, the mage pushed to stand. His head felt a little dizzy, a matter that could be made worse from the height of the walls, but the man found that he could stand. He didn’t need Yara to tell him to try and not use any magic for awhile. Feeling drained and empty, the mage knew that only food and sleep would make such feelings go away over time.

  Darius looked a bit lost in thought and finally revealed a little of what bothered his mind, “Once you are well, Sebastian, perhaps we can talk about this and some other matters. I have been talking with several wizards and officials in Hala while visiting here. Our conversation about the disappearance of Gerid has had me thinking. Perhaps before you leave to return home, we can sit and talk about these things?”

  Sebastian smiled and realized the kindred spirit he recognized in the High Wizard was true. “I would love to talk about them. Maybe tomorrow afternoon after the banquet and dance tonight, if I have the energy to go, I think I will need to sleep for a long time before trying to ride back to Windmeer,” he confessed thinking of the long ride and wanting to cringe. Katya needed to be delivered to White Hall as well. Having to ride so far and deal with that as well, made him want to sleep for at least a week or more.

  Nodding with a smile, Darius inclined his head in respect and offered, “Well, I think I shall go check on Anna now. I know that her people care for her, but perhaps the presence of her old grandfather will help her even more? Until next time, my friend,” he finished and turned to walk into the tower leading to the Heights.

  Sebastian turned to look at Yara and his friends after the wizard wandered away. He just now realized that the other wizards from Eirdhen had not been with the immortal. He wondered why Darius had taken the time to come to him instead of remaining with Annalicia, but quickly realized that the man was probably just as concerned as he would be if something had happened to Darius while trying to save someone he loved. The thought of something harming an immortal almost made him laugh. What could harm someone like him?

  His eyes narrowed slightly at the thought as Sebastian considered the implications. The Grimnal was missing, but most likely not dead. Did that mean something had managed to harm him to keep him from returning to his people or was the emperor and his armies to blame? Was he imprisoned somewhere just waiting to be found or waiting to break free?

  “Are you all right?” Yara asked noting his attention wandering.

  Smiling his best to make her feel more assured, Sebastian took in the other members of his team and Katya. “There’s nothing that a little food and sleep won’t fix thanks to you and Darius. If the rest of you would like to do something else, don’t let me keep you. I’ll just return to the inn and get some rest.”

  Yara placed an arm around his waist and offered some more support. Katya took his free arm to hold his hand. He had been separated from his family for years, but their short time had already brought the siblings closer together. He smiled at both girls and let them help him into the tower and beyond.

  Epilogue

  Music flowed through the large banquet hall. Wizards and nobles moved through the supporting columns and created pockets of those who chose to stand and talk as well as those who danced. Tables surrounded a large open floor filled with dancers both young and old. This was the end of Winter’s Edge, the crowning moment to the whole of the tournament and a time for contestants and admirers to mingle exchanging their individual experiences. While dancers danced, the others smiled and talked of the wonderful wizard duels that they had seen. Since no one could have seen them all during the tournament, it was a great time to share with others.

  Lord Romonus seemed to be just like all the others, but were anyone to listen to him the whole evening; they might think that he had other ideas. The lord from Kardor and his daughter had mingled and gotten to know many of the wizards during the tournament, in fact more than a regular admirer of the duels, they had managed to find a way to discuss the future of many of the wizards. The banquet and subsequent dance was the final piece to their week.

  “Oh, yes, yours was a truly fine match, Wizard Themenor,” the corpulent lord agreed with a big smile. It was a similar compliment to the last dozen wizards he had spoken with that night, but the wizard beamed with the appreciation. He was an air wizard and representative from the southern city of New Harbor who had been knocked out in round three. An admittedly rough round for many a wizard, the man had talent and often felt like his talents were wasted in the southern city. There were no wars there to worry over, no dark armies amassed within a thousand miles of the seaside city. He had been assigned there years ago and the tournament was the first chance to leave the confining New Harbor in ages.

  “Well, thank you for that, Lord Romonus, but I wish that I had known they would pull such a strange match out of their hats before the tournament. I know that I would have tried to prepare for it better and, of course, my bad luck of drawing two water wizards didn’t help,” the tall blond haired man said trying to excuse the loss. Lord Romonus didn’t care for excuses, but he did know that the air wizard was quite skilled and more importantly interested in his offer.

  “It was bad luck indeed. The water witches decided to team up against you and the earth wizard. Too bad he didn’t have the intelligence to join up with you before those women had you on the ropes,” Romonus agreed. “Well, I do hope that you take me up on my offer. We could use someone with your talent and I know that we would do much to compensate you for your time.”

  A little worry slipped into the man’s eyes. The gold the lord had offered and the chance to have a guild built around him as leader was a very tempting offer, however. “And you say that we would take a ship back to Kardor in just over a week?”

  Lord Romonus managed to avoid grinning. He had him. “Oh, yes, after some business I need to wrap up here, we will take one of the ships that brought our wizards from Kardor for the tournament. Once we get back, I will introduce you to the wizards and nobles of Treatenshire. They will be very interested in hearing what direction you would like to lead them, I a
m sure.”

  Whether the wizards of Kardor would follow the man or just find a way to keep him happy enough to stay, was out of the ambassador’s hands. It was just his job to find recruits for the waning number of wizards of his land. The conflict with the Dark One’s armies over more than a century had worn down the country that had half as many people as Southwall. If he could just win over some of the hundreds of wizards that had come to the tournament, his wizard guilds might still have a chance to breath with new vigor.

  “So can I count on you, Wizard Themenor?”

  The man looked introspective as he considered, “I think that I can get a leave from New Harbor for awhile to see what you have to offer. It’s not like they truly need me there,” he added looking a bit annoyed. It was that feeling that coincided to work with Romonus’s promises.

  “That is truly wonderful, my friend. We will work out the exact time of departure soon, but I must insist that you come enjoy the beautiful rooms of the Inner City Inn while you wait. We can’t have our future Air Guild leader wallowing in some second rate inn, now can we?”

  The bait had been set and the trap sprung. He had another wizard ready to sail back with him to Kardor. If only that charming battle mage with all the incredible talent he possessed would return with him. The idea of building a corps of their own mages really called to him. Perhaps he would try sending Helena one more time. Maybe they could sweeten the pot and entice him away yet?

  But that was an attempt for another day as he spied a wizard in his dress robes of red, “Wizard Jelar, my friend, come talk with me. I know we have many things to discuss,” he said to the next potential recruit for Kardor.