Battle Mage: The Dark Mage (Tales of Alus)

by Wigboldy Jr, Donald

  “If you have combat magic, then feel free to use it. Your swordsmanship is about to hand you your fifth loss unless you can change something,” Palose answered as his eyes strayed to the men not only by the bench and Acheri, but gathering just behind Sylvaine and Turless. They numbered a dozen already and the first three men were uncomfortably close to the girl, who had already glanced to them several times as they edged nearer.

  He could tell by Lanquer’s expression that he had neither combat magic, nor had he noticed the potential danger to the girl he was supposed to protect. As a guard, the boy had neither the skill nor the awareness that could save his charge if the situation escalated. The mage had guessed the former and feared the latter. The emperor had declared the boy would be a guard to them. He had the power of magic in him, but nothing else made Palose believe he could become a guardsman anytime soon.

  “Again,” the teacher ordered as his eyes caught Sylvaine and Turless looking a bit uncomfortable with the added crowd of men behind them.

  Lanquer attacked and to his surprise, Palose tossed his sword away from him. Shifting his feet took the mage out of the blade’s path. His hands caught Lanquer’s wrist and elbow twisting the boy into a hold that put enough pain and leverage into it to drive him to his knees. His arm wrenched up and behind him to lose enough feeling to drop his blade once more.

  Releasing his opponent, Palose gave him his blade turning the boy to face Acheri and the men who had begun talking to the girl on the bench causing her to frown. Their words were low enough that he couldn’t make them out from the distance. He turned Lanquer’s shoulder to face his two apprentices and said, “You’ll practice with Sylvaine next, but first go grab a drink from the container on the table. You’ve earned a break.”

  Too caught up in his own problems, Lanquer seemed to miss the threats gathering despite his teacher trying to lead him to recognition. He complained instead, “But this is why I need to fight you! I don’t need to spar with a girl that is still learning to fight. Kolban wants me to become a guardsman as soon as possible.”

  They closed on the table which was close to Acheri, and Palose stated, “You aren’t even close to being a guardsman when you can’t even see your ward in trouble.”

  The words finally brought awareness to the boy’s eyes. “Hey, leave her alone!”

  Looking up at Lanquer, the rough men appeared unimpressed.

  “Run on home, pup,” the man closest to Acheri replied dismissively. His two friends laughed at Lanquer’s angry look. “We are talking to the lady. She’s a pretty one. We don’t get her kind out here very often.”

  Charging the men, Lanquer brandished his wooden sword. Acheri started to move her hands in an attempt at a spell. At the sound of her words the man caught her left wrist pulling her from her seat disrupting the enchantment. Swords left their sheaths, not only from the two other men, but a few more from those who gathered behind the apprentices.

  “Shield,” Palose ordered a large battle mage shield glowing blue walling off Lanquer’s charge. “Reflex,” he added and in a burst of speed he was in front of the boy. “Air lance,” the mage added putting himself before the soldiers. “Shield,” announced a second smaller blue shield that struck the first man in the face causing him to release Acheri’s arm.

  Pulling the girl behind him, Palose stood before the soldiers in warning. Echoes of the shield and reflex spells signaled his two apprentices readying for a fight. They moved quickly to put a little distance between them and the men becoming aggressive towards the others. A small bit of satisfaction at their instincts to use combat magic was felt in his chest, but his attention remained on the three men immediately before him.

  “You have had your fun at the girl’s expense, now return to your training and I won’t report you to your commanders,” he warned the men.

  “Get him!” the first man ordered as his nose began to bleed from the strike of the shield.

  Like watching the men moving in slow motion, Palose’s reflex spell gave him time to decide each strike of the air lance. The two men were still falling to the ground stunned and relieved of their weapons before the third could draw his sword. A strike to the throat from a bare hand left him on his knees choking for air.

  Joining his apprentices in the stand off against a dozen men in a blink of an eye, the remainder of the men hadn’t even had the time to notice their fellows on the ground. Palose warned them once more, “Go now or you’ll join your friends. Attacking a noblewoman will get you all thrown into a dungeon to be hung tomorrow. Your officers won’t even be able to save your worthless lives.”

  Heads turned to see the three men as realization seeped into their minds. Seeing the men disabled in a split second, they realized that these were no ordinary soldiers or nobles they faced. Turning away to move deeper into the training field to give them space, Palose watched the threat end.

  Clapping drew his attention back to Acheri, who looked both unharmed and unphased by the encounter. She quickly rebuked Lanquer as the girl gestured at the fallen men, “Now do you see why you have to learn from him? Stop being an idiot and do as he says. I’ll tell our brother otherwise and I don’t think he’ll be as understanding as Palose. Do you?”

  “No, Acheri,” the boy answered to the last part. “I can see that he knows how to fight better than even the wizard hunters.”

  “Don’t let them hear you say that until you have learned to be as skilled as Palose or you might end up dead. They don’t like to be belittled, especially by someone new to the sword like you,” the girl chided. Her face brightened as she looked at the battle mage. “Very good, Palose! Brother would be impressed even.”

  She walked over towards the other three who released their spells now that it was safe once more. “You and your apprentices look like you could have killed all of them easily. I think I would have liked to see that, but I suppose we need their kind for the army as well,” Acheri stated looking a bit disappointed. “You probably should have killed those three, however. I don’t think brother will be happy that they touched me or threatened us with their swords. Maybe I should just execute them now?”

  Palose marveled at the girl’s lack of compassion. Her words that threatened to kill three men without a bit of regret seemed more bemused with the situation than concerned. “My lady Acheri, I can have Turless go bring the imperial guardsmen. They can be taken for judgment. I don’t think the emperor would want his wizards just killing his soldiers without being involved first. We wouldn’t want anyone thinking just anyone could start killing his soldiers with impunity, would we?”

  Hoping that Acheri would take his lead to hide her identity even from his friends, he wasn’t disappointed since the girl had the intelligence of the emperor making up her creation. Weaving a spell, Acheri cast a coercion spell on the men who had begun to recover from Palose’s attacks. Once locked, the soldiers’ eyes glazed over and they stood at attention.

  “There,” she stated, “I can bring them to the guards once we’re done here. No need to ruin your practice.”

  Waving them towards the field, Acheri added, “Go. Please impart some knowledge to my idiot half brother. The gods know that he needs improvement, and I believe only you can teach him what he needs to know.”

  “As you command, my lady,” he replied bringing looks of confusion to his friends. They still had no idea of Acheri’s identity, and he doubted they would ever guess, since the emperor had never had a sister before.

  Returning to the practice field, Palose led the others in both sword skills and the spells of a battle mage.

  Standing in the main room of his little house, Palose worked on his pack sitting on the table he had brought in along with a set of chairs. While he hadn’t told anyone of his secret hideaway, the mage had a feeling one day all six chairs surrounding the table would be filled. A padded chair sat in the corner near the fireplace. He hadn’t bothered to buy more for the main room so far, since it seemed a waste when it was just him and even he
rarely visited the place to prevent anyone noticing his activities.

  Today was the first of a series of tests that he had planned. Wakaraq hadn’t discovered any interesting bodies to attempt his necromancy spells upon just yet. He had sent notes on three so far, but Palose found that he was feeling extra careful in his choices. If the spell worked, whoever he resurrected would be his responsibility. They would have to be persons of little interest to others and more importantly still be someone he could feel worth reviving. The mage wasn’t sure what had held him back from those offered and the orc seemed a little annoyed that he had yet to pick from the bodies. He wanted to be paid for his time; but Palose hadn’t found anyone calling to him, so to speak.

  Wearing a heavy winter jacket, his gloves sitting on the table waiting, Palose made sure that he had both food and the components for his travel spells ready. Three corrinuts with their lodestones buried inside already bore his magic. He placed four more stones in the middle of the floor creating a square. If the mage understood the portal magic properly, those stones would act as the place of summoning for his return. He planned to use the house as his personal travel anchor while the dark mage began to expand his abilities.

  The young mage pulled his hood over his blond hair before placing the pack over his shoulders to rest against his back. He picked up his gloves tucking them into his pockets as he readied to cast his spell.

  Taking a deep breath, Palose summoned his power searching for the lodestone which held his power somewhere in the Dimple Mountains. A light shown on his face after a moment and grew to a gate barely large enough for the man to walk through. As it was Palose turned sideways to pass through the slim doorway.

  A wind seemed to rush past his face and a silver light enveloped him momentarily before the gray light of a cloudy morning broke over the mage. Palose looked around to see a clearing surrounded by trees. A hill overlooked an altar a dozen feet from where he stood in one direction and a mountain loomed over the trees in another.

  Looking for the bright light of the sun to get his bearings wasn’t easy, so the mage drew out a compass with the thick clouds overhead. The cold was already stinging the bare skin on his hands by the time he learned the mountain was to the south, while the hill was north. Miles to the east should be the lands he was familiar with: Windmeer, White Hall and the rest. Though he knew them, the mage had never explored the mountains directly west of castle Windmeer. The path between White Hall and the castle barely touched the eastern foothills, and those trips had been designed to simply go from school to castle and back.

  He placed his gloves over his hands after placing the compass in his right pocket. With a big sigh, Palose began to walk. He wasn’t sure of his path, but it would be working towards the east. While Garosh’s fortress had to be nearby, he hoped that his path would avoid the place and his minions. This trip wasn’t to find such a place. Should he need it, the mage was within easy walking distance since the altar was where the mining teams and supplies always returned to go to the fortress after all.

  Turning his feet towards the east to skirt the hill to the north, Palose walked through the deep snow. It was the heart of winter and few would bother to travel the hills at such a time. The mage had the wilderness to himself and that was what he wanted.

  He had to watch his time as he walked. Being away too long would make people suspicious. At most, he had four hours to safely hike his way through the mountains before he had to be back. Forcing the march to a tiring pace in the foot deep snow, the battle mage hurried towards the east as fast he could push his pace and even ate lunch without stopping.

  Early afternoon came and the mage had to return to Ensolus to show up at the library. He hadn’t scheduled battle mage training this morning, though the others could practice what they had learned on their own anyway. Digging through the snow, Palose placed two touchstones prepared with his magic before casting his spell of return. The four stones accurately brought him to the square on the floor as he exited the portal once more.

  Removing the heavy jacket and gloves, the mage rubbed his arms a minute to work the blood flow into them. It had been cold even when the sun found gaps in the clouds. A quick walk to the library caught him up with his friends and no one was the wiser.

  Chapter 11- Winter Storms

  A week had passed since Palose had begun to journey to the east a few hours at a time. He had found the trail on the second day. Little more than a snow covered path through the hills in the shadow of the mountains, the mage found it just as difficult as the day before. Snow covered everything and before his return more had come. He had pushed his way through the snow and even been caught in one storm as he walked. Each walk took him closer to Windmeer, but each day was a challenge to the young man and he was alone.

  Always before he had traveled with others, falcons, wizards, soldiers, so each trek had been spent with comrades, even if he was a typically quiet person in crowds. The comrades helped to push each other on their walks, and of course, Palose usually had a horse to make the trip easier.

  As he sat at his table in the library with his feet on a chair beside him, the mage could feel the ache in his feet and legs from all the hard exercise. Today he was tackling the book Acheri had found for him. An interesting book concerning his kind, the resurrection men, Kolban expanded upon their powers. He noted a possible strength that the mage had never found in the other tomes he had read, a wizard who was returned was believed to be able to develop a second sight. Most wizards and mages could see auras, but his ability to see the shift and flow of their power had already expanded on what he could previously do.

  ‘True Power’ suggested that such sight had led other resurrection men to try and take the power they could see for their own. Directed magic had been able to be redirected before, like fireballs being pushed aside from fire masters. Unlike wind or shields, they could reach out for the fire and turn them aside and occasionally throw the power back at its creator.

  Along with the ritual spell that had been given to him to deal with Atrouseon, Palose thought such redirection could possibly add to his magical strength. Getting away with the actions that it would take would be the hardest part of such magic; though if Acheri’s help meant that the emperor was pushing for him to try, then he wondered if there would be any repercussions. It would be a risk even so. Falling out of favor with Emperor Kolban would be as much a death sentence as the rest, he bet.

  “You look like you have sunburn or maybe windburn,” Sylvaine stated as she sat next to the mage. “Have you been visiting the outer city?”

  A pair of spell books was placed on the table by the girl before she brushed back her curly hair on the side he faced. The violet eye nearest him looked at him out of the corner as if warily trying to see if her words might upset him. As far as he could remember, Palose had never raised his voice to her let alone thought to harm her, aside from the occasional strikes to her padding during combat training of course. None of their other regulars had joined them yet, though it was still early in the afternoon. Some had classes or chores in the afternoon, so not everyone found their way to the library every day.

  “Something like that,” he replied mysteriously. His business was his own and the less who knew what he was doing the better. Even a friend like Sylvaine was a liability. Whether any punishment would come down on him, if his extra curricular activities were found out or not, he couldn’t be sure; and he preferred to never find out.

  “Mmhmm,” Sylvaine replied sounding unconvinced and disappointed in his distortion of a real answer. “So now you have another secret from me, Palose Rosaren. This doesn’t bode well for us if you have to keep hiding things from me. First, you can’t tell me about Acheri and Lanquer and now this. I must say that I am very sad.” The girl stuck out her lip feigning the emotion letting him know that she wasn’t really that concerned, though women often were passive aggressive in their dealings with men, so maybe she wasn’t exactly playing, he considered.

  “T
he first is still not my secret to tell, and I am sure they will let you know when they are ready. As for my activities, it just involves practicing what I have read. There is no real secret or concern to worry over.”

  She remained silent a moment before turning her legs to face him so that her eyes could look at him easier. Palose noted her grey slippers and bare lower legs. It was still cold out and often the girl wore leggings, but for some reason she wasn’t today and his eyes enjoyed the sight of her shapely calves and slim ankles. Unfortunately for the mage, his slip was noticed bringing a slight smile to her lips. No matter how long they had known each other or even his position as a mentor to the girl, Sylvaine continued to enjoy toying with him. He wondered if her bare legs were simply a new ploy to try and get some of the secrets out of him.

  “Well, I can be patient, I suppose, but if you tell me that you can’t tell me about your book, then I may have to drop you as a friend,” the girl sighed before tapping the top of the book with a finger. “I don’t think that I have ever seen or heard of this one. ‘True Power’ by someone named Kolban. What is this power the cover talks about?”

  He shrugged and replied, “I am not sure about the title from what I have read. It does deal with resurrection men who have been able to see magic auras and found a way to steal such power from another warlock. I had never noticed it, until Acheri pulled it off the top shelf. Why she gave it to me is another mystery that I can’t answer for you, though I don’t have the answer either.”

  Pulling the book from his hands to peruse the first few pages without truly looking at it, Sylvaine’s voice turned quiet as she asked, “If I were killed, like during a patrol or training, would you find a way to make me a resurrection... girl?”

  The question was unexpected and Palose’s gut instinct was to say yes, but his mind went to the reason he had yet to try the spell on the subjects Wakaraq had offered him. Could he be responsible for someone like Sylvaine? His heart said yes and he wondered if he had become so attached to the apprentice that he would offer a part of himself to bring her back. Deflecting her question with one of his own, Palose asked, “Would you want to be brought back like that?”