Battle Mage: Forging New Steel (Tales of Alus Book 9)

by Donald Wigboldy

  “You two haven’t even officially come out as a couple for fear of Maura and the other wizards telling the guilds about you, right?”

  Sebastian frowned. She was a Kardorian and had little true knowledge of the inner workings of Southwall and its people, but Ashleen was also a wizard living in a male dominated society. He doubted that male wizards in the hierarchy of Kardor thought much different from their counterparts. She was probably under the same strict rules about sex as the women in Southwall.

  “She’s a full wizard now and I am a battle mage. There might be some resistance from the guilds, but we’ve already proved that being together can make our magic stronger. We don’t know that the wizards won’t make us stay together instead.”

  “Ah, so you would rather be forced together instead of having your say in the matter?” the girl asked and raised a hand with bubbles cupped in the palm. She blew and sent the foam back into the tub though there was now a shadow as her arm retreated beneath the water once more. “You two seemed to be a little cold towards each other since Banosh, though maybe it was before that or a little after. I only know that on the island you two still seemed very close.”

  Her crystal blue eyes looked at him appraisingly for a moment and he waited to see where her thoughts were going without interrupting. He also watched the bubbles a little worriedly as the air seemed to be slowly eroding her protective layer of foam. The conversation could only last so long before he would have to leave, the mage thought.

  “She’s pretty friendly with almost everyone and I thought that we had managed to become friends back in Windmeer months ago, but since the day you rescued me from the black ship, Yara hasn’t seemed to want to talk to me very much. Did I do something to wrong her? I’ve held back from you as much as I can short of never seeing you at all. I’ve told her that I know where I stand since you two are together even, but she doesn’t seem to believe me.”

  Being unsure of why Yara was mad at her, if she was even mad at all, sounded familiar. He had been receiving a bit of a cold shoulder as well, and wasn’t sure what he had done either. When Ashleen had asked if she could sail with them on the Sea Dragon to get away from the second leader of the Kardorians, Helena, the daughter of the nobleman who had led Ashleen’s group of wizards to Hala; Sebastian had said yes thinking it an innocent enough request. He had seen the wilder around the ship and talked with her no more than he had any of his team of wizards and mages.

  “I guess she sees you as a rival and maybe doesn’t trust me as well,” the young man sighed. He hadn’t wanted to admit it, and no matter how often he protested the thoughts to the healer, Yara never seemed convinced otherwise.

  “Why would she think that? She doesn’t treat the other women you know like that. Serrena and Frell are pretty and single, even Annalicia is amazing in so many ways being a lady and so beautiful; but she doesn’t seem to care if you talk to them. Why am I so special?

  “You don’t actually like me as much as her, do you?”

  He tried not to wince at the final question and hoped that he had managed to maintain a blank face in that moment. Even during the time they had spent alone in Silver World, Sebastian had managed to fight off any urges to betray Yara with the beautiful wilder. It was funny that a girl unable to completely contain her power over lightning also had an electric pull on him as well, but he hadn’t given in even when Ashleen had managed to become even more attainable on that island floating in the void of light.

  Weeks alone, they had used the clean pond to wash and he had managed to avoid catching sight of the girl naked, but her wizard robes had been torn. Ashleen used the outer layer as a blanket and the remaining cloth had become a skirt tied at the hip, while her top had hung from her shoulders to only her upper stomach. Her modified outfits had revealed enough of her other assets to make him appreciate her looks even more.

  Wanting to shake the thought of her attractive looks from his head, Sebastian simply looked at the black and tan tiles on the far wall.

  In the silence left by the question, Ashleen asked, “Nothing happened on the island, and there was no reason for you to hold back. We didn’t know if we would ever return to Alus again, but you didn’t do anything if you actually had any feelings for me.”

  “I knew that we would return sometime. I had faith,” he commented looking at her and was caught up in those crystal blue eyes again. That she had only questioned his feelings and never brought up hers meant that Ashleen had feelings for him still. They both knew it and the girl was simply fishing to discover if there was an opening with him. Worse, Sebastian wasn’t sure that there wasn’t despite his resolve.

  It would be a few weeks before Yara returned to Hala, so he knew that he would do nothing until they had a chance to talk again. It would be nearly two months since he had seen Yara, but his mind had never seemed to leave the topic of their relationship for long. Trapped in the silence of the void and often only left with his thoughts as the mage had gone off to hunt, Sebastian had examined where he stood with Yara more times than the man could count.

  He was avoiding Ashleen’s questions, however. Many times he had thought about them as well. If they had been trapped there for all their lives, Sebastian wasn’t sure when he would have let himself go to her. He certainly felt love for her, but she had been second. In Silver World, Ashleen had been his only companion and he hadn’t complained about that part even in his mind.

  “I obviously like you, but love can’t be brought into it when I love Yara,” Sebastian replied trying to remain vague. He didn’t want to lie, but the answers weren’t completely obvious in his mind either. His heart, on the other hand, was certainly torn between the two girls.

  Again Ashleen sighed as she looked away from him picking up a peculiar looking razor. Sebastian had used the straight edged razors which were nearly as dangerous as swords on a neck. Magic let him remove a beard much cleaner and safer.

  Raising her right leg out of the water, Ashleen seemed oblivious to her display and his cheeks starting to redden. He had seen more of her legs than this, but for some reason knowing that only a thin layer of bubbles separated the remainder of her bare body from his vision was more intriguing. Her shoulders had sunk deeper, but somehow the bubbles above her chest managed to lift slightly even so.

  “Well, you know that I like you too,” Ashleen replied as her attention focused on not cutting her leg as she removed the hairs that Sebastian couldn’t even see. Realizing that he was looking more intently than he intended, the man looked away missing a satisfied smile touch the girl’s lips for a moment. She switched legs as Ashleen finished what she could while being submerged in water. “I’ve tried to respect your relationship, but if she doesn’t want you, I do.”

  Her words surprised him in their audacity. Ashleen had finally said it and worse, he didn’t hate to hear those words.

  “I would need to know that Yara no longer loves me for anything to happen between us,” the mage managed to acknowledge both of their feelings without coming out with them fully. “Yara will be back soon and we will see what is there.”

  “And I will try to learn what I can from you... concerning magic, of course,” Ashleen replied dropping the second leg into the water before sitting up a bit straighter. The bubbles were beginning to thin now and Sebastian refused to be caught looking at more of the beautiful girl than he should so he stood up to retreat.

  She looked a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t stay or even come closer to her, but the situation hadn’t changed aside from him finally admitting his attraction to her. The war wasn’t lost, but she was on the losing side so far.

  “Let me know when you are through,” he said as his hand grasped the knob of the door. “I haven’t had a chance to clean up thoroughly since what seems like forever.”

  Giving a laugh, Ashleen nodded, “I think the last time I truly had a chance to bathe, I was still here in Hala. There isn’t enough fresh water available onboard those ships to ever feel truly clean.” />
  He nodded and closed the door blocking off the beautiful, bathing girl as if the wood could seal off his feelings for her as well.

  Chapter 2- The Eternal Phoenix

  While Sebastian waited for Ashleen to finish bathing, he gathered up another change of clothes from one of the bags left behind by the porters who had helped Ashleen earlier. The uniform was more than he wanted to wear in the warm summer air. Even as night approached, it remained warm. The cliff overlooking the North Sea felt little of the breezes that normally helped keep the city cool during summer and warmer during the winter.

  He was also distracted by a knock from the door before a note was slipped under it into his room. The note was from Mecklin, the battle mage who had taken the lead of his team after his disappearance. As the eldest of his team, the others had followed the falcon easily. There had been little left to do anyway. After splitting off four of their members to watch for his return in New Harbor, Mecklin with Gerid and Maura agreed to return to Hala to warn the king of developments with their ally, Sileoth.

  One man’s disappearance, even if it was the owl Sebastian, was of little importance compared to the machinations of the emperor and thousands who would be in danger to the south. The island of Litsarin was in the crosshairs of the Dark One and the cities of Sileoth’s colony on the west side of the massive island were in danger. Word had needed to be brought without any more delay.

  His staff, Bairh’loore, had been brought along with his other belongings on the Sea Dragon. His bag of clothes had been brought to his room already giving him more clothing, though he had purchased a few other things to replace clothing patched up and torn over the months he had been away. Having his bag meant that he had nearly everything he owned in the world. Only a new account at the bank created by the kings’ men in his absence was beyond his grasp in the hotel room.

  Quickly reading the note, Sebastian smiled. It mostly contained a message from Mecklin saying that the others had been put up at the local guild and corps housing. Both were outside of the inner ring, though the king kept a lesser force both inside his castle and in key buildings within the ring. While peace had been long lasting inside the city, defenses were maintained as well.

  Being outside of the inner city, Mecklin had sent word of where the others planned to meet for dinner upon learning of his return from the void.

  The door opened from the centralized restroom for the suite and Ashleen was revealed wearing just a towel wrapped around her torso. Touching her thighs, she was covered, if only just. Recognizing yet another attempt to encourage him to come to her, Sebastian looked to her face avoiding the bared, tan flesh from months aboard the ship and sunny islands.

  “Mecklin asked me to join them at a restaurant outside the inner wall called, the Eternal Phoenix, if you are interested.”

  She nodded and asked, “How soon do we need to be there?”

  “Let me get cleaned up and dressed. We should have an hour or so before the dinner crowd makes it too hard to find seats.”

  “Won’t Mecklin and others save places for us anyway?” the girl asked playing with the fold of the cloth causing the bottom to flutter a bit revealing a little more flesh tauntingly.

  “Probably, but we don’t want to keep them waiting all night.”

  He picked up his change of clothing waving her before him to make the girl return to her room. As he closed the door barring Ashleen from the bathroom, he noted her flick the towel free. Shaking his head, the mage managed to close the door without a full show.

  Refilling the tub to halfway, the mage quickly scrubbed and washed his hair. Scented shampoos and soaps were unusual, but he cared less about the smells than washing away what felt like months of dirt. Winters in Southwall were hard to deal with when it came to being clean as well. The cold seemed to be everywhere, though castles like Windmeer had bathhouses which were probably the warmest places in the castle.

  Still having his own bath, with hot water immediately available and no long walk to the communal baths was something he could easily get used to; but Sebastian knew that it would be short lived. Once he was through with whatever celebrations the king had in store for him to attend to properly welcome Gerid, the Grimnal and king of kings; life would return to normal. If he could help it, the mage would move to the Black Smith Inn for awhile and work on the experiments with metal that he had planned.

  Sebastian’s mind began to think of all the things he wished to figure out as he hoped to be able to make more weapons like the Hollow Sword. Like any weapon, there were issues with making such a powerful artifact. Others could use it, but that was one of the reasons he hoped to make more. Thinking of a corps of battle mages holding the powerful weapons in battle, made him smile. With dozens of the weapons, battle mages could direct magic on par with a wizard even if it was mostly destructive elemental magic.

  While battle mages rarely showed off the finesse of more delicate spells that their more powerful cousins could achieve simply because they had larger reserves of magic, in battle using flame or the newer light and darkness spells as powerfully as a wizard would allow a single mage to destroy the larger monsters of the Dark One’s armies much easier. It was just his hope that he could make more and bring the weapons to bear against the dark armies, since they had begun using armor treated to absorb basic elemental spells. A wizard using fire was nearly useless against an armored wizard hunter, though powerful light spells could break down the gear. Still, any creature in the Dark One’s army could wear the armor and help overwhelm Southwall’s defense.

  The Hollow Sword might be able to offset such trickery, though he had also acquired a couple pieces of the armor along the way as well. Maura still had them and had hoped to do more research to discover how to make such gear for Southwall in the future.

  While his mind considered the next days, he quickly finished and dressed in the more casual shirt and pants of a falcon.

  He unlocked the bathroom door and Ashleen entered following him into his half of the suite as soon as she heard the click. Her blue dress was made of a satin that rippled with light with each step. A Southwall made dress, it was still somewhat short coming above her knees, but it was a summer dress and made of lightweight material. She carried a pair of shoes that were a nearly perfect match for the light blue of her dress.

  Sitting on the side of his bed, instead of using one of the chairs scattered around the room, Ashleen crossed her legs before placing the first slipper as she realized that he was ready to go. “You were fast,” she commented.

  With a teasing smile, Sebastian replied, “Well, not all of us feel free to just relax in a bath all afternoon; besides we need to meet the others so I didn’t have a lot of time to waste. I do have to admit that I enjoy the convenience of the Two Circles’ private baths. I wonder how they maintain the flows of water as well as the heat.”

  Shaking her head, Ashleen stated, “I try not to worry over that stuff. The water was warm and I just wanted to enjoy it. You forget to enjoy things because you are always trying to figure out how they work.”

  With her slippers in place, Sebastian slipped a key into his pocket. Ashleen left hers behind in her room since it only took one key to unlock the door.

  His eyes strayed towards the eastern sky and the first moon of the night. One of the three brother gods, Epsilon the god of the harvest, was half in shadow casting less of his silver light on the city this evening. Lamps were already lit throughout inner Hala to keep those walking outside safer by their light. Guardsmen made their patrols as well, but the capitol city was considered a fairly safe place to walk, especially near Grimnal castle.

  Exiting through one of the inner gates, Sebastian walked beside the girl in silence. They had been together so much of late that sometimes it was just nice to walk together without saying a word. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Ashleen to speak or hated the sound of her voice. In truth it was quite the opposite. The girl’s voice was quite pretty, which went well with her appearance, and
she was intelligent also.

  “There?” Ashleen asked pointing towards a large two story building on their left. Large windows spilled light into the street as well as the sound of people eating and talking. Silverware clanked on ceramic plates filling in for a lack of music while voices rose in a constant hum.

  The entry door was open as well and Sebastian led Ashleen inside. While the summer air outside was starting to cool, the air inside the restaurant was still warm and probably growing warmer with the many bodies seated at dozens of tables. With most of the tables filled, he was glad to see Mecklin stand up and wave them over to a long table filled with people he knew well.

  Waving to the falcon as the two navigated the room, the men met with a clasp of hands.

  “Good to see you again, Bas,” Mecklin greeted him while Liam, dressed in his blue water wizard tunic and black pants stood as well.

  “It’s good to see you all again as well,” Sebastian agreed noting only the two men sat with Serrena and Frell. The table was big enough for eight, so their six felt too few after months with his larger team.

  Holding Ashleen’s seat for her on one side, the mage moved to the opposite side of the table as they used the six seats along the length to face each other. Serrena looked from the falcon to the wilder curiously and he just waited for her to speak. Since they had met, Serrena had acted more like his apprentice than a fire wizard. She was also older than he was, so such a teacher student relationship would seem unlikely from all perspectives.

  “So what happened to you?” the fire wizard with her curly, auburn hair asked with a slight shake of her head. Green eyes were curious and he thought that Serrena hoped for a good story.

  He had a feeling that he was going to disappoint the fiery young woman, but he answered truthfully, “When Palose attacked us in the plaza in New Harbor, we fought each other using what we had learned since last we saw each other. I doubt that we tapped into everything, but one of his new tricks was to slip through a portal and shift to a new position nearby to renew his attack.”