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

by Donald Wigboldy

  The girl nodded as her hands grasped the dress and pulled it free while facing him to reveal that she had worn nothing beneath the shorts. He wanted to sigh, but Sebastian held his ground. While as a man he appreciated the sight of the girl naked save for her boots, Bas wanted to complain that she tried too hard.

  Ashleen started to blush in spite of her bold move, but the girl responded evenly, “Well, go and I will take a bath and soak for awhile. This humidity surrounding Hala is beginning to wear at me. I kind of wish we were still stuck in Silver World. It was much nicer on that island.”

  Turning and giving her a wave, Sebastian moved the door saying, “I’ll lock the door behind me. Enjoy your bath.”

  The girl sighed and moved into the bathroom before Sebastian had even opened the door.

  Dozens and dozens of stairs led Sebastian to the office of Raven Leros, the leader of the corps. No other raven had been in their position longer than he, and though they were technically all of the same rank, the raven of Hala was essentially the one who could command them all.

  One of the falcons guarding the door knocked before receiving a call to enter from inside the raven’s office. Leaning his head in to inform the officer that Sebastian was there took only a moment for a reply and the mage was gestured to enter as the door was pushed open for him. It was hardly the way a royal meeting would occur, but they were more akin to soldiers than the pomp and circumstance following those of a high born life.

  “Falcon, you came rather quickly. I only sent the messenger a little before lunch,” the white haired Leros informed him with a polite smile. Two others dressed in black uniforms differing only in the silver bars on their shoulders from Leros’ gold bars were also in attendance to see the falcon enter.

  “Falcon Sebastian these are Falconi Brelan and Neven,” he introduced the other two, a younger woman with dark brown hair bound in a tail resting nearly halfway down her back and a slightly older, brunette male with a receding hair line who was slightly taller than Sebastian. The woman was above average in height as well making them both rather impressive physically in their black uniforms.

  He nodded to each before returning his eyes to the elder mage. “We returned from lunch and discovered the message, so I hurried over to see what you required of me, sir.”

  “Right to business like a battle mage then,” Leros responded with a crisp nod and a smirk. “Since the king is done with his festivities, I am checking up on you to see whether you are ready to begin teaching classes to the battle mages here. Frell and Mecklin have been trying to teach what they know, but you are their teacher after all.”

  “They know most of what there is show except for those who might be able to use healing spells. According to the wizards I have spoken to, as battle mages are predisposed to combat, they are less likely to have a knack for healing.”

  Leros sat into his chair and leaned back slightly seeming to evaluate the younger man. “So far I believe just seven others have proved capable of learning how to use healing magic. Most of those were found without even having their teacher capable of using the spells, but you explained how it works sufficiently to teach even so.

  “Now what other spells do you know that haven’t been passed on to your students?”

  Sebastian drew out the original Hollow Sword and said, “A version of healing magic that requires massive power beyond just a battle mage.”

  The raven took the weapon with slightly wide eyes. Leros was a soldier for life and knew the tricks of keeping his face clear of easily read emotions when he wanted, so Sebastian took the minor changes as being quite impressed. While the raven was a master of his emotions, Falconi Brelan in particular appeared very surprised.

  “You made this?” the woman asked noting the incredible detail. Though they could all tell that the sword was enchanted somehow and made to be better than the average sword, Sebastian realized that they only understood half of it.

  “It has excellent balance and seems strong,” Leros commented looking from the sword to the mage.

  Sebastian shook his head and answered, “I found the sword broken on an island. We called it Crab Island after the giant crabs which were large enough to easily kill a man with their pinchers. The sword, according to a wizard’s diary found with the weapon, told that the blade broke in the claw of one of these creatures.

  “After finding both sword and diary, we left on the Sea Dragon where I conducted an experiment with the metal of the blade.”

  The falconi were offered the Hollow Sword by Leros to look at more closely, while he commented, “We heard this from Mecklin and Frell as well as others from the crew. They also mentioned you and your healer, Yara, pooled your magic to create this weapon everyone refers to as a Hollow Sword.”

  Holding out his hand for the sword, Sebastian nodded as he answered, “While mending the blade, I went beyond the initial attempt to mend it with magic and made it stronger including having an ability to hold and increase the power of a spell directed into it.

  “Fire sword,” he finished placing the fire spell into the reservoir of channels within the blade. The runes lacing the metal all took on a warm red hue that appeared to pulse within the sword. “Once placed within the weapon, it strengthens the sword until the magic is used up or cast out.”

  Walking towards the open window overlooking the south side of the castle, Sebastian demonstrated while the falconi both began to question his meaning. Swinging the blade in an overhand strike, fire rushed forward out into the air beyond the stone. Unlike a fire sword spell which remained attached to the blade for both protection and extra damage in a fight, the sword released the flame in a short torrent that was several times stronger than the magic added into it.

  “Amazing,” Neven declared after the demonstration. “If we had a hundred of those swords...”

  Brelan nodded, “We would be able to cast spells at the strength of wizards.”

  Leros stood to meet Sebastian as he started back to the front of the desk. Putting out a hand, the raven asked, “Does it only work for you? The wizard’s staff you brought with you is said to only respond to you so far. The wizards hated admitting that fact to me, but apparently that researcher who brought it back was flustered enough to confess that it refused to do much of anything for her.”

  Offering the hilt to the raven over his left arm drew another question from the white haired man, “This tattoo of yours is new, isn’t it?”

  “One thing at a time?” Sebastian asked with a rueful smile. “It is another story and you have asked me here for all that I know not just one piece.

  “Use any spell you wish, fire ball, fire sword or one of the newer spells. The sword works best with spells that can be used to attack or cause damage, though I have also used a sleep spell through it.”

  Though the older man’s eyes narrowed slightly at the falcon’s putting off of his question, he chose to focus on the sword. “Fireball.”

  Absorbing the magic, the runes glowed as they had for Sebastian’s spell, but the fireball spell was stronger than the previous magic making the runes glow a bit brighter in response. Like the younger mage, he made the sword release the fire out of his window.

  “Fascinating, it takes almost no magic to get a very strong response. Now onto the tattoo,” the older man suggested pointing to his arm again with a slight frown as he passed the sword to Neven to try.

  Ignoring the falconi, Sebastian told the raven, “When we were on the Grimnal’s Island, a shaman from a local tribe gave us five presents in exchange for our help.”

  He lowered his voice and asked, “Did Mecklin or Frell speak of this?”

  Leros frowned a little more stating, “I noticed Mecklin had a tattoo on his right hand and arm, though it differs greatly from the symbols on yours. When speaking with them, they said that Gerid had a family created with locals from the island. It was with their help that you were able to drive off an attack by the emperor’s Wizard Hunters.

  “I take it that I shoul
d have delved deeper into their answers, though they said much the same thing.”

  “The Grimnal doesn’t want their origin made public for fear of what knowing of his people would do.” Fearing that he was betraying the Grimnal and his people, Sebastian felt that at least Raven Leros, the greatest living mage alive could know and keep the secret. “They were a tribe of merfolk with unique rune magic. We were given the tattoos to see if we could decipher the magic, though I doubt they believed we ever will. Still they hold power that can be placed on men and women without magic making them almost as strong as battle mages in their own way.”

  The two falconi missed his whispered words of the merfolk confession and Leros understood the need for caution, even from his falconi. “If the Grimnal requires the secrecy, I will honor your disclosure in good faith. Now who else has these runes?”

  “Mecklin has a tattoo which can be used to cast a harpoon on barbwire while mine is a defensive rune. I’ve taken strikes from swords without harm. Maura has another kind while the king’s man, Drayden, received two in one for strength and speed in his sword arm. Olan, a battle mage who remained behind hoping that I would return to New Harbor has the last one, a duplicate of Maura’s storage rune.”

  “Only two battle mages have the runes here then?” the man said sounding disappointed.

  Neven agreed giving his complaint, “The mission was led by battle mages and yet a wizard and some envoy of the king have the remaining gifts? Why would you allow this, Falcon Trillon?”

  Answering evenly, though he was a little annoyed at the tone of the questions, Sebastian replied, “They might be gifts for helping, but the true gift was that we were able to see the runes being applied and can take them to research. Maura is a research wizard and is more likely than I to ever figure out this kind of magic.

  “Captain Drayden was a valuable member of the team sent by the king and was the only one returning to Hala that couldn’t use magic. He is also most likely to allow research wizards like Maura to test and probe the runes.

  “Battle mages don’t really need most of the runes that are available, though the protection runes are very helpful in a fight if your shield breaks. Our spells can pretty much create everything the runes can and quite a bit more. It might save us a little magic and energy, but we will benefit very little.

  “On the other hand, if Maura can decipher the magic used and replicate it for our soldiers, many lives can be protected. Battle mages will continue on whether we have this magic or not. If I could figure out how to recreate the magic behind the runes, I would wind up teaching it to be used on those without magic.”

  The falconi in particular looked disappointed by the news, but Leros was already moving on from that which they couldn’t have for now. “You did figure out how to cast a portal, didn’t you?”

  “To an extent,” he answered with a shrug. “It took Ashleen and me pooling our magic together to break down the barrier. I think with a little practice I can make it usable with less power, but I am not sure if a battle mage can use the magic alone. At least if our wizards can learn to cast portals as well as closing them like Darterian and his grandfather, we can counter their warlocks and maybe bring the fight to them.”

  “Interesting that you should mention them,” Raven Leros said rubbing his chin reflectively. “Word has come from Windmeer that High Wizard Darius has replicated portal magic with help from Falcons Rilena and Elzen. They have been researching both the magic and something they call Silver World while you were gone.”

  It was Sebastian’s turn to be surprised, “Darius did that? How?”

  Grunting as the man realized something, the raven replied, “I forgot that you haven’t been briefed about what happened in Windmeer and the fortress you found. They surrendered and their leader Garosh is helping our side.”

  It was like taking a blow to the stomach for Sebastian. The giant, who had attacked his team and captured three of them, was now an ally?

  Chapter 9- Folded Steel

  Sebastian walked into his room of the suite to see Ashleen dressed in a button up dress that looked more like a shirt to him. Coming to mid thigh the pink covering had no sleeves and was only partially buttoned revealing more of her cleavage, though the girl also looked very warm to him as her face glistened faintly.

  Getting used to the wilder’s antics; it was little surprise to him that she was waiting in his room sitting on his bed reading a book. It was about metallurgy and had been brought to him thanks to a quickly worded message delivered to Maura two days ago when he had decided that he was going to attempt to recreate the metal of the Hollow Sword. At least she appeared to be trying to take being his apprentice seriously, even if it was odd that a wizard was learning from a mage.

  “Is something wrong?” the girl asked putting the book down on the bed with a book mark set to find her place back. Rolling to the side, Ashleen revealed more of her shapely legs as she lifted them before sliding onto the floor from the height of the mattress.

  “I received very strange news.”

  Frowning, Ashleen assumed a different surprise as she asked, “Are they shipping you off already without seeing Yara and the others?”

  He shook his head lifting his eyes from the floor at her approach as if seeing her beauty for the first time. Feeling glad to have someone like her to speak with, Sebastian confessed, “Raven Leros informs me that the fortress surrendered almost without a fight when Windmeer and Falcon’s Keep sent our army to attack it. Garosh gave himself up as a prisoner and went to Windmeer before assassins broke into the castle to try and kill him.

  “They said that it was Palose who led the assassins there, but Garosh escaped with Rilena back to the fortress using a portal.

  “High Wizard Darius used that portal to find his way to the fortress with Rilena’s help later, I guess.”

  Ashleen shook her head in confusion. “The same guy who interrogated Rilena, then saved her by using a portal? Then how did she get back to Windmeer to work with Darius exactly?”

  “The assassins, with Palose’s help again, attacked the fortress and the emperor tore the giant’s magic away from him leaving him for dead. When they attacked, he managed to send Rilena back protecting her again from harm. At least, that is what Leros was told by messengers from Windmeer.”

  “The emperor killed him?” the girl asked trying to keep up with the surprises.

  “Almost. Apparently he was saved by someone Garosh believes is the emperor’s new brother. He has a sister too, like we needed more like him in the world. Garosh also sends word that the emperor has found a new body. He was almost dead, but now he is young and powerful again!”

  Wrinkling her nose in distaste, Ashleen replied, “So we were close to being in a world without the emperor. That is a true shame.”

  She finished with a sigh.

  After a moment’s pause as the two tried to digest the information, Sebastian shrugged. “Well, I am not being sent away from Hala yet, though now I wish that I could use a portal to Windmeer to discover just what is going on there. Raven Leros says that I need to begin training the battle mages here on the magic I have created so far. I guess that they don’t believe Mecklin and Frell know everything that I do.”

  Snorting a laugh, the girl covered her mouth before replying amusedly, “They don’t.”

  He looked surprised to hear her say such a thing.

  “They don’t know about using a staff for more power. They can’t heal. They don’t know how to work with metal the way you do. They... do I really have to continue on, oh super brilliant owl?”

  Sighing in return, Bas continued, “Fine, I do know more, but not everything I can teach them yet. You know the warning from Darius about using the staff, so that remains between us, Ashleen.”

  “Yes, master!” the girl said with a grinning salute of sarcasm.

  “Well,... apprentice, tomorrow morning we leave the Two Circles Inn and will move to the Black Smith together. Leros approved of my splitting time
teaching and learning more about creating Hollow Swords. The corps will even pay Ivol and Hilda for us.”

  “For us? Does he realize that I am tagging along as your apprentice?”

  “Not in so many words, but he didn’t ask and, if we use the same room, it will cost the same. I’ll just have to pay for your food.”

  Her eyes looked a little happier hearing that they would share a room this time and he added, “I said share the room, not a bed. It’s not like you haven’t shown me everything already and I can control myself around you.”

  Again she wrinkled her nose in frustrated annoyance and complained, “I’ve noticed, but I’ll take what I can get.”

  Her fingers played with the topmost fastened button and tilted her head as if deciding something. “I think I am wearing you down though.

  “Anyway are you hungry for dinner yet? It is a little early; but I can put on a little longer outfit if we are going out?”

  “You call this an outfit? Where did you get this dress anyway? I thought we were in nicer places that wouldn’t sell some of the things you’ve worn lately.”

  Giving a sly smile, the girl winked at him and said, “When you got bored with shopping and stepped out of the store, the saleswoman and I found the real summer wear. You know I am from further north and I swear that forge heat lingers in me more each day. If I dress appropriately, I am going to have a heat stroke!”

  She pulled his hand to the center of her chest between her breasts and his hand could feel heat coming from the wilder that didn’t seem natural. Ashleen appeared sweatier than he would think was necessary for a body hidden from the sun in the inn room. In fact, he didn’t think that it was nearly as warm as she kept complaining.

  “Heal,” he ordered his spell making the girl’s eyes widen slightly in surprise. The fact that his hand remained where she placed it made her feel better as well. It was comforting being touched by the young man she had fallen in love with almost from the first time they had met.