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

by Donald Wigboldy

  Eyes narrowed in turn, Sebastian remained stubborn even as Ashleen placed her hand on his shoulder trying to ease his mood. He wouldn’t look at the girl, but felt her and his anger relented slightly as he redirected his gaze across more of those gathered looking like vultures trying to pick on something yet to die. “You can all pool your minds together, since none of you have thought about discovering magic of your own. Collectively work to discover something, anything, useful that hasn’t been done by a battle mage. Until someone does, I have better things to do than teach you ungrateful people.”

  Replacing his Hollow Sword, the young mage stormed out of the practice area pushing Jeriah aside as he moved straight forward. Mecklin and Frell tried to calm those who had witnessed the tantrum a moment before hurrying after Ashleen and Bas.

  “What was that about?” Mecklin asked as he caught up to the couple.

  Letting out a big sigh, Sebastian said in a surprisingly calm way, “There is nothing I can do for those people for now. I have told you all that I am no teacher, at least not one like they need. Spending my time on mages, who don’t even appreciate the effort put into figuring out new magic, is a complete waste of my time. You and Frell are much better teachers than I am and know almost as much of my magic as I do.”

  Frowning at Sebastian’s sudden recalcitrance, the elder mage reminded him, “Raven Leros wants you to go from Hala to teach your magic in one of the castles or maybe White Hall next, right? Are you going to tell him the same thing you just told us?”

  Sebastian stopped walking to face his friends. “Have you found anyone here with the ability to heal or use extended magic or are they just the typical battle mages I see in every castle? They can learn light and dark or new elemental attacks like air spears, but then they just look at me wondering why they can’t learn the rest. If there is anyone who can do more, then I will teach them. The rest are yours and I don’t care what Leros has to say on it.

  “I will work to make Hollow Swords available as I told them and I may have just discovered something to unlock the rune magic. In a way, it isn’t unlike what I have been trying with the swords actually,” he added suddenly getting distracted from the main argument. “Until I learn more, teaching people like Jeriah isn’t something I wish to put myself through.

  “I hate to leave the duties to you, my friends, but it isn’t in me to sit through this every day,” the younger man said with a shake of his head.

  “So you are just planning to slink off to the forge again?” Frell asked sounding a little annoyed with him in turn. He wasn’t sure if she was angry that he was leaving or if she didn’t want to go back to teaching either.

  Shaking his head, Sebastian replied, “I need to go find Maura first and perhaps discover who they have placed on helping solve the Hollow Sword metal equation. These are things that can help everyone. There are enough men and women who know the new magic. The novelty of having the originator here to teach them is just useless.”

  “You know someone is going to report this to our superiors,” Mecklin said with a sigh. “I mean, you threw a temper tantrum right behind the corps guild headquarters, Bas.”

  With the shrug of his shoulders, he replied, “Feel free to put your name on any complaint to keep yourselves out of trouble. Leros knows that I am right. Besides I can always just blame it on still recovering from my wounds.”

  Frell shook her head and added, “They’ll quickly realize that they can’t control you. They need you more than you need them. Without you, there is no possibility of new mage spells.”

  Unsure if she should add her opinion, Ashleen started quietly, “They could still put you in a cell to think about your actions, can’t they? You can get in big trouble, Sebastian.”

  Waving off the worries, he replied, “Then I had better get a move on and find Maura. I need to show her what I figured out with the shaman runes while it is fresh.”

  The four parted and Ashleen took his hand as Sebastian headed for the research wizard’s laboratory.

  “Sebastian?” Maura greeted in confusion. She knew that she wasn’t his favorite person and never expected a social call. “Do you need my help?”

  Brushing at his mussed brown hair, Sebastian gave a wry smile as he replied, “Hopefully it will be an exchange of help actually.”

  Ashleen moved to sit on a chair beside the door drawing the other woman’s eyes. “She’s still with you? I thought that she would be on her way back to Kardor.”

  Looking over to the pretty blond still dressed for the heat of summer and wearing shorts and a lightweight top, Sebastian smiled at the girl receiving the same. “Ashleen’s staying on as my aide I guess you could say.”

  “I won’t even ask what she is aiding,” the wizard retorted with a frown suggesting other things. “What is it you want, Sebastian? I have work to do.”

  Pushing his magic into the runes on his left arm as he held it out towards the woman, the markings responded glowing orange and releasing from his forearm creating the shielding he had discovered in the practice field.

  “How are you doing that? Is that the way they are supposed to work?” the research wizard asked.

  He shook his head. “No, I just figured out accidentally that our magic can alter the runes and increase the power of at least some of the spells.”

  Releasing his power, the runes returned to the ink they had been made with by the shaman.

  “How could this happen?” Maura mused aloud hoping that Sebastian might have an answer.

  “They were made for people without magic. Having magic, we can alter and increase their power. Normal men and women can only use what is given and keep them powered by the strength of their bodies. A mage or wizard can manipulate and add to them.”

  She looked at the black spot on her arm ruing the choice she had made back then. “What can I add to a rune that stores items like swords?”

  Shrugging he thought quickly, “If you can make it leave your body like mine, it could be made larger and swallow larger items for transport or maybe be used defensively to take in the power of a spell aimed at you.”

  Her eyes lit up at his words thinking of the possibilities if his thoughts could be made possible.

  “Can I try something?” he asked the wizard.

  Looking cautious, the woman asked, “What do you hope to do?”

  “I wonder if we can duplicate this magic by using the ability to move the runes,” the young man said speaking as if it was simple logic being used.

  “How?”

  Both had tattoos on their left arms and Sebastian grasped Maura’s forearm with the same arm. “Heal,” he called his ability to see into another’s body to look for abnormalities that needed healing or tending. In this case, his mind wandered to the circle on her arm. He could feel the ink, but looking deeper, Sebastian noted the magic tied into her aura.

  Her life and magic were one, like any one using magic. Like in Ashleen, the mage could feel the flow of magic closely circulating alongside her veins.

  Placing his right forearm over the tattoo, Sebastian willed the power of her rune to double transferring a copy of the circle to his arm. Opening his eyes as the mage pulled the arm away, he looked on a circle identical to the woman’s.

  “How did...? Oh never mind,” the wizard started realizing how often she could ask the same question of the mystery before her that was the mage. Owl, she clarified recognizing the unique mind inside of the young man before her. “You copied the ink, but did you copy the magic?”

  Sebastian smiled releasing her other arm a moment and took a feather used for writing from where it lay on the table. Pressing it quill first against the black circle, he felt the magic draw in the feather. He didn’t need the writing instrument and stopped with it halfway inside of his arm.

  Throwing the feather into the air, the mage pushed his power into the circle of magic. Like the runes of the shielding, the hole lifted from him catching the feather from the air like using a night shield to catch a f
ireball. Releasing his flow of magic, the spot returned to his arm as if nothing had happened. He placed his fingers over the rune and willed the feather to return from the void it created like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat.

  “Unbelievable,” Maura replied genuinely impressed with the display of magic.

  Raising his hand as Sebastian held a smile of satisfaction on his face; the mage took her right hand with his left and closed his eyes again. The runes on his arm began to glow, but instead of pulling away as a shield, they doubled flowing from his hand onto Maura creating a duplicate of the defensive runes.

  “There you go. An exchange of runes so you can study them both,” he nodded in satisfaction sensing that her new tattoo was tied to her as his was into his magical aura. With some experimenting, she should be able to manipulate both in the way he had, the mage believed.

  “You recreated both spells!” Maura exclaimed in shock. Ashleen had moved to watch the second spell looking stunned by the relative ease the man had doubled their tattoos including the powers of each.

  Sebastian nodded and replied, “I could sense how they tied into our bodies and the magic underlying them. Whether I can place them on someone without magic to make it work, I am not sure.

  “I also don’t believe that I can create a rune from scratch. I need the originals to copy, at least for now, until I learn more.”

  His thoughts turned to the handful of spells given to five of his people. “Maura, do you know whether you can find Captain Drayden?”

  Drayden was the only one among them who wasn’t able to use magic and he had two runes bound to one arm. He could also find Mecklin obviously, but the captain had been noticeably absent and hadn’t even attended the king’s banquet for the Grimnal’s return.

  Shaking her head, Maura replied, “I haven’t seen him since we returned.”

  She looked at the new tattoo and asked, “Do you think you can gather the other runes for me to research as well?”

  Shrugging, Sebastian answered, “If I can figure out how it works on Drayden once I find him since he isn’t a mage or wizard, then I don’t see why not.

  “Maura,” he started as he looked to the floor a moment thinking, “do you know if the wizard’s guilds have set anyone to study the Hollow Swords yet?”

  The woman suddenly looked unsure of what to say. “I am not positive.”

  Her answer surprised him and Sebastian wondered aloud, “Do the wizards not want to figure it out because it may not benefit them? Both wizards and mages can certainly use the weapons; though wizards rarely fight close to an enemy. Surely they can see the importance of being able to make more of them.”

  Looking uncomfortable before his gaze, Maura admitted, “I think they are being obstinate because the idea comes from a battle mage rather than something created by a wizard. To admit a battle mage had a good idea might disturb some wizards; since they might feel that it means we have to finally admit that having greater power doesn’t always mean that they are better.”

  He wanted to growl at the idiocies of the hierarchy among wizards in particular. People often remained small minded and short sighted whether they were wizards or battle mages he thought of the annoyance earlier.

  “Do me a favor and find me as many wizards willing to at least look into the matter and send them to me at the Black Smith Inn workshop in two days, please,” he asked knowing that the wizard wasn’t exactly close enough to be somebody willing to do him favors, but if someone didn’t cross the barrier between them, it could never be conquered.

  The woman paused for a moment before nodding in return.

  Now he could just hope that Maura would actually help him to move his plans for the Hollow Swords forward.

  Chapter 13- In the Loop

  Sebastian and Ashleen sat on the bed with their legs crossed and knees touching. He had been trying to get the girl to try working with healing magic again. Over the last few days, the mage had mentioned it; but Ashleen had seemed a little reluctant to try. Since they had been keeping busy, usually working in the workroom using comparable magic searching within metal, he hadn’t pushed her on it other than in conversation.

  Her legs were bared below the pink summer dress from just above her knees to her bare feet. In preparation for dinner and her hoped for dancing, the pretty blonde had changed into the dress before being talked into trying the practice he had in mind.

  “I’m not sure about this, Bas,” the girl said trying to get him to change his mind. He had brought a platter of food to the room and a pitcher of juice was at the ready if she pushed the use of her magic too far. Having passed out the one time she had actually managed to use healing, Ashleen had been reluctant to try again. She had needed a few days to recover as well and knew that healing him had taken all she had, a feeling that the wizard wasn’t used to at all. The girl was a wilder and had never been used up like that relatively short use of power.

  “Well, if you don’t at least try, we’ll never know if it was more than a fluke. Come on, I’ll be with you every step of the way. Besides, I know how you feel. The first time I tried a major bit of healing I passed out and had pains running through me for hours.

  “You had it relatively easy waking up in a hospital full of wizard healers who are used to such things,” he chuckled trying to make her smile.

  It worked to a point as Ashleen tried to summon a smile in return, but her worry wouldn’t let her completely embrace the look.

  “I’m going to have my healing spell up and can make sure that you don’t overdo it, besides you aren’t going to actually heal. It’s just like searching the metal in the workshop and you do that easily enough,” he assured her.

  Trying to procrastinate one last time, Ashleen tried to make a deal to buy her time. “I’ll do it, if you can explain to me what happened with you today with those battle mages. What made you so angry? I’ve never seen you like that before.”

  While he realized that she was only asking to try and build up her nerve or sidetrack him long enough to decide to let her off the hook, Sebastian had been wondering the same thing and had come to at least part of a conclusion. “It probably came about for more than one reason. I’ve been dealing with these looks from my fellow mages always wanting to see if I can figure out every little piece of magic every wizard can cast. Some have even gone on to try and demand answers, as if that makes it any easier to figure out new magic. That has been going on for a year now, so the time away aboard ship was a nice break, even if we all were trying to figure out the portal magic as well. We were all trying to discover that together and for once it wasn’t just up to me.

  “Then there is the fact that men like Jeriah are just tiresome at any point and teaching him or anyone for that matter like that doesn’t sit well with me either. I do alright one on one, but the larger the group the more uncomfortable I get.

  “Lastly, I am probably still a little cranky from trying to regain my energy back after stupidly forgetting to at least attempt to use a protection spell during the Hollow Sword test. That was careless of me, but I guess that I went in a little too optimistic and didn’t think that it would break so catastrophically,” he finished laughing at his arrogance.

  “Well, I’ve answered, so now you have nothing left to stall. Let’s see if you can use the examining spell used in healing,” Sebastian said with a nod of determination.

  The girl sighed, but began to move her hands to cast the more comfortable earth related spell that had let her also try to heal him after his accident though she had managed to call it up with a word like a mage. As her fingers stopped, so did the ancient language which sounded like gibberish to the Sebastian.

  “Heal,” he ordered so much quicker and simpler than his wizard counterparts.

  Ashleen’s hands reached for his and Sebastian closed his eyes as they held hands. He had gotten good enough to project his sense of healing without touching, but he still needed to be close. Touching hands would help their minds extend the spell in a
n easier way, though their knees would have worked as well. Holding his hands was more for the comfort of having him there to guide her.

  In the loop of their combined spells, Sebastian could feel everything about her physically. Ashleen shivered with the sensation of the touch of their hands, the feeling of their legs against each other and the slow stiffening from sitting the way they were.

  He had chosen to cross legs because neither of them was wounded. As they sat, the flow of blood would slow to their feet. Aches would build in their legs and they could use these to hone the girl’s novice healing abilities.

  “Try to look for the wounds you fixed and see the condition of the healing skin,” the mage suggested knowing that her attention was mostly invested in searching inside his body and her hearing would be secondary.

  “Ok,” she answered even so and moved to check his arm before glancing at the scar on his side. Dropping below the hip as the wizard found each healed up scar, she followed his next suggestions.

  “Can you feel the sensation of my knees feeling you at the same time as your knees can feel me?” It was the feedback loop that could be enjoyable beyond the basics of healing. Such feedback had been part of what had made Yara and his relationship grow in a very unique way. When they had been careful to avoid sex, this was the closest their physical relationship could be.

  “Yes, it feels so strange. I can feel you, but I can feel me touching you through the nerves in your skin too,” she replied in surprise.

  “Try doing that with our hands,” he said and switched from holding her hands like they were shaking them to interlacing their fingers and back in slow shifts.

  “That is so weird, but it feels kind of amazing too,” Ashleen commented as they continued to change the pressure and position of their hands and fingers.

  “This is the basic part of healing magic,” Sebastian replied. “From this sense, you can help injured muscles shift to remove an arrow or seal a cut. Illnesses are more difficult to work on, but injuries like those aren’t, at least for me. Of course, if it was all easy, there would be just one spell used.