He found one of the lightweight night dresses she preferred for sleeping and examined whether he was ready to dress her like a young child. Her curves were not those of a child, but Sebastian had seen them before so the mage was steeled against them, or so he hoped.
Standing the girl up, Bas released the belt; which promptly let the folded material spread. He took the dress off with one hand while trying to prop her up with the other as she teetered on drunken legs. “I thought that I wasn’t supposed to do this in front of you,” Ashleen said tiredly.
“Well, someone has to take care of you, since you are drunk,” he replied contemplating the bra and panties which matched the color of her dress. Since Ashleen had revealed her breasts more than once to him getting ready for bed, the man knew it was probably best for her. Why women felt they had to secure themselves in such uncomfortable looking gear, the mage wasn’t sure; but sleeping required being more comfortable.
Helping her off with the top, Sebastian couldn’t help admire the girl’s figure as he put her arms into the night dress and pulled it over her head obscuring his view once more.
He sat her on the correct bed before watching her find the pillow with her head. Covering her legs with the sheet, the young man looked at the girl with her closed eyes. He doubted that she slept, but Ashleen looked comfortable.
Removing his boots and shirt, the battle mage quickly pulled back the covers of his bed before extinguishing the lamps.
Hearing her slow even breathing in the darkness, Sebastian closed his eyes. It was very different with Ashleen. When he was with Yara, it always seemed like she was caring for him. Caring for the wilder, reminded him of the parts of him that weren’t about fighting and killing.
Rolling onto his side, the battle mage fell asleep to the quiet sounds of the girl’s breathing.
Sebastian held his staff, Bairh’loore, butted against the earth inside of the forge with one hand while his left rested on the metal of the Hollow Sword. Ashleen had looked so peaceful when he had woken that he had let her sleep. After finishing breakfast, the mage returned to the forge to try and salvage the decaying metal of his most recent sword.
His mind entered the metal of the blade surveying the damage. It had been created differently than his first attempt at forging. Unlike the first made from essentially one piece of metal adjusted by magic to what he thought would do everything, this blade had a softer core of mostly iron. It would give more flexibility merged with two outer layers of steel. Even the steel was made in layers as he hoped to increase its physical strength. In these outer layers, the mage found most of the imperfections that were becoming fractures under the stress of magic.
Sebastian spent an hour as he smoothed or strengthened the steel to remove the fractures. If he did his repairs correctly, it should fix the initial weaknesses and hopefully prove strong enough to meet the greater stresses of his original blade created from ancient steel.
Releasing the slowly flowing power of the earth through his staff, Sebastian felt a bit smaller. While he hadn’t tried pulling the power he might for a combat spell, even the faintest hint of the earth’s magic was enough to overshadow a lowly battle mage.
He reached for a glass of juice already lukewarm thanks to the warmth of the forge and summer morning air. Attempting to replenish the energy of his own body before the affects of the magic tried to shut down his body, Sebastian nearly missed the shadow in the doorway.
“So this is how a wizard forges steel?” a man of middle height questioned stepping into the workroom after being noticed.
“Can I help you?” the younger man asked feeling suspicious. How long had this man been watching him he wondered?
“I doubt it, but perhaps I can help you. I have heard word that my apprentices refused you entry to speak with me about forging quality swords. They wanted to protect my secrets since I am considered by many to be the greatest working sword smith of our day,” the stranger said moving closer to peer at the sword lying on the workbench. He was an older man, but his shoulders and arms were heavy with the muscles of a smith who had worked metal for most of his life. His shaved head caught the light of the forge dully as his green eyes pierced Sebastian above a full beard of brown.
“Master Iylish?” Sebastian asked dredging the name up from the three smiths that he had gone to try and gain more information to create the proper metal for his swords.
“Norlean Iylish, famed sword smith, or so they tell me,” the smith chuckled and pointed at the Hollow Sword. “May I?”
“Of course,” Sebastian said with a nod moving slightly to the side as he picked up a half of a sandwich put together before the mage had started working. “I would appreciate an expert smith’s opinion. I have been trying to find the right mix of metals to be able to hold up to the rigors of applying magic to them.
“My first attempt from beginning to end broke catastrophically,” he finished wincing at the thought.
The smith hefted the sword with one hand testing the weight and balance before walking towards the doorway. There were several dummies that Sebastian had created standing ready in the stable near the workshop. It wasn’t far, but it was separate from the forge in case there should ever be a fire.
Master Iylish cut with the sword looking like an expert with the weapon as well. Sebastian supposed most sword smith’s had to be at least familiar with how to use a sword, if only because they needed to understand what they were making for others. The dummy was reduced with each clean cut; chopping the wood, straw and wound canvas shorter.
Giving a nod, the sword smith held the blade horizontally across both of his hands using the sunlight to examine the metal further. “These markings I am unfamiliar with, but the feel of the steel and the sharpness of edge seem very close to a master’s work. How long have you been making swords?”
Sebastian replied, “This is my second sword that I created from bars of iron, though I am trying to replicate another that I mended and added my magic into. Those markings are runes that, if I find the right combination of steel, can hold magic to increase a battle mage or wizard’s strength in battle.”
Norlean frowned at the young man and at his sword, “How can something like this be just your second attempt?”
“Using my magic compensates for my lack of technique in forming the shape. If I were to try forging a sword by regular techniques, I doubt that you would find the result half as satisfactory,” he laughed. Pushing energy into the oval on his arm, it expanded slightly for the mage to draw out the first Hollow Sword sheath and all.
The older man took a step back as his eyes widened in shock. “More magic,” he breathed.
Sebastian drew the original Hollow Sword and offered it to Master Iylish in exchange for the newest sword. The smith tested the feel of the weapon and nodded, “There is a slight difference to this one. It was made by a competent sword smith, but your magic obscures some of what was done.”
Surprised that someone without magical sight could say they noticed much of any differences between the two surprised the young man.
“Aside from weight and the hilt, how is this one different exactly?” Sebastian queried hoping for some insight.
“You can see how the metal is layered. Once you have been around metal long enough, you can tell what has been added and guess how much fairly accurately.
“Your new sword is made from three layers and probably about ten folds in the steel to remove the impurities. Apparently at least part of your creation is using proper forging skills that those of us without the gift of magic have to use. Anyway, your original is made from five layers and three kinds of metal.
“If the first is what you feel is the best mixture, then the new might hold enough strength depending on which layer the magic depends on to hold together.”
Catching sight of another figure coming towards them over the mage’s shoulder, Norlean couldn’t help forming a smile. “Well, what have we here?”
Sebastian turned to see Ashleen dres
sed in a short tunic of light blue with her brown shorts that merely touched her knees wearing the short leather boots he had removed from her feet the night before. “This is my apprentice I guess you could say, Wizard Ashleen Karderos.”
Seeing that she had been noticed, Ashleen asked, “Who is our guest?”
“Master Iylish, the sword smith master we tried to see a couple weeks ago.”
“Norlean Iylish,” the older man stated handing the Hollow Sword back to Sebastian before taking the girl’s hand and leaning over it to kiss the back. Ashleen blushed in embarrassment at the extreme attention of the smith. “You can just call me Norlean, beautiful lady.”
“And why is he here?” she asked nervously as Norlean released her hand. Pulling it away, the girl held her hands behind her back drawing the old man’s eyes more intently to the other fine qualities of her figure. Sebastian thought that she was probably lucky that she hadn’t been undressed for the heat of the forge or she would have been even more of a sight for the old man.
“I think that he is here to help advise me on the proper making of the metal for the Hollow Swords.”
“Ah, yes,” Norlean said pointing to the sky with a grin on his face that wasn’t just for the pretty girl who had moved to press up against the young mage’s side nervously. “If you have the time and some paper, I can try and give you what I know comparing it to what you have used so far. While I do not know about magic or these runes you use, perhaps we will stumble across the best metals and smithing for you to make more of your swords.”
The three walked back into the workroom and Norlean didn’t even seem to notice the heat. For once, Ashleen refused to remove her tunic to deal with the warmth.
Over the next hour or so, the two men in particular talked and bounced ideas off of each other until Sebastian brought Master Iylish into the inn to treat him to lunch.
Chapter 16- Opening the Door
“What are you doing now?” Ashleen asked kicking her feet as she sat on a barrel beside the workshop door. Her feet were bare with her boots sitting beside the barrel.
After a long morning working in the forge, both were warm and glistened with a sheen of perspiration. Both had left their shirts inside the forge on the rack leaving him a good view of the pretty blond wearing just a short skirt and piece of cloth banded around her chest. It was a tempting view and released from his relationship with Yara, Sebastian didn’t have to feel like he was cheating when he looked at her making it even better.
Though they hadn’t pushed their relationship forward, he supposed sleeping in the same room and spending most of their time together meant that there wasn’t much further to push. Still his mind had to return to his work and her answer; so Sebastian said, as he laid Bairh’loore on one side of the courtyard and the first Hollow on the other, “I thought that I would practice making a portal again.”
Gesturing towards the staff on its side in the dirt and Hollow Sword in its sheath about ten feet from her, the girl asked again, “And what are you doing with these?”
“Well, we know that it is easiest to return to a point holding the destination with magic. We found corrin nuts seeded with charged stone holding magic where we found a gateway above Banosh and it later opened where I had thrown them into the North Sea, so using my staff and sword which have my magic in them I can find my way back here. That is, if I can open a portal; I should be able to find my way back here anyway.”
Ashleen sighed at the idea and shook her head, “You’re always trying to unlock something. We made it out once by luck and now you want to push it to go back there again. Do you want me to come along in case you do make it there, but can’t come back? We were able to do it together.”
Shaking his head, the mage replied, “No sense in both of us getting stuck, but without your lightning to disrupt the gate I should be able to pass from one point to another creating the two doorways and focusing through the void between.”
“If you want to force it, you should take Bairh’loore or some sort of staff, shouldn’t you?”
“I thought of that,” he said placing his hand over the rune on his right arm. It now had the barbwire entwined around it after copying the harpoon magic of his friend’s rune. Ashleen watched as a new staff was drawn from the black ink oval.
Iron wound around the staff and, using his magic, it was even threaded through the wood lacing the two materials together into a stronger staff.
“When did you make that?” the girl asked.
“One of the mornings that you slept in,” he chuckled. Since Bas almost always allowed Ashleen to sleep later than he did, that could have been almost any day for all she knew. “I had been planning this for awhile, and thought having a second staff would help. It isn’t as advanced as Bairh’loore, but it should do.”
“So you hope to go from one side of the courtyard to another then? There isn’t any magic I can lend you if you mess up, so be careful, Bas,” Ashleen cautioned showing worry on her face.
Giving her an embarrassed smile, the mage replied, “Of course I might not even be able to make the first part of the gate, so there is that problem. If I do succeed in making the entry, then at least using it to go to a destination inside the courtyard, we’ll see the other side I would assume.”
She nodded and watched as Sebastian closed his eyes holding the staff in his hands before him. The mage wasn’t sure if he could open the portal, but there had been other spells which he had eventually been able to use less power on once he figured them out. Riding the winds had once been impossible, but the air spell had been conquered using Bairh’loore and now he could do it at will with the power he had.
Visualizing the gate and the destination as the warlocks had tried to teach them, Sebastian attempted to open the rift with just his power feeling nothing. After nearly a minute, he began to believe that his first success would be from using more magic than he had inside of him, so the mage willed the power of the earth through the staff into him. The power was brought in a controlled flow as Sebastian hoped to keep from overloading his body. Each use of the earth seemed to make it easier and since the wizards’ tournament he hadn’t passed out from doing too much.
“Gate,” he muttered searching for the keyword that would let him open the door. It didn’t feel right so he said, “Door.”
The owl mage thought that he could see a glowing door in his mind, but there was a handle. Reaching out with one hand while holding the staff with the other, Sebastian gave it a twist and felt a rush of air.
“You did it!” Ashleen cried out in shock seeing the glowing rectangle in the air. Looking to the far side of the courtyard, Sebastian could see the second doorway and, holding onto the flow of power which held it open, the mage stepped into the light.
The feeling of moving air whipped up around him and his eyes noted the change of light to the silver of the void. A yellow glow before him told him of Bairh’loore’s presence just beyond the golden glow. Almost before he knew it, the mage was through the second doorway and nearly stepped on the staff on the ground.
He released his hold on the magic. The earth’s power had been cut while inside the void, and he was surprised that he didn’t feel the loss he often did letting go. The twin portal’s disappeared in a blink letting him see Ashleen sitting on her barrel with wide eyes. Her worry faded seeing Sebastian safely through the doorways.
“You did it!” the girl cried jumping up to run over to the mage. Her boots forgotten, Ashleen ran across the courtyard throwing her arms around him as if to make sure that it was really him. Her hug was strong and he could feel her shivering with her relief. He could also feel the clash of their slick sweaty bodies.
Blushing, Sebastian hugged her back even as he held the staff in his right hand. He liked the feel of her in his arms, but the man quickly released the girl stepping back until he could see her face. Ashleen grinned at his achievement with pride.
“Well, it was a short trip and controlled. I don’t know if distance ma
kes it any harder, but at least this means I can do it.”
The girl looked a little disappointed with his words and she confessed, “I think that it is really the second time you managed it. Getting us out of the void really felt more like your magic than mine even if I tried to contribute to the effort.
“Frankly, I just didn’t feel the magic the right way, even though I tried to follow the advice of those warlocks.”
“They didn’t tell us about having the personal anchors. Maybe they didn’t realize it, since Oster and Ceresh said they couldn’t even create a portal without help. If they were incompetent in the magic, maybe that is one of the reasons why,” he said with a shrug; “but maybe I can do it again and show you how I did it?”
“How will you do that?” Ashleen questioned curiously. She hadn’t made any real strides in mastering the casting of a battle mage. Single word magic in common didn’t seem to resonate though the wilder wasn’t the first wizard he had noticed preferred using the longer chants and gestures of his more powerful cousins.
He took her hand and said, “Use your healing spell and feel the way I make the portal and I will take us back across. After all, I wouldn’t want your feet to get any dirtier than they are now,” he finished with a laugh at the girl with her bare feet. Since this was a courtyard for the stables, there were a few landmines to avoid along the path though the stable boys tried to keep the area clean.
Making a face at Sebastian, she complained, “Very funny. Now how will using the healing spell to monitor your body help me to see this exactly?”
“Using a shared link like when air wizards train to ride the winds should be a similar way of learning to this.”
“Whatever,” the girl sighed and intoned her spell letting her mind move into his body.
Unlike the shared wind riding, Sebastian wasn’t trying to hold her mind for the trip. He planted the staff and closed his eyes again summoning the feeling of the doors. The power of the earth flowing into him made Ashleen gasp as she felt the rush. “Door,” he called seeing the handle again. With both hands full between the staff and the girl, Sebastian saw the portal opening in his mind and the rush of wind accompanying the gateway rushed past his skin again.
Battle Mage: Forging New Steel (Tales of Alus Book 9) Page 22
