Battle Mage: A Hero's Welcome (A Tale of Alus Book 8)

by Donald Wigboldy

  Still, the waves had been choppy and the longboat despite its name was still just a twig in the face of the ocean even close to the island. Sebastian hadn’t suffered from sea sickness the entire trip, but he was as sick of the bouncing boat as anyone by the time they had finished circling the island destroying one barrier at a time. They had finished the trip by sailing past the beached black ship and those working to repair it without stopping. The last part seemed the fastest, thankfully, for the passengers already tired of the experience.

  Surprisingly, Collin, who had been seasick on the Sea Dragon, never became green from the experience. The earth wizard had no appearance of any water affinity along the way, though Liam, a water wizard, had been almost as bad ironically. Still the man brushed back his brown hair as he pushed through the shallows looking a little paler than usual.

  As they moved onto shore, Sebastian noted the two ocean going vessels anchored just beyond the dock. They were deep water ships requiring more depth than the smaller fishing boats tied to the moorings of the pier by the locals. The Sea Dragon was a Malaiy frigate and the personal vessel of Annalicia, which attested to the position her family held in the southern country on the northwest corner of Taltan. Painted blue above the water line, the Sea Dragon would be a little more difficult for an eye to lock on in the water, though it was hardly camouflaged beyond the attention of someone looking for it.

  The second ship was larger and of Kardorian, North Continent design. A warship, the Carnivore didn’t have a fancy paint job or other unusual design. It had more cannon and could carry a larger crew of marines for battle, but between the two it looked less affected by recent battle.

  On their way to the island, the Sea Dragon had fought a black ship and after Sebastian and his team had walked to the village had held off two more, while the Carnivore had been captured at Maldus Island without much of a fight. The emperor’s portals had dropped three black ships at the mouth of a harbor trapping the single warship with no wizards or ability to move. Even cannon were nothing when you couldn’t turn to bring them to bear.

  Closer to the mage, Sebastian noticed a few children at play in the water watched by a handful of adults sitting in the sand or on chairs with canvas spread across wood frames. The locals had over a century and a half to get used to life on the island. One of the perks of being on an island was the chance to swim daily and relax in the ocean breezes day and night.

  There was no real hustle and bustle like in the cities of Southwall. Merchants plied their trade and farmers brought in crops to sell on a regular basis there. Calls for sale even happened in the heart of winter as long as they could brave the weather. Here, there was none of that kind of peddlers. There were still farmers, of course, to help feed the villagers; but the community all worked together to keep everyone fed and with roofs over their heads.

  Trade was minimal and mainly just between those on the land and those living beneath the sea. Mostly it was a barter of service or goods between them, since much of the islanders were also family to the merfolk. It was a clan serving under the Grimnal as father to them all. An immortal couldn’t be overlooked as a leader by those who were but leaves on a tree, here for a season and gone again during Gerid’s unchanging ways.

  Sebastian also noticed groups of young men and women playing in the water. A few of his people were among them. There was little to do for the wizards and mages for now and they had earned the chance to rest for awhile.

  Walking onto the dry sand holding Yara’s hand heading towards those he knew best, the mage noticed one of his men looking towards two dark haired women barely more than girls splashing and laughing with some of the mermen. There were others nearby, but those two seemed the focus of the attention of several men including one of his mages standing on the shore.

  “Olan, what are you doing?” he asked a man less than a handful of years his elder. All of his mages were older and yet he was their leader, a strange situation to be in at times.

  Starting at his name being called, he looked sheepishly at Sebastian and replied awkwardly, “Just watching the others, Bas.” It was an admission that sounded like defeat.

  Yara smiled up at the much taller battle mage. With dusty brown hair on a head nearly a foot higher than hers, the girl’s green eyes had a steep angle to meet his of blue. A strong looking, tall battle mage, the only place he showed any fear was with his feelings for women.

  “You aren’t going to let a bunch of mermen steal your friends from you this easily are you, mage?” she asked trying to sound stern like some falcon taskmaster. “Yaroma and Naoromi are just being friendly. They lived on that island deprived of such fun all their lives, Olan. You may have more men to fight for their attention here than on the ship, but you didn’t have any problem finding your way to get to know them there.”

  Giving a disgruntled grunt of displeasure, the young man stated, “On the Sea Dragon, it was just me and a bunch of sailors for the most part. The girls would swim off during the day for awhile scouting for Bas and I could be the first to meet them, as long as I paid attention.”

  “And you always paid attention,” Sebastian agreed with a slight smile at his friend’s discomfort, though he couldn’t exactly understand why.

  A squeeze of his hand from Yara revealed that he had earned a frown from the girl, though he thought that she fought to hold it. They had watched the mage fawning over the girls and had watched as Yaroma in particular seemed to grow fond of Olan. Since the mermaids were from a rather sheltered world, they had thought the girls would take longer to understand relationships with men; but Yaroma had proved them wrong quickly keying into Olan’s attention. Perhaps having been used as sirens manipulating men into deserting their ships for their songs meant the girls knew more of being women than they had thought.

  Olan continued without showing any harm from his leader’s sarcasm, “These are her people. How can I compete with mermen? They know what it is like to swim under the ocean and I am just another man from the land.”

  His words had sounded more resigned than truly sounding hurt, but men from the north were often tighter with their emotions so it could just have been Olan holding his feelings in check. Yara looked to the girls as they talked. She caught Yaroma’s glance to the shore even as she and her sister attempted to have fun. Catching Olan looking away and no longer attentive, the pretty brunette frowned slightly before looking back at the others splashing around.

  A slight smile crept to the wizard’s lips. She was young and had only really been in love with one man but, as a pretty blond and a rare wizard healer besides, Yara had dealt with her share of attention from boys and men both at White Hall and her later posts. Only Sebastian had actually drawn her heart with more than a passing care.

  “She’s trying to make you jealous, I think,” the girl said trying not to smile. “Don’t look. I caught her looking at you and you’re not paying attention to her anymore, so she frowned.”

  Olan started to turn his head to look despite the warning and Sebastian stepped in quickly nearly barking an order like a sergeant to a bunch of new recruits, “Don’t turn, Olan. If Yara says, you shouldn’t look, then don’t. Women understand women.”

  Nodding her blond head, the girl added, “If you really want to annoy her, go join Serrena and Frell over there sunning themselves. They’re pretty women and you’ve known them longer. Don’t be a jerk and flirt, but if you go near them I think the siren will be feeling a taste of jealousy herself.”

  “But she knows that we’re just friends,” he protested.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Yara rebutted trying to not let on what they were speaking of as the mermaid looked to shore again. Just being ignored for a few minutes was already annoying the dark haired girl where she tried to appear carefree and play. “Go sit by them or lay down like you’re about to take a nap. Yaroma wants your attention and I think we were wrong in assuming that the girl knows nothing about men just because she was so isolated by the pirates.


  “She may be less mature about it, but Yaroma is definitely trying to make sure you understand that she’s desirable by other men. I don’t think she’s truly interested, though meeting more people like her has its draws; but if you truly think you like her then don’t stand around looking miserable when she’s with other men.”

  With a bit of an exaggerated sigh, the tall battle mage nodded and walked over towards Frell and Serrena while he pulled his shirt over his head exposing a muscular torso. Sebastian doubted the man even had thought about what he was doing. His eyes caught Yaroma looking over at Olan as well and thought that he caught an upturning of the corners of her lips at the sight of the mage. When he proceeded to sit beside Frell, who noticed him as well and greeted her friend; the mermaid’s smile slipped quickly.

  Olan sat talking to the others as Serrena sat up to talk between them as well. While Sebastian and Yara were too far to hear the conversation between the friends, they were still in a good place to see both sides of the tentative couple. Yaroma pulled her sister closer talking with Naoromi looking a bit frustrated. The younger girl glanced towards Olan as well with a bit of a frown before appearing to try to calm her sister.

  “You’re pretty good at manipulating people for a healer. I thought diplomat wizards were the ones who were supposed to be good at getting people to do what they want,” Bas said trying not to laugh at the befuddled mermaid. “She went from trying to make him to jealous to being jealous herself just like you guessed. When did you become so good at playing games?”

  His eyes returned to hers and Yara surprised him by pulling her blouse over her head. Once removed the girl shook her hair out before passing him the yellow top and placing a hand on his arm to balance as she removed the skirt revealing undergarments thick enough for swimming without revealing more than she wished.

  “Come swim with me?” she asked seeming to ignore his earlier words, but Sebastian shook his head with a little smile admiring the petite young woman. Yara was just busty enough that her remaining top secured in back without any other straps made him a little worried that a strong wave might change her attempt at modesty.

  “I was thinking I would head to Gerid’s home actually,” he started. While a little tiredness was part of the problem, the leader of the Sea Dragon did have plans that he should go over with the immortal and his people soon.

  Grabbing his right hand since his left held her blouse and skirt now, Yara blinked a couple times and said again, “Come swim with me. There will be time for that later.”

  His feet started forward almost before he knew it. “You definitely know how to play games,” he chuckled.

  Shaking her head in reply with a coy smile, the pretty blond, tanned from the weeks onboard ship and on the warm, sunny island, retorted, “I don’t play games with you. Saying it is a game implies that I might lose and you aren’t much of an opponent, are you?”

  He couldn’t help laughing. Unfortunately for the young man, she was correct. He wasn’t much of a fighter against the pretty girl who he was in love with completely. “I do prefer losing to you when, even losing, I win.”

  Moving into the water after letting Yara help pull off his pants, the two went in deep enough that he could touch, but the shorter girl either had to swim or hold onto him. She wasn’t saving her energy as Yara held him around his shoulders and neck. As they held onto each other cooling off in the salty, ocean water, they could see the earlier war of wills coming to an end.

  Yaroma, with Naoromi in tow for extra strength, walked over to the trio of magic users pretending to be tired of playing in the water. The older of the two girls sat making sure that her hair flicked enough to spray a few drops onto Olan’s stomach making him sit up with a start at the cool droplets.

  Trying not to look jealous, the mermaid began to talk with the man even as her eyes glanced to the other girls beside him. Apparently, Yaroma had asked him to go for a walk; since moment’s later, the two stood up brushing away the loose sand sticking to them and walked south towards the point that would take them out of immediate view of the village. The mermaid’s fingers entwined in his before they reached the pier letting Yara and Bas know her plan had worked.

  Naoromi wasn’t abandoned for long either as the mermen walked over to draw the three ladies into the water surprising Frell and Serrena by the attention. Both were pretty women and being a wizard and battle mage, Sebastian had a feeling that they sometimes forgot that. The three young women were soon the center of attention for the men once more.

  “Well, that worked out well. You’re pretty good at this whole love and relationship thing for a wizard healer who’s supposed to hide away from men,” Sebastian chuckled knowing that it wasn’t much of an exaggeration.

  Her lips kissed his cheek before moving to his neck for a second kiss. She breathed in his ear and said, “We’ve been lucky to get away from most of those prying eyes at home. Admittedly we had planned on waiting to get approval from them, but life happened. I can’t hide our relationship from them for long once we’re back, I think. It has been so long a journey that it will probably make them want to check if I am still a virgin, and their worry will be justified, of course.”

  He nodded knowing that their first time together had been magically induced. Though they had been fully in love and wished they could act further, the rules over female wizards, especially as apprentices, were strict that they should not have sex. It was believed that being promiscuous would hurt a woman’s power over her magic. Obvious consequences like becoming pregnant and having children would certainly take from a wizard’s ability to perform their duties, but the couple had actually discovered their new link had somehow given them the ability to work together in a way that made them more powerful than as individuals, at least using some spells.

  Whether that would bring any changes to the Southwall wizards’ beliefs, he didn’t know. There was also the possibility of punishment from their leaders. While Bas guessed no penalties would truly be judged against him, Yara might be in for more discussion. He had worked to get her promoted to full wizard well before the Winter’s Edge tournament, at least, so they were less likely to be in trouble than if she were still an apprentice.

  “I have a feeling Maura might be quick to bring it to their attention,” he added in reference to the eldest of his wizards. She had been added by the wizards’ council for the journey he assumed because as a research wizard her knowledge might come in handy. Her added seniority was supposed to have given her the ability to lead if he faltered, but Sebastian had stood strong and led his team despite her superficially joining them.

  Even after a month of proving himself and Maura having been the one to falter resulted in a certain amount of meekness, she still stood apart from his team, even more than the king’s representative Captain Drayden. Though Sebastian felt that he could count on them more now, both were somewhat aloof and stood outside of his circle of friends formed from the wizards and mages he had known for months.

  Yara surprised him with her response, however, as she said, “She might actually be in our corner. We’ve managed to use magic together stronger than apart. No one else has been able to make the light spell as strong as the two of us together.

  “I’ve seen the others try to work as teams or in groups, but not even Nara and Collin can duplicate it. Maybe she will suggest that our union makes us stronger and we can get some of the stigma lifted from women wizards’ relationships?”

  Scoffing at the idea with a grunt, Sebastian had to shake his head as he mused aloud, “For all the professed equality in Southwall, as long as men rule the wizards’ council; that is unlikely to happen, I think. We both know some of their rules are much stricter for women and often ignored similarly for the male wizards. Having sex is the most obvious since you’ve said that there is really no penalty for the men sleeping around outside of doing it with female wizards and apprentices.

  “Whatever the case, we’ll take what happens in stride as we always do.”
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  The couple let the depressing discussion of wizard rules drop and swam together or watched the others frolicking around the beach.

  “I can see why Gerid would consider this home even held by the emperor’s spells,” Yara said after awhile. She was clinging to him in the shallows again. He could feel her beginning to shiver as the cool water and descending sun’s waning light began to affect the petite girl. “This is as close to paradise as most people will ever find. A quiet island, family and friends working together to keep each other fed, clothed and with roofs over their heads; this is what most people would wish to have. It’s a quiet life, but I think that it could be very fulfilling.”

  Nodding Sebastian began to move them towards the shore. “It wouldn’t be a bad way to spend your life. You grow up, have a family, and watch them grow up while everyone works together. It’s a pretty nice way to live. Unfortunately, this isn’t what I am destined to have for a life.”

  Yara sighed at his thoughts of reality voiced. She also noticed his eyes moving towards the shallow water ahead. A pretty girl, with hair so light that it appeared silver, splashed in the water lapping just above her knees. She was even slightly smaller than Yara. Lady Annalicia had fine features and a slight point to her ears that would let someone with any knowledge realize her elven ancestry.

  Being the granddaughter of Darius, a human immortal, and his wife, an elf; Anna was two generations removed from her grandmother and more human in appearance. Her father had married into the royal line of Malaiy, though she had never told them how close to the throne that marriage actually was. By the wizards and bodyguards who almost fanatically guarded her from harm, Sebastian assumed that she was closer to the king and queen than she let on with her welcoming personality.