Giving her a confident grin, Elzen stated happily, “Sure, in theory he is just reopening the gate that took you from here to there, right? What could be safer? Now if he were opening the one in the hall, I would be insane to follow it to Ensolus; but this one just leads to some storage room in the mountain fortress. It’s simple.”
With a shake of her head, Rilena retorted, “The only thing being simple around here is you. You don’t have to do this to protect me, Elzen. You don’t owe me that.”
A seriousness slipped into his eyes for a moment as he said, “I would rather try this and fail than have you get trapped somewhere again. You’ve already been through enough portals. It’s my turn to go this time.” The devilish look returned as he added, “Besides maybe I want you to owe me one.”
“Teven might be disappointed,” she countered knowing that the water wizard had thrown him off by teasing him into dancing with her. Teven had managed to appear each night before the dancing started and every time she had made Elzen dance with her. She had told him that dancing with another person would lead to figuring out the right compatibility for having a relationship. Unable to weasel out of the situation the wizard had painted him into, Elzen had danced with her, but the boyish young man always seemed to find a way to dance with Rilena as well.
Maybe he thought dancing with her would reveal that compatibility Teven professed would come?
“If I get lost in another world, perhaps I will see Teven there,” he laughed.
Rilena loved her friend, but Elzen’s insinuation that the wizard lived in her own little world wasn’t lost on her.
“Be nice,” she ordered. “Teven is a sweetheart. You could do worse.”
Nodding, Elzen replied, “True, she is sweet, but you have to admit that she is also very odd at times.”
“You’re just mad because you try to tease her and she always seems to turn it around on you.”
Giving a little snort of a laugh in response, Elzen continued, “She does manage to make it hard, I will admit. I may have to give up on her and chase after easier targets.”
Her eyes frowned slightly following his insinuation, but both mages noticed Darius looking towards them.
“We are ready, if you still wish to be the first to test the gate,” the high wizard said as he was noticed.
The two mages walked into the room together noting the walls ringed with alternating wizards, mages and some of the most elite soldiers assigned to Windmeer. Lingering in the hall at a safer distance more guarded the way into the castle just in case something should go wrong. They didn’t want to risk allowing either the emperor’s forces or some unseen creatures of another world free reign should they use the gate in reverse. That was the problem with using spells that were new to a wizard. The unknown held the promise of great danger as well.
“You can still say no,” Rilena whispered to the younger mage. She still worried that he was risking his life as if to try and save hers.
Grinning at the dark haired girl, Elzen shook his head and replied, “If the gate works properly there is no risk and if it doesn’t what kind of adventure would that be? I’m not going to let someone else have all the fun.”
Unable to stop her worried frown, he added, “You act like you’re worried about me.”
“Of course, I’m worried. You’ve become a good friend and I don’t want to see you killing yourself or being thrown into some other world to be lost for the rest of your life,” Rilena stated seeing his eyes wince slightly at the proclamation of friendship. Unfortunately, the girl couldn’t admit to a stronger relationship than that and worried that was another reason why Elzen was doing this for her.
“Well, don’t worry. It’s perfectly safe, right, Darius?” the boy asked with a laugh placing an arm in front of Rilena forcing her to pause and give him the space to advance.
Elzen picked up a lantern already waiting before the gate. It had nothing to do with the spell, but if it worked he would land inside of a dark storage room.
“I can’t guarantee anything,” Darius answered with a lesser smile. He looked confident in being able to open the gate, which in theory would lead where Garosh and Rilena had once gone; but she had seen another world and knew that an error would most likely strand him there forever. “I have researched hundreds of gates in my life and have closed most of those. If my conclusions are correct, then this will be the safest way to test my theories. We know where the gate begins and where it ends. At least this one should be safe to use for that reason. Most either lead to Ensolus or to other worlds.”
Rilena sighed and added, “If the spell works the way Garosh’s did and you can’t find the exit, then try imagining someone you care about to return.”
He didn’t turn to see her cheeks blush, but the young mage nodded anyway. “Well, let’s do this, Darius. This is either going to be a quick, boring trip to a storeroom or a bigger adventure, so I am excited to get started.”
The high wizard began to chant and Rilena found her mind wondering if Sebastian could have deciphered such a spell. She felt the power growing in the wizard as the remainder of his assistants backed away towards the wall. A single wizard had formed the previous gate and Elzen had reported that Palose could do so as well, so in theory Darius should have the strength to open the portal properly.
A moment later Rilena felt a little static lifting the small hairs on her forearms as well as the little hairs on the back of her neck, though the latter had already started from worry. A flash of light began as a point before spreading like the water of a flash flood and quickly created a rectangle floating in the air. She had barely caught sight of the original, but her reflexes had been enhanced by a spell making time slow enough to see it clearly. This was the same as Garosh’s in size and the color looked the same, if that mattered at all.
“Go ahead,” Darius nodded keeping his arms outstretched willing his magic to hold the door.
Elzen smiled reassuringly at the high wizard and nearly sprang into the light.
“Elzen!” Rilena suddenly exclaimed and reached for the mage. Her worry had gotten the best of her and the girl launched forward.
Already passing into the light Elzen was almost gone as the young woman stumbled through the gate as well.
Her fingers felt for the wrist which had been so tantalizingly close. What she had hoped to accomplish by trying to pull him back from the light, Rilena didn’t know. She didn’t know what harm or good drawing someone back from a gate would accomplish. Perhaps it was best that she hadn’t caught him in time.
Those thoughts came to mind as she entered the familiar silver light. She spotted Elzen already over a dozen feet away from her in that instant. Were they crossing the miles so quickly that within the silver world a moment between them equaled so much distance? He wasn’t looking behind him to see her, so she called out again and was almost surprised to hear her voice in the silver void.
He didn’t seem to hear Rilena, but his speed seemed to be slowing as the boy began to flounder in the silver light. Her eyes never left him and the space closed until Elzen spotted her as he had begun to spin slowly trying to orient himself in the void. There was no second doorway and he was left in confusion.
“Rilena?” she suddenly heard his voice as the woman was about to collide with the younger mage. “What are you...?”
Closing her eyes, Rilena tried to envision the store room Garosh had brought her to weeks ago during their escape from the fire. She crashed into Elzen’s chest knowing it was him with or without her eyes open. She had felt him as they danced and the time Rilena had found him through the second portal.
She pushed all other thoughts from her mind focusing on the storeroom and suddenly the light was gone. With a crash, Rilena fell on top of Elzen and opened her eyes to darkness. Hoping that her focus had brought them to the right place, she asked, “Can you light the lantern, Elzen?”
“If you get off of me,” he retorted sounding breathless.
Sitting back onto
his legs unwilling to leave the feel of her friend as if they would become separated again, Rilena breathed easier as Elzen created a flame inside of the lantern with his magic.
Rilena glanced around seeing familiar shelves, though with a few less provisions remaining on them since that time she had arrived with Garosh. The door cut in two places to break a wood bar which had prevented anyone from entering or exiting, still had the two vertical holes. It was the right place or a remarkably accurate version of the old storeroom.
“While I really do enjoy the view when you land on me, could you get off before you cut the circulation off to my feet?” the boy chuckled as Rilena realized that they were in nearly the same position as the time she had landed on him in the bath. Without the side of the tub to sit against, Elzen lay on the floor looking up at her apparently enjoying the view as he had said.
Pushing off to stand up, Rilena didn’t even blush as she walked around the other mage to push against the door. It opened freely. No new bar had been replaced and there was no more light beyond that of their lantern. It was a disappointing fact, since it probably meant that either everyone had been killed or taken away.
The light shifted as Elzen moved to the doorway behind her and asked, “Is this it? You know, is this the fortress?”
Nodding, the girl sighed before brushing her hair from her forehead. “This is the storeroom, at least, but there are no fresh torches or lit lamps now. When we arrived the last time, there was light in the tunnel in sight.”
“Does that mean everyone is dead or that they just haven’t come down here recently? If they can’t leave, I would guess that the survivors wouldn’t bother wasting resources to light an area that wasn’t necessary.”
“I hope that is all it is,” Rilena replied in a subdued voice as she tried to figure out what they should do.
A new concern came to mind as the lantern shifted in Elzen’s hand to look back into the storeroom. “I don’t see a gateway here. We might be stranded now.”
Understanding the problem, Rilena entered the storeroom and found some rope.
“Hold onto this, just in case,” she ordered before throwing the bulk of the line towards the back wall of the room. A flash of light revealed the unseen gateway as the rope disappeared into the new, magical opening.
Elzen gave a low whistle before asking, “How did you know that would happen? In fact, why did you chase me through the portal in the first place? This was supposed to be an experiment that only risked one person, not both of us.”
The last was said with a reprimanding tone that the girl ignored as she answered, “First, I wasn’t sure that there was a gate here. I couldn’t see it anymore than you did, but I was hoping. Now we have to hope that the rope will go back as if they are still connected since Darius only formed the opening initially.”
“Formed the opening, but we passed through that light and are here now,” Elzen stated as Rilena directed him back from the portal.
At the door, the woman ordered an air spear which she drove through the heavy wood door creating a fist size hole. Pulling the rope through the hole, the two tied it shortly after with a strong knot waiting for a response. Elzen still held onto the rope lying loosely on the floor in the glowing gateway while his hand kept his end just over waist high.
“Darius can open the gate, but he didn’t know where to aim it, just like when Garosh threw me through that other portal. He told me to bring someone to mind to direct the outlet. When he made this one, there was a magic tie that he knew about to draw him here. Since Darius has never been here and doesn’t have that tie, he could only aim us into the silver world.”
Elzen looked a little more worried, but got off the topic and said, “There looked like floating islands in the distance. Did you see them?”
She nodded.
Sudden new realization came to his mind and he asked, “You guessed that spell might not be focused, didn’t you? If I was stuck there for too long, would I have been able to get back?”
“I don’t know the rules of the Dark One’s portal magic anymore than you do. When I saw you just stop in the light and started spinning, I guessed that we needed to focus on a destination and since we were supposed to come here I did my best to focus on the storeroom. It was where we arrived the first time, so I was guessing that was the place to think about.”
A tug on the rope pulled some of the length off of the stone floor and the mages readied to defend themselves just in case it was something or someone from the other world. When a brown haired young man with slightly pointed ears stepped from the light holding the rope in his hands, they breathed a sigh of relief.
“Elias,” Rilena greeted the wizard. Seeing Darius’s grandson, and a valuable person to the high wizard, she was a bit surprised to see him of all the people that could be sent.
“Why did you throw so much rope?” the newest arrival asked curiously. “The distance in that light couldn’t be more than a few feet at most.”
Rilena shook her head and stated, “There was closer to twenty feet between me and Elzen when I entered the void. We had no idea how far it would need to go. I wasn’t even sure if it would be directed to your grandfather’s portal at all.”
New confusion etched the man’s face as he stepped clear of the portal and moved to the tunnel beyond the wood door. Darius arrived next and looked a little surprised to see the two mages waiting for him. “Did you have a safe trip?”
They laughed dryly before quickly retelling the story of the incomplete portal.
Frowning at the confusion of the portal spell, Darius nodded as a new thought came to him. “I will be right back. I had ordered no one else to follow until I knew it was safe.”
The wizard disappeared back into the light using the rope as a guide.
“Where is he going?” Elzen asked only to receive a shrug from Elias.
It wasn’t long before Darius returned and looked at the light a moment before closing his eyes. “Yes, that will work. We need a guide to draw us between points. I had not thought of that. The only other way is to be familiar enough to focus on the next point in some way.
“Good work, Rilena,” he added with a nod and gave a double tug on the rope.
Waving the two away, Darius’ signal started a quick procession of half a dozen mages and soldiers before the rope returned through the gate. As the light died away leaving just the lantern sitting inside the storeroom, the men found a few more lamps and oil on the shelves to spread light to the hall.
Darius smiled at Rilena and said, “Well, you have guided us to here, Falcon Rilena, now if you could show us to the other portal maybe we can find more life in this mountain along the way.”
“Hound,” Elzen called up a spell designed for tracking as he stepped ahead of the others. Despite the time since the attack, the smell of death lingered assaulting his heightened senses brutally. “Augh, it smells horrible in here.”
The mage held his nose and tried to use the other sense that the spell enhanced. Closing his eyes to listen as the others tried to stand still and remain as quiet as they could, Elzen tried to find a sound beyond their part of the fortress. With the closed stone around them, if there was something to hear, he should have been able to lock onto it fairly easily.
A voice far off carried to him, a scuffle of a boot against stone, even someone snoring could be heard.
“Definitely survivors here,” Elzen stated releasing his hold on the magic so he could breathe.
While the others looked at the mage, Darius nodded and asked, “Which way?”
The second wizard, Elias, held a magic compass and pointed uphill even as Elzen replied, “All the sounds seem to come from that way. The smell of rotting corpses and blood seems to be everywhere, so I’m not sure what we’ll find along the way.”
Rilena didn’t like the idea of walking through the tomb that had been formed from the fortress, but they had little choice if they were going to discover what had happened after she went through the por
tal. She doubted Garosh could have survived after feeling the powerful magic coming for him, but the mage tended to be realistic more than optimistic anyway.
Following the long winding tunnel as it slowly took them uphill, the eight continued carefully. Even if Garosh’s side had won, they would have no idea that friends or foes had come. They had no wish to fight, but knew confusion could lead to conflict so the extra mages and soldiers followed behind Elzen and Rilena forming a buffer between the wizards and what lay ahead. A mage and soldier also took the rear just in case.
After awhile they found the first lamp. It was a single light before another appeared about two hundred feet farther along the tunnel as it bent. Elzen raised a hand halting the group.
“I think I hear something up ahead,” he warned before calling up another spell. “Stealth,” the mage whispered before seeming to disappear from sight.
The tunnel was still often shadowed, so the spell worked with ease. Rilena guessed that she could have walked ahead and disappeared just entering the darkness between lanterns.
After a couple minutes, Elzen returned thumbing back the way he had come. “Four orcs ahead, I assume we just want to do our best not to alarm them, but we don’t plan on sneaking past?”
Darius nodded and said, “Just remain alert, but let’s try and get them to talk first. I am sure this many men can handle a few orcs, if we are wrong.”
With the high wizard’s decision made, they moved forward cautiously and found the four orcs in short order. Jumping with surprise at the visitors, orc hands went for weapons in fear.
“Good afternoon, gentle orcs,” Darius greeted as if this was just some meeting in an inn or somewhere similar. “We didn’t mean to surprise you, but came to see if we could offer assistance. Who still leads here?”
Looking at each other unsure if they should answer, Rilena moved forward and asked, “Does Garosh still live?”
Battle Mage: A Hero's Welcome (A Tale of Alus Book 8) Page 23
