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

by Donald Wigboldy

  “Form a circle and use light to break their armor,” he ordered knowing the wizards and Frell knew from previous experience which spells worked best. The wizard hunters they had challenged in the past had been sure of their protective armor, but his people knew the power of light destroyed their enchanted gear.

  “Sleep arrows,” the mage added hoping the spell learned from the healing school would either be accurate or the armor would be unable to absorb the magic. A handful flew from his left hand while sweat already began dripping from his brow as Sebastian tried to juggle multiple types of spells at once. He was just a mage with limited power or so he had always been taught to think and was pushing his abilities.

  The arrows hit four orcs and a goblin noticeably. The latter face planted as his eyes rolled back before his lids could even close. Two of the orcs were struck in the face making them sag to the ground, while the last two struck armor. A chest plate stopped the arrow as it seemed to break into dust which wafted up causing the orc to shake its head and stumble to his knees. Slowed but still groggy, he didn’t advance as the creature continued to try and shake off the new weakness.

  With four successes, Sebastian noted the last orc was struck on the arm. It wasn’t metal but leather so the arrow didn’t break in the same way, but was absorbed by his armor.

  “Live and learn,” he mumbled in annoyance. Thinking to augment the spell with his sword, the mage was afraid that it wouldn’t help as much as he had hoped. The armor could absorb even a healing spell.

  To the three backing him, he warned, “Shield your eyes.”

  “Light!” he ordered dropping the point of the Hollow Sword to the ground. Like his use of a staff to draw greater power from the earth, the sword drew the energy, but instead of forcing a massive amount of energy into the flimsy shell of the mage it held the power between him and the ground.

  Glowing like a sun, the sword swung in the mage’s hand as he closed his eyes. A skilled swordsman, Bas would never remove his eyes from a target, but he didn’t need to see as he swung the Hollow Sword in an arc sending brilliant light streaming into the advancing wizard hunters.

  Blinded by the light; the creatures fell back reaching for their eyes.

  “Ashleen, use your lightning to hit them while they’re blind.” He followed up with a spell of his own, “Dance.”

  The sword was touching the ground and he felt the power of the earth rush into him as the mage cast lighting that danced across the stone bouncing in an instant into the closest armored foes. Already weakened by the light spell, cries of pain as the lightning found its way into the cracks came from the helpless soldiers unable to see their deaths coming.

  More lightning flew outward from Ashleen’s hands striking more and killing those with the weakest armor. Some were merely stunned, but already the bulk of the enemy soldiers were on the ground disabled in one way or another.

  Sebastian looked for the warlocks, whose attacks faltered as they were blinded as well. Men in black leather wizard hunter gear stumbled and fell as they tried to get the stars out of their eyes. Someone had the where with all to strike up the gate and the men did their best to find their way through the glowing rectangle.

  With half of their trap broken, the mage turned to see the other half faltering in the face of the shocking loss and fleeing warlocks. The golems had crushed several soldiers while Mecklin’s blade and use of light spells drove the center of the enemy back. Serrena and Yara struck those who tried to sneak around the lumbering stone beasts with their light spells. The fire wizard added flames as well burning exposed flesh bringing more cries of pain.

  “Darterian, keep an eye on this side to make sure that no one surprises us again,” he ordered while Sebastian led the girls to help against the second half of the trap; but it no longer mattered.

  The orcs and goblins had had enough and the remaining warlocks created a second portal surprising the mage. With the other gate being the only one that the compass had revealed, a second gateway was unexpected.

  Black armored creatures fled with only a handful bothering to try a defense as they backed away.

  “Let them go,” he ordered knowing that even as brief as it was, the fight had already caused them to expend large amounts of energy.

  The golems held their ground with Mecklin ready between them as they watched the enemy disappear into the second glowing door. As it disappeared, Sebastian thought that he felt another source of magic behind him. Turning towards the mine, he spied the ones giving off the power standing on the slope above the mine and his heart went cold. Anger etched his face as he proclaimed this enemy’s name, “Palose.”

  “By the gods, Wendle?” Ashleen questioned in complete shock drawing their eyes to the two men standing on either side of the mage, “and Dorgred too?”

  It felt all wrong. Sebastian calmed himself looking at the men with all his senses as they seemed to just be watching the fight that had gone on below them. Palose felt wrong. He was too powerful. The owl had felt like he had progressed in the months since the Betrayer had left him for dead inside of Windmeer, but Palose had strength of magic that felt like a full wizard or warlock of the emperor.

  “Palose!” he cried out to the dark mage.

  Palose smiled and sarcastically waved to his former friend before turning to cast a third smaller gateway.

  Ashleen ran past Sebastian yelling, “Wendle, what are you doing with him? How could you?”

  The wizard’s face looked a bit sad as he looked down on the girl before stepping through the third gate behind Dorgred. Palose gave the battle mage one last look before he passed through and closed the portal behind him.

  Light seemed to explode from Sebastian and his sword with a power that Palose had never seen before. Only the emperor or his siblings or the strongest of his warlocks could possibly have called such a powerful spell; but the dark mage hadn’t felt that kind of growth from his old friend. It should have been impossible for a mage of his strength even given the man’s brilliant ability with wizard magic.

  Blinking off the effects of the light, he heard Wendle gasp, “Where did he get that spell? I thought your warlocks were the only ones who knew that magic.”

  “They aren’t my warlocks,” Palose stated without accusation or emotion. The dark mage had come knowing that a team had been defeated by a mere handful of wizards and what sounded like battle mages, except that they could use spells that they shouldn’t be able to use let alone even know.

  Three black ships had sailed out about two months earlier from Ensolus to end some nameless threat that apparently followed a trail leading to something the emperor didn’t want found. He still hadn’t been told what that was and hadn’t asked. While his relationship with Kolban and his siblings might get him that information, it hadn’t seemed important enough to ask as of yet.

  They had sent him with Acheri to use lodestones that the captain would sail to the island with so he could create a gate for whatever treasure was on it. Maybe then he would ask.

  Still that hadn’t been the biggest question to come of the sailing of the black ships. First, one black ship had limped back through the gate. Broken and with wizard hunters speaking of a ship with wizards capable of using light and dark magic against them, the first hunter’s defeat had seemed like a fluke. Surely even if an enemy knew similar spells, they couldn’t defeat the wizard hunter’s best... but then the second ship returned with their leaders defeated.

  The third ship had never returned at all.

  The stories of men that fought like battle mages, but using powers no one from Southwall had ever exhibited, had made Palose believe that it must be Sebastian. The mizard, as he had been called, had begun deciphering wizard spells for battle mages even before Palose’s death and subsequent betrayal of his former home. Only he could have found new powers and magic like those, but even believing that the dark mage had held a kernel of doubt.

  Now this fight revealed that his beliefs couldn’t have been wrong. Light
ning, light, and sleep spells used on a scale he hadn’t seen before with wizards let alone battle mages and the strange ability to project mage shields away from the man were new to him. Then there was this strange ability to change his magical power. It had ebbed and flowed throughout the battle, but where had Sebastian found this ability?

  Palose frowned. His power had grown to rival even strong warlocks in Ensolus, but Sebastian had found a way to tap even greater power. Just when he thought that there was no way the mizard could defeat him, Palose watched as he destroyed and overpowered more than two score of the emperor’s wizard hunters. Yes, he had help, but they had been helpless in the face of each new spell he employed.

  Only nine wizards and mages had sent more than four times their number running, for those who could even stand.

  “Dorgred, did you see any sign of this power he has?”

  The big fire wizard sighed as he looked a bit contemplative. “We saw signs of powerful spells on the trip and even thunder, which could have been a wizard’s magic or his. While neither Wendle nor I were close enough to watch or have an air wizard’s ability to ride the winds and snoop on him, we did see a couple of his matches during the Winter’s Edge tournament.”

  Wendle nodded and said, “Ashleen and I went to some of his matches and as the tournament lengthened, he seemed to find more strength. His last act was after he seemed on the brink of death.

  “In the last match, an air wizard was caught in a fire tornado that was killing her. He somehow called hundreds of gallons of water from ponds that were hundreds of feet away and lifted them onto a stone walkway fifty or sixty feet above them.

  “It was remarkable and I am not sure how many wizards could have achieved that powerful of a spell.”

  Dorgred nodded, “He defeated multiple wizards using spells that were as fast as a battle mage spell, but drew on power that was equal to our best wizards. It shouldn’t be possible and only when he calls on the power did he ever look like more than a battle mage in strength.”

  Palose looked away as he heard his name on the wind.

  “He sees us,” the dark mage noted calmly.

  “Ashleen is with him?” Wendle questioned as he spotted his good friend.

  “Well, she survived being taken away on the last ship,” Dorgred answered with a little surprise.

  Palose began to cast his portal spell. He felt confident that whatever wizard they had capable of closing gates would come destroy this one as well, but it didn’t matter.

  “Time to go home,” he stated hearing Sebastian calling him with more anger.

  After the other two men passed through his glowing gateway, Palose gave the battle mage one last look even as he wondered how the mizard had become even more powerful.

  Chapter 22- Portal Class

  “Well that was quite a spectacle,” Captain Drayden’s voice said with a chuckle as Sebastian rejoined the others.

  The captain stood leading a pair of warlocks, one of whom sported a swollen eye darkening by the minute. While Sebastian hadn’t had a chance to take a good look at the town side of the clearing during the fight, he had never noticed the return of Drayden. There was little doubt that the captain had remained intentionally out of sight. If he hadn’t, the mage doubted the two warlocks would be prisoners now.

  Apparently during the confusion inspired by his light spell, which had caught those fighting behind him since they faced his wizards, the captain had taken the initiative to capture a couple of magic users for interrogation. They hadn’t come willingly, but Drayden had been persuasive enough and now they stood cowed. Rope bound their hands behind their backs, making the warlocks, whose magic was grounded in hand gestures for casting, quite useless.

  Sebastian nodded to Drayden and replied, “One of the lessons taught during training is that shock and awe can turn a battle or even completely flip the outcome. When their orcs came at us shouting, as if we were just some untrained peasant militia, they quickly discovered that we were neither shocked nor awed.

  “On the other hand, hitting them hard with strong magic took the wind out of their sails and made them turn tail quick enough.”

  He wasn’t gloating as the mage had an uneasy feeling that things had gone a little too easy.

  “Collin, sit down so I can heal you,” he heard Yara’s voice and turned in concern. In the excitement of routing the enemy and the surprise of seeing Palose watching the fight, Sebastian hadn’t had a chance to take stock of any injuries. Everyone had been standing and he had just assumed the best.

  Moving to check on his friend, the mage looked quickly to see if anyone else was injured.

  Mecklin’s sword arm was bleeding and there was a crossbow bolt sticking out of the upper bicep. How he had managed to will himself through the fight, even as short as it was, was a question in itself.

  “Hold still, Mecklin, until we can get that bolt out of your arm,” Sebastian ordered readying to help the man.

  Collin had been caught by another bolt and Sebastian realized that he hadn’t seen the crossbowmen either. Usually the mage would call on a reflex spell to make the world seem to slow while his body moved at a faster rate as well; but he had relied on his magic for his attacks first. The Hollow Sword made his spells more powerful than he could do on his own, especially using the earth to power them further, and it was maybe too enticing. Bas had always relied on what he could do with the power he had, but then he had discovered that he could draw power from the earth with a staff and afterward used the Hollow Sword to do so in a safer way.

  He had also experimented with the sleep spell, a less used weapon that had come in handy a couple times before, when he should have gone for a decisive victory with his best magic. Still the mage had routed the enemy quickly and no one appeared close to losing their lives. It was a victory, but Sebastian didn’t relish it as much as he would have had he paid closer attention to his people’s safety. Even the fact that he had tripped the trap with so much audacity made him realize that he was growing too cocky.

  It had been awhile since anyone had died while under his command, but it hadn’t always been that way. The first summer he had seen a lot of deaths from the men and women from Southwall. It had been a lesson to him to do everything he could to protect his people and yet here he was letting them down.

  “Heal,” he said triggering his spell as he touched Mecklin’s shoulder well above the crossbow bolt. Bringing his right hand close to the shaft; Sebastian let his mind work with the wounded flesh. The early work he had done healing helped him make this easier. It wasn’t the first arrow he had removed from a soldier or mage.

  The flesh wanted to remove the bolt and return to peace, so his job was easier. Simply letting veins, tendons and muscle relax tension on the wood in Mecklin’s arm; Sebastian found that he could pull the bolt free with ease. Even the man’s pain was minimal using his magic to block the nerve endings in his arm.

  A few moments used to bind the wound with his healing magic and they were done. Yara stood from Collin and noted the mage had finished as well. A little frown from the girl surprised him.

  “I thought that capturing a couple of their men might shed some light on what they planned to accomplish here,” Drayden stated after he had witnessed both healers stepping away from their patients. “We can always send them back before you seal the gates completely, unless you want to do something more final with them?”

  Sebastian took a bite of bread slathered with a creamed cheese, but he noticed the warlocks pale at the threat. Drayden was already working on loosening their tongues with his unspoken threats.

  “Darterian, can you close the larger gate they were protecting and the small one on the ridge that Palose used? Frell and Serrena stay with him just in case we missed something.” The team leader quickly sent the three into motion while the others remained on watch close to Parik’s closest buildings.

  Turning to the two warlocks, he shook his head and bluffed, “I don’t think these two can tell us an
ything we don’t know. The emperor sent them to try and stop us from destroying the gate. Maybe killing them right here would be best.”

  “Sebastian?!” Yara exclaimed hearing his callous words. The healer had been through several battles with him, but in essence she was a pacifist. Yara hated killing and all the death happening around them, but he was sure that the girl understood that it was kill or be killed quite often in regards to the Dark One’s army.

  Refusing to end his ruse in front of the prisoners, Sebastian looked at the girl and asked, “What? We destroyed the gate in Banosh and they popped up here in response. It’s a simple enough story, so what do we need them for?”

  Drayden pulled out his dagger understanding the mage’s subterfuge. The warlocks had gone white with the threat to their lives.

  “Wait, wait, we will tell you anything that you need to know, just don’t kill us!” one of the men exclaimed in panic.

  Sebastian looked at the man closer as if inspecting him for signs of the truth and asked, “Can you cast the portal spell as well or were you simply sent as assassins to kill us?”

  He swore the man had no blood in his body and could have been a corpse after his question. “W-w-we just served under Ulpher. It was his plan to ambush you.”

  “But can you create the gates? Are you a portal wizard or whatever you call yourselves?”

  The warlock next to him replied, even as the first man stammered unable to get the answer out of his mouth. “Portal magic isn’t the easiest to cast. Anyone can help hold the gate open, but only someone with the right skill can open a portal without assistance and guide it to the right end.”

  That information surprised him and he quickly followed up with, “You mean Palose can cast a portal and that’s rare?”