Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus) (52 page)

Collin grunted, “Great, just what we needed, something stalking us so well we can’t see them.”

A bend in the beach jutted further into the water with trees grown thick obscuring any views beyond it. Sebastian could almost feel the movements of their unseen watchers moving along both sides of them. If something was about to spring, the mage was pretty sure it would be at the turn. “Be ready. They might just be the locals keeping an eye on us, but my guess is they’re waiting for us to be near the trees ahead. Don’t attack even if attacked unless it is the emperor’s soldiers.”

Grumbling from his fire wizards came to his ears, but the battle mage ignored them. He was watching the land ahead and allowing his instincts to guide him. “Hound,” Sebastian ordered enhancing his sense of smell and hearing. The change to his senses was immediate and the muffled sound of feet in
the brush on their left was suddenly noticeable to the man. A gentle break of a wave from his right as something disrupted the even flow of the ocean meant that Idenlare was correct.

They were almost to the turn when more footfalls came from ahead. They were coming quickly and those from the left changed pace to move closer as well.

“Reflex,” the mage readied for a possible attack.

“There!” Idenlare shouted having never let his attention leave the water.

Bright flashes of light as sea creatures threw themselves into the air to land in the shallow surf nearby came from their right. Blue and gray skinned men with strange masks looking fishlike spread from the ocean along the water with spears that looked made from red stone. The left came alive as more creatures draped in the leaves and skins of green moved into view while the trees to the south held even more. Swords, spears and bows with arrows all were pointed at the nine.

Idenlare formed a fire shield before him against the sea creatures. Frell raised a blue mage shield on her left large enough to block for two against the tree men. Collin formed stone skin that could block for Nara who could duck behind him. Sebastian stood ahead of Yara, but made no other move to appear protective or defensive.

“Good morning,” he said loud enough to be heard as the three groups converged leaving them only a thin space behind to flee. His nose caught a whiff of the ink spread over the bodies of the men near the water. It didn’t come off easily, though he noted the sea water changing the texture as the warriors stood ready. Mud and leaves covered the rest.

His eyes counted thirty nine opponents surrounding them as his reflex spell slowed time. Their masks were less impressive as the mage looked at the men and handful of women. Two women dressed like sea creatures and three occupied the other two groups on land. All looked ready to fight, but his
greeting had caused more than a few to start. Their fearsome appearance and impressive ability to hide aside, he could smell fear among many of these people.

“My ship is anchored on the other side of the island to prove that we are just here on a mission of peace,” Sebastian stated bringing a couple surprised looks from his team. They had thought that the ship was hidden from these people to be used if needed, but the mage had never intended to apply pressure on people that had decided to live there. Whether intentional or in some way trapped by the emperor, these people made this island home and had every right to protect it and themselves.

Several of the people began to look at one another wondering if they needed to attack or maybe run to chase the ship away, he thought. A man of medium build stepped ahead of the ones directly ahead. He pushed the mask up realizing that they weren’t fooling the wizards before them.

“What is your business here?” the man asked.

Giving a confident smile, Sebastian stated, “We’ve come to find someone and return his property back to him.” His hand moved to the head of the large battle axe strapped to his back with a belt of leather. He had found the leather and added it to the handle with a loop on each end. One loop slid near the head and the other loosely held closer to the base of the handle. The strap made the heavy weapon easier to carry on his back.

The man noted the axe as several of his people tensed thinking that Sebastian might draw the weapon. While the mage knew the axe was the last thing he would use, they did not know he was a battle mage. His hands returned to rest on his hips. His chest was bared to any missile they might shoot or throw.

“Our people haven’t associated with the outside world for hundreds of years. There is no one you would know here, so go. We don’t need to shed your blood if you leave now.”

Sebastian shook his head. “If he is here, the man once belonged to the outside world. We haven’t seen him in almost two hundred years.”

Murmurs of ‘father’ and ‘the Father’ made it to his enhanced hearing. The battle mage nodded slightly knowing that they had found the Grimnal’s home.

The leader struggled to lie convincingly while he waved a hand before him as if to brush aside the notion. “You are wrong. There is no one like that here. Now go.”

Shaking his head, Sebastian sighed before answering, “That is not what my source tells me. I have come from his ancient home following his path. You aren’t a good enough liar to make me believe that I have come so far on a mistake. Every step of the way I have found evidence of the Grimnal’s passing.

“Now I am here where a prison was made to hold him. I would like to talk to him and return what I have found.”

Weapons pointed with more intent at his words.

Collin said under his breath for the mage to hear, “You’re baiting them, Bas. Don’t make them attack or someone will get hurt or worse.”

The mage didn’t take his eyes from their leader despite his friend’s worry. He could see the man warring with his thoughts. He wasn’t a seasoned battle leader and if he led in other ways in the village, this was not one of the men who normally led his people.

Sebastian spoke into the quiet and added, “You can see that we can protect ourselves. There is no need for fighting or bloodshed. You know that our magic can’t hurt him any more than our swords, so what do you think we will do that he can’t handle.”

His words were working on the man. Sebastian wanted to take a step or any action, but this was a place for peace not fighting. The emperor’s ships would be here soon, if he was correct in how they operated. They were waiting to trap him nearby even if his people hadn’t seen them.

When the leader finally said, “Fine, then you will follow me.”

Sebastian and his team fell in behind the leader and a dozen warriors before them. The remaining warriors of both land and sea walked behind them leaving only the water or trees to the left as an escape route. With almost two more miles of beach to walk, the mage took the time to examine what he could of the warriors escorting them.

He quickly noticed a couple things that they all had in common. Whether the people were using amulets like the mermaids to hide in the ocean underwater or covered in greenery to blend into the woods, there was still another air of magic to them. Sebastian sensed that magic touched these people, but none bore the slightest sign of having magic in them like a wizard or even a weak battle mage. It was like magic had been enacted on them.

Another similarity was their use of tattoos on much of their exposed bodies. Men wore loin cloths or shorts exposing round tattoos on thighs and knees. Bared feet had inked daggers on top of their skin. Arms had twisted vines or the look of barbed wire running from shoulder to wrist. Each hand was tattooed on the back but also in the palm with circular brands. The bared chests of the men held at least two large circular tattoos while more of the vines wrapped their torsos front and back. Either circles or long rectangles covered their abdomen. The women wore simple tops revealing similar tattoos on them though the chest circles were closer to their collar bones. Sebastian didn’t necessarily believe that they might not have more covered by their clothing, but those were what he could see.

The ink on those from the sea was all blue and gray. On those that had come from the trees, many that were blue on their merfolk compatriots were brown as if the ink identified a certain property to the individual. All of the ink seemed endowed with magic and Sebastian had a feeling that it was a good thing
that he had managed to get these people to merely escort them. A fight between the two forces could have been disastrous for both sides.

When their guides took them through the forest using a short cut, Sebastian looked for more signs of traps in the woods. There were signs beyond the path they took, but their guides knew the right path to take. Sooner than he would have thought, the groupings of outlying farms turned into a low walled village. Dozens of homes were simple single story buildings made of wood. Roofs were made from thatched grasses or palm fronds woven together.

Three buildings rose to more than one story aside from a pair of tall silos just outside the walled ground. One was close to the ocean where a single pier holding just a few fishing boats were moored. They were simple boats and small compared to those of Southwall or the island nations they had visited. These weren’t meant to leave the barrier, the mage thought to himself.

A crowd of men and women looking like almost like any villagers he had seen in his life began to form as cries of warning and alarm sounded among the people. It was still early so many came rushing out of their houses looking half asleep. One variance from a village in Southwall was the fact that the people were dressed for a life in a warm climate. Bared chests on men and small tops and skirts knotted on one hip or another were the norm. The women were dressed very much like the mermaids from the Siren Isles.

When they neared, many of the people looked worried and disappeared grabbing stray children who complained about wanting to stay and see.

These were just farmers, fisher folk and other people serving the village in whatever profession they could, Sebastian thought watching both curiosity and fear mixing through them. These kinds of people weren’t ready for a fight unlike those surrounding them, but even these warriors seemed like men playing at war.

As they neared, another type of man entirely came forward flanked by a handful of warriors dressed like the ones surrounding the team. Dwarfing most of those around him by at least half a foot, a man with silver hair and beard strode through the crowd only stopping at the edge of the village wall, where the warriors had halted the Southwall wizards. Sebastian looked up at a giant of a man. The power of the man was easily felt if not assumed by his size. The battle mage could see in his eyes that this was a man who had known war. He was also not a man who liked interruptions of his way of life, Sebastian thought as he half bowed his head to the king.

“And why are these people here, Semael?” the giant asked of the lead warrior.

Swallowing nervously, the man known as Semael replied, “They say that they came to find you and return something to you.”

Frowning at the warrior, the giant turned to look down on Sebastian. Despite the silver hair, the mage thought that he couldn’t see a single line of age on his face. An air of agelessness surrounded him and his senses felt drawn into his aura which was that of anti-magic.

“Why are you bothering my people?” Gerid asked gruffly.

Sebastian nodded his head greeting the legend, “My Lord Grimnal, I have followed your trail with the help of High Wizard Darius in the hopes that we might find you and bring you home.”

“Bah,” the giant spat his disgust, “I am home. These are my people now. And don’t call me that stupid name. Grimnal was a stupid name for a castle and I never wanted it to be associated with me. I didn’t build the damn thing.”

“Gerid or Master Aramathea perhaps?” Sebastian questioned with an amused smile on his lips. This was the immortal and not exactly what he thought the man would be. He was very intimidating physically to be sure, but he was somehow still a common man.

“Gerid is fine until you leave, which should be soon. I have no desire to go back. I have my family and people here now. Give me what you think is mine if you must then go.”

Reaching for the axe on his back, Sebastian pulled the heavy weapon and placed it head down onto the ground before flicking the handle towards the giant. Gerid caught the handle and lifted it with one hand like it was lighter than a dagger. Again, Sebastian noted the power of the immortal.

Gerid frowned looking at the axe. Sebastian had cleaned the weathered weapon so that it looked almost like new. A small dent in one blade from the impact of striking the scalor on Maldus’s Island had been left alone as a reminder of that battle.

“The last I saw this thing it was sticking in the back of some beast that refused to die. Where did you find it? Was it with its skeleton somewhere on that island?”

Playing off the size and danger of the beast, Sebastian replied almost carefree, “No, it was quite alive. Apparently the scalor has a long lifespan when it can’t be killed easily. I had to climb it during a fight to pull it free. You had it very wedged after all this time.”

The giant’s eyes showed disbelief at the claim.

“Maldus, the wizard in the castle, was also quite alive in his prison. He told us how you were captured by the emperor’s soldiers. I guess I can see how you got here. It looks like they made your prison a bit nicer than the wizard’s though it was his castle originally anyway.”

Gerid angrily gripped the battle mage’s shirt picking him up onto his tiptoes. “This is my home, not a prison.”