Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) (10 page)

BOOK: Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12)
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They couldn't starve the city or soldiers since portals could bring new supplies, but neither could they find an advantage that would drive them from the island.

Palose sighed breaking the silence as his people waited for him to comment. It had been the same for weeks, so he had no words of encouragement.

"Well, I doubt anything will happen tonight. I doubt this war will change much at all anytime soon really."

"You are returning to Ensolus then?" Oween asked with a tone that almost begged him to take her with him. She believed that to become whole, the dark mage would need to bring them back to the city to perform the rites of resurrection.

He nodded and considered the questions he had been facing relating to those following him for a long time now. Even as he considered them, the dark mage began the spell to form a portal home.

A glowing doorway formed on the hill. They expected him to leave. Palose had left the battlefield every night to go home and sleep in his bed. Sylvaine was there and his other friends, but mostly he wanted to return to her.

Standing before the golden door, the dark mage came to a conclusion and said, "Oween, Nalack, follow me. Balish you're in charge, though I doubt that there will be anything to do."

Balish and Tongold looked a bit disappointed since he was taking the other two with him, but the life of a wraith was service to a master. They couldn't refuse him, but they were sentient enough to wish that he would consider them worthy. Disappointment was an emotion they could still experience as well.

Stepping through the light, Palose went from night into a silver void briefly before his feet created thuds on a wood floor. His eyes had seen dark marks far off in the void that were islands floating in the former prison of the emperor. After that, it took a moment to adjust to the other side of the portal. It was always that way with the magic. Because of that fact, it was a hard spell to use in battle though Palose had managed it a few times.

"Palose!" a voice greeted, but the girl's happy voice stopped with the one word as she gasped at the sight of the warlocks following behind him.

Before the wraiths to could adjust to their surroundings, the inhabitants of the house in Ensolus reacted jumping up from their seats in alarm. The glowing gateway was nothing new to them, but the two unknown wraiths blinking their glowing red eyes to adjust to the new reality were a shock. Palose rarely traveled with anyone to the house and usually it was in the company of one of those already waiting for him.

A large, bearded wizard was so surprised that fire was already gathering around his fingers and in the palm of his hand. Dorgred was a former wizard of Southwall, but well trained. A reaction like a wilder proved that his shock was genuine enough to spur his magic into a defensive spell.

Palose held up his hand catching the man's eyes as he said, "Calm yourself, Dorgred, you don't really believe someone could surprise me by coming through a portal created by me, do you?"

Frowning in return as the big man released the fire anticlimactically, the fire wizard retorted, "After we were ambushed through it once before...?"

The man left the remainder for Palose to digest. A little over a month ago, someone had broken through his secret portal. His people had been stunned by some form of grenade before being put to sleep. Sylvaine had barely gotten a glimpse of the intruder, but as best the dark mage could gather, Sebastian had pulled off the trick to one up him again.

His people hadn't been truly harmed. Some form of sleep magic had taken them out humanely and the intruder had disappeared without taking anything other than their cumulative pride. Unfortunately, Palose could think of no way to guard the portal completely. The best he could do was change the source of the magic used in the stones holding it open. It had been the course of action to cover his tracks since Sebastian had found and closed several of his personal gates months ago. He had done it here as well, and months had passed before the intruder used it anyway.

The mizard continued to be a thorn in his side no matter how much he learned or how well he tried to cover his tracks.

Oween and Nalack looked as ready to defend themselves as the others were ready to attack, but Palose was the master here and the two groups settled into an uneasy stare down. The dark mage put his hands out towards both sides trying to ease them as he explained, "Oween and Nalack have been serving me on Litsarin for awhile. I think that I can trust them to join our little group, so I have brought them here."

Turning to the two warlocks, he introduced the others, "These are members of my family. This is Dorgred, Stasia and Talia," he said pointing out the fire wizard, a petite blonde girl and taller dark haired woman. The women had been his first experiments with resurrection magic and held no magic of their own; but as more wizards had joined their little circle they had begun to show signs of power. At the moment they had about as much strength in magic as a weak battle mage.

"And this is Sylvaine," Palose finished pointing out the young woman who held his heart. There had always been something between them even when the dark mage had been unsure that he still had a heart to use for love.

The last girl was technically an apprentice, though an intelligent and excellent student of the craft. Her life had been cut short tragically, but that wasn't enough to send her to the afterlife for long thanks to his necromancy.

Oween noted the last girl and frowned. "Aren't you an apprentice? I remember seeing you in the academy practicing your elemental magic. How did you wind up here? I actually thought that I had heard that your squad had gone out to check on the nomads and never returned."

Frowning at the older woman, Sylvaine looked to Palose asking him to answer or perhaps asking him why the mage had chosen this woman of all the candidates he could find. Wizards and warlocks were hard to find, would have been his answer to that. Unfortunately he had never considered that one of them might know of Sylvaine's fate.

"Her fate was similar to yours, Oween. Sylvaine and her mentor were sent out and caught by surprise. Fortunately I had given her a tracking stone and discovered the betrayal."

Nalack showed recognition in his eyes and said, "There were rumors that a camp of nomads had been found slaughtered to the south last spring. Those who survived had been elusive with what they believed had happened. Perhaps they hid what had happened because the emperor's warlocks were involved?"

Turning to the two wraiths, Palose shut down the conversation saying, "Maybe one day I will tell you what happened as I saw it, but for now we have other work to do."

"Yes, master," the two wraiths answered as one reacting to their tie through his magic. Wraiths didn't have the will to resist their creators. When he said the matter was closed, it was finished immediately as his order superseded any curiosity that they might have.

The dark mage opened a door leading to a set of stairs leading down to a lower level. It led into darkness that was pitch black.

Sylvaine grasped his wrist halting the mage's steps and Palose nodded to the two wraiths to go before him. "Nalack light the lamps in the room for me. I will be behind you shortly."

A quickly chanted spell created a wizard's light that went before the wraiths lighting the way and they walked down the stairs disappearing from his sight. Palose didn't bother to watch if they would follow his command, but looked to the curly haired girl. Her violet eyes looked worriedly at him in turn.

"Are you sure about them?" Sylvaine asked hesitantly. "If Oween were to talk about me..."

The apprentice had been forced to hide from the warlocks she had once known. It had been a previous life and the caution stemmed from fear that his circle of resurrected friends would be hunted down and destroyed along with Palose for daring to make them. If a resurrection man was abhorrent to the warlocks of Ensolus, how much worse would it be if they found that he had made others like him?

"Their lives will be tied to me and would likely be forfeit if they dared speak of it. How can they shine the light on an apprentice presumed dead, when they will be in the same condition soon enough? Besides, I have been looking through the books on blood magic and runes used to set the spell over and over. There are a few marks that I think will take care of any problems before they arise that I plan to try."

Sylvaine knew that he had studied the magic closely and noted that Palose had been studying his books more intently recently. Assuming that he must have been preparing for this day for some time, the girl was ready to let the matter lie.

Dorgred, on the other hand, had different worries. "You are adding more of these warlocks to our number? Does this mean that you are thinking of letting some of us go?"

His question didn't just mean letting them leave Ensolus or the house. Those living in the house rented by the dark mage, went out into the city keeping their eyes and ears open for information to protect them or advance Palose's cause within the warlocks and with other men of power. One worry for Dorgred and the other wizard who was absent from the room, Wendle, was whether they would be replaced once they had rid him of the necromancer who had brought him back to life.

His magic had tied them to him loosely and Palose had formed an agreement that they could live with after he brought them back to life in their enemy's city. After his first try at the spell, he had chosen to refine his choice of blood runes to make it more of a friendship rather than creating servants or slaves to him. Atrouseon had formed locks on him that made Palose a slave to his will in some ways, but he could have lived with those bonds if the warlock hadn't turned on his creation in jealousy.

Palose had no problem with the relationship between him and the wizards, but he didn't take it for granted that it could last forever.

"Are you thinking to return to Southwall permanently, Dorgred?" the mage asked skirting the other meaning of the man's question.

"Would you let that happen?" the larger man questioned. Dorgred was broader in the chest with powerful looking arms. He was one of those fire wizards which believed that they were the real war wizards. If it came to a fight between them, however, Palose was certain that he could kill the man with little effort despite their size difference. Kill him again, he amended with some feeling of amusement.

"You and Wendle stuck with me and protected me against Atrouseon. You have held up your end of the deal. If you two want to leave, I can open a portal any time you wish; though some of my options have been closed thanks to Sebastian," he assured the wizard. Palose had hoped to keep the two men near him, but as a battle mage he was also very self sufficient. "Where is Wendle, by the way?"

It was Talia who responded first. The young woman was perhaps the most dependable of the circle and very responsible for keeping up the house. "Wendle is out trying to track down any lead on the intruder who used the portal. If there is a chance that he might come back, or is still in the city, maybe we can find him first. Well, Dorgred and Wendle will probably have to be the ones to find him since they can sense magic."

Palose merely nodded. "Maybe we will need to sit down and discuss our future. Whether it will be together or if it is time to go our individual ways, I don't intend any of you harm. As far as I know, this gift is permanent, so it could only be stolen by killing one of us again. I don't plan on killing you and I hope that is mutual, my friend.

"Now let's put this talk aside for later. I have work to do and I hope by adding these warlocks that it will strengthen our group."

 

 

Chapter 6- New Life

 

Palose followed the two wraiths down the stairs followed by Sylvaine and Dorgred. The former was there for support. Being the last to be resurrected, Sylvaine had never seen him work the magic of the spell. She had studied the magic for a time as an apprentice, but dropped the research in short order after discovering that she had no feel for necromancy.

While Sylvaine had actually pointed out the first books on the subject for Palose in his study at the Ensolus library, her knowledge of the magic was more of a cursory knowledge at best.

Dorgred, on the other hand, knew only what he had witnessed when Wendle had been brought to life. He was a fire wizard and from Southwall where the magic had been outlawed. It was disdained by the wizards even though there were apparently a few books on it kept in some of their libraries. The fire wizard had heard of those books, but had no idea where they would even keep such things. Such magic would be something of note for a research wizard, but not for one of his kind.

While most wizards knew or had at least heard of such magic, as a battle mage Palose had known nothing of it at all before falling from his horse fleeing the emperor's werewolves. He had broken his neck, died, and suddenly found himself alive once more and determined to bring down Windmeer, one of the guardian cities, for his master.

He noted the fire wizard's presence, but doubted that he would need him for anything. When Palose had brought back Wendle, he had needed help lifting the wizard onto the table. Though an orc had helped put the fire wizard onto the table first, either man would have been difficult for him to put there by himself. Stasia and Talia might have been enough help to move the dead weight, but other muscles had presented themselves.

A new mystery presented itself as Palose looked at the two wraiths in front of him waiting in the light of a handful of lit lamps. He had never revived someone that was already half alive as a wraith. Unsure of the best way to go about it, the dark mage chose Nalack as his first test subject. While it was the case that he was unsure, Palose remained confident and ordered the man to remove his shirt before having him jump onto the table. It was certainly easier getting a subject onto the table as a wraith, the man thought.

While he had created several wraiths, Palose had never taken the gift away. Some of his puppets had been destroyed, but that wasn't the same as essentially killing someone.

"Lie down, Nalack. I have to say that this next part might be rather unpleasant, but remember that in the end you will be alive and your own man once more."

The wraith's eyes revealed worry, but he had been ordered to lie down and didn't fight his master.

Like all necromancy magic, there was usually the cost of blood between the caster and the subject of his spell. Even the lesser puppets required that cost, but it was less draining than the more complete spells used for a wraith or resurrecting someone. Without blood, he doubted that the cost could be covered even by someone as powerful as the emperor or his siblings.

This time the cost wasn't giving of his blood and spirit, but in taking it back or releasing it again. Palose placed a bowl on the table making Nalack raise an eyebrow questioningly. The warlock was as useless as Sylvaine and the others for this part, so there was nothing for him to compare it to, except perhaps some reading the man had done about thirty years earlier.

The warlock had pointed ears, Palose noted. He was one of the many elves who had been born to those who had followed the emperor rather than be killed. They were said to have long lives, but the mage couldn't tell how old he truly was. It was an unimportant thought though and the dark mage needed to push it to the back of his mind as he prepared the difficult spell.

Reversing the magic of being a wraith was in the books, but he didn't like the sound of what he was about to put Nalack through to get where they were going.

Chanting the counter spell, Palose closed his eyes to avoid that red stare. His life, or unlife, was literally in the mage's hands. Nalack screamed as new wounds formed on his chest. The marks which had been set to create him bled out and the blood lifted from the wraith causing him to shudder and scream more as the life essence was drawn out of the half dead man.

Oween paled, a surprising ability to find in one already pale from being a wraith. She was watching her future and fear of the pain was in her red eyes. While she wanted to feel truly alive once more, this second death looked more painful than the first. The woman turned away, covered her ears to block the screams, and closed her eyes mumbling a little prayer to any of the gods of the old world or new that would listen to her.

Not alone in her pained look, Sylvaine and Dorgred appeared ready to do the same if they could only look away from the scene.

Blood rose and dropped into the large bowl even as the wraith shuttered and screamed. It took longer than the mage had expected, since the magic had tied to the body strongly. Such a deep root had been necessary to reach the half life of a wraith.

The screaming stopped and Nalack lay still. He was dead once more, but the necromancer knew that his spirit was close. It was in pain or perhaps it simply felt the loss. While he couldn't see it, the man could feel Nalack tied to the blood.

Taking a knife, Palose cut his hands. New blood would be needed to return the warlock once again.

Unlike his previous rituals, the dark mage had to use both the blood in the bowl and that from his cuts to draw out the runes he had chosen. In the previous spells, the spirits had been called back from death using just the blood from his cuts. It was his spirit that joined with theirs, but Nalack was already tied to him as a wraith.

His chanting renewed after the runes had been drawn along Nalack's arms, head and torso. He had to paint runes on the man's bared feet as well, but now was the time of true magic. The blood and runes were just the preparation. Palose felt the tug on him as he pulled Nalack back into his body.

A cut was made for resurrections on the chest, but the wounds were already formed. His blood would be drawn into the cut as he placed one hand over the wound and one over his lips. This time Palose used the blood from the bowl first. He poured it into Nalack's mouth and onto the wounds first before putting his hands in place.

The remaining blood from the bowl suddenly flowed back through the air to Nalack's mouth. Instead of drawing more blood from his hands, the wraith blood seemed to return rather than using much of the mage's blood. The two were already tied after all, so Palose wasn't completely surprised at the change in the magic.

A shuddering breath as the man returned to life drew Oween's eyes back to Nalack. He sat up and shook his head. There was no confusion in his eyes. The warlock knew where he was and what had happened to him. That was new as well.

"Thank you, master," the warlock replied before shaking his head and changing the last word to, "Palose."

Oween looked at the former wraith, her other half in some ways, though the two had barely known each other in life. They had been warlocks who had worked together, but they hadn't been close. As wraiths serving Palose, they had found common ground. Now they were different again.

BOOK: Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12)
6.33Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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