Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) (3 page)

"You're too much soldier for this line of work, I bet. Stick to uncovering magical secrets or whatever. I don't think either of us believes that this life is for you."

Sebastian chuckled lightly, though he found the comment less funny than some of the humor of this man he had known for awhile. "Well, that is probably true. I deal with enough castle intrigues and secrets just being a battle mage on the outskirts of such things."

A folder that was bound and sealed was handed to the younger man.

Glancing to the other men and women inside the basement, who were starting to move out for their morning tasks, Sebastian asked, "Does anyone need a ride home?"

Drayden shook his head. "We need more time, but I'll let you know next time. We can't really afford to be missing from this city too long or there might be questions raised. It is hard enough to blend in the first time without messing with that familiarity."

The battle mage took the folder and left shortly after. Drayden accompanied him as he moved to a place near the eastern edge of the cave. It was deep in human territory there so they stood out less in that part of the city, but winter meant less travelers when, even huddled inside of a cave, it was bitter cold.

As the two men readied to part, Sebastian commented, "You know, I am surprised that you use your real name here."

The older man lifted an eyebrow dubiously and replied, "No one knows me here, so what harm is there in using the same name; but more importantly how do you know that Drayden is even my real name? I could have given you a false name when we met after all?"

Finishing with a laugh that caused the mage to shake his head, the older man clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Well, have a safe trip."

They were surrounded on either side by the walls of two buildings which ended in the cave wall. The opening onto the street a few dozen feet away would be the only logical way for someone to try leaving the cave city, but Sebastian turned towards the wall rising up to the ceiling far above them.

Producing a staff from a glowing mark on his arm, the battle mage placed it on the ground.

"Door," he commanded and a surge of power rose through the staff to drive his magic. A glowing door formed in front of him.

Turning to nod at Drayden, the mage added a last goodbye. "I'll be back in a few days. Try to stay out of too much trouble, Drayden."

The older man replied, "Without you here angering the orcs, I should be alright."

Laughing the two men parted when the mage stepped through the glowing door. It blinked out of sight only a moment later leaving no trace of the younger man.

Drayden turned and began to whistle a tune as he walked back towards the heart of the city.

Chapter 2- Arguing One's Worth

Stepping through the front door of the Black Smith Inn brought the cold and with it angry glares from several patrons enjoying the warmth inside as Sebastian returned from Castle Grimnal. The head raven of the battle mage order, Leros, had his office in the king's castle. Along with the high wizards and other key lords and officers serving the king, the castle also served as a focus for the government and offices serving the kingdom.

Though only a falcon in rank officially and only a little over a year with that rank, Sebastian had found running to the king's castle almost routine since he did it so often. Climbing the stairs to the raven's office was quite common as well. After climbing to the old bird's roost, Leros had received his most recent reports from the spies in Ensolus and let the mage return to whatever duties he saw fit.

It was nearing lunch time in Hala even though the clouds overhead grayed out the sun making it harder to guess the time. Like Ensolus, Hala was very cold. Unlike the cave city, Sebastian had dealt with snow falling as he had walked from the castle to the inn. At least it was located within the inner wall of the city as well making it just a few blocks walk from the castle's outer wall.

The inn was becoming almost like home for the battle mage after a few months of using the same room. It was more comfortable than the dorm rooms of White Hall, the school for wizards and mages, and he had a greater deal of freedom now as well. Some came from being a falcon as opposed to being a cadet learning how to become a battle mage. More came from Sebastian's rather unique ability to uncover new spells for his fellow mages.

He was given time to research like a wizard and the smithy behind the inn was one of the places he had used to create new weapons of war.

A blonde haired girl dressed in a green dress appearing to be satin by the sheen of the cloth sat talking to three others. Two were dressed as mages, a boy and a girl, though the second looked old enough to be referred to as a young woman. The male falcon had boyish looks and often acted like a child, Sebastian thought of his long time friend Elzen.

Rilena sat beside him. The two had both been his friends first. After he had continued on his personal path, they had bonded both because they knew him and through battle. When you relied on one another to cover your back, friendships were often built between people that might never have associated otherwise.

A red haired wizard took up the last spot. Serrena had been following him trying to learn magic from a battle mage of all things. The wizard had actually been with him for most of the last year and become one of his closer friends. She was the first one to spot the mage entering the inn and pointed for the others to look.

While his friends rose to greet him, the blonde haired girl was the one with the warmest smile for the mage, though that might have only been Sebastian's opinion. Ashleen had been with him a long while and that relationship had turned into love, though sparks had been there from the beginning. It was quite literal in the case of the girl who was also a lightning wilder.

Ashleen reached out a hand to catch his exchanging a static electricity type spark. It was common enough for most people due to the dry, cold air; but with Ashleen it often occurred just from excitement. She couldn't always rein in her power. Tied to the earth, the wilder's power was always on, but most of the time no one else would notice.

"Welcome back!" the pretty girl greeted him drawing him to the table.

Joining the others at the table, Ashleen barely skipped a beat as she asked, "So how was Captain Drayden?"

Sebastian knew that Drayden's mission was a secret from most people, but this was his inner circle. He hadn't been warned to keep it secret that there were spies in Ensolus, but it was probably assumed. Bas wondered if the news would reach the emperor's city anytime soon even if the news were to slip in the wrong company with winter in full bloom. Snow made travel anywhere outside of your home city nearly impossible. North of the wall, the mountains trapped even more snow and seemed to bring colder temperatures besides.

"Drayden and his people seemed well enough. They've managed to get some work done, but there is still a lot to do," he replied ambiguously. Details had to be left out to keep the mission quiet after all.

Realizing that they wouldn't get much out of the battle mage on that regard, Elzen changed the subject. "Have you been to White Hall lately?"

"You know that I haven't been there in over a week, but if you are asking if I have seen my sister. She isn't there right now anyway."

His face had darkened slightly with the thought and Ashleen stated, "You could have put your foot down and kept her from joining the other dragon mages down south, you know. She might be a very good dragon mage, but she's only thirteen. You could have made her stay at the school, and no one would have questioned it."

He barked a humorless laugh and replied, "Yeah, right, Katya would have questioned it until my ears bled; but she's remarkably good already."

Elzen grinned at his friend and added, "She's a prodigy unlike her brother. How many years did it take for you to go to the wall for your first field training anyway?"

Jumping on the track he had set, Rilena reminded them, "Actually I thought Bas told me that the wizards didn't even discover his magic until he was fifteen; and I believe that puts Katya two years ahead of him, since she is still just thirteen. She really is making you look bad, Bas."

The humor on his friends' faces at his expense brought a roll of his eyes and a sigh. Sebastian answered the digs saying, "Much of it comes naturally to her, though I've heard from both her instructors and Katya that some of her magic is converted to a battle mage style first. She learned that from me before she got to the school, so if she's a prodigy then some of it must have rubbed off too."

Elzen wagged his finger and complained, "Don't try taking all the credit now."

Sebastian knew that he had gained momentum and added, "You know, I found her and sent her to the school instead of the wizards. So that's another win for her brother."

"And High Wizard Darius had to put a spell on her to prevent her from turning into a diplomacy wilder and blowing everyone's minds away," Serrena commented raising a finger towards the ceiling to make her point.

"You too, Serrena?" the mage complained to the fire wizard. "I thought at least you would have my back."

The woman shrugged with a smile proving that she wasn't overly sorry.

"Anyway, you both have your talents, so I think we can let Sebastian off the hook for starting later than his sister," Ashleen said trying to be diplomatic. "Since we are talking of Katya, will you be returning to the front soon?"

The front lines were far away, but only a short jump using the portal spells stolen from the emperor's warlocks. It had taken a lot to figure them out and change them into a battle mage spell, but Sebastian was as expert in using the magic as any wizard. He had learned the spell about the time High Wizard Darius had cracked it as well. He was a wizard though and able to teach Southwall's wizards much easier than a battle mage could. Since battle mages lacked the power to cast the spell on their own, it was a good thing that he had.

Far to the south, the emperor's armies were fighting to claim Litsarin, a piece of land raised during the Cataclysm. Unknown to the humans of North Continent, the emperor already had a claim to the land. He had several towns settled by his people on the east side of the massive island. Now he had his armies working to drive Southwall's ally, Sileoth, from its cities on the western side. Southwall had joined its ally, but after two months of battle it had become a stalemate.

The dark armies of monsters and men had the power of Ensolus and the other mountain cities serving the emperor behind them thanks to portal magic. They could flood the land with soldiers or withdraw in a blink to move to another area or town before Sileoth could move its troops, but Southwall's novice portal wizards had already managed to join the allies together to reinforce the remaining towns and cities of Litsarin. Even in the face of the emperor's powerful forces, the allies stood strong and held out as fall moved to winter.

It was much warmer in Litsarin, but the cold of the north still seemed to affect what was happening.

"If Leros and the other battle mages had their way, I'd probably never get to leave Hala again," the mage, often referred to as the owl mage or mizard since he seemed to blur the line between the two classes, mused over the conflicting orders often given to him now. Battle mages saw him as the one leading them from being second class wizards into a more useful direction. He had deciphered dozens of wizard spells and made them into mage versions already.

Sebastian could use most of the elements to one degree or another. Most combat related spells were received with varying degrees of success by his fellow mages. That alone would have been enough to make him unique, but he had brought healing magic to his people also. Fewer could learn the skills to become a healer, which was the same for wizards.

The owl mage had also discovered some new magic. Runes had been shown to him by the merfolk. It had taken time but he had learned to recreate them and was even starting to build upon those to create his own unique markings. He had also discovered magic using light and darkness. Those were lines created by Ensolus, like portal magic, which Southwall could use against their enemy.

All that knowledge was slowly being passed to his fellow battle mages and even the wizards. Where he could, Sebastian tried to spread that knowledge to remove some of the pressure left on his shoulders. Unfortunately, not everything could be passed so far. That left him using portal magic in a way that the wizards had yet to discover, or perhaps it was more that the battle mage was simply brave enough to dare.

Few wizards were likely to wish to drop into the enemy's city without an army at their backs, but he had followed his enemy using one of Palose's portals. Now it was his responsibility to use new gates to help the spies delivered to the city and to bring back the information that they had gleaned.

"Actually I am surprised that they haven't made you give up the portals into Ensolus and made the wizards do it. You aren't that necessary for that, are you?" Elzen asked genuinely curious. Such questions were sometimes thrown out, but no one had really thought to ask.

Ashleen looked at him intently. She disliked that part of his psyche which appeared bent on running into any danger without fearing for his own safety. Unfortunately, such behavior had saved her life a few times, so she could hardly tell him to stop. The wilder had often complained that if he was going to do such things, that he should take her, since Ashleen was as brave as any battle mage, Sebastian thought.