Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) (31 page)

Of course, the mage wasn't into such luxuries either, so it probably had suited him fine. The wilder was less impressed, but had grown used to simpler conditions and amenities. She had been born into royalty, but her wild magic had removed her from it years ago to pursue her art to control the power that still raged in her when the girl was upset. No one made the mistake of getting too close to her now as little sparks could be glimpsed from time to time as she waited impatiently.

Treya looked at Ashleen looking apologetic and frazzled from being put in this position. "I sense the magic of a portal, but I can't track it or even pinpoint the exact position in this room. I'm sorry, I wasn't trained to be a gate wizard," she said speaking of the specialized division of wizards which had been around for millennia in most wizards' schools. They tracked the random and not so random breaches in space which had appeared in Alus, and closed them before more damage could be caused.

It was a rare group of wizards and usually they were positions assigned to certain individuals with rare sensitivity to that kind of magic. Few wizards chose to become gate wizards, because few outside of the schools knew of the potential danger to their world. It was believed that if they weren't vigilant, Alus could become riddled with stray doorways to other worlds and possibly be pulled apart in the process.

Others who knew of the gates looked on them as natural and not to be feared; still the tricks of that trade weren't typically shared with the other wizards. This left Treya, a wizard who could form portals with skills newly realized, unable to use her familiarity with the magic to do more than the basics. Ashleen wondered if Southwall would begin to teach these portal wizards the gate magic of the special forces?

Sighing at the woman's inexperience, Ashleen looked to Falcondi Yenest and said, "We're going to need to bring an expert from Hala or find Darius. Yes, we know that a portal is here, but Darius has closed and reopened them as well. We will likely need to follow him through this gate to find Sebastian."

The mage frowned and explained why, "Following him could lead to a trap and get anyone who follows killed."

"If we don't at least try, then Sebastian will remain lost to us. He is clever, but there are ways to stop him from using his magic," the wilder said worriedly. "I don't like the idea of hoping that he can get free to return on his own."

"We still don't know that it wasn't the mage who made this portal," Yenest tried to remind the girl into using caution.

Ashleen pulled a pair of stones from a pouch on her hip. Among some other things that she thought might be necessary; these were imbued with Sebastian's magic. Dubbed portal stones, among other names, they could be used by a wizard to find their way with a gate even when they weren't in a place they had been before. She knew that they could also be compared to the magic used to make the gate.

"Here, Treya, does the magic of the portal match what is in these stones?"

The water wizard looked less confident of the idea of comparing the two, but closed her eyes to touch the stones before extending her hand towards the feeling of the aging portal spell. When she opened her eyes in surprise; Treya spoke like she couldn't believe the answer that the wizard was giving. "No, I don't feel any residue like the stones."

Closing her eyes again, the woman let her senses extend to the rest of the room before opening them again. "I feel his magic on the lamps and residue on the bed, but that is it."

"He lit the lamps and probably ended the flames with his magic also," Ashleen stated. "It is a basic spell that almost every wizard and mage would use rather than finding a match or other form of lighter. He knew where his room was and most likely came back from dinner late enough to need the light."

She looked at the falcondi and said, "There, now you know. Find someone who can reopen this or at least see if they can tell us where it went."

Looking thoughtfully at the stones, Treya mused, "I have been around the mage and heard his thoughts on how to use the magic. He can use a map to find a gate or city to open or at least track old portals, can't he?"

"If he knows the magic that he is looking for, Sebastian can use a map to set a point that he can open," Ashleen answered knowing the exact use of the magic the woman was questioning. "Can you do that?"

With a troubled look on her face, the wizard was forced to shrug and say, "I have never tried it. He made it sound easy. Even if I can't find the portal, maybe I can use my magic to find Sebastian using the stones and a map?"

"It's worth a shot," Serrena spoke up having watched and listened to it all. Elzen nodded next to her.

Ashleen looked at the mage and wondered with all of the magic that Elzen and Sebastian shared, if there was the possibility that portal magic was another thing that he could do with a little help. Thinking that he might be more likely to track Sebastian than Treya, the wilder still had to let the woman try. Treya was a wizard capable of making gates, so she was already capable of more than Elzen in that regard.

"We'll need a map to try then," the wilder stated wanting to sigh having little confidence in the plan.

Diomar called to one of the mages waiting outside in the hall before sending him to fetch a map. Those calling Red Hall home would have less trouble finding such things and the wizard had remained with them during the investigation in case he could be of help.

Ashleen guessed that the man was also there to keep an eye on them for Wyman and his council of wizards.

Shortly after, several rolled up maps were set on the bed with one mainly showing Southwall. Treya looked uncertain of what to do as the woman looked at the map just gazing at the paper weighted in the corners with stones on the single desk in the chamber.

"Maybe you need to start with where we know Sebastian has made gates to familiarize yourself with the magic?" Ashleen said avoiding the thought that the wizard might not even be able to do this kind of magic, at least without Sebastian guiding her in the process.

Green eyes looked at her hopefully as Treya brushed back a stray lock of blonde hair. The water wizard turned portal user had less of an idea of how to use her magic than Ashleen, who still couldn't open a gateway without Sebastian's help. Perhaps the same synergy the wilder had with the mage could translate to this wizard. They had only slight familiarity with each other, but the wilder was suddenly a bit hopeful as well.

Placing the imbued stones in Treya's hand, Ashleen coached the wizard. "Feel his magic from the stones; then pass your hand over Hala. He has made gates there besides using the main doorway that you use."

The confession about the mage's use of the magic believed contained to just the main gates made the blonde haired woman frown. "But we use the one gate to keep the Dark One from finding other ways into our cities..."

Giving Treya what she hoped was both a comforting look as well as one which said to keep her head on the problem at hand, Ashleen replied, "Sebastian worked with Darius on the spell. He has wards on our end; so you can use the magic to find the gate, but I wouldn't recommend trying to use it. Only his magic can open it safely."

That led to a second question, "How can a mere mage open a gate by himself?"

"He is a mere a mage as Northwall is a simple wall, now can you concentrate on the task at hand or should we return to Hala to find someone who can?" her words were a bit harsh, but the wizard did as she was bid after only a moment to process the idea.

"You hold the stones with one hand and pass your fingers over the map looking for that user's magic. Bas opened most of his gates using either Palose's magic or the generic feel of those links created by the Dark One's warlocks, so if you have as much talent as a 'mere mage', you should be able to mark the map where his closed gate remains," Ashleen prompted unable to resist prodding the wizard with her underestimation of the owl mage.

Opening and closing her eyes as the wizard moved her fingers towards the capitol city, Treya worked towards Hala making sure that she touched the point on the map where she should be able to use the paper to create the point in her mind. Ashleen had no grasp on Sebastian's ability to use the map, though her ability to use portals was nearly as useless; still she watched Treya as the woman extended her magic from her hand to the map searching as the wilder had seen Sebastian do when he first tried to locate Palose's gates.

A red mark slowly formed where the map said Hala and Treya opened her eyes to look down at the paper to see the new dot.

"I did it," the wizard said sounding a bit surprised.

"Good now try to see if you can find where he is the same way," Ashleen ordered the wizard barely letting the woman relish her small victory. Perhaps it was larger than she would admit, since she had yet to do it; but it wasn't the objective they needed to find. Ashleen already knew where Sebastian had been. Now they needed to find out where he was at the moment.

Treya looked at the map of Southwall. Two more rolled up maps could show lands to the north and the last could look on the islands to the south and east. She looked at the wilder doubtfully and asked, "Where should I begin? We don't even know who might have taken him."

Frowning at the thought, the women were surprised when Elzen replied, "If they were inside the school, either the Dark One has managed to insert spies here or someone we trust has. The first is much harder to guess at; so why don't you go with something more obvious to start."

"Like where exactly?" Ashleen questioned immediately and could tell that she wasn't the only one curious about the young falcon's thinking.

"Most likely someone from Southwall was here. We could check for lingering magical spells, but it is hard to single out a single person's power inside of a school of wizards and mages. For now, try looking where there might be something to gain by taking a mage like Sebastian."

When the others continued to look at him like he wasn't making sense, Elzen laid it out plainly, "The spies sent to New Harbor, Southpoint, Siltrene and Mariport have stirred up those cities a lot. If a leader of one of those cities wants to have a chance of breaking from King Alain's rule, they will need any advantages that they can get. New Knaria and Ione seem to be less affected, so I would start with those four cities and the land around them."

Glancing to Ashleen and Falcondi Yenest first and receiving shrugs, the wizard looked at her map before running her fingers down the coast line slowly. Again Treya's eyes opened occasionally to make sure that her fingers still covered land on the map, but eventually she passed over New Knaria.

"He hasn't made a gate there?"

Ashleen nodded as the wizard looked at her for confirmation. "Red Hall is the furthest south of the locking gates, but he hasn't been to New Knaria at all as far as I know."

Closing her eyes again, Treya continued to follow the coastline passing over Southpoint where another mark was made. Her fingers never moved into the water as if the wizard could feel the difference on the map surprising not only Treya, but anyone watching since there should have been nothing to guide her fingers.

"It feels like an older doorway," the wizard said noting the difference in strength from the portal gate in Hala, which had been used a day ago. Feeling more secure in the impressions her magic brought to her from a piece of paper marked to guide an eye, Treya continued on without checking with Ashleen. When she reached the next major city, New Harbor received a mark and another frown from the wizard.

"This feels a bit newer, but there is something that appears to be trying to mask the gate as well." Her eyes opened and looked at Ashleen before asking, "Is that possible? Can someone try to mask a gate's magic?"

Other eyes went to the wilder, but the little blond was forced to look away in thought. Trying to remember anything said by Sebastian or even Darius when she had been allowed to listen in, Ashleen was finally forced to shake her head and say, "I'm not sure, but with magic almost anything is possible.

"Move on from there and keep looking. If nothing else seems more promising, we can consider looking there first."

Yenest looked annoyed, but managed to say, "Yes, continue through Ione along the coast, but if nothing appears better try running your fingers along the rivers to Cadmera. Nothing we've seen here so far actually points to them taking him far from here. A town along the river or at least between them would be just as likely as a city much further away, especially if the portal used here wasn't even for a kidnapping."

Seeing that she had stepped on the falcondi's toes by taking charge, Ashleen held her tongue though the girl was fairly certain that Elzen had the right idea. "While she is looking, can your trackers maybe find a sign that would give us more answers here?"

The falcondi nodded moving to the doorway to wave the falcons into the room as Elzen and Ashleen moved outside to join Serrena and the other wizards. Only a handful had entered to search for the magic of a portal to avoid disrupting the feel of the room as much as possible. They weren't working it like a crime scene, but their hope was that fewer auras would confuse the magical and non-magical scents of those that they believed had taken Sebastian.

While Treya remained inside working over the map even more thoroughly as the wizard hoped to hone her skill with the magic, Jeriah led the smaller, darker skinned Quylan into the room. Ashleen gazed at Elzen a moment before asking, "Aren't you able to track also? I would think that you would have been one of the falcons trying hardest to find Sebastian. He is one of your best friends after all."