Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) (6 page)

His hand moved to the next man and introduced him. "Wizard Vareen is an expert in artifacts and runes like me. Wizard Erethia is capable in both as well as many ancient languages."

The last man was about the height of Sebastian, though the older man wore more weight. A typical researcher in that many of their kind tended towards a static life where weight accumulated on a body. Sebastian was both younger and quite active as a battle mage.

Erethia, though a research wizard, was fairly thin for her size and was barely taller than Ashleen or Serrena. If one trait of the research wizards was to sit without burning calories, the opposite of that characteristic was for a wizard to forget to eat enough. She wasn't grossly thin, but was actually slimmer than either of the younger women who were both on the slight side.

"We will need some Hollow Swords for examples, drawings of the runes you use and the current mixtures used in your steel," the man said getting straight to the point of their visit.

Sebastian didn't mind his direct nature since it saved time. He was often brief in his teachings, but that came from disliking talking to larger groups. One on one, the owl mage could often impart his theories on magic in depth enough to teach a fellow mage or wizard, if they had the affinity for the magic being taught.

"If you want a Hollow Sword to take with you, we will have to build one. Currently three are being used in Litsarin. The fourth is in Raven Leros care and the last is my original, personal blade."

Looking surprised, Gefflen explained why as he complained, "You have had months to build more and there are only five in existence? What is this forge doing here? There are dozens of workers and wizards in that room. What are they working on in there? They should be making more Hollow Swords!"

Sebastian held a slightly bemused look on his face, which was placed there to annoy the wizard. It wasn't a slip; but as he replied to the complaint Sebastian's words echoed the look, "I have had other duties distracting me. If you hadn't noticed, we've been at war with the Dark One to save Litsarin for Sileoth. I have also been finalizing protective gates for the towers along the wall. There are still towns and cities which require more gates yet. At the moment, I am the only one capable of making the pieces needed to build them.

"Raven Leros and King Alain have chosen their security over building the Hollow Swords up to this point, but this forge has been used to create dozens of swords of the caliber I will need to forge more Hollow Swords."

The woman, Erethia, spoke up as their leader ground his teeth thinking up a retort for the young mage. "Red Hall doesn't have this security gate that you have mentioned. If we knew the process of making one, I am sure we could make our own and perhaps take that duty off your plate. You just need to show us what to do and we will make them."

Letting out a sigh as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders, yet this offer of help could do nothing to lessen that weight, Sebastian answered, "You can go to any of the northern gates and take a look. I have to build the runes and bind the iron at each site since it would be difficult to bring a full size gateway through the original doors."

His answer caused the woman to frown and she countered, "Surely there is something that you can show us."

He started to reply that there wasn't anything to display, but Ashleen interrupted saying, "You still have the small demonstration gates you used to show King Alain and High Wizard Darius, don't you?"

Sebastian looked to Ashleen in surprise. He had forgotten the small squares created months ago by the mage. Test equipment as well as demonstration pieces, they had been put away a long time ago. On the bright side, when the owl mage put things away that were secrets, they weren't as far away as most would think.

Sticking his right arm out before him with the forearm facing up, he used his magic to first reveal an oval mark that had been invisible to their eyes even after rolling up his sleeve. His magic turned the ink blue before it began to glow with power growing into a disc that lifted from his arm. At roughly two feet in diameter, the mage placed his hand in front of a black disc that had no depth. Looking at it from the side made it disappear from one's sight, but out of the disc a small iron square met the palm of his right hand.

His left hand was needed to assist in placing the square on the table before he reproduced the result to bring out a second rectangle. With both items removed, Sebastian closed the portal letting the oval shrink and return to his forearm. A moment later the rune disappeared, though the mage knew that it still existed there. His magic had made the ink the same color as his skin and hadn't actually brought the disc into existence from nothing like the glowing portals used to travel between cities.

"How...?" the red haired wizard voiced for the other Red Hall wizards, who all appeared equally shocked by his use of the storage rune.

Sebastian looked at them pretending to be surprised by their confusion. "You are experts in runes, I believe that you said. This is just a rune used to store items."

While he played it off as simple magic, which it was in a way; the owl knew that not every wizard or mage had seen these runes. It had been a gift from a hidden people who lived in the sea. Mermen and mermaids were the stuff of legend and lore, but like some legends, there was truth behind them if one knew where to look.

His flippant answer caused Gefflen to frown once more. "We have seen many runes and can decipher many of them, but using a rune to create a spell is different from what you just displayed. Why hasn't this magic been brought to our attention?"

"Are there others?" Erethia asked which Sebastian thought was the better question. The woman didn't look to have a pleasant personality, but her mind was as sharp as the look of her face.

"I have discovered about two dozen, including those used in the portal gates and swords," he replied.

"You must show us!" Gefflen virtually ordered the mage. There was no sign of humility or respect for the mage in his tone again. He was a wizard demanding knowledge and expected a battle mage to answer. The fact that he was deigning to ask to be taught by an inferior battle mage had yet to dawn on the man, if it ever truly would; Sebastian thought to himself.

Elzen smiled and said what Sebastian was thinking as he pointed to the squares standing on the table. Made of rods of steel, the mage had attached them each to a base so they could stand with a locking rune in an upper corner. More runes traced a path around the square with only his locking rune breaking the pattern. With magic, he could turn the lock and flip a gate's opening. Without knowledge of the lock, an invading force could be trapped between the open gate and a reinforced stone wall armed with guards.

"You wanted to see the gates and locks. You want a Hollow Sword and now you want to know everything Sebastian does about runes. Do you think he is a magical restaurant just waiting for your orders? Only gluttons order everything from the menu at once, but I suppose that you thought that since he was just a battle mage you knew everything he did already?"

"Quiet, boy," Gefflen grumbled. His irritation at Elzen was muffled by the fact that he was right. A mage and a boy less than half his age lacking the magical strength of a full wizard, Elzen appeared less than Sebastian to his eyes. Like most wizards, who had little knowledge of what battle mages could truly do, Gefflen wanted to write him off as useless save as a shield in battle.

Pushing magic into a rune wrapping around the boy's wrist and forearm, ink in the shape of barbed wire appeared from under his sleeve save the last piece on his hand. The glow, as the strand grew out from his wrist and hand before writhing in the air between him and the wizards, was more apparent and caused their eyes to grow wider. Like Sebastian, Elzen was tattooed with the magic symbols which he hid with his magic just as easily as his friend.

"Well, I can remain quiet, but that would mean you would be ignoring another battle mage who has studied all of Sebastian's runes. Well, suit yourself then. I think I'll just sit here waiting for him to tell you a possible problem you're going to have.

"I can't wait until you find out that Bas can fly by the way," the young mage said smugly before releasing the magic in his rune. It disappeared into his skin leaving his arm as normal as a battle mage's arm could ever be considered to be.

The last information sent the five wizards into confusion again as Sebastian rolled his eyes at his friend.

Chapter 4- The Gluttony of Wizards

Sebastian let the wizards stew in the fact that there was even more that they didn't know. While he wasn't the type to usually rub someone's face in their false beliefs, the owl mage had to admit that Elzen had played them perfectly. His friend was a well known prankster during his days as a student at White Hall and, though he had matured to a point, Elzen hadn't lost much of that part of his youth. Of course, he was still eighteen, so saying that he was completely grownup would have been assuming a lot.

The five Red Hall wizards had recovered enough to begin asking questions trying to outshout their fellow wizards. Their attack as a solid group had faltered under their individual greed. Wizards collected spells with a passion that rivaled the greediest men trying to accumulate gold. It was their currency and unique unknown spells were the treasure they wanted most.

By the time they realized that those they were drilling had refused to answer, as if they could have figured out who to answer in the confusion anyway; Wizard Gefflen was able to regain control as their leader. The man stared them down, though admittedly Orlen and Hassar looked ready to ignore him if it wouldn't further wear down their position with their hosts.

"Where should we start?" their leader asked as the others' voices ceased the cavalcade of questions.

Sebastian gestured to the two squares. "You are familiar with portal magic obviously. There is no likelihood that you five traveled by horse from Red Hall at this point of winter. Even this kind of knowledge could have waited until spring, otherwise, even if it is months away."

Winter hadn't truly struck the north hard until a few weeks ago, though cooler air and rain had preceded it for a few weeks before that. Southwall seemed like that almost every year. One moment there was warmth in the air. The next snow and ice slowed the land to almost a stand still.

As far north as they were, Hala and the cities along the wall had always been cut off from each other except for messages passed along the wall. Travelers between the guardian cities were rare. The wizards' schools trained their students inside their walls waiting for spring to begin sending the apprentices and cadets to the wall or cities once more.

Their nods were a quiet answer for once; but like the battle mage, these were intelligent people who knew the value of listening over wasting their breath with unnecessary questions. Sebastian placed his hand in front of the closer of the two squares while Ashleen put her hand on his shoulder. The wilder would supply the extra strength he needed to open a gate.

While the owl knew another way to get the power he needed, like he had used moving between Ensolus and Hala; it was another bit of knowledge that most of his friends didn't even know. Ashleen knew his secret and guarded it well. Not letting these vultures for knowledge discover his use of the earth for strength was more important than proving that he could open a gate by himself. Let these wizards believe that he was weak. His strength in magic wasn't that of a wizard, but the cheat he knew was also a possible death sentence if it were to get out to the rest of his community.

"Door," he commanded and the glow appeared in both squares. He touched his finger to the right hand corner of the near gate and explained, "This is the lock. It is a simple rune. You merely envision the arrow and turn it."

His magic grasped the rune lock and twisted. Flipping the rune meant flipping the gate. The glow switched from the side facing him to the other side while a dull pearl looking surface faced him. He flicked the back of the portal with his finger creating a light thumping sound as he struck a solid construct, before releasing the magic.

Ashleen took her hand from his shoulder. His eyes sought her face and she smiled lightly. The power used was significant for a mage; but shared between them it was more like a minor spell for each as long as it wasn't a prolonged use of the magic. This portal was small, much smaller than the ones used to travel between the cities; so it was less draining as well.

The research wizard introduced as Vareen frowned slightly and commented, "Such a simple rune. That is all there is to it? Anyone could make that."

Elzen proceeded to poke the bear, so to speak, and said, "So simple even a wizard could do it. It just took a battle mage to figure it out is all."

Gritting his teeth, the wizard turned on the smaller man, who had remained seated kicking the air with his leg still over the arm of the chair. "So you know his runes? Have you created any of your own? Such a smart mouth rarely seems to have as sharp a mind behind it.

"You're still a child. Perhaps the saying is correct? Why not be seen but not heard?"

"Silence is overrated," Elzen waved off the comment lazily. "You still haven't figured out that you're unlikely to be able to recreate the runes with this group. You never did bother to ask why.