Battle Mage Visions (A Tale of Alus Book 12) (66 page)

Sebastian had found the southern team which had moved to the east and joined Rilena's forces; but Raven Leros and his people were unaccounted for at first. They never made it to the western defense forces, but had managed to distract many soldiers and warlocks from the center as their battle grew without reinforcements.

When he found the remainder of the raven's team, the mage looked for Leros. His aura drew him to his mentor and champion. The raven continued to back him, even when some of what the owl had done might be considered against regulations or protocol.

Sebastian arrived there bringing healers and those who could fight just in case. The numbers arriving quickly outnumbered those still alive.

The mage hurried to the raven. He was lying on his back breathing hard. Two wizards and three other battle mages stood in defense, bloody and worn. Their faces held worry as they formed a circle around their commander.

Dropping to his knees, Sebastian sent his magic into Raven Leros. He was wounded and had broken bones. His magic was diminished and the man was unconscious. He was still alive, but even as the owl healed the raven, Sebastian had a feeling that this would be the man's last day as an active battle mage.

The healers lent him healing and gathered up a few more wounded before returning quickly to Hala. There were still mobs of warlocks and soldiers roaming Ensolus that might wish to fight. Since there was no one to tell them not to, there was as much likelihood of a fight as not.

They say time heals all wounds, but Sebastian had been correct. Raven Leros healed, but the man announced his retirement from his hospital bed. The king refused to accept it until after he was walking again, but the man didn't change his mind. His last act was to officially create the title of owl for those mages who could heal and, if there were more in the future, for those capable of creating new magic.

His title change was official, so his friends and associates no longer had to guess. He was an owl.

Sebastian stayed with Ashleen at the Black Smith Inn through the winter. There would be more for him to do in the spring, but he worked to spread his portals so that one day he could bring her home to Kardor.

Chapter 36- Prologue

Palose stood on the balcony of his new home looking out over the Glacian Ocean. He had never lived so far to the west and New Oapril was about as far from Hala as one could get in Southwall. The mage needed to decided if this could be home, but he still planned on finding another safe house on another continent just in case. Perhaps Taltan had a country safe enough to hide the princess.

Acheri had yet to wake and the dark mage had taken the time to become more inconspicuous. In the basement of the small villa, the dark mage had released the wraiths and resurrected them back to being mortal albeit ones with a second chance. Even returned to mortality, Piera and her cousin Halarn represented an issue. Their elven heritage was both pleasant to look at and a source of talk. Elves weren't common in Southwall and he didn't need extra talk over their strangeness. He had considered altering their features with his runes, but there was other magic that they could use to blend in without doing so.

Another issue had arisen with the fall of Ensolus. Many of the circle wanted to know what had happened to their families. It created a new headache for the dark mage and he had enough of those as it was. Perhaps one day they could use his gates to return to Ensolus, but New Oapril was the plan for now.

"Palose, she's waking up," Sylvaine called to him worriedly.

Leaving the view of the ships sailing in the harbor, the mage entered the house turning towards the room where the princess had slept for three days.

Acheri wore the clothes she had slept in when Palose had found her. If the girl had slept on in her coma like state, he wasn't sure what he would have done about that. It was simply good that she was awake again.

"Palose?" the dark haired beauty questioned as he walked into the bedroom. She sat up letting the sheets fall away with only her legs covered as the girl looked curiously at the horizontal slats of the blinds. Sunlight came through perplexing her greatly. "Where are we? I can't remember... anything since going to bed, I think. How did I get here?"

Unsure of how to break the news to the princess, Palose wanted to be as truthful as he could and would hold back only as needed. It was the best way to gauge how she would react to all the new changes to her life.

"We're in New Oapril."

Her face scrunched up even more confused. "New Oapril, where is that?"

"The southwest part of Southwall."

"Southwall!" she practically shouted and he wondered if he was ever going to be allowed to continue without another question from the girl interrupting his thoughts after each revelation. "What are we doing here?"

Well, it was a repetition of an earlier question, so Palose chose to answer that one. "Ensolus was attacked and Kolban had a contingency plan in place should Southwall infiltrate the city. He asked me to keep you safe no matter what happened to him."

Forgetting to conceal his expression fully, Acheri practically jumped out of bed to grab him by his shirt. "Kolban, what happened to my brother? You know don't you, Palose? Tell me!"

Taking her wrists gently, the mage sighed and said, "I brought all of my wraiths and undead back to the castle to try to save him, but..."

He wasn't sure he could finish.

Her face turned angry and she pulled her hands away. Looking ready to cast magic in her fury, Acheri pulled up short. "My magic, it's gone."

She was stunned and he thought that her quieter voice was almost more frightening.

"When I went to gather you, your ring flashed. Then you passed out. I thought your magic had been concealed at first, but it hasn't come back apparently."

The girl looked at her ring in confusion. "Did Kolban give that to me? I don't even remember this ring."

She tried to pull it off and the ring fought her. It looked big enough to slip free, but it wouldn't release from her hand. Her face turned thoughtful looking for a memory given her by the emperor in her making. Surely she must know what this ring was. It was only a vague memory as the girl said quietly, "He stole my magic or bound it within the ring. Can you feel anything of my magic in it?"

Palose shook his head. He had thought of it and though it felt magical, the ring didn't seem to hold her missing power.

"He stole my magic to fight against his enemies, our enemies," she corrected with a sigh. "He has left me nothing, but you. What of Lanquer?"

"I'm not sure. I brought him back to the city days before the attack."

"He spent a lot of time with our..." her voice caught as emotions began to well up in the girl. "Why am I feeling so lost? I was just a projection of Kolban, but I miss my brother."

Sylvaine peeked in from the door and the princess spotted the movement. "Her! What is she doing here and alive!"

"I saved her when you tried to get her killed," Palose stated coldly.

"You saved her?" The princess looked at the girl and he saw a faint light in her eyes. Magic that remained was still useable and the princess could see enough. "You brought her back. She was dead and you resurrected her."

Sylvaine frowned at the pretty, princess and said, "Be glad that we saved you. I still don't know why Palose did it."

"I did it for Kolban."

Acheri looked hurt and said, "Then don't do me any favors. Take me back and I will die with my brothers."

He took the hand with the ring and her face eased. Magic from the ring had soothed her. "I promised to protect you, but you two will have to learn to get along."

She nodded as if receiving a suggestion that she couldn't refuse. He released her hand again and the girl looked at Sylvaine calmly. Palose realized that Kolban had thought of nearly everything. Without her magic, Acheri was less of a threat. With the ring able to calm her mind and add suggestions apparently, the princess could also be controlled. He wondered how long it would last.

"Can I see outside?" the princess asked no longer fighting them.

She didn't change into new clothes, but simply followed him onto the balcony. "It's beautiful. I think this is much nicer than being trapped inside of that cave. It's warm too."

Sylvaine stood near and looked at Palose before whispering, "Will this work?"

He shrugged. Obviously Kolban had a plan; but if he knew what was going to happen to the point of creating the ring and giving it to Acheri, why hadn't he avoided his fate?

Narissa sat in her stuffed chair looking at the boy opposite her drinking calmly from his cup. Her toes played in the texture of the burgundy and gold rug beneath her feet as they waited quietly.

As they sat, one of the rings on his left hand suddenly shone brightly with blue light.

Evic looked over the back of her chair and asked, "First the green one did that and now this blue one, what is that?"

Staring at the boy who looked a bit older than the one sitting in the chair, Kolban replied, "The green one holds the magic I contained in Acheri, my sister. Palose took her away from Ensolus apparently as I requested and triggered the ring."

"And what of the blue one?" Evic questioned. Narissa sat quietly sipping tea from her cup listening to the Dark One's explanation.

"My brother Lanquer died and the power I gave him has returned to me through this ring."

The boy noticed a third ring and asked, "Is that third one going to shine also?"

"It already has," Kolban stated. "That is the one which keeps my magic hidden from wizards and mages."

Evic looked a bit more curious than the other boy appreciated and his question entertained why. "What if someone decided to try and take them from you or cut them from your hand?"

"I would kill them," the boy who had been emperor stated simply.

Narissa waved at Evic and said, "Go find something to do in the market, Evic."

The boy with the light brown hair gave Kolban's rings a last look and hurried away.

"And do you see me having to kill him?" Kolban questioned with a bit of irritation.

"I haven't looked that close, but I don't think so. Evic is curious and occasionally a thief, but he can see enough to know better.

"Don't think on such things, Kolban. Look at the bright side. Everyone thinks that you're dead. Now you can see the world and do with it what you will."

Refusing to say anything about it, the boy thought of the defective brother who had died protecting his secret. He had given him additional power with the ring intertwining his magic with his lesser brother, but Lanquer didn't know how to hold back. He was impetuous and brash.

He raised his glass to the pretty seer and said, "To my brother who gave me the world."

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Technomancer

Chapter 1- Death and Life

              The whistle of an arrow signaled for Lyallan to duck behind the embankment once more. For nearly two hours the Ummair had been forced to deal with this humiliation from these savages. An Ummair Force Master rarely came into such a situation in the battles between the Alliance and the Harrimen or their union allies. Even the ancient battles that had taken place to create the Ourian Alliance’s forces had rarely created such circumstances for his kind.

              All Ummair, as a race, seemed to long for control and the power needed to get it. Lyallan was no different from the majority of his kind in that respect, yet here he was. The Dark Sparron had crash landed, a feat in and of itself, with power spikes and failures plaguing the ship from the time the gas nebula had reached out to pull them into its strange embrace. As they readied for their dangerous planet fall, the Force Master had strapped himself in along with the rest of the crew, fully at the mercies of the skill of the captain and his bridge.

              Their ship had done as well as could be expected. The cruiser, once sleek and dark, was little more than a falling hulk of metal. Virtually landing without many of their sensors and computers, the bridge officers had managed to set it down without killing the entire crew. Over a hundred Ummair had been on the Dark Sparron when the battle had begun, after the crash sixty eight still survived.

              Despite the deaths, the Ummair actually had a strong force to fight off the indigenous creatures of this new world. Lyallan’s fingers of his left hand tapped the buttons of a blue metal gauntlet running up to nearly to the elbow on his right. With a last twist of a knob, the dark skinned master’s vision blurred as his consciousness felt like it was pulled in a strong flowing river from his body. His mind worked with multiple visions as his puppets rose from their positions. Charged rounds fired from a handful of rifles towards the bowmen attempting to hide in the cover of the woods just below their position.