Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) (40 page)

Magnus asked Sebastian as the fire wizard moved closer to speak once more, "So you have the start of a plan I see. Will you go alone or will you take a team?"

"Are you volunteering now?" the mage questioned half in jest, while he wondered if Magnus was growing more daring. After challenging Sebastian to a duel and losing humiliatingly, the man had grown more cautious. The fire wizard preferred fighting magic duels or fighting behind lines of soldiers and mages, like most any other wizard of Southwall.

"If it meant a chance to see the Dark One's city, I just might," the wizard mused. "All those monsters must live somewhere, but not all his soldiers are orcs and goblins. The idea of seeing how all those races manage to live in one place makes me curious.

"On the other hand, there are warlocks who might sense another aura like mine and realize that I don't belong there." He stopped and looked intently at the mage before asking, "How will you get around that problem?"

Sebastian didn't answer right away and Ashleen spoke up, "Perhaps he won't and will follow his raven's orders on this one."

It was her worry for him that made the girl hope he wouldn't go off on his own this time.

Shrugging, the mage answered, "I have no definite plans to go there, but at some point you know that the king or one of his generals will decide to try sending someone. I just hope they don't wait too long. If this gate fades too much, we won't be able to use Palose's smaller one. The others are much larger and we can expect them to be guarded as well."

They let the matter lie, though the questions Sebastian had for what lay beyond that portal continued to eat at him. It would linger through his time at White Hall and beyond.

Sebastian had finished his time at White Hall and created gates for Norcrom and Blackwall before he finally received an answer on his request to build relations with the mermaids' people. A summons to visit Raven Leros passed on the wishes of the king. It had gone through channels all the way to King Alain, which only slightly surprised the mage.

Standing before the elder mage in his black uniform with a gold bar on each shoulder, it was one of the few times that he hadn't been in trouble lately it seemed. Though nothing had been completely out of hand to the point of punishment, being there without worry of a stern word was a nice change of pace.

A single aide to the man joined them in discussion. Falconi Brelan was a strong woman, which was obvious by her position. One of two falconi directly serving under Leros, the brown haired woman was quieter than her opposite, a man named Neven. She had always been the one to hold her tongue to wait for all the information, while he had been quicker to act and blame.

When Raven Leros said, "King Alain likes the idea of working with the tribe you found on these... Siren Isles as you've named them. Perhaps we can even create a settlement there to help build a stronger trade relationship with the island nations. It is also close enough to the Grimnal's island to trade with them, if that is what they want.

"Lord Grimnal has been strangely reluctant to let us send ships to his people. I'm not sure why. Do you have any reason that you can think of from being there, Falcon Sebastian?"

Having promised Gerid to say nothing of the merfolk living beside the islanders, Sebastian shook his head saying, "They were cut off for a long time and have a nice self sufficient island. I suppose that is something the Grimnal is simply unsure if he wants to change, but weren't we talking about an expedition to the Siren Isles, sir?"

The history of Yaroma and Naoromi's people was as worrisome as those of the merfolk under the sea by Gerid's island home. Both were people of mystery to the land dwelling nations. Mere myth to most, it was feared that men would come seeking the merfolk either to enslave them again or try to bully them into giving up their magic.

With the history of the mermaids' people for a precedent, Sebastian had to agree with that fear. What remained of their tribe was apparently a fraction of what they had once been. The Cataclysm had driven them from the sea and pirates had found them stealing away their people to be sold as slaves in the southern markets of Taltan most likely.

Raven Leros took the deflection of his question in stride. It had been his tangent after all and not the point of the meeting. "Falconi Brelan will lead a small team to help negotiate terms with these people. The wizards will have to send a diplomacy wizard or two, I am certain; but Brelan is very good at not stepping on people's toes also."

The woman looked a little red at the offhand flattery. The raven's opinion meant a lot to her, the younger mage thought. It wasn't surprising, since Leros was the head raven of Southwall. His opinions shaped the corps despite sharing the title with seven other ravens.

"There are several islands," Sebastian stated, though such knowledge had been in his report as well. "We could look into resources and build settlements there without cutting into the local tribe's environment."

Raven Leros waved off the worries of the younger mage and said, "No need to worry yourself over such things, lad. Brelan and the other negotiators know all this and will do their best to bring such things into the discussions."

"I won't be part of it?" he asked slightly surprised by the fact. "As the leader making first contact, I assumed that they would want me to at least make introductions."

"You said the two women with your entourage were part of the tribe and recommended sending Falcon Olan, who apparently wishes to marry one of them? Anyway, you will go initially since you said that you can make a portal gate to there.

"Can you make such a thing secure?" the older man finished voicing a worry Sebastian had as well.

"I would propose making the gate on an island separate from the islanders. Even if the enemy found and used it, they would have to explore the islands to discover why it was there. I think some islanders shared necklaces or maybe it is simply that I can sense their racial traits. This should let me forge a connection. Using something other than my magic to base the gate on should make it much harder to find as well and less likely to be a danger to them either way."

Falconi Brelan noted his attempt to cover up the magic of the necklaces. It was his belief that, like following someone else's magic, the unique necklaces of the sirens should guide him straight to the islands.

"You can use magic to sense a particular race of people?" the woman asked skeptically.

Shrugging as Sebastian worked to maintain the secret of the siren magic, the sole remaining bit of power remaining to the mermaids' people; he replied, "I am not sure exactly what it is, but I have used the map and can sense something in the area of the islands that will lead me there either way."

The older mages gave pause while they scrutinized his answer and watched the look of his face. Whether they believed his excuse or not, the two knew less about portals than he did, since neither of them could summon one. Mages were still being cycled through a training program in Hala looking for any who might be able to create portals, even if they required help building one with their lesser power. Only Sebastian had the strength required of a battle mage to open one by himself.

Raven Leros let the matter lie and said, "How soon can you have your people prepared to leave? You will be bringing the two natives back with you and Falcon Olan, but do you have any others in mind?"

"I will bring what I have left of my old team and falcons Elzen and Rilena. They have been indispensable to my work training other mages and setting up the gates. Only Olan plans to remain after the initial making of a gate, though Elzen might like to stay for awhile. He seems to like the other sister, but I don't think he plans on remaining behind or marrying her like Olan says he plans to do."

The elder raven started to shake his head at all the talk of marriage. Sebastian wasn't sure if the older man had ever been married. Falconi Brelan glanced to her commander looking less uncomfortable with the idea. She was married from what the younger mage had heard.

"Well, how soon will you want to leave?" Leros asked sounding a little gruff considering the matter being discussed.

"If Falconi Brelan and whoever else are ready, I can test my theory on the map tonight and be off tomorrow or the next day at the latest," he assured his commander.

"Leave at nine in the morning in two days. I will send word to the wizards and king. They can have the proper people there on time or not. With these portals shortening distances thanks to a quick use of a gate, there isn't much of a problem sending more personnel on a different day.

"You can use the fire wizards' portal area for the meeting and leave from there."

Thinking he was dismissed, Sebastian started to turn to leave. Raven Leros cleared his throat and added, "Take two days to help them set up negotiations. Then I will expect you back here. I'll leave a message with the inn keeper to remind you.

"Another matter has come to my desk, but it can wait a little longer."

Surprised by the vagueness of the raven's statement, the younger man nodded and left for the Black Smith Inn to work on the connection he was looking for to make his gate.

Chapter 21- The Siren Isles

Sebastian stepped through the portal into a surprising amount of heat. The sound of waves lapping the sandy beach to his left reached his ears before his eyes could adjust to his new surroundings. That was the problem with portals. There was always a momentary need to recalibrate and adjust to your surroundings. Even using a reflex spell, there was lag between arriving physically and having one's senses understand the new environment.

Noting the battle mages who had risked going first before him, Sebastian noted their wary looks, but no weapons in their hands. In theory, this should be a peaceful meeting with Yaroma's people; but it had been five months since they had left them to protect themselves while holding more than thirty pirates in the pens originally designed to hold the former merfolk. After so many months, they couldn't assume anything.

Using the amulets of the mermaids, Sebastian had pinpointed the location of their sister sirens. He had managed to recalibrate his jump point northward hoping that he could blindly position the gate. His first try had landed Elzen in water up to his knees. The adventurous mage had brought lodestones with Sebastian's magic in them and walked north onto the beach they were standing on now before the owl set up a stronger portal.

Making sure to move forward as more of the group used the gateway held open by the portal wizards in Hala, Sebastian looked around at the tropical island. Lush greenery to his right led into a jungle. To his left, the mage saw familiar stone outcroppings standing like thick pillars blocking much of the view to the southeast. They were part of the many defenses of the islands.

The islands he had named the Siren Isles for the map were protected by stones rising up from a reef surrounding many points around the main islands. Few of the stones were as obvious as these. Ships had broken apart on the rocks lurking beneath the water so often that the area had been avoided by the other local island nations. He had been warned to avoid it, but the compass pointing to the Grimnal had led him there despite the warnings.

Magic and caution had led his ship safely to the north island through a break in the reefs and stones. Siren magic had pulled many of the men towards the mermaids using their amulets and song to draw them towards the water where many would have died, if not for the quick work of the female wizards with them. The women were unaffected by the magic and Sebastian had managed to avoid falling completely under the spell by separating his mind in time to ride the wind near his body.

He had steered his body alongside Yara and the other women including Ashleen to stop the sirens. The young women had been forced to use their magic to keep their captive people safe from the pirates who threatened to kill those who remained. Unfortunately over the years, the tribe had been sold off into slavery. Those who remained were a combination of workers for food and breeders for the children who would one day see their parents taken away and repeat the process.

The pirates had discovered the sirens' magic. It had been their small defense, but led by a woman pirate, the magic hadn't been enough.

His team had freed his men from the magic and then freed the islanders from the pirates. When he had left, Sebastian had told them that he would alert one of the nearby nations to pick up the captured pirates and hoped that all had gone well since.

"I'm surprised you managed to continue your journey after coming here," Elzen said looking at the beauty of the island around them.

Rilena nodded and added, "This is like paradise, though I suppose even paradise would get dull after awhile."

"We almost didn't leave," Sebastian stated thinking of how close his men had come to drowning in the sea thanks to the sirens. He held no anger towards the young women forced to do the pirates' bidding, but he didn't doubt that there had been quite a few ships which had avoided the rocks only to die beneath the water trying to follow their siren call.

The other two mages knew the story. When it had become certain that they would return to the islands, Sebastian and the others who had been there had told the tale to those coming along.