Battle Mage: The Dark Mage (Tales of Alus) (24 page)

“I have only seen the emperor today since he took the new body. We could both see that it looks like a good fit, at least for now.

“If that is all you needed to know, I think you wouldn’t have wasted my time to come here. Can we get to the point?”

While he felt the other men tense, all save the black armored wizard hunter, Garosh actually leaned further back trying to not appear bothered by the comment at all. “You are already becoming part of their inner circle and yet you are a resurrection man. No others have received such attention that I have ever heard of, though most tended to go insane within a matter of months of the maker’s calling.

“Even so, I would beware a change of heart. If the girl and her guard are tainted by the emperor’s soul, they will have his ability to take what they want and leave that which is undesirable to rot.”

Palose copied the giant’s attempt at ease and propped his right arm while crossing his left. His hand gestured near his cheek as he spoke, “You were created from a vessel and a portion of his magic also, if what I heard was true. Doesn’t that mean you have the same flaws?”

Eyes narrowing, Garosh lunged towards the table slamming his hands down threatening to collapse the wood legs beneath. “You might want to recall that you smug, little mage.”

Palose simply placed his palm beneath his chin appearing neither surprised nor intimidated. In fact, in the heat of the man’s anger, the power of the resurrection man’s eyes noted the flare of energy around both the giant and the wraith behind him. Like frayed strings coming loose from a sweater, Palose thought that, if he could somehow grasp the ethereal thread, the power could be pulled from the vessel to be drained into his body. ‘True Power’ had alleged that he might have such ability, but it still skirted how to take that power into him.

The wizard hunter remained calm as he weathered the giant’s blustering temper. Like Palose, he didn’t believe Garosh had brought him there to kill him. “I don’t know the emperor’s mind and barely receive any important information from Acheri or Lanquer. He comes to train. She watches. That is all.”

Taking over for the impetuous giant, the hunter introduced himself, “I am Lord Liev, a captain in the Wizard Hunters. This battle mage you knew. What kind of magic has he discovered?”

“Air magic
like air spears and other weapons, a wind shield, healing and with help I have heard that he can ride the winds. He had wizard books to try and learn from as well, though he seemed to learn faster from seeing magic than reading about it.

“Of course that was just what I saw in less than two months since he left White Hall for his first trip to the wall. He was raised to falcon after his first trip north of the wall for saving most of the scouting group remaining after a sneak attack from some nomads. During the flight from Atrouseon and the werewolves, he used magic to keep the horses energized to run for hours.

“That was where one of the warlocks caused my horse to throw me and break my neck,” he finished with a slight frown. That he could not have killed Sebastian for revenge and had no will to destroy the warlocks who had caused his death made Palose a bit frustrated. He didn’t mind being in Ensolus, but there were days where he wished that those men were available for him to see how they liked dying.

“There were explosions set off in several places at once and he cast lightning,” Lord Liev continued. “He never displayed that knowledge to you?”

“It’s been seven months. If he lived, Sebastian probably started researching other schools of magic. It only took two months for him to master parts of air and healing. He was using fire and shields better than any mage I had seen and pushed our stone skin onto an enemy turning him to stone. In seven months, if he continued learning at that pace, he could have learned three times as many spells.

“That is why Kerlorish and Erdeeth were supposed to finish him off and kill him. He was wounded and outnumbered, and yet they failed. Now the greatest mind since Raven Hurst is alive to reshape the battle mage corps from his magic alone. His mind is clever and sharp. He is a leader and has bridged the gap between wizard and battle mage. Even soldiers respect him, and not even Hurst was able to unite all the factions behind him like that.

“Do the math and begin to worry. If you truly hunt wizards, what will you do with a mage who can fight like a wizard and a soldier?”

Palose hadn’t meant to build up Sebastian so much. He both hated and highly respected the talent that he had seen in the man. During the battle of Windmeer, he had single handedly held off dozens of orcs, goblins, and trolls while three warlocks tried to kill him with magic. Now finding out that he hadn’t even died then, Palose couldn’t help state his worry.

Liev glanced to Garosh who had settled down and exchanged looks that Palose could only assume were worried, though both men managed to hide that behind stone faces. “Had he discovered night magic or light?”

Shaking his head, the mage added, “Southwall wizards have never used such spells around me. As far as I know, they don’t know them, so Sebastian should never discover them.”

“That is good,” Liev actually revealed a little relief. Garosh’s plan involved having warlocks who would absorb the power of their elemental wizards to make them ineffective. With their biggest weapons neutralized, Southwall would find defeat in the mountains.

Garosh stood up from the table apparently surprising Lord Liev, who followed slower. Looking down on the battle mage, the giant stated, “Be careful to watch your back, mage. Ensolus is renowned for tearing down men when they least expect it. The people here can be ruthless. Even the girl, who seems so innocent can use you for a minute and put a knife in your back the next.”

Palose started to get up but felt a hand holding each shoulder. In the order that they had arrived, they would leave apparently he thought. “If your plans in the mountains fail, I would be more worried over your own neck, Garosh. The emperor doesn’t seem to tolerate failure for long and I haven’t failed him so far, though I do my best to watch my back as well.”

Stiffening slightly at the warning from the boy in front of him, Garosh looked like he would like to say something defiant to the man, who should feel insignificant before his power, but there were no words. One could be defiant in the face of lies, but when truth was apparent for all there was little room to try and fool someone. The campaign and battles coming would certainly decide the giant’s future.

The hands released his shoulders as the other men passed by and the wolf men followed their master. He wondered how faithful these men would be, if the emperor turned on Garosh. As their footsteps disappeared from his hearing, the tavern became louder. It was like the clouds had parted revealing sunlight.

Standing after a moment, Palose wondered at the meeting. If Garosh was growing desperate enough to pick his brain looking for details about the emperor and his Southwall foes, he had to be worried over his future. When even someone as powerful as Lord Garosh was frightened, the mage knew that he had to continue working towards his own safety.

The walk to the house was hurried, but he made sure to check if anyone was still following him. He had never been completely worried that he might be followed, but the mage had always tried to be careful. Letting others know of his hideaway would remove the qualities he wanted from his rental. Perhaps he could never buy such a place if he had to worry over its secrecy being compromised.

After bundling up, Palose used the spell for a minor gateway and stepped through into snow up to his knees. He reached into the snow feeling for the touchstone that he had planted the last time he was here. Picking up the touchstone to take it with him each day meant he didn’t need to cast a new talisman every time. There was no reason to come back to the middle of nowhere after all.

The sun was shining for once. It seemed every day he had been trudging through the snow under gray skies and often with flurries pelting him as well. When the sound of a rabbit running across the top of the snow on a thin layer of ice caught his attention, Palose barely caught the white end of a tail burrowing beneath a protective layer of bushes to the side. Even seeing the hole where it had gone to ground, Palose doubted that many creatures could have reached the furry little beast to catch it for dinner.

He had come across a travel hut two days before, though the traveler hadn’t stopped to rest. It had looked like the hut had seen use recently, with the snow beaten down and the wood pile partially cleared of snow. The snow on the trail had become lower than that off of the path making it a bit easier to walk as well. After Garosh’s report, the mage had a good idea of who had worked the trail, but more snow had already erased much of the evidence.

With just a few hours a day to make progress through the foothills, Palose could hardly think to waste the time checking the hut. If he somehow caught up to the team the giant had mentioned, he would have to be more careful. If Sebastian was with them, the betrayer could not be seen or his former friend would surely try to capture or kill him. Palose would afford Sebastian the same courtesy and find out who had become more powerful since last they had met.

While the man on foot never closed the distance that day, traces of their passing became older each day as the team hurried off to Windmeer. Walking as fast as he could, Palose pushed himself once more, but he no longer worried over being seen by the fleeing men of Southwall. They were moving to tell of the enemy fortress. It would be in the days following the return to the northern city that he would have to worry once more. They would surely send an army to deal with Garosh as the giant believed. If they could get word to Falcon’s Keep in time, the fortress might have to deal with two armies instead of one, but the mage had a feeling Southwall would be in for a serious loss either way. The darkness spells had never come back in reports of dealing with the Dark One’s armies that Palose had heard. Parties were lost beyond the wall more often than the leaders of Southwall wanted the people to know, however, and many had met their fate due to warlocks like those in the Wizard Hunters using element eating spells.

The delay by Garosh limited his trek this day and the mage never saw more signs of the party that preceded him save the lower snow. They were well ahead of him now with his part time progress. Still each day when he returned to feel the aches of legs and feet, the mage realized that he had worked harder than he knew at the time. They had horses and the need to see the safety of Windmeer propelling them to move east. He just could not compete.

Burying the touchstone, Palose called his spell to return to the four stones in his secret house.

He was surprised as he walked up to the library to see Sylvaine pacing on the flat stone porch near the entry doors. The girl looked upset as she walked back and forth. Ignoring the few apprentices walking in looking at her strange behavior, Sylvaine only looked up when Palose spoke her name.

Surprising her friend, she rushed over to hug her body to his. Her hands gripped his shoulders before pushing back. It was so brief that Palose hadn’t even had a chance to reciprocate the gesture.

“Sylvaine, what’s wrong?” he questioned with a little worry coming through his voice betraying his concern.

The girl’s violet eyes flicked up to his and down again as she chewed her right thumb and crossed her left arm to support the other while she worried the appendage. “You have heard of this army they are assembling to send south of the wall?”

He nodded but had to answer aloud as the girl looked to the stone tiles in front of her unable to look away, “Yes, I was there when Lord Garosh requested the forces be sent to assist him.”

“Eloria is being sent and since I am her apprentice she is taking me with her,” the girl replied quickly taking her thumb away from her teeth. He could see red marks as she had nearly bit through the skin in her concern. After her admission, the girl looked at him again with those violet eyes. He had never seen Sylvaine so out of sorts with worry. “I’m not ready for a battle field!” she expressed fretfully shaking her head. “I’m still studying and haven’t been outside of Ensolus before. I can’t fight somewhere in the enemy’s lands.”

“The Dimple Mountains,” he stated. “Out there you’ll have the advantage even if it is south of North Wall. The fortress is built in the wilderness about halfway between Windmeer and Falcon’s keep. They’ll have to travel through the foothills and the fortress is inside of a mountain. If it snows like it has been there so often during the winter, they’ll have even more difficulty when it comes time to fight.”

He hadn’t realized that a single wrongly spoken phrase had betrayed some of his hidden activities.

“What do you mean ‘like it has been’ snowing?” the girl questioned as her eyes narrowed slightly as if to see through him and lowered her voice as she finished.

Looking around them, Palose felt too exposed. “Pick up your bag. We can’t talk about your mission or mine where anyone can walk in and out of that door,” he said trying to cover up his slip. His face had been red nearly every day after the walks in the mountains and snow. That had been questioned by his friends also and would have been by Atrouseon had he been seen earlier in the day. Only the occasional late dinner shared any real time between the two men despite Palose’s label of apprentice to the warlock.

Sylvaine looked confused a moment before picking up her bag in her hands. Without thinking, Palose took the bag and slung it over his off shoulder. The girl took his near arm walking beside him like a pair of lovers out for a walk. While they had kissed, the young man had never thought of them or her quite like that, but her tender touch seemed to stir feelings inside of him. They were dangerous feelings for someone trying to keep his ties at arms’ length in case he might need to flee one day.