Battle Mage: The Dark Mage (Tales of Alus) (30 page)

The shock of his knowledge made Rilena gasp involuntarily and she asked without thinking, “How do you know his name?”

Standing upright again, the giant shrugged almost dismissively. “I have spoken with the betrayer of Windmeer; and despite their history he had surprisingly good things to say about your friend. I don’t suppose that he is with you?”

“Believe it or not,” Elzen snapped, “he had better things to do than bother chasing after your little fortress.”

Feigning hurt, Garosh replied, “I would have thought an enemy fortress behind your wall might merit one of your best being there, but I suppose if the genius is spreading more of his magic to the rest of your battle mages and wizards, he might create more of a threat than being just one man among many in a battle.”

The giant’s words left Rilena with a chill in her spine that had nothing to do with winter. How much had the betrayer said about Sebastian? She would do whatever she could to protect her friend, but it almost sounded like the damage had been done. He knew of Sebastian’s new magic and how unique he was. It proved that one special man could change the world and Rilena suddenly wondered if this was why Garosh had surrendered when he had been in control of his fate. What better way to find Sebastian and kill him before he could create more spells and teach them all a better way to fight, than to surrender in the hopes that he would be taken to the city where the mizard might be?

“If your plan is to find Bas, then you have already failed,” she stated finding more anger in her words than she meant to show.

His face revealed confusion and it looked real enough. Shaking his head, he stated, “If finding one man to kill him was the goal, I can think of several other ways that would risk my life much less, young lady. What I told your leaders is true, I want to end the blood shed. My people want peace as much as yours and I think maybe can even benefit one another in the future.”

Rilena could feel most of the others watching tensely around them seem to ease at Garosh’s earnest words. Only Elzen and she looked ready to fight, and Rilena guessed that the young man only held his position because of his friendship to her. His loyalty and nobility were always on display when danger was near. If he could just stop being such a naughty child the rest of the time, the girl thought she might fall for him. The stray thought burst her anger in surprise.

Thrown by such an odd notion, Rilena was forced to wave the giant off looking a little flush, “I don’t know if I can ever accept your apology. Perhaps if you actually live up to your words, then one day I might find a way to forgive you.”

Another bow of his head conceded the best he could hope for. “May that day come soon,” Garosh replied and moved off leading his half dozen guards.

The rest of the area settled down as Elzen pulled his flask out taking a swig of the liquor before passing it to the girl next him. Welcoming the burn, Rilena took a few large swallows before passing it back to her friend without looking at him.

“You know if he had tried to hurt you, I would have shown him just how much bite I have,” Elzen declared confidently. “He may be powerful, but this close my blades would have cut him down to size before he knew it.”

Rilena nodded, though less confident than the young man beside her. Her question ignored his willingness to fight to save her, “Do you think that he might have surrendered himself to find Bas?”

Noticing her hands shaking, Elzen breathed the word, “Heal.” Taking her right hand in his left, he sent his magic into the girl bringing a wave of relief to her that pushed the tension away. The feeling was warm and pleasant especially in the cold of winter. Picking up their conversation, Elzen replied, “If that was his best idea to find Bas, then maybe they are more desperate than I thought. He will be interrogated at Windmeer and if he is being false they will find out soon enough.”

The girl nodded feeling better thanks to Elzen.

“By the way, I am almost positive that you have a bigger chest than Zerra,” he added with a laugh letting go of her hand and ducking as the girl whirled on him.

“Dang it, Elzen! I was starting to like you again!” Rilena complained and started chasing the boy away from the fire. His laughter was contagious and she couldn’t help grinning as snowballs began to fly between them. He had not only used his magic, but laughter to put her at ease. Though it was easy to see through, Rilena tried to enjoy the fun of the moment.

Chapter 16- Value of a Necklace

A glow from behind the stable winked into life a moment before the shadow of the dark mage passed through letting the light die. Checking around for witnesses, Palose spied no one as usual. Winter and the discreet placement had allowed for him to travel to Windmeer easily, only his ties in Ensolus had held him back from coming back as often as he wished.

With Sylvaine and Selvor away at Garosh’s fortress, his usual study group had withered away, or at least that seemed to be the reason. Maya and Defrienne had been noticeably missing since the announcement of reinforcing the fort and hadn’t returned since Sylvaine had left. Malfaes had come once looking lost without Selvor leading him around, and Palose refused to pick up the slack as the warlock’s new leader. Without someone to steer him around, the mage just assumed the apprentice had decided to spend more time with his teacher.

Turless and Holdy still came from time to time and the former joined him with Lanquer in weapons’ training. The warlock apprentice was becoming more skilled and actually was better than Sylvaine had been. His fear was that the girl would never be more than average with a sword, but if teaching her to even that level helped keep her alive then he would be satisfied.

Then there was Acheri, who seemed to want to spend time with him during Lanquer’s training, but also appeared to have another interest in him beyond what he could do for training the guard. It had only been a few months since they had begun working together and the vessels were only truly alive for a few days beyond that, but it was almost beginning to feel like he had always known them.

The biggest problem was that with the others gone, Acheri began requesting that he increase his help for Lanquer. While the girl became more interested in that increase, the guardsman seemed to wish for less, but at least he was becoming fairly competent in his skills. With his magical strength lying untapped, and his skills improved enough, Palose had begun teaching him battle mage magic. This he excelled at, and made Acheri want to see more.

On the other side of the portal, Palose had discovered his naiveté in economics. After scouting several stables for a mount, he was becoming discouraged. Even for a horse that could only be classified as a nag, by the time he purchased a saddle and other riding equipment, he would have to use a couple more of the small bars of gold. The winter campaign to the fortress apparently made available mounts scarce and the horse sellers were using it to their advantage to raise the prices on him.

It led the mage to another option for his quest to create gates beyond the mountains and Windmeer. Directing his steps towards the local mail carrier, Palose touched the three envelopes in his satchel. To his surprise, he found not only the post master behind his desk but a handful of men and a woman who were all dressed in leather riding gear. While not the most winterized gear while sitting inside the warm, mail building, Palose could almost smell their horses on them.

Their looks varied as he noted them all with a nod. Most looked ready to stay seated and remain in the warmth of a heated building; one man replaced his hat over his head appearing to go back to sleep after the door awoke him. The woman looked fairly young and eager. Her eyes fixed on Palose hoping for a job. He could only assume that she needed the money more than she cared about getting cold.

“
Mornin’, young man,” the post master, a mustached, gray haired heavy set man greeted the new entry. “What can we do for you today?”

“I have three letters for my family and friend that I need sent,” Palose replied casually. “Winter is almost over so I am hoping that you can help me.”

“For a price, of course,” the man replied with a smile and received a few chuckles from the riders.

Each envelope held a name and the city he wished to send them to, one was for Fort Maridith at the southern tip of the Dimple Mountains. He had a cousin that had moved away when he was young to become a miner. It was a profession that could change one’s status quickly if he could find a claim and mine some gold or silver. Fort Maridith was also a place for work for those less ambitious and willing to work in the mines or assisting in trade.

The second was to his uncle in Cadmera where the Cadhalla and Caldene rivers met well south of White Hall. His parents lived north and west of Cadmera so he had been discovered by the wizards of White Hall rather than the easternmost school of Red Hall which primarily searched east of the rivers.

His last envelope was addressed to an old friend from White Hall, who had graduated two years before and now worked in Siltrene far to the south. While he knew word of his deeds had probably carried to some if not all of his contacts, it mattered little if they threw the letter away or not. Within each sealed envelope, Palose had included a touchstone. Each was set in a brass setting making them an inexpensive pin for them to wear. His letters were a simple note of greeting and expressed worry over the time spent
away. The words were as meaningless as the paper they were written on as only the touchstone’s arrival at the far off cities mattered to the mage.

The older man whistled at the distant Siltrene, but Fort Maridith made him nod. “I will have a rider drop your letter to Siltrene off at the shipyard in Fort Maridith. That will save you some cost and a ship can carry your message as quickly as a third rider.”

Palose nodded, “That would be fine. Time isn’t of the largest importance, but I would appreciate the messages getting there to apprise them of matters here. There was a death in the family that they should be notified about for the future.”

The old man noticed the lumps in each and gave him a querying look.

“Simple pins created by the one who died for a keepsake,” he said with an apologetic smile.

Even through the thick paper he could feel the solid stone and the spring of the pin attached to the back. With that explained, he looked at the riders and declared, “Fort Maridith with a secondary drop off and Cadmera.
Any takers?”

The woman leaped towards the desk eagerly. One of the seated men who had looked bored settled his hat and moved towards the desk more leisurely.

Looking at the mage once more, the post master stated, “A gold for Cadmera and a gold and five silvers for the other two. The silver will pay for the boat’s delivery.”

Palose felt the pouch knowing that the cost was more than he liked, but it was nothing compared to buying a horse and maintaining it. The coins parted his hand easily enough knowing that it wasn’t his money that he spent at least.

As he left, the woman was arguing for the Fort Maridith ride while the older rider calmly demanded it instead. Palose didn’t care who brought them where as long as the letters went where he desired.

Settling his pack, the mage looked to the sky to see the sun peeking through the clouds and thought that it was a good sign. He turned east through the open streets of the village. While Blackwall was the next guardian city along the wall to the east, the road began by traveling to White Hall to the south. If he were riding for best time during the winter, it would be the logical choice as the roads were often more clear along the path to the school.

Since Palose had resigned himself to walking to the distant castle, taking the most direct path seemed to make the most sense. Putting one foot in front of the other, the traveler headed off through the snow like he had through the hills north of the Dimple Mountains. Hopefully the riders would make good time so he would have more options, but for now Blackwall would have to do.

Sylvaine lined up in a hall leading to a chamber hidden from the men of Southwall. In the conditions set by Garosh, a contingent of soldiers, mages and wizards could patrol the mountain and foothills as well as partaking of supplies from the fortress. They had destroyed the altar further down the mountain and with that access removed, they were all stranded there or so her people had made it look to their enemies.

Feeling for the magic, the apprentice knew when the new gate had opened. “All right hurry along, Sylvaine or I’ll leave you here,” Eloria declared prodding the girl before her.

Dozens of warlocks were returning to Ensolus under the noses of Southwall. No one had signed on for his surrender. It had apparently been a surprise to all but a few of his closest officers, but Garosh had built in a back up plan for his people to escape as well.

“Has anyone told you why he surrendered?” the apprentice leaned close to her mentor and found she had to ask. Holding the question in for days as she could feel the anxiety in Eloria held just beneath the surface, Sylvaine felt like she was about to pop from the need to know.

“Quiet, girl,” the taller woman hissed as her eyes narrowed angrily. Sylvaine knew the fury wasn’t truly set against her and guessed that her mistress didn’t know either.

Entering the chamber, they saw a light and the blood of two goblins spilled on the ground to create a doorway ten feet across. Two orcs in chains were bound ready in case the blood magic began to fail. The sight would have made many people squeamish, but death was too common in Ensolus, even for the mostly sheltered apprentice.