Battle Mage: The Dark Mage (Tales of Alus) (63 page)

“Perhaps,” she agreed, “though your aura seems to be a bit erratic in strength which would support at least part of the rumor. I can’t say I know you well enough to know how strong you should be, but for a warlock of once great repute, I would have expected more.”

“Once great? How have I fallen in anyone’s eyes, princess?” he asked almost forgetting who he addressed. While the girl before him was nearly his daughter, since it was he who had created her; Acheri was also the sister to the emperor.

Again she shrugged and the almost condescending gesture was beginning to irk him more and more. “Oh, perhaps I overstate the situation once more. The warlock who was tasked to create a vessel for the emperor is surely more than just another researcher playing with test tubes, I am sure.

“Your choice to resurrect Palose and use him to destroy Windmeer couldn’t possibly fall on your shoulders either. Of course, that mage may be your biggest triumph or your biggest failure depending on how you look at him. Kolban seems to have taken a liking to him though.”

Her eyes played to his giving askance as she added, “The fact that you created someone like that, who has gathered more glory in spite of being a resurrection man, wouldn’t bother you in the least, would it? You have held your ground against a former dead Southwall mage, I am sure.

“Never let his growing flame of success diminish what you have achieved, whatever that might be,” the girl decided with a curt bob of her head.

Atrouseon felt each insulting jab, though he wasn’t certain any attacks had truly been meant by her words. The girl seemed innocent of intent and yet he was sure that Acheri truly was disappointed in him. He was like her father and she was unimpressed. His ego stung and his hatred for Palose reemerged, but he did his best to hold the feeling down and away from his face. Refusing to reveal his hatred for the degradation suffered by him at the hands of the man who should have remained his puppet, perhaps it was time that the master reminded his servant who was truly in control. He had the runes which could override the boy’s will or maybe it was time to let him return to the grave where he should have already been.

“If you’ll excuse me, princess, I have work to do for the committee. I will consider your words, but truly the matter between us was settled when I released Palose from being my apprentice,” Atrouseon said trying to assure the girl that he had not been left to look like a fool.

Glancing behind her, Acheri covered her mouth momentarily and let a look of foolish glee cross her face as she faced him again. “I am sorry, Atrouseon. I have been talking your ear off and I am sure that you do have things to do, this little committee being what it is and all. I will bid you farewell, until we meet again then.”

Atrouseon retreated from the girl as his mind began to race. He had confronted the boy, his creation, and been humiliated. Forced to submit to Palose’s desires and plans, the warlock had given up and felt a failure until Talsker came calling. He had felt useful again, but Atrouseon had deluded himself into believing so. Until he settled things with his resurrection man, the warlock would always feel the eyes of the city on his back.

It was a simple matter to cast a tracking spell to find the mage, since Atrouseon was simply following the magic he had placed into the young man. His essence was a part of Palose now making it an easy task as the warlock crossed the palace area followed by the shipyard with the lone black ship still looking ragged from its beating.

The human zone was last and looked almost as shabby in its own way as the ship he had passed earlier. Mankind had come to the emperor throwing themselves on his mercy for the most part, though some had arrived at the mountain showing strength and wealth to barter their way into his good graces. Then there were those with magical power who had come to fall at the feet of a creature so far beyond their scope of magic that they merely wished to serve as long as they could learn from the ancient being.

Being a descendant of both wealthy merchants and one of those wizards turned warlock, Atrouseon looked on the men and women roaming the streets, many with their heads up high in spite of their poor surroundings, and was disappointed in these people. His race were separated into men with high goals and great power and these lesser beings tossed into the corner of the great cavern city of Ensolus. He had witnessed orcs and goblins with better homes and living conditions. They disgusted him and yet this was where his former apprentice had chosen to hide himself.

Looking to the glowing lights of the tracking spell hovering over his hand, Atrouseon stopped in his tracks realizing that in his reverie Palose’s mark had been on the move. The trace power of the warlock who had created him was coming towards him and as he watched, the power seemed to separate. Some remained where he had first found his apprentice, yet three more sources were nearby. The most powerful of these came walking into his sight and Atrouseon ignored the rest as he looked on Palose and frowned.

“What do you want, Atrouseon?” the boy asked appearing not even slightly surprised to see him. Had he the knowledge to set warning spells to know when his former master was near or was his
perceptions of magic so evolved that he had felt the warlock coming? Either way Atrouseon knew this was no happenstance.

Not intimidated by this former battle mage and keeping his distance knowing of his physical skills, the warlock greeted his former apprentice as his need to confront the young man drew them near. “Good morning, Palose. I had an interesting conversation with the princess this morning. It seems that news of our separation and the altercation that created the stipulations of our agreement has gone beyond just the two of us. I would like to know how and why she has heard rumors of how we parted.”

Palose frowned knowing that he had only spoken with Kolban that day and shook his head, “That is why you have come looking for my home? Go back to your spire, Atrouseon. I don’t know why Acheri would say such things. Our altercation as you call it, was between us and shouldn’t be anyone else’s concern.

“Go home and follow your own path. I gave you the chance to do this civilly and yet now you are coming to me accusing me of something. There were those who wanted me to turn on you like the resurrection men of the past, but I parted ways taking some of your power only because you had threatened me.

“If you are planning to start coming to my home to harass me, this will not go well for you; so once again I ask you to go home and let matters lie.”

“You ungrateful little brat!
I brought you back from death and this is how you repay me? What I gave I can take back, you know?”

Palose shook his head, “No you can’t. We both know that I can defeat you anytime. Stop issuing threats that you can’t enforce and don’t want to attempt.”

Each warning came with no tone of respect or fear of the master necromancer. Atrouseon, instead of backing down or becoming calm, became more irate and refuted, “This is why they speak about me behind my back. You talk like you are my equal. I want to see some respect from you, boy, and some gratitude even. Who do you think you are?”

Eyes narrowing slightly, the mage seemed almost compelled to say, “I do have gratitude to you for bringing me back, though we both know it is you or one of the others with you that caused my death as I rode with another mage drawing you and the nomads serving you. When I crossed to a fresh horse to maintain our pace, it was a fireball from one of you who caused the horses to stumble causing the fall which broke my neck.

“Did you know that I can still feel the bump even after you straightened my neck? It reminds me of what I owe you every day.

“As to respect, you had that once; but like your career here in Ensolus, you have thrown it away. You are directionless since the emperor took your project and fulfilled its directive. I suggested ideas for you to grow along with everyone else, but you were stuck in your house or on a portal team wasting your talent. Be glad that the emperor took pity on you and gave you your current assignment.

“Until today, this new path actually looked to have taken you forward; but now here you are being pulled back into the past.”

Atrouseon said nothing at first, though his power began to grow within the warlock as his anger at the boy welled up inside. Finally he admitted, “They were right when they warned me that you would be unfaithful to me no matter how I placed the runes and wards. They said that the dead never show gratitude. Now you stand there trying to preach to me as you sneak behind my back working against me!

“I have felt your playing with power and seen you with the emperor insinuating yourself with him, if Kolban even truly is the emperor we once knew. He has changed like you have. Perhaps these grown vessels are as impure as the dead. Well, at least one of these mistakes I can change. I may not be able to touch the emperor or his siblings, but you are quite another matter,” he stated pointing an accusing finger.

Slapping his forehead, Palose shook his head complaining in frustration, “Have you not heard a word I have said?”

There would be no diplomacy that could stop Atrouseon from doing what he did next. In the texts, he had read of a spell to dispel the dead and the warlock cast his magic in an instant.

“Night shield,” the battle mage turned his body placing his left hand between them and cast a massive shield of darkness making sight of him nearly impossible for the warlock. Atrouseon didn’t need to see him exactly to make the spell connect. There was nothing that could stop it, not even the black shield. This was no elemental spell to be prevented, but as the warlock knew that the magic had struck the mage he watched as it did nothing to the resurrection man.

A second quick spell targeted his power within the boy, while Palose stood still and unharmed. His will was set against the warlock, but he waited to see what the man would try. Even to the end, he sought to avoid killing the necromancer.

Once more Atrouseon’s magic reached through the shield like it was not even there, but the second spell achieved no more than the first. He had waited too long to try such a simple thing against one who had been back so long. Knowing this approach would no longer work on a soul that had come back and reestablished his presence in this world, the warlock changed to a light spell. The brilliance of the beam left a purple scar in his vision, but the light dispelled the shield in an instant.

This was the attack that set the mage to action. Fireballs were fired. Atrouseon raised his own night shield drawing off the insignificant magic and countered with wind that cut through the street only to find a second night shield. Stone was pulled from the buildings flanking the warlocks and thrown onto the battle mage, but blue shields of immense strength and size rose from behind the black magic angling the rock onto the ground away from him.

Atrouseon cast a new death spell. The dark magic was one that would target a heart to silence it. Once more it had no effect on the dark mage. He was neither alive nor dead and proof against such spells, the warlock judged quickly, and turned the street against the boy instead. Jumping beneath the mage’s feet, dust rose into the air as the stone of the cave rolled into the black shield.

When Palose appeared on his right away from his shields as if from nowhere, the warlock tried to catch up to the swift moving young man. Night leaped from the boy’s hands as he called, “Shadow snare.”

Atrouseon called his light magic aiming it at the mage dispelling the reaching tendrils, but it had been
another misdirection as more shadows leaped from his shield. Out of the dust and broken stone, the twin spell lashed out catching the warlock wrapping around his right arm and leg. Another quick cast of his light dispersed the clinging cables of night, but it was too late.

Palose was close and could have stabbed him with a blade as the distance closed. Two more men rushed Atrouseon from both behind him in the street and the opposite alley from the mage. A large strong man with a wild black beard dressed in red and brown took hold of his left arm, while a younger, tall, dark haired boy dressed mostly in blue caught his other arm.

Surprised by the two men and even more by the feeling of his magic bound within them, Atrouseon quickly understood the reason his tracking spell had been confused. “You have brought more back like you!”

A knife with a stone blade covered in runes slipped from the young man’s sleeve into his right hand bringing Atrouseon’s eyes wide. “You can’t kill me! I order you not to kill me!” the warlock cried out calling on the guards within the spell that had brought the mage back to life.

Palose intoned a spell and the knife began to glow, but as it neared the warlock’s chest, the mage smiled sadly and replied, “I could simply say that I am not killing you, but releasing you from this life to circumvent the control of your magic, you know. It is simple to evade mere words, when I simply need to reorder what I conceive you have said, but this time I give you that little victory.”

He handed the knife to the strong, bearded wizard who took it moving the blade behind his back. The other wizard in blue joined a free hand to hold the blade with the fire wizard as Palose placed his hands on the warlock’s chest. The last words of the spell were intoned before the two wizards thrust the stone into his back. Blue light traced the knife and ran up the wizards’ arms and back to the restrained warlock.

The blue glow found its way to Palose’s hands on Atrouseon’s chest even as the warlock coughed up blood. The blade had plunged deep, but it was not an instant death that it caused as the magic within the man seemed to be drawn to the knife and out to the three men holding him.