Battle Mage: The Dark Mage (Tales of Alus) (7 page)

Palose wondered how close this experiment was to necromancy in that they were attempting to bring something to life that could survive holding the emperor’s being. Perhaps necromancy wasn’t just about animating death, but creating new life?

His musing was interrupted as the first test subject seemed to shiver as its limbs shook aggressively. It was merely the beginning of a failure as the magic began to eat away at the vessel burning it up from within until it was a withered, wrinkled husk.

Garosh stepped away from the failure without a word, though Atrouseon looked slightly disappointed. The warlock spoke to the other men announcing, “That was just an extension of the theory from the test batch from last year. We had seemed close, but apparently this type of blank may be a dead end.”

The men murmured to each other curiously as Garosh repeated the process on the next victim. This experiment had a slightly different result as the boy began to expand like a balloon before exploding to leave a bloody refuse clouding the liquid inside the tank. One of the warlocks from Atrouseon’s team breathed a curse just loud enough for Palose to hear.

Smiling slightly, the leader of the team shrugged. “Alimus tried a new path with that one. It did hold together longer than some. Maybe there is value in this research.”

Garosh grunted and sarcastically refuted the optimistic words, “If we want things to burst, casting fire inside of your body would accomplish the same thing.”

The threat couldn’t be missed and Atrouseon paled slightly. A warlock high in the echelon of their order, he was still just a gnat before the strength imbued into the giant. Palose wondered if any of the warlocks would even attempt to fight back, if Garosh decided to end their lives.

On the next test, they found some success. The vessel didn’t fail, but Garosh still frowned as he judged, “This one can take much of the power, but I sense that if he tried to merge with him it would only put off death for a short a time.”

One of the other warlocks from Atrouseon’s team asked, “For days or years?”

Eyes squinted at the brown haired wizard with thinning hair. Pointed ears on the warlock led Palose to believe that he might have elven heredity, but his frame suggested human. Whether there was something about the man or his question that annoyed Garosh, it was uncertain until he retorted, “Anything less than eternal is too short for the master, Etriak. How am I to guess anyone’s life span save that I end it for them?”

Again the threat made the warlock pale at his statement as he hoped that Garosh wouldn’t decide that it was his time for his life cycle to end.

The next tank seemed successful as well. This time Garosh didn’t move on right away. Letting his magic push harder than on the previous boy; the giant finally released his magic. “This one seems viable. The emperor will want to test this one for
himself. Why is there is a female in the last tank?”

Atrouseon bowed his head and shoulders slightly as he replied, “We crafted the girl like the successful candidate. We were beginning to worry that male vessels lacked the ability to deal with the pain or strain of his magic and created her just in case.”

Again the giant grunted. Turning from the tanks, he gestured to the wraith, “Come, Carianic, we have work to do.”

Despite the abrupt dismissal by Garosh, the room became excited even so. “We may have finally discovered the one after so many have failed,” one of the warlocks said excitedly to the rest of the team.

“The discovery was built on many failures and not just theirs,” said another man though he seemed as thrilled as the others.

The remaining six men from the observers varied in their reaction to the news that the emperor could finally join himself to a body strong enough to use his immense power. While the general sense of exuberance prevailed, one of the older men was seen to frown before placing his hand before his mouth as he rested his chin. Whether he was contemplating the repercussions of the first successful test in decades or wondering if this too would only be another stepping point to the true success, Palose could only guess.

He noted the orc holding back as well while half the men moved from congratulating the team of warlocks to looking at the possible host body. It was nearly stone faced as the orc stared at the three tanks with unharmed bodies. As Palose watched the creature, the brown skinned orc caught his gaze and merely nodded. He too turned to leave as had Garosh, though whether they had anymore in common than the only path out of the chamber, that too Palose did not know.

Growing tired of the mounting questions that he had no answers for, Palose held back waiting for the congratulations to end and eventually just Atrouseon and a gray haired warlock remained talking in front of the tanks. Listher stood to one side as if awaiting new orders, which might have been the case. The mage would have left as well, if he knew for sure that his master was done with him. Leaving too soon might earn his anger or otherwise ruin their already tenuous relationship. He needed Atrouseon for his wealth and prestige. He might even need what little the man would teach him, but Palose also had a feeling that there was something else to their relationship that he would need before they parted ways.

“This is a great day, Atrouseon,” the older man was saying as he shook the other warlock’s hand in congratulations. “If that Garosh is correct, then the master may finally return to his true power. We can take over the rest of the world, if he leads with his strength fully unleashed.”

Nodding while taking in the praise, Atrouseon replied, “Like I told the others, we built this upon the work of others failures. Garosh is even part of that history. Since the emperor was able to imbue part of his power in that giant, my team and I were able to build upon his strength.

“This blank slate will let the emperor join him and become flesh and blood in a way that he hasn’t been since before our time.”

The older man’s face darkened as he lowered his voice a bit causing Palose to listen for all his ability. He couldn’t afford to use a battle mage spell to increase his senses so he hoped that his hearing was enough. “Our history of his return after his apparent death as a being conquering death never told how or why he returned. The master is more powerful than any other creature. This I believe, but he is still mortal. If this works, maybe he will become immortal.”

“Like the giant of Southwall,” Atrouseon nodded.

Palose could only assume that he meant the legendary man often referred to as the Grimnal, Gerid Aramathea. He had been believed immortal. Wounds could bring him to the point of death and still he would rise unharmed. He was over a millennium old when the Cataclysm tore Alus apart and sometime after that he disappeared. No one knew for sure if he was dead in Southwall, but words like this made Palose wonder.

The older warlock shook his head, “Too bad he was so resistant to magic. That body would have been ideal otherwise.”

“His tissues were used to help make Garosh. The magic resistance was not only circumvented, but reversed to the point that this so called mistake is more powerful than any of us.”

“But he isn’t strong enough to hold the emperor’s full might,” the elder replied with a sigh. “I hope that Garosh doesn’t intend to try and prevent the master from taking his proposed body. I worry that others may hear of your success and try to destroy your work before the master can take it for himself.”

Such ideas made Palose wonder. Rumors of the slow collapse of the emperor’s power and hold over his empire had made it to his ears even in the short time the mage had lived in Ensolus. This powerful being that couldn’t find a body worthy of his might seemed to be dying if he understood what no one was willing to say. If the emperor died before finding a body, what would become of his empire? Perhaps the decay had already begun?

The last warlock left and even Listher had been sent away by Atrouseon before his master gave the apprentice his full attention. “Palose, for the next several days, when I am not here you will be guarding this chamber. I need someone I can trust and once I give you this order, I know that you will guard these creatures with your life.”

Nodding at his master, but cringing on the inside at the ease with which the warlock could override his will with a single command, Palose let his eyes wander to the three tanks. “Garosh said only the one was worthy.”

Following his gaze the two men found their feet leading them to the three tanks. The liquid surrounding the three adolescent forms was a viscous green that was still fairly clear. Two boys, one declared inferior and one destined to hold the emperor, as well as a girl that was untested but also declared unfit, hinged the hopes and fears of not only this empire but the rest of the world. The world at large didn’t know how important this experiment truly was and in fact knew nothing of the weakness of the emperor as he decayed.

Atrouseon placed his right hand lovingly on the glass as he stared at the being who could be emperor. “The first two blanks were based off of old models that had been declared inferior, but Etriak and Alimus had believed the two paths valid. Thielius and I always told them that we doubted that those paths held any real promise. In the end, we worked with the two most successful test subjects in the history of the project. One was Garosh and the Grimnal, as you might have guessed by now.

“The other never had life breathed into it, but had been a sample taken from the emperor in an attempt to strengthen his current form. It was an old sample taken two centuries ago and before the decay progressed to what it is now.

“My belief was that both creations had been valid, but that by themselves they were inferior, so I have been working for a decade to find a way to bring the best of both bodies into one. I have had my failures, but I always believed.”

“How did you come to have the Grimnal’s flesh to sample? Does he still live after yet another two centuries?” Palose asked wondering as all from Southwall had about the immortal’s disappearance when they had needed him most.

Like an alarm had gone off behind his eyes, Atrouseon looked unwilling to divulge the answers to one of Southwall’s greatest mysteries. Finally he released his breath in a sigh and shrugged, “As far as I know, he still lives. Our most recent samples are less than a decade old, so one could assume a man who has lived for over twelve hundred years still exists wherever he is imprisoned.”

“You don’t know what happened to him?”

The man was beginning to look annoyed at the divergent line of questioning. “Only a handful of people know what truly happened and where they imprisoned the Grimnal, but that hardly matters now. What matters is that my vessel has passed the test. The emperor will see my accomplishment and reward me I am sure of it.”

“Garosh made it sound like the emperor still had to test it first,” Palose mused while trying not to deflate the warlock’s moment with doubt.

Smiling even still, Atrouseon stated, “I could see that Garosh was surprised. It worked perfectly. He was the closest anyone came to perfecting a body for him, but this one will finally let him take a new form.

“The emperor will test it with his greater power and my vessel will surely contain his magic this time.”

Palose noted the third tank with the dark haired girl inside. Just a child in appearance, though perhaps close to the physical changes of a teenager, her existence had been explained, but he wondered if that was her true purpose. “What about her and the one that nearly succeeded? Will they simply throw these bodies in some dump after all the work?”

Giving a sigh of disappointment, the warlock replied, “They weren’t made the same way you were. This isn’t a necromancy spell. They aren’t your brothers and sister through magic, if that is what you feel.”

He shook his head. There was no attachment for these blanks as they had been called. A certain disappointment that these creations had no association with the magic that created him was there, but he doubted that the girl was going to be discarded if she was simply the female success that the boy was.

“If the boy can hold the power, and so can this girl, then will the emperor not want the potential vessel to remain available should the first fail or be slain?”

“The emperor is beyond worrying over male or female and his power is so great that he could change the body to suit him anyway. Keeping her in permanent stasis is tempting, but I am not sure how feasible. Either way it will be the emperor’s decision on what to do with the two survivors.”

A moment of silence sat between them. Both men were good at keeping their thoughts and secrets to themselves. Neither liked speaking for no reason, so silence held no awkwardness for them.

“Until the emperor can claim the body, we need to set up protection for them. During the day, I will be working here and can watch over them. When I leave, you will be here to watch over and protect them for me.

“Can you defend them against warlocks even?”

Palose thought a moment and wondered how modest he should be. He had humiliated the three apprentices without breaking a sweat, but should someone come for the vessels how much could he do? “In close I can probably stop most warlocks faster than they can create their spells. Someone like Garosh might be too powerful to stand against, but most warlocks can’t fight and I know weapons as well as battle mage magic.”

The last admission sparked something in Atrouseon as he asked, “Have you been able to learn the basics from the books I gave you?”