Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus) (18 page)

“I can feel something around the northern point. Mecklin, Frell, with me. The rest of you come as fast as you are able,” the mage ordered. He didn’t doubt that they were all willing to follow, but he knew that only battle mages and soldiers were built for a hard run. They trained to run hard and could maintain their strength to fight as well.

The three moved quickly and Sebastian noted Captain Drayden pacing them easily. He had forgotten the man was a soldier. Ignoring the man’s grin, the battle mage set his sight forward and continued with the mile eating pace. If there was trouble, he and his mages would be there as quick as they could ready for battle.

The walk to the north end of the island would have been quite enjoyable for Yara and the others if not for the cold wind pushing from the continent. All the cold of winter still had its biting edge despite
miles of sea. The healer shivered as she hugged her jacket closer to her. Buttons had sealed the open neckline that had been exposed before the north wind found her again. She was hoping that eventually they would outrun the cold or perhaps spring would finally take hold with its warmer weather.

“If you are too cold, I’m sure that we can manage a simple exploration walk without you, Yara,” Olan said politely to the girl. Though he was one of the youngest of the battle mages following Sebastian, the baby faced mage was still close to a decade older than the seventeen year old girl. His virtually deferential tone almost made the situation absurd enough to laugh.

“That’s all right, Olan. A little cold won’t hurt me. I’m tougher than I look,” she grinned before ducking her face into the collar of the jacket so that even the tip of her nose was covered.

The mage laughed at Yara and shrugged. His nose and cheeks were a bit red from the cold as well, but for all her bravado she knew that this young man was more rugged than she would ever be. A healer went out with the various teams north of the wall from time to time, but most of them lived a more sheltered life in the castles and schools of Southwall. Battle mages took the front lines with the soldiers of the country and Yara respected them very much, especially after seeing Sebastian and the other mages at work the previous summer.

Liam led with Sergeant Kulvayr beside him chatting away amiably. She knew that Sebastian was unsure of the two soldiers added so hastily at the last minute to their group, but the man had a way of being casually disarming none the less. The two men almost looked like the best of friends as they talked in the cold air. Neither acted like they were cold, though Liam used a form of air shield that was unseen to the eye, but she could sense it.

Sebastian had tried to teach her his shield over and over, but it was a spell that remained beyond her grasp. She looked on with near jealousy at the wizard, but realized the other two men were still dealing with the cold on their own without magical aid. Resolving to brave the wind as well, Yara pulled her face out of her collar only to quickly duck back inside as a freezing draft stung her cheeks.

Olan chuckled again. “Well, at least you’re trying.”

“You haven’t learned his air shield either?” the girl asked knowing that Olan would understand the who of the question easily.

Shaking his head, the mage replied, “No, I can use the air lance and spear, but air magic is more work than some of the others. I’m surprised that you, a wizard, don’t have some form of shield.”

Wrinkling her nose, Yara admitted, “Sebastian’s tried to teach me, but I am just a simple healer. Air magic is beyond me too.”

Frowning with thought, Olan voiced a simple idea, “I’m surprised that healing magic doesn’t have some form of spell that helps the body stay warm. You could perhaps move blood to the extremities or something.”

The thought left the healer surprised. “That’s an idea, but often healing spells work on others rather on the healer. Maybe it would work to control the body’s processes in some way, but I would want to test it in a safer place than this. If something were to go wrong, only Sebastian would have a prayer of healing me. Without him here, I’d hate to find out that a spell would go wrong where he couldn’t watch over me.”

A smile from the man, as he looked straight ahead, left Yara curious as to what amused him. “It seems strange to hear a wizard trusting in a battle mage so confidently like that.”

“Well, Sebastian in particular is an exceptional mage, don’t you think?”

A quick nod from the man preceded his comment, “Of course, I am lucky to be able to see someone like him in action. He’s still young and full of even more promise. We’re probably looking at someone who will make history. His newest spells alone ensure that I guess.”

Thinking of Sebastian as a legend for history seemed strange to Yara. He was flesh and blood and someone she could love. A future person known to history just seemed too far beyond her limited sight. Most wizards for all their power never became legends for even future wizards to research. Barely any of their spells made a point to reference the one who created them.

“Maybe we need to ask Sebastian to think of a healer version of the shield spell like you said,” Yara smiled though the collar hid her mouth still.

“Well, you can use me for a wind break if you need it,” Olan offered. “You are the smallest of us after all. It’s understandable that you’d be colder than the rest of us. Not that I am putting you down for being petite or anything.” She couldn’t tell if he blushed after putting his foot in it, since the cold already reddened his face, but she had a feeling that he was.

Looking up at the man who was roughly a foot taller then she, Yara certainly felt tiny compared to the mage who was probably close to twice her weight, though certainly wider with his broad shoulders. Liam was even taller though as a simple wizard he was slimmer and certainly less muscular. Only Kulvayr was below six foot, while she was only a few inches more than five. She was used to being tiny compared to the soldiers and mages around her. Since she was unlikely to grow anymore, it was just a curse she would have to endure. The bright side was being small made larger people want to look out for her, she thought with a smile.

Olan put out an arm to slow the girl looking at the ground to avoid the stinging of her eyes from the wind. She realized that Liam and Kulvayr had stopped as well. Looking up at what they were staring at made Yara gasp in fear.

A giant crab, as tall as Olan with a carapace even wider than the man was long, stood brandishing claws more than half a man long. The clack of those claws, as the beast debated the four humans before him, sounded like the clatter of a pair of wooden bats smacking each other even with the waves and wind trying to drown out any foreign sound.

Liam gestured for the others to move back towards the cliff placing the wizard’s chanting form between them and the danger. The water wizard prepared a powerful water spell readying for possible trouble. There was no reason to stir up the monster’s anger, but the man wasn’t taking any chances when those claws looked ready to kill.

Making no sudden movements, the three backed away even as Liam stood his ground. The crab twitched taking a slow step to the side in the direction that they had hoped to go. As they moved, Yara noted movement near the water. Two more monsters rose from the water’s edge and began to walk sideways to their comrade.

“Liam?” Yara questioned in worry.

His chanting continued as he stepped back and moved slowly towards the northwest. He still hoped to finish his mission despite the dangers before them. Yara wondered if he thought to walk around the entire island just to avoid meeting them again.

“Hurry,” Olan stated in a hushed tone despite his mounting anxiety. The three crabs were moving faster as if to block off their escape. Glancing in the direction they hoped to go, Yara caught sight of a fourth crab near the shoreline and she hoped that it would not notice the stand off happening further along the beach.

Deciding that they were either a threat or something to eat, the three crabs shuffled towards the four humans clacking their claws threateningly. The sound of their claws seemed to be carrying far enough to make the fourth crab shift awareness. It too began shuffling in their direction though with less speed than the others.

“Retreat?” Yara queried before noticing that two more crabs had found there way out of the water back the way they had come. “Liam, there are more coming!”

The wizard looked away to either direction realizing their increasingly dire situation. “Can you climb the cliff?” he asked unable to break eye contact with the closest monstrosities.

The wizard’s spell was locked at the ready as he heard the inevitable words from Olan, “Not likely and we have no rope to help.” Yara knew that last was meant for her and possibly a quicker escape for Liam.

Raising his hands, the wizard took hold of the water behind closest crabs and lifted it in a wall. It rushed like a river knocking the closest crabs aside like the giant wave it was. “Run,” the wizard shouted waving them on as he hoped the water would buy them some time to get away.

While the wave curved around to drive the three closest creatures back to the shore in a tumble, the others became more excited and began to close. Olan and Sergeant Kulvayr drew their swords readying to defend Yara and Liam. The wizards would need room to cast and were little good in a close fight despite the time training with Sebastian and his mages.

“Air lance,” the mage ordered the wind spear into his free hand.

The crab moved to bar their escape and Yara spied yet another coming from the water. How many of these things were there? Had they stumbled upon a nest of these beasts?

Olan let the spear fly as they closed with the monster closest to them. He hit the shell just above the eyes stalling the creature for a mere moment as it tried to figure out what had happened. The mage cursed his aim and brought up a second lance.

The creature blocked their path forward as the others recovered and gave chase. An additional crab came from the direction that they were headed and helped to block off their progress.

“Water geyser!” Liam cried out using the trick gained from working with Sebastian for the last few weeks. A spinning torrent of water reached out from the sea to slam into the crab before them. Even crashing into the cliff wall, the monster appeared only slightly dazed. Olan followed up with his air spear as it rebounded from the cliff. Catching the flesh between the hard shells, the monster stumbled back. If the creature had lungs, Yara thought it would have screamed, but there was simply a gasp of air.

“Move, move,” Kulvayr urged as he caught the claw of the next crab with his sword. The sickening sound of breaking metal surprised the man. With a slow arc, the end of his weapon flew over the creature’s back. The strength of the beast’s claw had snipped the blade in two with seemingly no effort.

“Air lance,” Olan commanded sending the spear from a flat palm into the front of the crab. He had put extra concentration into this strike and the power of the air managed to drive the huge creature back a moment.

Sergeant Kulvayr cursed as he dropped behind the mage knowing that mere steel wasn’t enough with these monsters.

Yara grew bold. “Hold those claws off of me,” she urged the men. Olan and Kulvayr with his remaining blade caught each claw long enough for the healer to chant her spell and place a hand on the crab. “Now sleep,” she urged though the last was no longer part of her spell. Recoiling more from her simple touch than the blades of steel, the crab’s eyes blinked in a flicker of confusion before the bulk crashed to the ground.

With the way ahead open to them, the four hurried past the sleeping giant and wounded beast while keeping their distance from the predators still chasing from behind.

Chapter 13- The Hollow Sword

As the battle mages rounded the northwestern edge of the cliff, they spotted Liam’s group running their way. Sebastian realized that they were running, not because they were hurrying to catch up, but because of the very demons from the dead wizard’s diary. As described by Caperium, giant crabs as tall as a man and at least that as wide were pursuing his last team. Anger fueled the mage thinking of the long dead crew of the Trodder and feelings of revenge trickled into his mind even though these were unlikely the same beasts from over one hundred seventy five years ago. It was an unreasonable request for those long dead, but seeing Yara in danger was quite another thing.

Passing the four coming towards them, who all looked relieved to see help, Sebastian waited for the handful of pursuers to close the distance to only fifty feet before kneeling on the ground. He pressed a hand to the sand and called on a spell that Collin had helped him learn a few weeks before, “Quake!”

The sand and earth between his enemies rippled forward spreading outward from the mage shaking the nearby parts of the island. Stumbling as the ground leaped beneath their claws, the crabs appeared confused as they picked themselves up. Sebastian channeled a second quake disrupting them once more as his mages readied air lances for combat. Surprisingly, the monsters seemed unwilling to stay on land that could move violently. Retreating back to the sea, the crabs disappeared from their sight.

“Impressive,” Captain Drayden stated looking only slightly disappointed that he had nothing more to do after the long run.

Yara hugged Sebastian hard around the neck forgetting any need of hiding her feelings for him. “Thank goodness,” she gasped gratefully. “I thought those things were going to chase us around the whole island.”