Battle Mage: The Lost King (Tales of Alus) (50 page)

“I wouldn’t doubt it. The siren magic was necessary or maybe even the women would have been sold in a slave market.”

“I sometimes forget that they lived as slaves so long. They wouldn’t be used to dating or being able to flirt with men at a dance. Then again that begins to sound a little like my life as well, though without the wood cage,” the girl remarked ruefully.

Shrugging, Sebastian said, “Freedom is relative sometimes. I gave them the ability to do anything they wanted, but these two followed us and wanted to work.”

Pointing a finger at the mage with his unfastened shirt exposing the center of his chest just a bit flirtatiously, she clarified with a slight smile, “They wanted to work for you.” She emphasized the ‘you’ in the sentence and added, “You stood up to the pirates and saved their people. They may work with us, but only because we work with you.”

With a little sigh, Sebastian took the accusatory hand wrapping it in his. “Maybe, but other than being a bit of a distraction from the long trip, I’m not sure that it’s wise to have them here. When we run into those black ships, it will be awfully dangerous for us all. I don’t want them to die because of a mission for some legend lost for so long.”

Concerned eyes met his as Yara questioned, “Are you starting to have doubts about finding the Grimnal?”

Trying to understand what was bugging him, Sebastian thought about the question. He still felt that he could find not only the trail of the Grimnal and his captors, if Maldus was too believed, but most likely the man as well. The faces of the sailors and Sergeant Kulvayr killed by the men and monsters of the black ship came unbidden to mind. That was the real concern, he believed. “I think we will find him,” he finally said before admitting his real worry. “I am just afraid of how many more lives will be lost before this is through.”

Her left hand reached across her body covered in a yellow sundress to pat his forearm. Green eyes met his from beneath fallen blond bangs as the wind whipped at her long hair. “Whether we sail towards the danger or remain in Southwall where an enemy might attack, there is always the possibility that someone might die. A powerful storm could catch us and wash away men overboard even, so a simple sailing trip is as dangerous as any other trip.

“You need to try and lead as you need to, Sebastian. Don’t hold onto the dark part of this life, but be ready to save anyone you can. I’ve seen what you can do and I know that, if anyone can keep us safe, it will be you.”

Pulling him down to kiss his cheek in sympathy, Yara leaned into him adding the comfort of her warmth as they continued to watch the men flirting with the mermaids. Yara laughed after a moment and decided, “I don’t think they even truly know that they are being flirted with, Bas. Those girls may be beautiful and older than I am, but they may as well be girls kept in a tower for all they know of boys.”

Purple eyes flicked in his direction as Yaroma seemed to look for help, even as she set a polite smile on her lips. Those exotic eyes turned to Olan as they shared a conversation and, as they watched, the finger of the hand closest to the mage touched his where it sat on the wood of the deck. The man’s eyes flicked towards the touch and his smile strengthened a bit more. She coyly looked away, but didn’t move her hand as their fingers intertwined. They continued to talk, but their hands held on for a long time.

Grunting a little laugh, Sebastian said quietly, “Oh, I wouldn’t sell her so short. A woman knows how to get to a man in more than one way.”

Yara nodded before smiling up at him. She knew about getting at least one man to like her.

After five days since leaving the Siren Isles, the Sea Dragon was well into the Glacien Ocean. The islands surrounding the North Sea were hundreds of miles to the north and the red dot continued to the taunt the mage with its promise of the next step in the trail.

Sebastian wondered how much farther they would need to go. The Dark Emperor’s forces had shaken up the world, but when everything settled they had set down roots in the mountains north of Southwall. To think that they would have hidden the Grimnal much farther seemed wrong. The Quardi islands were to the southwest and beyond them the continent of Taltan where established countries would have easily noticed the black sailed ships of the emperor. They were still being pointed southeast and the only known lands were thousands of miles away.

Yaroma and Naoromi appeared as the mage contemplated the fate of the mission. Dripping on the deck, the mermaids had hurried to him without waiting for any towels. Olan followed as soon as he realized the mermaids had returned, but they were more interested in conveying new information to their leader.

“What is it, Yaroma? I assume you have found something,” Sebastian questioned as he watched them approach in an unusual rush.

Naoromi exchanged a glance with her sister before the elder mermaid replied, “There are signs that we head into a new clan’s waters.”

Trying to understand, he asked, “Are these signs warning you against anyone entering their territory or something?”

A look almost of shame washed over both women at the question and again they exchanged looks. Naoromi took over for her sister. Even without the magic of her siren voice, the pretty girl’s speech was musical as she replied for Yaroma, “I am afraid that we aren’t as knowledgeable about the clans beyond our isles. We have only had verbal teaching from our elders and they from theirs, but of course much of the knowledge was stifled by the pirates.

“In places we have seen markers. The seas we just passed through held only broken and long worn stones, but here they are new. It must be a strong clan and large because the markers extend from east to west beyond where we looked.”

Yaroma nodded, “We wanted to warn you first. This ship will cross the markers in just a little while.”

Sebastian sighed as he understood the importance of the mermaids’ news, but a ship on the surface was presumed beyond the influence of the warning. The mermaids swimming into an enemy’s territory worried him much more however. “If you think that it is unsafe for the two of you to swim here, then stay on the ship until we are safely past their territory. I don’t want you being attacked for entering their land,” he made a face at the word land. Being from the land, Sebastian was unsure of how to reference the underwater world.

“If we stay near the ship, we should be safe,” Naoromi assured him quickly. Like her sister, the dark haired mermaid seemed to need to repay him out of indebtedness for his freeing them. He could see it in both of their faces that they would rather risk punishment from the rival tribe, than let him down in a perceived way.

“I have enough air wizards to keep scouting in any direction for miles,” he reminded them without trying to undermine their worth as scouts for him. If he made them think they had been of little use, Bas was sure that they would find another way to try and repay him, but he feared it would bring more danger to them to try. “If you want to try and keep an eye out for more markers below the water, we can keep on looking for the island we’re looking for. After all, a man from our world wouldn’t be under the water. He will be somewhere that he can stand on earth.”

Yaroma’s eyes were unreadable as she answered, “These markers also have unusual writing on them. There are the usual marks that I was taught as a girl, but there are others as well. I could show you if I had something to write on.”

Sebastian led the women into the steerage cabin and found both waterproof paper and a piece of bound charcoal used by the sailors of Malaiy. Yaroma drew out both the writing of the merfolk and the marks that they hadn’t recognized. Naoromi put her hand in a few times correcting her sister much to the elder girl’s annoyance. When they were finished and stepped back, Olan let out a low whistle as he had followed the three into the cabin after handing the girls their towels.

Sebastian agreed with the sound of surprise. While he didn’t know the merfolk writing he did recognize the letters common to Southwall and much of Taltan. “Father’s People,” the mage read the words aloud. “What do the other markings mean, Yaroma?”

“I am not strong on our writing, but I think that it is something like Elder Picked, I think.”

Naoromi shook her head and corrected, “Father’s Chosen, sister. You never were one to learn our language, but it says ‘Father’s Chosen’. So perhaps the two together mean ‘Father’s Chosen People’?”

Sebastian pondered the idea and asked, “Do your people have gods and perhaps a father of gods in your mythology?”

The two thought on the idea a moment before Naoromi took the lead, “We have gods. The shark god, a dolphin god, the whale god, and even other dark gods that we believe in and some say that they have seen, but most say that we come from the mother sea. I suppose that there must be a father if there is a mother, but no one in the clan has ever told a story of a father god.”

“If Naoromi doesn’t know of the reference, then I am afraid we can not help you with that question,” Yaroma admitted knowing that her younger sister had paid more attention to the lessons given
by the elders while they were children. “We all have mothers and fathers, but a ‘Father’s Chosen People’ is both a strange name for a tribe and an unknown name.”

He thanked the two women dismissing them. Olan followed the girls after checking with Sebastian before leaving. Once more his owl side was put to the test of thinking this through and one thought kept coming to his mind. The legends of his people were often tales that could be confused with certain historical figures. The brother moons were gods, but some said there were chronicles of men with great power long ago. Their names might merely have taken on grandiose proportions and been declared gods over time.

A man who couldn’t be killed and lived beyond any normal lifetime like the Grimnal might be considered almost as mythical to normal people. As it was, many people of Southwall no longer believed that he was an immortal. The idea of someone living a thousand years or more was impossible to their minds. He was a legend, a myth, and someone like that might be used for a name like this. If he had been in the area for almost two hundred years and associated with the merfolk like his people had, then perhaps they looked to him as a father of them all.

These markings might actually be telling them that the man they pursued was as close as the dot on the compass told them. Sebastian would have to increase the range of the wind searches and start looking out for signs of the merfolk as well, if they were in an active clan area. A little excitement crept in as the man thought that maybe the end of his mission was closer to hand than he had originally feared.

Late on the fifth day, Themenor returned from his search looking more excited than he had when he had left. Normally very businesslike, the wizard had taken to Sebastian’s lead easily despite his being a mage, but that also made him a bit quiet around his new crewmates. To see him excited made Sebastian hopeful.

“There is an island ahead with huts and people living there straight ahead. Perhaps two more hours sailing will bring us to it. There are also a few other small islands nearby, but I spied no signs of life beyond some plants,” the wizard said restraining his excitement. He had picked up the desire to help Sebastian accomplish his grand mission. It was an excitement that he had never had just pursuing the Sea Dragon for Lord Romonus, an act he had apologized for allowing numerous times.

  A slight frown as Sebastian processed the information stilled the wizard’s face as he tried to read his leader’s expression. “Our maps don’t show any islands, so it is uncharted. That would be the type of island I would think Gerid would be exiled to if the emperor wanted him removed from the rest of the world, but kept close enough to be brought back through a portal on a ship.”

Darterian had joined them and overheard the conversation. The man interjected, “My grandfather has discussed the Grimnal many times both recently and in stories throughout my life. He has been concerned at his disappearance, but never believed the emperor had killed him.

“One other point that has confused the issue was the immortal’s power that seemed opposed to magic. Certain kinds can’t be used on him and I am not sure portal magic would work.”

Sebastian tried to think of the legends he knew of the Grimnal. So many were just stories, but one leaped out at him and he asked Darterian to clarify by saying, “Isn’t the whole Cataclysm based on the theory that the emperor came to our world as revenge for the Grimnal and your grandfather going to his world to defeat him? He would have had to pass through a magic gate to accomplish that, wouldn’t he?”

The other man was silenced by the thought as he mulled the idea over. He had heard more stories and from a man who had lived through them besides. “I hadn’t thought of that,” Darterian admitted in quiet surprise.

Beginning to pace as he thought the problem through, Sebastian thought aloud. “But if they were using him for experiments at one time, the emperor might not need him there anyway. They could just cut samples from his flesh. The ships sent could come and go as they pleased if they placed some form of barrier to hold him. The curse barrier on Maldus’s prison had been enough to restrict us, so what is to say that another barrier designed for the Grimnal isn’t around the island.”

Sebastian left the men in the steerage cabin and hurried down to his room. He brought the axe and ring to the deck and placed them on the wood surface a few feet from the wall supporting the rear deck. If there was a barrier designed to trap the man who was unique in that he could resist most magic, then perhaps his personal weapon and the ring that mimicked his power would react to that barrier.