Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) (41 page)

Ashleen stepped onto the sand with Evie who looked incredulously at the surrounding jungle and sea. She was young and had lived in the cave city of the emperor most of her life. The mountains, where Garosh's fortress was located, were very similar to the Dragon's Spine Mountains the Dark One controlled. While White Hall was pleasant enough and had forests nearby like the fortress in the mountain; this tropical world was very different.

Both girls pulled off their shoes to play with their toes in the sand walking closer to the water. The waves lapped onto the beach and over their feet while they waited for the rest of their group to arrive. Sebastian smiled at the youthful enjoyment on their faces.

Rilena and Elzen looked jealous of the girls. As mages, they were part of the security detail. Ashleen had come because Sebastian had and Evie was there for much the same reason. She was like a new little sister to him and had wormed her way into their lives. Sometimes that made Ashleen frustrated, though she liked the girl like a sister as well.

Going shopping with the younger girl was enjoyable for the wilder and they were both similar as wizards, since they were both wilders. Evie was a changeling wizard, but had little true training. Her magic was instinctive like Ashleen's lightning though.

When Evie would sneak into their room in the night, it was like having had a child added to their lives. The problem was both Sebastian and Ashleen had a feeling the young teenager knew enough about life to be less innocent than she pretended to be. She wasn't really a child coming to her parents for security, though that was part of it. Evie was a young woman trying to worm her way into his life as more than just his ward.

They couldn't bring themselves to shut her down completely and Ashleen in particular had been working on training her on civilized society and its rules. Still the girl had woken them up joining them in bed often since that first night. When she wasn't subtle enough they made her use the spare bed while trying to get back to sleep. Sebastian worried about it, but it was among the least of his problems.

As he looked at the little red head, Sebastian was just glad that after the shopping trip, Evie was dressing like a girl her age should. Today wearing extended shorts which touched her upper calves and a red blouse, the wilder looked less wild and more like a carefree teenage girl.

Ashleen's hand found his as they walked and habit made him take her hand though this was technically a battle mage mission. The warm island air, hypnotizing crash of the waves onto sand and stone, and late morning sunlight made for a scene that was rather romantic in tone. He noticed the mermaids doing the same with their boyfriends.

Meanwhile Evie joined Serrena splashing through the waves as they lapped past their feet. Sebastian doubted that the little wilder had ever had a chance to play in the water during her lifetime. While the wizards tended to be enjoying themselves walking barefoot, the bulk of the team consisted of battle mages wearing their boots.

Rilena was youthful enough to have joined the young women in the surf, but like the other mages, she walked with her boots on watching the green jungle somewhat warily. These were supposed to be people who owed their freedom to Sebastian and his ship full of wizards and mages, but even the beautiful surroundings couldn't make those ready for war settle completely without scouting the island.

"I bet, if you told some of the rich folk of Hala about this place, there would be those willing to build an inn or two if your wizards were willing to send customers via the portals. People would pay good money to visit a beautiful place like this," Ashleen said as she pulled him to the left towards the wet sand. Her bare feet sunk into the sand and he thought as she slowed her pace that the girl worked the sand squishing it between her toes as if massaging the earth.

"If the islanders agree to such terms, I suppose that it would be possible. I don't know if the wizards or the king would approve. They might need to send lumber and other supplies if there isn't enough good wood here to build such a place though."

Falconi Brelan overheard their brief discussion and stated, "I think that building some form of resort is getting ahead of ourselves; though if such a place was available by walking through a portal in an instant, I could certainly see the draw."

"The king would probably demand a small garrison here to protect it and the people who came here. If pirates still roam the islands in any kind of numbers, it might not be as safe as it seems," Sebastian added.

Grunting a laugh, the falconi replied, "I'd volunteer to lead a garrison here. It would be like a permanent vacation, even if there was a bit of work to do."

They were getting closer to the river like channel separating the north island and the one to the south holding the wooden fort of the pirates when a single voice carried on the wind. Sebastian felt his mind getting foggy.

Yaroma cried out, "A siren's song, cover the ears of the men!"

Ashleen's hand had been released as the spell's affect started to take hold of Sebastian and she quickly moved in front of him clapping her hands over his ears. The thump as her hands slapped over his ears trying to keep him from hearing the song was enough to make the mage order his protective spell, "Freedom."

With his mind freed, Sebastian watched as the other women quickly worked to prevent the male mages and wizards from falling under the siren's spell. They had brought ear plugs along since only Sebastian could separate his mind from his body and navigate through the power of the song. The owl had found that he couldn't be controlled if his mind rode the air, even if he could hear the music while using the spell. His consciousness on the wind heard without his ears and managed to keep him free, while staying near his body let the mage control his movements with only a little delay.

Olan stood with Yaroma and Elzen had been protected by Naoromi. The two mages waited watching for directions unable to hear more than the loudest noises near them. They had brought along two diplomat wizards, one male and one female. The woman, Dinah, had protected Oltus, her opposite. Brelan took care of her falcondi, Felden, while remainder of their party took care of those that they were assigned to help.

As the men shook the cobwebs from their heads, Sebastian moved closer to their mermaids saying, "The magic didn't seem as powerful this time."

Naoromi listened carefully saying, "There is just one voice. I think it is Shefar."

The woman seemed confused by the use of magic as she looked questioningly at her sister. Nodding in turn, Yaroma replied, "That is Shefar, but just one siren singing is rather uncommon. I wonder why she would risk using her magic alone?"

"Well, it seems to be coming from the same place you and your sisters tried to capture our men when we came across you the first time," Sebastian said and gestured with his hand as if to give everyone a push forward. The other mages understood the gesture easily enough and began to walk forward with their hands touching their swords' grips.

Mages were enough of a weapon without a sword and everyone capable of magic had the defensive runes if not more. Even Ashleen, whose lightning could defend her without directing it, had let him place the marks invisibly on her. Most of the women of the north weren't fans of marking their bodies, but the invisible runes meant they could be protected and only notice them when something triggered their defense.

Yaroma pulled at Olan's hand leading the way. The women had been told to direct the deafened men in case such a thing had happened. Sebastian had hoped there would be no incident, but preparing had led them to bring a force consisting of more than half their number being women. Sirens couldn't control them and they could protect their male team members.

When they arrived at the inlet separating the two islands, a young blonde haired woman floating in the water could be seen singing. A tail flipped forward driving the girl back towards the far island at the sight of the group walking towards her. At first panic from seeing so many women among the men, who weren't walking in a daze at all despite her magic, crossed the girl's eyes; but then she caught sight of the two dark haired sisters leading the two mages.

"Yaroma, Naoromi, you're back!" the younger girl cried out stopping her song in her surprise.

Sebastian noted several men and women lurking in the brush beneath the trees on the far side of the water. They were dressed lightly like the locals had been when they had arrived. The blonde mermaid only wore a green bra like garment above the tail. It looked like waxed leaves somehow sewn together as if they used one of the local plants for weaving and maintained the properties of a leaf.

"Shefar, why are you using your magic?" the elder sister called out in complaint. "You could have snared our friends!"

Blinking in surprise, the mermaid swam closer asking in return, "You're not being coerced by more pirates?"

The question seemed odd and it was Sebastian who asked, "Have more pirates returned since we left you the fort?"

"Ah, the nice man who freed us is with you!" Shefar waved back at the trees. She called to those hiding badly, "It's safe!

Without the siren's song playing, the men with him removed the ear plugs and Sebastian returned to his body while the girl swam to the water's edge changing back to a human girl before wading through the last couple feet to greet her sisters. Not from the same mother's womb as the two dark haired girls, Shefar was a sister because the sirens related to one another as such since their group was so exclusive.

"Why are you afraid of pirates?" Sebastian asked again bringing the conversation back to his worry for their people.

Her blue eyes, slightly large like the other mermaids had, looked to the mage making a face that implied repulsion. "We tried to do as you told us. We held the pirates inside new cages as our prisoners, but there were those among our people who still sympathized with them. They talked the others into letting some of the pirates help us work the fields.

"Since no one wanted to feed the prisoners off more of our hard work, it wasn't that difficult to convince them. We knew to be careful and didn't let them all out at any one time, but some of them escaped from the fields. Then another group with two of the wizards managed to disappear from the cages, but no one saw them leave. Only a hole in the cage and one in the wall behind it left any evidence that they had burned their way out of it."

Her eyes turned dark and dropped away towards the ground, "They killed the remaining two wizards for fear of them escaping as well."

Sebastian felt a pain in his heart with that confession. For all his attempts to end things peacefully, the merfolk had put two men to death for the crimes of the others. "Did the ships come to collect the rest?"

The girl's eyes brightened slightly as she nodded. "A ship from... Talu?"

"Talos," he corrected for the girl knowing the first allied land he could inform of the pirates' capture. Talos had been a brief stop on the way west and home.

"Yes, that was it," Shefar nodded sending her blond hair cascading down the front of her shoulders onto her chest. The deep green of her top made the light blond hair stand out like sunlight in a clearing. "A ship from Talos came to take away the captain and those who remained. They offered to leave behind a few soldiers as well, but the elders said that they could try to bring them in now that the others were no longer necessary to guard.

"They only asked them to send another ship from time to time to check up on us so they could put them on 'trial' as they called it."

Sebastian heard the story and asked, "And have you found the ones who disappeared?"

"The hunters found a few dead, or at least they said that they were dead when they found them. Noram leads the hunters now and no one questioned it. A few of us wondered if they killed them instead of having to try guarding them once more."

"Maybe I should see what help we can offer while we're here then," Sebastian offered gesturing towards the water with an open hand.

The younger girl nodded and quickly joined her sisters. Using their amulets and mumbled words of power, the three walked into the water and soon had tails to begin swimming across. They didn't offer to help the others swim across as they had months before. Liam stepped up and began to chant a spell instead.

Ice formed into a bridge reaching from one beach to the other making an easy, if slippery crossing for the others. While most of the group attempted to cross the thick ice as it lifted and fell slightly with the waves entering the islet, Sebastian called on a large, blue mage shield. Cast horizontally, he called upon more in a line as he held Ashleen's hand. The two began walking across his line of shields. Never more than four created at one time, the couple crossed as quickly as the others. Water rippled over the blue shields, but Ashleen was barefoot and his boots could take more than a couple inches of water.

Elzen saw his temporary platforms and began trying the same thing. His strength was a little less and his ability to juggle multiple shields wasn't as strong, but creating two shields at a time the younger mage looked like he was playing a game as he stepped from one shield to another casting a new one with each step.

The minor obstacle passed, the expedition was led on a minor path by the barefoot Shefar. A cleared trail was virtually unnoticed and felt at times like they were just walking through openings in the brush, but it continued without having to cut away at the greenery around them. Sebastian noticed that two of the islanders remained where they entered the path keeping their selves hidden.