Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) (9 page)

The boy paused but added before anyone else could speak up and say anything, "Of course, Darius isn't from Southwall, so maybe even that doesn't count."

Again he shrugged as Darius smiled at the acknowledgement of his accomplishment. "I don't think that it is really a competition, Elzen, but Sebastian does have an inventive mind.

Addressing Sebastian as the wizard's eyes looked to the young man, Darius asked, "How did you come up with the new rune to make this work anyway? I thought that you still couldn't really read any of the merfolk writing."

"Merfolk writing?" a female voice asked from behind the mage. Turning to see a pair of dark haired young women hovering within earshot of their table, Sebastian motioned for the women to sit down. Though their hair color was common enough among the people of Southwall; their eyes seemed different from the average woman with Taltan ancestry. Slightly larger and with pupils surprisingly large compared to the eyes of the others at the table, the color of their eyes also seemed deeper than they should be.

"Hello, Yaroma, Naoromi," the mage greeted the pair who he knew fairly well. His money had to pay for the girls' room in the inn as well, since they had followed him from a small chain of islands while on his journey. The mage and his people had helped save them from slavers making the girls feel beholden to him.

Even after finding the Grimnal, they had remained with his group, but more because he couldn't figure out how to get them back home safely. For now, they remained his responsibility and he also hid their secret as well. The two women were from another clan which had once been merfolk like the ones he had received rune magic from, but only the two girls and a few others from their people retained the ability to change into mermaids.

Naoromi, the younger of the two sisters, touched his shoulder sliding her fingers over his shoulder as she found a chair on the other side of Ashleen. The touch was less flirtatious than a need to feel safe. The mage had saved them and, without his team of mages in attendance, Sebastian was their only true protector. He had been forced to protect them since arriving in the city as well, but Sebastian knew they were safe with Darius and his elves.

The elder sister, Yaroma, asked again, "What were you saying of the merfolk writing?"

Pushing a little of his power into the runes on his left arm, Sebastian reminded the young woman of the strange lettering that held power on its own as well. A normal man or woman could wear the runes and still find protection from weapons even without using magic. Sebastian had discovered that mages and wizards could push their magic into the runes making them exhibit new more powerful abilities.

"The runes are a form of writing from the people living near Gerid's island," he stated. Those people were also a secret to the world in general, but those in hearing distance were in the loop who knew of the merfolk. "The shaman who first drew them on my arm, and the other four runes as well, said that if I managed to understand the runes on my own, he would teach me more. Since I figured out how to use my magic to move and copy the runes of the others, I have begun to understand them better. I don't know if the shamans of the tribe would acknowledge it as understanding, but I feel like I have begun to comprehend more about them."

Yaroma nodded and apologized with the words, "I wish Naoromi and I could help you with those. We grew up only able to learn what our people could pass on verbally. The slavers who kept us prisoner wouldn't allow any writing.

"I think they knew that such knowledge in our hands might help us gain our freedom if we could use those which were magic," the young woman said showing no real reaction to her words. While they had been treated poorly and seen many of their people sold off into slavery while the children grew up in large cages to hold them until they grew old enough to be sold as well, Yaroma and her sister never appeared to dwell too deeply on their past tragedies.

Pointing to the stone necklace around her neck partially obscured by her blouse and long hair, Sebastian said, "Your necklace has several runes on it actually. Do you know what any of them mean?"

After pulling her hair behind her shoulders, Yaroma lifted the stone attached to a bronzed chain from the concealment of her blouse noting the markings on the stone. Made of what appeared to be common stone one might find from the Dimple Mountains, the material would draw no pickpockets or cutpurses. Even the chain had little more value than the stone to an eye looking for profit.

The young woman proceeded to pull the necklace from around her neck and looked reticent to do so. Sebastian couldn't remember either of the women removing their necklaces since he had first met them on their island. They had used their siren song to try and pull the men of his ship into the water where they would have drowned. Unfortunately for the young women, they were countered by several female wizards and mages from his team. Using magic to counter magic, even Sebastian was able to escape their control using a spell before he could lose his mind to their magic.

Defeated and having their necklaces stripped from them at first, it was only after speaking with the sirens that they had discovered they were using their powers against their will for the slavers who held their people hostage. The necklaces had been returned to allow the women to change into mermaids again. Without them, once changed into human form, the mermaids were as human as Ashleen or Rilena.

Sebastian took the necklace looking at it closely. His eyes spied a few of the markings which looked familiar to him, but closed his lids before running his fingers over them as well. He knew the markings by sight and feel on his skin as the one who had placed most of them himself. The feel of magic was within the piece as well and the mage thought that he could feel texture to that which couldn't be seen by his eyes at all, even searching for magic.

After opening his eyes, Darius asked him, "May I see that as well? I can't say that I am familiar with your people's magic or writing, but some words of power tend to cross from one language to another. Some have theorized that magic comes from a single ancient language that transcends all others incorporating similar figures among all of them that are actually the same."

Sebastian passed the high wizard the amulet after Yaroma nodded her assent. The piece was invaluable to her people, so he knew that the young woman was trusting Sebastian wouldn't give it to someone they couldn't trust. Living up to such trust had been possible so far, but he was still just a mage and unsure if there would be a time that he couldn't protect the girls.

"Hmm," the wizard hummed touching the cuts in the stone similarly to Sebastian though he didn't close his eyes like the mage. "I think these two look familiar. If I am not off in my translation, this one is for sleep while this one is 'mind'. There are others here that I am unsure of both before and between the two I recognize, however."

Ashleen commented, "Well, if it has something to do with sleeping minds, maybe that would cover part of what their siren song can do."

The wilder had been there after being rescued by Sebastian also. She had helped the other wizards from Southwall and Malaiy stop the sirens, though perhaps it was more accurate to say that she helped Sebastian. They had been close even by then, though the mage had his heart on a healer from his team instead.

Sebastian directed his next comment to Yaroma saying, "Perhaps when I have a chance to find some paper, you will let me copy the runes to examine them further?"

The mermaid nodded replying, "Of course, we owe you too much to refuse such a simple favor. The only thing I would have to refuse is if you might somehow damage or erase its magic."

"Well, I don't think drawing the runes will harm the amulet or its magic in anyway, but I will be careful," he acknowledged her worry.

Darius questioned, "Were there more amulets with your people on the island?"

Sebastian wondered at the question, but felt that there was a reason for such an odd query. It was just beyond being obvious for his mind to come up with the answer to his wondering.

"There are a few more held by our other sisters," Naoromi answered for Yaroma. He guessed that the younger woman was getting bored being ignored by her sibling, but the sisters she mentioned were not her actual blood sisters like Yaroma. The girls who could use the siren magic of the amulets were limited to just a few and they called each other 'sister' because of the closeness they shared in the power.

Darius didn't release the thought which had prompted the question right away as the immortal seemed lost in his thinking, but Sebastian was beginning to grasp why he would ask now. The wizard knew that the younger man had been wrestling with a way to return them home to unite the mermaids with their people.

There was a gateway on the Grimnal's island, which Sebastian had stolen from the Betrayer. How the dark mage had managed to set up the portal there was still a mystery, but even if he sent the girls to that island, there were hundreds of miles of ocean between the portal and the home of their people. The dangers of such a trip made him worry about setting the mermaids free in such a way.

Yaroma and Naoromi might be mermaids, but they weren't as knowledgeable of the ocean as the merfolk living near Grimnal Island. They had been confined to the islands or their cages for their entire existence and had only left after Sebastian and his crew had freed them. It would be like releasing a fish from a pond near his home into the North Sea and expecting it to know the dangers it would face there. It was unreasonable to believe something unfamiliar with a new area would be safe.

Darius looked at the mage and nodded to the younger man as if transferring his thoughts.

It didn't take a spell to make him figure out the line of reflection. Sebastian had found Palose's portals by tracing the man's magic. The amulets on the Siren Isles would likely let him trace a bridge to them through Silver World and the portals he could make.

Passing the amulet back to the mermaid, Darius asked, "If we could use the tie of your amulets to the others, would you wish to return home to your family?"

He had said it, but not told them that it was entirely possible. Sebastian only had to get out his map and try.

Looking surprised, the sisters exchanged glances a moment before Yaroma answered, "We followed Sebastian to try and pay him back for what he has done for us and our people. If we have become too much of a burden of late, then, if it was possible, I suppose we would prefer to return to the islands to check on our families again. We would rather leave him, even if Naoromi and I feel that the debt isn't paid in full, than be a burden."

Naoromi sighed and nodded. "We know that he pays for our room at the inn. Perhaps we should ask Hilda to allow us to work to pay for our room instead. The use of Sebastian's money to pay our way means that we have begun to owe him more rather than finding a way to pay our debt to him."

Shaking his head, the mage replied, "You helped enough in finding the Grimnal. If I had felt comfortable sending you home from there, I think you could have considered your debt paid."

Both girls frowned at his answer.

Yaroma countered, "We hardly did anything. We swam as scouts beneath the waves and tested the barrier at the island. That hardly equals freeing all our people."

The mage sighed. He knew that their sense of honor, or whatever they wished to call it, meant the mermaids wanted to do something big for him; but he didn't know how they could pay him back in such a way that they would feel equal once more. Until then, the man was stuck with them unless maybe they felt that they were becoming a burden.

Naoromi added, "Perhaps I am being selfish, but I am not sure that I want to go back to the islands yet. Hala and the other cities we have been allowed to explore are much more fun than living on some island in the middle of nowhere. I'm not sure why our ancestors picked them at all."

"It was because of the Cataclysm, little sister," Yaroma answered giving her a look that appeared to question Naoromi's memory. They had all the knowledge their parents and the other adults could pass to them orally. Such a culture relied on the memories of the entire tribe to try and keep track of their history. Many things were probably lost because they couldn't write them down to maintain consistency in the stories.

Darius spoke up saying, "If Sebastian could return you home; he could also create a permanent gate. Perhaps that would allow him to return you to your family. I am sure that you must worry about them also.

"With the gate there, it would be easy enough to bring you or any of your people to him or one of the other gates in Southwall," the wizard said sounding like he was trying to be helpful.

The mage, on the other hand, wondered if it was truly helpful. If the two didn't wish to return home, then he was still stuck with them or forced to make them go home making the mermaids unhappy that they couldn't fulfill their need to help him. The thought and words his mind chose made Sebastian question if he was ready to return them as well. Perhaps he had grown fonder of them than he had realized.

Yaroma's face fell slightly with the idea, which made Sebastian a little surprised. Darius had just gift wrapped the best possibilities into one scenario. They could return home and still have a chance to help him, if he simply called them through a portal.

Another worry came to the mage's mind though. "We will be opening another gate that the Dark One might use against us."