Battle Mage: Winter's Edge (18 page)

Chapter 9- Heart of the Stone

             
When Sebastian awoke to darkness, the wounded mage couldn’t remember even going to sleep. After following the tunnel for what seemed like hours, the man had finally succumbed to the need for rest. His injuries required time to heal and the fighting itself had taken its toll. How long he had slept, Sebastian had no idea. Being so deep inside the mountain, the sun was a far off concept and his eyes could make nothing of the surroundings.

             
“Fire wisp,” he ordered picturing a floating ball of flame. Trying to conserve his energy, the mage locked the spell letting it feed off of itself to avoid using anymore magic.

             
Despite calling it to life himself, the light of the red flame nearly blinded him in the tight corridor of the natural tunnel. Shielding his eyes from the direct light, the mage began to wander ever deeper into the bowels of the small mountain.

             
His sense of distance and direction were so thrown off inside the confining tunnel that Sebastian couldn’t be sure just how far he walked before he found signs of outside influences on the stone. Beams of wood began to appear to shore up the rock of the passage. Discarded tools and small casks of oil for lanterns were set along the walls here and there as well proving that someone had been here and not long ago.

             
When the first lit torch was found, the mage extinguished the wisp and out of caution he drew the shadows tighter around him using his stealth spell. The existence of fresh torches let him know that someone else must be near. He could only assume that it was the creatures his party had fought, but the mountains were still relatively uncharted and untamed after a couple hundred years. Bandits, miners, or even these creatures of the Dark Emperor could have set up such tunnels as a hideout or a true mine, so far the exact nature had yet to be discovered.

             
Surprisingly, it took a long time after discovering the tools before he found out the answer to the inhabitants of the underground lair. When he did, Sebastian knew that being invisible would be crucial to escape. A couple goblins using their pick axes to create yet another tunnel were the first beings he came across. Smaller than their cousins, the orcs, in large numbers they could still be overwhelmingly deadly. The mage chose caution and maintained his spell while quietly moving past the goblins who were occupied with their task making enough noise that he feared little enough about giving himself away.

             
Not much farther along, a small squad of orcs was found squabbling over some game in the corner while several more were snoring loudly on their crudely crafted bunk beds.

             
Where would they keep prisoners? He wondered.

             
When the mage found a secluded room, he chose to use a spell that he had learned from one of the many tomes Sebastian had looked through over the past year. Taken from a nature wizard’s book, the mage heightened his senses in a similar way to the often used reflex spell, but unlike that spell this one heightened his senses much like an animal. Both his hearing and sense of smell were increased many times beyond human thanks to the magic. With the magical enhancement in place, the mage began to search for the known scents of his companions. A difference in smell from the pungent odor of the goblins and orcs alone would make his work easier.

             
Donning his stealth once more, he let his senses take in the depths of the mountain. The foul stench of the orcs and goblins made him nearly regret his tactic, but the scent of Rilena registered on the air though it was faint and far off. Sebastian knew his friend’s perfume well enough, even the more basic scents of her body made them known with the abilities of a hound searching the air.

             
His goal found, Sebastian set off with renewed purpose, though he was constrained by his need to avoid detection from the emperor’s creatures. He was moving towards his goal as quickly as he could, when something strong suddenly caught his senses. Almost overwhelming in its dark strangeness, the mage needed to pause and collect himself after the new distraction.

             
His curiosity piqued, the mage felt compelled to search for the source of this new smell. It reeked of power and the darkness of its evil made all of the combined orcs and goblins pale in comparison. Torn between finding his friends and the need to discern this new evil as his steps kept drawing him further away, the fact that it was closer than his companions helped him decide.

             
The new halls were larger now and appeared much like that of a castle with its squared stone construction. Iron bound doors sealing rooms, where they were closed, were nearly regal compared to the frail wooden frames down in the depths of the mountain, if the distant rooms even bothered to have doors. Torches were uniformly spaced and lit while a strong current circulated drawing off the smoke through stone slits formed in the ceiling.

             
Sebastian wondered how close to the surface he was now.

             
The thought was interrupted with a start as the door at the end of the hall was thrown open. The source was on the move and it was headed his way. The tunnel suddenly felt very small. Invisible or not, the mage felt extremely vulnerable where he stood in the stone hall.

             
Moving for the nearest open door as quick as he dared, Sebastian shot into the room even as he kept his eyes on the far doorway. Several orc guards seemed to scurry away like insects before the power behind them. Nervousness spread like wildfire before the presence. The next four ebony and leather clad men also bore the scent of dark magic. The emperor had many wizards of varying power serving him. These wizards were to be feared, but even they paled before the power still hidden within the room. Could the Dark One himself be here so far from his fortress in the north?

             
Then Sebastian saw him. Towering over the mages, a giant of a man with silver hair strode through the doorway. Like a black hearted version of the Grimnal of legend, the man strode like a god among men. Even the four creatures trailing him lacked the raw darkness of the giant.

             
The last four consisted of four men. Two bore shadowed eyes. Like pits of darkness, the wraiths’ eyes stared at their master’s back guarding him despite the stone mountain surrounding them. The other two looked rough and smelled of wolves. Dressed in simple, loose brown clothing, their hair hung long and wildly. They weren’t truly dirty and yet they smelled of the earth. Had they been the only creatures here, the falcon might have worried over them more, but his eyes kept pulling towards the giant.

             
Why was the feeling of the Grimnal so strong? It wasn’t like he had ever seen the man in his life. In fact, he knew of not one soul that had seen the legendary figure in decades, though no one could say that they had heard of him dying either. The immortal of more than a thousand years, who had helped lead much of the North Continent for most of that millennium, had simply vanished some time after the cataclysm. Had he been captured by the emperor and changed into this being before him, or was there some other connection between the two?

             
His friend, Palose, had been turned into a creature much like the wraiths here. A former battle mage and true hero of Southwall to Sebastian’s mind, the young man had died only to be resurrected as a shadow of the person he once was and placed in the heart of Windmeer to bring one of the emperor’s armies into the castle to try and destroy it. Had something like that happened to the unkillable and immortal Grimnal?

             
              “How did Southwall’s wizards find our fortress?” the giant snapped backhanding an orc too slow to escape the party’s way.

             
The falcon trailed the group quietly watching and analyzing the giant and his entourage. His curiosity had led him to them and now they were in turn leading him to the others, but that wasn’t good for any of them, he thought. Had he already lost his chance to save them from his need to discover this disturbing man of power and darkness?

             
Another orc who was dressed finer than his fellows fell in alongside the giant. The creature’s lieutenants gave the rest of the powerful men a wide berth as their leader moved closer to the giant. If punishment was too fall on their superior, they hoped that maybe being out of easy reach would spare them the same.

             
The creature answered the giant in a language that Sebastian could not follow, but the giant frowned angrily and replied. “What do you mean you have no idea? You tell me that you captured three wizards and that you lost another over the side of a cliff. But how did they know to come here?” He raised a hand looking ready to smite the orc a moment before lowering the hand once more. “You had better hope that you are right that he is dead. If even one of them escapes to find help, our operation will be forfeit and the emperor will not be lenient on those who have failed him.” The giant spared a sidewise glance at the lesser orcs and they cringed. “It doesn’t matter how many of these creatures you lead either. They won’t be enough to save you from his wrath, commander.

             
“I will interrogate these wizards for you, but your men had better find the other wizard’s remains. If you are wrong, I will break your neck myself!”

             
On the inside, Sebastian cringed as well. The giant was going to interrogate the others. Great. It was bad enough that the orcs might find enough of his path into the crevasse and heighten their search for him within the stone, but the very evil that was most likely to kill his team was headed straight for them. His mind raced for a solution, but he feared that it was already too late for his allies.

He followed the Emperor’s men as they entered a large room furnished with tables and tools that looked designed for just one thing, pain. The implements not just for mere discomfort but pain and torture could be had at a mere reach of the hand. Cells with iron bars lined the sides of the room and orcs and goblins of varying degrees of wear on their bodies and faces could be seen scrambling into the furthest corners of their chambers. The evil power entering the room caused a few to start whimpering uncontrollably, to which they received snaps of whips in their direction from the burly guards standing nearest them.

              Sebastian had a feeling that the guards wanted them quiet more to avoid drawing attention their way than to keep the creatures quiet for the prisoners’ safety. He could smell fear fill the room within as the orcs, goblins and men all watched this giant and his dark entourage striding into the torture chamber.

             
Even the eyes of his own team widened in surprise and even a touch of fear could be seen in Rilena and Nereith’s faces. Druick bound in chains and kneeling on the floor with the other two somehow found a way to instill stone into his face. He showed nothing of the fear that he may have felt, but the falcon thought he could smell it even on the brave wizard with his heightened senses. It wouldn’t surprise the mage if he was at least a bit frightened. His team had no idea Sebastian was here and even he had no idea how he could free them from what was coming. Even a healthy battle mage had little hope of fighting a mountain full of the Dark One’s forces, and he was just one wounded man, but his mind kept grasping for ideas.

             
The mizard slid to the side of the room and continued to let the shadows protect him as he waited for what he feared would happen.

             
“Wizards of Southwall,” the giant sniffed in disdain. “You let mere orcs capture you. This does not bode well for your people, if their best and most powerful are humbled by mere orcs and their tactics.”

             
The wraiths chuckled and their voices were like the rasp of dead leaves on stone. The wolf like men sneered in equal amusement with their fellows and the mage could feel his friends’ hearts sink.

             
The words weren’t true, Bas thought. Orcs may not be the Emperor’s most powerful forces, but they were numerous and they had proven resourceful with their tactics through out the years. Also he and the others had inflicted good damage on the beasts despite the ambush, before the others had been brought down. It was merely an ambush that had gone well. If it had been different, if the wizards and mages had set the trap, then the orcs of the same number would be the ones humbled, he felt certain.

             
He set the thoughts angrily behind him. This wasn’t the time to let the giant’s words distract him with anger. What was he going to do, jump out and try and kill a handful of creatures just to prove a battle mage could do more?

             
“Who are you?” Druick’s voice asked directly. Despite the hoarseness caused by too little water since his capture, the wizard sounded strong.

             
The giant snorted even as the other dark creatures all bristled stiffly and appeared ready to answer his question with pain. “Though I have no need to answer such questions from one like you, I suppose I can answer this much. I am Garosh. My title is none of your business, but suffice it to say that I know the Emperor well,” he bragged.