Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) (19 page)

"That spell required no words," Garrett marveled. "How does it work?"

Sebastian placed his palm upwards on the table motioning with his fingers for the falconi to place his palm on the younger mage's hand.

"Let me show you," he offered.

Falconi Garrett seemed slightly reserved having no idea what Sebastian planned to do, but he had faith in his former student. Though not directly his mentor, the two had spoken fairly often, especially in the days before his first position on the wall. With that trust, Sebastian took his hand while pushing his magic into the oval. It glowed and seemed to double as his magic copied the mark. Moving along his arm to the falconi's right hand, it moved until it centered on the inner forearm of the mage leader.

"How?" the older man started but shook his head. "Never mind, but now how do I use it?"

Taking his fork, Sebastian pushed against his own forearm in demonstration. The metal began to slide into the ink disappearing like his sword and backpack, but the mage stopped pulling it free.

"When it is like this, you merely have to imagine it opening to receive an item. If you want it to lift free and enlarge, you have to push your power into it."

The falconi performed the same experiment with his fork watching it disappear into his arm. There was no blood or pain. The ink had magic and existed on his skin making it the first point of contact, thus the magic stood between the man and whatever he placed against it.

Martina asked, "Might I try that?"

She put out her left hand and Sebastian smiled. "I think I have one you'll like better."

The runes of his left arm copied over to the woman. A much larger tattoo than the oval, Martina frowned at the marks. "What do these do?"

Taking his fork again, Sebastian raised it above the table and stabbed downward onto her arm. His other hand held her hand fast. Unable to avoid the strike, she winced waiting for the pain to come; but it was the fork which gave. A glow rippled through the immediate area of the runes showing the magic at work.

The falconi's eyes went from her arm to the fork held in Sebastian's hand. As he let go of her hand, the woman frowned and asked, "I only asked what this could do. I didn't ask to be scared into thinking I was about to be stabbed by a lunatic mage."

Laughter rippled through those around them and Sebastian bowed his head slightly as he said his apology and explained, "I wanted you to see that whether you knew it or not, your arm was already protected. The rune acts for you based on your instinct. Sorry to surprise you, but I thought the defense runes would impress you more this way."

"You are a cheeky boy still," Martina said in annoyance as if she were decades older than the half dozen years she actually was. "I ought to put you through another weapon's test like before you left."

Sebastian smiled coolly and he stated, "The last time was a draw. I don't think you would want me to do that with you again."

Martina's eyes narrowed and the woman replied with a chill to her voice, "You've grown cocky in a short time. Maybe I will make you fight me again while you are here."

Sebastian shrugged and calmly stated, "You don't know all that I have learned in that short time. I'm not the same cadet you knew then. I didn't have confidence or battle field experience either. Back then I was being called out by the Great Falconi Martina, who ate up and spit out little cadets to show them that they weren't good enough to be falcons."

Giving a surprising laugh at his words, Martina's eyes were amused and yet still held an edge of danger to them as she retorted, "I spit out falcons the same way, not just mouthy cadets."

Elzen spoke up as the two subsided and added, "You should have seen him in New Harbor. I used to beat him in hand to hand. I'm not sure I could take him anymore."

"Speaking of mouthy cadets," Martina said as she turned to glare at Elzen. He had been the class clown and a troublemaker to an extent, though it was usually good natured in design.

For those who knew the cadet well enough to understand, the laughter came again.

Katya leaned in closer while Elzen tried to defend himself saying he was a falcon now and not a cadet. While Martina argued about whether he should have been promoted or put in a cell for the trouble he had caused.

"Sebastian, where did you get that black sword you pulled out earlier?"

Surprised that she had noticed the weapon in particular being a wizard who would touch no sword until she was maybe an apprentice if at all, her brother answered wondering why she asked, "I bought it from a sword dealer in Hala when I was looking for swords made by current craftsmen to learn about the metal mixtures they used. When I told the man that it wasn't actually made of metal, I managed to get it for a much lower price, though to be fair it may be stronger than most swords made today.

"There was magic to it, though it seemed to be used to make it not to add to the sword's power or anything. Why do you ask?"

"I think that I know who made it."

His eyes widened and asked, "How do you know them? I've never seen magic like it and the look of the weapon is pretty unique."

Looking unsure if she should venture the information, Katya lowered her voice even more saying, "My roommate has five more of them."

Stunned by the news Bas stated, "Well then I have to meet him. Wait, a roommate? Then it was a girl who made these?"

Nodding at her brother, she almost seemed to get quieter as she answered, "Yes and no, she's actually a che'ther who came to study with us here. I wanted you to meet her if you had time anyway."

"A che'ther, one of the dragon people from Mar'kal, made this? Why would she come here if she has this sort of skill?"

No one was paying attention to them, so Katya continued, "Darius has already tried to help her, but he says that he can't do more than he has. She's been cursed into a human body. Cheleya's so sweet that you would never know it, but I think she's pretty sad about not being able to be in her own body."

The news packed so much information in such a short time, Katya couldn't have stunned him more even if she used her budding magic.

"I have to make the new gate, but I'm sure I will get time to do other things. Depending on how much I have to do here, I would like to meet with her. She uses magic like I have never seen before."

Katya grinned and said, "That isn't all she can do. In fact, she and Kel'lor have been teaching a class on dragon mage magic.

"Martina's in the class too, so you might want to take back your willingness to fight her. You don't know what she has learned since you last saw her either."

Intrigued by the notion, Sebastian glanced to the falconi briefly, but then looked to Garrett as he asked, "Do you think High Wizard Herrol and the others will come to a decision soon? I can't do much with the gate until they are finished. The lodestones Darius gave them will be destroyed once it is finished and be replaced by the new gate frame."

Sighing, the elder mage replied, "They're wizards from different factions. If they manage to work out their ideas before supper, I would be surprised."

"But it is a simple set up. All they need to do is surround it with new towers or build a thick wall with protected walkways like they did around the courtyard already," he countered disbelieving that the wizards could possibly be so obtuse and argumentative about the situation. The leaders of Hala had taken a little time as they worked out where they would position wizards, mages and soldiers as well as vats of oil which would be kept ready to pour on the enemy and grass on the field.

Garrett shrugged. "We mages see warfare as black and white most times. You set up defenses in a sensible way and that is that.

"Wizards tend to argue about every possible theory before coming to any conclusion. Hopefully, they will pick the best and proper choice."

Sebastian looked contemplative and waited to say, "Well, then after lunch I will probably have time to walk around the school. It has been awhile after all."

"Maybe you could teach us more about these runes. You have more than just these two, correct?"

The mage nodded but replied, "I do, but I should wait on that until I know if the wizards will have a plan sooner than we think. It takes a lot of energy to build the gate."

Ashleen looked at Sebastian with a slight frown and he knew that she was thinking that he had proven more than strong enough to make the gate and use his magic beyond that. They were eating lunch so the little he had used so far would be replaced, even that of making the portal earlier.

The falconi didn't know that, however, and simply nodded. "Well, if you can extend your stay to train us and pass on that knowledge that would be great to see."

Sebastian didn't promise anything for certain, but the mage didn't think waiting a few days to begin training more mages on rune magic would hurt. Maybe using the portals he could get a start in each new city, return to White Hall to train, and then return to finish the gate. With the new portals at their disposal, he could be nearly everywhere it seemed; but the owl would have to be careful not to spread himself too thin.

As lunch came to a close, Falconi Garrett went to the courtyard with Martina to find out if they had come to a conclusion on the defenses. Katya pulled Sebastian in the other direction like some child wanting to show off her school. Filled with a different motivation, his sister had asked him to follow her to meet her friend while he waited for the wizards. They would need to build at least some of the stonework defenses before he could begin his part of the gate anyway leaving him time to see if he could discover anything new about this cursed che'ther.

"You'll like Cheleya," Katya said holding onto his hand and drawing him to the wizard's school side of the dining hall. "Well, everyone does really, so don't be surprised."

The way she spoke of the dragon girl seemed to have more behind her reasoning, but Sebastian didn't question his sister.

"She is a wizard then? What does a dragon study in a human school?"

Katya frowned at him and shook his head at her brother. "Cheleya is more human than you will believe, but she apparently was at the Winter's Edge tournament and watched you compete. I think she might even have a bit of a crush on you, at least as a mage anyway.

"From what I gather, you inspired her to come to White Hall to try and learn how to become a battle mage as well. She believes that part of what made you so unusual is the teachers you had. Cheleya talked to Falconi Garrett and Martina, but they seemed to believe it was less their teaching than something in you.

"They couldn't dissuade her from trying battle magic, but Cheleya has also started learning how to heal. She spends more time in the healer's wing than with the battle mages these days. Of course, her dragon mage magic is kind of similar in how it is used, so other than learning a few spells and how to wield a sword better, I think she has come to the same conclusion as they did."

Sebastian frowned thinking a dragon finding a human attractive was doubtful, but having her come to the school to train to be like him was even stranger to his mind. He was just a battle mage, even if he had begun to discover other kinds of magic.

"My teachers did a lot, but maybe I just see things differently. Still, your friend came all this way to try and become a battle mage?"

Katya shrugged and added, "Well, she is stuck as a human and apparently felt less comfortable returning home to Mar'kal."

"Why did she leave Mar'kal in the first place and why is she stuck as a human anyway?"

These questions made his chatty sister go quiet for a moment. "I think Cheleya should answer those questions herself, but basically she was attacked by someone serving the Dark One and had to run away or be killed."

She made a face and added, "That doesn't sound right when I say it aloud, but Cheleya can explain it all better than I can."

They passed the healer rooms, a small hospital in truth, on the first floor. With soldiers and battle mages training in combat, it was a helpful thing to have and the young healers had patients coming in regularly to keep them busy. Sebastian noted their turn to a stairway down the hall running along the front of the wizard's school building.

When Katya began to lead him up, he was surprised that they wouldn't look for the dragon girl in the healer wing and asked, "I thought that you would at least look for her in the hospital first."

Noting the procession following the two, since the rest of his team had nothing better to do than follow him through the school while they waited, Katya stated to her brother, "I told you that she and Kel'lor started teaching their magic to some of those here in the school. Falconi Martina is one of the students and I am too."

He frowned and asked, "You were allowed to learn magic from Mar'kal as a novice?"

"I found a loophole?" she offered sounding more like Katya was asking for him not to be angry. Since he wasn't her teacher or mentor and was in fact a battle mage, what the wizards allowed her to do was none of his business. "They meet on the school roof to train and I would just go there to study in the afternoon. As I watched them, I figured out a few of the spells also. Apparently, I wasn't that great at hiding the fact that I was watching, but the magic was pretty easy to learn to be honest."