Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) (73 page)

"Palose," he greeted the dark mage with a tight lipped smile.

The mage turned warlock smiled at his foe and returned, "Sebastian, you're back. That wizard must have freed the two of you from that island."

Sebastian didn't answer the truth as he knew it and let his enemy believe what he wanted.

"Well, I don't sense the girl here and your two new friends have surrendered you to my army. Of course, we both know this fight is really between you and me," Palose taunted in an unusual display of chattiness. The dark mage couldn't help himself. Sebastian knew him too well to fall for any subterfuge, but Palose had skill and power that was beyond this mage before him. He could win this fight. The mage turned necromancer was certain of it.

The two men moved together. Swords clashed and clanged as the swordsmen ignored magic in this warm up to their real struggle. Moving with reflex spells engaged, Sebastian gauged his enemy and thought that he still had an edge in speed. Palose took a cut to his left arm. It wasn't deep, but it stung.

His blade found a similar target on Sebastian's left in retaliation, but as the tip of his blade struck, runes glowed deflecting the weapon easily. The runes didn't extend into the shield, but merely remained on his skin like a merman's tattoo.

Cursing Palose dropped back out of range and criticized like a child, "Unfair, Sebastian, I was fighting you without using my magic at all. You bringing it up first means that I might as well use everything I have."

The battle mage smirked and replied, "You would have sooner or later. You can't do enough with that sword to stop me. We both know that from New Harbor."

Pacing directly before his opponent, Palose returned, "You got lucky then. Without that sword, you would lose you know."

Noting the undead avoiding him to stalk towards the wizards behind him, Sebastian turned away trustingly to toss the Hollow Sword at Edwar's feet. His left hand drew out the black blade made by Cheleya from the oval rune and said, "Well, let's give that theory a test. Shall we?"

The dark mage watched the man before him using magic he hadn't seen before. The sword was unfamiliar, but the arrival of the blade was unexpected as was Sebastian's willingness to throw away his greatest weapon; or so Palose thought growing wary of the mage. Every battle with him seemed to change as the owl grew in magic and talent.

"That's new," Palose joked, though no humor reached his face. "You have some tricks that I haven't seen before."

"You have no idea what I have learned since I saw you last, Palose," he answered using the man's name though Betrayer was his true name for the former battle mage. "I defeated you last time or would have, if we hadn't been interrupted."

Shaking his head, Palose laughed mirthlessly and replied, "That's not how I remember it. That witch jumped in to save you. She must have believed you would have lost."

"Well, we can settle this dispute easily enough," Sebastian retorted with a grim look on his face. "Do these dead men know to stay out of our hair?"

The owl could sense Palose's touch on each of these and there were roughly thirty of these aberrations. This dark magic had been abandoned by the wizards of Southwall long before the Cataclysm. It was against the laws of nature and considered evil by those who had seen it used.

Sebastian knew that something similar had been used to save Palose's life, but couldn't believe that the Betrayer could have returned seeming so much like himself until his true nature came out. He had been a friend and fooled him along with the rest of Windmeer then, but the owl wondered why his former friend still looked the same. There was no rot or a change in his eyes like the viles and other soldiers tainted by his magic.

"Well, technically they are extensions of my magic, but this is more personal than that. I'll let them kill your friends while I deal with you."

Eyes narrowing slightly in anger, the battle mage countered, "I think your dead things will find that pretty difficult."

As if on cue, Edwar struck with the power of light cutting through an orc with one blow of the Hollow Sword. The light made Palose blink and step back as he tried to shield his eyes against the sudden blinding flash. Like the dark mage before him, Sebastian waited for Palose's vision to clear.

Seeing the man waiting on him, Palose smiled tightly. "Your honor will get you killed yet, Bas. You should have taken that opportunity. I don't think you'll ever get a better chance at me."

"There is still some good in you too," Sebastian stated. "You waited for me to draw a new sword. Your honor made you miss that opening as well."

Barking a short laugh, the dark mage held ready and said, "I let you throw away that powerful sword. Even without it, you could have called a fire blade or used those strange runes on your arm to fend me off. Frankly, I was curious what you would do without that weapon of yours."

"Then I guess we both have a problem," the battle mage nodded moving back into a stance both knew to be preparation for an attack.

Echoing the nod, Palose replied as he shot forward, "I guess we do."

Quick spells came into the fight. Palose raised a darkness shield catching Sebastian's strikes to the right. Fire, light, wind and more pushed the ebb and flow of the mages' struggle. When the dark mage suddenly stepped through a hastily summoned portal, Sebastian followed him through the opening without hesitation.

Silver light surrounded the two men as Palose stood before his opponent with his sword lowered slightly. Their feet were on land. He had chosen to continue their battle on one of the islands in Silver World.

"Now let's see what you can really do," the Betrayer stated even as Sebastian felt the man's aura growing.

Chapter 38- Ebb and Flow

Falconi Martina took the point leading an apprentice and a novice into battle. She knew better and yet the woman had followed Sebastian's orders like he was a raven to her falconi status. Even with her rank above him, Martina could see that boy knew what he was doing even if she didn't understand it fully.

Katya was his sister. She would have thought that he wouldn't let her out of his sight. If Katya had been her sister, she wouldn't have let the novice come along at all, even if the girl was as talented in dragon magic as any of them.

Any but Sebastian, Martina reminded herself. The boy had come along late, yet flew as well as Cheleya the first time he tried the dragon wing spell. If there was a term that could describe him, it would be adept, though even that term felt too small for what she had seen from Sebastian over the last year and a half. She had been one of his teachers and had been shocked by his skill with adapting his magic to a fight. That was before he started coming back with wizard spells tailored to battle mage magic.

Sebastian was a magical genius, even if he was just twenty-one now. The falconi knew that the ravens had been trying to decide if they could create a new designation just for him. They would throw those who could heal and the best of the mages using his magic into the category maybe just to avoid seeing those with unusual talent stuck as falcons. He had begun to change the corps with his magic and now Sebastian was making Hollow Swords making mages into powerhouses as strong as wizards.

Sliding the sword against the ground, the falconi charged the weapon again. The power of her attacks was intoxicating, but he had warned her to be ready to pass the sword to Iris if she became too drained. Other warnings had been given and the falconi had wanted to laugh as her student became her teacher.

Her next opponent's armor absorbed the fire in the sword and Martina cursed the simplicity of the spell. She knew there would be soldiers wearing the night armor capable of absorbing her magic, but the sword had felt unbeatable so far.

"Light," she ordered placing the magic in the weapon. Fire mixed with the light to her surprise as she hadn't exhausted the power from the earth.

The sword cut deeper and the fire burned within his armor. Writhing in pain as the wizard hunter fell to the ground burning inside the armor he believed invincible, Martina understood his folly as well. The night armor was a powerful deterrent, but she had the Hollow Sword to turn them to ash.

Iris stepped into her line of sight and the mage ordered the girl back. The distraction made her miss the surge of power coming for them as the three women led the defense in the south. With the power of the sword, Martina had managed to push back at the enemy hoping to close in on the catapults to destroy their potential danger. Warlocks would be close by as well, so the falconi also hoped to find and remove their threats as they pushed their advantage.

"Dragon shield!" Katya called up the magic shielding of Mar'kal just in front of Martina making the woman start to turn with a frown.

The earth exploded around the three women as crystals struck the earth and shield. Iris ducked behind the novice's shield right next to Martina barely in time as she had spotted the attack coming right as the apprentice had been warned to retreat.

A swarm of soldiers in night armor attacked the women in the confusion. There were warlocks in their number using the unbreakable crystals at first thinking to kill them quickly. Martina's vision wasn't confused by the enemy's numbers as they tried to hide the powerful warlocks. The falconi kept track of her opponents as she fought using her own dragon shield for defense and the Hollow Sword to continue to attack as some of the warlocks cut themselves drawing blood. She felt their magic surge in strength before more of the crystals formed to strike their powerful shields, but the crystals were just one piece of magic that their blood could do.

From some, the blood seemed to become whips that grew to impossible lengths. If they were completely made of blood, she would have thought that they would have died from loss; but similar in durability to the crystals, the whips struck at her dragon shield forcing her back. The Hollow Sword lashed out with light and fire, but the blood magic seemed immune to the powerful weapon.

"Guard Katya!" Iris warned seeing the youngest girl starting to chant. Her feet had stopped, but to their surprise she touched the two of them suddenly.

A glowing haze seemed to settle around them and at Martina's quick glance, Katya answered her unasked question simply, "This will filter out my next spell's effect on you."

With that the girl began to sing.

Martina readied continue the fight alongside Iris, but the assault had faltered. In a lull, she dropped her tattered dragon shield and summoned a second one. Even their newest spells weren't a match for the disgustingly evil blood magic being used by the warlocks.

"Light spells appear useless against these crystals," Iris summed up the situation. Her spells were having less effect than those driven by the Hollow Sword. "Maybe dragon claws and other dragon spells will work better. The shields are holding up better than anything else I see near us."

Wizards had begun to follow soldiers on either side of the women and magic shields and armor had been protecting the soldiers in front of them. Mostly elemental shields or that of night were in use beyond their steel; but suddenly men and women were dying as the crystals broke through the defenses of the wizards. A few more attacks and the defenders of Sileoth would have to fall back or die.

That was when the devious magic of a diplomat wizard began to show its ability to turn men against their wills.

Katya's voice was directed ahead of her through Martina and Iris, but they were protected by the girl's magic. The closest soldiers in their black armor stalled in their attack for only a moment, before turning back. Their swords lashed out at the soldiers still beyond the girl's range. Surprise halted the enemy as their own men began to fight each other.

Those unaffected by Katya's spell were forced to fight and kill their allies or suffer the same fate. If one man fell, another might come into range. For hundreds of feet, the enemy line fell into turmoil. Even the warlocks using their blood magic had to fall back as they quickly sensed the power of the girl turning their men against them.

Katya stepped forward placing her hand on Martina's shield arm. Her song could be heard in the woman's ear, but the filter of magic kept her safe from the spell. At the girl's urging, they began to move forward once more. The powerful magic brought her voice into contact with more soldiers as they slowly advanced. Their steps were slow allowing the magic to drive comrades against each other, while avoiding letting others fall out of contact from the spell.

Thinking that she was glad to have the novice on their side, Martina recharged the Hollow Sword as they drove the enemy to retreat for a time.

Sebastian and Palose exchanged blows, both those from their swords as well as from their magic. The owl tried to stay with standard spells keeping his dragon magic and runes in check beyond the shielding runes. He accessed the speed and strength of more, but they were subtle in their use. Only the fact that his reflex spell had disappeared while Sebastian remained almost as fast as before could alert Palose to some other magic being involved.

The dark mage threw a handful of bones on the ground surprising Sebastian as they came alive and grew with Palose's magic. Along the lines of necromancy, there were other spells using parts of the dead as long as one was willing to carry them into battle.