Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) (70 page)

"You aren't taking Ashleen? She'll be mad at you," Evie warned, but the warning looked like it included her as well. The younger girl had been frustrated that she couldn't come along to defend the fleet as well, though Sebastian believed it was less about the fleet than following him.

As they spoke, another tired looking young woman nearly staggered down the stairs. Unlike Evie, Rilena had brushed out her lengthening hair. The mage had originally worn her hair much shorter, even though he had known her through the cold of winter. Her normally big brown eyes were slits as she squinted against the light coming through the inn's windows.

Her mage uniform was wrinkled, but unless they were going for inspection before one of their officers, most mages rarely worried over such minor things.

Rilena pointed at the red haired girl and stated as much as questioned, "She snuck out again?"

He chuckled at the young woman as she sat with a pout, and replied, "You're not a very good big sister keeping an eye on her, are you?"

"Can I help it she can turn into a mouse and slip away so quietly?" she complained.

Evie had a little smile on her lips, but chose to look at the table as the others complained good naturedly about the younger girl.

"She's keeping me company for breakfast before I go," Sebastian added already close to being finished despite the two girls distracting him.

"Should I check on Ashleen or get one of the healers?" the raven haired battle mage asked with concern as she brushed a stray lock of dark hair back over her ear. A cup of kaffe was already in her hand. It smelled pretty strong even from across the table, Sebastian noted.

"She should be fine with a little more sleep and food. Ashleen pushed herself pretty hard, but not so hard that she should need a healer. I used my magic to help her out and check her at the same time yesterday. She did use up enough that taking her back into battle so soon would be unwise though," he finished hoping that Rilena would take that diagnosis to use when Ashleen got up sometime this morning. The wilder was typically a late sleeper and he expected it to be an even later morning before she dragged herself out of bed this time.

Rilena snorted skeptically. "I'll tell her that, but I think that she'll still be mad at you when you return."

Shrugging, Sebastian stood from his cleared breakfast plates. "Well, that is to be expected. You two keep watch over her for me just in case. I'll be back as soon as I can," he added before walking from the table to head behind the inn. Worries over using a glowing doorway in front of those who wouldn't understand meant being more secretive was best. He wasn't about to waste the extra time to walk all the way to the fire wizards' gate, but creating a temporary portal in the rear courtyard this early in the morning would do.

The owl mage looked up at the second floor windows. Ashleen would likely be asleep for a few more hours, so he wasn't surprised that no one looked back down at him in turn.

Breathing in deeply, Sebastian released some of the breath as a sigh before calling on his gate magic. He was off to war, though the owl mage would take a side trip and pick up the dragon mages who were ready to help.

The evening and night still had movement between the two armies. Dead were pulled from the field. Some were buried. Others were simply moved for fear of becoming trip hazards. Such could be the cold calculations of the dark army in particular.

Charging across an already dangerous battlefield was difficult enough, so orcs and goblins moved in the shadow of night pulling the bodies back. Holes were already being dug for mass graves since most of the dead were simply the beasts of the army. Orcs, goblins, trolls, armored viles and more were pulled to one side of the closest hill given little more respect than the firewood pulled from the nearby forest for their campfires.

By morning, Palose had returned to Litsarin and felt like a ghoul as he searched for replacements for the forces lost in the previous day's campaign.

"A resurrection man hunting through bodies for spare parts?" a voice called out drawing the dark mage's attention.

Palose looked up the hill, which was also upwind of the mound of humanoid bodies. They had been separated from the beasts and the mage had hoped to find strong candidates for his necromantic magic here. His eyes went from the dead, a few of which had the scent of magic still in their veins, to the powerful leader of the Wizard Hunters.

"Lord Liev," he acknowledged the man surrounded by his troops in their telltale black armor.

"I guess that I shouldn't be surprised that a dead man would think to use his magic to create more. You will be surrounded by like minds then," the lord laughed harshly and was echoed by the others listening to the exchange.

Palose wasn't alone. Balish and Tongold had been helping to find bodies that weren't too damaged by the previous day's battle with the village defense. The dark mage was scavenging from the area near the village having little knowledge of what had happened there. He had been ordered to help turn the tide of battle, so using his magic as he saw best was also up to him.

"Would you rather have a dead meat shield between you and the living or do you prefer risking the lives of those who have not died before?" Palose countered coolly. "If we are lucky, I might be able to bring back a warlock or two so we can make use of their magic as well."

Lord Liev towered over the smaller mage as he walked towards the other man. He was large and blonde with blue eyes. Palose had seen his more powerful brother and knew that no one would confuse the weaker younger brother for Lord Devolus the elder. That man had black hair and a beard, was smaller in size and had eyes that were completely black.

Palose wondered what the elder warlock had gone through to become a dark nightmare of power, which dwarfed his physically larger younger brother. He barely knew the brothers who led the Wizard Hunters and did the bidding of the emperor as his right and left hands. Even those who knew them better had never let slip what event could have tainted the elder lord so long ago that it predated the Cataclysm. Both men were at least a couple centuries old and their accumulated wisdom was probably as dangerous as their more obvious strength in magic.

"By that thinking, then we should allow you to stand before us as well," the lord said condescendingly without the tone extending into his voice. "I have known a few necromancers, but none as dead as those they have brought to serve them."

Palose could argue that he had used magic said to require a soul, which meant that despite the magic used to bring him back to life, he was as alive as the lord himself. "Fight as you see fit, so long as we break this stronghold for the emperor, we will serve him well. Now if you don't mind, I hope to build up my platoon with a few more bodies early enough to have time to eat breakfast before the fighting starts up again."

Lord Liev moved close enough that he could have touched Balish or cut him down with his sword. The lord's eyes examined the wraith closely, even as undead eyes stared back at him. "Your wraiths are surprisingly clean for dead things. If I didn't know better, I would think that they were resurrection men; but that would be impossible since that is against the emperor's laws."

"There is no law against resurrection men raising others. The only question is, are they living beings who can use such spells. The books say that only the living can fully restore a body to become a resurrection man. Part of the soul is shared making both the creator and the created a tightly bound unit."

Moving closer to Palose, the warlock pretended to ignore the wraiths which looked stiff with the wish to kill. Coiled springs waited like weapons sheathed in their scabbards. Liev's eyes glowed for a moment letting the dark mage know that his aura had been judged.

"Your magical power is surprisingly strong. I don't think Atrouseon was at your level, though it was probably close. It is strange how he disappeared for a time only to turn up dead," the lord said with his hand noticeably resting on the pommel of his sword.

Palose shrugged and replied, "My master's death was unfortunate, but I have been exonerated of any wrongdoing. Atrouseon placed restrictions on my resurrection in fact. I could not kill or harm my master, so it was obvious that someone else must have killed him.

"There were signs of another warlock's magic being involved, but as far as I know there have been no warlocks brought in for the crime.

"It is a shame that, even among those serving the emperor, there are those who would kill his other servants to better their lot in his eyes."

While the dark mage didn't bother implying anything beyond what he said, one could wonder who might be willing to kill Atrouseon. The other issue would be why. Since Atrouseon had been reasonably wealthy and had some political sway, rivals could be found, but no true signs had pointed to anyone. Of course, Palose had been forced to confront his former master. Having brought Dorgred and Wendle back to life to assist him; allowed the dark mage to defend himself when his creator had come to kill him in jealousy. The fact that no one knew of his fellow resurrection men, who weren't tied by the strictures of Atrouseon's magic, had made it easy for Palose to reap the rewards for killing his master without anyone believing that it could have been him.

Sniffing at the mage in disdain, Liev recoiled slightly smelling the dead near them. The lord started to return up the hill saying, "Fine, do what you will. We will shatter this stronghold and return to the front. If you can help, even as a shield, that is fine so long as you don't get in my way for any other reason."

"Of course, my lord, I am only here to serve the emperor. If I can assist you in any way, feel free to tell me or my men," Palose replied with a slight nod to give Liev the air of respect a lord required.

After the Wizard Hunters and their leader had retreated up the hill, Balish moved closer asking, "You let him talk to you like that?"

Palose glanced up the hill to make sure that the lord had disappeared behind it for now. Turning back to the wraith, he replied, "Even if I have favor with the emperor and his siblings, I can't push Lord Liev too far. He is still more powerful than I am; which means in this world, he can exert his power over me for now.

"It doesn't matter though. I have my job in this battle and he has his. First, I need to find some strong candidates for cannon fodder or, if we get lucky, I may find a future resurrection man."

The wraith looked at him with red eyes and asked, "If I continue to serve you well, can you bring me back also? This half life as a wraith doesn't feel real to me. I can sense the true life inside of you, master, and would serve you faithfully."

Palose didn't look at the wraith as he pretended to be more focused on his work, or at Tongold who listened and watched the two closely. Both wraiths had hoped to see life as a resurrection man. He could confide in these two with their minds still relatively intact. His magic made them more powerful than a resurrection man, however. A wraith was much harder to kill, but would continue to decay. If he decided to let them join his coven, Palose would have to put them through a different ritual to bring them into his small circle. They had no magic, however, so the dark mage was unsure that he wanted to expend his power in that way, though the two of them continued to prove themselves to him in each battle.

"Your bodies are more resilient this way. For now, I need you as wraiths capable of killing the enemy without fear of dying a second time. When this is over, we shall see," the mage said without committing. Cutting his magic from the wraiths would render them inert, so he didn't have to fear any betrayal if he chose to tell them no; but Palose remained undecided anyway so it was the best answer that he could give at this point.

Conversation turned to finding the bodies he needed. So many had been destroyed by fire, that Palose worried that he would find nothing worthwhile from the warlocks who had died. More possessing magic would help increase his power, if he could find warlocks intact enough to make resurrection men. Then maybe he could afford to share his magic with Balish and Tongold. The new power would increase the pool his strength drew from with the other wizards bound to him.

He sent Tongold to the massive piles of beasts hoping for another armored vile or a troll. Powerful tanks to crush the enemy would serve him better than the smaller humans and orcs. Palose wanted warlocks, if he could find them; but numbers and strength were all he truly needed for now.

Like a ghoul, the dark mage continued his work building a force from the dead that could crush the enemy once the fighting began again.

The gate opened inside the village. Glowing golden light announced the return of the owl and the rest of the dragon mages.

Magnus and his comrades met the visitors as they came through the doorway. The three had remained behind as Sebastian had asked, though they had little choice in the matter. None of the three could cast a portal anyway. When Sebastian finally stepped through the doorway, a handful of dragon mages and a dozen wizards from the fleet joined them as well. The owl handed a pack to Magnus, while the other two wizards received their bags from others in their group.

"Sorry, I should have thought to bring you your pack yesterday," the mage apologized. His mind had been on Ashleen's welfare to the point that he had forgotten to bring the three wizards their belongings. "I hope you weren't too uncomfortable without them."