Battle Mage Bonds (Tales of Alus Book 13) Read online

  Battle Mage Bonds

  By

  Donald L. Wigboldy Jr.

  Copy Write May 2017

  For World Maps and More Go To:

  https://www.facebook.com/BattleMageATaleOfAlus

  Other books by Donald L. Wigboldy Jr.

  From the Tales of Alus series:

  The High King: A Tale of Alus

  The Emperor’s Shadow War

  Battle Mage: A Tale of Alus

  Battle Mage: Winter’s Edge

  Battle Mage: The Lost King

  Battle Mage: Dragon Mage

  Battle Mage: Dark Mage

  Battle Mage: A Hero’s Welcome

  Battle Mage: Forging New Steel

  White Hall

  Battle Mage: Winds of Change

  Battle Mage Visions

  Other stories from Alus:

  The Unexpected Heir: A Tale of Alus

  Slaves to Magic: A Tale of Alus

  Modern Tales:

  Voran the Night Guardian

  Standing Before Monsters

  The Mermaid’s Chest

  Beyond the Nebula Series:

  Technomancer

  War Wolves (coming soon)

  Chapter 1- City of Wards

  Silver light surrounded the battle mage as he traveled through the void between worlds yet again. He had become a master of portal magic and seen most of what he had believed could be done with the spell. Traveling through the light and passing through unseen doors crossing great distances took moments. With a reflex enhancement spell, a traveler could even take the time to see the mysterious floating islands in the distance which had once been the home of the Emperor and his dark forces.

  The Dark One had been defeated. With the head of the snake cut, Southwall hoped to earn some peace from his remaining cities. Sebastian wondered at the chaos caused in the Emperor's city, Ensolus. It was well deserved, he thought, as the mage attempted to sneak into the sedition sewn city of New Harbor. It was the Emperor who had sent his spies to incite the people of southern Southwall to revolt against their king. They had been told that the king took from the southern cities. He took their money and people to fight against a force that no longer cared about destroying the remaining people who had once helped the Grimnal exile the Dark One into the silver void.

  While the Dark One had seemed intent on destroying Southwall and its allies, it was the lords of the southern cities who led a revolt which would break the nation all on its own.

  Sebastian frowned feeling the trip of mere seconds stretching on interminably thanks to his precautionary spells. Heightened reflexes made time slow, but as he headed into enemy territory they and his spell of stone skin would protect him if there was someone waiting for him. It was also this heightened perception that noticed something amiss as he attempted to travel thousands of miles in his world in mere seconds. A distortion formed darkening his path and when the mage hurled into it he felt like he had been thrown back.

  His exit was blocked and his momentum tossed him aside as his portal cast him out of the void.

  The reason for precautions arose instantly as he exited the silver world. Blinded and unable to calibrate quickly where he arrived, even masters of portals exited defenseless against enemies who might be waiting for them. He had only seen one man use the portals like they were doors without consequence, but Sebastian had never learned how he had done that.

  He felt pain and heat. Grunting even as his mind struggled to catch up to his new environment, Sebastian shook his head waiting for the momentary confusion to end. The stone skin should have protected him, but adding the runes of defense hidden on his skin, there should have been nothing capable of harming him in such a short time.

  Wind seemed to fill his ears as even that sense struggled to catch up to his new place in the world.

  Calling up his rune shield blindly, Sebastian's vision cleared to see the dome of glowing orange runes surrounding him in the air. He felt magic strike the shield drawing on his body's energy like fighting a man with his fists. Then as his senses suddenly caught up to his body, Sebastian could see the predicament that he was in.

  A handful of wizards, at least that many mages and more than a dozen soldiers with strange shields and swords drawn had targeted the intruder. How had they known he was coming, and more importantly where had his portal deflected him that they could know his landing so accurately when Sebastian couldn't have predicted it himself?

  His Hollow Sword was drawn and swept the ground with its point as the mage ordered the earth to power his weapon.

  "Lightning," he called on a familiar and destructive spell. The rune shield parted as the mage swept the sword towards the men approaching him swiftly.

  The soldiers and mages with the strange shields ducked behind their defenses. As the lightning struck the oddly colored metal blockades, Sebastian's eyes widened seeing his lightning rebound from the shields. Walls that hemmed the mage in on all sides caught the lightning shattering stone. More lanced into the air above his head even as Sebastian brought his rune shield up before the lightning that was reflected perfectly returned to strike back at its wielder.

  If not for his reflex spell, the fight would be over and possibly the mage's life as well.

  Moving forward as the wizards cast fire and wind spells in his direction, Sebastian glanced behind him to see a dead end. The wall behind him gleamed with runes as the lightning struck that stone. Lightning scattered from the runes though most of it returned to the earth he had borrowed it from.

  Driven by his reflex spell and the power of runes increasing the speed and strength of his legs, Sebastian returned his attention to the men in front of him. If magic wouldn't work safely, he would use his abilities created from years of training. His sword flashed meeting another blade. Nearly as fast, his opponent was a battle mage augmented by his own reflex spell.

  Another sword swept in from his right as he deflected the first blade with his weapon. Barbed wire seemed to form as his arm continued to sweep across leaving an opening for the enemy to find. The wire caught the enemy weapon tangling it and stopping the sword from touching his open side.

  A third mage leaped against the wall to his left. To his eyes augmented by his magic, Sebastian could see the movement down to the steel blade seeking to strike him from that side. The orange runes were quicker, though not fully expanded from his arm. His shielding repelled the third man even as Sebastian fell back a step.

  Against a normal man, or even three, the battle mage would have no fear. He could move faster than even the best trained swordsman, but these were men like him. Worse, these were Southwall battle mages who must have decided to follow the lords of New Harbor. They had much of his training and now implemented shields that he had never seen before. Sped up like he was, even the runes weren't enough to make his Hollow Sword fast enough to push them back.

  The trio tried to flank him as the center mage flashed his sword towards Sebastian. He was good, and helped by his comrades. Sebastian could fend off the attacks, but found himself giving ground slowly. With only the strange wall behind him, he could see the thinking behind their attacks. Pushed back enough, Sebastian would have nowhere to go and they would either kill or subdue him there.

  Drawing from runes holding excess power in his chest, Sebastian called out, "Portal."

  He could only summon a short range portal in his line of sight. On the other hand, the glimmering door was large enough to block the men attacking him. He could feel the power of the wizards about to unleash on his construct even as Sebastian leaped into the portal.

  Reappearing only twenty feet behind the ambush, Sebastian was momentarily blinded
once more but he continued to try running forward as his doorways disappeared a second later. His enemies turned and pursued him as they spotted the fleeing mage.

  His spell had worked his mind told him and worked correctly. Sebastian wondered why the lesser portal had worked when they could also see him and yet the first portal had somehow been reflected. Could there be another defensive shield surrounding the point he had chosen to return to New Harbor? Could he escape when the man had no idea about the rest of the city's new defenses?

  More pain was felt as wind cut like knives striking his back. The runes pulsed and drew on his strength. A wizard's power or several drove the magic into him causing damage even protected by his stone skin and runes. Again he grunted with pain. He was bleeding from some of the wounds. Sebastian could feel the sickening wetness of his shirt and pants clinging to him with each stride.

  His vision cleared much quicker this time. Confusion was lessened from the shorter trip. Twisting to face the men, the sword touched the ground and Sebastian focused another spell into the ground, "Quake!"

  The earth rumbled and not even the shields could prevent the men from stumbling as the stone beneath their feet jumped. As the wizards and soldiers stumbled or fell to their knees, the battle mages somehow avoided much of the affect by either jumping from the ground or using the walls of the alley to propel their bodies forward.

  It was the first time that Sebastian wished that there were no battle mages, at least in New Harbor. People that should be on his side in theory were now among his greatest enemies.

  "Lightning," Sebastian called again bouncing the electricity along the walls. It bounced from one side of the alleyway to the other sending tendrils along the ground and walls in a spider's web of chaos that slowed even the mages for a moment.

  Turning onto a street, Sebastian found a crowd of confused and frightened people. Citizens of New Harbor, the people had heard the sounds of magic echoing from his battle. The trembling earth could be felt for more than a block in each direction, though its focus had been limited to the alleyway and the ambush there.

  "Portal," the mage said calling another doorway despite being seen by the populous nearby. Portal magic wasn't a complete secret, though few of the public knew about it, he supposed.

  Trying to recall to Hala, Sebastian jumped into his new gate. He felt the distortion in space almost immediately and bounced out of the gate in a new place inside the city. Another ambush started at the sight of the fleeing battle mage, but they were still able to attack almost immediately.

  More pain as magic struck him came in the moment before his vision returned fully. Sebastian was able to attack before most of the shields were set this time. Magic shields rose to counter a quickly hurled swarm of fireballs. Thanks to his runes, the rune mage was quicker than his opponents. They summoned their reflex spells, but Sebastian was already in their midst.

  His magically enhanced sword cut through the crowd of soldiers and mages swiftly. He was countered by weapons and shields alike. Creating a deep gouge in one of the rune shields, Sebastian was glad to see that at least they weren't invulnerable to all of his attacks.

  Another sword caught his side. Augmented by a battle mage's magic, it cut him burning with fire. A normal spell designed to protect and strengthen the metal weapon; it could also cause more damage. The pain was almost missed as his adrenaline joined with his magic driving him to flee without slowing down for the new wound.

  More blades struck him. His runes repelled most of the harm, but a few mage weapons did more damage to his body.

  A female wizard was suddenly in front him. Her eyes went wide.

  "Sleep," he ordered touching her forehead as the mage shoved by. Dropping with the touch, she was the first but not the last of the wizards to drop from his attack as his hand swept in front of him. Dust formed in the air catching two more wizards. It was slower acting as dust, but the men blinked forgetting whatever spells they had planned to try. Their knees buckled as he moved past.

  "Portal," he ordered creating another doorway in the line of his sight.

  Jumping to the rooftop of a building with a flat roof, Sebastian took a deep breath. His doorway closed and the second ambush looked for him in confusion. Out of their sight as he ducked behind the low wall bordering the edge of the roof, his vision cleared quickly from the travel. Three more stories rose above the lower roof. A doorway could take him inside, but Sebastian was ready to leave.

  He had come to try and break into the dungeon under the lord's palace. The home of an ancient lord of a kingdom that predated Southwall, the palace had been a dangerous place for him months ago. He had been captured, tortured and grilled for information for weeks.

  One thing he had found was that the metal bars and locks of the cells were enchanted and proof against magic. Even the walls had been treated similarly once upon a time. Many types of magic and spells had been lost in the Cataclysm caused by the Dark One's return to his world. That past still hadn't been recovered and likely there would be things that they might never know.

  Somehow someone must have deciphered those runes recently. Surely if someone had solved their riddle since the Cataclysm, all of Southwall would be using the incredible magic rebuffing shields. Who had done this and recreated the magic in the city? If this was magic unique to New Harbor and its allies, the king's armies would find that they were at a great disadvantage. Wizards' magic would be repulsed even by soldiers. King Alain's armies would have the numerical advantage, but this was disconcerting even so.

  It also appeared to protect much of the city against portal magic. Both sides knew the spells unfortunately thanks to a handful of wizard spies which had stolen the information from him. He wondered if they knew a trick to use the magic freely in the city that he couldn't know from just a couple attempts to use the portals.

  The runes weren't perfect, however, as his shorter jumps proved.

  Using another line of sight portal, Sebastian targeted the docks of the city. He figured that once near the water, he could use his magic to escape from there.

  Taking a breath, Sebastian jumped as several portals opened around him. Nets were cast through them catching him off guard. Dozens of wizards, mages and soldiers streamed through the portals. He could see the momentary confusion of using the portals, but they were all from short distances and their recovery was quick.

  Caught by the nets, the battle mage had only seconds to free himself.

  "Dragon wings!" he ordered calling on the magic of his allies the che'ther.

  Red bat like wings made from energy lashed out cutting through the heavy lines making up the nets. He guessed that they were designed to stop the magic of wizards and mages, but dragon magic hadn't been passed along. Recently taught to White Hall, a school in the north; the magic hadn't been given to Red Hall or any of the cities in the south.

  Before Sebastian could take flight, a body crashed into him. His reflex spell had given out and the mage hadn't even seen his attacker coming. Crashing to the ground, he pushed the man off; but it was too late to avoid the wizards as they recovered. Fire, wind, water and earth spells came from all sides.

  Ducking into the ball of quickly erected runes, the mage felt the crushing power of several wizards. His body's energy was drained in the first strike. The rune shield had never failed him before, but it withered away in an instant.

  "Gust!" Sebastian cried out focusing on the dragon wings again. They flapped creating winds that buffeted the men in front of him. His feet lifted from the ground as well, but not before he felt another blade bite into his side.

  Using the dragon wings to drive more wind into the enemies, the mage drove his body into the air. An air wizard might follow with his mind or try to use magic against him, but they couldn't follow.

  Covering the latest wound with his hand, the owl mage could tell that it had cut deep. Sebastian called another portal wearily. He was glad that his sister had learned of the dragon magic. Without her and her mentor teachi
ng him the spells, Sebastian thought wearily, he would have been captured or worse.

  Flying into the portal, the mage disappeared into the silver light.

  Chapter 2- Nursing Magic

  The portal opened triggering the defense of a Southwall city. Unable to stop himself since Sebastian was blinded by the portal transition; his winged flight slammed the mage into the hard stone of a wall. A large portal many times larger than the one he had formed in New Harbor winked out of sight as the man bounced back onto the ground dazed by the impact.

  Groaning in pain, Sebastian lay where he had landed holding his stomach. His hand was wet and he thought that his fingers couldn't close the gap in his flesh created by the sword.

  The thought made him release his death grip on the Hollow Sword as the battle mage used a second hand to try and hold in the blood seeping through his fingers. This was a bad wound, he knew, and with his energy lowered from using his runes, even a healer would have trouble fixing the wound with magic.

  Healing magic took energy from the healer, but it also required a patient to have strength to recover or additional wizards to supply the needed energy in a transfer. Now he just had to hope that someone could save him before he bled out beyond even magic's ability to save.

  The runes in his chest could be felt as he lay bleeding. A reservoir created by the mage to do greater magic, Sebastian knew that the power stored could also be used differently than normal.

  "Heal," the man directed the power as if wielding a weapon separate from him. A burning in his side, as the raw magic did his bidding to close the largest of his wounds, flared so strongly that Sebastian's mind reeled in pain collapsing into darkness.

  The feeling of pressure and tightness on Sebastian's legs finally drew his mind back to consciousness. It was reasonably warm, though Southwall was still in winter he vaguely recalled as his eyelids fluttered open to look up at a white washed stone ceiling. Such a view remained unfamiliar to the battle mage. For the last few months he had awoken to a less sterile view in the Black Smith Inn. This felt cold, even if the temperature was not.