Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) by Donald Wigboldy Page A
Authors: Donald Wigboldy
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every time? You managed it once. Who is to say that everything is worked out already?"
Laughing at her serious tone, he joked, "Well, I think I was saying it works, but you're right. I do have a few other tests that I should do. Are you ready for a morning of hard work?"
Rolling her eyes at him and giving an exasperated sigh, Ashleen replied, "This looks a lot more comfortable than working in the forge all day in that heat. The weather is pretty nice today. Do you think summer is finally coming to an end?"
"I can always open the portal to the Grimnal's island if you want a break from Hala. If the ocean breezes are moving, it would be cool and we could swim as well," he said of one of his portals stolen from Palose's list of magical sites.
"Well, maybe I'll take you up on that, but weren't you the one asking if I was ready to work hard this morning? Have you given up on that already?" she laughed at the mage. The island was a paradise, but they both knew that they should figure out all that was needed for Sebastian's security system.
"Fine, fine, I guess we should work," he replied throwing up his hands in defeated good humor.
As the morning lengthened, the two continued to work on the concepts Sebastian had come up with to help secure the portals they would use.
Chapter 4- Gathering for Change
Sebastian had been surprised when he had been asked to the king's castle, also called the Grimnal, overlooking the North Sea from the high cliff the city sat upon. He had sent word to Raven Leros, the head of the battle mage corps based in Hala, as well as to the high wizards Culmore and Neferen. The three were not only the magical leaders of Hala, but essentially heads of magic for the entire kingdom. Those who attained the positions of white wizards might become high wizards and those serving the king in Hala led them all as Raven Leros led the other ravens in Southwall.
That the information he hoped to present was important enough to include all three as well as the head of the city guard, Commander Quelan, and other generals in charge of the northeastern armies guarding the wall, was understood; but surprisingly Bas had heard that King Alain might attend the impromptu little conference addressing the security of the portals. Everyone had heard that he had an idea to help secure the gates in the various cities around the country and a certain amount of unvoiced worry had pushed the leaders to hear him out. It was new magic and Sebastian had already proven by usurping Palose's portals that they weren't a secure system. Placing a portal inside of a guardian city meant creating a vulnerability often within the heart of those fortresses which no one had been entirely comfortable with in the first place.
Sebastian carried the two metal squares on his shoulder while Ashleen followed him with a few items to help demonstrate his plan. The two had entered alone, but passed quickly through the castle with an escort meant to guide them more than truly worrying over the two as threats to the king. Since Sebastian had met with the king numerous times and often in small gatherings, his clearance was viewed as near that of a personal friend of King Alain.
The room they found their selves in was quite large and had a pair of tables that he had requested. Ashleen and Sebastian set up the two rune squares about four feet apart on the two tables. With that space available to walk between the tables and squares, the mage thought he could demonstrate what he wanted to get across well enough. A leather ball with a seal strong enough to hold air inside was one of his tools to display the ability of his portal technology. It had gathered stares from the guards seeing the perfect sphere. Most children's toys were stuffed or vaguely spherical though only roughly. Only wizards could create such perfection unlike the artisan's working with the materials they had available. Toys also weren't the biggest worry on the minds of those
Laughing at her serious tone, he joked, "Well, I think I was saying it works, but you're right. I do have a few other tests that I should do. Are you ready for a morning of hard work?"
Rolling her eyes at him and giving an exasperated sigh, Ashleen replied, "This looks a lot more comfortable than working in the forge all day in that heat. The weather is pretty nice today. Do you think summer is finally coming to an end?"
"I can always open the portal to the Grimnal's island if you want a break from Hala. If the ocean breezes are moving, it would be cool and we could swim as well," he said of one of his portals stolen from Palose's list of magical sites.
"Well, maybe I'll take you up on that, but weren't you the one asking if I was ready to work hard this morning? Have you given up on that already?" she laughed at the mage. The island was a paradise, but they both knew that they should figure out all that was needed for Sebastian's security system.
"Fine, fine, I guess we should work," he replied throwing up his hands in defeated good humor.
As the morning lengthened, the two continued to work on the concepts Sebastian had come up with to help secure the portals they would use.
Chapter 4- Gathering for Change
Sebastian had been surprised when he had been asked to the king's castle, also called the Grimnal, overlooking the North Sea from the high cliff the city sat upon. He had sent word to Raven Leros, the head of the battle mage corps based in Hala, as well as to the high wizards Culmore and Neferen. The three were not only the magical leaders of Hala, but essentially heads of magic for the entire kingdom. Those who attained the positions of white wizards might become high wizards and those serving the king in Hala led them all as Raven Leros led the other ravens in Southwall.
That the information he hoped to present was important enough to include all three as well as the head of the city guard, Commander Quelan, and other generals in charge of the northeastern armies guarding the wall, was understood; but surprisingly Bas had heard that King Alain might attend the impromptu little conference addressing the security of the portals. Everyone had heard that he had an idea to help secure the gates in the various cities around the country and a certain amount of unvoiced worry had pushed the leaders to hear him out. It was new magic and Sebastian had already proven by usurping Palose's portals that they weren't a secure system. Placing a portal inside of a guardian city meant creating a vulnerability often within the heart of those fortresses which no one had been entirely comfortable with in the first place.
Sebastian carried the two metal squares on his shoulder while Ashleen followed him with a few items to help demonstrate his plan. The two had entered alone, but passed quickly through the castle with an escort meant to guide them more than truly worrying over the two as threats to the king. Since Sebastian had met with the king numerous times and often in small gatherings, his clearance was viewed as near that of a personal friend of King Alain.
The room they found their selves in was quite large and had a pair of tables that he had requested. Ashleen and Sebastian set up the two rune squares about four feet apart on the two tables. With that space available to walk between the tables and squares, the mage thought he could demonstrate what he wanted to get across well enough. A leather ball with a seal strong enough to hold air inside was one of his tools to display the ability of his portal technology. It had gathered stares from the guards seeing the perfect sphere. Most children's toys were stuffed or vaguely spherical though only roughly. Only wizards could create such perfection unlike the artisan's working with the materials they had available. Toys also weren't the biggest worry on the minds of those
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