The Accidental Archmage

by Edmund A. M. Batara

  I’ll tell him of my decision after the Yahui, thought Tyler. Not that I could do anything about Viracocha’s “suggestion.”

  “Is it just me or is there more of them?” asked Tyler, watching the Yahui.

  “There’s more, High Mage. We noticed it when dawn broke. Apparently, sufficient food, or in this instance, excessive feeding enables them to multiply,” Maherpa answered in a disgusted tone. “Soon, they’ll be hungry again.”

  “Infernal magical bastards,” murmured Tyndur.

  “Give me a few minutes,” advised the mage as he released a ball of energy directed at the ground beneath the field.

  He could feel the spell working its way through the cliff face. He expected the resistance to the scrying, having experienced it when he flung chakrams down the ravine. As he anticipated, the magical obstruction was not limited to one side of the gorge. Tyler thrust more energy into the spell and finally broke through. The mage got a vague image of the underlayer of the plain being filled with cracks and tunnels. Unfortunately, the problematic residual Olmec energy also filled the ground beneath the field.

  Oh, hell. Why can’t things be easy?

  Frustrated, he instinctively kicked the wall in front, alarming those around him. He realized what he had done when the sound of bladed weapons swiftly leaving their scabbards reached his ears.

  “Sorry about that, just a reaction to something I found,” he loudly proclaimed. Quite touchy, but I guess that’s good, Tyler concluded. But I better be careful in how I talk and act when they’re around. The wrong manner or tone and somebody’s body part gets chopped off. Now, what to do? Damn, I honestly thought it was going to be simple. In retrospect, planting explosives is never simple, even if I intended to use the magical version of C4.

  Tyler began thinking about the problem. He originally planned to fill the bigger underground fractures with tendrils of energy and then overload them, creating a series of explosions which hopefully will collapse the field above. Now that appeared to be an impossible option. A deep valley might result, but he’ll worry about it later. The Yahui was the main problem. The “soon-they’ll-be-hungry” comment of Maherpa lent urgency to finding a swift solution.

  And the fucking things are multiplying!

  He took deep breaths, exhaling and inhaling slowly. I won’t be able to find a solution if I let my temper and irritation get the better of me. As he calmed down, Tyler realized he still had a card to play.

  “X? Hal? We have a problem. My plan of sinking the goddamn field appeared to be heading straight to the garbage can. I can’t get a clear image of the network of tunnels and crevices under it. Residual Olmec magic interferes with the spell. I needed to find another solution yesterday.”

  “On it, Elder,” X replied. “Though give us a few minutes, the Olmec energy is powerful. We suspect it was a pantheon effort during the height of their power. One deity’s work could not have the effect you described. Especially after so long a time. Magic degrades and eventually dissipates like other energy. Elder energy could make short work of whatever is there, but unfortunately, we are short of that resource.”

  “Thanks,” Tyler simply replied. His gaze was on a Yahui on the other side of the ravine. Its back was turned, and it was the nearest creature to him. From what the mage could observe, it was feeding.

  One-day-old corpses seem to be included in its diet, he noted. But the sun today will speed up the decomposition process, and I don’t think these beasts are scavengers. They’re hunters, first and foremost. When their food supply begins to run out, they’ll start to swarm across the gorge.

  The longer he looked at the creature, the more he was tempted to experiment with a magical spell against it.

  What did Loki say? Wave my hand and get rid of them? Not a bad idea. But let’s see if I could do it, he decided.

  Tyler started amassing an energy field around him while focusing on what he felt about the Yahui – repulsive abominations out to kill him. The feeling he fostered was not hate, an emotion which the mage believed didn’t lend itself to the situation. Nor could he bring himself to hate them. The mage considered them now as beasts, though hybrids of flesh and magic.

  If they were purely magical creatures, they would not have exhibited such feeding characteristics or the rudimentary clan mentality he had observed earlier. He could abhor or detest them. Even fear them. Tyler had decided on a mix of revulsion and dread. It did work, albeit unconsciously, during the dokkalfr Maljen ambush against the Scarburg reinforcement column.

  The mage worked his will on the gathered energy, infusing it with what he was feeling and the desire to be rid of the unsuspecting creature. When the tension inside him had built up to a crescendo the mage deemed sufficient for his purpose, he released the deadly power. Tyler didn’t have an idea of what the spell would do, only that it was filled with the desire that the feeding creature dies or disappears. The mage sensed the current of power as it forcibly struck the beast. And just as quickly, energy bounced back and clobbered Tyler, to his astonishment. He was shocked and staggered with the impact of the nebulous thread and thrown back a few feet, falling to the ground as he lost his balance. It happened so fast that even Kobu couldn’t catch him as he flew backward.

  Sharp stabs of pain erupted as his back hit the ground. Small stones contributed to the agony. Though armored, the mage could feel their jabs through his protective gear, and the force of the impact of his spread-eagled landing was considerable. On top of that, an immense headache assaulted his brain. It was as if thin, sharp, and long heated needles were being forced through his skull. Though his AIs immediately reacted to heal him and control the pain, the experience of the moment brought tears of agony to his eyes.

  That was fucking painful! Agonizingly painful!

  “What happened, Elder?” asked an anxious Hal. Through the haze of disappearing anguish, Tyler could not fail to notice that the AI appeared to exhibit a human emotion.

  “Tried to make a Yahui disappear. Disintegrate. Or whatever. An experiment,” he answered as he gritted his teeth, trying to recover his strength and get his breathing back to normal.

  “We wouldn’t have advised it,” commented X. “They are resistant to magical attacks. Though these are of a lesser breed, the trait is still there though weaker.”

  “I wouldn’t call what happened weak,” replied Tyler.

  “That was your spell or energy, Elder. Though we sensed that a significant portion got through to the target, some of it was reflected in the form of a backlash to its source. Namely, you. In short, an energy feedback. Namely, you,” explained X.

  “I admit I didn’t expect that,” said Tyler as he stood up as quickly as he could. Maherpa and the rest were already moving towards him, and he didn’t want to appear helpless. He quickly waved them off. “But then again, I never could come up with any prediction of the results of my experiments, though most of the consequences seem to skew in very painful or dangerous directions.”

  Tyler looked towards his experimental subject. It was dead. From what he could observe, only half of its body remained. The other half had vanished. The beast was vertically cut in half.

  I’ll be screwed if I try that on each and every one of them.

  Chapter Lore:

  Opa! – Greek. An exclamation of joy. Usually accompanied by plate-smashing. (TAA, Book III)

  Macuahuitl – Nahualt. A traditional Aztec weapon. A wooden club with sharp obsidian blades. Records tell of the sharpness of such blades, enough to cut off a horse’s head with one blow. (TAA, Book III)

  Chapter Seventeen

  Pest Control Extreme

  “But it did work, to some extent,” Tyler told his AIs.

  “Yes, Elder. But you were fortunate that the Yahui was of a lesser breed. Possibly, most of the energy got through. Yet you suffered dangerous feedback from its resistance. Fighting a more powerful entity or even a mortal with an artifact of enough power would mean more energy backlash. We doubt if you could take that
kind of punishment. As the energy matrix came from you, the shields wouldn’t recognize it as dangerous,” advised X.

  The implications stood up and whacked Tyler on the back of his head.

  “You mean I could have given myself a brain injury, a stroke, or a freaking medical condition which could have turned me into a vegetable?”

  “Exactly, Elder. Or merely killed you.”

  “Oh, fuck this. Where’s the manual when you need it? Another freaking experiment gone haywire!” exclaimed the exasperated mage.

  “We do have a suggestion on how to handle the underlayer problem,” said Hal, changing the subject. The AI could sense that any further discussion would lead to a raging temper. Both X and Hal knew their Elder was already under severe stress. “We do have some reservations about it, but circumstances dictate desperate solutions.”

  Tyler sat down, his back to the wall, and exhaled deeply. The close call was a debilitating psychological experience, coming so soon after his explosion of an experiment with unstable forms. This kind of result is starting to create a phobia, not to mention another ego-deflating experience, the mage thought glumly. First Mage. Hah. If they only knew how ignorant I am about my so-called magical abilities. I could inadvertently blow up this world, if I am not careful. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. This part of Adar probably would be more my size.

  “Okay, Hal. Lay down your plan,” he told the AI, trying to divert his mind from more gloomy reflections. Any more introspective whining would result in extreme depression, the mage conceded. No telling where that would lead. Nothing good, I think.

  “We could give instructions to… Harry. Very, very precise directions. He could move along the substratum and be your guide you placing whatever you want to set along the route. As each object is installed, its location would be clear to you despite the magical haze created by the residual Olmec energy. As soon as our colleague gets free, you could detonate them.”

  “That’s an excellent idea. I noticed your hesitancy in calling ‘your colleague’ by his name, Hal. Any problem I should know about?”

  “A metaphysical concern, as mortals would call it. To use the name creates a contradiction in our naming protocols. A name given by you presupposes an AI, as you used the term, with higher functioning cognitive processes like us. For now, Harry is but a sophisticated machine with none of the gifts our maker had bestowed on us.”

  “You’re fixing him, aren’t you? There’s still a chance of Harry going back to his original state. I wouldn’t stoop to treating him as an ordinary machine. To my mind, both of you are sentient, and I have no reservations about treating you as living beings. Your moral sense, fairness, loyalty, not to mention other qualities I have seen, puts you a notch above most mortals and even deities.”

  “Thank you for your confidence, Elder. That was flattering and does reassure us. We’ll prepare Harry while you create the force bubble needed. A cloaking spell and a release of control over the orb are needed for an autonomous Harry.”

  “Make it so, Mr… Hal,” replied Tyler with some amusement, remembering that old TV sci-fi series. He sensed somebody move close to him.

  “Mighty tough critters, these motherless sons of…” said Tyndur who had sat down by his side. Then he turned to the mage. “I guess that falling to the ground was some sort of magical backlash. Such things are to be expected with unknown beasts, entities, and situations. You know, I can’t think of an underworld realm to put them. Probably the Aztecah one, sounds right and proper.”

  “Mictlan?” remarked Tyler.

  “Yes. Must really be an accursed place considering the kind of beasts we have in these lands. The other death worlds I have heard about sound more orderly, even civilized, if one would deign to use those words,” added Tyndur.

  “I wonder if our quest would take us there?” the einherjar mused.

  “God forbids!” exclaimed Tyler on reflex.

  “That’s a singular word. Take care, lad. Some of these móðurlauss bast… beings would not take kindly to such a heretical sentiment,” warned Tyndur with a tight smile.

  “I know, Tyndur. Your statement caught me by surprise, and I pray it was just wishful thinking on your part. About visiting the Aztecah underworld, I mean. Though this world has a way of making possible the impossible. At the moment one least expects it. Mictlan is one nether dimension which sounded particularly unpleasant.”

  “Yes, and that would make a journey there an exceptionally challenging one.”

  “Since the time I arrived on this world, everything had been particularly challenging,” said Tyler.

  “You’re the lucky one. Being a hermit doesn’t lend itself to being in challenging situations. Oh, the occasional dokkalfr company, raiding parties of Ymir’s minions, drakes, snow snakes, giants, ogres, and even a dark draken, before they left for parts unknown. Not really interesting life in a lackluster location.”

  Tyler inwardly blanched. That’s boring for him? I wonder what abilities he has under that carefree demeanor!

  “Elder, we are ready,” Tyler heard X call out.

  “Excuse me, Tyndur,” the mage said as he stood up and faced the waiting field. “I have an area to destroy.”

  “That I have to see!” excitedly replied the einherjar as he also stood up and looked across the ravine.

  “This should be interesting!” Tyndur added.

  The mage noticed that his other companions were already around him, though they gave him space. As with Tyndur, they were all positioned on the wall, waiting expectantly for what he was going to do. Kobu and his men remained where they were and continued guarding him. Tyler also noticed Maherpa and the two other leaders of the Inka legion were also watching the field.

  Must be showtime, the mage thought as a translucent sphere came into being between his hands. It was a small orb, only three inches in diameter as Hal requested. The AI had assured him it was enough, noting that the size was also needed for their scout to navigate through the numerous cracks. Tyler then cast a cloaking spell over the ball just as he felt the AI enter it. As he released his control over the globular housing, he felt a surge of energy. Tyler did have reservations about the need for the cloaking spell, but X told him it was needed in the event creatures were living in the crevices and hollows. Or if unfriendly eyes were watching over the area.

  Must be Harry taking over control, he thought. Then the orb disappeared.

  “A familiar energy. Almost undetectable,” whispered Tyndur without looking at him.

  “It’s all that is available. This Olmec area resists examination by ordinary magical means,” Tyler lied. I forgot Tyndur could sense Elder energy.

  “Seems I made the correct decision to serve you, sire,” the einherjar replied simply.

  “Now monitoring, Elder. Feeding you images. With your permission, we’ll take care of the positioning of the detonation locations. Unstable forms, similar to what you created back at the temple, would admirably serve your purpose. We do suggest creating smaller ones, not more than a two-inch cube each in size. More than that is liable to collapse a lot more than the field before us,” advised X.

  An image of the area of the ruined settlement falling into the crumbling plain came to his mind. He shuddered and dismissed the vision of the imagined disaster.

  “How many do you estimate is needed?” asked Tyler.

  “Six would be enough. Gravity would do the rest,” said X.

  “Suffocation would kill them, right? Outright crushing would do the job, but some would be alive for a while, even when underground.”

  “They are still beasts of flesh, Elder. Durable and resilient, but they’ll die without air.”

  “Good. I hate to think that they’ll be able to dig themselves out of the ground,” replied Tyler. The possibility did worry him.

  Suddenly, a three-dimensional map appeared in his mind’s eye. A flashing point indicated where Harry had stopped, specifying the first point of detonation. The representation of the ground belo
w the field showed a veritable warren of fractures and tunnels. Several vast caverns were also revealed.

  “Wow. I didn’t think the ground below would be so full of crevices and hollows,” commented Tyler.

  “It’s not a complete picture, Elder. What you see is what Harry could sense. His proximity makes it easier for sensors. A force of unbelievable magnitude must have been exerted on the ground beneath. As you can see, the fractures extend a long way down, even past the depth of the ravine,” replied Hal. Tyler saw that the ribbons on the map representing the breaks continued past the edges of the diagram.

  “It extends to the sides too,” he commented. “Wouldn’t the massive cave-in also affect the area beyond the field?”

  “Undoubtedly, Elder. But we can’t determine the extent of the destruction. Too many variables. That’s one reason why we suggested limiting the explosive potential of the unstable forms. Nevertheless, there will still be Yahui alive after the field is gone.’

  “How many?” Tyler immediately asked, though he couldn’t believe anything would be left alive after the plain collapses.

  “A low of two percent to a high of seven percent.”

  “That’s still a lot,” the mage observed. “Assuming there are around a thousand of the creatures, that would leave around seventy. Let’s say a hundred. Though I don’t believe any of the larger ones would survive.”

  “There are still a few thousand warriors around us, Elder. Almost all of them have not engaged the enemy. They’re fresh, motivated to survive, with high morale right now, and they have been organized to handle Yahui. We believe it’s not a problem.”

  “I guess I have to advise the leaders and my companions later. Hold on, let me create the form first,” said Tyler. Creating the object was more difficult than the larger experimental one he had formed at the temple, and it took him a few minutes and two tries to get the size right. He didn’t want to risk an over-infusion of explosive power. Too much energy and even the residual energy protecting the cliff face on their side would not be enough to prevent the collapse of the site of the ruins up to the temple area. Even if the ground under them is also solid stone.