The giants among them especially caught his attention. They were walking to and fro, some glittered so he assumed those were ice giants while the others were of some type he was not familiar with. Some looked like men, blown up to ridiculous proportions. The non-human looking giants were of all sorts and sizes, some with two heads, some bearded, some looked cyclopean. Most wore loincloths adorned with dangly straps of leather and iron. Others had more decoration in their bodies, the most popular being a spiked collar. Some had very crude helmets, adorned with animal bones. They didn’t bother with shields. But they carried giant spiked clubs, rudimentary war hammers or massive makeshift greatswords. The human looking ones were better armed and outfitted. Though also of different sizes and all heavily tattooed, they had simple leather armor of different makes and crude iron helms. Their war hammers and huge swords appeared to be of better make. Each group kept to their own.
Interspersed among the giants were some tall beings. Very pale in complexion, armored in a common pattern but with full covered helms with long white hair flowing out at the back of the helms. They wore what looked like light plate armor made out of some form of metal, definitely not iron, but with many jagged odds and ends. He could see that their weapons and even shields were cruelly designed like those of the dokkalfr. A few of these tall beings were riding massive wolves almost as big as horses. Some of the giant wolves were armored. On one end of the encampment, he could make out a group of human warriors, with their own camp and flag among their own tents. A long row of horses was secured on one side. Turncoats? Allied bandits?
He looked at Jorund.
“How are we going to go shopping in town?” Tyler tried some levity to lighten the somber mood which descended upon them.
“Vargar, sons of Fenrir. Jotunn ice and stone giants. Mountain giants. Jotunn ice elves. Human scum,” answered Jotunn, “We’re lucky. I don’t see trolls, ogres, goblins, ice drakes, earth and chaos giants, and others in the mix.”
“Huh?” Tyler turned to look at Jorund. The man looked as serious as always. He didn’t know whether the warrior just cracked a joke.
“Even if we manage to avoid that encampment, the field beyond is swarming with them,” added Jorund, “We can cross Telemark River on the side of these hills, make our way nearer the town and cross the river again. But given the time, we may find ourselves in a town overrun by jotnar and dokkalfr. Other choices would be to go back to Maljen but I doubt if the road is safe or we can try to make it to Scarburg by ourselves. Again, I also doubt the way is clear past Bildsfell.”
“You mean we’re stuck here?”
“I don’t know. Choices must be made but these are matters which cannot be made lightly. I have to get back to the camp. A better decision will be made on a full stomach. Are you coming, my lord?”
“No, I’ll stay here for a while.”
“Keep your head down,” Jorund advised as he crawled back to the trees.
We’re going to die here, gloomily thought Tyler. Nowhere to go. The entire countryside must be full of these creatures. Maybe even Scarburg is now under siege too.
He continued to watch the encampment and as he did, his spirits continued to sink. His mind was focused on the horde in front of him. He could see the cruel jagged edges of the weapons of the beings Jorund called the ice elves. Everytime he focused on one such weapon, his heightened eyesight fueled his active imagination more and more. His illusory sense of danger increased and he could imagine the jagged edge of the weapon rising up and then falling upon him.
A part of his mind became very irritated at their presence. Another part wanted them away. Another part wanted to crush them. A heavy feeling arose in him. Strange, warm, yet focused. Tyler involuntarily clenched his fists, staring at the scene. He didn’t notice that clouds have started to gather above the encampment. Large, dark clouds. As he grew more upset, more and more clouds gathered.
Eventually, the encampment noticed. The field beyond them was filled with sunlight while their area was darkened by the gathered cloud bank. As if in a trance, Tyler released his fists. Suddenly, lightning crackled down among the creatures looking up, some pointing at the phenomenon. No rain fell, only the flashes of an angry sky.
The abnormal circumstance of hundreds of lightning flashes crackling down after the first few flashing streaks was murderous. But it didn’t end there. When a bolt hit a creature, it leaped to the nearest one and then to another. It was like watching a huge electrical storm show not only in the sky but also on the ground. Stray lightning flashes also hit the tents and other camp gear, either blowing them apart or setting them on fire. Even the armor worn by the enemy as well as their weapons worsened the situation as they acted like lightning rods. Men, ice elves, and giants whose gear attracted lightning, multiple bolts at times, blew up, spraying fine red mist everywhere. The rolling and continuous thunder following the discharges was deafening. It was hellish and beyond unbearable.
But not to Tyler. He was in a world of his own. He couldn’t hear anything. He could only see with dispassionate eyes the carnage happening in front of him. He didn’t even notice that he has already stood up on the mound he had hidden behind and was starting to walk towards the destruction. In the dim surroundings created by the gathered clouds, nobody noticed him. Almost all were dead, the giant wolves burning where they were struck. Bloody body parts were illuminated by the burning tents. Here and there, some giants on fire were screaming while running aimlessly. The human camp was totally devastated. The horses were gone and the entire area was pockmarked with blackened craters. Apparently, they had more metal armor than the rest. The few survivors of the encampment were already fleeing across the stone bridge, heading towards the sunlit fields beyond.
Suddenly, a great shadow fell over Tyler. A pair of enormous claws grabbed him and then a giant horned green and silver drake carried him up.
Back on the ground, Jorund watched them as they gained height and then flew straight in the direction of Fossegrim Forest.
CHAPTER LORE:
Batur - Old Norse. Meaning "a boat". Also used to refer to a fighting unit of thirty-six to forty men.
Pentekostyes - Greek/Spartan term. Refers to a military unit of 160 men.
Bakhold – Old Norse. Meaning “ambush”.
I Komandi - Old Norse. Meaning "incoming."
Vargar - Old Norse. Plural of vargyr. Anglicized as "warg" or "varg". Usually refers to giant wolves.
CHAPTER VIII
Fossegrim Hal
Tyler was infuriated. But mixed with the anger was a cocktail of other emotions – trepidation, anxiety, and even fear. He was dropped none too gently in a small grass clearing. But though a bit shook up, no broken bones or bruised muscles appeared as a result of the drop.
The sudden grab made by the giant drake had snapped him back to reality. He had to admit he thought it was the death of him. His eyes had instinctively closed when the big claws of an unknown huge flying beast clamped around his body. But when the painful tearing of his body to bloody pieces didn’t materialize, he opened his eyes. Aloft, it was only after he saw the lake surrounded by the thick green of virgin forest that he started to suspect his final destination.
Looking around the small clearing, he noticed a familiar figure hunched while sitting on a large rock with a flat surface. He was right. He was back in Fossegrim Forest.
Miss Gorgeous Psychotic! He realized with a start. He stood where he was, unsure of what to do. In the meantime, his eyes examined the clearing. There was nobody else. But the faded and muted colors of Fossegrim Forest he noticed on the road from Malian was noticeably clearer now that he was up close. It was like seeing a washed-out version of a vibrant watercolor painting.
A few silent and awkward minutes passed before the sitting figure stood up and walked towards Tyler. As Sigyn slowly walked towards him, Tyler noticed that the being was walking as if each step was an effort by itself. She now wore a simple white dress, though still barefoot, her long hair tied at t
he back. Like the forest, the vibrant colors of her image now also appeared muted.
“Hello, Tyler.”
“Hi, Sigyn. What's up? What's with the snatch and grab? You took me from my companions, again without my consent.”
“Eira.”
“Eira?”
“My name. Sigyn was a deception. I thought then that the name would hide my identity if you do make the mistake of disclosing it. Any suspicions arising would have been directed against the god of mischief. And who in his right mind would ask Loki about the matter?”
“Another game then,” Tyler sarcastically commented.
“A game, yes. With power as the ultimate stake. But that was before.”
“So Eira, if that indeed is your name, you're going to start now with the shouting and threatening?”
“If you want me to, Tyler,” the being replied with a wry smile, “And that indeed is my name.”
Eira looked at him. Despite the noticeable reduction of vibrancy and fullness of the colors around Tyler, he noticed that the being’s emerald eyes still looked gorgeous. He could lose himself in its depths.
“It was very difficult to find you. It was as if you disappeared. If not for the eruption of strange magical energy at the foothills, I doubt if I would have found you. Other beings and even deities may not recognize it, but the aura of your magical energy is something I am familiar with. Your companions may or may not make it but the forest will try to help keep them alive.”
“So you had your pets waiting around the forest for the chance of finding me?” Tyler bitingly commented. But he was a bit mollified by the promise of help for Jorund, Habrok, and the remaining guards.
“I know you're angry with me. But Apaldr was nearby hunting the numerous jotnar suddenly infesting Fossegrim’s borders. You were fortunate. You were heading towards certain death. Unskilled as you are with the use of your ability, you wouldn't have lasted long against the jotnar army besieging Bildsfell.”
Eira looked away.
“Despite your displays of power, your lack of knowledge about its limitations and use will either kill you or make you mad. The power you have is of a different nature, and must be guided if to be exercised through a mortal vessel.”
“You changed me, didn't you?” Tyler said in a calmer tone. The knowledge Eira displayed about his ability, from a supposedly lesser spirit of nature, solidified his growing suspicion.
“I saved you first, Tyler. You may think of me as a power-obsessed woman, but even I won’t leave a man who suddenly dropped out of the air to drown. I know our last meeting ended not exactly on good terms but I guess it was my fault.”
“But you did something to me. Without my consent.” Tyler was surprised at the calmness of his tone.
“Yes. I admit that and again, I am truly sorry. After we met, I knew I let my ambition, emotions, and temper get the better of me. For ages. I was desperate and it consumed me. But then, after encountering an outspoken, arrogant and stubborn mortal, I realized that the being for whom I have strived to gain and grab power for would have… cursed me… instead of thanking me.”
“What being?”
“My brother Nakki, also known as the Fiddler Troll of this Forest.”
“Funny, you don’t look like a troll.”
Oh shit, that was uncalled for, Tyler though. If she slaps me, I would have totally asked for it. Even a bitch slap twice over would be deserved.
Eira didn’t do anything of that sort. She looked at Tyler, with pain and sorrow clearly evident on her beautiful features. But she didn’t immediately answer. With a gesture, two stone chairs came out of the ground, about a meter apart. The two took their seats.
“Being a troll was but one of his forms. It is what most mortals expect and it is the form they see. Though it does drive away mortals of an evil bent. There was a time his preferred form was that of the Alfheimr. He loved music. In all its forms. While he was the sound and music of this forest, I was its beauty and untamed soul.”
Tyler noticed she had started wringing her hands.
“He was older than me. I was a child in his presence. I idolized and loved him. But while he had dealings with mortals, I was unsettled by your kind. So, I spent my time among the creatures, trees, and plants of Fossegrim. Until I was given a strange artifact by an ancient landvaetter who I saved from some poachers. It was not elven, human, dwarven nor Jotunn. Nor could my brother identify it.”
Eira’s voice started to crack.
“Though he repeatedly advised me to let it be, my curiosity got the better of me. It was something new for me. And after millennia of knowing the forest, all its nooks and crannies, the temptation proved to be too much to resist. I went to the place where the trinket was found and discovered a cleft which allowed entry into a hidden cavern. It was full of strange and new things, a wonderland for a naïve lesser nature spirit.”
“Finally, I convinced my brother to come and visit the hidden cavern,” Eira continued, “and after a period of exploring, he told me it was a temple of the Elder Ones. Abandoned or ruined in ages past and finally covered by the upheavals of the land arising from what my brother told me as the Divine Wars.”
“Elder Ones?” asked Tyler though he had heard of the term before from Loki.
“The pantheons are not the first powerful beings on this world or even in your world. Your people do not even remember them which is for the best. To the Elder Ones, the most powerful deities in this world are but saplings in the shadow of a great and ancient tree. But they are secretive and have always hidden except when three of them appeared and put a stop to the last Divine War.”
“And your brother?”
“Oh, I pestered him about the ruin we found and its incredibly ancient markings and inscriptions, at least what’s left of them. It was nearly impossible to understand them for they had no equivalent language in this world. Until Nakki discovered the key to understanding it. It was music. And with extreme difficulty and expenditure of vast amounts of magical energies, my brother's innate affinity with music finally revealed its meaning.”
“Which was?”
“A path towards understanding the magic of the Elder Ones. Though only two tablets of an unknown material remained legible, we found the first and second stepping stones of Elder knowledge. But unlocking the content of the first part required a particular form of energy. A transformation of the magical energy of this world. What we knew of it was it is similar to the energy created when a deity dies.”
Tyler didn’t know what to say at this point. The knowledge he was hearing was invaluable. If true.
“For ages, my brother and I didn’t bother about the ruin and the knowledge within. It was beyond us and we were happy here. And then the last Divine War happened. A great battle was fought above what you now call the Great Tundra Waste. It was a great forest then, full of life and living beings and other creatures, both magical and mundane.”
“Isn’t that near Ymir’s Domain?”
“It wasn’t always known as his domain. The jotnar and their gods didn’t take part in the war. Both Ymir and Surtr hid themselves and their minions in the darkest corners of Adar. But one goddess fell down in Fossegrim. We tried to help her but she was already dead when we reached her. She was Laverna, a goddess of the Romans.”
“Isn’t that suspiciously fortuitous?”
“Maybe. Or the magical energy which binds and flows through this world may be more aware than we thought. If so, who are we to discern its mind, plans, and desires?”
“Let me guess. You used Laverna's energy to unlock the Elder puzzle,” Tyler concluded.
“That we did. And the knowledge was intoxicating even for a mere first step. In his excitement, my brother tried to unlock the second tablet. His newly gained power and knowledge made him overconfident.”
The Accidental Archmage: Book One - Ragnarok Rising (MOBI EDITION) Page 16