Tyler thought dangerously arrogant would be a better phrase. But he kept his mouth shut.
“It was too early and his power proved too weak. The Elder Ones guarded their secrets well. And he paid for the hasty error with his life. Nothing was left of him, except for a shred of his essence. Much less than what you mortals call a ghost. Only a minute form of energy which doesn’t have any consciousness. It remains there up to this time.”
“What has this got to do with me?”
“The power and knowledge I gained told me that there is a way to bring back my brother. We are magical beings after all. But the knowledge unlocked through the first tablet is not complete. Far from it. But it was enough to tell me that I need to ascend and be a higher deity. When the power is enough, the energy to bring him back can only be channeled through a mortal with no magical power in his bones. No innate magical power to hinder nor taint the magic so used. But the mortal must be an Archmage. There has been no such being in Adar since the Great Migration. Much is still not clear to me as to why the mortal must be such a mage. Only the teachings of the Elder Ones can illuminate matters. If such teachings can still be found in the ruins they left behind.”
“This is all about your brother then,” observed Tyler.
“No. It is about my guilt. I was the one who killed him with my curiosity turned into dangerous ambition. I wanted to make things right. I want him back. I want to hear his laugh and see his smile. I want to hear his songs. I want things to be the way … they were before.”
Eira’s tears were flowing down her cheeks. And Tyler could feel the forest crying with her.
Tyler looked at the crying Eira. If she was human, he had some idea of what to do. But a mythical being? He was at a loss. He wanted to comfort her but he didn’t know what will happen if he did that. Knowing the fragile and childlike emotional maturity of Eiria also added to his trepidation and confusion. The backlash may result in him turning into a pile of ashes, a petrified Tyler or worse, a frog.
The hell with it, he thought. No decent guy would stand for doing nothing when a beautiful, no, make that gorgeous, woman breaks down in front of him. He did feel pity for the being. The demeanor of Eira while telling her story strongly weighed against a feigned act of contrition. Or she could just be a very good actress. But he felt that wasn’t the case.
Tyler stood up and went to Eiria. Kneeling on one knee at her side, he put his left arm around her. At his touch, Eiria dropped on her knees on the grass and embraced him, crying all the while. If her tears before was a torrent, it now turned into a deluge. Her sobs now turned into louder cries. He could feel the anguish, the pain, the guilt and the millennia of loneliness in them. Her head on his shoulder, her tears were soaking his neck. She felt human. He could smell her scent. Fresh mountain air, with threads of lavender and other flowers in it. Her body felt snug against him. Warm, soft with an aura of innocence. He didn’t say anything. He let her cry as long as she wanted. And for several minutes, all the forest sounds were stilled and only her crying could be heard.
After a while, she finally stopped crying. Her cries turned back into sobs and then became silent. She loosened her embrace and pulled back from him. Turning to her side, she pulled a handkerchief out of nowhere and dabbed her eyes and face with it. Tyler stayed quiet and sat on the grass. The cloth below his neck inside his leather armor was soaked. He didn’t mind it and waited for Eira.
“I am so sorry for being like that,” apologized the being, still dabbing at her tears, “Burdening you with my world.”
“No problem. We all need a good cry once in a while,” Tyler replied.
“I need to leave for a while. Please wait here. It won’t take long.”
When Eira looked at him, Tyler could see the puffiness of her eyes. But despite her emotional distress, she looked as stunning as ever. If anything, the innocence she showed during the entire episode only added to the exquisiteness of her beauty. Tyler could only nod his head. He knew only Thor’s Mjolnir landing on his head could break his rising infatuation with Eira.
As Eira left, her body dissipating like mist, Tyler knew he was starting to be emotionally screwed. A warming sensation in his heart and face attesting to that fact.
Freak you, you’ve got a school-boy crush on her! Stupid, stupid! Snap out of it! She’s going to use you! She’s going to turn you into a toad! Tyler’s mind shouted at him, though he barely noticed it.
When Eira came back, she was more composed. With a gesture, she materialized a meal for two on the green, conjuring a stone table for it. Though the food selection was varied, it was fare found in this world. For Tyler, he realized a pizza was too much to hope for. If any meal was awkward, this was one. It was as if both didn’t know how to act after the emotional interaction.
Thankfully, the silence of the meal was punctuated by snippets of discussion about events immediately concerning them. Tyler learned that his companions were on their way to Scarburg, having avoided the bulk of the jotnar besieging Bildsfell. Eira herself thought the town itself would fall the next day, the besiegers being too many for its defenders. Jotnar activity was indeed increasing around Fossegrim, forcing Eira to ask more creatures to protect the edges of the forest.
Tyler wanted to know exactly what change was done to him but held off for now, deeming it too early after Eira’s breakdown. But when she asked if Tyler wanted to see the temple ruin, he immediately agreed. But since the journey, for Tyler at least, would take a few hours, it was agreed that they would leave the following morning. Departing now would mean moving around the rocky terrain in the dark.
Then Eira noticed the ring.
“That’s new. From a girl?”
“What’s new? This ring? No, no, no. It’s a … gift.”
“From a goddess? I can sense something from it.”
Shit, Tyler thought, I forgot! Her magic had been enhanced by Elder energy. Of course, she can sense Odin’s power, no matter how shielded it is!
“No, no. Not a goddess. A god,” hastily clarified Tyler. Is that a tinge of jealousy?
“What does it do?” Eira’s voice now sounding apprehensive.
“Oh, it’s supposed to hide the fact that I have no innate magic. It shows me as a mage. At least an adept. That way it would make me more difficult to find, if any would be interested.”
“That would be Odin or Loki. I do hope for your sake, it wasn’t Loki.”
“No, no, no. It was Odin. He also told me he couldn’t even take me as a Favored of his. Something about two visitors in Skaney raising suspicions and jealousy among the pantheons,” replied Tyler. What’s with me and all the excuses?
“That was wise. It is indeed now rare for a pantheon’s territory to have one visitor, much less two. But we do have to hide our coming visit to the temple ruin from Odin. I suspect the ring may enable him to determine where you are.”
Thinking about it a bit, Eira suggested he leave the ring for the time being with one of her guardians. The ring will be brought to Tyler when the time came for him to continue his journey. She assured him that the concentration of energy in the forest would enable her to shield his presence from prying eyes. And with that, the two decided to meet at the clearing the following morning.
“Let me prepare your campsite first before I take my leave.”
With that. Eira magically created a wooden shelter for Tyler with a wave of her hand.
“I never will get tired of looking at such conjuration. I wish I could do the same.”
“Don’t worry. One of these days, you will. Even more than what this lowly forest guardian could do,” Eira commented with a knowing smile.
“There’s a bag with some provisions beside your shelter together with a waterskin. I would have preferred to leave some wine too but with the jotnar active, it is advisable to have a clear head.”
When Eira left, Tyler crawled to the shelter. The bed was made of small branches covered by leaves and a kind of moss he couldn’t identify. He was never an outdoorsy type
to begin with. He finally realized he was physically and emotionally exhausted. A small mage-light illuminated the inside of the small accommodation. Nice touch, he thought.
He tried to think back on the events of the day. He vaguely remembered triggering an elemental attack on the encamped jotnar and tried to dissect how it happened. But he refrained from recreating the kind of emotions which overwhelmed his tired mind before the event. He now realized that, in some way, emotions start the chain of events towards any eruption of magical energy.
But he couldn’t shape or determine its effects. For now, he assumed that the type of magical effect exhibited had been determined by his subconscious. His last thought before drifting off to sleep was that he hoped he wouldn’t dream of such matters. There was no assurance that whatever he dreamt wouldn’t manifest in the real world. Eira wouldn’t take kindly to a burnt Fossegrim Forest, even if it was an accident.
When Tyler woke up, he had a brief disoriented episode on where he was, resulting in hitting his head on the low overhang of the shelter. Outside, a large bowl of water and a small towel on top of a low stone table awaited. Eira was still not around. After doing his morning ritual, he went back to the shelter and sheathed his short sword which was beside his bed. He did his morning meditation outside the shelter. The day promised to be a busy and tiring one once again.
Opening his eyes, he saw the morning meal spread out on a conjured stone table. Eira was patiently waiting for him. He stood up and joined her.
“Good morning, Eira,” he greeted her as he sat down on the stone chair.
“Good morning too, Tyler, may I ask what that was all about,” Eira asked, clearly intrigued by the meditation.
Tyler explained. It took some time but she finally got it. She wanted to try it out when she had the time. She did have bad news. The besieging jotnar was preparing its final assault on the town. She wanted to help but most of her powers are effective only within the boundaries of the forest, vast area as it may be. Beyond that, she can only manifest herself and do some small magic. And this was only because of the knowledge and energy gained from the ruined temple. Moreover, she was already occupied with storing up the defenses of Fossegrim in the event the jotnar turned their attention south.
After the meal, Tyler ventured the question he really wanted to ask. What change did Eira do to him?
Surprisingly, Eira was open about it. She followed a simple ritual specified in the first Elder tablet. It was to improve something in the brain of a being of the First World, a phrase which even Tyler knew referred to Earth. The short ritual also resulted in enhancing the bone structure of the being to prepare it for the passage of stronger energies. It didn’t leave any residue of energy in the body after the change. But the changes were on a merely physical level and didn’t tamper or modify the mental processes of the individual.
Learning these details, Tyler bemoaned the ignorance of the beings of Adar about the physiological make-up of humans. Otherwise, he would have been able to ask about the specific brain and bone areas changed by the ceremony. Not that he was an expert on the matter but answers would have given him some insight on how his body was changed to channel Elder energy. Reliance on magic had its clear drawbacks. It discouraged the path of scientific inquiry and reasoning prevalent on Earth.
They set out afterward, with Tyler carrying a waterskin. Meals and other provisions would be magically provided by Eira. The trek through the forest was relatively easy as Eira knew the best paths and the vegetation moved out of their way. The hard part for Tyler came when they reached the rocky ground of the hills. Looking at the mountains ahead, he asked if the ruin was in the mountains or in the hills. Fortunately, the ruin was at the junction where the hills stop and the mountains start to dominate the landscape. Still, Tyler could see a hard slog through the still forested hilly area.
After a few hours and frequent breaks, they finally arrived at the bottom of an overhanging cliff. Eira didn’t appear tired, while Tyler could feel the aches and pains all over his body. He was already fatigued despite the constant gentle breeze accompanying them. He thought Eira cheated. There were times when he thought he could see Eira’s bare feet barely touching the ground.
It was already late afternoon by his reckoning when they reached the spot. But then again, he believed Eira could have made the journey in an instant if she so wished. Without him, of course. He asked for another break. While they rested, Eira asked him to see if he could spot the opening. Try as he might, he couldn’t see any. The nooks and crannies together with the sharp angles of the cliff face made it impossible to see any opening.
After he had rested, Eira moved to the cliff face and pointed out the opening. No wonder he couldn’t see it. It blended perfectly into the rocks. And the opening was small! Barely enough for a person to slip through, head first but turned to the side, body in a sideway position. Eira signaled him to go first. At his first try, he couldn’t fit. The armor and the sword got in the way. He removed all his armor and his sword and tried again. He could just slip inside.
As he started to go in, Eira told him that she will meet him inside. He started to think about the unfairness of the situation. Especially when the rock started to scrape the skin of his face and his legs. Thankfully, his clothes prevented other cuts and abrasions. Though he believed he may have suffered a few due to the sensation of some parts of the cloth being torn by the rock face.
Finally, he broke through and stood up. The cavern was already lighted by Eira’s magic. It was not that big. It looked like it could only fit a three-story house. A big house perhaps, but he felt underwhelmed. He expected something grander. He could see the ruins of the temple. Only a small part of it remained. The rest was buried under tons of rock. It looked like most of the temple was now part of the mountain. Even the roof, except for a small section resting on top of two columns, was gone.
He picked his way down to the temple, where Eira was standing beside two large tablets embedded in the temple floor. It looked to be the beginning of a series of tablets only that the mountain had crushed and covered most of the third and covered the rest. As he neared, he could see that the columns were of four sides which started with a square base and slowly tapered towards the top. It was crafted in one piece, though most of the free-standing columns remaining looked sheared at the top at different heights.
They appeared to be marble of some sort. Or appeared to be marble. It could have been black. But the antiquity and the millennia of dirt accumulated in the place made it impossible to tell. Reaching the tablets, he saw them to be pristine, as if no dirt nor age could touch them. About the gray material, he had no idea. But though embedded, the body of tablets rose about two inches from the floor which appeared to be of the same substance as the damaged columns. As he looked closer, he could see writing on the large tablets. Very small squiggles written in thirty thin lines with a justified arrangement. The writing left generous spaces as margins. By his estimate, the square tablets appeared to be about a meter and a half on each side.
“Can I touch it?” he asked Eira.
“I think so. My brother and I have touched them many times before.”
Kneeling, he examined the writings as well as the sides of the tablet. He couldn’t see any protrusions, hidden buttons or such devices. He then thought that any such irregularities would have been discovered already by the siblings.
“Even on Earth, I don’t recall seeing any similar writings, even from archaeological finds I saw on the internet.”
“What’s an internet,” came the query.
“Oh, the worldwide web, long story, I can explain some other time,” answered the engrossed Tyler. Any discussion about the internet could wait.
He looked at the engraved squiggles. It was unmarred by the usual scratches or imperfections seen with engraved writings on hard material. They were perfect. In fact, they looked as if they were laser-etched. He touched a written line in the middle of the tablet.
He immediately di
sappeared. No sound nor visual cue accompanied his vanishing.
Eira looked on with a shocked face.
Meanwhile, Tyler immediately found himself in a white room. A chair with a table was in front of him. Also in white.
The Accidental Archmage: Book One - Ragnarok Rising (MOBI EDITION) Page 17