The Accidental Archmage - Book Five: Loki's Gambit

by Edmund A. M. Batara

  And speak not to Loki | such words of spite

  Here within Ægir's hall."

  Loki spake:

  17. "Be silent, Ithun! | thou art, I say,

  Of women most lustful in love,

  Since thou thy washed-bright | arms didst wind

  About thy brother's slayer."

  Ithun spake:

  18. "To Loki I speak not | with spiteful words

  Here within Ægir's hall;

  And Bragi I calm, | who is hot with beer,

  For I wish not that fierce they should fight."

  Chapter Seven

  Lizards Galore

  Tyler looked at the silent group watching him, faces still tense, waiting for his decision. Vivindel didn’t leave his side and the little girl's hands were now holding on to the back of the metal chair. And she looked like she was going to cry at any moment.

  Screwed any way I decide. Face the possible anger and fury of a monumental dragon? Or break my children's hearts? thought Tyler glumly. Then he realized he had referred to the young energy forms as his children.

  I'll be damned. In a sense, they are my children. Even Birki.

  That made the decision for him. He stood up and faced the group. Vivindel moved closer and held his hand.

  Ah, Vivindel. How can I say no to you? thought the mage. You are an aspect of Eira, if I am not mistaken. She would love to meet you. Though with all of you here, I fear Eira would spend more time visiting this world within the staff. It even has the Fossegrim atmosphere. But that feisty wife of mine would be a good influence on all of you.

  The mage stood up, having made his decision.

  “Keeping the drake will depend on all of you. Show me you have what it takes to care for such a powerful creature, and you get a new pet,” he declared.

  “No, no, no,” said Vivindel, pulling at his hand. “A friend, a companion. Never a pet.”

  Tyler looked at the rest. Some were smiling and the others had huge grins on their faces, though the nodding heads clearly indicated they agreed with the little girl.

  ***

  Birki walked with him to the huge entrance. As he opened it, the now familiar shimmering barrier appeared.

  “Well, Birki, I trust you can guard this entrance and the barrier,” Tyler said.

  “With the power I received from you, I believe my abilities have just grown tenfold. But I have to get used to it first. I do have a system to enable my wards to reinforce me if the worst happens,” answered Birki.

  “I’ll be back. With more questions. I do wish Apulli could get more of his memory back. It could prove invaluable.”

  “In time, lad. In time. I do have a suggestion before you go. I believe you still have Loki’s torc with you. The object does enable the Trickster to sometimes keep track of where you are. The power is faint and could easily be overcome by strong energies in an area or a being, but I do believe it poses more than just a minor inconvenience.”

  The mage was stunned.

  Hell, this visit is turning out to be a Christmas day of surprises.

  “What do you mean? The torc enables that joker to track me?”

  “I did say that, didn’t I? Yes, it does. A faint, almost indiscernible tendril of power. Not that it could follow you here. But on the open road – outside of the Void Lands, the Barrens, the Temples of Viracocha, Fossegrim, and similar places or beings of strong lingering power and aura – your presence can be detected.”

  “I should throw it away then.”

  “Preferably in a place full of strong energies,” advised Birki. “That way, he wouldn’t immediately conclude that you’re on to his trick.”

  “All the entities I have talked to are right then—that Loki never gives a gift without an ulterior purpose in mind,” replied Tyler sourly. Fuck this. Double-crossed by that bastard.

  “Must be your First-World attitude. The First World must be a lot less harsh in this era to engender such kind of thinking. I would even say First Worlders are spoiled. Probably never had to face down raiding dokkalfr or a solitary jotunn. Remember, you’re in this world now. Nothing, nothing is what it seems. Unless, of course, you obtain a geas of absolute loyalty. Even Dionysus, Viracocha, and the other friendly deities have their motives in befriending you. It might be genuine in many cases, but still, there’s always an agenda at hand.”

  Fighting monsters? Being an adventurer? Leveling up? Only in video games, Birki. Only in RPG's, thought Tyler.

  “How about Rumpr and Hrun?”

  “Same story. But I believe they’re quite fond of you. The fact that you found favor in the eyes of a being vastly greater than they are was a welcome addition,” grinned Birki.

  “Again, with the agendas, the puppet strings, and the gifts. I swear this world would put the word byzantine to shame,” sighed the mage. A being greater than they are? Another freaking surprise there.

  “What’s byzantine?” asked Birki.

  “It’s a word, a term, coined in the First World to mean sleazy, underhanded, sometimes murderous, and extremely complicated plans for power and more power, taken after the name of an empire.”

  “Now that sounds like Adar, all right. You think Adarian would also be a similar byword?”

  “I sure hope not!” exclaimed Tyler. The mage then walked across the barrier to the accompaniment of Birki’s laughter.

  The mage opened his eyes. He was back on the desolate plain. Seeing Tyler moving, Habrok moved toward him.

  “How long was I sitting there?” he asked the ranger.

  “Not long. About two to three minutes. Maybe less,” replied the man. Tyler nodded.

  “Hal? X? You heard the problem about Loki’s torc?” the mage asked his guides.

  “We did, sire. Our recommendation would be for our colleague to bring the torc as far as he could deep into the middle of the Barrens, and bury it there,” said Hal.

  "You didn't detect it?" he asked the duo, now extremely concerned about the situation.

  "It was impossible to do so, sire. The torc by itself had its own aura. Add to that the various energies surrounding you, and Loki's taint was invisible to us," X answered apologetically.

  The answer mollified his apprehensions. For a few moments, the worrying idea that Loki somehow gained the ability to bypass Elder energies came to the fore. But it didn’t appease his anger.

  "That prick of a Trickster God! He told me, promised me – no tricks!"

  "Technically, there was no trickery involved. But the nature of the magic of the torc and its material composition somehow left a peculiar minuscule residue," Hal explained.

  “Still... Ah, to hell with it. Any danger for our torc-carrier?”

  “None, sire. He could easily evade any predator and we have given him the protocols for minimal visibility, an ability derived from your invisibility spell,” added X.

  “Good. How about our squid problem?” The question was asked with a considerable degree of uneasiness. Tyler was nervous about the abilities of the beings he suspected to be Lost Ones. Though they did give him the knowledge of teleporting for a limited distance, their disturbing proficiencies to know where he was and enter his dreams were unwanted and dangerous.

  “We’ll solve two problems with one solution. Somewhere along the journey, the energy marker those beings follow, now thankfully isolated, will also be buried where H detects the strongest emanation of energy from this land. The most powerful he could sense along the way. We hope the confusing mess of different strange energies will play havoc with whatever they’re using to determine your location,” answered Hal.

  “The ideal place would be near the Barrier, preferably just before the valley. There are stronger energies there with the added benefit of the continued influx of other bizarre powers from the Void Lands,” suggested Tyler. "If Loki finds his way there, I sure hope those freaking undead would be there, waiting for him."

  “Excellent idea, sire. Both torc and the tracking energy to be hidden in the valley,” affirmed
Hal. “We'll take care of it immediately.”

  Tyler suddenly felt H leave him and found the torc already missing from his upper arm.

  “He can find us when the job is finished?” he asked, anxious about H.

  “Of course, sire. Though it would be difficult to maintain communication with him. But he'll manage.”

  He didn’t answer. His thoughts had turned to the waiting miles ahead of them. The mage looked at his companions.

  “Time to proceed with the journey,” he told the party.

  Without any further comments, the small group quickly grouped into their usual formation and, led by Habrok, started walking in the direction of the distant mountains. For the first few hours, nothing happened except for Tyndur’s grumbling that the land appeared to lack beasts, monsters, or creatures with which to test the new abilities of his battleaxe.

  As the group took another break, Habrok again did his usual scouting arrangements. When he returned, the ranger had some news.

  “There’s a group of humans ahead of us, down an incline. Around three hundred feet, past those mounds. They’re on the open plain and have formed a defensive perimeter with horses or mules loaded with goods in the middle. They’re armored the Greek way, but the helmets look different. Long spears and pikes, swords and axes, with unusual shields. Large rectangular ones braced on the ground and targas on their arms. They’re being attacked by packs of large brown lizards,” Habrok reported.

  “What’s a targa?” asked Tyler.

  “Norse word for small round shields. Usually of Skaney origin,” clarified Tyndur.

  “Everybody heard Habrok?” the mage asked.

  Seeing affirmation, Tyler continued.

  “Let’s observe first,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to encounter cannibals again. Our group is lessened by two and we don’t have Asem to tell us whether they’re abominations.”

  ***

  The group stealthily positioned itself on an escarpment overlooking the impending life-and-death struggle on the plains, taking care to avoid being seen. Kobu watched their rear, saying that of all of them, he was the least knowledgeable about the region.

  It was as Habrok said. A square marked by tall rectangular shields, with a trio of long thin spikes on each, and a group of well-armored individuals forming an inner wall, bristling with spears and pikes. Around them were a lot of lizards, and their sizes ranged from that of a mule up to a large horse. The beasts were sand-colored, with spots of dark brown or black. Natural camouflage, thought Tyler who could see the creatures were quick for their size. They look like Komodo dragons, but longer and bigger.

  “Those men are not panicking, sire,” whispered Tyndur. “It appears this is a situation they are well-acquainted with.”

  Tyler grunted his assent. He could see the group had a few archers in the middle letting loose their arrows. But considering the size and speed of their targets, the mage could see only two lizards had fallen to their efforts.

  “How many warriors?” he asked Habrok.

  “Forty-six, sire. No casualties so far. The beasts are more difficult to estimate,” said the ranger, anticipating the mage’s next question. “But I’ll hazard around 200 to 250. By their behavior, around three packs of lizards are involved. The warriors could handle it as long as they don’t break.”

  A series of fiery explosions suddenly erupted among the pacing lizards which had not yet attempted to rush the defensive square.

  They have a mage with them, and I guess it’s their leader, observed Tyler as he focused on an armored figure with upraised arms in the middle of the square.

  But despite the attack, the lizards didn’t rush the humans. They kept on circling the armored formation, a fact that had Tyler puzzled. He turned to the ranger.

  “Why didn’t they attack?”

  “I haven’t heard of these beasts, sire. But I guess they’re mutations of the Barrens and could only be found in these wastelands. They do appear highly intelligent, so my guess would be they're waiting for more of their kind,” replied Habrok.

  Abruptly, rapidly-crawling figures appeared on the horizon, as if in sudden validation of Habrok’s conjecture. The field in the distance swarmed with the new arrivals. A huge lizard below them raised its head and gave off a loud, weird sound–a combined hiss and a growl. The arriving beasts, though still some distance away, responded in kind, resulting in a deafening cacophony echoing throughout the dry plain.

  “What a horrible, horrible noise!” complained Tyndur in a low voice.

  Tyler smiled at the einherjar.

  “Just be thankful they didn’t appear at our back,” he told the warrior.

  “Don’t tempt me, sire. I was a good hunter back then. I wager I could imitate that call. Or not waste time and instead rush the beasts,” said the einherjar with a wicked grin.

  “No, not yet, Tyndur. All in good time. We need to be sure about these humans and what’s facing them,” the mage hurriedly replied.

  Tyler asked Habrok to confirm if the humans were in any manner identifiable with the cannibal hunters they had encountered. Being in the Barrens had made the mage warier than usual. He thought only Earth’s myths and legends existed on Adar, together with its native fauna, but apparently, mutations also existed in the magical world. That was an unwelcome thought, given the multitude of possible permutations of such transmutations. Then he remembered the energy spirits in his staff.

  Anything is possible, then. Who am I to argue otherwise? I have a big dragon egg inside my staff, unbelievable as that may sound.

  “No, sire. They appear to be of a different tribe or culture. I never met their kind before, though judging from the armor, they had dealings with the Greeks. But probably the Pelasgians, whose territory borders this part of the Barrens.” Habrok’s answer swiftly brought him back from his musing. Queries addressed to Tyndur and Kobu also got the same answer.

  “Then we’re bound to extend help. I can’t just watch and observe them turned into early dinner for these scaly eaters,” replied Tyler. “But we’ll wait until the latecomers arrive.”

  The mass of lizards grew impressively as the new packs joined those surrounding the formation. By Habrok’s estimate, the number of scaly beasts had increased to twice their original number, and more were still on the way.

  “Battle plan, sire?” asked Tyndur, eyeing the numerous additions to the predators below them.

  “Magical spells and Habrok’s arrows to thin the crowd. Then we go down this escarpment. Habrok, stay beside me. Kobu and Tyndur will guard our flanks and backs. Keep our formation tight. A prow shield will protect our front and an energy wall, our backs. But the barrier will only be at chest height to allow us to engage them, though it does pose the disadvantage of being exposed to leaping attacks from the beasts. We will start with that horde of lizards on our left. Hopefully, that will ease the pressure on the defenders.”

  “When do we attack?” asked Kobu.

  “Once those beasts initiate their assault on the square,” replied Tyler.

  Kobu laughed. “After what we have been through, this would be more of an exercise.”

  “I wonder if roasted lizard would taste good?” wondered Tyndur as he gazed upon the undulating, living field below them.

  Then the inevitable happened. But not as Tyler expected the scenario to play out. He thought the beasts would act like animal predators on Earth–probing attacks and feints to pick out the weak spots of the square. Instead, the creatures suddenly assaulted en masse all the sides of the formation. Some got messily skewered on the spikes of protective rectangular shields, but the weight of their dead bodies merely broke the wall of metal.

  The strength and quick movements of the predators served them well in pushing aside the first defensive wall. The mage could see the lizards batting aside the furious thrusts of the spears and pikes. But where a spear or pike penetrated flesh, the target immediately twisted to its side and speedily retreated, bring the weapon with it. Without the long w
eapons, an increasing number of the defenders was forced to rely on swords or axes. The targas now found frequent use.

  The leader of the caravan continued to cast fireball spells around their formation. But Tyler saw that though it inflicted casualties on the attackers, each blast only slew a few – those in the direct center of the spell.

  The lizards appeared quite resistant to fire and from what he had learned of the mages of Adar, the First Mage knew the magical energy of the mage was limited, an observation forcing Tyler to rethink the initial area-of-effect spell he was going to use. Suddenly, some lizards started trying to jump into the middle of the square, using their dead brethren to gain needed leverage.

  “This is not going to last long,” he heard Tyndur murmur. That comment swiftly pulled Tyler from pondering the nuances of the unfolding struggle.

  Immediately, he cast lightning cloud spells to the left and right of the human defensive block, taking care and making sure that the effects of the conjuration didn’t reach the human warriors. Then the mage followed up with enchantments conjuring up Hephaestus’s fiery geysers on the northern and southern sides of the embattled square, again with assiduous attention to where its effects would be felt.

  Tyler figured the underbellies of the beasts were not as well protected as the rest of their bodies. As the spells wreaked utter devastation on the massed lizards, with bodies being blown up, incinerated, or set on fire, several huge examples of the creatures looked in their direction. That sudden movement caught Tyler’s attention and that of his companions.

  “It seems that we’ll be saved the bother of walking down the slope, sire,” said Habrok as he readied his bow.

  Kobu merely laughed, his weapon morphing into something longer. A naginata, if Tyler wasn’t mistaken. On the other side, Tyndur’s weapon suddenly burst into flames. The magical fire at first reached up to his elbows but receded and remained concentrated at the head of the weapon.

  “Finally!” he heard the einherjar exclaim. The mage couldn’t determine if Tyndur was referring to the impending battle or his increased control over the magical flames of his weapon. Tyndur and Kobu increased their distance from the mage and Habrok, giving everybody the needed leeway to do their killing.