The Accidental Archmage - Book Five Edmund Batara (classic children's novels .TXT) 📖

gave a slight bow in return. Beneath Agastya’s words, he could discern extreme reverence. If what he suspected was true, then the deity of these people deserved a modicum of respect. He could appreciate a god who openly spent time with his followers.

“What would you have of me, Sarva?” asked Tyler.

“Some time to exchange words and lore, Master Havard, or would you prefer your open formal title, High Mage? Also, to show you more of this place and meet somebody.”

“Somebody I know?” the mage asked immediately.

“A recent acquaintance of yours and some of your friends, I believe,” Sarva answered. The mirth of a person knowing something the other fellow never left his expression.

The answers clinched it for Tyler. Outside of the party, Eira, and the loosely-knit lines of gossip of the pantheons, nobody else knew how far he was along the levels of magehood as practiced on Adar. The use of the word ‘open’ settled it for him. It meant Sarva knew about his real magical rank. Not to mention knowledge about the existence of his guides, though the indirect admission also meant the Elder intelligence dealt with Sarva, who Tyler concluded was a deity.

As he understood it based on his experiences with the shrines of the two AIs, it was an amazing and unbelievable fact, a fundamental breach of Elder rules unless its creator made allowances for it. His guides would undoubtedly now be in conniptions after they heard that revelation, though he doubted the deity knew anything more about him. His guides were not idiots. Nor were the intelligences running Elder shrines. Tyler grinned and went along with what Sarva initiated, the better to conceal the truth that his path of magical learning was on an entirely different course, an infinitely more powerful one, an ancient field of magical study where he was merely but a journeyman mage.

But the expression on Agastya’s face when he heard what Sarva said about Tyler’s rank was extremely comical to behold.

***

“Like me, you are not what you appear to be, Sarva,” remarked Tyler as the two walked away from the house in the direction of the cliffs. Kobu tried to insist on coming along, but the mage was able to dissuade him. But Tyler carried with him the staff.

Sarva lightly laughed. “Matters on either world never really change.”

“The environment might change, but mortals and deities both appear to be hard-headed wherever they go,” added Tyler.

“That’s true,” replied Sarva, who then leaned his head as if he heard something. “Now, I hope the rumblings coming from the far north are not what I suspect them to be. But I guess it’s just wishful thinking to expect otherwise. The releases of magical power are increasing in both rate and intensity.”

“And what do you think is happening up there?” asked Tyler.

“War. The clash of fire and ice. A significant concern in addition to the undead plague now engulfing the northern human realms,” answered the entity. “If the conflict gets out of control, then all human realms in the northern part of Adar could be in jeopardy.”

“Concern about the undead plague I could understand, but why would humans be worried about the current war between Ymir and Sutr?”

“The two have a history of trying to grab each other’s territory and power, so a new war between them is nothing new. What I am concerned about is the arena of conflict. It could become widespread and go beyond the borders of their respective domains. If that happens, our neighbors – Skaney, the Pelasgians, Hellas – are all going to be burned or frozen, depending on which entity starts trying to outflank the other. Unfortunately, that includes us. If the war goes on long enough, Kemet and the Dual Monarchy also have to worry.”

Tyler thought about it for a while. The concern of Sarva was a real possibility, he concluded finally.

“And the undead plague?” he asked again.

“Now that’s what’s strange. It’s clear the ruler of the Norse underworld had nothing to do with it as I heard she and Thor are currently trying to keep shut certain gates of Hel leading to its deeper parts. Hellas is also starting to find itself to be in the same situation as well as some northern parts of Kemet,” answered Sarva. “I did ask our mutual friend about it, but all it would say was that though the blight appears to arise from the ground, in reality, it is dimensional in origin. A very complex spell, I believe that’s the description.”

It? Not a deity then. It does sound like an Elder temple. The pantheons are still trying to find out the cause of the plague, and here, the answer has already been found. The dimensional part is puzzling though.

“How about here? Are you affected by the undead?” queried the curious mage.

“We have the protection of your friend. The Barrens and all the lands around us could turn into an undead wasteland, but our realm will remain free of their taint. Not that we want that to happen. But the war of fire and ice is another matter.”

“Quite a power to help you, if I may say so,” agreed Tyler. “But I am curious about your people, Sarva. I admit I have been trying to identify the origins of this civilization. Oh, I know about the realm beyond the cliffs, which is an illusion for ordinary humans.”

“I expected you would see through that mirage. Three cities and numerous towns. But only with a population large enough to sustain my existence and regain some of my former power. Nothing else. My brethren would have to remain in the ether. But it would be impractical to tell you what my people called themselves, as their language is one not spoken anywhere else on Adar or on the First World. They simply call themselves The People. Our Sumerian neighbors do remember us and call us Meluhhaites and our land on the First World as the black land, or Meluhha.”

“Where exactly on the First World was it located?” asked the mage,