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

side of their territory, but the Elder intelligence was taking no chances.

The mage looked at Sarva. The deity looked younger, his face exultant. When he got out of the cave, all he told the deity was that The People could forward to the future.

At his words, the deity kneeled and bowed his head, a reaction which surprised Tyler; he rushed with embarrassment to the deity’s side to get Sarva up, though in his hurry, the mage nearly tugged the deity off the ground.  The being did stand, but not before vowing his allegiance and that of his people to the First Mage—a declaration mortifying Tyler even more. He knew the magic of Adar would hold Sarva to that promise.

When he got back to the house, only Kobu was there.

The two others had gone out again. When the mage saw the exile, he was instantly reminded of the force of mercenaries still waiting for him back at Viracocha’s temple. Now, he just had an entire civilization and its deity swear fealty to him. He slouched on a chair and then moved to the bed. A nap to get over the morning’s events was just what was needed.  His mind needed to process what had happened. The assessment of his guides could come later.

But it was a shuteye abruptly broken by the arrival of Sarva with disturbing news – G had sensed the eruption of powerful energy fields in two areas. One was from the ground near the Norse fortress-town of Hedmark where the party was headed. The other was a disturbance spread in certain areas of the Barrens itself, farther away from Hedmark, on ground where the mutated energy of the wasteland was weak.

The Elder intelligence believed it ominously presaged a serious threat to Skaney. The blight affecting the Norse homeland had so far spared most of the southern region of Namdalen, where the town was located. With most of the warriors and levies deployed in northern and central Skaney, Namdalen was relatively unprotected. Tyler had no objections to a speedy journey to Hedmark, their destination all along. It was the first major town facing the Barrens and the nearest to the party.

Provisions were hastily prepared, with the local warriors mobilized to provide what was needed. The mage observed what his companions noticed. All the men and women who came to the house bringing food and water were armored and had weapons at the ready. The settlement, given a Greek name by its inhabitants—Profylaki or outpost—was clearly but a heavily armed and garrisoned outpost for the realm beyond the cliffs. When asked about the Greek appellation, Sarva merely smiled and said it was easier for the Pelasgians to pronounce.

Now, with the magical assistance of Sarva, they stood on the outskirts of a thicket roughly three miles from the road leading from the outlying settlements to Hedmark. The deity brought them to a narrow gap in the wall of towering cliffs and led them out. The transition didn’t even take a lot of time. It was strange, but the mage could feel the subtle signs of Elder energy around them. The company was being hurried along its way. He suspected even the fortuitous opening in the mountains was created by the intelligence. It would close again, protecting the secret of the kingdom and its people. Once they passed the through, the companions spread out as Tyler halted and turned to their guide.

“Thank you, Sarva. This greatly cut down on our travel time. A lot. I hate to think about doing the journey the scenic way – around the base of those mountains, dealing with predators and whatever along the way,” said Tyler.

“I am glad to be of service, First Mage. There is also one more thing. I have a gift for you. Please don’t object. May it be of use in your journey. Despite my reduced status, even I could foresee you have a long and contentious road ahead of you.”

“Oh, no. You need it more, Sarva. The People could make use of it. You don’t have to give me anything,” protested Tyler.

He meant what he said, but also had thought about the difficulty of adding another new magical spirit, spell, or object to his collection. Tyler had barely enough time to examine or investigate what he already had. Another situation like what arose from Loki’s torc was the last thing he needed, though the Feathered Serpent’s gift was a very useful one.

“Don’t worry about it, First Mage. It is a spell, a spirit, which I refuse to use anyway. It reminded me too much of a terrible betrayal back in the First World. One which eventually resulted in our hasty departure from that world,” replied Sarva ruefully.

That got the mage worried.

“It wouldn’t turn on me, wouldn’t it?” he asked immediately.

“It’s not like that. You see, back where we both came from, I was also called the lord of animals. The bull was considered my avatar. But unknown to me, the youngest of my consorts was an ambitious spirit and treacherously colluded with our enemies. She took on the name the Goddess of the Spiked Throne and made a mockery of the bull, one of my symbols.  In her effigies, she was portrayed as sitting on one or using the animal in a slavish aspect.”

“Talk about adding insult to injury,” said Tyler.

“I am over that now. Whatever civilization supplanted us must also be long gone. But that spirit was a venal and tenacious one, I wouldn’t put it past her to have survived whatever changes the millennia had wrought,” replied Sarva.

“Let’s just hope she didn’t cross over to Adar,” grinned Tyler.

“Don’t joke like that; she was a deadly opponent. Let me gift you with the bull spirit, made of pure energy so ordinary weapons can’t hurt it. It is especially deadly to similar spirit forms, emitting an aura distorting magical fields, so best used as a rampaging bludgeon on the battlefield far from your own forces. Only call upon its assistance once a day. Please,