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

on either side of this trail present a problem. And we don’t know where we might find a way down,” observed Tyndur.

“So the best way is down into a fight?” remarked the surprised mage.

“It seems that way, sire. The possibility of broken bones and cracked skulls resulting from traversing unfamiliar, rough terrain covered with large trees and thick underbrush would be the other option. I can’t say what Tyndur said won’t happen,” answered the ranger.

“There’s only two anyway,” contributed the einherjar helpfully.

“Ah, the hell with it. Let’s go down and fight. But keep your heads down. I prefer facing those bony relics on flat ground,” finally decided Tyler.

Guided by the ranger, the party made it undetected to the ground below the bluff. It did help that the drakes were roaming the far side of the road at that time. But Tyler knew that once the group left the cover of the trees, the unnatural predators would head straight for them.

“Ready?” he asked in a low voice. Nods answered him.

The four stepped out of the covering trees and walked in the direction of the now visible road. The two skeletal drakes saw them after several moments and as one, turned and directly went for them.

“Stop,” Tyler told his companions, “prepare for the bony bastards.”

“They don’t look hungry,” said Tyndur. “They’re not charging.”

The large undead drakes were approaching at a steady fast walk. It was difficult for the mage to imagine how they had looked when still alive. From what he had seen, numerous kinds of creatures could be found on Adar, and he had already seen different drakes.

“Prepare for a sudden rush. This kind of drake must have been a different kind with its own hunting behavior. Though they appear to be flightless versions. Multiple horns, though,” warned the mage.

The distance between the group and the two predators steadily narrowed. Then Tyler saw the telltale beginnings of a charge from both creatures – the head lowered and the four skeletal legs became slightly bent, positioning themselves for a burst of speed. The now-familiar verdant glow in the bony eye sockets blazed with an unnatural radiance.

Suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning struck the ground between the two undead creatures, momentarily stopping them in their tracks. Where the lightning struck, a large ball of coruscating light remained, and from it, swiftly emerged a huge mace, wielded by large armored hands.

The studded round metal head of the weapon quickly smashed into a skeletal head and then into the other. The creatures immediately fell apart after their heads flew to pieces. The sphere of light disappeared, revealing a tall man wearing full body armor of a strange design. The ornate winged helm was of an open-faced version, revealing the seasoned facial features of a veteran warrior with an eye-patch.

It was Odin.

***

“By all the stars, it’s the Alföðr himself!” Habrok exclaimed in awe. Normally, the ranger was not easily daunted and surprised at the same time, but Tyler thought the unique circumstances warranted such a reaction. The ranger might have seen Odin in his Gangari persona, but there was nothing more startling than meeting your personal deity, in full glory, in the middle of nowhere.

But the mage’s reaction was totally different. Apprehension gleefully wrapped itself around Tyler’s mind. The arrival of the powerful head of the Nordic pantheon was unexpected, and to a mage beset by several major dilemmas demanding careful thought and reflection, the deity’s presence was disturbing. From experience, it was a prelude to a nasty and difficult request.

The group was quiet as they watched the powerful deity approach. As Odin walked toward them, his armor and weapon slowly faded. When he reached them, it was in the form of Gangari, the wanderer.

The powerful deity looked at the companions as he came closer. Habrok was on bended knee, Kobu gave a formal bow, but Tyndur merely nodded. If the god was insulted, he gave no such indication.

“Ah, my favorite First Mage!” he exclaimed.

“I am the only First Mage the last time I looked,” smiled Tyler, resigned to whatever was going to happen. “Unless somebody else got nominated, and if so, I would be very happy to give him or her all the burdens I seem to carry. For some reason, they breed like rats.”

Odin guffawed.

“Good. You still have that attitude of yours. Come, let’s talk for a while. The shade of those trees appears quite inviting. Walk with me.”

“Take five, guys,” the mage told the trio.

Blank faces, including that of the ranger, greeted his statement. Habrok apparently forgot what it meant.

“It means rest for a while. Just an expression from where I came from,” explained the mage.

“For the life of me, and it’s the second one, I can never understand why the expressions of your world are phrased in such a bewildering manner,” said Tyndur as he turned and joined the two already headed toward another clump of trees.

“How did you know I was here?” asked Tyler as they walked.

“The ring I gave you, Havard. I did tell you it would enable me to determine where you were in Skaney,” answered his companion. “I suspected you would head to Skaney after the Void Lands. An excellent job there, by the way.”

“Thanks. It was… difficult. One of our companions, Asem, was wounded in an ambush.”

“I know. I was told about it. Astrid is with her. Thaut told me. But there’s something about her wounds.”

At the statement, Tyler whirled and looked at the deity.

“What do you mean? She wasn’t dead when her father arrived!”

“Calm down, Havard. Deities of four pantheons and other beings have looked at her condition. Her body had recovered, but there’s a strange wasting malaise affecting the magical side of her being,” said Odin.

“Thanks. That tells me everything.” A slight sarcasm marked Tyler’s tone.

“Why do I have to keep on saying this? – sarcasm really doesn’t fit you, First Mage. She’s in a magical coma. And her father is understandably way beyond furious. I have never seen Thaut so angry. I fear once he