Tartarus Beckons

by Edmund A. M. Batara

  He swiftly turned to Habrok who was already releasing arrow after arrow with a great deal of effectiveness. Several of the wolf creatures were laying still on the field. But the ground continued to shake with the thundering charge of Sutr’s minions. The frightening sound of the assault and its nearness was testing his nerves.

  “Habrok! Go to the mountains at the rear and find us a good defensive position. Take Kadir with you. There might be wild jotnar attracted by the noise.”

  The ranger immediately ran to the rear, followed by Kadir. The leading creatures crashed into Tyler’s barrier, resulting in a chaotic jumble as those in the back of the attacking horde piled into them. He could hear the crack of numerous bones and the diverse cries, growls, and hisses of pain and anger from the confused giant bestial heap. It was a welcome sound to the defenders, but Tyler knew that the other side of the coin was that the disaster was bound to make the survivors more furious.

  He thought fleetingly of Birki and the rest of his wards, but turned his mind from the idea of involving them. Given the surroundings, the spirits of the wand would be in enormous danger if a powerful magical being was hidden among their enemies. If that happened, there would be more than one, of that he was sure. Tyler didn’t want to see even one of them hurt. He could be protective as a hen of her chicks, but he didn’t care. The mage himself was facing an uncertain battlefield situation. Apparently, Birki agreed. His staff didn’t give off that warmth which meant the guardian wanted to talk to him.

  “Impressive,” he heard Sford murmur. The mage was obviously referring to the success of Tyler’s spells on ground where Ymir’s power was supposed to reign paramount. The cloud was already discharging its lethal bolts, incinerating or blowing out multiple targets. From what the young mage could observe, it was a gory, bloody, and devastating mess.

  “Milord, would you mind if I course a spell through your cloud? An experiment which, if effective, would deal more damage,” asked Sford, a strange excited light dancing in his eyes.

  “I didn’t know one could do that,” Tyler said immediately, and then regretted it.

  Dammit again. Another show of ignorance.

  “Oh, it is possible. If it would please the First Mage, kindly allow my spell to join yours. There will be resistance from your cloud, and I would hate to be the subject of my own incantation’s feedback,” explained the mage quickly.

  Wait a minute. Experiment? I don’t do well with… Tyler started to think.

  But it was a train of thought quickly derailed as the mage felt a strong surge of magical power directed at the cloud, and struck an invisible wall in the matrix of the lightning spell. Tyler immediately willed the original magical incantation to allow the new infusion, but he took the opportunity to infuse the hovering masses of thick haze with additional Elder energy. If Sford was going to deal more damage, he thought of giving the man’s spell more time to play with their attackers.

  Suddenly, the lightning attacks took on a new and terrifying aspect. The deadly coruscations visibly became larger, and now jumped from one attacker to another, sometimes fusing two bodies together, leaving charred remains behind. It was a version of Tyler’s chain lightning spell, but dealt from above and in a more powerful and extended form. For a long while, the field before them dazzled with the massive flashes to the extent it hurt one’s eyes to gaze on what was happening. The smell of burnt meat reached them, and the cries of death and fury were relegated to the background by thunder and sizzling sounds as the area in front of the company was turned into a huge cooking pit.

  “But this breaking of Ymir’s hold, even in this localized area, is bound to attract attention. I merely thought of making the most of it. But we have to prepare for the arrival of a powerful lord from Ymir’s retinue. I doubt if Ymir himself would put up an appearance,” Sford told Tyler.

  Nothing comes free in this world, doesn’t it, thought Tyler with disgust.

  The entire party, the dokkalfr included, looked on with awe, with the dokkalfr mages stealing glances at Tyler, fear in their eyes. Suddenly amid the smoke and slaughter, several gigantic flaming figures emerged, some armored and with helms, and as one smashed their weapons against Tyler’s barrier, already weakened by the impact of numerous bodies which had crashed against it. The shield broke to pieces and disappeared. A few of the giants then fell, struck by vagrant lightning bolts, but more emerged to replace them. There were more than Tyler expected. Their weapons were wreathed in flames, reminding the mage of Tyndur’s battleaxe.

  “Come on, you limp-dicked sons of that one-balled jotunn you call your leader!”

  Tyndur was in his element again.

  “What he said!” shouted Orm.

  Tyndur’s foul mouth really is contagious, thought Tyler.

  Chapter Twelve

  Ymir's Domain, Ymir's Rules

  As Tyler watched the fire giants surge forward, loud cries of defiance called his attention – the leading wolf-like creatures had reached the dokkalfr line. The melee fighters defended two each to a beast, and the mages had started with their spells which now started to work as they were within the area of the ruins. The company’s line didn’t move from where they were positioned as they awaited the brunt of the assault. With their experience, they knew the dokkalfr won’t last long.

  Some of the advance guards were bound to get past the dokkalfr, noted Tyler.

  He was starting to feel useless, hesitant as he was in using Elder energy except for area-of-effect incantations. It was not as if he had an unlimited supply of the precious resource. The mage also didn’t know where the boundaries of Ymir’s power weakened or ended. But from what he could see from the dokkalfr mages, it was a very short distance from their battle line.

  He involuntarily looked back, watching for the duo’s return. They were still nowhere in sight, and the giants were nearly upon them. The attacking behemoths were of two kinds, one distinct from the other. The first type looked like enormous versions of human warriors, though encased in mystical flames, and the mage wondered at the kind of armor worn and the weapons wielded as the objects appeared unaffected by the fire surrounding them.

  The other kind seemed a lot more dangerous, in a relative way. They appeared to be fire spirits, albeit large ones. Unarmed, their humanoid forms flowed and moved with the flames encasing them, and the long claws which made up their excuses for hands looked deadly.

  They’ll tear you apart and burn to death at the same time? Damn. I should have asked Okeanos for a water spell.

  “Water spell?” Tyler asked his guides, fervently hoping that somewhere in their studies, the two had come across one.

  “Unfortunately, none, sire,” answered X.

  “But water is but matter, sire,” said Hal. “If you could sense its presence, you could break open the ground and call it forth. Probably.”

  “That would take time, Hal,” promptly said the mage in response. He was pressed for time to do something, anything, as a contribution to the ongoing battle. “Could you detect the limits of Ymir’s power around here? The one Sford spoke of?”

  “Vaguely, sire. It appeared training was required for that ability,” said Hal. “A rough estimate would be ten feet from where the dokkalfr are dying.”

  The dokkalfr were indeed woefully reduced in numbers, their dead kin already torn to pieces or burning where they were struck down. Tyndur and Orm were already fighting, and he could see Astrid’s outline as she raced through the incoming beasts, killing where she could, and disabling if the opponent was beyond her lethal reach. Tyler didn’t notice her javelins and assumed they had already been used.

  The Valkyrie’s more skilled now, observed Tyler. She doesn’t let anything interfere with her speed and killing circuit. From his vantage point, the mage could see that Astrid dealt with the second wave of enemies, trying to ease the pressure on their front ranks.

  He turned to Sford.

  “Your spells?” he asked.

  “I can’t cast anything yet, milord
. The allowable magical frontage is narrow, and our people are engaged in battle. Moreover, the Valkyrie’s within the ranks of the jotnar. I can’t risk hitting her,” answered the mage slowly, sounding almost as helpless as Tyler felt.

  Tyler saw the point in Sford’s hesitancy, though the remaining dokkalfr mage, being in the middle of the clash, was casting spells left and right. But he observed the magical incantations used were defensive ones, usually shield or repulsing spells. Apparently, the dokkalfr mage was also stifled by the restriction.

  On the other hand, the fighting skills of the female warrior were on display. She was fast, agile, and used the greatsword as if it was but a knife. Most of the time, she just used one hand for the sword, and the other arm had a bracer with a wicked blade attached to it. It was a style of fighting which appeared to be all her own. None of the other dokkalfr had the same weapon arrangement. Clearly experienced with her blade, her strikes were usually calculated to pass through one enemy onto one close by. The bladed bracer was used to slash enemies as she caught them by their throats if they were flame beasts, or any part of the body of the humanoid ones as she flashed by. She never stood still and kept moving, leaving dead and injured in her wake. Surprisingly, the flames didn’t affect her.

  Must be magically protected, observed the mage. Though her skills are still far from being up to par with Astrid or even Tyndur. Unique armor though.

  Of the company, Astrid was still creating merry mayhem among the ranks of the jotnar. She was so fast that to the naked eye, her dismembered victims seemed to die of their own accord. Their two melee fighters, Tyndur and Orm, were holding their own, though Tyndur was dispatching four targets to one of Orm, which was understandable, thought Tyler, given the teleportation capability of the einherjar. But the mage knew that in a battle where his magical abilities were severely constrained, they were on the losing end, given the numbers they were facing. And the lumbering fire giants were almost upon them.

  “Kobu, lead a fighting withdrawal deeper into the ruins. Sford and I will delay whoever attempts to follow. I believe the space in front of us is free of Ymir’s influence,” ordered Tyler immediately. Then he glanced at Sford. “Am I right?”

  “Yes, First Mage. At least I’ll get the chance to do some damage,” answered Sford. The orange-clad mage must be as frustrated as he is, concluded Tyler.

  Then a sudden idea came to Tyler. He looked at Sford and then at the ruins behind them. What remained were but sorry vestiges of mighty walls, and in some places, the foundations couldn’t even be seen. It was not a good place to defend.

  “How good a mage are you, Sford? Enough to keep the pursuers back for a few minutes? By yourself?

  “I can try, milord. But such massive expenditure in so short a time is bound to drain me quite fast. “

  “Give me time,” answered Tyler as he turned and walked back a few steps.

  He immediately focused on the ruined walls, willing the rock and the rubble to fill out the matrix he had created in his mind. The mage didn’t try to recreate what he imagined were tall battlements of the fortress during its heyday, but instead visualized stone walls eight feet tall and two feet wide. He left the entrance in place but made it smaller, enough for three persons abreast, and made the pillars of the opening thicker. His task was immeasurably made easier by the numerous piles of stone lying around, leftover rubble from the stronghold’s fall and destruction.

  The walls almost instantaneously came into existence, revealing a courtyard. Tyler promptly realized he was looking at the inner portion of the stronghold – there was no way that an outpost on the fringes of Ymir’s Domain could be that small. The outer wall would be along the demarcation Sford mentioned, logically encompassing within its fortified boundaries the ancient portal.

  He turned his attention back to the ongoing battle and found the companions running past him, with Kobu at the rear, though the exile stopped when he reached Tyler. Of the dokkalfr, two survived, the masked warrior and another melee fighter. The mage would have escaped, but he was too slow. Three smaller flame creatures leaped on him and tore the mage to pieces.

  Sford was already busy. Chain lightning spells were already flooding the battlefield, stopping the jotnar in their tracks. Even the fire giants halted, wary of the dangerous coruscating flashes that jumped from one victim to another.

  “A magnificent magical display, milord, though it bothers me a little that we still don’t know what these ruins were called,” said Sford, referring to the walled enclosure created by Tyler. “But I am afraid I am nearing magical exhaustion.”

  “Go! Join the others, tell them to be ready to block the entrance. I’ll delay these bastards,” shouted Tyler.

  With Kobu at his side, Tyler again created walls in front of their enemies whose ranks were still being ravaged by the remnants of Sford’s spells. It wasn’t as tall and wide as the barriers he had earlier created, but his purpose was to delay, and give the company time to catch a breather and figure out a defensive strategy.

  But he couldn’t resist letting loose a rain of lethal blades onto the front ranks of the milling horde. He barely could see the enemy, and limited the barrage to the area just after the walls he had conjured, mindful of the power of Ymir around them. Even with the restriction imposed by the jotunn lord of cold and ice on the land, Tyler wanted to do it, if only to make up for the feeling of helplessness when the battle started. Then he fled with Kobu into the courtyard.

  A quake spell would have been perfect, thought the mage as he ran. But I can’t risk destroying the ancient portal. And those two scouts are taking too long.

  A quick look back revealed the brown haze was, in fact, a collection of dust clouds, and they were already closer than he expected.

  As Tyler and Kobu entered the courtyard, the company and the two dokkalfr survivors were already deployed near the entrance. Under Tyndur’s direction, a killing zone was created around the opening, allowing entry for a few feet inside the area.

  Admittedly, the arrangement didn’t make use of Astrid’s abilities, but the mage saw that the Valkyrie was positioned to their rear, presumably to take care of any enemies climbing up the walls. And to Tyler’s relief, he could see the pair of scouts were already approaching the group.

  Hopefully good news, as he saw Habrok nod, but lousy timing. We’ve got jotnar on our tail.

  He saw the masked woman beside Orm and strode to her. Sford was at their back, with a clear view of the entrance and what lies beyond it. Everything appeared ready, all they needed was for the jotnar to make an appearance after they had smashed the barriers Tyler had put up.

  “Your name, warrior,” demanded Tyler.

  “Magna, High Jomsviking of the House Haffson, First Mage,” stammered the woman. All the defiance and antagonism appeared to have gone out of her.

  Loki does have that effect on people, thought the mage, and my dealing with a deity on a first name basis must have shocked her beyond her ability to comprehend. Gods usually don’t do that with mortals, especially a human.

  “What was this place called?” he continued. He had lost patience as a result of being tricked into another battle, and Tyler’s frame of mind was presently not conducive to extending small courtesies. “The dokkalfr must have known of this place from their lore, not to mention that your people intentionally sent us here.”

  “The Alfar and humans called it Solens Tårn,” replied the female warrior.

  “Tower of Sun, eh?” said Tyndur. “Surprisingly, even I haven’t heard of it. Must be older than I am.”

  “It is an ancient fortress originally built to watch over the movement of Ymir’s legions. But it also served as a thorn of the side of our people, and when the strength of our ancestors grew, and that of Solens Tårn waned, it was taken. The stronghold of Kunigunda was built to prevent another Alfar or human outpost from being established again on these lands.”

  Tyler took a quick look around – stone ruins, rubble, and rocks greeted him. At the rea
r of the courtyard was an incline leading farther up the mountains. Petrified remains of trees were the only signs of vegetation. He turned to Habrok who stood beside with Kadir. As soon as the ranger saw the mage’s attention on him, he walked forward.

  “No jotnar at our back, sire. No clear exit, either. We discovered a large cave leading deeper into the mountains, but we don’t know its purpose, and the place is infested with spiders, large ones,” reported the ranger.

  “We tried going in, but the spiders blocked us,” added Kadir. “Ugly beasts. I know they’re supposed to be insects, but I’ll thrice-damned if I’m going to call those things mere insects. The smallest was as big as a dog!”

  “Probably cousins of the ones we’ve encountered before, Kadir. News of your handsomeness must have spread throughout the spider colonies,” called out Sford, to the laughter of Orm. “And spiders are not insects!”

  “I hate to break the merriment, boys and girls, but our guests are here,” bellowed Tyndur.

  At his warning, the warriors and Sford readied themselves. The mage was puzzled at the lack of missile troops among the jotnar, at least with the humanoid ones. He had not seen any yet, but thought the ice elves of Ymir might have their own version of bowmen. Drake-riding ice creatures with javelins do exist among their ranks, Tyler remembered. The trio which ambushed him and the Gothi when he first arrived was of such a kind. Among Sutr’s minions, he couldn’t imagine what kind of creature would be the counterpart of archers. But if there were such fighters, then they must be few and not usually utilized by their warbands.

  Flame wolves and smaller four-legged creatures rushed the entrance and immediately fell to the defenders. Anybody and anything which tried to enter was open to frontal and flank attacks, and not surprisingly, some even didn’t live long enough to reach Orm and Tyndur who formed the bulwark of the defense at the end of the U-shaped protective formation.