Tartarus Beckons

by Edmund A. M. Batara

  “And Eira will be dead by then,” said the mage sadly. He could be angry at what he heard and insist on the being’s assistance, but Tyler was pragmatic enough to realize that the entity before him was far more formidable than any head of a pantheon of deities from Earth. It was good to hear that the Ancients now bore a grudge against the Titans and that they intended to take their pound of flesh as revenge, but that was something in the future, Tyler couldn’t wait that long.

  Labiru looked at Tyler, his eyes softening. The old man smiled and then touched the shoulder of despondent mage whose head was bowed in absolute despair.

  “But I have just been given the grace to do something for you, First Mage,” said Labiru softly, the expression on his face filled with genuine care and concern.

  Tyler looked up, hope in his face.

  “I could delay the advance of Ymir’s minions through the mountains for a time. A period of five days would be sufficient. Their passages would be blocked, and they wouldn’t be able to progress. But I have a suspicion that they’re also looking for this fellow,” Labiru pointed to Asag. “What they want with his unremarkable face, I really can’t say. The spider colonies would also suddenly find convenient access to the jotnar. I do have a responsibility towards the creatures – they have kept the mountains safe for a long time and have simple needs. After five days, the jotnar will be free to try to burrow their way through to the dokkalfr.”

  “My thanks, Labiru. I believe I could settle for that. A breathing time is all I need,” said Tyler. “Next would be finding a back door to Tartarus. Asag said something about dimensional cracks. I know I am pushing my limits here, but would you know of such things?”

  “The barnacles Asag told you about?” replied Labiru.

  The mage stared at Labiru with a stunned look.

  “Oh, don’t be so surprised. You think you’re the only ones Alal had talked to about the subject?” laughed the old man in reaction to Tyler’s astonished expression. “We had a very long time together. More than sufficient time to discuss a great many things.”

  “The Ancients have long dealt with such beings as we feared the creation of new versions of the Void Lands. Dimensional openings like that have a way of becoming larger, unless they’re attended to at an early stage,” clarified Labiru.

  At Labiru’s comment, the mage was reminded of an underground lake full of an unknown substance, from which emerged strange, evil and destructive creatures – the dimensional gate guarded by Palirroia and its brethren.

  “You did? Damn, I was on nodding acquaintance with a few, but most were enemies. I was so looking forward to raining blows on their unworthy forms, and crushing the dark energies out of their useless shapes,” exclaimed Asag.

  What’s with Asag and crushing? Oh, rocks. Right.

  “But a few did remain. We avoided those near mortal settlements and those close to the cities on Banna. The battle would surely spell the destruction of such centers of civilization. We intended to find a way to deal with them but never got around to it. More pressing concerns, I guess.”

  Tyler didn’t like the way Labiru looked at him when he mentioned finding a way to deal with such solitary and powerful dark entities.

  “Any nearby?” Asag asked eagerly.

  “There’s one near the dwarven settlements in the North Dvergar Range. The rest still available are too far away and in lands I doubt the First Mage is familiar with, unless he had been to Banna, where the next closest creatures are located. There are two of the parasites there. Considering the proximity of such a creature to Skaney and Hellas, the dimensional fissure it feeds on might just be the one you’re looking for.”

  “I pray you’re right. And nope. Never been to that island,” quipped the mage immediately. Then he remembered the offer of the dwarf Otr about getting rid of a dark area near their kingdom, and Dvalin’s advice about negotiating terms for the task. Smiling at the memory of the two contentious dwarves he had met in Hedmark, one a svartalfar and the other of the dvergar, Tyler looked at Labiru.

  “I think I know where, though getting to the dwarves might be tricky.”

  “They’re under attack themselves from Sutr’s forces. They doing well so far, but they’ve faced only the advance guard,” revealed the old man.

  “Now our next problem. Getting to Maljen,” said Tyler.

  “Don’t you mean the dwarven kingdoms?” replied Labiru.

  “I want to see the area where the attack took place. Those bastards surely have left traces of their emergence and departure,” remarked the mage.

  “Your decision. I could help with your journey to Maljen, though you’d be arriving at the hills at the back of the forest. As for the dwarves, I’ll get somebody to help you with that part. You’d be doing us a favor if you manage to eliminate that pest of a barnacle and the least I could do is to ease your way in that direction.”

  Tyler breathed an enormous sigh of relief. Then he saw Asag’s countenance. The demon was beaming.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Transformations

  After everything that happened, the preparations for Maljen felt anticlimactic. The opening appeared on the mountainside, goodbyes and thanks were said, and the company arranged their ranks before the portal. Tyler saw members of the group glancing from time to time at the now quiet valley. Kobu and Tyndur eyed Asag for a while, and the mage couldn’t tell what they were thinking. He expected the deadpan look from Kobu, but now the einherjar was doing the same.

  What a mess! I now have three unpredictable personalities, the mage reflected. On the positive side, he couldn’t sense any sign of a brewing headache, though his stomach’s guts now felt as if they were twisted and stretched in very uncomfortable ways. And now it’s my stomach. I don’t know which is worse – a killer of a headache or a severely stressed stomach.

  Tyler was next to the last to enter the eldritch waiting gate, and Kobu, as usual, made sure he had the mage’s back. Looking at his companions as they stepped into the magical construction, the mage couldn’t help but think about the uncomfortable and awkward questions his friends will have for him. Such queries wouldn’t be asked now, while they were in the middle of the unknown, but he had no doubt they would be made later at the proper time. Just as it was his turn to enter, Labiru went to him. The old man had a friendly smile on his face as he grasped Tyler’s shoulder. The mage smiled back, though he wondered what the entity’s real form looked like. Even Rumpr had admitted that the shapes they took merely reflected the reality around them.

  “The blessings of Mother, young mage,” said Labiru.

  “And here I thought you were going to say good luck,” Tyler joked.

  Labiru gave a good-natured laugh.

  “Luck is a mere set of circumstances put together by a greater being, young Havard. Yes, I know your names,” winked the old man. “Luck is but a word used to explain what is beyond one’s capacity to understand. Before me stands a very fortunate and incredibly blessed mortal. Your road, as many might have told a stubborn young human mage, is a difficult one. An understatement if one takes the time to examine the monumental task ahead of you. But it is a worthy cause, much preferable than dying as an ignorant and naïve visitor of this world. Believe me, Adar is not kind to those from the First World.”

  “That fact I seem to realize now,” replied Tyler, thinking of the recent First Worlders he had already met.

  “Goodbye then, and the best of luck,” smiled Labiru.

  It was Tyler’s turn to laugh.

  When Tyler emerged, he found the company staring at a familiar figure waiting for them. It was Hrun. Then he noticed that Habrok was in front of the stone elemental, talking to the rest as they put away their weapons. Except for Asag, who had gone to the side of the clearing and apparently busy exploring.

  Oh, shoot. I now remember that only Habrok and Jorund were familiar with Hrun. The rest must have instinctively drawn their arms when they saw him. Good thing Habrok, as the scout, was the first to en
ter the portal. Otherwise, I would have emerged into a full-blown battle.

  The mage looked at Asag. The entity was looking around the clearing where they came out. Tyler wasn’t surprised at the benign reaction of Asag to Hrun’s presence. The stone elemental had the same magical emanations as Labiru and the erstwhile prisoner would have immediately recognized it. Instead, Asag busied himself with examining his surroundings.

  Can’t really blame him for acting like a kid on a field trip. Imprisoned for only God knows how long, everything now could be a new experience. Either that or a recollection of a memory long thought forgotten, noted the mage.

  “Greetings, friend Hrun. I am glad to see you’re the one the Ancient sent to guide us,” grinned Tyler. “And it has been a long time.”

  “Ah, my friend. I am also glad to see you,” replied the being.

  “Time may pass

  Like the tempest of the night,

  But the memory of a friend

  Will last a day and forever.”

  “Poor lines, I am afraid, as I still grieve for our loss,” continued Hrun.

  “Me too, Hrun, and everybody in the company. But there will be a settlement of accounts and our bill shall be high,” said the mage with steel in his voice.

  “Ah, and your beautiful wife too. What will happen to the forest while she is gone? Somebody needs to tend to the trees, the plants, and those who live in it. I grieve, and I am ashamed as I cannot help in such things,” mourned Hrun.

  The forest needed tending as Hrun said, but I fear my friend also has to be lifted from such grief, thought the mage. He was Rumpr’s constant companion and would be the most affected by what happened to the earth elemental. But I think I might have a solution. Healing has to start, at least for some.

  “I have a ward who’s a helper of the Lady of Fossegrim Forest. I might have to ask her to try her best to care for the forest while my wife is away. But she’s young and would need somebody to protect her while we are on the task of finding Eira. Would you like to take on the responsibility of being her guardian in our absence?” said the mage softly.

  “A forest spirit? Rare are those nowadays.”

  “A young forest spirit. Her name is Vivindel, and her magic is similar to Eira,” Tyler explained.

  “I would be honored to take on the task, First Mage. But first, a duty I have to render,” replied Hrun.

  “I know. But I want to see Dionysus and Gullen first. They’re still around?” asked Tyler. He could send a message to the god of wine, though it seemed pointless as he was going to the location where the Titans attacked.

  “The wine god and the ancient one are both here. Greatly weakened, they are, and their healing warrants more time.”

  “Can you guide us to them?” asked Tyler.

  “Of course, my friend.”

  The site of the battle was about an hour away from where they arrived. But it was an hour of travel helped along by Hrun’s elemental ability. The companions found themselves walking on flat terrain most of the time. Tyler did notice that Hrun took pains in avoiding hurting the vegetation of the forest, an observation which made the mage hold the Ancients in higher respect. If their subordinates could be that considerate about how they act in the world, then they must be doing something right.

  Is it because they were directly created by Adar itself? Compared to First World deities and other magical beings who were born of man’s beliefs and fears? mused Tyler as he walked deeper into Fossegrim Forest. Then he realized something was wrong in the very air of the woodland. The atmosphere lacked the sense and joy of being alive. Before, the very trees glowed with life, now they merely existed.

  Eira was indeed the life of Fossegrim Forest, Tyler reflected. No wonder she couldn’t stay away for an extended period. Visiting me in Scarburg was a great sacrifice on her part.

  “First Mage,” Hrun called out. “We’re nearly there.”

  “Thanks, Hrun,” he replied just as a gigantic winged form suddenly and swiftly swooped down and struck the lagging Asag with an enormous clawed hand, flinging the hapless demon high up in the air.

  “Asag! You dare show your face again? Better you stayed dead!” came a loud and furious shout which echoed throughout the area. Tyler looked up and saw a huge golden dragon, deadly horns adorning its head and its body the size of Dionysus’s tavern back in Akrotiri, winging its way after the demon.

  Gullen? The startling realization came to Tyler’s mind. She’s got a grudge against Asag? Why?

  Hurriedly, the mage consulted his guides, hoping that they’d have some idea of what the ongoing battle was all about. The tone of Gullen didn’t bode well for the demon and the company’s progress. Asag was his responsibility now, and yet Gullen was a friend who even risked her life defending Eira. Add to that the abruptness of the attack and one had a very confused and flustered First Mage.

  “We have no idea, sire. Both were ancient beings even during their time in the First World and are very formidable entities. But we surmise that the two had met on hostile terms during the time Asag ran amuck on Adar. The distance between the Norse and Mesopotamian civilizations in the First World was great enough to preclude any assumption that the mutual animosity originated back on Earth,” answered X.

  “What do I do now?” asked Tyler, watching as the draken caught up with Asag and hit him again, sending the demon back towards the company.

  “For now, separating the two would be the ideal solution. Either one won’t attack you, but their innate powers are too great, even when one considers Gullen to be weakened and Asag to be at a stage where he’s relearning the use of his abilities,” remarked Hal.

  “Great. I can’t do anything then,” the mage replied acerbically.

  He glanced at the rest of the party and saw that everyone was caught unaware by the sudden attack, though weapons were already being readied and tellingly, glances were being made in his direction from time to time.

  Damn. They’re waiting for my instructions, thought Tyler.

  As Asag was thrown back by the force of Gullen’s blow, the demon changed form. His mass increased, eldritch clouds of smoke pulsing with flashes of lightning trailed from the changing entity. Then the giant shape, larger than Gullen’s dragon persona, abruptly stopped in mid-air. Tyler saw a winged black lion with the head of a horned demon looking at the golden dragon. The wings were golden in hue, and the clawed feet weren’t the paws of the great beast. Instead, they were the monstrous feet of some bird of prey, and the tail was that of a snake. The mage also saw that the demon’s head wore a golden crown, but he couldn’t tell if it was a permanent fixture or a mere adornment. Tyler settled for permanent, he knew Asag at least that much.

  Then the demon’s familiar voice reverberated in his mind.

  “I am allowed to defend myself, First Mage, and I get to finish my fight with that horny bitch.”

  “Wait, Asag…” Tyler started to say, but the magical connection was cut off.

  Looking up, the mage could see why. The mountain of a lion had started its attack, with its wings beating gale force winds toward the advancing dragon. As Gullen floundered in the magical tempest, massive rocks and boulders suddenly rose from the ground and nearby hills, all flying in her direction.

  The solid deluge struck the unstable dragon and would have severely hurt her if not for a barrier around her form. But the force of the flood of rocks flung and smashed the dragon against a peak several miles away. The distant, booming sound of the impact resounded through the air. Then the mage saw Gullen, a tiny speck, rising above the range of hills and fly to the attack again.

  Ah, shit. What a fucking mess, thought Tyler, still at a loss on what to do.

  “Havard! What were you thinking? Bringing that foul entity here? I thought Odin’s pantheon had taken care of him!” Somebody exclaimed at his side. The mage knew it was Dionysus.

  “Hi, Dio. Long story and no choice. I think. And I am delighted to see you recovering.”

  “Thank
you, but Asag’s presence just made a bad situation worse. We have rebellious gods and escaped Titans to fight, and now Asag?” Dionysus was clearly beyond exasperated.

  “He had been a prisoner under the Dokkalfr Mountains. Loki didn’t kill him and let him go in exchange for a measure of Asag’s power. And he’s my charge now. There’s a shipload of geas and oaths on him to make sure he doesn’t go off on the deep end again,” Tyler told Dionysus quickly. He figured the direct answer would be best, given the situation. The mage knew that eventually, the question would be asked as to who held Asag prisoner, but he decided that if he couldn’t trust the entity who had stuck his neck out for him so many times, and risked his life to save his wife, then what would be the point of being human?

  “Loki. Now I understand. You can’t imagine the kind of headaches that dark entity gave us. Death and destruction, of course, but most of his actions were matters that even deities refuse to discuss among themselves. I’d say Asag loved pranks, but on a dark, monumental scale.”

  “I do have the intention of using him against the Titans. The fellow seemed eager, too,” the mage added.

  “Now that’s a relief, provided you can control him,” answered the deity. Tyler could sense Dionysus slowly relaxing, the tenseness in his aura dissipating. “But don’t ask me, or any deity in these parts, to be his friend.”

  “Of course not. That’s asking for a divine prank of catastrophic proportions,” replied the mage.

  “Now how are you going to get them to settle down? Gullen hated Asag’s guts, and would love to string them all the way back to Kemet.”