So, this is war. Kill or be killed. I have killed. Why am I not bothered about it? Is this how soldiers feel in battle? My conscience should be bothering me.
When Tyler woke up the next morning, a pile of weapons and armor were stashed on one side of the cabin. But the bows and quivers full of arrows were placed inside the hut. Some quivers were empty and he assumed their contents were transferred to the others. Looking at the armor, he didn’t think anything could be usable considering the size of the dokkalfr warriors. The weapons, on the other hand, could serve as last ditch replacements for broken ones. Unfortunately, these dokkalfr carried no spears or halberds.
He went to their cooking area. This time Habrok was the one tending to the roasting of the deer he caught the previous day. Jorund was now the one on watch duty. When Habrok saw him, he offered a slice immediately.
“Meat, my lord?”
“Thanks, Habrok. That was impressive shooting last night. I didn’t know you were that good. You even got that mage.”
“Not to brag, my lord, but I was Maljen’s archery champion for four years running. And as for that mage, you just need to time the strike right. And a little help from this,” Habrok brought out a small clay bottle.
“What’s that?”
“Weakens magical protection. Expensive but after a bad experience with a mad adept, I decided to buy one for my arrows. Can only be bought in Hirdburg. That mad adept had the same protection against arrows, went through half my quiver before I realized it was hopeless. He got me good too. Lasted me a week to recover even with healing magic. It took Jorund and Agnar to take him down. He was too powerful for a mere adept, I guess that’s his reward for being crazy. Those two cut him to pieces just to be sure. Though they saved his head as proof of death.”
Why am I not shocked about Habrok's story? Am I starting to be inured to Adar? Was Earth this brutal before? Will I be as brutal? I pray not. I really pray to God that I won't be as brutal as this world.
“Anyway, my lord, that was a good trick you played on those dark elves. Got them like standing chickens. Also those mist creatures. I really thought we were dead for sure. They’ve got the ugliest faces I have ever seen. Uglier than trolls or ogres. But as Jorund said, I may yet see uglier ones.”
“More will be coming, you know. If we got all, I figure we’ve got another day at least before they realize their advance party failed. Though I would like you to scout up to the edge of the forest. Set your traps again while on the way there. Oh, and don’t forget food. Small game if possible. Quicker to carry. I will spend the day with Jorund trying to improve our defenses and practice with my… ahh… skills.”
“That would be fine, my lord. I pray to the gods our battles here will go as smoothly as last night. Let me take my leave. With me out there, Jorund can eat here.”
“Be safe, Habrok. We need you.”
Habrok gave a slight bow and left, bringing with him some food and a waterskin. Tyler was still eating when Jorund came in.
“My lord.”
“Good morning Jorund. I see we got new equipment last night.”
“Yes, my lord. I already got myself a bow and a quiver set aside. When Habrok comes back, we can divide the extra arrows but I believe he should get the better part of it. The extra weapons may come in handy but I hope we won't need them. Difficult to fight with an unfamiliar weapon. What do we do today?”
“I gave Habrok his instructions already. I want you to build some barricades here fronting the trail. We didn’t have cover last night. Then add stakes and traps down there in the clearing. More stakes up here. I will try to create water storage containers from the smaller boulders I saw behind the cabin. They can serve as our water for non-drinking needs. There are some cut trees left over but if you need more, just ask me. I also intend to practice my abilities against the rock face so please keep some distance from me while I am doing that.”
“Very well, my lord.”
Tyler left Jorund to his meal. Passing by the door of the cabin, he noticed a roughly made door ready to be placed into position. These guys work quick, he mused, thankful that his companions are warriors experienced not only in battle but also in fieldcraft.
Selecting a boulder for his experiment, he used a blade to flatten the top. Looking at what remained, he thought about how to fashion the needed cavity. Finding no easy solution as he didn’t have the finer control of the skill needed by the task, he decided he had to do it the hard way. He first sliced the square-shaped mouth of the cavity into the boulder. Then chipped away at the inner stone with his ethereal blades, laboriously removing by hand the stone fragments. Then he created another boulder water storage. Two would be enough for their immediate needs. Each would require two waterskins to fill anyway.
Moving to the clearing, he found Jorund finishing the first barricade facing the trail. He informed him about the need to fill the new containers with water and then looked for a proper area on the stone wall of the mountain to practice. He wanted to try out the lightning skill.
Finding an appropriate spot, he prepared himself mentally and practiced deep breathing before facing the stone wall. Unlike the fireball and light spells where the appropriate vessel is first shaped and then infused with the required energy, a lightning spell need to be created and coursed directly from available magical energy. Though this makes it easier to cast, the nature of lightning creates aiming difficulties. In effect, the precise aiming of the lightning bolt was the bottleneck of the spell. If aiming was a secondary concern, as when the ability is used as an area of effect spell, then the volume and strength of the lightning bolts would be the primary consideration. Firing off lightning bolts in quick succession, he found he could cast four bolts in a vaguely aimed manner before needing to catch his breath.
Casting the spell was easy enough though as he expected, aiming it was difficult and needed practice. But considering their situation, he decided to focus more on lightning as an area of effect spell. Unlike the blade spell, firing off several lightning bolts at the same time was a visceral expression of will.
The energy still had to be collected but its release had to be in a controlled but violent manner. An expression of the nature of lightning itself. He was successful. Deep gouges and scorched marks on the rock face showing his accomplishment. As usual, he named the spell as simply as he could. LIGHTNING!
But he wanted to emulate what he dimly remembered during the Bildsfell encounter. A lightning attack which could jump from one foe to another. He focused on the spell, first with one lightning bolt. Not releasing it, he coursed his will into it, embedding in it the command to jump from the first target to another, then another. He marked the places on the stone wall.
Unfortunately, control after the first target was impossible. He could feel the loss of control beyond the initial target. He canceled the spell, returning it to the magical energy it came from. He was disappointed but decided that for now, the availability of the chain effect, even if uncontrolled, would be good enough. Especially when facing a mass of enemies.
He turned to go back and rest in the cabin. He was tired, but not exhausted. He found Jorund looking at him, mouth agape. He smiled as he walked past the man.
“So, what do you think, Jorund?”
“My lord! I didn’t know your spells included the power of the Thunder God himself!”
Tyler stopped.
“Why the surprise? Isn’t a lightning spell one which mages can cast?”
“Not all, my lord. Only Champions of Thor or his priest can manifest any ability dealing with thunder and lightning. For you to be able to do that is unheard of. Odin indeed himself blessed you. Even that blade thing you did last night is a spell I have not heard about. I don’t think even high mages have that spell.”
UH-OH.
“Then we better kept quiet about it then,” said Tyler who continued to the cabin. I shocked the man! YES! A victory against Jorund, the icon of chill!
His nap turned out to be a three-h
our exercise. When he woke up, he was angry at himself for wasting such time. But realization dawned that last night’s events contributed to a lack of sleep on his part. His body was just catching up. And he needed to be in the best condition possible considering what’s coming. He stood up and went out of the cabin.
The stone water bins have already been filled and Jorund was on watch, the three low barricades having been finished. Some small boulders stood beside the trail’s entrance, loaded on a makeshift wooden cradle. On one side was a big stone, one which was clearly intended to block the entrance if it comes to that. How did Jorund move that massive thing? Putting it out of his mind, he went to their cooking area and had his meal.
Just as he finished eating, he could hear someone running up the trail. Alarmed, he grasped his staff and went out. It was Habrok. Tyler and Jorund went to him.
“My lord, the jotnar and dokkalfr army have already entered the Gap. They are about three miles from the edge of the forest and on their way to Scarburg. But I saw a separate group going this way, ahead of the host. I expect them to be a mile from here by now. They move fast.”
“How many?”
“Around one to two hundred, my lord. I couldn’t stay a moment more to be certain when I noticed their speed.”
SHIT. There goes my timetable. I thought I would have an extra day.
“It’s game time, my friends. Get what you need from the cabin. Bring some food and a waterskin each. We will go meet them down on the clifftop as usual. But if we are forced to release the logs of the barricade Jorund made, that’s the signal to go up. Block the trail as we go up. DON’T DIE.”
The three got what they needed and went down the trail quickly. For Tyler, the afternoon light was a problem. It will make them visible to enemy eyes. As they waited, Tyler thought about possible options to deal with what’s coming. It was obvious that only area of effect spells would enable him to cut down the odds rapidly. He activated the barrier spell of his staff.
But he also generated a barrier on top of them, a wide three-sided barrier with two sides serving as walls to support the top. Enough to protect their heads from falling projectiles. He angled down the top enough to allow the two archers to shoot. He couldn’t put a frontal barrier as it would prevent the two from using their bows. Shielding finished, he advised them of the barrier and settled down to wait. While waiting, he whittled an opening between two logs of his covering barricade.
Finally, he saw the advance group of the attackers reach the edge of the clearing. They halted, keeping within the trees. But that didn’t stop Jorund and Habrok from using their bows. He could see some drop, leading the rest to move further back. A few fired back but their arrows struck the barricades.
Tyler thought most of the attackers were still coming. The leading elements were ice elves, mounted on armored wolves, and some dokkalfr. After a while came a hail of arrows from the forest. Most struck their top barrier. Glancing at his companions, he noticed that the two were using some of the captured dokkalfr armor as shields, with branches propping them up. I should have thought of that. Or ordered them to do the same for me.
Two more volleys and Tyler heard the thundering feet, hooves, paws of an assault. Peering through the slit, two mountain giants were leading the charge, each holding a tree. Clearly intending to use it as ladders for the giant vargar and the other unfamiliar beasts following them. Tyler was alarmed. The moment those giants get the trees in place, the position will become untenable. He doubted if they have the time to withdrew up the trail. Quickly forming two fiery blades, each the size of a plate, he launched them at the two giants and when each hit, exploded them.
It was a macabre and bloody scene. One giant got hit directly on its chest while the other had the presence of mind to use the tree to try to block the blade. But to no avail. The blade sliced through the tree and cut off an arm before burying itself at the giant’s side. The loud explosions rained body parts and sprayed blood all over the clearing. Even the giant wolves and other beasts halted.
He then launched a rain of fiery balls on the forest, knowing that most will catch on the treetops. When he ignited them, the treetops were ablaze, with fire quickly spreading through the trees. He then launched another volley farther out and did the same thing. The enemy was in a panic. They were milling about and the beasts have starting slinking back to the forest, sensing the fear of their companions. The fire at the back now became an inferno, Tyler having exploded them at a lower height.
The two archers were having a field day, with some enemies pushing into the clearing, trying to escape the fire and the forward rush of others at the back trying to escape the hellish scene at their rear. He then created fireball spheres at the frontal edge of the forest and detonated them, this time expanding the area of effect of the fire. The separate fires coalesced into a burning wall. While it was still active, Tyler cast the strongest AWAY! spell he could manage, this time directed at the fiery hedge. As a result, the wall of fire flowed back into the forest, together with the enemies caught in the blast zone. With the additional air, the fire became hotter, stronger and widespread. It burned like crazy, with burning trees falling into the midst of the destruction. Smoke and flying sparks from falling trees on fire accented the inferno before him. The crackle of the burning forest was all he could hear. Thankfully, it drowned out the dying and painful screams of lives burning away.
Tyler let the fire burn. He didn’t know how to stop it. Those that were in the clearing and escaped the fire didn’t escape the arrows of the Jorund and Habrok. He hoped the fire break he made near the stream would not let the fire spread. Otherwise, if a forest spirit did guard this part of the woods, then he’ll have another enemy for life. Again.
Watching the fire, he thought he had time to check the progress of the main host marching towards Scarburg. He left to go up the trail after informing Jorund of his plan. That’s when after assessing the enemy host, he heard the sounds of another attack.
Moving to the vantage point used by his companions as a watch post, he saw that the fire had almost died down. Only isolated burning trees remained of the inferno he created. The forest was a blackened shell of its former self. But the cloying sweetish smell of burnt flesh, mixed with ash, assaulted his nostrils even as he saw another group of foes running towards the low cliff. This time they carried small trees. They appeared to be ogres. Probably late-comers to the party, he thought. But they looked formidable. Even with the barest amount of crude armor, only a few had fallen though the arrows of Jorund and Habrok festooned the moving monsters. He estimated around thirty approaching the low cliff.
Clutching the staff, he stood up and prepared to launch a lightning spell. As he aimed and cast the spell, he let go of his control, intending to let the bolt have the most effect he can get out of it. The bolt hit the leading ogre but his letting go of control resulted instead of a lightning bolt with a widely dispersed area of effect.
The ogre disintegrated and another ogre following him had his leg cut off after being caught in the dispersed beam. The mortally injured ogre's scream of pain reverberated through the forest. It was a strange sound, a long and deep guttural scratchy cry. The loud death throes of the now fallen monster gave momentary pause to its companions. Blood gushed from the severed stump.
With that, he changed tactics and flung aimed lightning bolts one after the other. Four bolts. Three ogres. He missed one. Shit.
He needed a different approach. Casting fireball spells will only have the same effect as the lightning bolts. A fire like what he did with the first attackers would probably be shrugged away by the beasts unless he can get it to stick to them. But with their resistance and extraordinary resilience, it would take time. That left the blade ability but he could only manage five arrow-size blades as targeted projectiles. Small projectiles might not work on them. He shifted to two large spearhead-sized projectiles and let loose. Two down. Another cast. One hit. His control over the blades still needed practice. The two bowmen
had also managed to bring down two more. The enemy’s casualties were piling up.
The breaking point of the ogres came suddenly. The ogres stopped and started to backtrack. When Tyler saw this, he formed the biggest fireball between three ogres and ignited it. The deafening explosion that resulted clinched it for the rest. They turned tail and ran.
The Accidental Archmage: Book One - Ragnarok Rising (MOBI EDITION) Page 29
