*
Juxta pondered the situation and then snapped his fingers. "Perhaps the God of War has a solution. I'll call upon my master."
Juxta prayed to the God of War. The God answered calmly, "We were afraid you would tempt fate in this manner, Juxta. I don't have a solution, but the God of Nature might, if she'll agree to help you. Go to your groves and beseech her."
Juxta and Lisa rode their cat to the groves, and Robert joined them. Juxta woke his trees and asked them to share their power with him. He started a prayer to the God of Nature pouring power into it.
A beautiful apparition of a half naked woman appeared with a wide smile. "Juxta calls upon me! To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I granted mage power to Lisa," Juxta said. "She forged a mage staff, and now the mage power is consuming her. I'm hoping you might know a way to save her."
"I know a way," the deity said with a quick, choppy laugh. "It's a long process that she must go through. Why should I help you, Juxta? You aren't my disciple."
"I serve life. Isn't that enough?"
"You killed how many of my goblins?"
"I didn't have a choice when it came to the goblins…"
Lisa held her hands out palm up in the direction of the God of Nature. "Please help me. The power is consuming me."
"Why aren't you asking The One True God for help, Lisa?" Nature said. "Are you losing your faith?"
"I doubt The One True God will help me this time." Lisa's eyes darted around the ground. "If you know a path for me to follow, please share it…"
"If you're strong enough, go to the Tree Nymphs and study magic with them, if you can convince them to help you…"
Lisa's shoulders slumped down low. "Thank you."
The God of Nature dissipated into the wind.
*
Balron examined the pool of water with the fish and found where the small lake filled. New fish entered the water via the same water flow. Balron spent a solid week in the cavern with the water and fish. He decided he would return to the passageway that led to daylight, even though he had been struck down there once.
The light started to fill the cave with a fuzzy glow before reaching the opening to the outside world. He extinguished his light spell and put up a magic sphere shield. He figured the shield wouldn't hold for long, but maybe it would be enough time for him to see his opponent, at least.
A demon sat on a hammock, slowly turning a spit over a fire, and it looked like a human leg. The demon had scars everywhere skin showed. The demon looked up at Balron, growled, and cast a fireball. Balron's shield held at first, and he shouted out, "Let me live!"
"Why?" and the demon threw a bigger fireball. This time the shield didn't hold, and the flames consumed Balron. He died another painful death.
Balron woke up to more pain than before. He wanted water and started the long walk to the pool. His powers were stronger though and still gained in strength daily. When he made it to the pool, he tried something new. He used force lines to grab a fish and take it out of the water. It tired him, but with practice, he became good at it.
He went back down the cave towards the daylight.
This time the demon barked sort of like an angry Doberman. "You again?" and threw a fireball. Balron's shield held.
"Every time you kill me I grow stronger!"
"We'll see!" and the demon threw a bigger fireball. Balron's shield held. The demon seemed to pause. "Who are you?"
"Balron."
"The Balron?" The demon asked.
"Yes. Balron the Necromancer."
The demon started to laugh a great bellowing laughter. He fell out of his hammock onto the ground in front of the fire and started to roll around. Balron just stood there and surveyed his surroundings. He stood in a clearing with trees around him, and a dirt path led into the trees. A tent stood off to the side. Next to it crates and barrels were stacked neck high.
The demon stopped laughing. He wiped tears out of his eyes. "Sit, Balron the Necromancer, and have some meat." Balron looked at the leg over the fire. A carving knife sat next to the meat, and he picked it up and cut a slice of the flesh away. It tasted good. The demon smiled. "Wine?"
"Yes, please."
The demon picked up a keg and poured wine from it into a mug for Balron. He took it and drank. The demon smiled. "So, if you don't mind my asking, how did you end up in my gem mine?"
"Juxta summoned the God of War to fight me…"
"You know Juxta?"
Balron looked off in the distance. "He's my mortal enemy."
"He vanquished me with fire. I still carry the scars. The gods of hell must have chosen you for my cave. Dying is like going to sleep and waking up in the same place as before, yes?"
Balron answered, "Yes."
"You have been made mortal again and are trapped in hell."
Balron snapped his fingers. "That's it!"
The demon paused while Balron ate from the leg and drank wine. "We could unite forces and take the fight to Juxta," the demon said.
Balron had never been one to rely on demons, but he smiled anyway and nodded.
*
Lisa and Juxta prepared three horses: one carried supplies, the other two Juxta and Lisa rode. They let the cat scout and hunt. Juxta told William of the journey, and William wanted to send a few squads of rangers. Juxta declined. They rode hard to the northwest. With each passing day, Lisa's condition worsened. She still couldn't sleep at night, and the power grew in her. Twice they came across boulders by the side of the road, and Lisa hit them with enough lightning to cause them to shatter and explode. Juxta tried to teach her how to let the power ebb out of being, to no avail.
Within a week they reached the edge of the Forest of Weslan. They camped on the outskirt of it. Juxta tried to awaken one of the giant redwoods to see if the trees could reach the Tree Nymphs. The tree refused to comply, and Juxta didn't go as far as to threaten it with destruction.
In the morning they rode into the forest. Juxta had the compass with him and figured they would head towards the Lost City. Surely the Tree Nymphs would contact them. After three days of riding, they encountered a dense fog. Juxta cast truesight and the mist proved to be the same mist that the Tree Nymphs cast. Juxta shouted out, "Show yourselves!"
Lisa looked up. "Who, Juxta?"
"The Tree Nymphs have created this fog."
Juxta shouted out again. They heard no response, and Juxta didn't pick up on any of the creature's telepathy. Juxta decided it would be best to camp and wait. Three days passed, Juxta tried shouting again. Lisa stood up and grimaced, and then she blasted one of the redwoods with a great bolt of lightning. It made a great cracking sound and split in two. The pieces fell to the ground.
Juxta shouted, "Lisa!"
"What?"
"Please don't destroy another tree without cause."
"What is that some rule of life magic?"
"Yes."
Lisa paused, looking around. "The fog, it's lifting…"
Juxta looked around, and indeed the fog was lifting. Juxta looked skyward to the canopy of leaves above looking for any sign of the Tree Nymphs, but he didn't see any. Juxta checked his compass, and they rode towards the Lost City. Juxta had to start using Necromancy to make her rest in the evening time, so she would get some sleep if not natural sleep.
Three more days of riding and Juxta decided to call on the God of War. The War God didn't know why the Tree Nymphs wouldn't show themselves. They reached the Lost City and set up camp in the castle courtyard. The cat would go on long hunts at night, and he even brought back a good sized deer on the second day. Juxta started using rest on Lisa during the daytime between meals. She had started carving up the castle walls with lightning, and she seemed to be in a trance. Juxta couldn't get her to stop.
On their sixth night in the Lost City, Juxta noticed a light in the sky. It got bigger until it took on the shape of a Tree Nymph. Juxta shouted, "Hello!"
Juxta, we know why you're here. There's an anc
ient prophecy that a magi will bring a cursed female to us for us to teach magic to, the Tree Nymph said. Six times since the prophecy was fortold, a magi has brought forth a cursed female to us, and each time we have turned them away. She's doomed.
"You must help us!"
Long ago we decided we would always turn away magi. The prophecy is too dire.
"What is this prophecy?" Juxta asked.
If we fail in the teaching, she'll cause a firestorm big enough to destroy our forest! She might lose her mind and destroy everything around her. Us, the trees, everything she can find.
"Good can become of it too, right?"
Yes, some small good can become of it… The Tree Nymph said.
"It would save her life wouldn't it?"
We've been discussing the matter since you reached the edge of the forest. We've agreed not to help those cursed.
"If you don't help us, I'll teach her to cast fire," Juxta said with a grin he usually saved for ogres about to die, "and we'll see how big of a firestorm the two of us can create!"
You wouldn't dare!
"Bloody try me!"
We'd hoped it wouldn't come to this… I'll present your plea to our elders. Perhaps they'll change their minds…
Chapter 43
The demon smiled from ear to ear. "Balron… You're well known in the nether regions as you have sent quite a few souls our way. There are a lot of necromancers still at your command in Tercia, yes?"
"A few hundred… Juxta has killed dozens…"
"We'll make him pay. On a grander scale though, there is the matter of getting from this plane of hell back to the mortal realm."
Balron stopped eating and took the last drink of his wine. "My old master always felt that with the right conditions a gate could be opened from the mortal realm to this realm. Letting loose all manner of beasts and demons into the mortal realm."
"Your old master still holds great power here in hell. He might help us."
"I've never been able to contact him since his death."
"He has an estate down here. He makes the wine, believe it or not."
Balron nodded. "Let's go meet with Lardic."
The demon stood up and spread his palms out wide. "I need to gather a few things up. Thieves abound."
The demon went behind the tent and then came forth with a large mule. He ducked inside the tent and hauled out bags putting them on the mule. Balron didn't have anything to pack. He wore rags and had sandals that somehow survived all his walking in the cave and dying a few times. The demon finished with the animal, and they set off with the sun at their backs.
*
Within two days the Tree Nymphs returned. "You didn't teach her to cast fire yet?"
"No, she only knows lightning…"
"We'll help her. We require your horses. We must have some form of payment, and we savor horse flesh."
"Fair enough."
Two of them grabbed Lisa under her arms, and they flew off into the night sky. The rest took the horses' reins and started to lead them away. Juxta grabbed a few supplies off the draft horse.
Juxta rode out of the Lost City at dawn. He made good time letting the cat set their course and pace. Juxta visited Ruskin's fiefdom on the return home. They lived in peace off the land just as they had promised. Ruskin wanted Juxta to apprentice one from the fiefdom, so that they could always have a Magi on hand. Juxta decided against it as he still had Matthew to teach. The fiefdom could afford to send a potential apprentice to Weslan and study with a master there. Monroe caught up with Juxta. "Is Balron still banished?"
"Yes, as far as the God of War knows…"
"If he rears his ugly head again, don't forget about me. It's getting boring here."
Juxta grabbed Monroe by the upper arm and squeezed. "I'll keep you in mind."
"That's all I ask."
Juxta rode the cat the rest of the way home to Lynken proper. He went back to teaching Prince Matthew. He started to wait.
*
Balron watched his first sunset from within hell. Brilliant shades of red and purple. The demon said, "We camp here. We'll likely be contacted in the night by the bats. They control this region of hell."
"What will they ask of us?"
"They'll want gold or silver, and I have enough for their toll. If they ask a great deal, then I'll offer them a gem from my mine. I've a bag full of them."
"Good."
They made camp and indeed the bats contacted them. They looked human, but with more fur and large bat-like wings protruding from their backs. The demon seemed to know the creatures and paid them ten gold pieces. They called him Teldren. After they left, Balron asked, "Teldren? Is that your truename?"
"No, mortal, but you can call me Teldren. No one knows my truename. To be summoned by one's truename is liken to slavery."
"How old are you, Teldren?"
"There's no way to tell time in this place. The sun will stop sometimes and nights will last for ages. I'm old enough to remember when the elder gods still dabbled in the affairs of man."
Balron looked around himself as if worried someone might hear. "The elder gods are dabbling once again…"
The demon laughed. "Perhaps they'll start dabbling in our favor."
They walked for two more days through forest then came upon rolling hills. The path continued through the humps of ground. Balron noticed grape vines in rows planted along the lower reaches of the mounds. Teldren said, "The harvest must be done for the day, or there would be slaves working these vines. We're almost at Lardic's estate."
They turned a bend, and Balron knew it must be the place. Rows of warehouses sat in lines presumably for the wine. A large barn stood off to the right side of the manor house. Slave pens abounded. The manor house stood three stories tall atop a hill. A mausoleum off to the side of the path glinted in the harsh sunlight. Teldren tied his mule at the post in front of the house. They walked straight up to the front door, and Teldren said, "Lardic very likely knows we're here already. Very few approach his estate without being seen."
They stepped inside. A great, cheery voice echoed from above, "Teldren? You can't be out of wine already? And who did you bring with you, a new slave? I couldn't see his face from afar…"
Teldren and Balron looked up. A towering man, wearing a hard leather skirt and leather vest over a well tanned and strong chest, stood midway up a flight of stairs as if he had been going up or down them when they entered.
Teldren waved at Balron. "I bring you your apprentice."
Lardic looked to be in his thirties even though he died after three centuries of life. Balron said, "This was your end? You make wine?"
"And what is your end, Balron?" Lardic asked. "You must try and take over the world to be happy?"
Balron nodded quickly. "It's there for the taking!"
"There for the taking, he says." Lardic rubbed his hands together as if they were on fire. "I've watched, Balron, for over a thousand years I've watched. I saw you in your heyday when Tercia grew by miles each day. I saw your defeat the very first time when they thought they killed you, but had turned you into a creature of the night."
Balron said, "If I can just get past Juxta…"
Teldren stepped into their center and looked from Balron to Lardic. "One of you will have to go to the mortal realm and summon me by truename, without a ward to contain me."
Lardic scowled. "All the demonologists' books I've read clearly state that summoning a demon that way the demon will be unbound and will destroy the caster who summoned him."
Teldren smiled, showing off quite a few teeth. "I'll be good. I promise."
"There's still the matter of getting me back up there," Balron said.
Lardic looked Balron in the eyes and descended the last of the steps, so all three stood in the ante chamber. "Getting us back up there you mean, for I'll help you deal with this Juxta. Perhaps even help you rebuild Tercia."
Balron bowed.
Lardic made a point to look out the window. "The
sun is setting. It's the perfect time to call upon the gods of this nether region. There's a small temple in the rear courtyard, and it would be the best place for this kind of thing…"
Balron and Teldren nodded their heads yes, and the three of them went to the back of the house and out into the yard. Lightning flashed overhead rocking them with thunder. It started to rain. Lardic shouted, "It almost never rains! My grapes will love it. The storm is a good sign that the gods are already watching. Greed is strongest. I'll summon him."
The temple was made of white cubed stones and had no windows. One perfectly square door marked a side. It was dimly lit on the inside, but there was no way for them to figure out where the light was coming from. There were no shadows, but they could see. The altar was a square block of the same white stone sitting atop a tall block of the same material. Lardic stepped up to the altar and shouted out a prayer in Ancient to the elder God of Greed. Lightning crashed down on the altar, and a human form materialized wearing a trimmed beard, tightly cropped hair, and a golden robe. It lifted back the hood covering its head and smiled upon the three. "Greetings."
Lardic said, "Greetings, my master."
The God waved his hand across the altar. "The God of War should never have banished Balron here. He's meddling too much in man's affairs, yet The One True God has allowed it." He looked Balron directly in the eye. "We're going to see what The One True God will allow of us."
Balron asked, "What of the War God's minion, Juxta?"
"He must be destroyed."
Lardic stepped forward close to the deity. "Splendid. Can you help us, Lord?"
"I'll help you. All three of you."
Balron laughed a short little private laugh. "We must return to the mortal realm to take the fight to Juxta."
The God rubbed his chin a bit. "The best way to strike at a magi is to strike at the tree from which his mage staff is forged. Burn it down. Juxta has an entire grove of trees from which he draws life force. Burn it down."
Lardic bowed. "It will be done."
Juxta, Magi Page 31
