The Accidental Archmage: Book Nine: The Dragon Houses

by Edmund A. M. Batara

  “Damn. A portal to be used in a place where the dimensional curtains have been weakened. The Void Lands. For once, some shit made sense,” blurted Tyler.

  “You might be right, Sire. With the right key, it would require a lot less energy to reach what they called the Plateau of Leng,” said Hal. “However, not even the Elders could say that such a place exists.”

  “Well, it only means that the tablets now bear their taint. Unless it’s possible to segregate the corrupted databanks,” said the dispirited mage. Tyler hated what he was feeling. Hope, followed by exhilaration, and then utter disappointment. A bad day. A really, really bad day. He didn’t even have enough emotional strength to get angry.

  A fucking debilitating experience, he cursed silently.

  “The tablets are connected, Sire. They’re meant to be released in sequential form. It’s possible to detach the affected ones, but we’ll need the guardian for that segregation. As we have mentioned before, each sanctuary is distinctive. A reflection of its maker. Only the AI of a shrine would know the details of its unique layout.”

  “Then I guess the pooch is screwed, huh?” muttered the disheartened mage.

  “We are not familiar with the expression, Sire. Though it sounds like an extremely disagreeable act,” commented one guide. Tyler didn’t catch who spoke as he was gazing at the outlines of the tablets.

  “We’ve crashed and burned, everything’s messed up, we blew it, fuckingly complicated, shit’s all over the room, take your pick of other versions. Or make up your own,” said the mage in a downcast tone.

  “Ah. I’d say scrambled wet shit,” ventured Hal suddenly.

  Despite himself, Tyler laughed. Long and hard. His guides were becoming more human every day.

  ***

  The moment of hilarity over, Tyler squatted on the platform. The stone wasn’t as cold as he expected, though he felt a faint thrumming running through the hard material. It must be his increased sensitivity, the mage concluded. He didn’t sense the workings of the other guardians at their respective sites. Either that or functioning on automatic mode was a unique process – the fine-tuning required simply wasn’t available. In the meantime, he had to weigh his options. If the entire collection had been compromised, it would have been a straightforward choice. There was no way he would even consider touching such a dung pile. But right now, only a tampered few prevented him from acting. Segregation would have been ideal, but that was wishing for the moon, as the cliché went, mused Tyler.

  Not exactly between a rock and a hard place, more of a choice between a rotten apple and nothing at all for a starving man, he considered glumly.

  His thoughts reached out to Eira. He wasn’t truly alone in this world. The forest spirit now shared his burdens. How he wished she was here! A crucial decision needed to be made, and Tyler sorely needed her advice. Maybe, he thought and asked the guides. Perhaps there was some way to talk to her. Lumeri was able to leave a means of communication. The AIs might be able to do it; they were in an Elder shrine after all. All the energy floating around should be useful.

  Once again, reality dashed his hopes. An arcane curtain protected the Isle. No being or creature of magic from the First World could set foot on it. X’s reply mystified Tyler even as he remembered the avatar mentioning an enchantment protecting the island. The Scribe was able to reach the place. Not to mention the rogue Elders and the boasts of some deities – Loki for one.

  “The Norse was lying, Sire. The power of the rogues was akin to that of the Elders and not constrained by the barrier. Lumeri, though a cursed immortal, kept vestiges of his human form. Admittedly, he had one foot in the mortal world and the other in what we could describe as the spirit plane, but the Scribe is not a creation of magic,” explained Hal.

  “Why would that bastard lie about the Forbidden Isle? It’s not as if I had any interest before regarding the place.”

  “Determining what’s behind that insane and devious mind is a task beyond us. But we doubt if it was to impress you with the breadth of his travels. He must have suspected that something of interest, one of power naturally, was in the Isle,” opined X. “He must also have known that humans could visit the place. Otherwise, no report would have arisen regarding its nature. It was his way of misleading you.”

  “Well, that’s Loki for you. Shouldn’t Elder energy enable me to talk with Eira?” persisted the young mage. “I mean, we’re in an Elder sanctuary. All the needed power would be here.”

  “If the original watcher was around, it would have been a simple matter, Archmage,” explained X. “The energy and knowledge needed are available right here but are inaccessible to us. Hal and I were incomplete repositories of such lore.”

  “Shit. An Archmage and I couldn’t even call my wife,” glumly wrapped up Tyler. “This fucking situation isn’t easy.”

  He knew the guides understood his sentiment. Time wasn’t on their side. The chance of finding another Elder temple soon was nil. The south would be an ideal hunting ground for the relics, but it was a war zone with multiple factions. The Aztecah Empire, Loki, and a lot of other hostile entities would be thrilled to see him there.

  Other worrying threats were on the horizon, and Tyler wasn’t even thinking about Loki’s mad scheme or the trapped Void. The Flayed One of the Aztecah had risen and represented an unknown, though deadly, threat. Open warfare had begun among the rogues, and it portended nothing good. Asag’s ravenous race was coming. Deep within him, the mage suspected that the watch of Anemothýella’s race was going to fail. Fate has her underhanded way of screwing with him.

  I don’t think that’s the worst of the list, he decided. There’s a big damned pit in my stomach telling me more headaches are coming my way. Loki’s crazy intrigues opened a shipload of crawlies. Now, what to do with this corrupted set? Partially corrupted, but that doesn’t change a blasted thing. The tablets are connected.

  He returned to contemplating the waiting tablets, weighing his choices, and examining viable options. Leaving the precious artifacts untouched wasn’t on his mind anymore. Limiting any likely damage was his primary concern. One of the problems was the potentially pernicious effects on his guides. There was a risk that the hostile programming of the rogues might subvert their protocols.

  “Sire, battle has started outside. The newcomers are hostile,” reported X after a few minutes.

  “I guess we’ll have to go out to help and then return,” the mage replied as he stood. Despite his confidence in the company’s abilities, Tyler realized they would be facing the unknown. From experience, the unfamiliar always spelled trouble. The local inhabitants might only need to sneeze to defeat the group.

  “Not exactly, Archmage,” said Hal.

  “Duck shit. You’re kidding me? What now?” exclaimed Tyler aloud, immediately thinking that the day really couldn’t get worse.

  “The guardian is gone, and the entire complex is running on automatic mode. When we activated the shrine, its system now expects a resolution of the circumstance raised by the arrival of a qualified human from the First World. If we leave, it would be for good. Either you absorb the tablets’ knowledge, or they become dust,” answered X.

  “How goes the fight?” he asked after a momentary pause, voice reverberating in the hollow. It was a bit high-pitched for his taste. The pressure was getting to him and in a bad way. Tyler clenched his mouth shut and took several deep breaths. Losing his temper had proven to be one of his weak points. Combining magic and anger was a deleterious proposition. Not to mention adversely clouding his judgment.

  “We can confirm two magic wielders among the attackers, and our mages are hard-pressed. They appear to use similar spells as the mages on the mainland, but the strength behind them is formidable,” said Hal.

  “Even Thyma’s power?” asked the disbelieving mage immediately. The news was getting worse. “Se-Osiris is there, as well as that Romanii mage. And it’s not enough?”

  “Apparently, Archmage,” replied a subdued X.<
br />
  “Are they holding?” came Tyler’s next query.

  “So far, but the outcome is uncertain,” judged the guide.

  Tyler glanced at the gleaming outlines of the artifacts again. Concern for his friends tugged at him, yet the pool of knowledge that had eluded him for so long beckoned tantalizingly. An agonizing minute passed with the mage frozen in place. He had already come up with a possible plan, the least dangerous among several options. Still, he had not gone through its potential pitfalls. It was feasible on the surface, but who could say what sharks waited beneath the superficially placid certainty?

  “Fuck this. In for a penny, in for a pound!” The mage muttered grimly as he stepped off the platform and walked to the tablets. Tyler had reached the end of his patience, shortened as it was under stress.

  “You’re sure about this course of action, Archmage?” asked X.

  “Hell, no! And that was a stupid question. What do I have to do?” snapped Tyler, inwardly cursing Fate, Adar, the pantheons, and even the meth heads who inadvertently forced him through the portal that brought him to this world.

  “The procedure is simplified due to the automation. Touch any of the outlines, and transfer will begin,” replied X.

  The mage stopped before one of the shimmering shapes and quickly ran through the precaution he wanted in place. The primary danger in his assessment was the possibility that the guides would be compromised by the taint left by the Followers. He was human, so Tyler assumed he wasn’t susceptible to hostile mechanical coding. His guides were another story. Even H was safe, having an existence outside his mind.

  “Seal yourselves into tamper-proof partitions. Similar to the places you store excess energy, but better protected. Withdraw all interfaces you have with my mind. We can’t have any of you being co-opted. I’ll call on you when we’re certain there’s no danger,” he instructed.

  “There is a significant concern, Sire. May we remind you that the absorption process is an overwhelming experience? One of us had to step in during the previous transfers. This time, we won’t be around. You have grown as an Elder practitioner, but we fear the deluge of the complete set would have adverse effects on your mind,” warned X. Concern was evident in her voice to the mage’s surprise. Like Hal, X was developing as an independent, self-aware entity though still bound by the parameters set by her maker.

  “I’ll handle it,” assured Tyler, his thoughts on a reality he had created when the world’s avatar deigned to guide him in the use of Adar’s energy.

  “We won’t be around to guide or advise you once we retreat to our safe rooms,” added Hal.

  “It’s okay, Hal. It’s temporary. Hopefully, I could resolve any problems. Only a few tablets were affected, and I doubt if the damage was considerable,” the mage replied. It was a confident answer belied by the nagging doubts ringing warning bells in his mind.

  A rational man would think twice, he thought resignedly. Except when caught in this shitty situation. Monsters on the left, demons on the right, angry deities above, and insane ones below.

  ***

  “Finished?” Tyler asked his guides. No answer came, which meant the pair had successfully secluded themselves.

  The mage stared at the glowing outline at his feet. Fuck you, he silently cursed. Surprisingly, voicing the expletive provided a degree of relief. Tyler took a deep breath, exhaled, and knelt with a hand extended. His forefinger slowly reached toward the waiting phosphorescence. Skin touched the glow. Nothing happened. But only for a few seconds. Then the flow of images and information began.

  It started as a trickle, entering his mind and spreading into its deepest recesses. The rate of transfer abruptly increased. It was a bombardment of massive sensory inputs on several levels of cognition. A silent incandescent explosion suddenly burned into his mind’s eye. Tyler reeled from the unexpected occurrence. It was a first. Such an extra price wasn’t exacted in previous, though admittedly limited, assimilations.

  Tyler couldn’t even understand what was being poured into his brain. He knew from what happened with Hal and X that it would be sorted out later. Still, the flood of information was ridiculously unbelievable. His guides were right in assessing that he had grown as a mage. The experience was indeed overwhelming, but the first few moments were manageable. Then the pain began.

  It started as a heaviness in his head and then spontaneously morphed into a full-blown migraine. The pain increased even further, and the mage felt like his brain was being violently split apart. It was a sudden transition nearly rendering him inutile in incredible agony. Tyler closed his tear-filled eyes and swiftly focused on the tranquil realm he had created and left behind in his mind.

  The transition wasn’t seamless. But Tyler expected the jarring passage into the new reality. It was his first time to return, and he didn’t assume it would be a smooth crossing. The avatar wasn’t around to steady the way. Yet, he felt no fear. He created the pocket world, after all. True, it existed solely in his mind, but it was his subconscious.

  The mage knew his body had collapsed as his mind migrated to the new location. Not that he had totally escaped the pain. It was still present, throbbing in his head as a persistently irritating anomaly. His guides were correct. If Tyler didn’t have this reality to escape, the current process would have driven him mad or left a mindless hulk in its wake.

  Unfortunately, Tyler also arrived in the same condition – his face in the dirt. Metaphysical earth. Yet it was real. The divide between mental and physical worlds blurred when magic was involved. Especially Elder magic, he reflected. Standing up, the mage examined his creation. Nothing had changed. The weary young man sat on the grass, deciding to wait out the transfer. Some rest would be welcome at this point, he decided. If not for his physical body, then for a tired mind. Time passed slowly in the peculiar mental dimension. He would have molded new additions to the verdant landscape, but the constant headache made it impossible to concentrate.

  After an hour, he noticed the pain lessened and disappeared. It was time to return. Pity, mused the mage. He was enjoying a particularly bracing breeze. This one brought with it the welcome scent of fresh grass and pine trees, wrapped in pure, fresh air. The elapsed period in his pocket reality meant a second or less had elapsed back in the cavern. He had time to help his friends. Tyler focused and willed the shift. The jarring sensation returned, and his surroundings became hazy for an instant.

  But instead of the familiar stone walls of the hollow, he found himself back in the room where elemental darkness swarmed around a single lit candle. Tyler stepped back in astonishment. It was definitely wasn’t what he expected. Then he noticed that his arrival had increased the agitation of the swirling darkness. Strangely, it rotated in place, pulling in the rest of the thick, dark haze. A humanoid form became apparent and quickly coalesced into a familiar figure. Himself.

  “Tyler, my man. Fancy meeting you here,” said the double.

  Chapter Three

  Janus

  The mage blinked, yet the scene before him didn’t change. The other Tyler was still there, now with a knowing grin. The candle remained lit, though its flame appeared to have lessened. He noticed that the room was clear of the dark turmoil, yet a heavy, oppressive air dominated the space instead.

  The mage returned the smile with a wry one. The unexpected development was a terrifying one, given its implications. But if there was one thing he had learned from dealing with the unpredictable, the greedy, and the simply insane characters on Adar, it was to conceal your thoughts. One’s face was a revealing canvas of the mind. As with the game, being poker-faced helped. Yet doing the reverse of what was expected does wonders in keeping the unknown off-balance. The deflation of Asag’s ego when the demon showed his true colors was one example. Battles were not only through manifest physical or magical attacks. Bluffing and misdirection played essential roles.

  Still, he was also confident that whatever was facing him wasn’t an immediate threat. Otherwise, it would have
attacked the moment he appeared. It, the mage mused, reflecting on how his mind reacted. His subconscious clearly didn’t accept the doppelganger as human or even a sentient worthy of the name. That may change, the mage considered. The intruder might be an unwelcome surprise, but it was undoubtedly part of him.

  The new him, Tyler corrected himself. Elder lore and all that shit included.

  “Ymir got your tongue?” laughed the other Tyler, clearly unable to contain its amusement.

  He didn’t reply, still examining the figure before him. It was an exact copy, down to the dirty armor. Even the long and unkempt hair was there. Only the staff was missing. Yet he was sure that the double knew about the stave’s secret. The intruder had access to his mind. It was only a question of how extensive was the shared memory between them. Knowledge about the guides was a foregone conclusion as the pair had been active in assisting him. Adding to his anxiety was the likelihood that too many secrets may have been compromised. The only way Tyler could determine the extent of the damage was to let the other reveal the needed information.

  As he examined the double, the mage saw he had lost weight, though his body now had muscles that didn’t exist during his almost forgotten past on Earth. More attention to hygiene and his appearance might be in order. A wild hermit look, especially with premature wrinkles, wasn’t in the Archmage mold, nor would it inspire confidence in people who didn’t know him. A thorough bath would also do him good. His brain refused to consider that he smelled, and his companions were too polite to point out that fact.

  “Hey, man. It’s downright insulting to be here and not even a greeting from you,” finally said the double.

  The young mage immediately saw the old Tyler. The impatience, the attitude, and even the manner of speaking. The observation might prove to be an advantage. They were separate entities now. Otherwise, he would have able to read the double’s thoughts.