The Accidental Archmage - Book Five, Edmund Batara [best way to read ebooks txt] 📗

turned and spread out, drawing their weapons. Tyler stared at the deity. Loki looked ready for war.

Gone were the expensive clothes and footwear of his trader identity. Loki was wearing a golden suit of light plate armor. He disdained the use of a helm, preferring to let his long dark hair flow down his back. A thin ornate circlet of gold substituted for the headgear. Runes covered the surface of the armor, patterns of energy passed through them, giving off a deep verdant glow in contrast to its golden color.

At that point, Tyler realized Loki’s gear was more that of a magic user than a melee warrior, though the deity held a long spear in his right hand. The weapon exuded a strong aura of magical energy. The mage realized who was responsible for the theft of the divine weapons mentioned by Odin.

Loki Ascendant

“My greetings, Havard!” called out Loki. “I had the Hel of a time trying to find you after Hedmark. I believe congratulations are in order for that victory.”

“Good morning too, Loki. You could have visited me in Hedmark,” replied Tyler.

“And get stuck in a siege? No, thank you. Impressive work though in dispelling the undead conjuration. Didn’t think you could do it,” came the smooth reply.

“Why do I get the feeling you were responsible for the plague?” remarked the mage, finding odd the phrasing of Loki’s answer.

“Accusations, accusations. Again, and again. Even from you. Is there no trust in this world anymore? I am hurt, First Mage,” said the smiling deity.

“Well, I didn’t hear you deny it.”

“I absolutely had nothing to do with the creation of the spell. There. Does that satisfy you?” declared Loki in a pleasant timbre.

“Maybe. I don’t know. Though I get the feeling I need a lawspeaker, a lagmann, whenever I talk to you,” commented the mage.

“My reputation does work against me at times.”

“And talking about trust, that torc had a tracking spell on it,” accused Tyler. “How could I trust you now?”

“It’s a protection spell in the event the item is stolen. A normal precaution for such magical items,” the deity deftly explained, still maintaining the smile which was slowly irritating the mage.

“And the ambush in the Barrens? Don’t tell me you didn’t have anything to do with that!”

“You were ambushed? Of course not. Why would I put something in your path and intentionally endanger my oath? As you can see, I am still whole, and the magic holds me free of any violation. Though we could mutually agree to dissolve the agreement and slug it out. But where’s the fun in that? There’s nothing like fighting with one hand tied behind your back. More challenging!” said the deity with a wink.

The mage tried to get his thoughts in order. Dealing with the master of lies and deceit was a trying test of wit and words. He had to be careful about his questions and maximize the amount of information gained from the answer.

“Up to the time of the ambush, it was either you or somebody from the Dual Monarchy who could identify where we were. Though I have my doubts about the latter. All the Girnita knew was the general direction of our intended journey. Did you, by any chance, tell anybody where I was?”

Loki raised his head, as if trying to remember.

“Could be.”

“Who?” continued Tyler calmly.

“I believe I might have let slip to Anansi that you were in the Barrens. But I might have told him about our arrangement. He’s one of my few friends, and I didn’t want any misunderstanding. I did have need of some of his pets,” Loki answered finally. It was an answer that didn’t sit well with the companions. Tyler might be constrained from attacking Loki, but they weren’t.

“Bastard.”

The curse came from Habrok and was quickly followed by a rain of arrows. The ranger was letting fly the shafts as fast as he could. Flames blazed from the tip of some of the projectiles and on others, electrical coruscations. Kobu immediately vanished and the mage could see his weapon had already shifted form to its kanabo shape. Tyndur quickly charged at the deity with a loud battle cry, his battleaxe aflame. The battle cry was an obscene one, and Tyler could see it was intended to draw the attention of the target away from attacks of the others.

The smile now turned into a smirk on Loki’s face. A slight movement of the spear and Habrok’s arrows all disintegrated in mid-air. An invisible force picked up the ranger and threw him back about fifty feet. At the same time, the deity swiftly lifted his left arm, palm open, and it slammed into the body of the reappearing Kobu, forcibly flinging him to the ground. Tyler could only hope the exile’s magical black armor saved him from serious injury. Tyndur’s swift charge slammed into an invisible wall several feet from Loki, stunning the einherjar.

“Boys. Be glad I have an agreement with your master. Otherwise, you’ll feel pain as you have never before experienced. I still have a lot of Skadi’s snake venom stored away, you know. It’s reserved for deities, but I could make for an exception.”

“Deities? Why? Are you in open war now against the Norse pantheon?” exclaimed Tyler.

“Not only the Norse, First Mage. But the pantheons don’t know it yet,” Loki merrily laughed. Then he looked at Tyler, his eyes holding the mage’s attention.

“I am more powerful than that traitorous foster father of mine. But he doesn’t realize it yet either. Ah, such a day of surprises that would be,” declared the deity, still with a pleasant smile. “But come. Let’s have a quiet talk for a while, away from your distracting adolescent companions who apparently forgot their mortal limitations. Very disrespectful. But I’ll let this incident pass. Next time, I won’t be so forgiving.”

Then he looked at Kobu who was already standing, posed in an attack stance.

“I wouldn’t dream of trying a second time, warlord. Deities of my level could see the magical pattern of your ability.