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

Tyndur stood there for a while, looking at the deity. Then the fire engulfing him slowly receded. Tyler saw Habrok had come back, but it was the exile’s turn to walk around, ostensibly guarding their perimeter.

“Whew! That’s a lot better! It didn’t hurt, but the damned flames kept on obscuring my vision!” exclaimed the einherjar.

Quetzalcoatl turned to Tyler.

“I have to leave now, First Mage. Battles to fight and a pantheon to win back. Fare thee well in your travels. My thanks again,” said the deity as he vanished.

The party looked at each other and after a few seconds, erupted into laughter, Tyndur included.

“I must have looked like a flaming donkey’s ass,” the einherjar remarked.

“Not really,” smiled Habrok. “More like an entire donkey on fire. A blind donkey at that.”

Laughter again filled the air.

The party was to continue after a short break. Everybody wanted to examine their new toys. Tyler for his part was badgering his guides about the state of his staff. But even the AIs didn’t have an idea of the limit of the magical weapon. Finally, he got to the important part, though Tyler had the presence of mind to ask them first.

“Hal? A being of wind and fire?” he inquired.

“It appears so, Elder. Quite young, but powerful. We glimpsed its form when it entered the staff.”

“Does it have a form? How do I call it forth?” continued Tyler.

“A being like that could take whatever form you want. To call it from the staff, all you need is to hold the weapon and will the entity into existence. But the first time you do that, you will have to delve into the energies within the staff to find it. And once the form is before you, give it a name. It will make summoning easier next time,” replied Hal.

“Explore the various energies inside the staff? Isn’t that dangerous?” Somehow, the idea didn’t appeal to Tyler. There were several kinds of energies already within the stave. And he would not be physically inside, his mind would be, and that scared him. Even half-baked as he was as a mage, Tyler knew the mind was a vulnerable aspect of a person. If he was going inside as pure thought, then he would be extraordinarily exposed. A wrong move and Adar would be left with a half-wit First Mage.

“We don’t believe so, Elder,” spoke up X. “You are their master after all.”

“Somehow, the word ‘believe’ does not compute, to use computer jargon. I would prefer ‘certainly’ or a term indicating a 100 percent probability,” commented the mage.

“Given your statement, a 99.99 percent probability would not qualify,” said X with a tinge of what Tyler felt was amusement. Et tu, X? Turning human in your attitudes?

 “Going inside the staff is your only recourse, Elder. Blindly calling it forth would not work. It does not have a name nor any label by which it could be identified from the myriad energies,” added Hal.

“What if it’s a trap? A plot to make me mad?”

“Somehow, we doubt that, Elder. But to reassure you, one of us will accompany you. The other will stay behind to guard your body,” suggested X.

“How long will this… exploration… take?” Tyler asked, voice marked with trepidation.

“Not long. When in the realm of the mind, time passes differently. A day inside could be just a few minutes in the physical world where time moves slower. The passage of time, to a certain extent, could be controlled by an Elder Mage, a fact adding to their powerful mystique. But that ability is presently beyond us. Nor does any deity we know have such a power,” said X.

“All right, Hal stay here. X will go with me. But wait while I inform the group to leave me alone for… ten minutes?”

“Ten minutes would be more than enough,” X advised.

Tyler advised the group that he needed to concentrate for a while, and not to disturb him. But he saw Kobu take up a position at his back, though the man stayed several feet away. The other two took up flanking positions also enabling them to watch the front.

The group has bonded well, he thought with pride, and true comrades we all are now, not merely in name.

He closed his eyes and focused his mind on the staff. The mage held it with both hands as it lay on his lap. Slowly, he could see in his mind’s eye, a shimmering metallic-looking barrier. Then he remembered the change that Hephaestus made—a staff which looked like and had the strength of metal but was essentially wood. At times, the stave did change appearance to wood by itself. It weirded him out but as it was a cosmetic change, he didn’t worry about it.

“The barrier of the staff, Elder. A vital protection against other entities trying to wrest control or attempting to enter it. Since you’re its master, all you need is to cross the energy wall.”  X’s voice sounded in his head. Tyler looked at himself. He had a form in this reality—exactly what he looked like in the physical realm.

The mage walked slowly toward the phenomenon. It was a strange feeling, walking on nothing, the staff gone too. Around him was a bluish radiance, blocked by the shiny and glimmering metal partition. The wall in front extended to the sides and top to bottom as far as he could see. But Tyler felt as if he was treading on firm flat ground. As the mage arrived at the partition, he reached out with his right hand, pushing through the energy as if it didn’t exist. With a last look around him, Tyler took a deep breath and walked through the energy barrier.

What he immediately saw confounded him. Tyler had been in another dimension, the black realm of the Aztecah underworld, the white nothingness of his mysterious savior, and even inside the environment of the Barrier.

What he didn’t expect was the completely mundane. Magelights kept the room well illuminated. The mage found himself in what appeared to be anteroom of a Great Hall in an immense keep. From the windows