Tartarus Beckons, Edmund Batara [bts book recommendations .TXT] 📗

unstable dragon and would have severely hurt her if not for a barrier around her form. But the force of the flood of rocks flung and smashed the dragon against a peak several miles away. The distant, booming sound of the impact resounded through the air. Then the mage saw Gullen, a tiny speck, rising above the range of hills and fly to the attack again.

Ah, shit. What a fucking mess, thought Tyler, still at a loss on what to do.

“Havard! What were you thinking? Bringing that foul entity here? I thought Odin’s pantheon had taken care of him!” Somebody exclaimed at his side. The mage knew it was Dionysus.

“Hi, Dio. Long story and no choice. I think. And I am delighted to see you recovering.”

“Thank you, but Asag’s presence just made a bad situation worse. We have rebellious gods and escaped Titans to fight, and now Asag?” Dionysus was clearly beyond exasperated.

“He had been a prisoner under the Dokkalfr Mountains. Loki didn’t kill him and let him go in exchange for a measure of Asag’s power. And he’s my charge now. There’s a shipload of geas and oaths on him to make sure he doesn’t go off on the deep end again,” Tyler told Dionysus quickly. He figured the direct answer would be best, given the situation. The mage knew that eventually, the question would be asked as to who held Asag prisoner, but he decided that if he couldn’t trust the entity who had stuck his neck out for him so many times, and risked his life to save his wife, then what would be the point of being human?

“Loki. Now I understand. You can’t imagine the kind of headaches that dark entity gave us. Death and destruction, of course, but most of his actions were matters that even deities refuse to discuss among themselves. I’d say Asag loved pranks, but on a dark, monumental scale.”

“I do have the intention of using him against the Titans. The fellow seemed eager, too,” the mage added.

“Now that’s a relief, provided you can control him,” answered the deity. Tyler could sense Dionysus slowly relaxing, the tenseness in his aura dissipating. “But don’t ask me, or any deity in these parts, to be his friend.”

“Of course not. That’s asking for a divine prank of catastrophic proportions,” replied the mage.

“Now how are you going to get them to settle down? Gullen hated Asag’s guts, and would love to string them all the way back to Kemet.”

“That is a problem,” answered Tyler as he watched the two gigantic entities exchange blows. No magic this time, only the pure, unadulterated pleasure of trying to beat the other to pieces.

“Understatement. You are fond of those things,” said the deity.

Tyler glanced at Kobu, looked at the pair of formidable entities battling in the sky, and shook his head. The exile nodded and gave the rest of the companions a hand signal, resulting in lowered weapons.

“It seems we’ll all be in for a show,” commented Kobu.

“Not if I can help it. Those two are ready to fight to the death,” replied Tyler in a concerned voice.

A sizeable magical barrier suddenly emerged between the two combatants. It was supposed to be invisible, but the magic around the lion and the dragon gave it visible form. The rectangular shield increased in size and strength as it slowly separated the two. But the pair were not to be denied. Blows immediately struck the block between them as each tried to get at the other. The magical construct dissipated after a few hits from each side.

“Nice attempt, but not enough,” observed Dionysus.

“Why don’t you stop them?” asked Tyler hurriedly.

“And be squeezed like a gnat between two manic and formidable entities intent on destroying each other? I am not crazy nor powerful enough. Even Zeus would be hard-pressed to get those two to settle down,” said the deity, disbelief evident at the suggestion.

Tyler briefly glanced at his friend for a moment, irritated at the running commentary. He wouldn’t have minded if Dionysus came up with a helpful suggestion, but it looked like even the wine god saw the conflict as way above his level of power. Next came an attempt to encase each entity in a sphere, with worse results. A single blow destroyed the mage’s construction. Lacks imagination, commented Dionysus. The mage belatedly realized that trying to hold in place two separate spells invariably weakened both.

Another barrier between the two was created, this time a lot stronger and with all the magical energy he could spare. The spell lasted longer than the first one by around five seconds. Another fence? came the deity’s remark. The mage was now infuriated. Dionysus’s biting stabs at his efforts worsened his already irritated state of mind.

The mage looked at the two magical creatures intent on destroying each other, their colossal forms blotting out part of the sky. The fighting had already brought Gullen and Asag near the company’s location. Dust, branches, and rocks engulfed the company, the mage included. Dionysus was unperturbed – a large sphere of calm surrounded him. Hrun just stood on one side watching the battle, unmindful of the storm of dirt and forest detritus. Then Tyler saw Habrok get hit on the head by a large rock. The ranger was bowled over and lay still. The rest of the companions struggled to get to the fallen man, but were deterred by the increasing strength of the wind and the danger of larger rocks flying in the air.

At the sight of the fallen Habrok and the futile struggles of his friends to rescue him, the mage’s vision dimmed with fury. He looked at the two powerful entities battling to their hearts’ content. Tyler could see that Gullen and Asag were oblivious to everything else, and the danger of a fatal injury to the mortals below them was increasing by the second. The mage could create a barrier protecting his friends, but there was no assurance that it would be effective against the kind of magic the two had shown