The Accidental Archmage by Edmund Batara (read out loud books .TXT) 📕

for a materialization.”

Despite himself, Tyler was intrigued and realized that in front of him was a being who

could fill important gaps in his lack of knowledge. He just needed to steer the

discussion his way and avoid setting him off on a manic outburst.

“That does mean Ragnarok is coming? You being free…” said Tyler.

“Hah! Ragnarok has already happened, if you ask me. But not the way the Vanir and

Aesir expected. We are here! On a different world! Lots of other competitors! We are

even diminished in numbers compared to the lot which crossed over! And the old man

still prepares for Ragnarok!”

“Why diminished? Shouldn’t your numbers have grown?” asked Tyler, his curiosity

getting the better of him.

“The initial wars between pantheons was responsible for that. We reflect human

emotions as you can see from all the Eddur and Sagas. We are what humanity believes

us to be! So what happens when different divine pantheons find themselves in one

place. War, of course! Even Hela got into the act. Hela, for Odin’s sake! It was a bloody

tavern brawl! Sumerians against Egyptians against the Greeks against the Chaldeans

against every other blasted group! Not to mention the independent lesser divines who

also participated in those slug fests! And it continued from one war to the next!

Imagine the damage! The senseless death and destruction! I am not averse to some

bloodshed from time to time, but the scale of those wars was something else. If the Elders didn’t step in, Adar wouldn’t be here anymore!”

“Elders?”

“Oooppppsss. Said too much there,” remarked Loki, with a snicker.

Tyler knew better than to ask. He knew when a bone was thrown his way.

“I miss Tyr,” suddenly commented Loki who was now wearing a tennis player outfit,

“He was fun to play with. All that honor and bravery made it sooooo much fun. Unlike

that bearded brother of mine! All wine, women, and song. With a major dose of war

thrown in of course. He wouldn’t be the god of thunder otherwise.”

“Tyr died?”

“Damn Incans ambushed him.”

Shit, thought Tyler, Wrong line of discussion. Note to self, DO NOT agitate Loki by

bringing up bad memories.

“So, what do you do now? You’re free. With your wife and it looks like you’re on talking

terms with your father again.”

“The usual jaunts. I am a god of mischief after all. A god of change. Tricks here and

there. It has been boring, I must confess,” said the god. Then his face brightened up.

“Oh, except for the time Enki and I stole a visitor from his people. That was hilarious.”

“Enki?”

“The Sumerian god of mischief. Almost as brilliant as me. We got him out before the

binding ritual. Enlil was furious when he found out. Enki became persona non grata for

a while. But we had fun taking him out and following his travels. Convincing the visitor

was easy, he was bored and scared. Sumerian religious rituals tend to do that. It did

help that he was required to attend lengthy ceremonies several times a day. To purify

him they say. Purification, my ass. They were displaying him as a centerpiece though I

guess he was lucky enough not to be sacrificed upon arrival.”

Loki was laughing at the memory, his mirth quite infectious, though his attire again

changed. He now looked like an Elvis impersonator.

“He became your worshiper? Your champion? Agent?”

“Nope. Don’t need worshipers or champions. It is enough that people believe that I am around. That little escapade was more of an entertainment. I can’t tell you where he

came from but he was peculiar. He insisted that he was my champion and pestered me

about giving him quests. As if I need a champion! The mere presence of you people on

Adar already serves my purposes. If not for the agreement among the divine pantheons

not to open any new portals, I would have brought in more of you.”

Loki sat down on the chair opposite Tyler and put the fingers of his hands together, his

elbows on the table.

“People think I am evil. That may be as I have done definitely evil things. But I mainly

exemplify change. That is what I am and that is my nature. No omelet without breaking

some eggs. No grog without getting drunk. Can’t leave those gods and goddesses just

sitting around you know. I have to keep them on their toes. Stagnation is boring.”

Loki mused for a while and then asked Tyler, “Do you think I should protest? Picket

Asgard? Stagnation or Death? Or should it be Stagnation IS Death? Nice slogan, don’t

you think? I could easily scrounge up some supporters.”

Loki looked serious.

Oh my God, thought Tyler, A grade A loon? A clear-cut psych case? A few apples short

of a barrel?

Tyler realized he had to put the discussion back on track, in any direction except the

manic one. That was dangerous. Yet it occurred to him that Loki’s madcap personality

may have been the result of the god’s incarceration. He didn’t seem to be evil. Dark, of

course. But his wife was not a demon or some other evil creature. To stay by her

husband’s side throughout all those millennia meant Sigyn saw something in him

deserving of her love and sacrifice.

“I really have no idea, Mister Loki. Mass action or even advertising was never my

specialty. By the way, what happened to the visitor you and Enki got?

“Mister Loki! That’s a good one, it’s usually “my lord”, “your divineship”, “your divine

evilness” or other such mewling crap. If people only knew….”

“Oh, about that guy!” exclaimed Loki as he remembered the query, “He died.”

“How?” Tyler could feel the fear in his gut again. He was already imagining his fate.

And he had a very active imagination.

“The quests. He kept asking for more and more, complaining that the difficulty was too

low after a while. So Enki and I devised more difficult quests. Something about leveling

up. I really couldn’t understand him. Though I have to admit both Enki and I had fun! I was going to set him up in Skaney and let him introduce some changes but nooooooo…

it was all about leveling up. Finally, he asked for a boss quest. I certainly did get the

“boss” reference. I was fed up by that time so I sent him