Tartarus Beckons by Edmund Batara (reading an ebook .TXT) 📕

change their formation. Their present arrangement provided the best all-around defense and offered ample opportunity for attack. It also simplified the shape of the barriers needed to be created by Tyler for the group’s protection.

As they neared, he counted ten individuals on the opposing side, which meant one of the three who went to them would be joining the duel. As Tyler’s party neared the center of the field, the mage saw Tyndur and Orm exchange glances and halt. The rest also followed suit. They were about thirty feet from the dokkalfr leaders. The three dokkalfr started walking towards them, and Tyler, Kobu, and Sford moved forward to meet them.

“Hail, High Mage. We’re glad to see that you have a sense of honor,” said the High Thegn.

“Hail to you, too, High Thegn. So, who are we going to face? I did notice there are only seven of your champions back there which meant one of you will be joining the fun,” ventured Tyler, ignoring the indirect insult.

“Ah, one of our best warriors will be joining the duel,” replied the noble, looking at the woman with the faceplate.

“Rules?” he asked the High Thegn.

“None.”

“Fine,” replied Tyler. He knew his companions could hear the exchange which thankfully relieved him of the task of repeating what was being discussed.

“The two of us will leave the field, and everybody will have that time and opportunity to prepare. Combatants can kill opponents or render them incapable of fighting. It’s the individual’s choice. Nobody is allowed to go beyond the clearing and combat will start as soon as a light spell is cast above the area. Don’t worry, everyone will be able to see it,” said the dokkalfr mage.

Does that mean we have to kill them all? I doubt if anybody would be pulling punches in this brawl, thought Tyler. I know I won’t. Eira would never forgive me if I died here. I survived a major deity’s anger and she would never believe that I died at dokkalfr hands.

The two turned and walked out of the field as the two mages and the exile rejoined their companions. Nobody said anything. They wouldn’t know the capabilities of their opponents until the battle started, though Tyler could see the dokkalfr contingent also had two mages.

Matching us set-to-set? he wondered.

Suddenly, Tyler detected a massive surge of magical power. It was an unexpected and overwhelming release of energy. But it was not directed against them. Then he heard Sford shout.

“Around us!”

Tyler immediately focused and saw what Sford meant. A circular wave of bright yellow energy had burst from the ground and now surrounded them, the dokkalfr champions included. It definitely was not a simple light spell. Before he could do anything, the surge of power peaked, and a flash blinded him.

The energy vanished as quickly as it arose, leaving behind an empty field.

Tyler’s vision returned sooner than the others, thanks to a quick application of Eira’s healing spell. Seeing his companions still suffering from the effects of the sudden magical stunt pulled by the dokkalfr, the mage hurriedly healed them one by one, keeping an eye on the still-blinded dokkalfr group as he cast the curative enchantments.

He would have appreciated an area-of-effect version, but Eira said there was no such spell. Each subject must be dealt with individually. Since they also discovered that advanced level spells of healing based on natural magical energy didn’t work for him, Tyler had resigned himself to not being able to heal severe injuries and ailments. The mage did find the unexpected inability puzzling, but speculated that it must have something to do with his peculiar magical constitution. He would have just to wait until his grasp of Elder energy improved.

Turning his attention to the dokkalfr champions, he saw their mages were tending to the blindness afflicting members of their own group. He seriously considered attacking them, given their current weakness and distraction, but finally decided not to do so, though the mage was sorely tempted to pay them back for the magical backstab the High Thegn pulled on him. Anyway, the mage didn’t consider them a problem, but what Tyler saw around him promised to be a major pain in the ass.

They were not in the forest anymore. What the mage could see was a vast, cold, and desolate plain extending far into the distance, disturbed by small rocky hills and huge boulders. Only the vague outline of a mountain range broke the monotonous view. Clouds of dust on the far side of the plain obscured the base of the tall peaks. The sky had an overcast pall to it, and the mage wondered if it was a permanent feature of the region.

Behind the company stood the lower level of an obviously majestic tower during its day, if the massive base and the number of fallen stones lying around it were any indications. Sorry vestiges of walls and other fortifications lined the back of the fallen tower, and from what he could see, they were all facing outwards, defending against the bleak and barren land.

From the maps of Skaney the mage could remember, only one region had such a stark and prosaic landscape – Ymir’s Domain. Tyler quickly realized that the ruins around them were forgotten testaments to the presence and downfall of the Alfar and humans in the region. Though as far as he could remember, the map given by the dokkalfr visitor didn’t show ruins on the other side of the Dokkalfr Range.

Shitty sanitized map, the mage cursed inwardly as he remembered the einherjar’s warning.

The design of the structures, or what remained of them, was unique, showing a combination of human craftsmanship dominated by flowing lines which the mage took to be of elven influence. Given what Tyler could observe, it must have been a sizable outpost, and it spoke highly of the might of the Alfar-Human alliance of old for them to be able to reach this far into dangerous lands. But their watch and strength failed, and such defeat marked the rise of the dokkalfr again.

As his gaze swept through the barren surroundings, Tyler discovered they were at the center of a large and flat