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

and the weapons wielded as the objects appeared unaffected by the fire surrounding them.

The other kind seemed a lot more dangerous, in a relative way. They appeared to be fire spirits, albeit large ones. Unarmed, their humanoid forms flowed and moved with the flames encasing them, and the long claws which made up their excuses for hands looked deadly.

They’ll tear you apart and burn to death at the same time? Damn. I should have asked Okeanos for a water spell.

“Water spell?” Tyler asked his guides, fervently hoping that somewhere in their studies, the two had come across one.

“Unfortunately, none, sire,” answered X.

“But water is but matter, sire,” said Hal. “If you could sense its presence, you could break open the ground and call it forth. Probably.”

“That would take time, Hal,” promptly said the mage in response. He was pressed for time to do something, anything, as a contribution to the ongoing battle. “Could you detect the limits of Ymir’s power around here? The one Sford spoke of?”

“Vaguely, sire. It appeared training was required for that ability,” said Hal. “A rough estimate would be ten feet from where the dokkalfr are dying.”

The dokkalfr were indeed woefully reduced in numbers, their dead kin already torn to pieces or burning where they were struck down. Tyndur and Orm were already fighting, and he could see Astrid’s outline as she raced through the incoming beasts, killing where she could, and disabling if the opponent was beyond her lethal reach. Tyler didn’t notice her javelins and assumed they had already been used.

The Valkyrie’s more skilled now, observed Tyler. She doesn’t let anything interfere with her speed and killing circuit. From his vantage point, the mage could see that Astrid dealt with the second wave of enemies, trying to ease the pressure on their front ranks.

He turned to Sford.

“Your spells?” he asked.

“I can’t cast anything yet, milord. The allowable magical frontage is narrow, and our people are engaged in battle. Moreover, the Valkyrie’s within the ranks of the jotnar. I can’t risk hitting her,” answered the mage slowly, sounding almost as helpless as Tyler felt.

Tyler saw the point in Sford’s hesitancy, though the remaining dokkalfr mage, being in the middle of the clash, was casting spells left and right. But he observed the magical incantations used were defensive ones, usually shield or repulsing spells. Apparently, the dokkalfr mage was also stifled by the restriction.

On the other hand, the fighting skills of the female warrior were on display. She was fast, agile, and used the greatsword as if it was but a knife. Most of the time, she just used one hand for the sword, and the other arm had a bracer with a wicked blade attached to it. It was a style of fighting which appeared to be all her own. None of the other dokkalfr had the same weapon arrangement. Clearly experienced with her blade, her strikes were usually calculated to pass through one enemy onto one close by. The bladed bracer was used to slash enemies as she caught them by their throats if they were flame beasts, or any part of the body of the humanoid ones as she flashed by. She never stood still and kept moving, leaving dead and injured in her wake. Surprisingly, the flames didn’t affect her.

Must be magically protected, observed the mage. Though her skills are still far from being up to par with Astrid or even Tyndur. Unique armor though.

Of the company, Astrid was still creating merry mayhem among the ranks of the jotnar. She was so fast that to the naked eye, her dismembered victims seemed to die of their own accord. Their two melee fighters, Tyndur and Orm, were holding their own, though Tyndur was dispatching four targets to one of Orm, which was understandable, thought Tyler, given the teleportation capability of the einherjar. But the mage knew that in a battle where his magical abilities were severely constrained, they were on the losing end, given the numbers they were facing. And the lumbering fire giants were almost upon them.

“Kobu, lead a fighting withdrawal deeper into the ruins. Sford and I will delay whoever attempts to follow. I believe the space in front of us is free of Ymir’s influence,” ordered Tyler immediately. Then he glanced at Sford. “Am I right?”

“Yes, First Mage. At least I’ll get the chance to do some damage,” answered Sford. The orange-clad mage must be as frustrated as he is, concluded Tyler.

Then a sudden idea came to Tyler. He looked at Sford and then at the ruins behind them. What remained were but sorry vestiges of mighty walls, and in some places, the foundations couldn’t even be seen. It was not a good place to defend.

“How good a mage are you, Sford? Enough to keep the pursuers back for a few minutes? By yourself?

“I can try, milord. But such massive expenditure in so short a time is bound to drain me quite fast. “

“Give me time,” answered Tyler as he turned and walked back a few steps.

He immediately focused on the ruined walls, willing the rock and the rubble to fill out the matrix he had created in his mind. The mage didn’t try to recreate what he imagined were tall battlements of the fortress during its heyday, but instead visualized stone walls eight feet tall and two feet wide. He left the entrance in place but made it smaller, enough for three persons abreast, and made the pillars of the opening thicker. His task was immeasurably made easier by the numerous piles of stone lying around, leftover rubble from the stronghold’s fall and destruction.

The walls almost instantaneously came into existence, revealing a courtyard. Tyler promptly realized he was looking at the inner portion of the stronghold – there was no way that an outpost on the fringes of Ymir’s Domain could be that small. The outer wall would be along the demarcation Sford mentioned, logically encompassing within its fortified boundaries the ancient portal.

He turned his attention back to the ongoing battle and found the companions running past him, with Kobu at the rear, though the exile stopped when he reached Tyler.