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

to reach Orm and Tyndur who formed the bulwark of the defense at the end of the U-shaped protective formation.

Sford still had not cast any spell and Tyler commiserated with the man. Even reaching the boundaries of magical exhaustion was a tiring and debilitating experience. Meanwhile, Habrok and Kadir had separated and supported each flank, while Kobu, as his wont, was again at Tyler’s side.

With all the walls around us, I can’t see a goddam thing, realized Tyler. His gaze fell on the broken-down tower.

He turned to Sford.

“We’re bound to be overwhelmed here. We can’t use our spells to full effect, and fire-related ones would be useless against Sutr’s creatures. We have to have an exit. Please go with Kadir and start cleaning out the cave. I don’t know where it leads, but it’s better than facing both enemy groups,” said Tyler urgently. The mage deemed that cave must have served a purpose for the Alfar and humans. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have tolerated the presence of an unknown and possibly fatal breach in their defenses.

While Sford and Kadir made their way up to the mountainside, Tyler concentrated on rebuilding the destroyed tower, at least its first level. He might come up with a laughable excuse for one, but he needed the height to see what’s happening on the other side of the walls. And use his spells. The feeling of being a spare tire was again coming over him.

He ran up the partially-rebuilt tower, with Kobu following him. Tyler did notice that the attempts of the jotnar to force the entrance had stopped, and he wondered why. When he reached the parapet, the mage saw the reason for the temporary cessation of attacks – advance elements of Ymir’s legions had arrived, and they were, for the most part, ice elves mounted on huge vargr. Tyler could see the frost forming in the air as the giant ice wolves heavily panted. The beasts must have been driven to their limit by their masters. They were unlike the ones he had faced before, and the mage wondered if this larger kind was explicitly reserved for Ymir’s favored warriors.

There appeared to be a heated argument between the two groups. Apparently, the ice jotnar were not happy to see Sutr’s forces this deep in their territory. The mage remembered that sporadic border fighting was still going on between the two domains despite the truce, and given that animosity, the forces of Ymir would definitely be hostile at this point. Only the existence of the truce prevented a full-scale battle between the two hosts. Tyler examined the balance of forces and decided that for the moment, the fire jotnar had the advantage, even if their numbers were slightly less than Ymir’s leading elements. For one, they had a sizeable contingent of fire giants with them, a force which, due to their lumbering speed, had yet to come to blows with the company.

But things could rapidly change once the main elements of Ymir’s forces arrive. The fire jotnar might agree to serve under the ice elves, or Ymir’s horde, when at its full strength, might decide to mop up Sutr’s minions. Tyler wanted a battle between the two armies, not a combined assault on the courtyard. Fortunately, the ice drakes seem to be absent. Apparently, they were not committed to the attacks on the dokkalfr in their strongholds and cities deep within the mountain range. The make-up of Ymir’s legions supported Loki’s statement that what was before Tyler was a reinforcement army.

The bugger didn’t lie? thought the surprised mage.

Tyler quickly considered his spells, but all of them might damage the terrestrial portal. The blade attack might work, but he didn’t want to call attention to the company. The collection of jotnar might just decide to shelve whatever differences they have if they were attacked by a third party. The young mage shifted from that line of thinking – not while there’s still a chance that the two groups could start killing each other.

“Hal, X. I’ll course a spell through you and protect it with Elder energy. There might be powerful mages among those ice elves, I want to make sure that this works. Expand the field of effect to cover both jotnar groups,” advised the mage.

Then Tyler cast the gift of Dionysus – a spell of confusion.

Habrok's Map of Solens Tårn

Chapter Thirteen

Escaping Solens Tårn

Just as Tyler released the spell, he saw one of the ice elves look up. The mage noticed that the creature was more ornately armored than its brethren. Even the wolflike mount was fully armored. An armored arm was quickly raised, wielding a white staff, and even from a distance, Tyler could sense the considerable magical power of the ice el. It was strong, a level higher than what the mage sensed of Sford. The magic-wielding creature apparently had no idea what the incoming spell was as his reaction was to immediately cast a strong magical shield.

When his enchantment quickly ripped through the arcane protection, Tyler could feel the strength of the shield. It would have given even a High Mage pause. But the thin Elder component of the confusion spell tore through it as if it didn’t exist and quickly started to wreak its havoc among the minds of the gathered hosts. Sutr’s minions were among those first affected, being bereft of the momentary protection of a magical shield. The various creatures on the field began to wander aimlessly among themselves and murmurs could now be heard by the watching human mage.

As Tyler watched, a giant humanoid wreathed in flame idly walked towards an ice elf in the vanguard, casually raised his massive club, and squashed flat the watching warrior. The ice elf didn’t even try to evade the blow, he just curiously stared at the approaching flaming mountain until its very material bludgeon put an end to the curiosity. The sickening sound echoed throughout the field, catching everybody’s attention. Even the strange beasts of fire and ice were staring at where the sound came from. The fire giant responsible for