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

left behind.”

“This is all about your brother then,” observed Tyler.

“No. It is about my guilt. I was the one who killed him with my curiosity turned into

dangerous ambition. I wanted to make things right. I want him back. I want to hear his

laugh and see his smile. I want to hear his songs. I want things to be the way … they

were before.”

Eira’s tears were flowing down her cheeks. And Tyler could feel the forest crying with

her.

Tyler looked at the crying Eira. If she was human, he had some idea of what to do. But

a mythical being? He was at a loss. He wanted to comfort her but he didn’t know what

will happen if he did that. Knowing the fragile and childlike emotional maturity of Eiria

also added to his trepidation and confusion. The backlash may result in him turning into

a pile of ashes, a petrified Tyler or worse, a frog.

The hell with it, he thought. No decent guy would stand for doing nothing when a

beautiful, no, make that gorgeous, woman breaks down in front of him. He did feel pity

for the being. The demeanor of Eira while telling her story strongly weighed against a

feigned act of contrition. Or she could just be a very good actress. But he felt that

wasn’t the case.

Tyler stood up and went to Eiria. Kneeling on one knee at her side, he put his left arm

around her. At his touch, Eiria dropped on her knees on the grass and embraced him,

crying all the while. If her tears before was a torrent, it now turned into a deluge. Her

sobs now turned into louder cries. He could feel the anguish, the pain, the guilt and the

millennia of loneliness in them. Her head on his shoulder, her tears were soaking his

neck. She felt human. He could smell her scent. Fresh mountain air, with threads of

lavender and other flowers in it. Her body felt snug against him. Warm, soft with an

aura of innocence. He didn’t say anything. He let her cry as long as she wanted. And for

several minutes, all the forest sounds were stilled and only her crying could be heard.

After a while, she finally stopped crying. Her cries turned back into sobs and then

became silent. She loosened her embrace and pulled back from him. Turning to her

side, she pulled a handkerchief out of nowhere and dabbed her eyes and face with it.

Tyler stayed quiet and sat on the grass. The cloth below his neck inside his leather

armor was soaked. He didn’t mind it and waited for Eira.

“I am so sorry for being like that,” apologized the being, still dabbing at her tears,

“Burdening you with my world.”

“No problem. We all need a good cry once in a while,” Tyler replied.

“I need to leave for a while. Please wait here. It won’t take long.”

When Eira looked at him, Tyler could see the puffiness of her eyes. But despite her

emotional distress, she looked as stunning as ever. If anything, the innocence she

showed during the entire episode only added to the exquisiteness of her beauty. Tyler

could only nod his head. He knew only Thor’s Mjolnir landing on his head could break

his rising infatuation with Eira.

As Eira left, her body dissipating like mist, Tyler knew he was starting to be emotionally

screwed. A warming sensation in his heart and face attesting to that fact.

Freak you, you’ve got a school-boy crush on her! Stupid, stupid! Snap out of it! She’s

going to use you! She’s going to turn you into a toad! Tyler’s mind shouted at him,

though he barely noticed it.

When Eira came back, she was more composed. With a gesture, she materialized a

meal for two on the green, conjuring a stone table for it. Though the food selection was

varied, it was fare found in this world. For Tyler, he realized a pizza was too much to

hope for. If any meal was awkward, this was one. It was as if both didn’t know how to

act after the emotional interaction.

Thankfully, the silence of the meal was punctuated by snippets of discussion about

events immediately concerning them. Tyler learned that his companions were on their

way to Scarburg, having avoided the bulk of the jotnar besieging Bildsfell. Eira herself

thought the town itself would fall the next day, the besiegers being too many for its

defenders. Jotnar activity was indeed increasing around Fossegrim, forcing Eira to ask

more creatures to protect the edges of the forest.

Tyler wanted to know exactly what change was done to him but held off for now,

deeming it too early after Eira’s breakdown. But when she asked if Tyler wanted to see

the temple ruin, he immediately agreed. But since the journey, for Tyler at least, would

take a few hours, it was agreed that they would leave the following morning. Departing

now would mean moving around the rocky terrain in the dark.

Then Eira noticed the ring.

“That’s new. From a girl?”

“What’s new? This ring? No, no, no. It’s a … gift.”

“From a goddess? I can sense something from it.”

Shit, Tyler thought, I forgot! Her magic had been enhanced by Elder energy. Of course,

she can sense Odin’s power, no matter how shielded it is!

“No, no. Not a goddess. A god,” hastily clarified Tyler. Is that a tinge of jealousy?

“What does it do?” Eira’s voice now sounding apprehensive.

“Oh, it’s supposed to hide the fact that I have no innate magic. It shows me as a mage.

At least an adept. That way it would make me more difficult to find, if any would be

interested.”

“That would be Odin or Loki. I do hope for your sake, it wasn’t Loki.”

“No, no, no. It was Odin. He also told me he couldn’t even take me as a Favored of his.

Something about two visitors in Skaney raising suspicions and jealousy among the

pantheons,” replied Tyler. What’s with me and all the excuses?

“That was wise. It is indeed now rare for a pantheon’s territory to have one visitor,

much less two. But we do have to hide our coming visit to the temple ruin from Odin. I

suspect the ring may enable him to determine where you are.”

Thinking about it a bit,