“If you’d allow us, sire. Vivindel and I will be your scouts, accompanied by Apulli. Machi and Polemos, the war spirits, would take the right flank, while Vathys and Seier the left. Above us will be Nehua, the Aztec spirit. She does have the power of flight.”
“You’re sure they’re not biting off more than they can manage, Birki? I am concerned. Very concerned. I refuse to expose my wards to anything which could cause injury to any of them,” Tyler’s voice was tinged with apprehension and worry.
I sound like my father.
“No. Lad. As long as they keep to their spirit forms. Right now, even a minor deity would be hard-pressed to handle a pair of them. They’ve been impressive in their training and have grown. Lovely lads and lasses, if I may say so.”
“Lads and lasses? They’re that big now?” Tyler was incredulous.
“Of course. Even that kraken’s energy was quite powerful. I’d say they’re now youthful, not childlike. But it would now take more power to help them grow.”
Tyler finally agreed to the participation of his wards, but with the agreement that if a deity or one with a similar power showed up, his wards were not to engage and inform him instead. He trusted them though their lack of experience made him uneasy.
On the other hand, he highly appreciated the extra hands. Ordinary monsters and hostile creatures, provided they appeared in manageable numbers, were not a concern anymore. But his mind recoiled from thinking about his wards in a battlefield situation.
“Sire? Are we ready?” Kobu’s voice called him back from his musings.
“As ready as we’ll ever be, my friend,” said Tyler. “Let’s go.”
It was, as Tyler expected, slow and hard going. A stinging tribulation of thick shrubs, low-lying branches, and uneven terrain not helped by the fumbling unfamiliarity of the ship’s crew with riotous vegetation. Ivar stayed alongside the mage, while the exile was a few paces in front. The others followed in clumped order, despite Kobu’s instructions to keep to the defensive formation he had outlined. As a result, the group looked like a miserable collection of ragged refugees instead of an orderly column of men. It was after a torturous mile when Tyler felt the presence of Birki.
“Sire, we have found some bizarre creatures up ahead, to the front and left of your group.”
“That’s surprising. The woods appear and sound normal. Could you describe them?” asked the mage.
“Certain kinds of magic could hide the presence of strangers in a forest. These creatures looked like the ones who attacked you in the Barrens. I believe they were called sasabonsam. But these ones hang from tree branches, like bats. Difficult to see with the naked eyes. There’s quite a number though,” said Birki.
“That only means our mysterious visitor is back. Have fun. I do need to inform the group not be startled if they hear strange sounds.”
Birki disappeared. The mage raised his hand to signal a halt to their progress, called out to Kobu, and then turned to Ivar.
“Please tell the men not to be surprised if they hear bizarre noises coming from the forest. We’re just clearing our surroundings. There appears to be some bizarre creatures waiting for us,” said Tyler. Ivar immediately left and went to the rear to break the news. Kobu went to Tyler’s side.
“An ambush, sire? I am not surprised. I guess your wards are clearing them out?” commented the exile in a low voice.
“Yes, Kobu. Creatures similar to those who hurt Asem.”
“By Queen Himiko! Those are monsters I would dearly love to kill myself!”
“It’s being handled, Kobu. Save your strength. This is bound to be just the first,” answered Tyler as he cast a spell to check their surroundings. With the spirits of the staff covering their progress, he didn’t think of doing the examination that often. And they have not been long inside the tangled environment of the woods.
“Well, sire. I did say your wards would be quite powerful. And considering they’re still young, the amount of magical might they could manage at this point is already impressive,” commented the exile.
As Tyler cast the scrying spell, loud noises abruptly erupted from the trees ahead of them. The sound of crashing branches, surprised unnatural growls and hisses which were sharply cut off, and a few muffled, meaty explosive thuds resounded through the woods. Cackles and chirps from alarmed birds as they flew off accompanied the din. Then as suddenly as it started, the forest became quiet.
“Cleared, sire. We can proceed,” Birki’s voice echoed in his mind.
Tyler merely nodded, a motion which would have looked odd to everybody, except for Kobu. The mage’s mind was on what his spell revealed. It only caught the tail-end of the hasty disappearance of an entity. He got the impression that it was a cloaked, humanoid figure but bizarrely, there appeared to be no substance behind the shape. His mind ran through the various creatures he had encountered or heard about, but came up with nothing. Even the Lost One he had faced back in Akrotiri had a solid form behind its appearance.
He looked for Ivar and found him standing at his back, surrounded by very frightened men. The mage stared at the priest and raised his eyebrows.
“Can’t do anything about it, man. They’re scared to death,” said Ivar in English.
“They do have to keep some distance from each other and from you. A closely packed mass like that is an inviting target. I would hate to lose you,” replied Tyler.
“I know, I know. Trying to do my best here.” The voice of the priest sounded exasperated.
The company continued on, though they had to take a few rest breaks. The terrain was punishing even for sturdy and muscular men exposed to the rigors of the sea.
“How many miles have we managed so far, Kobu?” Tyler asked during one such rest period.
“I would
