He ate quickly and watched as the men hungrily wolfed down the meat. The mage couldn’t blame them. Being periodically terrified would surely make anybody hungry. The rise in stomach acid alone guaranteed it.
According to Kobu, they still had a few miles left to cover, and the exile expressed his worry about still being in the forest at night. The man wasn’t apprehensive about the three of them. Even Ivar had some runic protection and means of defense. But the crew was another matter. From what Tyler gathered, they were men of the sea. Their fathers and grandfathers too. Being part of the crew on trade ships was the only life they knew. They could put up a fight when it came to that, but the men didn’t stand a chance even against a mid-size forest predator. At least he saw some of them fashion rough spears with the tips tempered with the fire of the cooking pit.
Anything to boost their confidence, thought the mage, eyeing the makeshift weapons. He seriously doubted if they’d make any difference when it came to larger predators.
Underway again, Tyler was reassured by muted laughter and good-natured ribbing among the motley assembly of seamen which indicated they had regained some of their humor. However, the mage now cast scrying spells regularly. The presence of any enemy who comes and goes whenever he wanted was a confidence shaker. It strained one’s nerves and added to the physical toll of always being on edge.
His guides were already prepared to launch a massive Elder blast once the mysterious, persistent and clearly dangerous cloaked entity made its reappearance. Tyler didn’t doubt that another attempt or attempts would be made on the company. He was obviously the target of such attacks, and Ivar and the rest were just caught up in it. But neither could Tyler, in good conscience, send them away. That would merely ensure their deaths. There was no assurance that his enemy would let them be, or that they’ll be able to escape the natural and unnatural native predators.
Then he sensed it. The sudden arrival of a strong energy signature. It was nearer than he expected, considering that he felt the strength of the magical surge. His guides immediately lashed out with their prepared attack. The bright glow instantaneously sliced through the air and to Tyler’s immense relief, hit the new arrival dead center. It struck the newly arrived entity in the middle of its body. A second beam immediately followed the first, this time with the head as its target.
Flickers of energy coruscated along the edges of the enormous hole torn in the torso of the amorphous mass. The head itself was gone, ripped from the body by the massive power of the magical lance. But the entity remained in the air, to Tyler’s rising dread. As he watched, it regrew everything – the hole in its body closed and its head reformed.
Oh, fuck me sideways! Fear and apprehension wrapped themselves in Tyler’s guts. The unexpected result immediately reminded him of a similar attack he made a long time ago. Strong and painful memories shoved themselves into his mind.
“Sire, it appears it is a demon. One of a high level, almost similar in power to Supay, but of a different culture and mythology,” said X.
“Now that freaking explains it. We’re toast,” replied Tyler with disgust, though he noticed the slight quaking in his tone. He knew how difficult it was to defeat the Inkan death god. Luck and the intervention of another entity were the only factors which enabled him to survive that encounter. But even Thor had problems handling Supay and that extra-dimensional connection of the demon was a pain. And it appeared this one had that too.
He quickly turned to Ivar.
“Tell the men to scatter! It’s a high demon. Major pain in the ass!” the mage shouted.
Tyler didn’t wait for any acknowledgment from Ivar. The mage knew Kobu wouldn’t leave him, even if he ordered the man. Shields were strengthened as the mage considered what to do with his wards. He doubted they’d stand a chance with the demonic entity.
“Birki! Get them all out of the staff, and find a place to hide. You know the kind of enemy we’re facing, but don’t tell them anything about the magnitude of the danger. Just go. If we survive, I’ll call you,” said the mage.
“And if you don’t?”
“Then go to Fossegrim. Tell my wife. You’ll have a home there.”
“Are what you said orders, sire?” Birki asked, his tone now severe and formal.
“Yes, they are. Now go!”
He felt a succession of power surges and then the staff felt empty. Strangely, it sadly felt as if he had lost a part of himself.
“It’s now only us, guys.” He told his guides. “I would have sent you out too, but that ability is still beyond me. Nice to have met you.”
“Matters are not what they seem, sire. We have been busy examining the being for a weakness. It could be tethered to a power source for one. But our sensors indicate something powerful is coming this … “
Hal never got to finish his sentence, as a giant dark skeletal hand abruptly rose from the ground and grabbed the demon. The hand suddenly disappeared, and in its place was a strange sphere, obviously now the prison of the malevolent entity. The bizarre orb glittered with colors dark of hue, shifting from one end of its spectrum to the other.
“What happened?” the mystified mage asked his guides, though he still stood his ground. Tyler was now beset by heightened anxiety. The unfamiliar and unwelcome emotion, gone for a while from his experiences, continued to rear its ugly head – fear. Whatever arrived was clearly more powerful than the demon, and the way it casually took care of the infernal creature made it more frightening. Tyler didn’t know what to make of the recent development. The newcomer could be a friend or a more powerful foe. Though from what he had seen,
