Path of the Magi (Tales of Tiberius) by Stuart Richard J

Author:Stuart, Richard J [Stuart, Richard J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-03-07T23:00:00+00:00

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The next morning, Tiberius was up early. Captain Gato saw his new occult expert was at least punctual.

El Gato called the troops together.

“We’re going to sweep the road. We’ll move in three columns. First column will march straight down the road. I don’t expect you’ll see much. Bandits will flee to avoid us and come back later. That’s why I’m taking a company on either side of the road. I’ll take the left column; Rodriguez will take the right. Both of us will move a little in advance of the road column. Hopefully that way we’ll pick up some of the scum fleeing from the roads.” He turned to his new expert. “You keep to the main road for now. I’ll let you know if that should change.”

Tiberius nodded his understanding and then started down the road with the troops. The ride was a fairly pleasant one. The weather was overcast but didn’t actually rain, and by mid morning a few patches of blue could be seen dotting the sky. A few miles out from Vonair, the farms stopped and the road became worse.

After a time, they came to a small wooden bridge over a creek.

The horses saw it first. The lead horses stopped and reared up rather than walk forward.

“What’s wrong with them?” the lieutenant asked.

Tiberius came up beside him and pointed to a large rock by the other end of the bridge.

“I don’t like the looks of that rock, Lieutenant. Why don’t you let me ride ahead and get a better look.”

“I don’t have time to stop and let you look at rocks,” the lieutenant said. “Squadron dismount; we’ll walk them across. Maybe some of the timbers are worn.”

The lieutenant dismounted and handed the reins of his horse to one of the troopers. He and a corporal stepped across first, studying the timbers of the bridge, which looked in good shape. Tiberius also dismounted. He followed a few steps behind, watching the rock carefully.

Suddenly the ‘rock’ exploded into action. The rock turned out to be a large troll, ten feet high, with an eight foot long club. It swung it with barbaric fury towards the two Rangers up front. It likely would have killed them but Tiberius cast a spell which shattered the club in mid-swing. Still, the troll knocked the lieutenant down, and a backhand from the troll cast the other soldier into the river.

Tiberius tried a second spell as the troll took a moment to look at his club. Something went wrong, though. Instead of the lightning bolt he had expected, he felt a blast of pain though his arm. Nervous in his first field encounter, he’d tried to rush things and had flubbed the spell. The troll stepped forward to finish off the lieutenant. Tiberius had to try something else.

He raised a wall of ice around the creature. The troll’s enormous fist hit the wall of ice, not the lieutenant. The ice cracked warningly.

Behind him there was pandemonium. No one had their bows strung; the horses were panicking.

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