The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 1 (2 page)

It began to rain...

The magician let the coin roll across his knuckles, with a grace that held the audience spellbound. No one in the town had ever seen anything so fluid or amazing before! Even the adults at the show were speechless and found themselves staring, open mouthed, at the magician’s act.

In the audience, was a young boy sitting on his father’s lap. Having just turned five years old, this was a special birthday treat, or so his father had told him. This, in fact, was just a wandering performer, that had stopped by the small town to make a quick profit, wow the simple people, and maybe sample some of their local maidens once the ale started flowing. Business had been good the past two days, since he had set up in town, and the thrid and final day was proving to be the best. Especially for the young man, whose birthday started off with him watching the most magnificent show he’d ever seen!

The magician was pulling a rabbit out of his hat, when the little boy squealed in delight. It was such a high pitched squeal that his father put his hand over the boy’s mouth to silence him. His father was too late, however, for the atmosphere was shattered, and the magician looked up with amusement.

Looking directly at the little boy, he smiled brightly! A thought of how to get the audience to part with even more of their coin occured to him. “Enjoying the show little boy?” he asked in his most friendly voice.

Looking at his father, the little boy sheepishly asked, “Me?” The magician smiled and nodded. “Yes Sir, I’m five today! This is the best birthday EVER!” the boys voice grew louder as he quickly warmed up to the man.

“Your fifth birthday is it!? Well that’s a VERY special occassion, and we cant let such a day go by without a special treat. If you would be so kind, little boy, why don’t you come up here and assist me.” asked the magician, as he motioned for the child to join him on his stage.

The boy looked at his father, who smiled at his son and nodded. The little boy half ran, half fell over his feet to get to the stage. He had never been so excited in his entire life! He was part of the act now! This truly was the best birthday EVER!

“Welcome to the show my boy! Please tell all the nice people your name.” said the Magician.

“My name is Tartum! Tartum Fuin, and I’m five today!”, the boy said excitedly. Pointing at his father, he began to wave, “There’s my dad! Hi dad! I’m in the SHOW!” Tartum screamed, in excitement.

Laughing, the magician scanned his audience to gauge if his plan was working. Seeing the people seated around his stage, grinning like idiots, he silently patted himself on the back. “You’ve done it again, Isidor! Now, lets really lay it on thick!” he thought to himself.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to my newest assistant, Tartum Fooin!” the magician said. The crowd erupted in applause and laughter. The magician was so pleased by the response, he almost didn’t notice the little boy tugging at his arm. Looking down, he could see the boy was upset.

“What’s wrong, young assistant?” he asked, puzzled.

“That’s NOT how you say my name.” the boy scolded. “It’s Tar-Tum
FEE-U-IN
! Not Foo-in!” the boy spat.

The boy’s correction and over-emphasis on how to say his name had the magician’s crowd rolling in their seats with laughter. The Magician looked at the boy who had taken a defiant and proud posture. The Magician liked the little boy immediately. “I apologize, young sir!” the magican laid it on thick, “I was never good with names, TAR-TUM
FEE-U-IN,
everybody!” The crowd, once again erputed in applause, and the magicain smiled wide. The money he was going to make off of this would set him up for weeks!

Tartum was taken back by the reaction of the crowd but stood his ground and nodded at the magician. The Magician couldnt help but to feel a bit of respect for his new found “assisstant”.

“Ok, ok! There’s a good boy, now, here’s what I need you to do. Hold my hat right here, and I’m going to make a lizard appear! Would you like that?” asked the magician.

Tartum half walked, half glided to the table where the hat was and stood up on the wooden stool next to it. The magician came up on the other side and handed Tartum the hat, upside-down, and picked up his wand to recite the words.

“Now, I will make a lizard come out of my hat from nothing! Are you ready Tartum?” the magician said with a flourish.

“YES!” yelled Tartum. He was shaking, he was so excited. The magician hoped the little boy wouldn’t piss himself. The smell would seriously cut into his profits.

Hurrying, the magician began speaking the words of power that would conjure the illusion of the lizard...and win him more money and reknown in this town than he ever expected. “
Tzellrigoth beniigly rath oth becath!”
the magician said, in a dramatic tone.

As he spoke the words, Tartum felt a strange and wonderful feeling rise up inside him. It was only for a moment, but he felt it originate from deep inside his stomach and shoot through his hands and into the hat. Dizzy, but determined to do a good job, Tartum shook his head and blinked a couple times to make the feeling go away. As the magician said the final sylable, the hat shook in Tartum’s hands. Suddenly, the hat was too heavy for Tartum to hold, and he dropped it on the table. The hat burst to pieces the moment he let go, knocking Tartum off his stool and onto the stage. Stunned, but still very aware of his surroundings, Tartum looked up at where the table should have been. Standing there was a full sized giant lizard! Easily five feet long and three feet wide at it’s shoulders, the lizard seemed to be just as surprised as the onlookers were as it scrambled off the stage and into the nearby woods, on the outskirts of the town.

The magician couldn’t believe what had just happened. It was supposed to be an illusion! Not a full blown summoning spell! He knew something felt wrong towards the end of his casting, but to stop at that moment could have been a catastrophy! When his hat blew apart, the force knocked him off the stage and into the crowd. Shocked, he quickly gathered his wits, as the people in the audience helped him to his feet. He looked up in time to see a confused Tartum, being helped up by his father, and a giant lizard running off into the woods. “The boy!” he thought, “The boy must have some real power inside him, to have amplified my spell this much!”

Leaping back onto the stage, the magician faced the crowd and, with another flourish, held up both his arms and yelled; “TAA-DAA!”

The crowd took only a moment, before bursting into a huge round of deafening applause. The magician was proud of himself. These fools honestly believed this accident was intentional. It was a shame about his favorite stool, but the profits he’d make from this debacle would pay for a new wagon, let alone a stool.

As the crowd cheered madly, the magician walked over to the young boy and leaned close to him. “You did very well, young man, and I owe you something for your help.” He said to Tartum. The young man nodded, rubbed at his eyes, and held on to his father’s leg, barely awake enough to register anything. The magician recognized the after effects of exhaustion that came from using the power of magic. With his assumptions confirmed, he stood up and held out his hand for the boy’s father to shake.

“Sir, I know you have many questions about what happened. I will be more than happy to answer them, later. Please come to my wagon with your son when he wakes up. I have something for him.” He said. Seeing the concern on the man’s face Isidor explained “Your son will be fine; he’s just exhausted from his ordeal. I believe your son has the potential to become a caster, and if you’re interested in helping him cultivate and control that talent, I have something to get him started on the right path.”

Not fully understanding what had happened, but wanting to help his son in anyway he could, Tartum’s father nodded as he picked up Tartum, who had passed out slumping against his leg. “We’ll be there when he wakes up, you’d better have some good answers when we get there!” Tartum’s father said threateningly.

...

Tartum woke up in his bed. His father had put a damp cloth on his head, and Tartum threw it on the floor. His room was a small wooden box, that was added onto his family’s home when he got to big to sleep in the bed with his father. His mother had died when he was a baby, but he had no idea why. Whenever he asked his father why he didnt have a mother like the other kids, his father just told him, “The Gods needed her more than us, but she’s with us in our hearts and that’s the best we can hope for. You’ll see her one day, son! I promise!” Tartum had no idea who these “Gods” were but he sure wished they would give his mother back, if only for a little while. Especially on days like today, when he woke up not fully remembering when, or how, he ended up in bed.

Tartum found his father in the main room of the house, whittling a piece of wood while staring out the window, like he usually did when he had free time. Apparently, he hadn’t been there long, because the wood still looked shapeless, and his father noticed him right away.

“How are you feeling son?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Is my birthday over?” Tartum asked.

“Not yet, son. Feel up for a walk? Your magician friend said he had a reward for your help today.” his father told him.

“Sure! Let’s go!” Tartum squealed. Forgetting all about the mysteries of his life, and what actually happened, Tartum was hopping with excitement, as he urged his father to hurry. The prospect of a new toy, removing all concern about the days events from his mind.

Sighing to himself, Tartum’s father envied his son’s ability to recover and keep going with such vigor. Putting the wood and wittling knife down, he got up and escorted his son to the magician’s wagon.

...

The walk to the wagon didn’t take long. Tartum’s home wasn’t far from the outskirts of the town, and the wagon had made camp just a little way from their home. Tartum was half running, half dragging his slower moving father along the way, the entire time. Asking questions to which he didn’t care about the answer. They were the questions of an excited youth, and they made his father smile.

“What do you think he’s got for me? What do you think happened after I fell asleep? Did you fall asleep? How much farther until we’re there? Can you hurry up? What if he’s gone when we get there? You think he’ll still be there? I can’t wait to get there! Think he’ll do another magic trick? Do you know any tricks? Think he’ll teach me a trick? I think I’ll ask him to teach me a trick!”, rambled Tartum. His father couldn’t help but smile at his son. He loved him dearly and worked hard to keep him happy. It made him proud too see him recover so fast from his episode on the magician’s stage, and how eagerly he set out to meet new people and have new experiences. He was almost completely fearless. He hoped he would always be like this, although he knew with the trials of the world, it was unlikely.

They arrived at Isidor’s wagon, and found him waiting for them outside. Tartum was overcome with excitement and sprinted the rest of the distance, once he saw him.

“I’m here! I’m here, I’m here, I’m here! Do you remember me? I’m Tartum Fuin! There’s my father! You said you had a present for me! I love presents! It’s my Birthday so I get presents!” Tartum exclaimed.

Laughing, Isidor touseled Tartum’s hair and greeted his father. “I’m glad you’ve come. Please, come inside, we have things to discuss.”, the magician said. Obediently Tartum and his father followed him.

The inside of the wagon was huge in comparison to what the outside of the wagon led an observer to believe. It was easily three hundred yards long, and one hundred fifty yards across. It was still rectangular in shape, but the space was so large, it stunned both Tartum and his father into awed silence. The wagon’s interior seemed to be cordoned off into three sections. The back wall from the entrance seemed to be storage. There were boxes of props, stools, cages, and even what looked like a broken down stage, stacked into even rows that reached ten feet up to the ceiling. Next to this was an area for using the bathroom and washing up. There was a chamber pot, a basin, and pitcher of water, placed on a solid oak dresser with a large mirrior fixed on it. There were also multiple stoves and cooking areas, where any type of meal could be prepared. Shelves stocked with containers of various foods, lined the walls of these areas. Tartum had never seen so much sustenance in one place before in his life, and guessed that Isidor must be a king!

The final section of the wagon, the section closest to the entrance, that they were in now, was the living area. Numerous bookshelves, jars full of interesting and creepy things, strange looking stones, and boxes littered the shelves and tables that surrounded them. There was a luxuriant rug layed across the width of the area and many chairs were placed in such a way to hold the carpet in place and still leave plenty of room for walking. There were also large, comfortable piles of pillows in the corners, that looked like they had all seen much use recently.

The magician walked over to Tartum and leaned down next to him.

“Do you find this amazing, little Tartum? Do you want to know how I do this?” Isidor asked him, as he held out his hand. Tartum watched in amazement, as Isidor kept his hand perfectly still as a gold coin glided around his hand and inbetween his fingers.

Tartum, still staring at the coin, nodded. Isidor looked into Tartum’s eyes and saw a hunger...a hunger, the magician knew all too well. It was the look of someone that wanted what another possessed. It was the look of envy. It was a look most young people get, that have the gift of casting in their blood.