The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 1 (36 page)

As if he heard Tartum’s mental plea, he felt Vaund’s hands on his chest. Murmuring his healing words, Tartum felt the familiar warm, itchy feeling flowing through his body. He felt the magic mending his body, replenishing his strength and reslove. As Vaund’s healing was finished, Tartum was able to regain control of himself. With Vaund’s assistance, he sat up and opened his eyes. His body was stiff, but Tartum was familiar enough with Vaund’s healing to know it would just take a moment of stretching to make it go away. Vaund was next to him, helping him stay sitting up, Savall and Elizabeth were looking down at him with wide smiles on their face. Tartum waited for the cutting words that he was sure were coming.

“Not bad, son! You almost got to her. Not bad at all for your first attempt!” Savall said, he genuinely sounded proud of Tartum.

“Yea, almost Tartum. Just be glad that the knife I threw at your head hit with the handle and not the blade. You scared the hell out of me with that glowing eye thing you were doing.” Elizabeth said.

Tartum was relieved to not be receiving the verbal beating he was accustomed to getting from Jeth. It felt good to know Savall was proud of him, but what Elizabeth said confused him.

“Thank you, Boss. Elizabeth, what are you talking about?” Tartum said.

It was Elizabeth’s turn to be confused. “Your eyes. Just before you tried to charge me, which was very stupid by the way, they began to glow red. You looked quite terrifying, let me assure you. That’s why you got five knives, instead of three.”

Her answer didn’t help to alleviate Tartum’s confusion. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. My vision went red, but it always goes red when I get angry. Can’t blame me for that, though. You tried to pin my foot to the floor with your damned knives!” Tartum said. His anger was plain in his voice.

“It wouldn’t have killed you, relax, big guy. I promise, unless you force me too, I won’t kill you or anything. I will cause you pain, however. Pain is good though. It’s the ultimate motivator. Think about it? Everything you’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time as been because of pain. You should be grateful! Don’t be mad at me for doing such a good job.” Elizabeth’s playful tone was back, and Tartum couldn’t help but smile. She really was very beautiful, and for some reason, it made what she was doing ok.

Savall wasn’t happy with the situation. “Are you saying you didn’t know your eyes glowed red, son?” He asked. The seriousness in his tone set everyone in the room on edge. Tartum stood up to face Savall. He suddenly felt that sitting down was a poor choice.

“Boss, until today I had never been told my eyes did anything other than provide sight. No one has ever mentioned it, nor I have ever seen it.” Tartum answered, honestly.

Savall considered his answer for a moment. He seemed to come to a decision. “Good enough, son. Go ahead and relax. Grab some food and stretch your legs. You and Lizzy can resume your lessons tomorrow.” Savall said. Without waiting for a reply, Savall turned around and left the room.

Tartum watched him leave and was sad to see him go. Something about the old man made him want him around. It was foolish, but he reminded him alot of Isidor. Sighing, Tartum looked at Elizabeth. She was studing him and had a look on her face that Tartum found increadibly cute. He barely resisted the urge to say as much.

Getting ahold of himself Tartum cleared his throat. “Umm...I’d like to see my dog now, if it’s not too much trouble. With everything that’s been happening, I forgot all about him.” He said.

Elizabeth didn’t respond right away. She just looked at Tartum for a moment with that unbearably cute look that set his blood on fire. After what felt like a lifetime, she giggled and quickly kissed Tartum on the cheek. “Come on then. Let’s not keep Buddy waiting.” With that, Elizabeth half-skipped out of the room.

Thoroughly confused and in a daze from the unexpected kiss, Tartum stood, transfixed, as Elizabeth left the room. Suddenly, he felt something slap him upside the head. It was Vaund, he was laughing at him!

“What was that for?!” Tartum asked, rubbing his head. He had completely forgetten Vaund was in the room. Elizabeth had a way of making him forget everyone and everything else.

Vaund never stopped laughing. “What do you think? You’re as lovestruck as a school boy. Careful, she’s as beautiful as a viper, twice as deadly too. There’s no magic in exsistance that’ll cure the hurt she can put on you!” Vaund’s laughter increased at his joke. He was enjoying Tartum’s discomfort immensely. It was the most emotion Tartum had even seen come from him.

Giving Vaund a shove, Tartum laughed. “Yea, yea,yea. I suppose you’re right. If a man has to die though, I can’t think of a better way.” He replied.

“Well you’d better go catch up to her then. Like all women, she’s not known for her patience!” Vaund said. With that, he waved his goodbye to Tartum and left.

Tartum picked up his staff and began to chase after Elizabeth. He was almost out of the room, when he noticed there were no knives anywhere on the floor. Not even the ones that were embedded in him at the end, although the blood was still there, fresh on the floor.

“Does nothing in this Gods damned place make any sense?” He asked aloud. Shaking his head, Tartum hurried down the hall to catch up to Elizabeth.

...

Elizabeth hadn’t gone far from the combat room. She was waiting for Tartum at the stairwell. Any affection she felt towards him was no longer apparent on her face. Instead, it had been replaced by annoyance. “Did you get lost?” she asked.

“What? No, I uhh...Vaund said...nevermind. Hey, what happened to all your knives? They aren’t on the floor anymore, and I don’t remember seeing you pick any of them up.” Tartum said. He would have asked her anything to change the subject and get her unannoyed with him.

At his question, Elizabeth’s sinister, yet playful, grin appeared on her face. “You mean these knives?” Slowly she brought her hand up, and as if by magic, she was holding five of her knives between her fingers. As quickly as they had appeared, Elizabeth shook her hand, and all of them disappeared back to where ever she kept them hidden.

“How in the hells do you do that?” Tartum asked,
genuinely
interested.

Elizabeth laughed. “Just like your staff, my knives are all enchanted to automatically return to their sheaths, once they hit the ground. How else do you think I was able to throw so many at you during our sparring session?”

The explanation made perfect sense. Tartum was a little embarrassed he hadn’t realized it during their session. He did cut himself some slack, however, it wasn’t like she’d given him alot of time to think about anything other than avoiding her attacks. Tartum was impressed with this woman. She was incredibly attractive and full of surprises.

“That explains it then. Nice trick!” He said trying to sound unimpressed. “I guess my plan to wait for you to run out of ammo was a poor tactic.”

Elizabeth didn’t reply and instead rolled her eyes and headed up the stairs. Not fully understanding what he did wrong, if anything, Tartum followed. The thought of seeing Buddy again was exciting! It would be good to be around a friend that wasn’t trying to teach him things through blood loss and pain.

...

Elizabeth’s room turned out to be on the floor, one down from Savall’s. The thought brought an irrational jealousy to Tartum. It was stupid, he knew; first of all, Elizabeth was far from his in any way. She had kissed him on his cheek shortly after plunging four knives into his body. Hardly a first date. Secondly, Savall was easily thirty or forty years older than Elizabeth, and if anything, Tartum assumed he saw her as a favored daughter or
grand
-daughter as opposed to any kind of romantic possibility. Even knowing all that he still felt jealous. Gods, why did he feel like such an idiot around her?

If Elizabeth had any inkling over the war Tartum was fighting with himself, she gave no sign. She walked ahead of him a few paces and about half way down the hall, she turned and unlocked a door.

“Come on in, but don’t touch anything.” was all she said as she entered her room.

Eagerly, Tartum followed Elizabeth through the door and looked around. Her room was not what he would have expected. It was a medium sized room, maybe thirty square yards and a dozen feet high. It was very clean, and everything seemed to have a place although the room was cluttered to be sure. The walls were red brick, and the floor was completely carpeted in a thick black fur. There was a simple bed in the far corner, just large enough for one person to sleep comfortably. A few desks with papers and writing tools on them were all organized and neat. Along the walls, there were sturdy, well made shelves full of all sorts of items. Boxes, jars, and other containers with all manner of treasures and curiosities in each of them littered the shelves. He saw a little bit of everything on those shelves, from gold and jewelery to dried plants and animals. On some of the shelves were swords and daggers, as well as a helmet and even a full suit of gold chainlink armor. At first, Tartum thought that maybe it was hers, but upon closer inspection it was far too large for her to wear. Her collection was very odd and Tartum assumed worth a small fortune. Her warning to not touch anything suddenly made sense. He wouldn’t want anyone touching his treasures either, but he had to wonder, where had she gotten all of this? Tartum laughed to himself, this woman truly was mysterious!

There was a rustling from under the bed. Elizabeth’s demeanor changed completely, as Buddy came bursting out from under the bed and threw himself into her open arms. He was so excited to see her, he was half growling and half whining. His tail was a blur of joyous movement. The kind of excitement only a dog that had missed his master could muster. Elizabeth in turn gave Buddy a big hug and began petting him all over. If Tartum hadn’t just been so viciously wounded by this woman less than five minutes ago, he never would have believed she was a killer. The scene acting out before him almost seemed wrong for a woman of her talents to be indulging in. Still, it did Tartum’s heart good to see his dog so happy, and it didn’t exactly upset him to see Elizabeth like this either.

After a moment, Tartum set his staff against the wall and cleared his throat. Buddy was his dog afterall and he missed him too. Buddy’s attention was immediately drawn to Tartum’s noise. It only took Buddy a second to recognize Tartum, and he climbed over Elizabeth to get to him. His sudden burst of speed took Tartum completely off guard, and he was bowled over by a seventy pound ball of happy, canine, exuberance.

The reunion was a good one, with Buddy half drowning Tartum with wet dog kisses. Tartum didn’t mind, he loved every minute of it. There was something about seeing Buddy again that made him feel really good...the excitement he experienced when he saw him, the joy and gratitude Buddy exhibited. No human Tartum had ever known had ever been this excited to see him, had ever been this loyal to him. It felt really good to have this kind of connection, even if it was just with a dog.

After a few minutes, Tartum stood back up and made eye contact with Elizabeth. “Thank you for taking care of my dog. It’s great to see him again.” He said completely sincere.

Elizabeth smiled and replied, “You’re welcome. Wait, I want to show you something.” Elizabeth jumped up and snapped her fingers. Buddy’s reaction was immediate, he no longer paid Tartum any attention. He stood up straight on all fours and put his full attention on Elizabeth. He seemed to be waiting for something, Tartum had to admit, he found himself waiting for something too.

“Sit!” Elizabeth barked. Buddy sat down, still intent on Elizabeth.

“Lay down!” She commanded. Buddy lay down but kept his eyes on Elizabeth.

“Roll over!” Again Buddy complied, never looking away from her.

Elizabeth looked over at Tartum proudly. “Your dog learns faster that you do!” She teased.

Tartum didn’t know what to say. Not only had Elizabeth taken care of his dog, named him, and watched over him, but she had trained him! She had trained him well! “Thank you for this! I don’t know what to say...other than thank you!” he said.

Elizabeth blushed slightly at his sincerity. Then she fixed him with a wicked little grin and said, “If you like that, wait till you see this.” Her attention went back to Buddy. “Buddy up!” she commanded.

Buddy was up in an instant. His stance widened, and he seemed to be getting ready for something. Elizabeth was pointing now, she was pointing right at Tartum’s chest.

“Watch him, Buddy!
Watch him!
” Elizabeth said. The change in Buddy was terrifying. He rounded on Tartum and began to growl at him. Slowly and purposefully, Buddy began walking towards Tartum, forcing him to fall back. The growling was getting louder, and Buddy began to foam at the mouth slightly.

“Whoa WHOA! Buddy! It’s me boy! Stoppit! Buddy! That’s enough!” Tartum said to his dog. He was terrified but trying not to show it. He was sure Elizabeth was just toying with him, but knowing the fact did nothing to sway his fear. The hackels on Buddy’s mane were standing up, and he looked ferocious. His snarling was getting louder, and the foam coming from his mouth was getting thicker and beginning to fall to the floor in long rivulets. Tartum’s yelling wasn’t deterring Buddy at all, and he was quickly running out of room to back away. In another few steps, Tartum was going to be up against the wall. He couldn’t get past Buddy to retrieve his staff, nor could he get past him to get to the door. He was completely trapped and was running out of options.