The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 2

by William D. Latoria

  Inside the center of the keep was a large alien building. It looked like the main structure was the town hall, but much had been added to the building, and now it looked more like a castle that had grown tentacles that were twisting towards the sky. Thick, black smoke was billowing out of the center, and they could faintly hear men screaming from inside. There were women and children working outside the walls of the keep, clearing the land and digging the moat. They were herded into small groups of four to six people each, and they were all under the careful watch of the heavily robed creatures. They looked miserable, terrified, and malnourished. The women and children were defeated from weeks of abuse. When one of the children collapsed from exhaustion, one of the robed figures kicked her into the ditch and left her there to die. Tartum watched as one of the women shrieked and ran to recover the child; a robed figure moved to intercept her. The woman struck the figure and screamed something about letting her go to her daughter. Her attack knocked the cloaked figure’s hood back, and Tartum had to choke back a gasp. The thing’s face wasn’t human, it was a beast. The creature’s face was a twisted and angry parody of a goat’s face; it was covered in filthy matted white fur and had two small horns sticking out of its head. It was glaring at the woman that had stuck it, and in one fluid motion the creature pulled out a wickedly curved blade that was caked with gore and ran it through the woman. She tried to scream but the thing had pierced her diaphragm, so all she could do was convulse and eventually she fell forward onto the sword and died. The creature had no problem holding her dead weight with one hand. After a moment, he must have seen what he wanted and kicked her body off his weapon. She landed near the body of her daughter. Replacing its hood, the creature returned its attention to the small group of children it had left and barked an order at them. Tartum could tell the children were crying, but they all immediately went back to work.

  The rage Tartum felt at this atrocity threatened to overwhelm him; he wasn’t sure how the copper rod found its way into his hand, but he was grateful to have it there and called the words to his lightning bolt spell into his mind. He was about to open himself to the magic, when Savall’s hand grasped his shoulder hard; when Tartum looked at him he appeared very old and sad.

  “Not yet, son…not yet.” He whispered. His words were sympathetic, but there was urgency to his voice Tartum couldn’t ignore.

  His rage simmered down but only just. He put the copper rod back in his pouch and glared at Savall. He didn’t like having to wait but deferred to Savall’s leadership for now. The cell bosses gave the signal to fall back, and they regrouped out of sight of the keep.

  Tartum’s patience snapped, “What are we waiting for!? We need to move now! Let me blast these whoresons!” Tartum protested.

  Savall looked at him with cold eyes, “What’s the matter with you, son? Are you too stupid to realize that if we go in without a strategy they’ll tear us apart? They are highly organized and in a fortified structure, they have sentries posted, and as far as I can tell, they have us outnumbered. You want to save those women and children as much as I do, but we’re going to do this the right way, otherwise everyone will die here today. Sit down, shut up, and wait for me to tell you what to do. Understand me, boy?” Savall fired back. He was breathing hard, and by the time he had finished his admonishment, he was seething with hate. Tartum had never seen Savall like this before; he didn’t know how to respond, and without thinking, he found himself sitting down and shutting up.

  As he sat there, Savall and the other cell leaders formed a circle and began discussing their plan of attack. Tartum felt awful, he knew Savall was right, he knew he was just being impulsive, but he didn’t know how else he was supposed to react. He knew he had killed children before, but those were filthy, evil children that had been torturing Buddy. He had killed women before too, but that was accidental and had crushed him when he realized what he had done. He had killed men as they begged for mercy and as they cursed his name, but something about this was different. These people hadn’t hurt anyone, the women and children were simple townsfolk that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The woman the creature had killed was trying to go to her daughter for the Gods sake! No, this kind of killing was different; it felt incredibly wrong and completely evil. It made Tartum feel like he was going to wretch. It left a sick, oily, feeling inside of him that he couldn’t shake. Every fiber in his core screamed at him to take action, to end this foul act that was taking place a few hundred yards away. Sitting there was killing him, and he felt the emotions begin to well up inside him. If Savall and the others didn’t move soon, Tartum knew he would act; he would rather see the whole town dead than for the heinous deeds of these beast men to continue for much longer. At least in death, the town’s people could find peace.

  Elizabeth sat down next to him and looked like she was about to say something. The scene had affected her as well, but before she could vocalize it, she burst into tears. Tartum was grateful for her outburst; it distracted him from his own feelings, and he held her as she cried. Her crying was quiet, but she was shaking with grief. Tartum didn’t know how long they stayed like that and didn’t care. Her crying felt right, and it was the only thing that happened that felt right since arriving here. They were still holding each other when Savall knelt down and placed a hand on their shoulders.

  “Lizzy, Tartum, there will be a time for this, but that time isn’t now. Stop that crying, girl, and use the feeling to fuel your courage. The scouts came back, and it’s much worse inside. We’re moving soon, so you must be ready. Come on, stand up and pull yourselves together, we can’t do this without both of you.” Savall’s tone was soft but absolute. Something about his words bolstered Tartum’s resolve, and the sadness drained out of him. All he felt was the need for vengeance; as he stood, he helped Elizabeth to her feet. She had stopped crying but was having trouble keeping her tears back. Tartum wanted to hold her and tell her it would all be alright, but Savall’s words reverberated inside his head. Elizabeth would be alright, the citizens of Rebirth wouldn’t be.

  “Do not worry, my love, this will protect you.” he said, in a voice he didn’t recognize. It was monotone, and emotionless; somehow, it felt right.

  Reaching into his pouch, he took out a sapphire and a sparrow feather and placed them on the ground in front of Elizabeth. He cast his dome spells on her and then kissed her on the head. She looked up at him like it was the first time she had ever seen him. Tartum didn’t know what else to do for her so, with a nod; he went in search of Buddy and Vaund.

  He found them easily; they were where they should be in the back of the group. Vaund had been crying, and it looked like Buddy was doing what he could to comfort him. When Buddy saw Tartum coming, his tail began wagging but he didn’t bark or whine. He looked from him to Vaund and back, it was almost as if Buddy was trying to tell Tartum to help Vaund. Even in the middle of everything that was happening, he was still impressed by Buddy’s intelligence; the dog even somehow knew this would be a bad time for him to have barked or made too much noise.

  Tartum cast his dome spells on them; then helped Vaund get to his feet. Vaund stood up reluctantly but began crying again. Tartum thought about what Savall had said and then addressed him.

  “Vaund, listen to me, there’s no time for this. Your tears are selfish; they won’t help the people dying in Rebirth. There will be time for that later. Right now we need you; they need you, to be on top of your game. We need you to be ready to do whatever is required when the time comes, and if you’re wrapped up in self-pity, you will fail and more people will die.” He told him. He tried to make his voice match the tone Savall’s had and was pretty sure he had come close when Vaund’s tears stopped, and he looked up at him with resolve. Tartum smiled at him and nodded his approval.

  Looking down at Buddy, Tartum pointed to Vaund and gave him a simple command, “Guard.” Tartum saw Buddy’s demeanor change drastically, and he wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn Buddy nodded to him.
>
  Tartum left to find Savall and offer his dome protection to anyone that wanted it. To his surprise, very few people took him up on his offer and with the exception of Ecker and Soveliss, who had brought no casters of their own, no one else would allow him to cast spells on them. Tartum felt that it was strange, but this was how most of his day had felt, casting his dome spells helped him come to terms with what was happening around him and made him feel more in control. By the time he found Savall, his anger was at a controlled simmer inside him, and his determination couldn’t have been swayed by the gods.

  When Tartum finally found Savall, he found that his mood had soured, and he seemed to be ready to choke the life out of something. When he saw Tartum coming towards him, he motioned him to join him.

  “Son, I’m going make this quick because were moving soon, and I’m running behind. Meet up with Rashlarr, you two are in charge of taking down those towers. The two closest to us have to be taken down in the first moments of the attack or the sentries will cut us down with crossbow fire. Those bastard goat men are better organized than we thought, and we need to take them down fast. According to our scouts, our source has been discovered, they killed him, Tartum; he was a good friend of mine…an old friend…” Savall paused after telling him that and seemed to be fighting with himself. Tartum saw the veins in his head and neck bulge and flex and he fought to keep control of himself. Tartum waited respectfully for Savall to address him again.

  After a moment, Savall looked up at him, Tartum could feel the heat of his rage radiating from him. “Go find Rashlarr! After the towers are down, I don’t care what you do but we’re going to kill every last one of these godless fucks, I swear to you! Take out their sentries and then meet us inside, kill all of them. Save as many of the people as you can. Go!” the anger in his voice made Tartum uneasy, and he was more than glad to be dismissed. He raced to find Rashlarr.

  …

  Finding Rashlarr was easy; he was standing at the base of a hill with a fireball in his hand. As Tartum ran up to him, he caught a glimpse of his eyes and recognized Calimsha staring back at him.

  “Hello, Half-breed…I’m glad you are here…We can begin now…Yes-yes!” she said, her voice sending shivers down his spine.

  “Hello…Calimsha…I see you couldn’t resist sitting on the sidelines for this, could you?” Tartum tried to sound annoyed, but in truth, he was glad the stronger half of Rashlarr was in control.

  In response the fireball in Calimsha’s hands got bigger and the heat coming from it intensified. Tartum had to step back or risk being singed, Calimsha simply smiled, Tartum could see how much she was enjoying this.

  “You will need me for thissss fight, Half-breed. Yessss…You have no idea…You have no idea how much that is true…Yes, yes…!” she said. She seemed to be enjoying this, and Tartum had too much on his plate to argue with her. Nor did he see a reason too.

  “Well then, I’m glad you’re here. What’s the plan?” he asked. He was pretty sure he already knew the answer and reached for his pouch of sulfur.

  Calimsha saw what he was preparing to do and her smile got even larger. Tartum worried that if she kept smiling, Rashlarr’s head would tear in half. “Exactly what you think, half-breed! Yes, yes! Fire will purify the twisted ones! Yes-yesssss! Fireballs and lightning until they are all purified.” she cackled. The sound coming out of Rashlarr’s mouth was un-human and made Tartum feel queasy.

  Not wanting to give Calimsha a reason to talk to him anymore, he pulled out a small handful of sulfur and opened himself to the magic.

  “Doctay-von-we!” he spoke, and the sulfur jumped up from his hand and burst into flame. He shaped it into a large green sphere of death and looked over to Calimsha.

  “Ready when you are, masters.” He told her. He emphasized masters in order to show her he wasn’t intimidated by her anymore; it was a half-truth.

  “Then let it begin! Yes, yes!” she replied and ran up the hill.

  Tartum ran behind his possessed friend and watched as he/she gave the command and loosed their fireball at the closest tower. When it hit, the fireball didn’t explode but engulfed the structure in bright orange flames. The creatures inside were roasted, and Tartum could hear them screaming from his hill. To him, their screams sounded like justice. Splitting his focus, he targeted the other tower and gave the command.

  “Beath!” he yelled. It felt so good to finally be attacking these beasts, he couldn’t help but to shout the command. He didn’t care if it was a stupid thing to do, it felt right, and that’s what he wanted more than anything; for things to feel right again.

  The tower Calimsha had targeted was a roaring inferno as Tartum’s green fireball sped past it and slammed into the second. His fireball had been a little smaller than Calimsha’s, but when it hit, it exploded with enough force to turn the entire tower into splinters. Tartum roared this triumph as bits of wood and gore fell to the earth. He saw Savall looking up at him from the field with equal amounts of awe and fear, seconds later, he gave the command to charge and the thieves’ guild charged forward to assault Rebirth.

  Tartum dug into his pouch of sulfur again and pulled out a second handful, “Doctay-von-we!” he spoke and another large flame came alive in his hand. Quickly shaping the flames, Tartum targeted the farthest tower and gave the command.

  “Beath!” he yelled, and his second fireball fired across the field and slammed into the tower with as much force as the first. It exploded, and a rain of shattered wood and broken bodies rained down upon anyone unfortunate enough to be under it. The adrenalin coursing through his veins was finally too much, and Tartum lost control.

  “YOU LIKE THAT! HUH!?! YOU FREAKS! HAHAHAHAHA! KILL WOMEN AND CHILDREN, WILL YOU!?!? YOU COWARDS! FIGHT ME! FIGHT ME!!!” he screamed at the keep. No one seemed to notice, but the release was bliss to his nerves. His vision became crystal clear, and he surveyed the battle from his vantage point.

  The siege seemed to be going well, two of the towers were destroyed and the other two were ablaze. Most of the guild members that charged had made it across the field and were now hacking at the gate or simply climbing up the walls. Tartum saw a few bodies on the field that had been peppered with bolts, but the surviving guild members had figured out Soveliss and Ecker could be used as human shields, and they both had a large amount of allies crowding behind them. Tartum grinned at the sight; he knew that the next time he offered to cast his dome spell on one of them they wouldn’t hesitate.

  Tartum saw Elizabeth as she reached the wall and threw two handfuls of knives at creatures using children as shields. Her knives missed the kids and buried themselves deep into the vitals of the beast men. Quickly, Elizabeth gathered the children together and herded them away from the fighting. Tartum was overcome with pride when he saw how brave she was. His pride was replaced by rage when he saw a crossbow bolt pierce one of the children’s legs and another bounce off the arrow dome he had cast on her. Tartum looked in the direction the shots had come from and saw the body of a woman he might have mistaken for Elizabeth if he hadn’t just seen her. Before he could identify the corpse, three more shots flew from the walls, and Tartum saw a group of beast men that had taken up position in a corner section of the keep’s wall. The knowledge that they were trying to kill Elizabeth was all Tartum needed to know.

  Reaching down into his pouches, he retrieved a copper rod. Rubbing it between his hands, he quickly recited the words of power to his lightning bolt spell, “Yuik-rena toem-urthma!” he yelled and grinned as the copper rod became a ball of crackling energy between his hands. One of the beast men on the wall saw him and realized they were his intended target. Tartum could see it beginning to warn its comrades. Tartum held his shot, he saw the half dozen creatures turn their crossbows his direction and fire. He waited for the shots to fall short and then shook his head at them. He liked to imagine he saw the terror in their eyes as their inescapable fate became clear to them.

  With all the volume and emphasis he could manage,
Tartum bellowed the command, “Za-tan!!” and watched as the lightning bolt struck the center beast man and exploded the section of the wall, in a flash of white light and pink mist. The air around the impact was still electrically charged after the explosion, and as the debris fell, small flashes of lightning shot across the walls. Tartum looked back to where he had last seen Elizabeth. She was carrying the child that had been shot in the leg, and he saw one of the other children had taken a bolt to the head, but most of them had made it and were now safe. Elizabeth looked back and blew him a kiss. Tartum was relieved, most of all, that Elizabeth was safe.

  He returned his attention to the fighting. His lightning bolt had blown apart the wall where it had exploded, and guild members were flooding through the opening. Tartum saw a surge of beast men come running out of the tower in the center of the city and head towards the gap. Where the two groups met the fighting was vicious. The beast men outnumbered them easily four to one, but the martial skill of the guild members couldn’t be matched by the savage creatures. He saw three black armored figures in forefront of the fighting. He recognized them immediately as Savall, Soveliss, and Ecker. They were powering through the beast men four or five at a time. Savall had a great sword in each hand and was slicing through half a dozen beast men with each mighty swing. Soveliss was to his left with a jagged great sword of his own that he scythed through his enemies like they were wheat. Tartum could actually hear Ecker’s roaring laughter from the hill as he pounded beast men into the ground with his giant two handed mace. The three men were ripping apart the enemy forces, but Tartum saw they were slowly being surrounded. He knew that if he didn’t do something quick, they would be overwhelmed and nothing could save them.

  He thought about using another fireball or a lightning bolt, but they were too close to the enemies for him to risk the explosion. That left him only one option; reaching into his pouches Tartum pulled out a large handful of rose petals and began speaking the words of his spell, “Moro-yet krat-tu-veyin doro-peth!” he threw the petals into the air and watched as they burst into small burning orbs. There were dozens of them, but Tartum wasted no time counting them. Picking out the beast men surrounding his allies, he spat the command that would send them screaming into his foes.