The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 1 (48 page)

The lightning bolt did nothing to improve Gurth’s mood. “YOU STOP THAT, GREEN MAN! YOU STAND STILL AND GURTH MASH YOU! THEN GURTH SLURP YOU! NO MORE SPARKLY STUFF FROM GREEN MAN! GURTH GETTING MAD!” he yelled. Gurth’s voice was so loud it was echoing off the walls of the room. Four hundred square yards and the ogre’s voice made the area sound like it was the size of a closet.

Gurth was almost to him now, and Tartum took cover behind a wall that was about seven feet tall. Tartum wasn’t sure how to kill this thing. He batted away his fireball spell, was basically unharmed by his lightning bolt, and now was moving towards him completely uninhibited. He was running out of offensive spells but decided he might as well try them all. It was better than waiting to be “mashed and slurped” like Gurth kept promising. Reaching into his pouch of rose petals, he grabbed a handful and brought the words of the spell to mind. Suddenly the top of the wall he was hiding behind exploded as Gurth’s tree trunk club blasted through it.

“MASH, MASH, MASH!!” Gurth was bellowing.

Tartum no longer cared about casting spells or impressing the three men that were safe behind their magical barrier. He ran, ran for his life, he felt something zip past his head and the wind that buffeted him almost knocked him over. Regaining his balance, Tartum kept running, he chanced a look behind him and immediately regretted it. Gurth was right behind him and swinging his club like a mad man. Tartum didn’t even try to contain his panic and instead let it fuel his burning legs. He dove behind barrier after barrier in a desperate attempt to lose Gurth. He didn’t think it was working; moments after he would throw himself towards the next barrier, the one he had just been behind would explode into pieces as Gurth’s club smashed through it. Each time, Gurth would roar his disappointment that Tartum hadn’t been blasted into pieces like the wall. Tartum no longer had a plan; he was simply running for his life.

Dozens of walls were pulverized during Tartum’s attempted escape. As he was diving from barrier to barrier, Tartum began to get control of his mind as his initial panic began to wear off. He was getting exhausted, but it seemed that Gurth was too. The walls he was smashing through were no longer pulverized, as much as simply being knocked over. Tartum ran to the next barrier in his route, in an attempt to escape when he noticed something. The barriers were no longer being destroyed after he ran from them. Tartum knew he should be concerned, but he was too exhausted to be anything but grateful at the reprieve. He assumed that Gurth had simply stopped chasing him due to his own exhaustion. Tartum couldn’t blame him, Gurth was ten times bigger than he was and had sweat pouring from every pore in his body. After a moment, Tartum regained some of his strength and peaked around the corner.

The wall he was sheltering behind exploded, and Tartum more sensed than saw that he was flying through the air. He was thoroughly confused, but before he could even start trying to process what was happening, he slammed into the wall of the room. He slid down the wall and hit the floor hard. His head was buzzing and everything was blurry. Looking up, he saw a large, tubby object laughing at him. Shaking his head, Tartum focused on the object, something inside of him told him he was in danger and this thing was the cause.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! LITTLE GREEN MAN NOT SPARKLY ANYMORE! GURTH WIN! GURTH WIN!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!! it bellowed. Its words brought the memories back, and Tartum couldn’t believe how far the ogre had knocked him away. He was easily fifty yards from the ogre, but it seemed to him that Gurth thought he was dead. If it hadn’t been for his dome spell, Tartum knew he would have been right. As it was it felt like most of his ribs were broken and his muscles were on fire. He didn’t seem to be bleeding, however, and he took a moment to silently thank Rashlarr for teaching him his dome spell. Tartum reached into his pouches and picked out a spider leg. Holding it towards Gurth, Tartum spoke the words to his entanglement spell.

“
Swa-swa-swyth. La-lateedo!”
A mass of sticky web shot towards Gurth and enwrapped him in its fibers. Gurth struggled for a moment and fell to the ground, his club bouncing away. The rolling of the club caused it to become completely engulfed with green flame, and Tartum watched it burn into ash. Sighing in relief he began to rest. Tartum figured those webs would hold the ogre long enough to be considered subdued and that Rashlarr would end the test. After a minute or two Tartum realized his chest didn’t hurt as much and tried to stand up. The pain was still there but not nearly as bad; Tartum figured he would be sore the next couple days, but at least his ribs weren’t broken. Once more, Tartum gave thanks that he was taught the dome spell.

Movement from the web caught his attention. He couldn’t believe it, but it looked like Gurth was beginning to escape the cocoon! As he stood there, mesmerized by the movement, one of Gurth’s hands pierced the web and began to tear it away. Terrified, Tartum grabbed another spider leg and cast his entanglement spell on the ogre again.

“
Swa-swa-swyth. La-lateedo!”
he said, desperation heavy in his voice. The web encompassed the already entangled ogre. Not knowing how much time the second web was going to give him, Tartum reached for his pouch with the sapphires in it so he could recast his dome spell. No way did he want to face Gurth’s wrath without some form of protection. As Tartum’s hand reached the area the pouch should have been, he felt nothing. Confused Tartum looked down; the pouch wasn’t on his belt. Frantically, Tartum searched the area; he couldn’t believe he had lost the pouch with his most important spell component! Throwing rocks and debris out of his way, he desperately searched for his lost sapphires. Cold sweat began to form on his forehead, and he wiped it away with a trembling hand. He couldn’t find them, they weren’t anywhere in the room. Had he forgotten to put them on his belt? Did he leave them with Rashlarr and the others after he had received them? He could have sworn he put them on his belt immediately after Rashlarr had given them to him. Looking back at where they were watching, Tartum made eye contact with Jeth and everything became clear.

He was standing up against the magical barrier that protected them from the battle. In his hands, Tartum saw his bag of sapphires. It didn’t make sense to Tartum at first; how did Jeth get hold of his pouch? When did he have the opportunity? Then it all made sense, Jeth had stopped him to wish him luck and shake his hand.
The sneaky son of a bitch must have lifted the pouch off my belt while feigning civility!
Tartum thought.

Taking inventory of the rest of his pouches, Tartum found them all to be there and in order. Jeth must have taken the sapphires hoping something like this might happen. Looking back up at Jeth, Tartum saw he was smiling at him. The bastard even winked at him. Tartum’s anger began to bubble up inside him. If he got out of this alive he would take Jeth’s other eye out with his bare hands! Tartum’s plotting of revenge was put on hold as Gurth burst out of the cocoons and began getting back on his feet.

“GREEN MAN! YOU MAKE GURTH ANGRY! GURTH WARN YOU! WARN YOU NO MAKE GURTH ANGRY! NOW I MASH YOU, THEN KILL YOU, THEN SLURP YOU! YOU NO SHOULD HAVE MADE GURTH MAD!!!” he shouted. His face was red, and his entire body was shaking with his rage.

Tartum was no longer scared. He was done with running, and he’d had enough of this barely sentient creature spitting threats at him. Now it was his turn to shout threats.

“
You think you can kill me, Gurth!?! Do you think you can really take me on!?! Do you know who I am!?! Do you know what I’m capable of!?! I’ll show you! I’ll show you just how much pain I can bring you! I am Tartum Fuin, you son of a bitch! I’m the man that’s gonna rip your fucking soul out and shit on your corpse! Come on! Come at me if you dare
!” Tartum screeched back. For a moment he couldn’t tell if his retort had stunned or scared the ogre. He didn’t care, he used Gurth’s hesitation to pick up his entire pouch of sulfur and put it in his hand. Opening himself up completely to the magic, Tartum imagined that Gurth was Jeth and channeled an enormous amount of magic into the bag that was almost completely full of sulfur.

“Doctay-von-we!”
He screamed. The pouch that held his infused sulfur disintegrated, and a green fireball the size of a house manifested in his hands. The flame bathed the entire room in a green glow that made Tartum feel immortal. His gaze turned red, and through the haze, he saw Gurth. Almost without effort, the fire in his hand began to spin in his hands and take on the perfect sphere shape Tartum envisioned in his mind. Splitting his focus with ease, he targeted the ogre; he was backing away and somehow managed to look confused and scared at the same time. The knowledge bolstered Tartum’s already overinflated confidence, and with a voice that came from somewhere deep within, he shouted the word that would end Gurth’s miserable life.

“BEATH!”
Tartum’s fireball moved with a speed that belied its mass. Tartum saw Gurth hold up his hands in a futile effort to deflect it. The fireball hit him with all the force and violence that Tartum’s rage demanded. Just as it looked like Gurth would be completely engulfed by the sphere, it exploded. Tartum stood his ground as rocks and fire flew all around him. Through his rage and hate he consciously noticed nothing but the death he had dealt to the ogre; however, on the outskirts of his perception it registered that something seemed to be deflecting the debris just before they hit him. The light from the explosion should have blinded him, but his red tinted gaze let him see everything in perfect detail. He watched as Gurth’s body was split into hundreds of pieces and blasted all over the room in flaming chunks of blood and gore. He rejoiced in the sight and smiled grimly to himself as he watched the destruction unfold around him.

As the blast dissipated, Tartum looked around the room and saw it was ablaze. Glorious green flames burned along the walls and ceiling. The floor was enveloped and every single barrier that had been erected by Rashlarr’s spell had been leveled. Mounds of rock and ash built up all along where the wall and floor met. Tartum was very proud of himself and reveled in his victory. He hoped that Jeth had seen all of this. That every last detail had etched itself into his memory and that he would
never
think to betray him again. Seeing that his job was done, Tartum uttered the word “Uush,” and was rewarded by seeing the green flames in the room all go out at once. The enveloping darkness was like a warm blanket to Tartum, and he used its comfort to dissipate some of his remaining anger. Tartum didn’t let all of it go however; he still had one more thing to do before he allowed himself to relax.

“Light,” He said and his staff began to glow. The light wasn’t overpowering, it was just enough to help him see where his friends were. They seemed to be ok, Vaund’s robes were singed and Rashlarr looked impressed. It was the look on Jeth’s face that gave Tartum the most satisfaction. The message he had sent by obliterating Gurth was well received if Jeth’s expression was any indication. He was walking from side to side looking like a panicked animal. All the blood had drained away from his face, and he looked like he was ready to either cry or puke, possibly both. He saw Tartum walking towards him and froze in place. Tartum was pleased and purposely slowed down to drag out his fear. The click of his staff on the stone floor echoed in the destroyed room. It was the only sound anyone made.

When Tartum made it to Jeth, he said nothing. He simply stood over him and stared. Tartum savored the look of fear in his eye, and after a moment held out his hand. Jeth flinched when Tartum moved and the sight of it brought another wave of satisfaction to him. Jeth reached into his vest and produced the pouch of sapphires he had pilfered from Tartum only a few minutes before. Taking the pouch, Tartum looked inside and did a quick inventory of the stones. It looked like they were all there, and Tartum securely tied the pouch back onto his belt. Then, with his remaining fury, Tartum punched him across the face. Jeth was unconscious before he hit the floor, and he hit it very hard. A small trickle of blood ran out of his mouth, but Tartum believed he would live.

Vaund moved to go check on Jeth, and Tartum stopped him with his staff. “Do not give him any healing, Vaund. He doesn’t deserve it. Let him heal naturally and keep the pain of the memory as a reminder of what will happen if he ever betrays me again.” Tartum’s tone was flat and matter of fact.

Vaund looked like he was about to argue, but after seeing the expression on Tartum’s face, changed his mind. Looking at Jeth and then back to Tartum, he looked defeated and simply said, “I guess I’ve been waiting for someone to do that for a long time. Doesn’t surprise me it was you. Have it your way, Tartum, I won’t heal him. Hopefully he learns his lesson.”

Tartum nodded his agreement, and Vaund left the room. After he left, Tartum looked up at Rashlarr. It didn’t surprise him for a moment to see it was Calimsha’s eyes looking back at him. “Very impressive, half-breed! Very impressive indeed! Yes...yes! If only it had been you that had summoned me...Yes...the fun we would have had!” she said. Her hissing voice still made Tartum’s skin crawl. He knew she meant it as a compliment, but he was in no mood to play underling today.

“If I had summoned you, I wouldn’t have let you possess me. You would have served me, and if I allowed you to journey with me, I wouldn’t be your puppet. I would be your equal.” Tartum meant his statement to correct her perception of their relationship. He wasn’t sure if it had the desired effect or not. Calimsha didn’t seem upset with his words and possibly was even more impressed with him. She seemed to be debating how to respond.