The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 1 (57 page)

Laughing, Tartum put his arm around Elizabeth and walked over to where Vaund and Buddy stood. Together they walked out of the alley and into the city, ready to start their day of celebration.

...

All day they spent exploring the city. Elizabeth and Vaund brought him to the city zoo where he saw some of the most remarkable beasts the world had to offer. He saw flying snakes called Wisps that looked like a combination of a large python and three sets of bat wings. There were Stingers and alligators, as well as various types of fish and waterborn life.

One fish in particular that caught his attention was a large blue scaled monster that had eyes that looked like they belonged to a cat. It was alone in a tank that looked to be far to large for a single fish. The attendant said it was called a Visfish; when Tartum asked why they called it that she explained it was due to how viciously it attacked it’s prey. She offered Tartum’s group a demonstration for a small donation, so Tartum gave her a few gold coins from his purse. The attendant left for a moment and came back with a fish about twice the size of the Visfish in the tank. Tartum didn’t know what to expect, and all of them stared as the attendant dropped the new fish into the tank. The Visfish was staring daggers at Tartum’s group until it noticed the new arrival in its tank. It swam very fast at the new fish, and before their eyes, its mouth extended into a gaping maw of savage teeth and raw death. The feeder fish may have been twice the size of the Visfish, but it ate the entire animal in one massive bite. The water was clouded with blood and scales, but the visfish didn’t seem to mind. With his meal digesting, it returned to its place by the glass, staring daggers at Tartum and his group. They thanked the attandant who just smiled and left.

They saw many other marvels in the zoo, like apes that used their powerful arms to dig out huge complex tunnels in the ground like they were ants. The attendant there said it was assumed they did this to reach the underground insects and vegetation that their race thrived on. They were called Rooters, and Tartum found their underground life fascinating. The main attraction of the zoo was an enourmus five headed lizard with a foul temper. Its body was covered in thick black scales that ran up all five of its necks. Where there were no scales; its skin was a bright orange and red that gave the beast an even more foreboding appearance. The zoo called it a Hydra and demonstated its ferocity by sending in five large cows. The feeding that took place was suitably gory and disgusting. Children screamed, women retched, men cheered, and Buddy barked. Tartum and Elizabeth watched passively, it was an impressive display, but Tartum felt something strange as he watched the Hydra feed. He felt the urge to join it, some part of him wanted to tear into those cows with the beast and take part in the feeding. One of the Hydra’s heads looked up in his direction for a moment, and Tartum thought it was looking right at him. As fast as the feeling came over him it was gone, and Tartum found himself momentarily dazed by the sensation. Shaking his head, Tartum gathered Buddy and Vaund together and told them he was ready to leave. They had to practically drag Vaund away from the Hydra’s pen, he was so taken with the creature. After more pulling than convincing, they were finally able to get him away from the enclosure but only with the promise that they would go straight to the merchants district to do some shopping. He was sullen, but agreed, and went to walk ahead with Buddy, leaving Elizabeth and Tartum behind. Tartum laughed, it was so easy to forget he was a child and yet so easy to remember as well.

...

The merchant’s district was chaos. Vendors were screaming their wares and services, getting louder and louder in order to be heard over their competitors. The shops and stalls that were in the city were as varied as they were numerous, and Tartum had trouble trying to keep track of it all. Vaund had no such problem, and with Buddy growling and snapping at people that got in the way, they were able to funnel through the crowds with relative ease as Vaund led them forward. They stopped off at a tailor’s shop first, the owner gave a little fuss about letting Buddy through the doors until Elizabeth shot him a threatening look that could have melted lead. The little man was very accomodating after that, and Vaund bought numerous soft white cloaks at a very reduced price.

Elizabeth found a hat that she liked, and Tartum thought made her look gourgeous. It was an all black workers hat that had a small red flower on top of it. The flower was knitted from cotton and gave the hat a very feminine look. With Elizabeth’s hair and clothing style, the hat made her look irresistable. In fact, after he bought her the hat, he was having alot of trouble keeping his hands off her. Elizabeth pretended to be annoyed by his advances, but her laughter let him know that she was just playing along.

After the tailors shop. Vaund took them to a leathersmith where Tartum bought leather pouches to replace the cloth ones he was already using. The leather pouches were bigger, and the way they held his components was much more comfortable than the cloth pouches. They also held in the scents, some of his more potent components gave off. His sulfur, in particular, had him smelling like bad eggs, and he was getting tired of the wrinkled noses and angry loooks from people downwind of him. Another reason that he bought them was because they were the same shade of green as his cloak, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was beginning to like his nickname of Jade Mage and decided to stop fighting it.

Hour after hour they spent shopping, until Elizabeth brought up the fact that she was starving. Using Buddy as a wedge, they made their way through the crowd, and eventually they came upon the taverns of the city. Tartum saw numerous eating establishments with enticing names like, The Delicious, The Roasting Boar, Sinful Sustenance, and Ambrosia. When Tartum pointed them out, Elizabeth simply shook her head and kept walking. After the fourth time being rejected, Tartum and Vaund decided to just keep following Elizabeth in silence. When she had that determined look on her face, there was no reaching her. Only Buddy was oblivious to the situation and walked next to her excitedly. He kept jumping up and trying to lick her face. Her determination couldn’t stand up to Buddy’s affection, and she cracked like an egg. Kneeling down, she let Buddy jump into her lap as she scratched his belly and he licked at her face. It was an absurd display, but neither Tartum or Vaund wanted to interrupt whatever was happening. After her moment with Buddy lightened her mood, Elizabeth stood up and addressed them.

“I’m sorry about that. I’m taking us to an old friend of mine’s tavern. I didn’t mean to get all moody, I don’t know why I’m acting like this. I just didn’t want to go to any of the other taverns. If Sasha found out, she’d never forgive me.” She said. She seemed to suddenly have alot on her mind.

Tartum didn’t understand any of this, but standing in the middle of the road, having this conversation, seemed very foolish. “Listen, babe, let’s just go to your friend’s tavern and be done with it. There’s no need for all this unnecessary drama. Please stop acting like this and get us there, ok?” he said.

His words had the desired effect, and she seemed to be acting like her old self again. Tartum found it very odd, her sudden change of demeanor and looked over to Vaund to see if he had any insight. Vaund just shrugged and shook his head; he had no idea why she was acting like this either. She was moving again, and they had no choice but to follow. After they had walked a few blocks, they came upon a large building with bright white walls and a dark green roof. It had three floors and while the first two didn’t seem out of the ordinary the top floor had black curtains drawn tight in the windows. Something bothered Tartum about that, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. There was a sign hanging from the building that depicted a hand gripping a pidgeon. The sign was well made and the artwork very detailed. The wood was raised up where the hand and pidgeon were and gave the painting a three dimensional appearance. Under the picture, the name of the tavern was elegantly stenciled in a long flowing hand.

“The Pidgeon’s Hand. Hmm, so this is your friend’s tavern, babe?” Tartum asked.

Elizabeth didn’t answer, she was smiling ear to ear and looking at a woman that had come out from the entrance as they approached. Elizabeth ran up the steps and embraced the woman that awaited her. Tartum thought she was a very attractive woman; she was around Elizabeth’s height with long brown hair that reached all the way down to her legs that she kept in a loose ponytail. She wore a forest green dress that contoured to her body in a very suggestive way. A simple bright yellow rope was used as a belt to hold it on her body. It was her face that caught Tartum’s attention the most. Her chin was extrememly narrow almost drawing to a point at the tip, her cheekbones were raised and heavily defined, her eyebrows were thin, but it was her eyes, her almond shaped brown eyes, that caught his attention. They were easily twice the size they should have been and heavily slanted in towards her narrow nose. The effect made her look as gorgeous as it made her look alien. Tartum looked and saw Vaund seemed to be under the same opinion, although the way he was smiling, Tartum could tell his teenage hormones were definitely kicking in.

Elizabeth and this woman were talking now, and Tartum assumed she must have been the Sasha woman Elizabeth mention after her mood had shifted back to normal. They seemed to be old friends and carried on like sisters that hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Tartum meant to wait patiently as the women caught up, but Buddy had other plans. He had been watching the exchange too and upon seeing the women embrace, Tartum noticed it looked like Buddy was going to attack the newcomer. It amazed Tartum how intelligent Buddy was, and as he watched him, he could see Buddy analyzing the situation and making the determination that this woman was a friend. As they stood in front of him talking, Buddy’s tail began wagging faster and faster until he had worked his whole body into a wagging mess of canine excitement. With a whining bark, he leapt up the stairs towards the women and almost bowled the stranger over with his overzealous affection.

Buddy’s sudden appearance and exuberance startled the woman, and she recoiled away as she drew a dagger seemingly out of thin air. Tartum instinctively went for his spell components when Elizabeth caught Buddy with one hand and her friend with the other and explained who the dog was. The woman was visibly relieved and made amends with Buddy; leaning over she said something strange to him, and if Tartum hadn’t known any better, it seemed as if Buddy understood her and responded. Their exchange went on for a minute or two while Elizabeth stood there smiling. She saw Tartum watching and shot him a wink and motioned for him to wait. Tartum looked over to Vaund, but he was still smiling a sleezy boyish smile and staring at the woman he was smitten with. Tartum had to remind himself that he was only fourteen.

When he looked up, he saw the woman was approching him with Buddy in tow. His tail was still wagging, but he seemed much calmer than he was a moment ago. Tartum noticed the way she walked towards him was extremely fluid, and he noticed that Vaund’s breathing had increased. This Sasha woman definitely knew how to use her beauty to her advantage, and if it wasn’t for Elizabeth’s steady gaze watching him, he didn’t know if his breathing would be any different than Vaund’s. As it was his blood was beginning to race the closer she got, the scent she gave off reminded him of pine needles, which did nothing to slow his racing heart. This woman was exotic to say the least.

“So...you’re the man that’s captured Liz’s heart are you? Hmmm...you are cute...” she said. The way she talked reminded Tartum a cat purring. Hilary used to talk to him like that after he gave her a handful of coins. It was the memory of Hilary, and what she really liked about him, that gave Tartum what he needed to get control of himself. He didn’t like to be seduced like this, and the knowledge of what she was trying to do gave him the anger he needed to better deal with her.

“My name is T...” he began. She held her finger up to his lips and stopped him mid sentence. Tartum was speechless, his anger was gone, and in its place was numbness.

“I know your name is Tartum Fuin and that you’re an up and coming caster with alot of potential. Your friend Buddy here has told me alot about you. He loves you very much, you know. You should continue to treat him well, pretty man.” She said.

Tartum was still stunned and hearing Buddy had told her all about him did nothing to help him get his grip on reality again. He looked down at Buddy, who was already looking at him, when they made eye contact, Buddy began to wag his tail faster as he walked excitedly in place and barked. He seemed to be very excited by this turn of events. The woman turned her attention to Vaund. She gave no sign she noticed the way he was panting at her; if anything she seemed to be intentionally ignoring it.

“Well hello, young man. You must be Vaund! You are a cutie, aren’t you? Liz tells me you’re the healer. Thats a noble thing you do, and I respect your sacrifice.” Leaning over, she kissed Vaund on the cheek, and Tartum thought he was going to pass out. He became very embarrassed when he saw everyone looking at him and mumbled his thanks into his robes as he escaped into the tavern.

The woman watched him go with a knowing smile on her face and began to follow him inside. Tartum got ahold of his senses at this point and regained the use of his tongue.

“Hey there, just who the hells are you, woman?” Tartum asked, his anger was returning, and he didn’t like feeling walked on.

She turned to look at him, her smile was gone, and Tartum knew she wasn’t used to people talking to her like that. Tartum changed his original assessment of this woman, she wasn’t just a seductress, she was dangerous. She said nothing at first and seemed to be assessing him. Tartum refused to be intimidated and returned her look with one of his own. She seemed to be impressed with him, or at least that was the impression he got, because her smile returned and it was warmer than before.