“Anyway, the Bug Wars lasted for around ten years and whole cities were wiped off the map as the kritchet tide seemed to have no end. It was in our darkest hour that the bloodied nations of humans, elves, and dwarves joined forces and shared their war fighting capabilities with one another that the tide began to turn. Even with these three proud races fighting together, the kritchet made them pay dearly for every victory, but slowly, inch by inch, the kritchet were pushed back into the Dead Zone until a stalemate was reached. Neither side could press their opponent back but couldn’t be pushed back in return. Many ambassadors were sent into the Dead Zone for peace talks and none of them were ever heard from again. Finally, with no other options left, the most powerful casters from the races of humans and elves joined together and cast a spell that obliterated the red meteorite that they believed was the source of the kritchet invasion. When the dust cleared and the toll on the races was tallied, it was determined that two thirds of the total population of dwarves, elves, and humans was dead. The Kritchet were beaten and seemingly broken without their red home which allowed peace to reign over the world once again. They had returned to their underground world and weren’t heard from again until recently; over the last few decades, a kritchet will pop up every now and then and cause chaos in an area until they are killed or everything is dead and they move on; a lot like a locust or a virus. The Dead Zone is still off limits, and a wall has been erected that completely encompasses the desert they live in so no one can get in. Apparently, the kritchet have found a way out, and now we have situations, like the one in Rebirth, that we have to deal with. So there you have it, son, the known history of the kritchet and basically the reason we’re heading two days northeast to fight a kritchet caster that’s using humans as lab rats. Wonderful situation, isn’t it?” Savall finished his explanation with a sigh and went to get more dinner.
Shortly after his story was told, the other cells arrived. Each cell boss had brought five members from their compound, which Tartum thought was ironic. For each cell to be represented by the same amount of members gave Tartum a queer feeling, he hoped it wasn’t a bad omen and busied himself with studing his spellbook to get the thought out of his head.
The camp was loud with excited talk, full of boasting and insults thrown around about what deeds they would or wouldn’t do when they arrived in Rebirth. More than one or two scuffels broke out, but they were quickly stopped by a man or woman in black armor. As rowdy as this gathering was, there was a lot of respect for authority. Tartum assumed it was becasue if one of the bosses got mad enough at you they could slit your throat, and no one would raise a hand to stop them. He contented himself with his studies and absently scratched Buddy’s head when he put it in his lap and fell asleep.
The rest of the night passed without incident, and Tartum got nowhere in his spellbook. He lay in his bedroll wondering about how he would fare against Lord Zahut when they got to his tower. He wondered about what he looked like and how he would sound. Tartum wondered if he would be able to recognise the spells he cast and if he’d be able to defend against them or not. A lot of questions about fighting another caster raced through his head, but as always, by the time he fell asleep, the only thought on his mind was what kind of magical treasure was he going to find on Lord Zahut’s smoldering corpse.
…
Tartum was awoken early the next morning and immediately began to ready himself for travel. This was the first time in a long time he had been forced to sleep under the stars with nothing but a thin bedroll between him and the dirt. He was sore and groggy but was determined to keep his spirits up. His dreams had been of him sitting on a pile of magical spells and treasure, lording over the grateful citizens of Rebirth. He looked forward to making those dreams a reality.
Elizabeth tossed him a roll for breakfast, and he had nodded his thanks. He ate little, he found his appetite was diminishing as they got closer to Rebirth and gave the roll to Buddy. His appetite was as good as ever, and he wolfed down his meal.
The camp was cleared quickly, and the cell leaders gave the order for everyone to move out. Jumping on his horse, Tartum maneuvered him towards Elizabeth. He noted that Buddy had no problem keeping up, but that Vaund kept his pace slower than the others to keep an eye on him just in case he did begin to fall behind. Tartum was grateful to Vaund for watching out so diligently for Buddy and made a mental note to thank him later.
Pulling up behind Elizabeth, he bumped her a little with his horse. The sudden jolt had the desired effect, and she jerked around in anger and surprise. The look on her face made Tartum laugh, and after a moment Elizabeth laughed too. He pulled his horse up next to her and rode with her in silence for a while just enjoying being in her presence. Eventually the moment passed, and he broke the silence with a question.
“So, babe, what’s the story with these other cell leaders? I had no idea the guild had other compounds around Saroth, and why isn’t Sasha with us? You would think she would be a smart choice to have with us for this kind of mission.” he said.
“Well, Sweetie, the reasoning behind all the other cells is simple. If one goes down, gets raided by the guards, or a member betrays their cell, the whole guild doesn’t get wiped out. Also, Saroth is a big place, and we can’t be everywhere at once if we’re all under one cell. Having multiple cells distributed around the city makes it so that we can appear to be everywhere at once and disappear without a trace. A useful ability for a guild that survives as much on skill as it does its reputation. As for why Sasha isn’t with us…well, someone has to be in charge of the day to day business and activities while the cell leaders are gone. Sasha is perfectly positioned for just this situation and should some or all of the leaders be killed, she will promote new ones before power plays can occur. While Savall and Soveliss are out of the city, Sasha’s word is law.” Elizabeth told him. He could tell that she was very proud of Sasha, and she seemed to sit a little straighter in her saddle after talking about her.
“Ok, I can understand that. What can you tell me about the other cell leaders? I noticed you and Liddia seem to be old friends, but the Eida girl seems ready to gut all of us at the drop of a hat. Soveliss and Ecker seem to get along, but that Nebin guy seems like he can’t wait to put a dagger in our backs, and if Jeth gets his tongue any further up his ass, he’ll never get the taste out of his mouth.” Tartum said.
Elizabeth burst into laughter at his joke and favored him with a quick kiss on the cheek. “Oh my, Sweetheart, it’s too early in the morning for you to make me laugh like that! Where was all this attention last night when I was forced to sleep alone because you couldn’t be separated from your stupid book?” she replied. Her barb had Tartum on the defense, but before he could respond, Elizabeth held up her hand and smiled. “I’m just teasing you, sweetie. The girls and I had a very nice reunion, and if you had come bugging me for bedroom antics, they would have teased you until the embarrassment killed you. Liddia brought some of her best girls along and more than one has mentioned your name. Don’t you worry though, Sweetheart; I set them straight about who you belong too.” She grinned wickedly as she said the last part. Tartum felt bad for the first girl to test his loyalty to Elizabeth.
Rolling her eyes, she continued. “Well, I don’t know everything about them all, but I’ll tell you what I do know. Soveliss is Savall’s second in command. If he goes, Soveliss will give over command of the second cell to Ecker or Nebin and move into our compound. He’s a good man and a damn fine leader, but he’s reckless and takes a lot of unnecessary risks. He claims it’s because he loves the “rush” it gives him, but I think he’s just arrogant and it bites him in the ass more often than not. The scar across his face is ample proof of that. He got it when he fought off six town guardsmen for no other reason than because someone had dared him to do it. He wasn’t even on a mission, he was drunk and started boasting and next thing you know there are three dead guardsmen, and he’s drowning in his own blood with half his face missing. This was before Vaund w
as in the guild, and the healer we had was pathetic. He was able to save Soveliss’s life but at the price of what was once a very handsome face.” Elizabeth shook her head, “May Savall live forever, huh, sweetie?” she giggled.
“Ecker is a hound. He spends so much time with the girls in Liddia’s cell that it’s a wonder his cell isn’t broke and shut down. The only thing he loves more than women is his drink. It doesn’t matter what the drink is, if it will get him drunk, he’ll drink it. He’s got a million stories and will tell them to you for the cost of his next mug of ale, and before he’s done you’ll consider him your best friend. He’s a great big teddy bear, usually, but if you get him mad or if he’s caught up in a hangover, he’s more terrifying than an Ogre that hasn’t eaten in a week. One of Liddia’s girls got caught stealing from a wealthy merchant once, and the guards took her to the local lock up that used to be located in town. Well that girl was one of Ecker’s favorites, and when he heard about what happened, he lost his mind. He walked straight over to the building and beat on the wall with his heavy mace until it crumbled. He marched inside, picked up Liddia’s girl, and brought her straight back to the brothel. It took a considerable amount of gold, but eventually the guards decided that pursuing the person that knocked down a stone wall to free a whore just wasn’t worth losing their lives over. You should talk to him before we get to Rebirth if you get a chance. He’s a great story teller.” Elizabeth said. As she talked about Ecker, she looked over at him with a smile on her face. Tartum thought it was interesting, she looked at him like he was her older brother, but decided not to press it. He wanted to hear about the others.
Done with her tale on Ecker, Tartum watched as Elizabeth’s look turned sour. Following her gaze, he saw she was looking at Nebin. The weasel faced whisperer that Tartum wanted to crack with his staff for no other reason than he looked like he deserved it. Judging by the look on Elizabeth’s face, he was probably did. “Nebin, that walking pile of shit, is one of the most distrusted and least respected thieves you’ll meet. Although no one can prove it’s his fault, members in his cell have a strange way of ending up dead, ever since he became a member. The old leader of the fourth cell was on a simple kidnapping mission, and when he didn’t report back over a week later, the guild went out to see if they could find him. Wouldn’t you know it, Nebin found him in the first hour of searching and his throat had been slit. It looked like the body had been there for at least a week, and Nebin suggested that the person he was trying to kidnap must have gotten the best of him. Thing about it was, the kidnap target was a four year old boy. We watched him for a few days just to be sure, but the boy showed no melee or magical talent and seemed to be afraid of his own shadow. In fact, the last day we shadowed the boy, he was beaten up by his three year old sister. Savall had no choice, since Nebin was the eldest member of the cell still alive, he had to promote him to leader. It still sickens the rest of us, but what can we do. If we kill him we’ll be down an accomplished murderer and to be honest, he’s running his cell well. Their mission completion rates have gone up, and their coffers have almost doubled over the couple years he’s been in charge. Just don’t go down any dark alleys with him, ok, Sweetie?” she said. Tartum nodded his agreement. It was good to know that the weasel bites, and apparently bit very hard.
Now Elizabeth looked over at her friend, Madame Liddia. With a huge smile on her face, she fixed Tartum with an excited look and began to speak. “Liddia! Liddia, Liddia, Liddia! Oh my, sweetie, where do I begin? Well, she was my trainer after I got out of the null box. She taught me, Sasha, and Eida at the same time, and she also showed us how to control men.” She fixed him with a look that begged him to challenge her statement. Tartum did consider it for a moment but knew there was no point; she did control him, but for the time being he really didn’t mind it. Her form of control felt really, really good!
Seeing he wasn’t going to say anything, she smiled brightly and continued, “Anyway, my love, she taught us how to promise a man everything, take from him all he had, and then get out of the situation without so much as a kiss. Sasha was the best at it, obviously, I was good at it, but I have a tendency to fall in love with green skinned casters, and Eida…well we aren’t sure if she likes men. Well…she does like to stab them, but that wasn’t what she was trying to teach us.” Elizabeth scrunched up her face at him, and he found it very cute.
“Anyway, that’s why my knives and Eida’s daggers are so similar in type. Sasha uses throwing stars shaped like flowers and Liddia uses knives like me. We all took to her melee lessons, and I absolutely love the feel of peppering my target with knives and seeing the look on their face when they realize the girl they thought was a victim just ripped out their soul.” Elizabeth’s eyes were on fire, and Tartum cleared his throat. The sound brought Elizabeth out of her delirium, and she blushed as she continued. “Oh, uhh yea, Liddia was my trainer, and now that we’re all members, she’s like an older sister. I love to see her and catch up on gossip. You wouldn’t believe some of the stories she has from that brothel of hers. Anyway, after we passed our over exams, Sasha stayed and worked in the brothel with Liddia’s cell, I joined Savall’s cell, and Liddia wanted to send Eida to Soveliss’s cell, but she threw a fit and demanded to be assigned to the new sixth cell that had been formed, due to a sudden surge in membership. Liddia had refused at first because Eida would have been a liability in such a new, untested, cell. Eida lost her mind and attacked Liddia, she quickly lost that fight and as punishment, instead of killing her, Liddia cut off all her hair, I mean all of it sweetheart, and then sent her to the sixth cell; naked and shamed. It was discovered later that the reason she wanted to go to the sixth was because she was sleeping with one of the other women in that cell, however when her girlfriend saw her bald, and with her standing in the guild as low as it was, she wouldn’t talk to her. A year later during a botched assassination mission the entire sixth cell was killed in action while Eida was out on a snatch and grab. It was Liddia’s idea to put Eida in charge of the now defunct sixth cell as a way to bury the hatchet and help heal the wounds of losing the majority of her cell’s talent in one failed mission. It didn’t have the effect Liddia had hoped for. Eida resents her and blames her for everything bad that’s happened in her life. We don’t get along because, well, I may have said a few curt things to her over the years due to her ungratefulness. We fought once and she cut me pretty good, but I broke her jaw and put a nice scar on her belly. Now the bitch just stares daggers at me and broods. One day, I’m going to have to kill her, Sweetheart; between you and me, I’m looking forward to it…” Her eyes were blazing again, and Tartum let her cool off as they continued their journey in silence.
“What a colorful bunch of people I’m traveling with.” Tartum thought to himself. Some of them sounded like real decent people, others sounded like the kind of people you would cross the street to avoid. Thinking back, Savall’s warning about keeping away from the other cell members made a lot more sense now. There was a lot of politicking and vendettas in this group. Tartum thought it was a wonder they could all be brought together on such a dangerous mission with all the animosity. Tartum made another mental note to make sure his dome spells were up at all times from now on. No point in taking chances with this powder keg.
The rest of their ride mostly consisted of small talk and flirting; when they made camp that night, Elizabeth and Tartum found a nearby river to wash up in and spent a while getting themselves very clean. When they returned, they were greeted by cat calls and good spirited barbs congratulating him on losing his virginity and on Elizabeth lowering her standards and taking one for the team. They both laughed heartily at the ribbing, and Elizabeth planted a sloppy kiss on him in front of the group. This was greeted with more cat calls and cheering. They found a spot near Ecker’s fire, where Tartum leaned up against a tree and Elizabeth leaned against him. They spent the night holding each other and listening to Ecker’s never-ending stories. Tartum had to admit; Elizabeth had been dead o
n about the man, he was a great storyteller and an absolute drunk that Tartum quickly thought of as a good friend. It was a good night, and after Ecker passed out, Tartum cuddled up with Elizabeth and slept well into the morning.
CHAPTER 25
The next day they arrived on the outskirts of Rebirth. Tartum couldn’t have been less prepared for what he saw. The small town had been turned into a fortified keep. Crudely built wooden walls had been hastily erected and a moat was in the process of being dug. They had completed about half of it, and the ditch was lined with the bodies of women and children. Jeth told him they put the bodies in the ditch so that when it filled with water, it would be tainted with death, and anyone that entered it would quickly succumb. Tartum thought that was an odd thing for Jeth to know, but he was too overwhelmed to question it. There were four towers that stood, one at each corner, outside the keep with multiple cloaked guards inside. They seemed to be wary and were wrapped in heavy cloaks. Tartum couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about the way they moved seemed…wrong. He got a very queer feeling in the pit of his stomach when he watched them move.
The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 2 Page 7
