“Za-tan!!” he screamed one last time and brought his staff around to defend himself.
The smile on Lord Zahut’s antlike face disappeared, and was replaced by a grimace. Tartum swung his staff with all his might and felt it connect with a satisfying crack. Lord Zahut went flying backwards and landed hard on the floor. Tartum was on him in a second and pressed his staff across his throat. Tartum recalled something Savall had told him about the kritchet in that moment, something he wished he had remembered before he had jumped on top of him.
Kritchet were much, much stronger than a man.
Lord Zahut grinned darkly and kicked Tartum off of him. Tartum sailed through the air and landed hard on his back knocking the wind out of his lungs. It was Zahut’s turn to leap on top of him and wrap his hands around his throat. Tartum knew he was going to strangle him if he didn’t act fast and fell back to an old trick that had saved him in the past. Putting his staff in Zahut’s face, Tartum closed his eyes and screamed,
“LIGHT!!!” His staff burst into radiance and he felt the kritchet release his neck, but the weight on top of him did not retreat.
“That is a fine weapon you have there, Jade Mage. Seeing that you destroyed my staff, I believe it’s only fitting that I take yours. You’ll be dead soon anyway so you shouldn’t need it.” he chortled.
Tartum felt him grasp his staff and he knew he was going to take it from him. He had a flashback to when he was in his over exam and an abysmal mistake allowed a stinger to get away with his staff. He remembered how destitute he felt as he watched it run off with his most cherished possession. The idea of this insect taking his life, Tartum could come to terms with. The idea of him using his staff to further his own evil plans was something Tartum would not tolerate. His rage increased from boiling over to an epoch ending fury. He felt magic surge into his body at an unprecedented rate and he came alive with the sensation.
He was suddenly completely aware of his surroundings and everything in it. He felt that Rashlarr wasn’t dead but simply unconscious; he also noted that Uchan wasn’t dead either, but he would be soon. He felt a terror inside of Zahut and focused his magic enhanced sixth sense to figure out why. He felt Zahut trying to pull his staff away but his attempts were feeble and unsuccessful. Opening his eyes, Tartum saw that his claws weren’t clutching his staff any longer. He now seemed to be trying to pull his hands away, but something was holding him in place. His hands were touching the strand of gold that he had enchanted with light but…suddenly Tartum understood.
Tonguing the candle wax off his molar Tartum infused it with magic and roared the words of his spell at Zahut.
“Anjuwar ub-laer!” Exhaling with enough force to cool a volcano, Tartum watched as his dragon’s scream spell lifted Lord Zahut off of him, bashed him into the ceiling, and then smashed him across the floor in less than a heartbeat. Tartum was on him before he stopped moving and tore his robes away from his chest. Pressing his staff into the exposed flesh of his exoskeleton,Tartum shouted his command.
“LIGHT! LIGHT!! LIGHT!!!!” His staff burst into a light so intense, even with his eyes closed it hurt. He had to turn his head away to save himself from going blind. The pull on his magic from his staff should have been colossal. It should have caused him to burn out, or at the very least for his grip on the magic to be ripped away from him. The pull on Tartum’s magic was non-existent, and Tartum grinned. He felt the pull coming from his staff, it was as intense as he imagined it would be for so much light, but the pull wasn’t on him, it was on Lord Zahut, and it was burning the magical ability out of him.
Tartum felt the kritchet desperately try to push his staff off of him. He offered to make Tartum a partner, to make him the leader of Saroth, he offered riches of both magic and gold if he would just stop doing what he was doing. His pleas fell on deaf ears, and Tartum held his staff against his exoskeleton until the light began to dwindle and fade as the magical ability in Zahut was burned out of him.
When Lord Zahut saw that Tartum wasn’t swayed by his bribes, he lost his temper. In the throes of fear and panic, he lashed out by screaming, cursing, threatening Tartum’s friends, family, and unborn children, but they were nothing more than words. The burn out he was experiencing was weakening him drastically, and his last few threats before the light of his staff went out were barely a whisper.
“Dark.” Tartum commanded when the light from his staff went out. He didn’t want to chance having his staff try to suck the magic out of him with that kind of force once it felt another source. Looking down at Lord Zahut, he saw he was unconscious and his breathing was labored. Tartum wasn’t taking any more chances with him. Pulling out a spider leg he began to cast his entanglement spell.
“Swa-swa-swyth. La-lateedo!” he said and watched as the spider leg became a sticky cocoon around Lord Zahut’s once proud form. Movement behind him had him spinning around raising his staff to defend himself. When he saw Rashlarr standing up, the relief he felt broke his concentration, and he lost his hold on the magic. He sat down hard and laid his staff across his legs as the weakness and exhaustion hit him.
“Well, I see you didn’t need me for this at all. That’s all well and good, but next time say something so I don’t have to get my ass kicked, ok?” Rashlarr said, as he looked down at Tartum. His words were sarcastic, but there was no mistaking the pride in his voice. Tartum knew his former masters were impressed. He didn’t feel he had earned that admiration.
“We both know that if it hadn’t been for you and Calimsha I would have been dead two minutes after the fight started. You saved my life and gave me the opening I needed to defeat him. If anything, your sacrifice gave me the victory. I don’t deserve your admiration.” Tartum said. He felt weak and embarrassed.
Rashlarr laughed at his words, “Admiration!?! Who ever said I admired you, Jade Mage? I like you, sure, and you did a good job here, but admiration? Well, you’re a cocky little bastard, I’ll give you that!” He laughed hard before continuing. ”Tartum, you defeated a superior foe with the resources and opportunities you were given. Do you think Savall or Soveliss or Ecker killed all those beast men and retook Rebirth single handedly? Hells no! They worked as a team and people died to give them the opportunity to slaughter as many as they did. In fact I saw you save their lives numerous times with your fire orb spell. That doesn’t make what they did, or what you did, any less noteworthy than it is. My saving you and you in turn saving me is what we came here to do. Do not let the fact that you didn’t come in here and slay a god all by yourself diminish any of the importance of what you accomplished here today. It’s quite impressive…”
Rashlarr walked over to the cocoon and gave it a spiteful kick where its gut should be. The cocoon moved around slightly, as if something inside was in pain. Rashlarr jumped back and then looked like he was communing with Calimsha.
“You left him alive, huh? Any particular reason?” Rashlarr asked.
Tartum hadn’t thought about it. Everything had happened so fast and he was so thankful it was over that he hadn’t even thought about killing him. He just wrapped him up in his entanglement spell and collapsed after Rashlarr had frightened him. “No, just haven’t gotten around to killing him yet. I’m kind of exhausted, you know? Why don’t you do it?” Tartum said. The banter made him feel better until his eyes fell on Uchan’s body. He was still pinned to the wall by Zahut’s bone spear.
“Why don’t you pull Uchan’s body down? The kid didn’t deserve to die like that.” Tartum said.
He saw that Rashlarr was already looking at Uchan and seemed to be debating something. Nodding, he fixed his gaze on Tartum. “So, you know that Calimsha is a demon now thanks to Lord Zahut?” he asked. Tartum thought the question odd but nodded.
Rashlarr seemed to expect that answer and continued. ”Well, it would appear we have reason to make another deal with you in order to keep you silent.” He said. His voice had taken on a secretive tone, and he walked over to retrieve the broken remains of Zahut’s staff.
Tartum had no intention of telling anyone about Calimsha, let alone telling anyone that she was a demon. Not out of any real feelings of loyalty to Rashlarr or their deal, but due to the fact that he really didn’t care; but the last time he made a deal with them he was taught a new spell. Tartum thought he knew where this was going.
“Yes, Rashlarr, it would seem you would…What did you have in mind?” Tartum asked. His tone matched his friend’s.
A grin grew on Rashlarr’s face as he tied the three pieces of the staff together and dropped them at Tartum’s feet. “Calimsha would like to teach you a spell, one that you will only ever use on enemies like Lord Zahut. It’s an ancient spell; one that she said was created by mortals when the gods weren’t looking. Its cost is high but it’s an ultimate spell to which there is no counter and no equal. Interested?” Rashlarr asked.
Tartum was surprised he wasn’t drooling after he heard what they had to offer. “Yes, deal! Show me!” he practically begged.
Rashlarr’s grin never left his face as he walked over to Uchan’s body and pulled the spear out of the wall. Uchan slid off the spear and hit the ground with a faint groan. Tartum couldn’t believe he was still alive. He watched as Rashlarr drug him next to Lord Zahut’s cocooned form.
“The spell is called Black Death. Place your left hand on your spell component like this.” Rashlarr said, as he placed his hand on Uchan’s chest.
Looking at Zahut’s cocooned form, Rashlarr spoke a few words of command and the entanglement spell that held him opened up, exposing Zahut’s purple chest.
“Then place your right hand on your target’s chest. It’s very important to NOT reverse these two as the effects of this spell are absolutely permanent.” he said, as he placed his right hand on Lord Zahut’s exoskeleton. Tartum saw him try to move but only succeeded in quivering slightly.
“Now you have to concentrate your magic into the spell component’s body and then prepare yourself to feel a tidal wave of magic go from your component to your target.” he said, and began to speak the words to the new spell.
“Na-ben tareth nyeth vren-pah. Tu-vreck zen hwow leck! Vor cala nekkcal! Brette fer-fer bon Vreck! Kakla-mero hen-yetii reckma sven Tzuse!” he said. As he finished speaking the last word of power, Tartum saw Uchan’s body relax and begin to turn grey and shrink. It shrank down to half its original size before turning black and crumbling into dust. Rashlarr’s body seemed to be gently pushed towards Zahut’s form and suddenly Rashlarr jumped up and away from his body.
“Quickly, Tartum, dispel your webs!” he spoke. The urgency in his tone left no room for debate.
“Jith!” Tartum said, and the webs fell away. Tartum was shocked to see that he was screaming. He was screaming as hard as Rashlarr had been when his spell had reflected back at him and dropped him to the floor in agony. The clicking and chittering sound coming from Zahut now made Rashlarr’s screams of pain sound like a child’s laughter in comparison.
Tartum watched as Lord Zahut’s robes dissolved away as if some potent acid was eating at them. When the robes were gone, Tartum saw the same dissolving effect begin to form on his exoskeleton. Tartum watched as Rashlarr’s spell dissolved away the outer layer, inner layer, and subsequent muscle underneath as it slowly ate away at Zahut’s being. The worst part through it all was that Zahut seemed to be completely aware of everything the entire time it was happening. When there was nothing left but a few veins and internal organs, he still seemed to be trying to thrash around in agony. It wasn’t until Zahut’s brain was completely dissolved that Tartum felt his suffering had ended. Tartum had seen men and beasts die before today. He had played a large role in many of their deaths. He had seen the horrors of Rebirth and the aftermath on the faces of the survivors, but never had he seen a death as horrifying and dreadful as what he just witnessed. He wasn’t upset that Zahut had suffered such an appalling passing, he was just speechless as his brain tried to make sense of what just happened.
“The spell uses the soul of an equal or greater being. So, if you were going to cast it on a dog, for example, you couldn’t use a mouse’s soul as your spell component because it’s not a greater animal. Another dog would work, or a cow, or a horse, or a human. The soul used must be greater than the target of your spell. That’s important. As you saw, the component of the person or animal you use is lost in the process but don’t worry. They just suffer and quick and regular death. Your target on the other hand, enjoys no such luxury. The spell awakens your target and heightens their senses, so that they are aware of everything that’s happening to them the entire time as the spell slowly eats away at them layer by layer. However, it’s not just their physical body that dies, no, no…The spell actually kills their soul as well; leaving nothing behind. Your target doesn’t just die in this realm, it dies in the purest form of the word. There is no afterlife for your target. They cease to exist. Forever!” he explained. Tartum’s head buzzed with everything Rashlarr was telling him.
Rashlarr continued, “The spell was created by the dragons long ago after the demons discovered a way to resurrect their dead. It gave the demons such a huge advantage during the Origin Wars that whole societies of dragons worked on a way to make death permanent. The end result of that research was this spell, which very roughly translated from the ancient tongue means, Black Death.” He told him. Tartum still couldn’t reply, and so Rashlarr continued, “The spell doesn’t actually use the soul as a component. Calimsha says it’s a bribe to the gods to allow the spell to work. A soul for a soul as it were; I’m not sure exactly how the gods know that you’re offering up a bribe, but she says that this spell is the one that gave the gods the idea to implement spell components into magic. It was a good way to ensure spells like this, if they were ever recovered, would be difficult or impossible for the caster to cast. As you can see, with the right components, anything is possible. So what do you think, half-breed?” Rashlarr asked. He folded his arms over his chest as he finished.
It was being referred to as a half-breed that brought Tartum out of his daze. “Am I a half demon as well, Calimsha?” Tartum asked.
Rashlarr laughed very hard at Tartum’s question. Although, he noticed that the laughter coming from Rashlarr was not his own. “You are not of my kind, Half-breed! Not of MY kind…and I will not tell you what the other half of your heritage is until you are ready! Which you are not! No-no…NOT READY! Giving you that information will only serve to encourage you to do foolish things and that would be MOST unentertaining…most not! So you will continue to grow…and continue to entertain…yes-yes! When you are ready, I shall reveal your heritage…yesssss…yess…!” She told him. Tartum still felt off balance after she talked to him with her real voice, but he was beginning to get used to it and recovered before Rashlarr regained control over his body.
Tartum looked over to the spot where Zahut’s body had been. Something yellow caught his attention. Leaning down to where his hand had been, Tartum saw a small ring on the floor and picked it up. Examining it, he saw it was a black metal ring that had a triangular black stone on top of it with one of the corners of the triangle capped with a bright yellow stone that fit perfectly. It wasn’t overly remarkable but Tartum decided to keep it as a souvenir of this battle. Flicking the stone on the ring he saw it spun around and around coming to a halt looking more like an arrow than a triangle. Tartum liked that it spun and placed it on his index finger next to the ring Rashlarr had given him.
Tartum gathered up the bundle of broken staff and looked over to Rashlarr. “Thank you for teaching me the new spell, but I think I’d like you to explain that one you cast earlier that requires snake skin. Looks like it can be effective, provided you hit your target.” he said. Tartum saw that Rashlarr seemed more than happy to explain that to him right then and there, but Tartum had had enough of this tower. Holding up his hand, Tartum halted Rashlarr’s words.
“Can we get out of here first? I’m dying for some fresher air and sunlight.” he said.
&
nbsp; Rashlarr laughed and then made a show of bowing to him, “Please, sir, lead the way.”
CHAPTER 26
As they emerged from the tower, someone called out, letting everyone know they had returned. Tartum stared as everyone’s eyes turned to look at him and Rashlarr. Tartum felt very uncomfortable as everyone seemed to be evaluating him. He began to debate walking back inside when Ecker walked up and shouted,
“OI! They’ve done it, lads! They killed the kritchet!!! They’ve done it! We’ve won!” he screamed. His voice echoed throughout the town, and its effect was immediate. Everyone erupted into cheers and roared their approval. Men and women rushed to shake his hand and pat him on the back. Tartum noted that even Jeth and Nebin made a point to offer their earnest congratulations, although Tartum checked his belongings after they shook his hand. He was relieved to see nothing was missing.
The cheering and excitement even drew in the surviving citizens of Rebirth. It started with the children getting caught up at first, then, slowly, a few women would begin to clap, then cheer, and it wasn’t long before the entire group was running up to hug him and offer their thanks for killing the creature that had ruined their lives. It was all very overwhelming, and Tartum began to lose track of who was hugging him, who was shaking his hand, and who was kissing him. Some of the more friendly women whispered their wish to thank him privately later. It was the last thing Tartum wanted from them, and the offers repulsed him.
Eventually, Savall, Soveliss, and Ecker made their way to him and pushed everyone back. Tartum was grateful for the reprieve; the mass of people was starting to become more intense than the actual fight was. Ecker held out his hand, and when Tartum took it, he pulled him in for one of his rib crushing bear hugs.
“Outstanding, lad! Simply outstanding! Couldn’t have done any better myself! You drink with me tonight, and tell me all the details.” he said. Tartum was still having trouble breathing but nodded his agreement. He’d agree to anything, provided Ecker didn’t hug him again. He left Tartum gasping and went to offer Rashlarr his turn to struggle for breath.
The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 2 Page 11
