There had been a set of silk curtains in the stacks of offerings the townsfolk had left for him. The windows of his home were too narrow for the need of such extravagant decoration, so he used them as bed sheets instead. His old blanket would suffice for the time being, but seeing his bed coming together made him happy. His house no longer felt cold and uninviting as it had before, and Tartum was grateful to the townspeople for their generosity.
A knock at the door pulled him out of his revelry when Buddy began barking as he charged at the door. It did Tartum’s heart good to see his companion protecting their home so quickly. It was as if he knew this home was theirs now, and no one was allowed inside. Once again, he found himself impressed with Buddy’s intellect and adaptability to their changing situations. Pushing Buddy to the side, he opened the door and saw Dannurn standing at his door with a very attractive woman holding his arm. Dannurn was smiling ear to ear and had another platter with him.
“Tartum, the savior of Yucoke! I see that you’ve rested!” Dannurn said, with his usual jovial tone. Peeking inside, his eyes grew wide as he whistled in approval, “And been busy, I see! I trust the gifts the community left for you were to your liking?” he said with a wink. “Just a little Yucoke hospitality from a grateful populace!” The woman holding his arm cleared her throat and Dannurn gave a start. Embarrassed, he motioned towards her, “This beautiful lady beside me is my lovely wife, Vessa!”
The woman released her husband’s arm, and she took a step closer to Tartum. She was beautiful! Long flowing blonde hair perfectly framed the creamy soft skin of her flawless face. She wore a very elegant yellow gown that complimented her shapely body exquisitely. Her eyes were shaped like almonds and were as green as emeralds. She was easily one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on. He felt his blood begin to race when she looked up at him. Looking over at Dannurn, he saw the man grinning proudly as he watched their exchange. Tartum was a little shocked when he saw the look on his face; he could tell the man was using his wife to impress him; he was even more shocked to see it was working. Looking back at Vessa, Tartum held out his hand.
“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” he said. He forced his voice to sound calm and level as he spoke his greeting. He refused to make a fool of himself around the people that were heralding him a hero. As he spoke his greeting, he saw tears form in Vessa’s eyes and her mouth begin to quiver. The serene look on her face shattered as she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. The feel of her body against his own sent his pulse racing. The woman was sobbing heavily as she tightened her hold on him. Tartum was dumbfounded; he didn’t understand what was happening and was very uncomfortable with Vessa hugging him like this with her husband and daughter watching them. Looking over to Dannurn, he saw the man had tears in his eyes as well and was still smiling at Tartum. A change had come over his face now, instead of pride he saw the same grateful look he had seen when he had left him to rest earlier in the day. Dannurn reached up and placed his hand on Tartum’s shoulder. Vessa’s grip on him wasn’t getting any weaker, but her sobbing was beginning to lessen as she regained her composure.
“Thank you, Tartum! Thank you so much for saving my baby! Thank you so much for killing those horrible people! Thank you so much! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she said over and over to him. Her voice was as beautiful as her face was, and her words made him blush. He knew it was foolish but having this woman thank him so passionately over something he did on a whim just felt wrong. Tartum gently pushed her off of him.
“You’re welcome. Please! Enough of this, now. It’s done and over. You and your husband, as well as all of Yucoke, have thanked me enough. I’m glad to have helped, but please, no more.” he said, as gently as he could. He had enjoyed the rewards for his services, and he was genuinely touched by the gifts and appreciation the town had shown him, but he didn’t like people hugging and touching him like this. Especially when the people hugging him had their husband and daughter watching his reaction. It was all becoming a bit much.
Vessa buried her head into her husband’s shoulder as another wave of sobbing hit her. Dannurn held his wife close and looked up at Tartum. “Sorry, my friend. My Vessa took the news of what happened to Betty rather hard…the bastards almost got ahold of my wife a few months ago, and I guess she’s still not over it. For them to try the same thing to our daughter…” Tartum saw something dangerous and primal flash in Dannurn’s eyes as he relived last night. He watched as the man took a deep breath in order to get back into control of his emotions. After a few moments, his demeanor was back to normal; had Tartum not just seen the change that came over him, he never would have believed it was in him.
“I know you don’t understand just how much you’ve done for us by removing that family, but you can probably expect other citizens to be just as grateful as my wife.” he finished.
Tartum frowned at the news; he really didn’t want to be hugged by anymore men’s wives. He didn’t know if he had the willpower, to resist his baser instincts if this kept up. Wanting to change the subject, he focused on the platter Dannurn had brought with him.
“I see you’ve brought more food.” he said as he pointed towards the platter, “Excellent, I could eat a horse! Come inside, please.” he offered, as he walked inside and seated himself heavily at the table in the main room. Dannurn, Vessa, and Betty joined him. Taking the cover off the platter, Tartum saw they had brought two roasted ducks. They now lay on a bed of boiled vegetables, and the aroma they gave off had him salivating in anticipation. Vessa took out a set of plates and began serving them from the platter. When everyone had a plate, Tartum took what was left of the one of the ducks and gave it to Buddy. He retreated with it into the study, where Tartum could hear him noisily devouring his meal.
They had just begun to eat when Dannurn looked up, “So, Tartum…what are your plans now? Will you stay in Yucoke and be our guardian? Or do you intend to leave us soon?” he asked. Before he could answer, Betty practically jumped out of her seat to answer.
“He told me that he was going to stay, Papa! He did say he might leave when he wanted to, but while he’s here he’s going to protect us! He’s staying, Papa! Isn’t that right, Mr. Tartum?” she blurted out excitedly.
Swallowing his food, Tartum took a sip of juice from the cup Vessa had placed in front of him. Dannurn looked from his daughter to his wife; they shared a look of relief before Dannurn spoke. “Is what my daughter says true?” he asked.
Tartum thought about it for a moment. He really didn’t have anywhere else to be, and Yucoke had given him a very nice home, plenty of gifts, and worshipped him like a conquering hero only a day after arriving. The only complaint he’d had so far was beautiful women hugging him, which, now that he thought about it, really wasn’t much of a complaint at all. Smiling, Tartum nodded at Dannurn.
Dannurn’s face lit up like a child’s. “Wonderful! Terrific! Fantastic Tartum! Thank you so much! The townspeople will be thrilled when I tell them!” he gushed.
Tartum held up his hand. “Dannurn, try to understand. I plan to live here, I will do my part while I’m here and keep the town safe if the need arises, but if I choose to leave I do so at my own discretion. I have no intention of answering to anyone, and I will not take orders from you or any form of authority you have set up here.” As he explained his terms, he saw a discouraged look come over Dannurn. He didn’t mean to upset the man, truth be told, he liked Dannurn, he decided to take a different approach. “Don’t get me wrong, Dannurn. I’m proud to have been able to help your town and your daughter. Together I believe we can usher in a new age of prosperity to Yucoke. I just wanted you to understand that I may leave from time to time without warning. I plan to live in Yucoke for a long time, my friend. How could I not after all you’ve given me?” he asked. The change seemed to have done the trick. Dannurn and his family were all smiling at him once again, and Dannurn held up his cup.
“Well Tartum, we can’t ask for any more than that! We
lcome home, my boy! Welcome home!” he said. They all held up their cups to his toast and drank deeply. As they placed their cups back on the table, Tartum held up his hand once again to get their attention.
“Oh, and one more thing, no statue…Agreed?” he said. Looking at all three of them, he couldn’t help the smile on his face.
Dannurn began to laugh, “Agreed! No Statue then!” he said as all four of them fell into bouts of laughter.
…
It had been six months to the day since he had arrived in Yucoke, and Tartum was bored. Over the last six months, he had had very little to do. The people of the town were very accommodating and brought him any food or drink that he asked for, even if it was only in passing. All he had to say was that he was thirsty and someone ran to fetch him water. It didn’t matter if he told them not to or that he didn’t want them to do it. He tried to simply stop mentioning he was thirsty or hungry, and for a short time, it had brought him some relief from the good intentions of the town’s citizens. However, it didn’t take them long to figure out what he was doing; they began to guess when he might require something and bring it to him. If they saw him sweating, they would bring him water, if his stomach growled, they brought him a meal. After a week, Tartum gave in; if they wanted to wait on him hand and foot then so be it. He would rather order them around then have them guess at his needs.
There was very little work for him to do around the town. He hadn’t been a farmer in years and had forgotten much about it after his father had died. He used his magic to remove roots and stubborn weeds for the local farmers of the town when they asked, but for the most part, he tried to avoid the farm work. It held no interest for him anymore.
He had settled the score with the young snitch, Schicer, two weeks after settling into his home. It had been an accident but fitting none the less. Tartum began noticing scratch marks around the keyhole of his front door when he returned from doing errands around town. He made mention of it to Dannurn which prompted him to make an announcement decreeing he would give out ten lashes to whomever was found responsible for attempting to invade Tartum’s privacy. The threat did not work and fresh scratches continued to appear on his door. Tartum took matters into his own hands and used his ward spell to catch the foolish citizen that was trying to break into his home. The spell worked as it was designed to, and Tartum found it had been Schicer that triggered his trap. He survived the ward with burns to his hands and chest so Dannurn made good on his promise. That evening, Schicer was tied to a pole and given ten lashings in the middle of town. He passed out after the second lashing. Since then, Tartum had no problems with the boy and now no one so much as knocked on his door without first being invited.
He had weekly meetings with Dannurn and Vessa where they would discuss recent developments around the town and make decisions about how best to help Yucoke prosper. At first Tartum had been excited about being on the council. The idea of directing how Yucoke would best move forward and flourish had intrigued him to no end when Dannurn first offered him a seat on the council, however, after a few weeks, the meetings had become tedious and boring. Now he only showed up for the food and to squash any ideas that were immensely foolish. One idea in particular had been Dannurn’s idea to take down the wall that surrounded their town. He said it was an eye sore and prevented people from wanting to move there. Vessa had been ready to agree with him before Tartum chimed in with the logic that it also deterred bandits and predatory animals from moving in and preying on the populace. The idea of a pack of hungry wolves sneaking into the town and making away with people’s children was more than enough to sway them to keep the wall. Tartum also mentioned that the walls helped to deter families like the Boggs from settling in the town. When he left the meeting that night the remaining council members were laying out plans to reinforce the walls and begin posting guards at the entrances. Still, as much fun as it was to manipulate the simple men and women on the council, Tartum dreaded the meetings.
He had tried to busy himself by studying his spell book. He had managed to unlock another spell, but just like the ones before, it was nothing more than farmers magic. The spell enabled him to take a stone that was no larger than his palm and sculpt it into any form he wished. As long as he held the image in his head, the stone became a carving of whatever his imagination wanted. The shelves in his study now held countless stone figures of everything from hydras and ligers to mini-replicas of Buddy and Vaund. He had made a set for Dannurn and his family which they treasured and showed off to everyone in the town. It wasn’t long before everyone in Yucoke was begging him to make them stone figures and for a few months he was busy trading figures for merchandise or services. He had a door installed in his home that was on a swivel that would allow Buddy to enter and exit at will. He had gotten one of the local farmers to begin growing a rose garden for him so he could replenish his spell component to his fire orb spell, and he had the local children combing the local ponds and streams for all the leopard frogs they could find. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being cheated by his spell book once again.
He sat now in his study. He was channeling magic into his spell book in the vain hope he would unlock another spell that may or may not prove useful. He had been at it for hours and just as he thought it would, the book resisted. Exasperated, Tartum slumped back into his chair. He was so BORED, and now with his spell book resisting him, he felt even more downtrodden than before. He didn’t know why he even bothered. Even if he did unlock some new and powerful spell, it wasn’t as if he had anything or anyone to use it on. The town was never attacked, the traders that came through were always polite and courteous, in fact, Yucoke was the most hospitable and gentle place he had ever lived. The town was so peaceful Tartum had even stopped carrying around his assortment of spell components. They now sat on the shelves and in the containers of his study. He still kept his staff with him at all times and the jade knife Savall had given him was always strapped onto his belt, but they both served more as symbols of his power rather than weapons. The last time he used his knife was to cut a string that was hanging off a woman’s dress.
He missed the excitement of being a thief; he missed the rush of being in harm’s way, having only his magic and his wits to get him out of tight situations. Here in the serene tranquility of Yucoke, he felt stagnant. He was a figurehead in the town known more for his stone sculptures than for his magic. He thought he knew now what it felt like to be a predator trapped inside a gilded cage, just like the animals he used to see at the zoo in Saroth. He found himself often wishing that the town would come under attack or that the Boggs’ extended family would arrive looking for vengeance. Most of all, he wished he had something to do!
Sighing, Tartum tossed his spell book onto the desk. His throw went awry and the book slipped across the surface falling into the space between the desk and the wall where he kept his scroll cases. The collision knocked the cases out of the corner and rolled them across the room. Cursing, Tartum stood up to put them back in their place. He was glad no one had been around to see him making such a mess or to see him botch his throw so terribly. As he reached down to pick up the first case, he saw the impact had knocked it open and that the scroll inside was exposed. Without thinking about it he removed the scroll from the case and unraveled it on his desk. It was the regent ring scroll he had stolen from the bishop of Saroth almost a year ago. With everything that had happened, he had completely forgotten about it after throwing it in the corner of his study. Looking at it now, his heart began to race as a new plan began to form in his head. A plan that at the very least would give him the adventure he was looking for.
For the first time since he had obtained the scroll, Tartum sat down and studied it. The scroll instructed him in great detail on how to create the ring. The first step was to gather the components needed to cast the spell. The first component was a ring of diamonds; but not just any ring made of diamonds, this ring had to be crafted using a technique called unioning. The scroll d
idn’t describe what unioning was, but Tartum had a hunch that if anyone would know, it would be Varnar. He grinned as he realized he finally had a reason to go see his dwarven friend. Walking over to the chests that contained his gem collection, Tartum opened it and began rummaging through the stones, looking for any diamonds he might still have. His collection was modest and mostly consisted of sapphires, but after a few minutes he had five medium sized diamonds lying in his palm. With a grin, Tartum placed them into a pouch and tossed them onto the desk next to the scroll.
“Ok, I got the diamonds, what’s next…” he said to himself. The excitement of actually doing something had him feeling more alive than he’d felt since arriving in Yucoke.
The next ingredient the scroll called for was two-fold. The first part was live dragon saliva. The scroll was adamant about the dragon being alive when the saliva was collected. The second part was troll’s blood, or any type of blood that had superior regenerative abilities. The scroll described how the two fluids were mixed together and used to power the ring, replenish the spell components contained inside the ring, and as the medium used to write the glyphs required to cast the spell. Tartum had no idea where to find a live dragon or a troll whose blood might be obtainable for him. He had never encountered either beast before, but he knew from stories and songs that both creatures were incredibly fierce and savage adversaries that would not give up their fluids easily. The regenerative properties of a troll’s body were said to make them all but invincible to any weapon other than fire, yet by using fire the blood was vaporized, hence nullifying the regenerative properties and killing the troll. The conundrum presented to him with obtaining this component didn’t discourage him; if anything, it invigorated him and solidified his desire to create the ring. After six months of vestigial living, he finally had a challenge worthy of his talents!
The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 2 Page 29
