The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 1

by Latoria, William D.

  “Why?”

  Elizabeth said nothing. Instead she leaned in and kissed him. It was a strong kiss, a passionate one. Tartum was completely unprepared for it. His grip on his magic fell away immediately, as well as his rage and fury. Letting go of Elizabeth’s throat, he caught her in a passionate embrace that she returned with equal passion and enthusiasm. They kissed each other hard. They kissed each other with a fury born of lust and desire they had been struggling against since they first laid eyes on each other. The release was euphoric, and what they had both been wanting for far too long.

  They spent the rest of the day and night together, allowing their desires to become manifest.

  ...

  Three more knives came flying at him, faster than before. Elizabeth wasn’t going easy on him today. Tartum deftly knocked two of them away with his staff and ducked under the third, barely in time. He was getting better, but it still wasn’t enough. Rebounding from his momentum, Tartum turned to face Elizabeth and waited for her to attack again.

  It had been a month since that fateful night when he had been ready to kill her, and instead ended up making love to her. It had been a strange and wonderful month. He still didn’t fully understand how it had all come to pass, nor why she had been so difficult with showing her affections. Setting Buddy on him in order to impress him and show that she cared still made absolutely no sense to him. However, Tartum couldn’t argue with her strategy. Her tactics had ended with the desired results, and now he and Elizabeth were together. Tartum was truly happy. They would wake up in the morning together, wash, eat, train, wash, eat, and then spend the night together; only to repeat the whole thing the following day. Tartum couldn’t think of a better way to spend his days. Sometimes they would walk with Buddy, up and down the compound. Recruits weren’t allowed to leave until their training was complete and they were a full member of the guild...or until they failed severely enough to be dead. So far Tartum had met neither of those criteria.

  No matter how much Tartum thought they cared about each other, when it came to training Elizabeth gave him no quarter. Tartum knew if he didn’t give it his all, Elizabeth would kill him, or come as close to it as Vaund would allow. Sure, she might be sad if she killed him, maybe even shed a tear or two, but bottom line was, no matter how much she let her guard down outside of the combat room, inside she was his nemesis. Today was proving this point all too clearly.

  Tartum was bleeding from a few cuts on his arms and one on his leg. A dagger had cut through the back of his shirt but he didn’t think it had caught flesh. As he was contemplating this, Elizabeth threw four more knives at him. Tartum jumped to avoid them, and just as he reached the zenith of his leap, he saw that Elizabeth had held back one knife for just this moment and threw it directly at his groin. Too late, Tartum tried to block the blade, just as the handle scored a direct hit on his most sensitive of areas. Tartum fell hard on his face and grabbed at his groin.

  “Damnit, woman! He gasped, “If you break them I won’t let you play with them anymore!” he said, through clenched teeth.

  Two more daggers thunked down through his shirt, at the shoulders, pinning him to the ground. Elizabeth sauntered over to his prone form and leaned over him seductively to retrieve them. Something, he fully knew she didn’t need to do, due to their enchantment.

  “If you don’t start avoiding my knives better, I’m afraid I’ll have to find someone new to play with, sweetheart.” She retorted. With a wink, she nimbly danced back to her place and waited for Tartum to stand up for round two.

  Taking his stance, Tartum nodded to Elizabeth, and in an instant she sent three more knives zipping through the air at him. Today was going to be a long day.

  ...

  It had been four months since that fateful kiss, and Tartum had loved every second of it. He had learned, through many failures and even more cuts and bruises, to anticipate, not only when the knives were coming, but where they were going to strike. With his magic enhancing his senses, dodging Elizabeth’s knives was becoming easier and easier. Jeth was coming to appraise him today, to determine if he was ready to move on to his next phase of training or not. Elizabeth thought he was ready. She had told him as much last night.

  Tartum was a little nervous about seeing Jeth again. They hadn’t been in the same room, let alone seen each other, since Tartum took his eye during melee combat training. Although Savall had assured him Jeth would take no revenge on him, Tartum wouldn’t put it past him to find a loophole in that promise and exploit it to get his revenge. It was as Tartum was contemplating how Jeth might try to exact his revenge that he came strutting into the room. The lost of an eye had done nothing to deplete his arrogance, apparently.

  Jeth walked into the combat room with an easy smile on his face. He seemed like he didn’t have a care in the world and that everyone in here was his best friend. Tartum found it difficult to believe that this man had any friends. Jeth waved a greeting to Vaund and Elizabeth and then favored Tartum with a long, appraising look. It was then Tartum noticed the eye patch Jeth wore. It was a large, black piece of leather as far as he could tell. It wrapped tightly around his head and looked like it bit into his flesh slightly. On the patch itself, over where his eye had been, it looked like Jeth, or someone, had sewn into it a smiley face with bright yellow thread. Tartum just smiled and shook his head. Even with his eye patch, Jeth had found a way to be an asshole.

  Seeing Tartum smile as he looked at his eye patch, Jeth spoke. “I see you approve of my new eye ware, recruit.” he said, with his usual sarcasm.

  Tartum said nothing but stopped smiling immediately. This man held the power to allow his training to continue or for it to come to a screeching halt. Although the prospect of spending the rest of his time with the guild, training with Elizabeth wasn’t a terrible notion, he wanted to move on. He felt his training was complete here and wanted to learn something else.

  Jeth realized Tartum wasn’t going to reply. If this bothered him, he showed no sign of it. “Very well, then. Elizabeth, show me what you’ve taught this recruit.”

  With that command, Elizabeth didn’t hesitate. Five knives wizzed at Tartum. All five had different parts of his anatomy as their targets. All five were killshots. With a wave of his staff Tartum knocked them away sending them flying into the floor and walls adjacent to him. Without a second to recover, Elizabeth threw five more knives at him, this time at different intervals. Tartum had seen this trick before and dove backwards, while using his staff to deflect the first two away from him. The next three zipped past him, missing him by fractions of an inch. Recovering immediately, Tartum had just enough time to spot three more knives, moments from connecting with his stomach. Jumping up in the air, he narrowly avoided what surely would have been a painfully slow death. As he reached the zenith of his jump, Elizabeth sent two more knives at his throat. Tartum had expected this and snatched both knives out of the air and threw them down. Landing well balanced on his feet, Tartum stood ready for the next wave. Jeth held up his hand. Elizabeth stopped.

  “Very nice, very nice indeed. However, Elizabeth...I believe you’re going easy on our recruit here. I know for a fact that you can throw more than five knives at a time. I would suggest you stop being so nice to your boy toy and start showing me what he can do!” Jeth ordered. His usual mirth was gone, and in its place was the venom Tartum had expected when he walked into the room. Elizabeth looked a little pale.

  “Never has it been necessary for me to go all out on a recruit before, Jeth. Are you sure you’re not just trying to seek revenge because he bested you. Stop being a bastard!” Elizabeth said. The concern in her voice was obvious.

  “Do not question me, Elizabeth! I was appointed as his appriaser, and since we have such high expectations of him, we will not go easy on him! I didn’t, and it cost me an eye, but because of it he was ready. Now do your job, or I’ll inform Savall that your twat has interfered with your ability to train. Make your choice!” Jeth spat at her.

&nbs
p; Tartum saw how stongly Jeth’s threat had hit home with Elizabeth. Ten knives appeared in her hands, and the misery in her face was apparent. “I’m sorry.” was all she mouthed to Tartum, as she sent the blades at him. Tartum was terrified, he had no idea she could throw so many blades at once, and with such force. There was no where to run, no way to dodge all of them. His only hope was to use his staff to bat them away before they could find their mark in his flesh. Opening himself fully to the magic, Tartum’s enhanced reflexes took over. His staff was a blur of green, as he deflected the first few knives. He kept his staff spinning in place, for as soon as he deflected one knife, Elizabeth threw another at him. If it hadn’t been for his magically enhanced ability, he would have been dead ten times already. As it was, they were in a perfect stalemate. He was able to keep up with her ceaseless barrage of knives, and she was able to keep them coming as fast as they hit the ground. This went on for what felt like hours, yet neither Jeth or Elizabeth showed any sign of stopping the test. Tartum wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to keep this up. Already his muscles were on fire, and his mind raced. The magic coursing through him was invigorating, but in order to keep up he had to take in more and more magic. He was begining to worry he would have to face burn out, if something didn’t stop this soon.

  “Jeth! I think...I have...passed your...little...test!” Tartum said between gasps. He was soaked with sweat, and Elizabeth was showing signs of fatigue too. Her hair was matted to her face with sweat, but the determination in her eyes let Tartum know she wasn’t going to quit.

  “Passed!? Passed!?” Jeth said. He sounded truly shocked. “You haven’t passed until you’ve either been riddled with knives, or Elizabeth is taken out. What did you think? That this was some kind of oral exam?” Jeth’s sarcasm was back. He was clearly enjoying this. “In order to pass, you have to incapacitate Elizabeth. I know it won’t be as rewarding for you as taking my eye was, but it’s your choice. You could always drop your guard and die. Wouldn’t that be romantic!” Jeth sneered.

  Tartum didn’t bother replying. He couldn’t afford the distraction. Elizabeth had redoubled her efforts. Clearly what Jeth had just said was truth, otherwise why would Elizabeth be trying so hard to kill him. Tartum did not want to hurt Elizabeth, but at the same time, he really didn’t want to be killed by her either. He had not brought any of his spell components with him, so casting was out of the question, but in all fairness, he doubted he would be able to get a spell off even if he had them. He thought about using his old light trick with his staff to distract her long enough for him to get to her, but the resulting drain on his magic to do it would get at least four daggers stuck in him. If not more! Magic wasn’t going to help him here, anymore than it already was.

  Tartum saw no other options. He either made his way towards Elizabeth, and took her out or dropped his guard and allowed himself to be perforated by her knives. Neither option really sat well with him, but judging by the velocity and amount of knives she was sending at him, her choice had been made.

  Fine then. He told himself, If she’s going to try to kill me, then I might as well try to beat her. So much for loyality. He thought.

  With his mind made up, Tartum began to advance. His staff was still a blur of green all around him, deflecting Elizabeth’s knives as fast as she could throw them. He was about six paces away from her now, and the amount of time he had to react to her knives was almost negligable. He knew he had to make his move soon, or she was going to kill him. Tartum had a hard time believing that even Vaund’s magic could revive him from the amount of wounds that would be inflicted on him should he fail this test.

  Pulling as much magical power into himself as he dared, Tartum knocked away three more blades and lunged at Elizabeth. He used the momentem of his staff to break one of her hands and then punched her in the face. The blow was half hearted and only proved to daze her. It wasn’t enough to finish her off, but it did stop the incessant volley of knives. She looked up at him, holding her shattered hand. A small trail of blood was beginning to flow out of her nose where Tartum had hit her. He felt miserable. The feeling of victory he had when he bested Jeth was no where to be found. He couldn’t even bare to look at her, he was so ashamed. Turning to look at Jeth, Tartum spoke.

  “It’s over, you bastard.” He said.

  Jeth looked amused. “Oh, is it? She’s not out yet, and I don’t think she’s given up. You have to knock her out, at the very least.” He said.

  Tartum shook his head in disagreement. “No Jeth, I will not hurt her anymore. Her hand is broke, her face is bleeding, and she can no longer fight. It’s over. Say that I’ve passed!” He was annoyed with Jeth’s game and his power over him. He wanted this to be over already. He wanted to hold Elizabeth close and apologize for what he’d been forced to do.

  Jeth just sat there looking amused. “Oh, I don’t know, recruit. I think in a moment I’ll be able to get you to knock her on her ass.” Jeth looked throughly amused, and Tartum’s patience was at its end. He began to advance on Jeth, when he felt a cold, piercing pain lance through his leg. Turning to figure out what had caused it, Tartum saw one of Elizabeth’s black steel knives buried handle deep in the back of his leg. Looking up, he saw Elizabeth had another knife out and was about to fling it at him.

  Tartum didn’t even realise he was moving until it was too late. He threw his staff at Elizabeth, hitting her square in the chest with the blunt mushroom top. The hit knocked the wind out of her and caused her to drop her knife. In two steps Tartum was on her and grabbed her hair with his left hand. Jerking her head, he slammed his fist into her face. She was out before she hit the floor.

  Tartum stood over her crumpled body, too stunned by what he had just done to move. He just looked at her ruined face, trying to understand what had just happened. Behind him, Jeth chuckled.

  “You have passed, recruit! Vaund, clean them up and let Lizzy know to move on to the next phase of his training when she can see straight again.” Jeth said, laughing the whole time.

  “See? I knew I could make you do it!” Jeth called out as he walked out of the combat room.

  ...

  It had been three days since Tartum had seen Elizabeth. Vaund had healed her wounds, but she hadn’t regained consciousness. Savall had arrived in the middle of Vaund healing her, and for a moment, Tartum thought he might kill him. The look of anger on his face was brief but undeniable. Tartum was so ashamed, he couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with Savall. After Vaund had done all he could for her, Savall carried her back to her room.

  With Savall and Elizabeth gone, Vaund had turned his attention to Tartum. With the exception of the knife in his leg, he was unharmed physcially. Emotionally, well that was another story. Vaund told Tartum she would be alright and that she would understand. He told him that Elizabeth had been doing this for a long time and knew the risks that came with training, better than he did. Vaund made numerous, heart felt assurances. None of it helped. Tartum felt terrible. After Vaund healed his leg, Tartum went to his room. He stayed there with no one but Buddy as company. He only left to eat, and visit Elizabeth’s room. She hadn’t answered the door when he knocked, and Tartum figured Vaund had been wrong. He decided Elizabeth wanted nothing to do with him anymore. The thought numbed him to his core.

  Tartum was studying his spellbook. It was all he currently had to do. Savall and Jeth were gone, Rashlarr wasn’t taking visitors, and Vaund had strangely disappeared. Other than some random guild members, Tartum was left to his own devices. He thought about leaving the compound and going into town. It would be nice go out and forage for some fresh spell components, but he had a bad feeling if he was found out, not only would he kicked out of the guild, but probably thrown back into the Null Box and left to die. Banishment he could deal with, death he could deal with, having his magic taken from him again, that was something no amount of freedom was worth.

  He was absently petting Buddy while studying, when a change in Buddy’s mood
broke his concentration. Elizabeth had shown him all the tricks she had taught Buddy, and one of the more useful ones was guard dog. With a command, Buddy was on alert and would only let either himself or Elizabeth past the door to his room. Anyone else that tried would get a seventy pound white hot ball of canine terror on their throat. It was immensely satisfing to have a dog like buddy watching over his room when he was away, and just as satisfying to have him watch his back while living in a place dedicated to stealth, stealing, and assassination.

  Buddy jumped up, but instead of attacking, he got excited. Coming out of his trance took a moment and when his eyes finally focused, he saw Elizabeth standing in the doorway. She had a grin on her face that caused Tartum’s heart to race, and she was in her usual tight black leather outfit. She looked a little tired and was holding a ratty looking, worn, wooden box. Tartum jumped to his feet.

  “Elizabeth! I’m so sorry! I didn’t want...” Tartum began. Elizabeth’s smile got bigger, and she held up a hand to stop him. Shaking her head, she spoke.

  “I know, Sweetheart, I know. It’s ok. It was a part of the training, and it was as hard for me as it was for you.” As she said the last part, she gave him a wink. “Or are you still mad at me for putting my little, bity, knife in your leg. You did punch me, afterall!” She pouted.

  Overcome with relief, Tartum was over to her in a second. Picking her up off the floor, Tartum kissed her with all the passion three days of guilt had stored up. They spent the next few hours making up for lost time.

  CHAPTER 15

  “So where have you been the past few days?” Tartum asked as they lay in bed together.

  Elizabeth was playfully nipping at his neck. The feeling was pure bliss. She purred her answer to him. “What do you think, Sweetheart? All I do here is train recruits? I was on a mission. Just like you’ll go on when your training is complete. Which I’m really looking forward to. It’ll be nice to have some magical back up.”