The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 1 (25 page)

Savall smiled at him the same way Isidor used to when he was exceptionally proud of him. Tartum expected all old wise men knew that look. The old pain in his heart returned, and Tartum rubbed at his chest to get rid of it. He wanted to be lead by this man. If only because he reminded him of his old friend in so many ways. It shocked Tartum to realize how much he actually missed Isidor.

Savall seemed to sense something had changed in Tartum, and his voice took on the tone of a sage grandfather. It demanded respect, yet at the same time, comforted him.

“I will not promise you anything, Tartum. I will offer you the truth. If you decide to join us, these people that stand before you will train you in their respective arts. The training will be hard and inglorious. There will be times where you will want to quit, and there is every possibility that you will die. However, if you master what these people have to offer, the power you will wield and the skills you will possess, will open the world to your whims. You will know things that only those like us can ever know. You will see things from a perspective that you could never get anywhere else in the world. There will be no challenge you cannot conquer, no riddle you can’t answer. We offer you the key to the world. What say you?” Savall was grinning, fully expecting a favorable answer.

Savall’s words struck a chord inside Tartum that sang for him to accept. The offer he made was too good to be true! Training that would make him powerful, lessons that would make him wiser than those twice his age. He would be taught how the underworld worked. It was the stuff of dreams! Yet, it was all to convenient. Tartum wasn’t convinced. “You offer me the world. What could I possibly possess, for you to take such interest in nothing more than a child killer with potential?” Tartum was determined to gain this man’s respect and believed intelligent questions would be a good way to earn it. He hoped where ever the line was, he didn’t overstep it.

Savall’s look never changed. His eyes and tone stayed the same. His demeanor, and the demeanor of the others in the room, let Tartum know that he was flirting with that line. His questioning wouldn’t be tolerated much longer, it seemed.

“You’re wise to ask, but stupid to not figure it out. You’re a caster, a caster that hasn’t been molded yet. We want to use you to increase our own power. Each one of us is a powerful person in our own right. You have the potential to out-shine us all. Only the strong survive, and you could become the strongest. You just don’t realize it yet. Rashlarr has a nose for these things and says you could be quite powerful. So we will mould you, we will shape you, we will give you life, and increase your power. In return, we want you to work for us. To help us expand our empire. We are content for now, living in the shadows. However, humans aren’t meant to live in darkness, we miss the light. With you, we could take over, little by little, until one day, we will not only live in the light. We will rule in it!” Savall’s eyes blazed with a lust that Tartum was very familiar with. He liked this man! He was absolutely fine with all of this. He wanted to make that clear to this man. He hadn’t been this excited since he was five years old, when Isidor had first offered to become his master.

Dropping to his knees Tartum spoke, “I will do whatever you tell me to do, if it allows me to understand the secrets I want from this world.” Without realizing it, Tartum had spoken almost the exact same oath he pledged to Isidor when he took him on as an apprentice.

The look on Savall’s face was one of triumph. “Excellent, Tartum! Excellent! We will begin your training immediately! Please stand up. You are officially a recruit. Your life is now forfeit. If you betray our secrets, our trade, or anything you are shown while here to
anyone
, we will kill you, without hesitation. This is your first and most important lesson. Do you understand?” Savall asked. His tone was deadly serious; suddenly, he was all business.

“Yes, Master.” was all Tartum said. He was very used to his role as pupil.

“Call me Boss. It’s what I prefer. Now let me introduce to you, your trainers. They will become closer to you than your mother or father ever were. Listen to them, trust them, learn everything you can from them. Your life will depend on it. Often.” he said.

Gesturing to the man next to him, Savall continued; “This is Jeth. He is known as
The Appraiser,
and he is very good at his job.”

Tartum looked at the man. He was short for an adult, no more than five feet tall and a little on the skinny side. He had short, dark hair, that framed a long sallow face. He wasn’t an attractive man, by any stretch of the word, and seemed shifty as he stood there glaring at him. His large sinister eyes observed Tartum, like an owl observed a mouse moments before the kill. He wore a smirk on his face that made Tartum nervous. He wore a black leather jerkin that was very worn from years of use. A set of brown trousers and boots completed his rather sparse ensemble, with nothing else on his person, other than a pair of wide bladed daggers hanging from on each side of his simple leather belt. He nodded to Tartum as he was introduced. He was the model of overconfidence.

Tartum was confused at his title. The Appraiser? Was he going to teach Tartum how to tell the quality of gems? It didn’t make sense. Chancing another question, Tartum spoke, “What exactly does he appraise?”

Jeth looked Tartum up and down and then replied, “You!” He laughed heartily at his joke, and the rest of the group joined in. Savall was the only one that didn’t laugh. Although he did smile at the joke. Tartum wasn’t fond of being made fun of and shot Jeth a scathing look. Jeth saw it and made a face of mock fear. Tartum wasn’t fond of this man at all.

Savall continued his introductions.

“This is Rashlarr. He is the most powerful caster in the guild. He will train you in the mystic arts. If he tells you to do something, you do it. His training will make you a powerful man, even amongst other casters.” he said.

Tartum smiled and nodded at Rashlarr. Rashlarr looked at Tartum and smiled. His smile held no warmth in it. It almost seemed like Rashlarr was someone else, his eyes took on a crazed look. Tartum looked away as Savall introduced the third person in the room.

“This is Vaund. He is one of the healers of the guild. He’s a very potent healer and will take good care of you during your training. Have no doubt. You will get to know Vaund very well over the next few years.” Savall said with a wink. Tartum was beginning to think he made a mistake.

Tartum looked at the man as Savall introduced him. He seemed to be a little older than Tartum, he guessed twenty-four or twenty-five years of age. He looked more worried than Tartum and shifted his eyes around, as if he was trying to look everywhere at once. He wore a large wool cloak that covered his hands and feet. It was undyed and looked relatively cheap in comparison to the others in the room. He had no noticable weapons, and the way he carried himself, Tartum thought, he could start crying at any moment. He wondered at the healing ability he would be capable of. Tartum hoped he wouldn’t need him for anything too severe.

Vaund approached him and held out a measuring tape. He began taking his measurements without saying a word. Tartum was confused.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Vaund didn’t look up from his work. “Taking your measurements.” he said.

“Why?” Tartum asked.

Vaund didn’t reply. He took a few more measurements, then nodding to himself, turned his back to Tartum and walked out of the room. Tartum was very confused but didn’t have a chance to find out what that was all about. Savall was on the move again, and Tartum was looking forward to the next introduction.

Savall came to the woman of the group. Tartum found himself getting lost in her amazingly bright blue eyes. Her shoulder length brown hair was clean and well kept. Her skin was flawless and smooth. Her lips formed into a natural pout, that seemed to him like they were begging to be kissed. She wore a supple black leather shirt and tight fitting black leather pants to match. They didn’t shine like he would have expected. They seemed to absorb the light and make the area around her darker. They only served to make her more attractive to Tartum’s eye. He felt his blood begin to boil as he looked at her.

“This lovely woman’s name is Elizabeth. She is the greatest Soft Touch master in the guild. She will teach you how to walk through a room unnoticed. She will teach you how to take a woman’s necklace off her breast in the middle of a crowded room, with no one the wiser. She will teach you the art of distraction and misinformation. In short, she will teach you to be a shadow in both body and mind.” Savall spoke with much pride as he introduced him to this woman. Clearly she was a favored member.

Elizabeth looked at him with a demure look. She seemed to be sizing him up. Whether that was for a kiss or a knife he had no idea. All he knew was that he was lost in that look and would do anything she asked. She smiled at him and then her attention went to the dog. With everything that had happened, Tartum had forgotten he had brought the animal with him. He felt ashamed and gave the dog a quick pat on the back.

If the dog noticed he gave no sign. He was wagging his tail almost as hard as when Tartum woke him at the inn and was walking in place in his excitement. Elizabeth knelt down and spoke to him.

“Hey buddy! What you doing!? Who’s a good boy?! Who’s a good doggie! Come here! C’mere you little cutie!” Elizabeth said to the dog. It ran the short distance to her and licked her face. Tartum was floored. Elizabeth looked up at him, a huge smile lighting up her face.

“What’s his name?” was all she asked.

Tartum began to answer when he realized he had no idea. “I...uhhhh...haven’t had him that long...I don’t have a name for him yet.” he answered.

Elizabeth frowned at Tartum and switched her attention back to the animal. She was petting him vigourously, and the dog was loving it. “Well that’s stupid. How do you have a dog without a name?” she was no longer talking to Tartum. Instead she was now directly addressing the animal. “What should we call you buddy? Hmmm...well, how about Buddy? Yes, I like it. Your name is Buddy! You like that boy? You look like a Buddy!” she said.

Standing up, happy with herself, she gave Tartum a curious glance. “How do you like the name?” she asked.

Tartum was floored. “Umm...Yea, Buddy is a good name.” was all he could manage in response.

Elizabeth nodded at the approval. Gracefully, she turned and began to leave the room, coaxing the dog to follow. “Come on Buddy! Let’s go see if we can’t find you a bone! Come on big guy! That’s a good Buddy dog!” Tartum watched as she left with his dog chasing after her. He was sad to see her go and worried about his pet.

“Where’s she going with my dog?” Tartum asked Savall. It was Jeth that answered. The man suddenly appeared next to him and had his arm around his shoulders like they were old friends.

“Don’t you worry about your dog. Lizzy there has an affinity for animals and would sooner let one of us die than to allow any harm to come to him. You got nothing to worry about. Say, that’s an incredible looking staff you got there. Where’d you get it?” Jeth asked. He began guiding Tartum towards the hallway Elizabeth had just used. The rest of the group was leaving as well, and Tartum was too confused about what was happening to question it. He didn’t like Jeth this close to him, nor his being so familiar, but he wanted to make a good first impression, so he went with it.

“Umm...thanks. I hope my dog...Buddy...is going to be ok. I got my staff from my original master, as a gift, when I was sixteen. Where are we going?” Tartum answered.

Jeth kept up his wave of questions, all the while, leading Tartum down into the depths of the building. “Really? A gift? That’s an amazing gift, especially for someone as young as you were. Does it do anything fancy? Is that
real
jade and gold it’s made of?” Jeth’s questions went on and on as they walked deeper and deeper into the building. The walls were narrowing and no longer finished. They were stacked stone and mortar. Their way was lit by torches that barely provided enough light to part the gloom.

“Where are we?” Tartum interrupted Jeth’s twentieth question about his staff.

Jeth paused and looked around. He acted as if he was surprised to find himself there. “This building used to be the old jail house, long ago, when Saroth was still young. The new one is much bigger and much nicer, believe me!” Jeth said with a wink and a smile. “One of the old holding cells is right over here! You’ll never believe what’s inside! Come! Look!” Jeth said and ran over to a dark corner at the end of the hall.

Tartum hesitated and decided he’d had enough of the dark. Sensing a trap, he opened himself to the magic and allowed it to rush inside him. Finding the gold strand on his staff that pulled at him, Tartum said the word of command.

“
Light!
”

The enchanted gold strand began to glow brightly and lit the gloom of the hallway. The pull on the magic inside Tartum was as strong as the light, and Tartum felt weakened by the sensation. Refusing to show his weakness, Tartum walked forward to where Jeth was waiting for him, an amused smile was on his face.

“Ohhhhh! I like that fancy walking stick you got there! You didn’t tell me it did that! Very impressive!” Jeth said. Tartum could detect no sarcasm in his voice and allowed the compliment to sink in. It was nice to be appreciated by others.