Hello there readers! I'm back to writing, and not just for a certain challenge to write 50,000 words in the month of November, which I totally did! So please, enjoy the newest chapter of The Thaumaturgist!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Thaumaturgist (Chapter 10)

 

by

 

Elite Shade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tietro yawned as he stood up from his desk and walked over to the nearby pot of coffee, mug in hand. After dealing with the events of yesterday with the most recent failed attempt made on Daso's shop, Tietro had been at his desk at the precinct dealing with his least favorite part of the job of being a city guard, catching up on all of the paperwork. He was finally getting close to completing a month's worth of it, filing away each form and report as soon as he finished writing them, looking forward to his upcoming days off. He smiled as he poured himself another mug of the steaming bitter tasting bright pink liquid, which he drained half of in a single gulp as he walked back over to his desk, nodding to another guard who was escorting a very petulant dwarf, who reeked of alcohol.

"--shear from my lawyer! I am not drunk and driving sthat carriagish at the shame time." He swayed and slurred his words, seemingly unaware that his pants had fallen down around his ankles. Tietro gave the fresh faced orc, clearly straight out of the academy, a sympathetic smile, and sat back down at his desk. He picked up the report he was presently working on, which was about the giant attack on Daso's shop. The elf sighed, not enjoying the fact that the slime creature that, admittedly, had assisted in subduing the suspect, was still found in the sewers directly underneath Daso's property. And since there was no proper permit for it on file registered to Daso, that meant that when she returned, she would find a fine from the city in her mail.

Tietro looked to his right and through the window. The sun was setting on Pharanx, with lights already starting to shine in the growing shadows. He cast his gaze to the south, where Tietro could see some storm clouds. He watched them for a minute as they drifted away from the city. As he turned back to the form on his desk, his thoughts drifted to the mysterious girl who had showed up in town not too long ago. A smile appeared on his lips as he recalled how out of all the smashed shops and the wrecked city street left in the giant's wake, hers was left practically unscathed.

Although knowing her, when she returns and sees the cracked window, she'll probably demand to see the giant right away, just to beat the living hells out of him, Tietro thought. She's cute, I'll give her that, but dammit all if she can't hold her own in a fight.

 

At the fort...

 

Night had fallen, and the storm was quickly approaching. Daso watched from atop the battlements at the lightning flashing in the angry-looking clouds. A few times he was able to make out the shadows of what were undoubtedly corven wyrms from the flashes of light, their serpentine forms dancing as they were wont to do within the midst of the storm itself, drawing energy from the raw power of nature for their intricate and spectacular courtship ritual. Daso lowered his gaze slightly, and watched as the smoke, accompanied by the fervent beating of drums, started to reach the edge of the forest in the distance. The elf mercenaries around him had already gotten into position all around the fort, whilst Daso and the construction workers had quickly worked to attach the metal disks he had crafted to as many of the bricks, both old and new, as they could, before they hid in the reinforced servants' quarters.

Hopefully an unnecessary precaution, he thought to himself. Daso, however, had instead climbed atop the scaffolding to join in the fight if necessary. Resting gently against his left shoulder was his newest battle axe. The crescent blades formed from a deep blue crystal, with a long green handle, crafted from ironwood, with magical symbols carved all up and down it. The crystal was glowing softly in the night, catching the eye of several nearby elves. With his right hand, Daso drew the pistol he had fashioned himself one night in his shop after completing several projects ahead of schedule and deciding to tinker around a little with some parts he had lying around in the back. He had a few theories about the properties and their combinations that he had been meaning to test. And then he saw them rush out from the trees.
In total, Daso figured that there were maybe thirty of them. He could make out that they were wearing some kind of uniform dark grey leather, with a symbol on their chests. They were still too far away for Daso to make out the symbol properly, but based on the location of the fort that used to be theirs, their matching armor, and some of the reputation that preceded them from various travelers talking about them, he figured that he was looking at the Bloody Hatchet Guild.

"Idiots." Daso let out a chuckle, having heard rumors of them back in Ruhk. They called themselves a guild; however, as far as Daso was concerned, they were mostly just a bunch of deserters and highwaymen too stupid or mentally unstable for any of the real bandit "guilds" out there to take.

These are just the scraps that nobody else in their right minds would ever take, Daso thought, watching as the first few of them started to approach the invisible barrier. Apparently they too had seen the light show from earlier, and so they slowed their pace. They seemed to bicker amongst themselves before one was pushed forward. This lone bandit cautiously walked, feeling out in front of him with his outstretched arms. Daso and the elves watched as he started to push up against something that seemed solid to him. He pushed for a few heartbeats before there was a loud zapping sound, the smell of seared flesh carrying over on the wind to those in the fort, and the unconscious form of the bandit flew back all the way to the treeline. The disorganized horde that he had been a part of looked at what happened to their comrade before discussing something amongst themselves. And then a loud whistle sounded, and even more bandits started to charge forth from the trees, screaming and whooping wildly, quickly catching up with the initial mob and hurling different enchanted exploding orbs at the force field.

Daso looked on as the red crisscrossing lines appeared and flashed brightly with each strike. "Idiots," he said again, right before a few of the projectiles stopped and, instead of exploding against the shield, turned a full 180 in the air, and zipped right back to where they had come from. There were dazzling explosions from within the more clustered groups of bodies of the horde itself, some of which were thrown wide by the forces of the blasts, while others began to run around, having been set ablaze by multicolored fires.

From the lights produced, Daso was able to pick out the odd elf and dwarf, several orcs, and quite a few goblins. The majority of the bandits, however, appeared to be human, which did not come as a shock to Daso, as this portion of the continent had the highest concentration of humans in the general population. And then his brow furrowed as he watched what appeared to be a magically gifted dwarf standing near the barrier, completely unfazed by being next to several comrades screaming while trying to extinguish the various flames on their bodies. He instead stood there, chanting, with a bright violet light glowing from the palms of his hands, which started to get brighter and brighter.

Daso smirked as he quickly deduced what the dwarf was doing, deciding to casually watch, pulling out from his cooling satchel a wrapped sandwich, setting his battle axe down, leaned up against one of the crenelations. To the amazement of one of the elven mercenaries, Daso took a bite while watching the dwarf start making complex hand gestures, before using his left pinky finger to trace a neon violet outline of a tall rectangle into the shield itself. There was a loud bang like a gunshot, and soon there was a violet glowing doorway through the barrier. Of course, the dwarf had to leap to the side before almost being trampled by the stampede of bodies rushing for the doorway he had created. Daso could hear him cursing in Lecturish, one of the more obscure native languages of the eastern dwarven bloodlines.

Daso filed that curious little piece of information away as he continued to casually eat his sandwich, while the mercenaries around him started to tense up, watching the bandits start to come through. Daso waited until there were at least a dozen of them through the portal, before pulling out a small cube with a green button on it. Daso smiled and pressed it.

From the ground where he had planted his little cube, up started to come teal colored smoke. Very quickly, all of the air near the opening of the barrier was blanketed in the smoke. Daso and the mercenaries could hear loud coughing and hacking while watching doubled over figures stumbling about, some of them retching. Daso finished his sandwich at the same time he had finished counting in his head, and pressed the green button once more. The smoke stopped pumping up from the ground, and the clouds were quickly dissipating.

The smoke cleared to show the bandits wiping their eyes and mouths, while their comrades outside the barrier looked on. Then one of the goblins shook his head and looked around himself at the others near him... and started to tremble. Cautiously he backed away, the small sword in his hands quivering as it was outstretched before him, while he kept looking to his left and right, all while making for the doorway. As he reached it, another goblin from outside the barrier approached him, more than likely to ask him what had happened. Suddenly the clearly terrified goblin screamed and ran him through with the sword. He then pulled it from the lifeless corpse of the other goblin, and screamed while swinging the sword wildly at anyone else that was anywhere near him as he ran off into the night. Very soon, the rest of the bandits who had been in the cloud all began to act similarly.

"What'd you do to them, Miss?" the nearby elf asked Daso as they all watched the scene of utter chaos below, as bandits began to run off through the way they had entered, while others fought with one another, all screaming in terror.

"That," Daso said, having rolled his eyes at being referred to as miss once more, "is a gas I distilled from a concoction I developed from the poison of the phantasm pulip petals, and the venom of a berserker tarantula. Basically it forced the adrenal glands to start working overtime while causing auditory and visual hallucinations, all while affecting the brain chemistry to activate the fear center of their minds in a very big way. Basically, they're all seeing and hearing their worst nightmares come to life to attack them, all the while they are filled with the rush of adrenaline."

The elf turned to Daso with a look of awe on his face before returning his gaze to the carnage unfolding before them. Already there were severel dozen bandits on the ground, some writhing in agony from injuries inflicted by members of their own guild, while others were still, never to get up ever again. And there was even one of the orcs on the ground, tearing at his armor and clothes underneath. He was screaming as loudly as possible "GET 'EM OFF ME! GET 'EM OFF ME! THEY'RE BURROWING UNDER MY SKIN! THEY'RE GONNA EAT ME FROM THE INSIDE OUT!!!"

Those Bloody Hatchets who had not been in the clouds of smoke watched, surprised and horrified at what they were seeing. First, it was just a trickle of one or two of the bandits making a run for the treeline, not counting the ones who were running around in the dark, screaming their heads off about unseen attackers. Then the trickle became a flood as the already disorganized mob broke their siege, more and more running back where they had come from earlier in the night. Soon, even the stragglers who wished to continue the clearly already failed siege reluctantly followed the rest of their guild back into the woods. All that was left were the corpses of the fallen bandits, those still dying, and of course one, a human, who was still clearly hallucinating, who just managed to wander out through the door in the force field. And then Daso noticed the dwarf, a sorcerer of some kind, who was looking right at Daso. The expression on his face was one of pure hatred as his doorway collapsed. Daso gave him a wave and called out to him.

"T'leik nevarsc, frijo t'chaolt gnioghln de'tnor!"

The dwarf's eyes went wide in shock, clearly not expecting to have Daso speak to him in his tongue, before his eyes became hard and he ran off to join the others in the woods.

"What'd you just say to him?" the mercenary asked Daso, who smirked before answering.

"The best translation I can give you is that I just told him If you wanna come at me, you come at me like a man."

 

Back in Pharanx...

 

Arono checked himself in the full length mirror, striking several poses, both with and without his rapier in his hands. Presently he was wearing another white linen shirt, the top few buttons open to reveal his chest and some of his abs, with a pair of black jeans. He gave a few practice thrusts, accidentally knocking over a vase on a nearby oak shelf. The vase shattered right as Tietro was opening the front door.

"Arono? What are you doing here?" the elf asked. He was still wearing his uniform, having expected to come home and change into his street clothes.

"Just practicing looking heroic for when my fair lady Daso returns, when I inform her of how I saved her shop from certain destruction, with the help of the guards of course," Arono said proudly before resuming practicing his swordwork.

"What I meant, cousin, is how did you get into my house?"

"You left the upstairs window unlocked," Arono said simply.

"Alright, and why did you break into my house now?"

"Dear, cousin, I just told you. To practice! Also, I did not break in, I merely pushed open one of your windows... which I have every intention of paying to have fixed as one of the panes of glass did pop out of the frame itself and break."

Tietro began to massage his temples as he strode further away from the front door, shutting it of course, and towards the kitchen. After many years of living with his cousin's antics, Arono knew better than to try and get Arono to explain just why it was that he wanted to practice in his house. The answer would be forthcoming soon enough. So for now, Tietro headed upstairs, spying the broken window in his room, as he quickly changed into a simple light blue shirt and jeans. He headed back downstairs to find Arono seated at his couch, having apparently poured himself a glass of gristomberry juice, the bright green liquid bubbling softly in the glass, as it did whenever allowed to reach room temperature. From it wafted a light minty smell.

"Please do not tell me that that was the last of my juice," Tietro said as he walked past where Arono was seated towards his kitchen. He could hear a quick gulping sound, giving him an indication of what he was about to find in his fridge. He opened the door to see that he was indeed correct. Tietro let out a slightly frustrated sigh, before shutting the door and instead reaching up to a nearby cabinet and pulling down a wine glass, which he then promptly filled with a bottle of wine from another cabinet. He walked back out to his living room and took a seat across from Arono, who gave him a slightly apologetic smile.

"I am sorry, Tietro," Arono said with sincerity, "I know that after a day like today, you had probably expected to return home, with no house guests awaiting you, to decompress from the day."

"That was the plan," Tietro said gently, while annoyed but still not wishing to hurt his cousin's feelings, having always viewed Arono as more of a younger brother.

"I just... well, I--" Arono sighed and put his head in his hands for a moment, before sitting back up straight. "Tietro, I have a question for you."

"Alright."

"You have met with the lady Daso, correct?"

"Well yes, I've been to her shop several times, most of those visits pertaining to attempted vandalism and a break in... as well as once being an inquiry about your whereabouts," Tietro explained, not not liking where the discussion was going. Arono nodded, remembering the day that he had gone to visit his beloved at her shop... only to wake up in the dumpster outside her shop with no memory of how he got there.

"That is true dear cousin, but... is it not true that you have called upon the fair Daso additionally, outside of work?"

"Well, I did stop by her shop once or twice, but that was to check in, the first time, and the second was purely to examine what she was selling, along with asking about her prices involving custom and repair jobs. Oh, I also asked her about some scanner orbs, but I guess that that too was more work related." Tietro had a bad feeling about just what Arono was getting at.

"But, Tietro..." Arono seemed to struggle to find the words, not wishing to call his dear cousin a liar. "I have a friend who recently told me of seeing you with a young lady whose description matched that of my Daso at a diner... sitting at the same table..." Tietro groaned internally.

"I had gone in to get some lunch for myself when I saw her sitting there by herself. It was just after that break in and I wanted to make sure she was all right," Tietro explained.

"... So... it wasn't a lunch date?" Arono asked, hopeful. Tietro's brow furrowed.

"Arono, you are my cousin, and I care very deeply for you. But while no, it was not a date, even if it had been, if I ever did start to date someone, that would not be your business."

Arono looked a bit taken aback by this statement. "Perhaps in most cases ,Tietro, I would agree. However, with regards to my Daso, I have made my intentions with regards to her very well known. So if you had been dating her, yes, it actually would have been my business." Arono did not like the turn of the conversation, but he was not about to back down on this issue.

"Arono, she's made it perfectly clear that she's just not interested in you," Tietro said.

"You have said that about all of the women I have dated!" Arono defended.

"That's because none of them were interested in you either. I know this because of how many times you've been picked up for stalking!"

"Those were all misunderstandings!"

"No, that's what each and every one of the women you've pestered over the years called in and reported!"

Arono stood just as Tietro did, a determined look in his eyes. "Tietro, I will not be backing down on this. I shall ask my beloved for her hand in marriage, and wait however long I must before she shall agree. And as I wait, I shall not let you nor anyone else make a move on her."

"Damnit, Arono, she's never going to be interested in you! Can't you see that? How many more times must she beat you up before you finally figure that out?!" Tietro said.

Arono stood there, silent, for a few heartbeats before he finally stormed out, slamming the front door behind him as he did so. Tietro watched him leave, feeling a pang of guilt for having upset his cousin.

He doesn't want to listen to reason... not until he goes and breaks his own heart once again, Tietro thought as he sat back down and started massaging his temples again.

 

 

 

 

 

And there you have it dear readers! Please feel free to leave me a review!