The Artifacts Of Elios (Book 1) (28 page)

“I guess in hindsight I should have activated that several months ago, but I have been tremendously busy,” He laughed.  Looks like I better get you tested and start you training as a glyph mage
Ava.  If the records center let you in and you were able to get the information necessary to activate the trolley you are obviously qualified.  The next step is to get you working on creating your instructor and teach you to access your lumen.”

Shane was just finishing cleaning up his note books and the scribes when there was a knock at the door.  Thinking it was it was a maid he tossed his pack on the sofa and went to the door.  As he turned the handle the door burst open and three strange men rushed into the room bowling him over.  Immediately they were on him; one had a knife at his throat.  Without realizing it Shane immediately envisioned the energy siphoning glyphs and with new strength he hurled the men from him.  Before they could react he angrily used his mastery to make them light as feathers and then glued them to the ceiling he did it with such intensity the glyphs flared brightly in the air; gluing arms legs everything to the ceiling.  As soon as they were stuck he released the lightness glyphs.

As much as the strength helped him he felt light headed and he felt blood running down his neck onto his chest reaching up he felt a slash that had just missed his trachea even though it didn’t seem deep enough to have cut his jugular vein it still bled profusely.  First he closed the door and locked it then he went to the washroom and grabbed a towel and put it on the gash. Grabbing the nearest chair he could find which was on the visitors side of the desk he sat and gathered his thoughts and the lightheadedness seemed to lessen.

“Instructor, mental mode, I need the most simple enchantment you can give me that will stop bleeding and close a wound.”

His mind filled with a long string of glyphs.  With a sigh he got up making his way across the suite and sunk onto the sofa and dug through his pack for his pencil and notebook and began to write down the glyphs.  Digging out one of the scribes he copied the notes and then transferred them to the bloody towel.  He quickly added lumen and activated the glyphs and applied the towel to his wound.

Instantly the bleeding ceased and the wound pulled itself closed.

“Instructor I’ve lost blood is there anything simple that can heal those that have lost a lot of blood quickly.

Once again his mind flooded with glyphs; not as many as the wound closing enchantment but still well over a dozen.  This time Shane concentrated on the glyphs as a picture and found that he could hold the image in its entire complexity for a few seconds before it faded. Focusing again on the images sent by the instructor he grabbed the image solidly again, flooded them with lumen and pushed the enchantment on himself. When he felt the lightheadedness end, he released the glyphs and the lumen.

He pulled the towel away from his neck and went to the washroom.  Other than the blood there was no sign of the wound. He was about to rinse the towel out when he changed his mind and took it and threw it into his hamper.

Back out in the room there was a trail of blood from the door to the washroom to the desk to the sofa.  With a growl he began the arduous task of cleaning up the mess.  He was rinsing out the face cloth that he had been using to clean up the blood for the final time when the men that were stuck to the ceiling began to stir.  Shane ignored them and got some clean trousers and shirt from his duffle and went into the shower.

As he walked out of the washroom dressed in clean cloths and carrying his blood soaked set to his hamper he saw Roger and Ari looking at the men stuck to the ceiling.  Noticing Shane with the handful of bloody clothes they hurried to his side.

“What
in daisies name happened to you?” asked Ari as he looked at the cloths in the hamper.

“Are you ok, Monsieur Shane,” queried Roger?

Shane looked at the men hanging from the ceiling who were beginning to shout for help.  “If you don’t shut up, I’ll boil the blood in your veins while you’re still alive,” he said irritably.  To reinforce his point he indicated towards a pitcher of water in the kitchenette almost directly below them; using mastery he caused the water to boil blowing off the lid; a waft of hot steam billowing around them.  The men immediately silenced.

Turning back to Roger and Ari he filled them in on the morning’s events.  “Other than that,” not much happing here
,” he deadpanned.  “How did it go with the wagon and a boat?”

“Let’s take care of our guests first,” replied Ari.

Ari walk to where the men were stuck and asked, “Who wants to talk and who wants to be dead,” he spoke conversationally with a cold glare.

He addressed Shane over his shoulder, “why didn’t you kill them?”

“I figured that unlike the last six these guys these might have information so I stuck them there until you could be here to make them wish that they hadn’t been born.”  Shane replied hoping that he was saying the right words that Ari wanted in order to instill fear into the minds of the captives.

Ari looked up at the men again.  “I only need one of them.  Alright fellas, first one to talk lives… the rest you are going in the bay.”

“Pick me.” panicked the man nearest to Ari.  I’ll talk I didn’t want to be a part of this anyway.”

“Shane can you unstick this one?”

With a shrug Shane neutralized the area holding the one man and he fell with a thud and a groan to the floor.  Ari grabbed a nearby chair and told the man to sit.

“So talk,” instructed Ari.

“We saw you come in on the horseless wagon last night and haul a bunch of stuff into the hotel.  Theo,” he nodded to one of the men still stuck to the ceiling.” said that you guys had probably just robbed a ruin or something and that we could make some easy cash.  We saw you two down at the docks so we figured the kid here would be easy pickings.”

“So you’re nothing but dockside thugs down on your luck, eh?  You should have just killed em, Shane.  Which one of you stabbed the
kid,” Ari pointed with his thumb over his shoulder at Shane.

“That was Theo,” answered the man.

“Come here,” Ari instructed the man he was questioning.  “Stand here,” he pointed to the floor near the door.  “Shane, stick him here so that he can’t run off.”

“Done,” Said Shane.

“Drop the next one.”

Another thud another grunt followed.

“Go stand by your friend.  As soon as he’s over there stick him”

The man walked over and as soon as he turned around he started with a yelp as his feet stuck to the ground.

The last man remaining on the ceiling glowered as he saw Ari looking at him.  “Is this Theo?” asked Ari?  The other two thugs nodded.

“Theo, how’s the weather up there?  Don’t answer
, it was a rhetorical question.  What were you thinking?  You guys are three to one why would you want to kill a kid like that. 

Some folks will tell you that you’re mean.  I can tell you right now you don’t even have a clue what mean is.  What it is, Theo, is you are a killer that kills just because he can. 

Theo I’ve killed more men than you’ve met in your lifetime and after you’re gone I’m sure that I’ll have to kill more.  The difference between you and I are many but in regards to killing I do it only when it’s necessary, not for self-fulfillment. I have friends and family and when I go home on holidays they know that they are perfectly safe around me.  They have no idea what I really do for a living.  I see a lost child, and that child doesn’t fear me as I help it find its parents.  Why do you think that is Theo?  The reason is because killing is not always necessary.  Point of fact, if there weren’t people like you in the world I would never have to kill again.  There is a time to kill and a time not to.  Take your friends for example.  I’m not going to kill them.  I’m fairly certain they regret the day the met up with you and when I turn them loose the will change their outlook on life and try to find a way to earn a living that doesn’t involve murder.”  The two men by the door were nodding emphatically but kept their mouths shut.

“One look at you, Theo, and I can tell that you’ve killed at least four or five call girls, half a dozen of your peers; thugs like yourself, at least one of your parents, probably your mother since it’s not likely you ever knew your father and a younger brother or sister.  None of those killings needed to happen but they did because you’re a selfish, lazy, empty man.

“In a minute you are going to come down like your friends and I’m going to give you a chance to look the meanest man that you will ever know for the rest of your life, in the eyes.  You are going to have a chance at your last killing.  If you run you’re dead, if you try to talk your way out of this you’re dead.  The only way you are going to leave this room alive is through me.  Don’t be angry with me it will affect your judgment.  You brought this on yourself.  If I let you go I’d be willing to bet a thousand crowns that you would kill out of frustration from today’s events before sundown.

Shane, drop him.”

The man dropped and he immediately rolled to his feet and came at Ari with a long jagged dagger.  Almost casually Ari stepped into the stabbing thrust and twisted his body to the side.  As the man’s momentum carried him past the former assassin his head snapped to the left with an audible crack and his body became limp from a broken neck.  Ari squatted down next to the limp form and the unblinking eyes. “Theo you have perhaps ten more seconds because your heart has stopped and you are no longer breathing, as you travel to the next life try and remember what it is like to be helpless like this and treat others with a little more kindness.”

Ari Stood and looked at the other two men.  You two men are going to do a job for me.  We are going to head up river and I don’t want any surprises.”  He stuffed several crowns into the closest man’s
chest pocket of his coat; I’m paying you to forget.  You are going to steal some horses and head south to Jehal and forget about us.  I have paid you two hundred crowns for this service.  If I see you again in the next thirty days then I’ll have my magic friend glue you to the pier at low tide and watch you squirm for six hours till you drown.  Take him with you,” Ari pointed to the corpse on the floor.  “Tell people that he’s drunk, and then drop him away from the hotel on your way out of town.

One more thing, if you think that that this is the worst day of your life you are wrong.  The worst day of your life is if we ever see you again.  That kid that your pal Theo
knifed is a glyph mage. Additionally he’s one of the toughest little bastards I’ve ever met.  I’ve seen him take on six of the toughest U of J warball battlers that ever played the game, beat a giant in a bar fight, and kill a half a squad of crown soldiers single handedly.  You three took him by surprise and even cut his throat.  None the less he captured the lot of you, healed his wounds and doesn’t even have a scar; he’s the nice one.  See that smiling gentleman standing next to him?  He knows more about poisons and killing with his hands than the kings personal secret service does.  Me I taught
them
everything they know.  You keep that in mind the next time you see us; you better hope you see us first, because if we see you and you aren’t running the other direction we’ll plant the lot of you.  Shane let em go.”

The would be robbers grabbed their dead associate and fled the premises

After the thugs had gone Shane looked at Roger, “you know poisons?”

“No, he made that up,” answered Roger with a failed look of contrition.

“You forget when you decided to try to make you own ale about ten years ago,” quipped Ari with a laugh.

“That ale was a crowd favorite,” protested Roger.

“Don’t believe him Shane.  People were buying it for bug repellent and weed killer.”

“Now I know why people say you are so deadly,” mumbled the Luionese.  If they don’t run, you drown them in bull-splat.”

“Yeah,” Shane grimaced, “what was that nonsense about me standing down a giant.  That guy was kicking my butt.  The only reason I came out of that alive is because he was drunk and he wasn’t the brightest crystal in the chandelier.”

“Rookies, I’m surrounded by rookies.”  Ari shook his head, “the only thing more deadly than a man’s sword as a deterrent is his reputation.  I just made us eight feet tall and b
allista-proof.  That should keep the shady crowd off our backs until we can get out of here.”

“Now that things have calmed down a bit,” Shane said in an attempt to change the subject.  “Can you guys tell me how things went with the wagon and of our chances of getting a boat?”

“We found a nice little ship; a little forty cubit sloop,” volunteered Roger.  “Two masts with a singly main sail, great lines; we should be able to make a pretty good clip.  She’s got an ample hold, four cabins, a large crew quarters and a decent head.  It will be a beast to crew with the three of us but I think we can manage.

We sold the wagon so you will need to go down and activate everything.”  Ari interjected as he checked his time piece, “We should probably head down there now.”

Shane sealed the room and they were soon in the street with the wagon. 

They had only been at the wagon for a few minutes when a portly well-dressed man with a much younger and voluptuous woman strolled up and greeted Ari with a wide smile and an outstretched hand.  Ari introduced the man and the woman as Eric Lissett and wife Angela; the man was an artifact dealer and owner of a local artifact retail shop. 

It only took a moment for Shane to infuse the glyph covered wagon with lumen and release the locks that held the wheels to the ground.  “It’s ready to go,” Shane nodded to his partners.

Shane quickly explained how to drive the wagon and explained that they should keep the axels well lubricated and that they could replace the steel rims but if they changed any of the glyphs on the spokes or anywhere else that the entire artifact would fail so be careful.  Ari was able to negotiate a healthy sum of two thousand crowns for the wagon of which he gave a thousand to Shane and split the rest with Roger.