Wizard of Jatte, Rowan Erlking [latest novels to read .TXT] 📗

sense.

“Maybe its demonic ability is to hide from wizards.” Theobold suggested with a shrug.

“Impossible,” Theissen replied, taking another step closer.

This time the dog snapped his teeth onto Theissen’s cloak, tugging and pulling to Theissen back. But Theissen nudged him off, and made him let got. “Demons can’t hide from wizards. They smell bad, and their knots are easy to see, even through walls.”

Theobold blinked at him. Cocking his head in a birdlike tilt, he asked, “I smell bad?”

Stopping, Theissen opened his mouth to retract his remark, but saw Theobold’s teasing grin. The birdman already knew he gave off an odor that only Theissen could smell.

“Stop that.”

The birdman flapped to get near him. “Come on. What happened to your sense of humor?”

Theissen just shrugged and looked back to the tower door. “There is something in there, though. So I can’t exactly discount the stories.”

They both peered in, leaning towards the right.

“Maybe if there was a light in there,” Teppan murmured aloud.

Smirking with a glance at him, Theissen nodded. “Good idea.”

He dug through his pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper. It was left over from the basic floor plans for his house that he drew up that morning. He crumpled it up then dug out his flint and knife from his pocket.

“That’s not going to be much of a fire,” Teppan said, looking at it.

“It will be enough for what I want.”

Theissen made a spark, letting the paper catch fire. As soon as it started to flame up, he blew the small paper fire gently through the door. It rolled in, casting a small whirling flame around like a tumbleweed. The fire was about all gone when the flaming paper wad struck the dust in the room. But as it did, something else started to burn.

“I thought so.” Theissen walked to the doorway. He stirred up a wind to put the fire out. “No demons. But there is something living in there. Look at the vacant houses.”

The four with him did look, turning with a curious stare at the compounded silence. Every house around had spider webs in their windows and doorways. Dust was on everything. They were not just vacant, they were long abandoned. No one lived near the tower at all as if the curse had spread.

“So, what is wrong?” Daanee moved closer to him, waiting for the answer to the puzzle.

Gesturing to the doorway, Theissen said, “Oh, it’s infested.”

“Infested?” Teppan and Ronen both pulled back. Ronen reached for Daanee to keep her from the tower.

“Infested with what?” Theobold asked. He squinted to see what Theissen obviously had seen.

“With spiders.” Theissen started to walk down towards a road. He had noticed it when they finally got to the tower. It was a cul-de-sac.  He went with a quick stride.

Everyone looked at the spider web-filled homes again.

Theobold was the first to flee, flapping straight to Theissen’s side while the others ran to catch up.

“Spiders? What are you going to do about it?” Theobold landed on the cobbles, grabbing onto Theissen’s arm.

“Ow! Don’t do that!” Theissen jerked to a halt.

“But the spiders! They are spreading, aren’t they?” Theobold nearly shouted.

Theissen nodded, turning to go again. “Yeah, they are.”

“Are they poisonous?” Teppan came over, breathless.

Glancing back Theissen just shrugged. “Probably. Though I think more likely the spiders are only mildly poisonous. You know, one can bite you and it hurts and all, but you don’t die from it. But with the horde in there, they can all swarm and kill a man within seconds.”

“Within seconds?” Teppan whimpered. He peered back at the tower with a stricken look.

Nodding, Theissen followed the winding road as it spiraled down into the lower part of the city again. After just a few empty houses they began to see inhabited ones. These also had spiders in the windows but much, much fewer. Theissen stopped at the first house he saw with a person in the doorway.

“Excuse me, but do you know what happened to the houses up top?” Theissen spoke to a squat woman with gray hair and knotted hands.

The woman barely looked up at him, mostly grinding something in her hands into a bowl. “The curse. It spread.”

“The people in those homes?” Theissen asked. “What happened to them?”

“Died of sickness,” said the woman. “Spider bites.”

Gesturing to her windows, Theissen nodded. “Those are the same kind of spiders, you know.”

She passed him a mild grin. “We keep knocking them down. Don’t worry.”

Don’t worry? Theissen had looked over most of the neighborhood. It was full of these spiders. He could not help but worry. The tower was not just mildly infested. That he could see from the swarming shadows and the spider webs that had caught fire from that one rolling paper. It was obvious that they were spreading out. The homes nearby were also infested. It was only a matter of time before the city was overrun.

He cleared his throat and asked, “Um, have the magicians tried to end the curse at all?”

The woman blinked and looked. “No. But the wizard tried to once. After trying, he said there was no curse. Said it was spiders.”

Theissen nodded. At least the wizard understood what the real situation was. Yet even with his own ability to influence animals some, there would be no way for him to motivate that large of a horde of spiders to leave their nest without hurting anyone. The only thing he could do was to try to eradicate them.

“Thank you very much, ma’am.” He bowed to the woman then continued on his way down hill.

“So, what do we do now?” Theobold asked.

Theissen scratched his head for a moment, stopping on a street corner not far from the tower. “Well, as far as I see it, I need a spell to kill all the spiders. Now typically spells for killing are a bad thing, but not if what you summon to kill is natural. I just wish I had my Westhaven magic book. I’m sure Jonis had some spells for dealing with infestations.”

“I’ll get it,” Theobold announced and lifted off before Theissen could shout at him to not fly away.

Watching him go, Theissen hoped that a gate guard would not attack his friend on the way over or back.

“Well then,” Teppan cut in with a sigh. “Since we can’t fly off with him, what should we do in the mean time?”

“He acts so rashly,” Ronen agreed, snorting. He pulled Daanee closer to his side.

Theissen smirked. “You acted the same as him before you became human, you know. Cut him some slack.”

But Teppan’s question was more on his mind. What do they do while they wait? He turned with a look around himself and decided to explore the neighborhood. Crossing the street, Theissen peered over where he thought he saw a shop.

“Hey! How about you and Daanee stay here and wait for Theobold. Teppan and I can check this out for a moment. It could prove useful.” He continued on, gesturing for Teppan to follow him.

They sighed, obeying.

Theissen and Teppan both crossed the cobblestone to a three story building that had a wooden front with a pleasant arching roof and a balcony that overlooked the street. Next to the shop sat a cozy open stand with glass windows and several circular tables. Stools sat around them. Only two men sat at the tables. Both watched Theissen and Teppan as they approached.

“You’re a little late for lunch,” the older of the men said, not even sitting up. He wore an apron stained with evidence of his trade.

Bowing, Theissen smiled. “That’s alright. I’m just exploring the neighborhood. Is that shop open?”

Both local men merely glanced at the front window. In the display were several brass items, some which looked like cooking tools. “The shopkeeper ought to be indoors.”

Nodding to them, Theissen strode straight to the door.

Teppan whispered in his ear, hurrying at his side, “What was that about?”

“They’re not used to people from outside their neighborhood,” Theissen merely replied. “Probably the tower frightens most off. I bet they don’t get much business.”

“Shame,” Teppan murmured with a glance back at the pair.

“Hello?” Theissen called into the shop, walking through the rows of items to the shop’s counter. There were a few household items on sale, most brass and useful looking. Some tin. A bit of pewter. Mostly metal objects, though Theissen did see a feather duster and a broom. But then perhaps they were not on sale.

“Oh. I thought I heard somebody.” A middle-aged man stepped out of the back room with a nod to Theissen. “What can I get for you?”

Looking around, Theissen glanced at the pots. “How much does a small pot like that go for?”

The shopkeeper saw the one Theissen had pointed to, an iron pot just large enough to brew a meager portion of stew. Taking it off the shelf, the man set it on the counter. “It’s high quality cast iron. It is worth its weight. Five pounds.”

“How much would that go for in copper?” Theissen asked.

Smiling, the shopkeeper said, “In copper I’d say about twenty.”

Making a face Theissen took out his money pouch. “How come the prices are so high in the city?”

“You’re a country boy, I gather?”

Theissen nodded, taking out the copper coins.

“You’re not going to barter?” Teppan asked, watching Theissen count out the coins.

Shaking his head, Theissen set all twenty coins on the counter. “No. In Lumen a pot like this is about fifteen. Twenty is still expensive, but it is tons fairer than what that innkeeper wanted. She was obviously trying to rob us.”

“Thanks for your business,” the shopkeeper said, scooping up the coins.

Theissen hefted up the pot.

“What’s the pot for anyway?” Teppan asked as they walked towards the door of the shop. Theissen had stopped, staring once at a hanging metal spoon.

He turned, pointing it out to the shopkeeper. “How much is that one?”

“The spoon?” the shopkeeper crossed over and lifted it down from off its peg. “You can have it for three coppers.”

Nodding, Theissen gestured to Teppan as he weighed the pot in his hands. It was more than just five pounds. “Can you open my pouch and give him the three coins?”

Teppan did as asked, trading the coins for the spoon. The metal merchant smiled as he stowed the coins away into his own pocket.

When they had gone out the door and back out onto the road, Theissen reached for the spoon and dropped it into the pot. It barely changed the weight any. The spoon was rather light to begin with.

“So, tell me. What do we need a heavy pot and spoon for?” Teppan trotted after him, finding it hard to keep up with Theissen’s long-legged stride.

They crossed back into the road where Ronen was sitting. Daanee rested on the curb with her head on his shoulder.

“Theobold’s not back yet?” Theissen looked to the sky over the buildings to the west.

“He’s only been gone a few minutes,” Ronen said.

“Come on. The pot.” Teppan’s tone told Theissen he hated being ignored.

Setting both the pot and the spoon on the ground, Theissen said, “I remember reading somewhere in that spell book about a seeking fire. I don’t recall all the ingredients, but what I do remember is that if you make it right and say the spell right, the fire will seek out and burn up only one thing. And once it is done, it puts itself out. Most magic brews like that one require a pot and something to stir it with. The other ingredients I am hoping we can buy locally.”

“There he is!” Daanee pointed over the rooftops to the east.

Theobold flapped and then swooped back down. He landed breathless on the rock. The book was in his hands. “I found it. That girlfriend of yours helped me get it from her room.”

Theissen’s face immediately went hot. “Stop that! I don’t even know her name.”

Snickering, Theobold handed over the book. “That can be rectified you know.”

Ignoring him, Theissen flipped open the Westhaven book’s pages to the spell section. It was in the back near all