“I can't see
straight.”
Pablo
Picasso* #quote
Today Grandma
came over and much fun was had. Anyway onto the flash fiction!
One Man's
Magic Is Another's Treasure
“Please, be
reasonable Captain Talmond. You don't understand what you have
there.” I concealed my wand in my robes like I would a dagger.
Though I'm not sure how much it would intimidate the pirate since he
didn't care about any of my pleas for the artifact. “That's a very
dangerous object.”
The pirate
captain raised his voice a little. Not enough to be shouting, but
enough to rise above a speaking voice. I assume this must have been
the voice he used to intimidate his crew, and warn them of punishment
for further slights against him. “Now listen here wizard. I don't
care about how dangerous this is. I live every day of my life chased
by every military of the world. I only care about how valuable this
thing is. And there are a lot of gold and jewels in this little
treasure.” He juggled the Nightmare Artifact in his hand as my
heart skipped a beat during every toss. “Now leave before I stain
those pretty, little white wizard robes with your blood.” Captain
Talmond waited for me to walk away as he examined the Nightmare
Artifact more closely. He cared only for the fact the golden cube had
gems infused into it, and not various magical runes. The runes the
blacksmiths made when forging the artifact held forbidden curses
worshiped by the creators that should be lost to time.
I wanted to
just pull my wand from the many pockets in my robes and attack the
Captain.(wizards had a habit of making an absurd amount of pockets in
their robes for their wands and spell components, no matter how
formal the robe) However just attacking the pirate would most likely
lead to death and failure. We both stood in the ruins of the ancient
civilization that crafted the artifact. He, however, had a large
amount of crewmen with him. Thirty well armed pirates. And I I knew
they held great loyalty to their captain. The ransom on Captain
Talmond could set up a man for life, and information leading to his
capture set him up for half of it. These crewmen would certainly kill
me if I took out the man they would follow so devoutly.
And with him
getting things as gold-heavy as the Nightmare Artifact he must also
sway them that way. How, how can I stop them?
“Captain
Talmond, please. You can't. The Nightmare Artifact. It could lead to
the death of so many people if it gets back into the world.”
The pirate
glanced over to me. The straight lines in his jaws and muscular edges
in his profile becoming very apparent from the angle. When he placed
the Nightmare Artifact in his coat pocket I noticed that despite
being a “ruffian” of the sea, his coat looked new and clean.
“What was your name again? Ezzinami? No, wait it was Ezzinamo.
Wizards have the dumbest names. Look, Ezzinamo. Do you think I care
about people dying? Only people that matter are me and my crew. If I
can make some money off releasing a plague then I'll do it.” He
then pulled his sword from his sheath. “Killing is inconvenient you
see. Which is why I've asked you nicely to leave. Attracts attention
with all the screamin'. Leaves a body. Authorities are a bother. But
we are in ruins in the middle of nowhere so killing you will just be
damaging the weapons and making a nasty smell while we clear the rest
of this place out.” Captain Talmond smiled. At this point he either
wanted me to walk away or be the next man he killed. I needed to
think of something fast to stop him.
“Wait! I'll
buy it!”
The pirate's
body language shifted. It became more like one I'd seen on many
brokers and merchants in the past. But it still held the same
murderous air of a pirate. “The price is ten million Standard.”
I froze.
Telling him I would buy it just came out of my mouth. I didn't put
any thought into it. “I can't pay that,” I told him.
The pirate
looked me in the eyes with conviction in his evaluation of the
object. “Then no deal.”
I couldn't let
this happen.
“I have a
counteroffer. How many wizards do you have on your crew?” I asked
him like somebody would ask, “How much food do you have?”
“I have no
wizards,” Captain Talmond pulled the Nightmare Artifact from his
coat pocket. “What exactly are you implying?”
“I work on
your crew as your wizard. I'll be taking the minimum comforts. No
need to give me cuts of bounties or treasure. Just a room and decent
food. You keep the Nightmare Artifact as insurance for my employment
but never sell it.”
Captain Talmond
then asked, “How long is this employment?”
“Forever or
until you break your end of the bargain,” I said.
The pirate
smiled. “It's agreed. And I never break a bargain. Otherwise nobody
would do business with me. Don't mistake it for honor.”
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