The Jade Mage: The Becoming: Volume 1 by William D. Latoria Read Free Book Online

wonderful, my first enchantment! What do you think?” Tartum said. Finishing the last few words, he stepped back to allow Isidor full access to his work. Isidor looked it all over with a scholar’s eye. At one point he leaned over one of the glyphs and fixed a small mistake. Handing the chicken blood back to Tartum, he nodded.
    “Looks good...looks very good. It might just work. Give it a shot; let’s see if you can do it.” Isidor said. He was truly curious to see if Tartum would be able to make this enchantment work. Everything seemed correct as far as he could tell. It was a very simple spell, and the enchantment wouldn’t last much longer than a day, but it was a good practice enchantment. He hadn’t seen Tartum this excited since the day he had given him his staff. He hoped he would succeed and quietly said a prayer to any God that might be listening to make it so.
    Swelling with pride at his master’s approval, Tartum took a deep breath. This was his moment of truth. Once he began the spell, there was no stopping until the spell was complete. His excitement at the prospect of success was close to overwhelming him. He fought it and forced himself to calm down. Bending over the pine cones, he set them on fire with a word. The flames that leapt from them were green, exactly what he needed. Finally, he was ready and opened himself further to the flow of magic. Standing to the south of his work, Tartum raised his staff over his head with one hand, and began the gesture with his second.
    “ Yea-biegn ill-quith beyoontek-ilk. Boowaon tyeeyea newmuok! ” The magic coursed through him and flared into the glyphs surrounding the sulfur. The writing collapsed into the sulfur, changing them into a vapor that hung in the air, glowing with magic. Seeing the spell beginning to work, Tartum’s focus almost slipped as another wave of excitement tried to wash over him. Holding the spell in place by sheer will alone, Tartum re-focused and began the second verse of the spell.
    “ Yea-tolloth yit-quick lalautoniy! ” This time the glyphs surrounding the pine cones collapsed, and the green flame went with it. The resulting smoke looked just like the smoke floating over the spot where the sulfur had been a moment ago.
    Working quickly before something had a chance to go wrong, Tartum recited the third and final part of the spell. “ Yea-biegn-tolloth yit-quith Beyoon toniy. Vanoose !” The glyphs surrounding the bugs collapsed, and the bugs inside changed not into smoke, but into light. Tartum made the gesture required to make the floating light of the bugs move over the coin. “SHINE!” Tartum half screamed in excitement. The light flickered over the coin and then melted into it. The coin shone with a brilliance reserved only for the stars, and then went back to its normal pallor.
    Making the final gestures to bring the two puffs of smoke over the coin, Tartum screamed “DULL!” The two puffs of smoke combined into one and then melted into the coin. It appeared that as the coin soaked up the smoke, it became darker. As soon as Tartum thought he saw it, the vision was gone, and the coin looked normal again. With the spell complete, Tartum closed himself to the magic, and it flowed out of him leaving him feeling hollow and weak. He knew he needed to rest, but he had to know if his spell had been successful.
    Leaning heavily on his staff, Tartum walked slowly towards the coin. He noticed that the blood that had surrounded the coin was gone, and there was nothing more than singed earth where it had been. He wondered why he hadn’t seen that happen during the casting, but decided it didn’t matter. Picking up the coin, he examined it. There was nothing different about it what-so-ever. No special feeling, no interesting characteristics, or weight adjustment. It was no different than any other coin he had ever seen. Frowning, Tartum looked up at his Mentor. Isidor smiled knowingly at the look Tartum gave him.
    “Try