Tablet Master Ch. 09

"That's it," Keyfay said as they approached the ditch.

The bridge was up, but there was a bell on one of the two small pillars where the corners of the bridge would align.

Nate rang the bell once as Keyfay looked over the edge.

"At least this looks like some kind of bottomless magical pit," she said, slightly impressed.

The head of a Troll appeared from over the wall atop from the bridge. "Who goes there and why?" The Troll said with a deep voice.

Keyfay looked at Nate for a moment.

"Oh, hmrm... yeah," Nate babbled. "I, hrmm... I'm Nate. I seek an audience with the great Balzamir."

"For what purpose?" The Troll said.

"I trade in exotic creatures and I was told he'd be interested. I tame Werebeasts."

The Troll grunted and moved away.

"You," Nate said, pointing a finger at Bahk. "Get on all four so I can sit on you, and you," he pointed at Keyfay, "sit against me so I can lean comfortably."

Bahk gave Keyfay a stare. She nodded with a narrow smile.

She sat on one side of Bahk's back as he rested on all four and Nate was leaning against her with one ankle resting atop his knee.

The bridge slowly lowered, making astonishingly little noise despite the large chains shaking their way through the mechanism.

Nate stood up and snapped his fingers. "Heel," he said, pointing both forefingers on each side of him.

Keyfay took place to his left, followed by Bahk a moment after.

The Troll was almost 4 meters in height, his muscles were massive and bulky, and he wore a full suit of impeccably clean and shining red leather. He carried a massive two-handed dented red glowing sword on his back, a green glowing bracer on his left wrist, three shiny gold rings on his fingers and a large set of plain circular earing the size of her fist, made of gold.

She could smell the enormous amount of magic emanating from all these items and couldn't help but wonder what powerful magic they beheld.

'What the hell did I get us into?' she wondered, feeling her stomach twisting a little, not for her sake, but for the life of her newly acquired friends.

"Master Balzamir will meet with you," the Troll said from the other side of the bridge. "You may enter."

Nate walked into the fortress, His Werebeasts on his tail.

They entered a large room with no doors or stairs. It was plain. No decorations, no colors, nothing but a single table in the center with one chair facing a throne like chair resting on a stage.

"You may sit," the Troll said, showing Nate the only chair.

Nate sat.

"I don't usually deal from my fortress," Balzamir said as he walked on the stage, passing right through the wall behind his throne. "However, you claim to trade Werebeast and appears to have two of those with you to support your claim."

Nate opened his mouth to speak as the Wizard sat.

"I trade in magical spells, potions, items or knowledge only," Balzamir said before Nate could speak. "I do not offer gold or services of any kind as payment and I despise wasted time above all. I'm a very busy man so be brief and know that I do not negotiate. State your price and request and I may either accept if your trade is fair or deny otherwise. The least questions I have after your presentation the better."

Nate grinded his throat and stood with poise. "I own many Beasts and these two here are my most recent acquisitions. I'm drilling them to obey my every command and once ready, I will sell them or trade them to the highest bidder. Each of them is worth a hundred soldiers on the battlefield, some even much more. They are obedient and my conditioning on them is unmatched. I came across a powerful Dragon in dire need of help and made a deal with him for he knows a unique spell I've been seeking for a decade. He will teach me that spell if I can bring a cure back to him, one that he claims you possess. I was willing to trade my best beast for that spell, which defines its worth to me, so I am here to trade my best beast for that cure. I have a unique power that allows me to control such beasts, but I will not divulge it unless you were to offer more than a kingdom's worth. My best Werebeast is not with me at the moment, so should you agree to this trade, knowing that the cure is time sensitive, I would leave these two in your hands for twenty-four hours, which is how long it would take me to fetch her."

Nate sat.

Balzamir stared blankly at him for a long moment, then his gaze moved to Bahk and finally, to her.

She stared ahead, vacantly.

"I never saw a purple Weretiger until now," Balzamir said, leaning forward. "Your trade seems fair and I am very much incline to accept, but I do have some questions."

Balzamir walked down the stage to face Keyfay, examining her attentively for a moment.

"Why is she purple," he asked, staring back into her vacant gaze.

"She can cast spells," Nate said, standing up and pinching at her fur. "She turned purple after one of her spells failed to work as intended. I believe she is a flawed spellcaster and she's been purple ever since. She used to be golden like him." He pointed at Bahk. "My best beast is white though and much more beautiful."

"This one's beauty is already hard to match," Balzamir said. "I would have to see that beast of yours to confirm that last statement, but no need. I do not need a stronger or more beautiful beast; this one will do. The fabric of magic is fluctuating in an admirable way all around her and she is worth the cure. Does she come with the swords?"

"No, the swords are mine," Nate said.

Balzamir turned to face Nate, looking down at his satchel.

Nate took a step back, switching his satchel slightly more to his back, away from the man.

"I can see she is connected to something inside your satchel," Balzamir said. "I assume this is what allows you to control her so you will have to hand that to me as well - and before you try anything," he glared at Bahk, "Bahkhaarra, and you two," he glared at them both, "I can obliterate all of you with the flick of my fingers. However, I appreciate your attempt to resolve this conflict peacefully. I will honor this deal if you accept, otherwise, you may leave, unharmed."

"I accept the trade," Nate said, reaching for the Tablet. "Trust," he said a little louder, "is of the outmost importance and I, also, am a man of my word. I'm sorry for the deception with Bahkhaara, but he insisted strongly to be present during our negotiation and I thought it would be best if he assumed this appearance, please forgive me for this subterfuge."

Keyfay inhaled lengthily and as discretely as she could not to raise suspicions, looking at Nate from the corner of her eyes while Balzamir's attention wasn't resting on her.

"I use a unique binding spell to tame my beasts," Nate said, pulling a corner of the Tablet out. "She is bound to this stone, which is in turn bound to me, but it is also a token of my family's history, a necessary element for the spell until I finish taming her, otherwise she'd rip me to shreds. It is a much better trade for me to give you this one instead. I will save countless hours of work. However, I will require an object that is of great emotional value from you to bind her so that you may continue her taming all on your own, and as a bonus, I will explain a few things to help you-"

"No need," Balzamir said, raising his hand. "I will accept your original offer. I don't have time to tame her and the other one still seems like a fair trade. Since time is of the essence," he looked at Bahk, "I will give you a scroll to cure your friends. If you cast it from the center of the lower hall, it will cover the entire place and more; enough to cure all of them."

"Some of them still died," Bahk said.

"I expect you to deliver the white Werebeast in no more than a day," he said to Nate, indifferent to what Bahk said. "If you fail to deliver, I will find you no matter where you run. Conjurio!"

A scroll appeared in his hand as he offered it to Nate. "This little Dragon is conniving, selfish and incredibly stupid," Balzamir said. "You should be wary about your dealings with him, but don't blame me if he crosses you on that deal you have with him."

"I will," Nate said, taking the scroll. "I will see you tomorrow."

Nate bowed slightly. Balzamir bowed barely before walking away and back through the wall behind his throne.

Nate handed the scroll to Bahk. "Go save your friends and come back for us at the crossing where we landed."

Bahk took the scroll and closed his eyes for a moment before vanishing with a pop.

Nate started walking towards the exit.

Keyfay followed him in silence although she wanted to say so many things, but she had to maintain the masquerade.

"What's your plan now kitty," Nate said as they sat on a fallen tree near the road crossing.

"I'm not sure," she said. "We save the Khavi people and we bought enough time for you to summon Saïna again tomorrow. I can't remember who she is, but maybe she could think of something, or maybe you can just give her to him for a while, while we come up with something better to trade back for her."

"Yeah and be limited to work within a two-kilometer radius," Nate said, snorting. "If you die, you return to this Tablet, but not me. It may not look like it, but I'm scared shitless of this man. He's eon ahead of me in magical knowledge and he has a Troll guard equipped with more magical Items than I saw in a lifetime."

"I'm sorry I put your life at risk," she said, looking down and sighing deeply.

Nate pulled her into a warm hug and planted a kiss on her furry cheek. "I never considered myself to be an Evil person, but I'm not a Good one either," he said. "I'm not sorry and you shouldn't be either. This encounter made me realise many things and it's making me feel something I never truly believed in. You came out of that Tablet with no memories of your past and yet... you offered to help Bahk and saved an entire village of people."

She pulled away a little and smiled at him. "I felt it was the right thing to do."

"I believe it was," he said, petting her cheek tenderly. "I've never been scared like this before. I feel it twisting inside me, the fear, the uncertainty, the doubts," he placed his hand on his chest as though he was in pain. "Keyfay, I feel more alive right now than I have ever been my entire life. I've been afraid before. Hell, I've been terrified on a few occasions, but that's because I was getting my ass handed to me by forces beyond me, yet I managed to survive, but this... this single man terrifies me. I'd never put my life at risk like this before. I would never even consider going up against a Wizard half as powerful as I am for someone I care about, much less one I believe to be many times stronger than me for people I don't even know, yet I feel exactly like what you just said. It was the right thing to do. I don't regret putting my life in danger for Bahk and his friends - whom I never even met. I don't regret risking my life, with you, because of you, to help them." He laughed nervously, his eyes sparkling wet. I've never done something so selfless and now that I have... knowing all these people will be saved because of it, even if it means this Wizard will chase me to the end of this world, and possibly beyond, it makes me feel... Good."

He pushed her down gently as his lips pressed against hers.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, returning the kiss with passion, but as her fingers released the Tablet at her side, she felt it slid away from her fingertips.

"Shaalakh'th Tackyamahk," a voice shouted from behind the bushes.

Keyfay turned just in time to shield Nate from a sudden penetrating attack from a root. The magically animated root went through her side from back to front and grazed Nate in its wake, but he was saved from what would most likely have been a fatal blow.

She roared from the pain, pushing Nate away as she swirled to get back on her feet and to face her opponent.

The creature was a small fairy with silver skin, very long black hair. She was wearing a bikini made from the skin of a white tiger, and she held the Tablet before her.

"Please wait Thea," Nate shouted. "I'm sorr-"

"Keyfay-Mikaellaradÿss," Thea shouted.