Wizard of Jatte by Rowan Erlking (librera reader txt) 📕

There the giant was, sitting cross-legged in a small straw lined cell. It was dry and rather typical for a Jatte prison, so there was no abuse there. His head leaned back against the wall as if he were just napping and not a prisoner. Encircling him in a flowing spherical net, Theissen saw a hate ward protecting him.

“I didn’t know you knew magic?” Theissen said, walking straight to Emrit’s cell. He parted the bars with little effort, stepping inside. He didn’t even bother with the door.

The giant Westhavener blinked open his eyes, Then he blinked them again with disbelief. Emrit stared at Theissen. “What you do here?”

Giving a small bow, Theissen said, “Theobold heard you were arrested by Jatte sheriffs. I had to come. What happened?”

Shaking his head, the man sighed as if nothing in the world would amaze him anymore. In the clearest Jatten Emrit could manage, he said, “Angledoli come. He bring sheriff. He say I go to Angledoli. I no want. We fight. They take pistol. I lock up. Now they argue—I go to Angledoli or I go to pit. I no want Angledoli or pit.”

Theissen glanced back the way he had come. “You mean they throw people in a pit?”

Emrit nodded.

“That big black hole I nearly fell into trying to get in here?”

The man nodded again.

Clenching his head, Theissen sighed heavily. “Ok, fine. I’ll go up and speak for you.”

“They no listen. Captain of my ship speak for me. They no listen.” Emrit looked consigned to remain in that hate ward forever.

“I think I can have some influence,” Theissen replied. “Now just tell me what exactly are you in trouble with the Angledon for?”

A knowing smirk, crooked on Emrit’s lips. He leaned forward. “I help demon trees get revenge.”

Theissen blinked. “I don’t think I’ve heard this story, though I have heard of demon trees.”

Nodding, Emrit leaned back again. “Long story. But, when I try come home from big problem in Lutan, I go in Angledoli. Meet demon trees. Nice people.”

Theissen smiled. “Some demons can be. I agree.”

Emrit continued. “But demon trees hate rich big man in Delinburg. They ask me make Delinburg man give them pay for old job they do. Man in Delinburg no want pay. He want keep money. Demon trees say revenge. First, I no want, but later I do.”

Listening, Theissen wondering over the details of Emrit’s adventures among other demons.

“One demon tree is magician long ago. He make magic fruit. I use. Make rich man in Delingurg house big big tree. All big big tree. Rich man hate me. I no care. I go to home, only cannot go to Brein Amon because Jonis.”

“But you don’t want to be deported back to Angledoli either,” Theissen finished.

Emrit nodded.

“Let me see if I get this straight, then. You got a rich man in Angledoli mad at you for delivering a magic spell from the demon trees, am I right?” Theissen watched Emrit’s face to see if the man understood him.

Smiling calmly, Emrit nodded again.

Theissen sighed. He looked down the hall, feeling someone approach.

“That, and I also break famous animal-demon carnival, steal back Brein Amon army pistol, and kill men who try kill tree child demon.”

Looking back at him, Theissen stared wide. “You what?”

“I—”

“Forget it, I understood it,” Theissen walked back through the bars to the outside. “You have made enemies of powerful people. That is enough to understand. I’ll help you out.”

“How?” Emrit stood up. His eyes followed Theissen as he peeked around then look up at the ceiling.

Theissen reached up to touch the stone over their heads to feel for people walking above. He needed a quick way out. Grinning once at Emrit, he said, “I know Jatte law like the palms of my hands. I’ll argue your case, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll sneak you out myself.”

Emrit stared. “But you sneak me out, you break law.”

Theissen met his gaze. “There is no Jatte law that says you deserve to be in here. I’ll fight for that.”

The ceiling parted like soft wax under Theissen’s fingers, drawing him up through to the floor above.

Emrit stared after him with wider eyes.

Yet Theissen emerged from his stone tunnel, parting marble tile stacked over it. He found himself climbing up in the middle of a room full of men—including three irate Angledons and several lawmen, plus the squat magician and what looked like an herbalist.

“Hello.” Blushing, Theissen dusted himself off and stood upright, causing the hole in the floor to close completely. He returned the perfect marble mosaic on the floor to its proper shape.  “I’m sorry I’m late, but I’ve come to speak on behalf of that Westhavener underneath our feet.”

“How dare you!” Filian Magician stomped to Theissen as if to meet him. He stopped short of Theissen’s reach by a few yards.

The herbalist in the room tilted his head and asked, “Is this the wizard you mentioned?”

Theissen gave him and then the others a bow, letting his eyes rest on Captain Shmiter who just stared at him as if he didn’t know how to react. “I am Theissen Darol Mukumar Carpenterson of Lumen Village, the registered wizard of Jattereen.”

Several drew in breaths. Though, a number of the people in the room recoiled with scowls. The Angledons looked the most shocked. The captain rose from his seat.

“You are a carpenter! You can’t be a wizard!”

Giving him a tired look, Theissen replied, “I beg your pardon, one is not exclusive of the other. Just because I am a carpenter does not mean I cannot be a wizard. I was born a wizard, and I was a raised a carpenter. I am both, and I am here to speak on behalf of Emrit Yarran, the dockworker from Westhaven.”

“You speak on his behalf?” Captain Shmiter shouted, looking even more shocked.

Theissen bowed to him. “I didn’t know him when you and I first met, but as it turns out, he and I have a mutual friend. We have been well acquainted since that day, and I will speak for him today.”

Captain Shmiter’s face turned a dark purple. His eyes narrowed down with redirected hate. “You have no place in this courtroom.”

Taking a step closer to what looked like the deciding elders, Theissen bowed. “I apologize for my poor entrance, but when a friend of mine is in need, I must speak out.”

The elders nodded back to him. All of them looked pleased.

One gestured to the bailiff in the room. “We have yet to bring out the accused. But if you are willing to speak for a man who is apparently infamous in Angledoli for causing major disruption, then by all means we would like to hear what a wizard of our land has to say. The magician has already condemned the magister as dangerous and vile. The herbalist has come to agree, claiming that his dealings with demons are a foul act. They both believe he ought to be cast into the endless pit.”

“You mean that cave under this building, don’t you?” Theissen asked.

The elders nodded.

“But the Angledons feel he ought to be taken back to their country to be drawn and quartered. What do you say?” The elder nodded to Theissen, folding his fingers together and waiting.

Theissen frowned. Emrit really did have everything stacked against him. But that did not mean he was going to give up. Theissen turned to look at all those who had condemned Emrit. “I want to know what proof they have to condemn a man to death?”

Captain Shmiter rose. “He has murdered ten respectable men—”

“Emrit said they were carnival men,” Theissen replied with personal distaste.

The captain blinked. He looked to the elders who appeared to be smiling even more. He then nodded to Theissen. “They were men in the profession of entertainment. And he stole personal property from the owner, using it against them.”

“You mean that pistol?” Theissen asked him, to make sure.

Glancing to his men, Captain Shmiter then peered Theissen directly in the eye. “How do you know what it is called?”

Theissen nodded. “I asked Emrit.”

“When did you speak with him?” Captain Shmiter demanded.

Grinning, Theissen stamped on the floor. “Just now.”

The group gasped again.

“Young Wizard, you entered a prison without permission,” one of the elders said.

Theissen bowed to him. “Yes, and I beg your forgiveness. I had to make sure he was all right.”

“Is he still there?” a bailiff asked.

Nodding to him, Theissen replied, “Sitting in a hate ward so no one who hates him can harm him.”

“See!” The magician shouted out. “Dangerous magic!”

“Hate wards are not dangerous magic,” Theissen snapped back with a roll of his eyes. “Besides, he certainly does not deserve imprisonment in Jatte. He does not deserve punishment in Jatte. Did he break Jatte law? Has he harmed anyone here?”

The elders looked to the magician and then the herbalist, both of whom shifted in their seats as if it had become suddenly uncomfortable.

“Does this mean the man is only under condemnation for being able to do magic different from magicians and herbalists?” Theissen asked.

The two squirmed even more until the herbalist shouted out, “He makes friends with demons!”

“So do I,” Theissen replied, lifting his chin. “Am I under condemnation of Jatte law for befriending demons?”

A general gasp cut through the room. The elders sat up in their chairs, staring at him with wonder.

“What demons have you befriended?” an elder demanded.

With a nod, Theissen said, “I am a friend to the Molemen and Birdmen of the Jadoran Mountains and Dondit Mountains, and forest in between. And since they mean no harm to humankind but want to trade with them, I’m acting now as their liaison in this city for trade. Go ahead and condemn me. But you cannot prove that those demons are any more hateful than regular human beings.”

“But they’re demons!” the herbalist shouted at him. His face turned quite red, almost as red as the magician in fact. “Demons are unnatural!”

“I agree.” Theissen nodded. “I can smell it and see it. I know it. But I also know that my friends who are demons are good people.”

A murmur went throughout the room.

“And further, what I have heard about the demon trees is that if you leave them alone, they will leave you alone. That is like most humans. In fact, better than most humans who often cannot let enough alone.” He turned toward the magician. “I submit that Emrit befriended them because they befriended him.”

Through a stern glare, Captain Shmiter said, “The demons sent a curse through him to a highly respectable man in—”

“Delinburg,” Theissen completed the thought. “Yes, he told me.”

The captain’s looks darkened. “And you think that act was justifiable?”

Theissen sighed. He looked to the elders. “As far as I understand it, he was ending a very long business negotiation. Your so-called respectable man refused to pay for a service a magician performed for him.”

“For his ancestor!” Captain Shmiter shrieked out. “You cannot possibly expect—” 

“It is not what I expect that matters. What matters is that Emrit was delivering a message and an option for a friend. You just want to kill the messenger.” Theissen stood back,