Story Challenge, Day 5

Five down, nine to go. Almost halfway there! Today's story prompt was to write about a bloody room that is cause for celebration. And so that's what I give you.

Blood From A Stone

Talk was spreading rapidly through the town – about the missing miners, about the massive patch of ground that had changed overnight from its normal sandy brown to a dark rust red, and most importantly about the nearby mage who suddenly had gold to spare, and was using it to hire all manner of craftsmen and builders for the construction of a massive tower. Finally, the town council decided a meeting must be held on the matter.

“All that gold rightly belongs to the town, not to some filthy blood mage.”

“And who knows what evils he’ll be involved in once his tower is finished.”

“Gods know he’s likely responsible for several murders already!”

“Yes, yes, all very valid points,” the mayor said, doing his best to calm the councilmen. “But let us not forget that he is not only likely a thief and a murderer, he is also a mage. And we have no way of knowing how powerful a mage.”

“So we hire a mage of our own!”

“How can we afford a mage? All our tax revenues are committed to expanding the town.”

“Tell him he can have the blood mage’s gold!”

“That is an excellent idea,” the mayor said. “But I think we shall offer half the blood mage’s gold – we should at least see some financial gain from this endeavor.” This brought on a cheer from all of the council members. “And I think I know of someone who may be just who we need. I will send an emissary to him, and we shall see if he is willing to help us.”

*****

“Master, there is someone here to see you.”

“Who is it?”

“He claims he is a representative of the mayor of Femren, seeking your aid.”

“Hmm, Femren, you say? A lot of wealth in Femren these days. All right, send him in.”

“Master Tenbris, my lord bids me request your aid,” the messenger said, dropping to one knee and bowing his head.

“Oh, get up, get up. I’m not some silly nobleman who expects everyone to speak to him on bowed knee. Now what is it I can do for the mayor of Femren?”

The messenger stood up.

“We are having problems with a blood mage, sir. We believe he has stolen a significant quantity of gold from the mines near the town, and has likely killed several miners as well. The mayor humbly requests your assistance in dealing with him, sir.”

“Oh, he ‘requests my assistance’ does he? You mean he wants me to take care of the problem for him.”

The messenger blushed  slightly, ducking his head in embarrassment. “Yes sir.”

“And what exactly is in it for me?”

“The mayor has offered to give you half of all gold recovered from the mage on proof of his demise.”

“A full half, eh? Quite the generous sort, your mayor, only keeping half for himself.” The messenger had nothing to say to this. “But your mayor is in luck. I’ve had my eye on your blood mage for some time now myself. Up till now he hasn’t looked to be more than a minor nuisance, but if he has amassed all this gold as you claim, that could be problematic, especially if he starts acquiring himself more powerful artifacts.”

“He’s currently having a tower built, sir.”

“A tower, you say? Oh, that is amusing. Can’t be a proper wizard without your own tower! That is truly priceless. But more importantly, it means he likely hasn’t gotten around to spending his ill-gotten gains on things of actual worth. Good, good. Tell your mayor that I will take on his cause, and I will even be generous enough to let him keep half of the blood mage’s gold.”

“Yes sir. Thank you, sir. I will go tell him at once.”

Tenbris watched the messenger hurry off. Yes, it would appear it was finally time to deal with that fool Sothus once and for all. But the question was, how best to do it? Tenbris had no doubts that the blood mage was nowhere close to his level of skill, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. And blood magic was especially tricky to deal with, because its strength lies in something every living thing has – blood. Hmm. That was indeed the answer, wasn’t it? If his enemy’s strength was blood, the key to fighting him would be in having none. This called for some research.

*****

It took several hours of study, but Tenbris found exactly the spell he required – the creation of a stone golem. This would be the perfect thing to take out the blood mage. Gathering the ingredients he needed, he made a trip to the nearest quarry. There he laid out his ingredients and cast his spell. The stones around him began to tremor, then to shake, then they uprooted themselves and pulled together into the rough outline of a man.

“Golem, I am Tenbris. You will obey my commands!”

Tenbris mounted his horse. He turned and headed off, the golem following along behind him. They traveled slowly cross country until they reached the home of Sothus. It was late in the evening, and the builders had all gone home for the day. The beginnings of the blood mage’s new tower where coming together, right next to his current home.

Tenbris closed his eyes, concentrating. Yes, the blood mage was inside. Opening his eyes, he turned to the golem. “Golem, kill the man in that house. Then your job is done,” he said, pointing to the house.

The golem lurched forward towards the house. Tenbris turned and left. Once the golem had finished its task, the spell would end and it would collapse back into stone, so there was no need for him to remain. He would take up a room at an inn in Femren, and on the morrow he would return to take possession of his gold.

*****

Sothus paced around the room. The building just wasn’t happening fast enough! He wanted his tower finished now. If he had to threaten the builders’ families, he’d get them motivated to get moving. Then a loud crash interrupted his thoughts. He was about to investigate when a massive stone form entered the room.

“And what exactly are you supposed to be?”

The stone golem made not a sound as it approached him. Sothus reached out his hand and his staff flew across the room and into his grip. Rotating his open palm in a small circle, he tightly closed his fist shut. Only nothing happened, no connection to his opponent was made.

“Oh, well done. Whoever has sent you at me made certain you had no blood in your body. But that is hardly enough to stop me!”

He swept his staff through the air in front of him, and an invisible force slammed into the golem, knocking it aside. It smashed into Sothus’ cauldron, shattering it and spilling its bloody contents all over the floor. The golem appeared unfazed as it rose once again to its feet, now covered in blood. It continued its slow, steady approach. Sothus backed away, firing off a blast of mystic energy from his staff. The energy impacted the golem in the chest, and the blood on it burst into flames, releasing an acrid, bitter smoke.

At the same time, the golem’s features began to contort. Its arms and legs grew more human-like, shedding excess stone. A face formed, then changed to a different face, then a third, then a forth. It took Sothus a moment, but he recognized several of the faces. They belonged to his victims, those people whose blood had made up the contents of his shattered cauldron. He sent another blast at the golem, but this time it had no noticeable effect. The golem continued forward, backing Sothus into a corner.

The golem then reached out with its massive hand and grabbed hold of the blood mage’s head. It squeezed, just once, and that was the end of Sothus. His now headless corpse collapsed to the floor, blood flowing from the neck to join the blood from the cauldron that was spattered about the room and soaking into the floor.

*****

Tenbris was relaxing in the tavern, enjoying a pint of mead, when the tavern’s doors were pushed open and a massive stone form entered. Tenbris recognized it immediately, even though its form was completely changed. Instead of the simple, roughly manlike form he had created, standing before him was a stone man, with fairly well defined arms and legs, hands and feet, even a fully formed face. But clearly it was still his golem – he could feel the magic inside of it.

“It is done,” the golem said.

“Now this is an interesting development. What exactly has happened to you? And how is it that you are still up and about, when your magic should have ceased with the death of the blood mage? Hmm, interesting indeed. Wait outside while I think this over.”

The golem turned and left the tavern. Tenbris pondered the matter as he sipped his mead. Somehow, it would seem, during the battle the blood mage’s magic must have merged with the magic animating the golem, creating a new spell of sorts, one that had both changed its features, and given it life beyond his original spell. Which begged the question, now what did he do with it? Oh well, that would be a question for tomorrow.

*****

The next morning Tenbris met with the town council. They were a little alarmed to see the golem standing behind him, but were more than thrilled to hear of his defeat of Sothus.

“Well done, Master Tenbris!” the mayor said. “You have our heartfelt thanks!”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure. But let us not forget the matter of my payment.”

“Of course. Once all the mage’s gold is gathered and tallied, you will be sent your half.”

“About that. I’ve thought the matter over, and I think I will be taking all of the gold.”

“What?!” The rest of council’s shocked replies echoed that of the mayor.

“Not to worry, I give you something in return for your half of the gold.” Tenbris turned and held out his hand towards the golem. “I have no real need for the services of this golem any longer, and don’t feel it is worth the effort to disenchant him, so I am giving him to you. He is strong, unwaveringly loyal, and I would imagine very useful in both building and mining. So what say you?”

There was a fair bit of grumbling among the council members, but none of them felt so bold as to openly argue with the wizard.

“I guess that would be a fair enough trade,” the mayor responded.

“Good.” Tenbris look at the golem. “Golem, you now belong to the mayor of Femren. You will obey his commands henceforth.”

The golem simply nodded.

“Now I shall be on my way. Cheer up, gentlemen. This is cause for celebration! And now, I bid you farewell.”

*****

While the council felt little desire to celebrate, for the townsfolk it was a different story. As soon as word got out that the blood mage was dead, a group was sent to investigate. With the discovery of his bloody remains, there were many calls for rejoicing (the builders’ and stonemasons’ guilds were especially happy, for they had already been paid for work they no longer needed to do, and to a man they had been more than a little unnerved whenever they’d been forced to interact with Sothus). And so a grand feast was held, while the town council tried to figure out how best to make use of their new golem.