Rise of the Blade - Charles Moffat [66]
"Its a little too late for planning your future. We're both old men Pierce, we've already had our day and we messed it up."
"I killed the tarrasque. Was that a mess up?"
"That was luck and quick thinking. The rest was just a combination of stupidity and foolishness. We're not immortal."
"You're smarter than you look, you know that?"
"I'll take that as a compliment," the bald Harper smiled and downed his drink.
Pierce set another log up and sliced it down the middle with his axe. He kicked the twin pieces aside and placed another log on the cutting block.
Martinez poured himself a drink from the bottle marked Kicbor Red Sixty-Three. He paused as he poured it and looked up at Pierce. Pierce stopped and looked at the Harper, delving past the alcohol fogged thoughts. "How much better is Chev?" the bald man said bluntly, seeing the Doctor's intent look.
Pierce frowned as he chopped downward at the wood block, splitting it easily and left the blade stuck the cutting block. The Doctor swallowed and wet his lips. "On a scale of one to ten?"
"Sure," Martinez shrugged and leaned against the wall as he sipped straight from the bottle.
"Chev would be a perfect ten and I would be an eight."
"And me?"
"You'd be about a six, maybe a seven."
"And yet together, we still couldn't beat Chev."
Pierce shrugged and jerked the axe out of the cutting block. "A perfect ten. We have to remember that Chev is in his prime and he is still more experienced than both of us. Who knows how many battles he went through years ago?"
"Does it matter? If you've heard everyone talking about him then you know that he's now a legend and a public hero."
"I've heard, but he's also a murderer. How are we supposed to bring him to justice when we don't even know why he's killing Harpers? The public doesn't know that they're dying either because we always cover up the deaths. There's only been three occasions when he's actually attacked and had witnesses."
"So?"
"Don't look at me for answers. I never wanted this authority in the Harper ranks, it was more or less thrust upon me." Pierce held up a single finger. "One job I did for the Harpers. Just one! When I returned they were passing out silver Harper pins like there was an endless supply of them!"
"Perhaps they knew that you have nothing else to do and wouldn't refuse it?"
Pierce snorted. "Nothing else to do! Indeed! I train adventurers now and only when I'm not busy being a Harper lackey!"
"You need a hobby. Ever thought about becoming a wine connoisseur?"
The Doctor shook his head and sliced another log down the middle. "This is the closest thing I have to a hobby."
"Chopping wood? Congratulations! You're now a lumberjack!"
"Har har! I wish it was that simple!"
"Light."
Nothing happened. Draque frowned and spoke again. "Light!" he commanded. There was no sign of the fire faerie. The mage tossed down the parchment he had been wanting to read and went to the door.
The east wing was far from finished but Draque had taken the opportunity to use its space and privacy to set up a workshop to conduct experiments. In the corner a huge silver cauldron bubbled with purified lifesyrup, heated by his Everhot Bricks. Without light the mage wouldn't be able to tell if the cauldron was ready for the experiment because he needed to see the colour change from golden to white.
Unjamming the door, the elf opened it and looked down the hallway. "Where are you?" He shivered and pulled his cloak around him tighter as he headed down the hallway. The ceiling of the hallway was incomplete and snow had drifted down through and landed in the corners where the sun couldn't get at it.
"Of all the times the little brat could disappear," Draque muttered and followed the sensation of heat with his heat sensing eyes and found it down the hall coming from the half-elf boy's room.
Lighting a cigar with a minor spell, the mage approached the door with all the silence of a night owl stalking its prey. He opened the door and found the fire faerie playing tic-tac-toe of all things.
"Haven't I told you