Convergence Of Mages

The man in the black suit was seated before the huge desk. He held a dark suitcase, and wore a dark hat that blocked view of his eyes. In the desk he stood before was a business man.

The business man pointed to a wall on his left, a huge screen. Out through the glass of the overhang, hundreds of techs were busy researching on computers.

The screen to his left turned on, and a profile view of a man popped up. The man was extremely skinny, and the wall tall image twirled around on an invisible axis. The business man set back, propping his hands behind his head.

"Blade," the business man started "I feel you’re familiar with subject 209? Correct?".

"I am, Gorotsym." the dark figure replied. He opened the suitcase, bringing out some papers.

Gorotsym pointed to the wall, and the view changed to a different setting. A skinny man was walking through a twenty first century city.

"Here. Offender number 0209. Name, Rilo Cleanser. Occupation, Gurvinian Mage. Magic level, Necromancer three." Blade replied, reading from the company print out.

"Correct, read on." Gorotsym urged, pointing to the screen. The view changed to a battle between two big armies, Rilo leading one.

"He broke code law 45h3-b, dimension traveling without a permit. Has eluded all attempts of capture. Last spotted on earth, three hundred years ago. Known relatives, two. Grandol Cleanser, Father. Jane Kirkla, wife." Blade read aloud. He paused.

" Known features are as follows. Extremely underweight, huge staff. Brown hair, translucent eyes, light Caucasian skin. He currently has a fifty thousand gold piece bounty on him, alive." he finished.

"Only known motivation is to acquire knowledge." Gorotsym remarked.

"What am I here for, then?" Blade sighed.

"Hold on...know her?" Gorotsym answered, pointing to the screen. A hooded assassin slinked through the shadows of a forest. The figure was following Rilo.

"Number 3008." Gorotsym asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you had me print up that one. Ummmm...here..." Blade replied, searching through his suitcase. He pulled out another stack of papers.

"Yeah, Offender number 3008, low class. Name, Katie Hensmith. Occupation, Assassin. Elf. She’s a lowly thief. Known features are as follows. Uncommonly beautiful, klutzy. Blond hair, Ice blue eyes, pale elven skin. What’s the matter?" Blade asked.

"Look." Gorotsym pointed. Rilo and Katie were fighting on an elven bridge. The battle was fierce.

"She decided to take the bounty?" Blade inquired, catching on.

"I want them brought in. I have a little assignment for both, and if they complete it successfully; I’ll erase all convictions from their records." Gorotsym replied.

"Can you get Simon on this one?" Blade asked.

"No. Simon’s out retrieving Cleez." Gorotsym replied, yawning.

"Ok, I’ll do it. But this will cost more than usual." Blade commented, standing up.

"Always does." Gorotsym replied, smiling.

They shook hands and, in a few seconds, Blade teleported away to another world.

"Next!" Gorotsym yelled, sipping on a glass of Dwarven blood and scotch..

Among the grand immensity of greenery, an elvish tree village thrived. Elves were very peaceful people. The were very close to nature.

Built around the trunk (not cut into) of your average hut, was built a floor, roof, and walls. Between the wooden structures lay finely constructed wooden bridges. The only way to travel from the canopy to the forest floor were from tightly secured wooden ladders.

Along the tree top bridges whisked elves to and fro, gathering food for the great forest. The lived in peace with the forest, and only bothered those who bothered them.

But on the forest floor lay a dark part of the elven land...

Rilo walked into the forest, glancing quickly from tree to tree. He wore a black cloak, a loose belt held it snugly tied to his waist like wet cloth. His dark black hair draped across his eyes like a rain of darkness, and he bade it to the side like unwanted ferns in a jungle explorer’s path. The mop of black started to fall back in place, wavered, and decided to lay where it had been cast, smitten.

Rilo’s chin bore a slight budding of goatee, and his right ear held a skull pierced

into it. He derived most of his Necromancy from it.

Rilo yawned and shook his head, continuing on.

He carried in one hand his tall staff with incriptions inscribed on it.

Rilo was here to visit Gromar the Elvish King, who had helped him many times.

Rilo found a ladder, and quickly scurried up it in a vertical crawl. After a thousand or more rungs. He reached the top and, in reaching a bridge, pulled himself with slight support from the bridge’s side rail.

He stood and surveyed the primitive structures gripping to the tree sides. Rilo walked calmly along the bridges, passing structures and waving to hurrying elves; and finally approaching a big hut.

In fact, it was the biggest hut. It’s size was three to four times that of the common huts. He opened the wooden door, and entered the domain. It was a great throne room that took at least five trees to support it. Upon an intricately carved ivory throne rested the elven king, Gromar. He was decorated in finely carved jewels from as far as Dwarvenia.

He turned to face Rilo, his face with a trace of guilt across it.

Rilo jumped back, an assassin’s dart missing him. The assassin bolted to the door. Rilo pulled up his staff, but the mysterious assailant was gone. He turned to Gromar.

"He would’ve killed me and my entire village. I apologize." Gromar whispered, hanging his head in dishonor.

Rilo quickly exited through the door, and saw the cloaked assassin standing quietly on the wood bridge. He leapt at the dark figure. The assassin, having been trained for agility, dodge and dropped off the bridge.

Rilo, confused, braced himself for attack. Watching the pale hands grip the edge, Rilo prepared to stab. The assassin swung his feet up and kicked the bottom of the bridge, dumping Rilo off and into the darkness below. He smashed into a lower bridge, and slowly struggled to his feet. He gazed down at the forest floor, nearly fifty feet below him.

The assassin landed in front of him, a dozen or more panicked birds swooping past the dark figure of evil.

Rilo got up, and readied his staff. The stranger stood silent, nothing put pale bloodless lips were revealed under the cloak hood. The cloak was made of pure panther skin. Cold pale fingers gripped a Masume, a sword which Rilo recognized.

He sniffed the air, and realized what the scent wavering through the air was. The assassin’s face started blackening, and he jumped. Rilo realized what was happening in time to raise his staff.

Rilo ripped in half, each half jumping to the side. The assassin, surprised by the quick spell, smacked into the bridge. Rilo’s two halves seemed back into one, and he fell to his knees. That spell always left him exhausted.

The assassin stood up, head hurting. Rilo turned and, quicker than the assassin, struck with his staff. The assassin, head still pounding and surprised, tripped and fell.

Off the bridge. Rilo leapt and grabbed the assassin’s hand.

The assassin was paralyzed, and Rilo saw why. Fifty feet below, on the forest floor, slithered a horrible creature.

A Woodroot Wurm. Wurms were distant cousins of dragons. They were, in all aspect, dragons; but Wurms bodies are long and skinny like snakes.

The wurm looked to be at least a hundred and fifty feet long, and was wrapped around the thick trees below. It’s head was moving from side to side, evidently waiting for one of them to fall.

Rilo pulled up the assassin and backed up. The assassin, brave yet stupid, jumped to attack with the masume. Rilo raised his hands, and the assassin was caught in an invisible grip. The first spell Rilo had learned.

The assassin squirmed in the air, unable to loosen. Rilo, gripping his staff, used it to slide back the cloak hood. The assassin screamed in terror. Rilo turned.

And was face to face with the Woodroot Wurm. It had slid up the tree sides, and was now preparing to make Rilo a tasty little snack.

Rilo opened his left palm, and chanted. The Wurm, never seeing this before, cocked it’s head to the side like a confused dog. Suddenly, from Rilo’s palm, launched an incredible lightning bolt. It surged out of his palm like a spear, and plunged into the Wurm’s tough leathery flesh.

The Wurm roared in agony, it’s gaping maw flaying around. It’s skull exploded through it’s lower jaw, a river of blood and pink flesh running from it’s mouth. The Wurm dropped it’s head. The lifeless limb fell onto the bridge with a sick thud. Rilo heard ropes snapping and turned.

The entire bridge gave way under the massive head. Ropes snapped, and Rilo felt weightless. Then reality struck, and Rilo plummeted downwards.

He reached out his staff and it caught in some branches. Rilo carefully climbed up onto the branches, and slid along on his belly to the tree trunk.

He felt around until he found a ladder, and scurried up it.

When Rilo got to the top, he quickly followed the bridges to the missing section.

The assassin was still floating in the air. Rilo waved his hands as if he wanted the assassin to come to him, and the squirming figure floated closer. Rilo looked closer.

The assassin was a twenty year old girl of Elvish descent. She had blond hair and ice white eyes. She stopped squirming to give him a scowl.

"Oh, and what’th ye have with a lonely mage such as me?" Rilo asked.

"Cut the crap, Rilon. You and I both know you have a price on your head. Didn’t you know you need a licensee to dimension hop?" she yelled sarcastically.

"Rilon? Who is Rilon? You better pay more attention to who you’re gonna assassinate." he retorted.

She cursed under her breath.

"Ok, RILO. Why don’t you tell me what they want you dead for, then." she snarled. He just smiled.

"Hmm...I’m not sure. I’ve only killed a little under a hundred people. I’m not sure what I could have done wrong." Rilo replied innocently.

"You smartas---" the assassin started to say.

Suddenly arms wrapped around Rilo and he yelped. A green haired sixteen year old stood behind him, her arms squeezing his gut. She let go.

"Hey honey." Rilo replied, kissing the girl.

"So who’s this?" the assassin asked, calm now.

"Meet Jane Kirkla. The Mrs. Smartass." he replied. He couldn’t have been a year older than her in looks, but the profile said he was three hundred and twenty nine.

Jane stepped forward, eyes wide.

"And I’m-" the assassin started.

"Katie Hensmith?" Jane cried.

"I-what? How’d you know" Katie asked hysterically.

"Sixth grade, fourth and fifth period. Shandin Hills?" Jane cried in glee, smiling.

"No way!... Jane?" Katie gasped, eyes wide.

Jane jumped up and they hugged. Rilo abated the holding spell.

"Ok, ok. Now explain how you know her." Rilo asked, pulling a lawn chair from nowhere, and sitting down in it.

"Well, when I was a kid, my family moved to Earth. I used a spell on my ears to blend in. I went to school with her, and we were pretty good friends. But what’s with the hair?" replied Katie.

"Oh, my hair being green? Isn’t magic cool?" Jane giggled, setting on Rilo’s lap.

"Yeah, my wife Jane likes weird hair colors. Don’t ask me." replied the casual Rilo.

"Wife? This changes everything." replied the elf.

"Oh?" inquired the calm Rilo, raising an eyebrow.

"I couldn’t hunt the husband of my best friend." Katie replied, streching out and yawning.

Rilo was about to respond when his eyes went wide. He raised from his chair, dumping Jane onto the bridge, and standing up.

He pulled out his staff, and looked around.

"Katie, did you know some one’s tracking you?" Rilo asked.

Katie stopped smiling, pulled a cloak around herself, and lept off the bridge. Rilo knew she was hiding. Jane raised up, and unsheathed her short sword.

The forest was quiet. No elves scurried about. No animal made a noise.

There was a ripple in the air, as though reality was a pool and something had just hit it’s surface.

Then a hole opened in the air in front of Jane.

A man with a cloak dropped on her, and grabbed her arms behind her back before she could do anything. The man kicked Jane’s sword to Rilo.

"Rilo? Greetings from Gorotsym. He wants to make a deal with you and the elf chick." the figure said, kicking Jane off the bridge. Her scream could be heard plummeting off.

Rilo raised an eyebrow, waited, then replied "Well?".

"Oh. Gorotsym requests that you two come with me to his office to discuss jobs for you both."

"And what if I refuse?"

"Then I take you."

Jane climbed onto the bridge.

"But I kicked you off, and I heard you fall!" the man replied.

"Well, my honey can’t go hopping worlds without me." she replied.

"Ohh, you must be Jane, the wife." he replied.

"Hear that, Katie? He can remember his assignments." Rilo yelled to the trees.

"Don’t patronize me!" a voice rang from nowhere yet everywhere too.

That was the first thing that suprised them. The second was Katie appearing twenty feet above the cloaked stranger, and leaping upon him.

The third was the speed at which the stranger moved. In the split second Katie was a foot from him, he turned to face up at her, holding his hands to her. It first looked as though they were held in self defense, but Katie’s arms were suddenly grabbed by his. She hung in his outstreached arms, unable to do anything. Then she got ready to kick him.

He swung her around and down, slamming her hard into the bridge. He landed on top of her, his arms still holding hers, and his knees on her waist.

"I see you underestimate me." He calmly replied.