Demons and Dragons and Rangers, Oh My
Chapter 7: Deep in Thought (Bartimaeus edition)
Bartimaeus
On my flight back to Graybeard's cottage, I began to reflect on this new adventure. It looked like it might be just as momentous as my adventures with Asmira back at Jerusalem. It had all the ingredients to be a legendary event; mysterious anti-conformist magician, legendary swashbuckling djinn (Me and Faquarl, loathe as I am to admit it), unexplainable happenings (even by ancient and wise djinn such as myself), and hey, war. Now, the war thing hadn't happened yet, but honestly, how else is this going to end? Everybody accepts each other's presence and they all start working together? From what I'd gleaned from townspeople along the way, (My master failed to instruct me to be timely about it, but I didn't have much reason to dawdle.) Graybeard's little universe didn't even get along. The Skandians raided pretty much everybody else, the Temujai were world-conquering megalomaniacs, the Gallicans just sat in Gallica and squabbled. So for some reason a whole new continent loaded with different people, cultures and ideas would somehow magically make everyone get along? From wisdom borne of many centuries of experience, I know that people will never get along. So, back to my reflections on the greatness of this adventure, perhaps one day, the epic of Alagaesia will be sung, with the mighty hero Bartimaeus at its center. Then there's the whole dragon thing. Pretty much self-explanatory, but since you humans are amazingly thick, I shall explain it. These creatures can appear as dragons on all seven planes. But dragons don't exist. Thus, we have a rather confusing conundrum, a paradox, if you will. For now, my explanation was that they were Charas, a subclass of djinn that can operate on the 1st through 9th planes. If I expend tremendous amounts of energy on it, I can see on the ninth plane, but only for a fleeting moment. The only reason I doubted this is because no Charas I have ever met is powerful enough to take the form of something as gigantic as that dragon. But hey, a powerful Charas is far less strange an explanation than it actually being a dragon. Satisfied that I had solved the conundrum, I sped up. And slammed straight into a launched Inferno. Thanks to my fiery form (A phoenix), I just kept flying. Then I realized that whatever was flinging attacks at me was probably capable of hitting a moving target. My theory was validated by a somewhat wimpy Detonation smashing into my right wing. I began spiraling towards the ground, and then recovered quickly. I whirled around, quickly changing into my Avianse from earlier (Chapter 4: my guise before the dragon) and flung a Detonation at a furtive shape, which veered to the right sharply, but not sharply enough to avoid my high-powered attack clipping it. As it struggled to regain control, I took the opportunity to study my opponent. First plane, pure shadow. Second plane, regal falcon. Third through sixth, a fiery angel. Seventh, ZENO! "What did I tell you about pursuing higher spirits?" I raged, flinging Detonations and riddling him with Spasms the whole way, "It gets you killed! But nooooooooooo, you're too good to listen to me! I told you to leave Queezle alone, but NO! You persist! You banter and banter and banter and she's just distracted enough to get a silver arrow! She almost DIED! You're lucky you and her shared a master when I killed the magician, or I would have killed you next!" I bellowed. I swung around and caught him with a clawed hand and dragged him to the ground, pinning him there. I raised a hand, the most powerful Dark Node I had mustered for centuries already prepared to be flung, when he cried out "Mercy! I beg your forgiveness. Queezle and I were friends and I was foolish to distract her, but it was borne of stupidity, not malice!" he begged. The groveling of a djinni, no matter how petty or weak, reminds me that I have pity, somewhere deep inside. As such I simply rolled a hefty boulder on top of him and left him to the elements and rage of his master. It felt good to be mighty. With this thought, I turned into a phoenix with a flash of light and soared away.
This isn't the end! It's just a small intermission before Bartimaeus's real battle scene (This one doesn't count because Zeno is a pansy)! I felt like that sentence deserved to be an ending, so I put this here. I put Zeno in here! It's a Golem's Eye reference. And a Queezle reference! Romance? I have to consider. Maybe I will give Bartimaeus a Queezle scene. Maybe! This is not going to be a teen, no matter what! So it will have to be appropriate. Tell me if you think this is a good idea or not. And if you send me QueezlexBartimaeus hate reviews then I will make sure to put a QxB chappie in there (Only mild tempered "No thank you"s allowed). An entire chappie! On to the rest of the story!
As I pumped my majestic flaming wings and soared through the air, I realized that I probably should have questioned Zeno and discovered his purpose. Granted, if his magician was at all competent, he wouldn't have allowed him the opportunity to tell me his purpose. But that's no guarantee. Ah, what the heck, I hated turning around as a phoenix. So long, Zeno! I pumped my wings with renewed vigor. Fief Norgate, Araluen, Ah! Redmont! I began spiraling down to Ol' Graybeard's cottage. Upon which I was met by Queezle. "How very terrible to see you, Bartimaeus." She called up to me, in the form of a sort of leopard-human hybrid. "And you as well, Queezle." I called down in reply. Contrary to what you dense humans are thinking right now, this was just us sharing a joke. Back in, oh where was it, Tenochtitlan, we had a witty conversation when supposed to be sacrificing the losers of one of their religious games (They have so many, I can't be expected to know them all.), and I mentioned that between us djinn, it would be rather spiteful on Earth to greet someone with "Good to see you" because this is an uncivilized piece of rock. Instead, it would be more appropriate to say "How very terrible to see you." in empathy that they were stuck on aforesaid rock the first time you met them during that bout of slavery. After that it was perfectly acceptable to say "Good to see you." because it was just as well that you friends were together during your slavery. As such, we were just sharing an inside joke. "What brings you here, Queezle?" I asked, keeping my voice very steady. "A ******* magician." She responded, "And you?" I simply waved my hand in a dismissive manner and said "Oh, the same, the same. Actually," I said, brightening up, "the same master if I'm correct." Queezle tested me with "Grumpy old Graybeard? Fond of his silver arrows?" "Very fond." was my gruff response. "Any particular reason you're waiting outside his cottage?" I queried. "My job is to tell you to fly to Castle Araluen with me." She replied offhand. "Why?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. "His king is under attack." she told me. "Hmmmm. Sumerian spear-bearer?" She shook her head. "Moorish veteran?" I asked. "No." she replied. I went with a classic "Goatman with big ram horns and spikes on his arms?" I demanded. "Sure, what the heck." She responded. "Well, let's see if our master has some weapons." She suggested with a failed attempt at a world-weary air. I burst out in gales of merriment. Once I was done, I chuckled "Oh Queezle, you can't do world-weary! All you can do is cheerful and upbeat." I was still wiping tears from my eyes when she just punched me. Nothing magical about it, just a clenched fist colliding with my upper lip. Didn't keep me from flying around ten yards. With that, she took off as a flaming angel with bull horns sprouting from her head. I jumped up and soared away, close behind, in "Goatman with big ram horns and spikes on his arms" form, complete with reptilian wings. I pumped my wings with more vigor than I can recall doing in the last millennia as I gained on her. Inch by inch, I was gaining on her. Then she suddenly dropped, leaving me tumbling through thin air. Then I realized that I was over Castle Araluen, and was now required to help Queezle fight off whatever was in there. I just folded my wings and plummeted.
PSYCH! No battle scene! Unless you count Zeno (Who is a pansy) or Queezle (Who was just playing). I included Queezle! But as a friend. That is my decision. But it is not set in stone! So if you feel strongly about it, review! I kind of like my use of Queezle and ancient references. But tell me if you dislike how I am writing, because I am new. But you have to review! R&R ya'll! ^.^