The Thaumaturge

A Story by TheThaumaturge

The First tale of The Thaumaturge...

It was just a normal day, walking down into the market to buy flour, wheat, milk, and any other supplies for food. But as I was walking towards the milkman, I saw something quite odd. A stranger handed over a silver coin, like any other man for bread. But what was strange about this man is that he did not just buy bread, he also bought a mysterious bottle filled with green liquid. I forgot all my matters and started to follow him.

I followed silently behind ducking behind trees and treading carefully. He lived quite far from the village, the trees and herbs around were quite strange from the ones I was used to. Bushes were scattered all around the road, they were glimmering in an almost unnoticeable way, but the eye could just tell that they were different from the rest. Odd noises came from the bushes, noises I had never heard before.

It sounded as though I were in a whole other realm, was this all just a dream? No, it couldn't have been, it felt too real. On the way I heard another odd noise even more strange than the other noises to the house, it sounded as though someone was chanting, but I could see no one but the Strange man. It sounded like a ghost softly whispering secrets of an unknown language hissing, "sshafua tiska dokatassa." The stranger's house was quite big! It was three times bigger than any normal house he had seen around. It was covered in vines and trees were leaning into the windows. The windows were shattered and the door was very damaged, it squeaked quite loudly as the man entered the house. The house was made of a dark type of wood with cobble spread around the outskirts of the mansion.

Suddenly, the door closed with a slam! "I am quite a good thief, I should be able to get this door open in no time!" As I walked toward the door, it felt as though the house was breathing and watching me like a living thing. I swept the thought out of my mind and took my tools out, and worked on opening the door. As I was doing this I could have sworn the old shaggy door was hissing at me, as if warning me. Could I have gone insane? No, there was no time for insanity, I kept working. Suddenly out of nowhere a gust of wind threw me back just as the door was unlocked. I went back up to the door, and to my displeasure, it was again locked. What kind of magic is bewitching this place? Suddenly, I remembered something I overheard from someone, he said, "I head of a Strange man nearby, they call him the Thaumaturge, a worker of magic, although I will not will myself to believe in such tales."

Suddenly, the door was swung open. "Ahhh, so this is who my house tells me is following me." He grins, "Come in, I have matters of which I must converse with you!" With amazement in my eyes, I came into the house and put my tools away. The walls were a dark purple, the floor was a velvet color. The house was very messy, books scattered all over the floor, picture frames almost falling from the walls, desks covered in bottles of odd liquids and other odd items. I asked the Thaumaturge, "How did you know I was here?" The Thaumaturge replied in a very excited voice, "The walls of this house are made of Greatwood, a very mysterious type. If you have the connection with nature and magic you can understand its language and it may even assist you." The Thaumaturge grinned and sat down on a velvet sofa. "Sit down, you must be exhausted from the walk here, after all, I live quite a ways." I said, "Yes, thank you. I do not ask out of rudeness, but who are you and what are all these things?" The Thaumaturge says, "I can tell you have already figured me as a Thaumaturge, you are correct." He took the green liquid bottle from his pocket and held it to me, "Ahh, let me explain to you what this is and many other of my things are," explained the Thaumaturge.

"I brew special elixirs and can make powerful objects. This bottle I am holding is the essence of Terra, in other words, earth." He pointed his hand toward the stairs and said, "Follow me." The stairs were quite creaky and dusty, I almost had the nerve to try my luck and see If I jumped hard enough, I could break the wood, but I overcame that temptation. The Thaumaturge led me into a room with a stone brick floor and a crucible boiling with water with fire underneath it. The Thaumaturge opened the cap of the glass bottle and poured the liquid into the crucible. It was an odd liquid as if a liquid but not. It fell like a liquid but looked gassy, as if were another element. The Thaumaturge took another glass bottle from a shelf, and this time, it was orange, "Ignis" he explained, "The essence of fire." He poured that in along with black, purple, blue and many other colored bottles into the crucible. He then took a long iron spoon with a leather hilt and mixed all of the liquids together.

He said, "Now we must wait." I waited, for almost two hours while re-thinking of all the events that had just passed. During the two hours it was very silent, we never spoke, just looked at the crucible and waited. Finally, the Thaumaturge said, "It should now be ready." He opened a drawer and took out a yellow powder and threw it into the crucible, the powder glowed and soft humming came from it until finally, the crucible spat out a mystical flame. "What is that?" I said. "Nitor, not an element: it will not burn you if you touch it, although fire would, it gives the same glow like fire, but would never run out." He grabbed a jar and chanted something then he quickly threw the jar over the Nitor. "Here," he said, "Take it as a token of my gratitude, it is not often I have company." He grinned.

"Wait!" I said, "Before I go, I must ask you a question, I heard a very odd noise outside, it sounded like a ghostly whisper that was hissing with a terrorizing sound in its tongue, although a very odd language, not as you speak." The Thaumaturge stared. He did not speak for several minutes. He went over to the window and looked out. "As I have feared, for many decades, it has come" I wondered and asked, "What has come?" The Thaumaturge turned towards me and said, "The Crimson Cult, no one knows there plan, neither do I, but we all know they are evil. They lay in wait of an unsuspecting traveler than they capture them and bring them to their realm and see how long they live." A spark of panic struck his eye. "I will take you back, for they fear me for my power, but as their power grows, they will start their evil plan, whatever it may be." The Thaumaturge says, "Get out of this land! Take your wife and children, and run! It is no longer safe here." We ran downstairs and out the door, we ran to the village as fast as we could. When we arrived, he said, "Beware! Come this way no more, I and some fellow Thaumaturges must put this to an end once more!" He then left, and I came home to get my family out, as far away as possible.

THE END

Inspired by "The Tell-Tale Heart"