Reinhold's Fury

“This isn’t over. I don't know what you've done or what power you are tapping into, but it won't help you a second time in our next encounter” Reinhold said, moving his hands in a gesture of magic and vanishing.

A methodical portal opened lazily as Reinhold stepped through and closed once he’d taken a few steps from it. One hand on his wounded shoulder, the other holding his ribs, walking with a limping gait. Grunting slightly with the effort. After a few steps a large set of double doors opened and a shorter half elf man ran up to Reinhold’s side. “Master?!” he said with worry. “What has happened?” he asked, studying Reinhold, having rarely seen him injured, and even more rarely dirty. The only times he’d been wounded were against the likes of Enanth, or other mages on this level. When the Master had left he’d been going after a mid level mage and her human magicless bodyguard. How could he have been this injured?

“Genlamin…MOVE!” Reinhold spat as he moved past his servant. Genlamin blinked hard and took a stepping back, moving out of the way.

Genlamin watched as Reinhold seated himself in a large high backed chair, biting back the complaints about the mud on Reinhold’s clothes. “What are you waiting for?” Reinhold asked, glaring at the worried and bewildered Genlamin.

“Waiting…for?” He asked.

Anger flashed across Reinhold’s face for but an instant. “Go, get Yefka.”

Realization dawned on Genlamin, he bowed several times in apology. “Forgive me, Master, Right away.” he said, straightening and spinning on his heels to run from the room.

Reinhold rolled his shoulder, and leaned back, closing his eyes for a moment. Drifting back to thoughts of the fight. That man, the one attached to Alamoore’s hip. A filthy human using such dirty tricks to beat him. He didn’t know how the whelp managed to hide that powerful of magical items on himself but he had. And where did he acquire them? Reinhold worked his jaw to keep from grinding his teeth in anger. “And to speak gibberish to ‘cast his spell’, to insult me, make a fool of me. Disgusting.” Reinhold thought and slammed the fist of the good arm against the arm of the chair. “Making a mockery of magic.”

“Sir…?” Genlamin’s voice, found Reinhold and broke him from his stewing.

“What Genlamin.” Reinhold opened his eyes.

“Yefka has arrived.” Genlamin said, stepping aside. A woman even shorter than him stood there, her appearance was that of someone likely the offspring of an elf and a halfling. Her taupe colored hair in two messy frizzy braided pigtails, doing little to hide her slightly oversized ears.

“I..I came…I came as fast as I could.” she said, stammering a bit, seeing the state he was in rattled her slightly.

“Good.” Reinhold said, rising from his chair.

When he did Yefka tried to make herself smaller. Whether that was some sort of respect on her part or she was abjectly terrified of the man, even she wasn’t fully sure.

“Please, Master Reinhold…” she said. “Sit, sit. I can do my work just as easily.”

Reinhold grunted and retook his seat. Yefka jogged up the stairs to the chair sitting on the small platform and took off the small satchel bag slung over her shoulder, placing it gently on the ground. Digging in the bag she pulled out a small wand that looked like it was made from the root of a tree, with its gnarled and twisted appearance. “Le…lean forward please.” she said. Genlamin had made his way to stand on the opposite side of Reinhold. When his Master leaned forward and Yefka moved his cape aside he saw the massive jagged gash across his left shoulder. Something only cut from a haphazard swing.

While Yefka inspected the wound and was weighing treatment options, Genlamin spoke. “Master I realise you are in no mood to speak of it, but…” he paused and swallowed hard. “How could this have happened?”

“You are correct, I am in no mood to speak of it.” Reinhold replied.

“I…” he swallowed again, fearing he was treading on thin ice. “I…just do not understand. You…” he changed his approach. “Your quarry was Ms Alamoore and her human bodyguard, correct?” he asked, catching Reinhold side eyeing him he continued. “You are one of the…if not the most powerful mage in this area. I for one can not believe she could damage you in this way. It would have taken…it would have taken an army of at least fifty men to stop you. How could one lowly mage and a mortal man with no magic do this?”

“That’s the question of the day.” Reinhold said, thinking back to the fight again.

Genlamin swallowed again before speaking. “Master, perhaps an outside perspective could lead you to the answer you seek?”

“I will not repeat so listen and do not ask questions until I am finished.” Reinhold said, “You will need to do research once we are finished here. I want answers.”

“Answers too…?” Genlamin asked.

“How he did it…” Reinhold said.

“How who…” Genlamin followed up.

“Her little lap dog somehow hid magical items from me.” Reinhold said, his look growing darker. “The snare was as good as sprung and they managed to get away.”

Reinhold retold the events of the attack, embellishing where he felt it was needed and making sure it was known he didn’t run first. Despite that being the case, Genlamin believed him.

“So you say all you could sense on him was a Periapt of Wound Closure?” Genlamin asked rubbing his chin thinking. “Doesn’t explain how he could survive that kind of attack.” he paced a few feet and turned pacing back the other way as he thought. “She could have written glyphs on his chest and back, it wouldn’t be perfect protection but he might have just paused his death, for all we know he could have died teleporting away.” Genlamin suggested. “It would also explain how he could cast the spells. He was just warded to the gills and ready for an attack.”

Reinhold considered this for a moment. “If that is indeed the case why go through the trouble of pretending to cast the spells as if he had hidden power all this time?” Reinhold asked, not believing that to be the case but wanted to see what Genlamin would come up with.

“I…” he paused, unsure how to answer. “Perhaps to throw you off Master. If you believed him to suddenly be able to cast magic, even a moment's hesitation could be enough, or at the very least keep distance between the two of you.” he answered, “It seems to smart for him considering what you have said, but…” he swallowed nervous what response the answer might illicit. “But perhaps he isn’t as dumb as you thought?” before he could plead the answer meant no offence, a hand was around his neck.

“What was that Genlamin? You think a human could outsmart me?” Reinhold asked, true deep rage in his eyes, letting the pressure off Genlamin's neck when he heard him attempting to answer.

“No…Master…I only meant its possible it wasn’t the plan.” he said, feeling the pressure lessen again as Reinhold seemed to be listening. “Maybe even he didn’t know what he was doing.” he added, “Improvisation and Adapting to the situation on instinct and not thought.”

The rage didn’t lessen but Reinhold seemed to consider that thought. “Are you saying I was outsmarted by a fool?” Reinhold asked, his expression teetering on curiosity at the answer, and ready to kill rage.

“No Master Reinhold…no.” he said taking a breath of air, “A dog, the man you said attacked you and ran, a dog can seem innocent and harmless and when you reach to pet it, it bites, it latched on and attacks to do as much harm as it can. The man is no more than a cornered animal lashing out, and getting lucky to have gotten a bite in and fled to survive another day. He is a rabid animal needing to be put down, and his handler shown the error of her ways.” Genlamin said, trying his best to elevate Reinhold to the top, and the man to the bottom.

“Leave me.” Reinhold said, letting Genlamin go. “Go to the library and research glyphs and wards, find anything that could protect him from my volley of attacks, transpose it, and return to me, I want a counter spell prepared for the next encounter.”

Once Reinhold had stopped moving around, and Genlamin had quickly walked out of the room Yefka went back to work, her wand now had a tangerine colored quartz affixed to the end. She passed the stone over the wound as if she were sewing, a thing threaded of tangerine colored light crisscrossing the cut on Reinhold shoulder eventually closing the wound. When she’d finished the color of the stone had faded, and she replaced it with an uncut blue Lazulite, passing over Reinhold’s broken and bruised ribs in a circular motion. When she had finished Reinhold stretched his arms up to the ceiling then rolled his shoulders feeling all the pain leaving his body. “You did well, Yefka. Please take your leave now. I will have Genlamin send someone to replace the gemstones.” he remained seated staring at the woman a moment. She nodded and quickly put everything back in her bag and hurried out.

“I will get my answers.” he thought, “And then I’ll make you watch me kill her, you filthy mongrel, and you will want to die. But I will ensure that mercy will never come.”