Two Halves: chapter 12

chapter 12 of two halves

One of the girls had brought him a drink while he waited for Heather. It was one of the city's quick brews. He had remembered people back in his old town who drank then. They immigrated from this world and grew up on the swill, and for some reason they craved it. He always thought it tasted like dirty water with apples.

 

He took a sip of it. It was potent though, and it got that way from the brewing. Just a mix of chemicals thrown into one of the vats, and five minutes later you had this frothy liquid. He glanced at a table near him. Some man had pulled one of the waitresses onto his lap, and she was obviously not enjoying it. He watched the exchange for a moment.

 

“Rune of Corrosion.” Muttered Nicolas under his breath as he pointed at the man. The metal chair he was sitting on want through around two hundreds years worth of corrosion in approximately seven seconds. The legs broke with a snap, and the man fell onto the ground. The girl scampered away back behind the counter.

 

“Who did that!” the man bellowed as he picked himself off the floor. His shirt was soaked from the quick brew he had been holding. He had a large deep brown mustache, and it was shaking in his anger.

 

“I said, who did that!” He yelled at the crowd. He glowered at the surrounding people, and most chose to either ignore him or stare back. He simply stood there for a moment, but then he clutched at his neck. He was wearing a binding stone, and pressed it together with his fingers. A small rune circle glowed momentarily in the air, and out of it emerged a demon. It appeared to be a wraith. It had taken the form of just a big patch of bright orange smoke, with two large red patches glowing within it to look like eyes.

 

“I did it.” Said Nicolas, looking at the man over his quick brew. The man rounded on him and seethed anger, and when you are a magic user you really can radiate anger. The rage fell off him in waves of magical energy, and from its feel it he seemed to be inclined to war magic, specifically fire based. His magic funneled into the demon. It was a expensive one around level fifteen. He would be able to defeat it on his own, but that would drain him. He would be useless for at least a few hours after expending that much magic. He did a quick inventory in his head. The demons in his flute would be able to take them on, but only together. One might die, and he couldn’t have that.

 

Which only left one option. He stood up and took out his flute. The man with the demon took a defensive stance, and eyed the flute nervously. Nicolas unfolded the flute and raised it to his lips. Then a shrill note rang out into the bar. Everyone held their breath. The entire bar was now watching the fight with anticipation. Probably glad for some entertainment with their meals.

 

Nothing happened. Suddenly the man began to laugh. Nicolas looked at the stairs expectantly waiting for something to happen. The there was a small creak from the stairs. Zeckle was standing there, now in her succubus form. She was scratching her head and yawning.

 

“Why did ya have to wake me up like that Nick. I was having a good time watching tv, and was about to have a nice nap.” She had changed her clothing, and had lost her wings. From her clothing she looked to be just another person on the street. She was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a green t-shirt that was identical to one they had seen in the market on the way. She wouldn’t have even looked demon if it was not for the horns sticking out from under her hair, and for the pulses of magic coming off her. She was putting the man’s demon to shame. It had already slunk onto the ground and was whimpering quietly.

 

“So is this what you called me about?” she indicated the man with her thumb. He was now backing away in his panic. Zeckle was restraining her aura, but was still appearing to be somewhere around level thirty. Without a answer she pointed at the wraith on the floor. A kernel of darkness shot from her finger to the wraith. It quivered from a moment then popped. Wisps of orange floated towards the floor around the room.

 

“You bothered me about that. It wasn’t even worth my time. Nick if you don’t get more powerful it’s going to be a embarrassment for me to work for you.” She flopped down into the chair Nicolas had been occupying. The entire room was staring at her. Most in horror, but a few in fascination.

 

“Well come on then. Where’s my service! Why are ya all standing there starin. I need a drink.” She announced to the room at large. One still stood frozen, but one of the waitresses pushed the frozen bar tender out of the way, and filled a glass with the quick brew. It was Heather. She walked over and pushed the drink across the table to Zeckle.

 

“You know what. I think I’m off about now. The boss is going to have to scrape that idiot off the floor without me.” She said as she took off her apron. She was refereeing to the man who had until moments ago been threatening the bar at large. He had passed out when his demon had been killed. The magical feedback had probably fried his brain for a moment. Zeckle was draining her mug quickly. Chugging the amber liquid as quickly as she could.

 

“Boy, that stuff is foul, but it sure does the job.” She got up from her chair and pointed out towards the market “I heard earlier that we were going to visit the market. What are we doing standin around here anyway? I wanna go see me a market.” She began to march out of the room. Nicolas sighed and began to follow her. Heather looked around for a moment at the bemused bar goers then followed after them.

Author's Note

I like Zeckle. Such a care free character.

Reviews

[Daniel Gardner]

I really think that you could get this published after polishing it up a bit. I enjoy reading them. Keep em coming

[The Water Queen]

Zeckle is awesome!

[Aggie Skeleton]

I really like Zeckle.

[Domenic Luciani]

It would probably help with the flow to add in "nicolas" every once in a while instead of just he all the time.
Certainly an interesting scene.
saw some grammar errors but nothing bothersome besides "referring"
Well done with this.

[Deaths Cold Kiss]

i like Zeckle , too!!!

[Dutch Jr.]

Keep this up. The work is shaping into a great one.

[Miss Coral]

Yeah, I think I'm a fan of Zeckle as well. c:
The only thing wrong I could see was the typo *went* in the third paragraph, and perhaps a couple of slightly oddly worded sentences. Another great chapter!

[James Watts]

Nice work and moving along at a nice pace.