A Scripta

The Midnighter was seated at a heavy oak desk, that looked like it was placed a little higher than the chair Grim sat in. Grim wore his normal “costume”: the Aegis - his black coat, a grey shirt and leather pants, motorcycle boots. The dagger was at his side.

The Midnighter wore a bowler and a tie. Grim hated bowlers and ties. He also spoke with a slight British accent, which made the stereotype worse.

“You’re the one who bought the house in Cimerora,” he said.

“Yeah,” Grim said, looking at the grain of the wood on the desk. He saw a rune there, and suddenly started to smile.

“What’s so funny?”

“You have a rune of compliance there.” He pointed to the desk.

“Not many people can see that,” said the Midnighter, and he leaned back in his chair. “You’re pretty notorious, Grimaulkin.”

“Oh, come on, I’m really a nice guy.”

“We know your history. All of it.”

“So does MAGI, and I’m still registered there.”

“But they don’t know your work in Nerva.”

“What work in Nerva?”

The Midnighter tilted his head. “Don’t play coy with me, Grimaulkin. Your signature was on two murders of Family members there.”

There were more than that, but he knew better than to point that out. “Does this mean you’re going to arrest me?”

“No. I don’t have the authority to even if I wanted to.”

The ticking of the clock behind him seemed to echo all around the room as the two men stared at each other. Grim looked away first.

The Midnighter leaned forward. “Report to Joseph Green for further assignments. I think he has something with some Thorns. Go down the hall, he’s the white haired man in blue.”

“Great! Thanks!”

Grim, for once, did not comment on how cute this man was, but instead meekly accepted his assignment: some Thorns had a golden scroll with some dangerous spells. Grim headed out to Perez Park where the Midnighters claimed it was last seen. He had to go through Steel Canyon.

He flew through the air, and got near the hospital, when he felt a shurken bounce off his chest. It had hit the Aegis, but it still made him stop in midair.

Then he realized his mistake, as a heavy wind came up from behind him and threw him down to the ground on his back. He put his hand down and it was pierced by a caltrop. The Aegis protected his back. He looked up to see a red-clad man with a sword come swinging it down at him. He rolled, and immediately summoned tentacles, Lue’s spells totally escaping him. The tentacles wrapped around the red-clad man – and then another man in white tried to kick him.

He let it connect, knowing the Aegis would take the brunt, and it did. It was like he had just kicked a man in full armor. Grim tried to get to his knees but the caltrops pierced him – the Aegis didn’t cover his legs. He struggled to get up but was knocked down again by wind. The sorcerer stood above him, and behind him was a Dragon Fly, the one who had knocked him out of the sky. The red-clad man was getting out of the tentacles, and the bald man in white had recovered and looked very pissed.

The Dragon Fly spoke, “We will kill you and bring your head to Tub Ci, and we will be well rewarded.”

“I’m rather fond of my head being where it is,” Grim said, and summoned up horrible images of war and death, and projected it at them. He turned around and stunned the two men with a toss of a dark pit, which made them wander into the caltrops stupidly. Grim whirled back to the Sorcerer – who had teleported away – and the Dragon Fly, still cowering.

Grim rose up slowly, ignoring the punctures of the caltrops. “You can tell Tub Ci, that he’s going to have to do a lot better than you idiots to come after me. But then, let’s see if you’re sane enough to tell him.” Grim raised his hands, and the men disappeared in a pop.

The sorcerer teleported back and saw that his cohorts were gone. He looked at Grim, who merely stood there. The sorcerer picked up the sword and held it awkwardly. Grim drew his dagger and crouched. “C’mon…”

The sorcerer cut down. Grim blocked it with his arm, stepped in, and stabbed the sorcerer in the chest. The dagger went through bone cleanly. He stepped back, twisting it, hearing it scrape against bone, and yanked the blade out. The sorcerer sunk to the ground.

Grim made his second mistake, turning his back from the sorcerer. The sorcerer, with his last breath, lifted the sword still in his hand, and swung low, slicing at Grim’s knee. The sword jammed into Grim’s calf and shinbone instead. Grim went down onto the caltrops again, howling.

At the same time, the three men he had teleported to Tartarus returned in a flash, frightened beyond belief. Grim yanked the sword out of his calf but it was jammed on the bone. Through tears of agony, he finally got it off, and blood flowed freely down his leg to the pavement.

He couldn’t stand, he was in pure pain, and the three Tsoo would be coming out of their stupor soon. He tried to concentrate on a flying spell but couldn't get more than a foot off the ground. It was enough - at least he wouldn’t be putting weight on that leg. He slowly flew the hundred yards to the hospital.