Page 11 of Gladiator Moon

Did it make you angry to have the digit removed?

‘Twas a fitting punishment for my malfeasance.

Because you didn’t immediately kill a lesser creature?

Yes. ‘Twas just a digit. I’ve got five more.

You live on a harsh planet.

It is all I know.

Yet your heart went out to the little creature.

It did, until I was shown the error of my ways.

Is it in error to question a cruel directive?

In our world, yes.

Sometimes in my world, too.

Then we are not so different.

Please pull up an image of a quiller.

Pull up?

Think of one.

He does, popping into his mind instantly, and it is indeed adorable. It is a cross between the cute version of gremlins and a troll toy, all fur and a sweet, pudgy face. How anyone could order the execution of such cuteness is beyond me, surely akin to clubbing baby seals. I guess there are bullies and bastards everywhere. I fight to control myself, knowing there is only so much I can do in my present circumstances.

Is Baltazar monitoring our conversation?

You are immortal, correct?

Correct.

Then I don’t believe he can know what we are saying.

I nod to myself thinking back to my first meeting with the wizard. So Baltazar hadn’t so much read my mind as to have guessed when I summoned the single flame. Is implanting an image the same as reading a mind? Or a neat magical trick? That forgetful spell had something to do with it. Somehow it lessened my defenses.

Is Baltazar the most powerful wizard here on Grandar?

Yes, he is.

What can he do?

Summon fire. Stop hearts. Force one’s sword into one’s own heart. Split a man in two. Twist a man like a corkscrew. Create pits to fall into, then permanently seal them over.

Gotcha. He can kill creatively.

Oh, yes.

Can he kill from afar?

Meaning?

Should I escape, could he strike me dead from elsewhere? Say, miles away?