The Artificer, Chapter 1

12 March 2015. Medford, Massachusetts, New England.

One of my teacher’s favorite lessons involved ordinary objects, things so mundane normal people rarely even gave them a second glance: paper clips, note pads, tissue paper, coins, pens, and so on. “Everything has a secondary or even a tertiary purpose, one just has to unlock it,” she always said. And when it came to unlocking those purposes, she was second to none.

She always said I had a gift for magical infusion. Among other things.

My name is Scott Cole, Apprentice Artificer, Ninth Class. And right now, I was in an alley staring at a corpse that had been mangled by something inhuman. “What do we have, Cole? Don’t keep us in suspense.” That was Detective John Richard McGinnis, Homicide Division, who we simply called JR. My day job was as a forensics consultant for the police department.

I tapped my glasses twice and spoke the activation word under my breath, “Deprendo.” The lenses flickered a golden yellow for a split second. In my view, the body suffused a golden glow, with the wounds a shiny crimson color. “The wounds are rough and uneven, indicative of natural weaponry like claws or teeth. Lots of defensive wounds here. Looks like our victim put up quite a struggle. Have the examiner send samples of any hair or whatever to the lab for identification. Looks like an animal attack if you ask me, JR.”

“In the middle of the city? Are you insane?” JR scoffed at my assessment.

“Hey, I’m just calling it as I see it,” I replied defensively. “It’s your job to figure out the rest.”

He pulled me aside out of earshot of the other cops. “You don’t think it’s… You know, that other thing?”

JR was one of the few LEO’s who were aware of the magical world. I shook my head. “Too early to say. From what I can see, there’s no magical residue on the wounds or the body. That doesn’t mean it’s not magical, just that it’s not directly magical, if you catch my drift.”

He sighed at that. “I’ll let you know what the lab finds out.”

Two days later, my phone rang. It was JR. He said one word. “Rats.”

I sat up in my chair. “Rats? Are you sure?”

JR’s voice was impatient. “I have the lab report right here. Hair from the victim’s fingernails show rat hairs.”

“No rat is big enough to take down a man, not with wounds like that,” I muttered, more to myself than JR. “Not even if it’s several rats. Unless…”

“It’s that other thing, isn’t it,” JR said.

“Maybe,” I ventured. “I’ll need your help on this one, JR. And some things.”

His voice was suspicious. “What things? Like bat wings or bird crap?”

I sighed. “Not even close. You’ll need a police standard-issue riot shield most likely.”

JR sounded relieved at that. “That I can handle. But where are we going?”

“Where else do you find rats? The sewers, of course.”

***

JR hefted the riot shield as we descended into the sewers. As this was not exactly a sanctioned police matter, we had to do this at night. Besides, giant rats are more active at night anyway. We started at the nearest storm grate from where we had found the victim. Once we entered the sewers, I tapped on a different pair of glasses and recited the activation incantation. “Deprendo gigas rattas.”

The lenses flickered golden once again before my view became a bright sunlight yellow, interspersed with the crimson tracks of, presumably, the giant rat or rats. I pointed the way and followed behind JR with the shield. It took over two hours of mindless tracking in the sewers before we stumbled into one.

The giant rat we found was a full 3.5 feet from tail to nose. It gave a screech when it saw us approach and attacked without hesitation. Fortunately, JR had the shield handy and the rat slammed into the shield, its claws scrabbling at the steel and plastic barrier. I reached into my jacket pocket and took out my red pen. JR already had his gun out but I grabbed his arm before he could shoot the creature.

“That gun will bring the whole pack down on our heads,” I warned. “Just block him, I’ll take care of the rest.”

Struggling with the shield, JR’s eyes widened as he saw the pen in my hand. “You’re gonna kill it with a pen?”

“In this case, the pen is indeed mightier than the sword,” I grinned as I carefully pointed at the beast with my pen. “Just make sure to block it with that shield.” While it was busy attacking JR, it didn’t perceive me as a threat. That would soon change. “Ignis.” My red pen glowed white-hot as a searing bolt of flame shot out and slammed into the rat, setting its fur ablaze. It took 3 shots of flame to down the giant rat.

JR stared at my pen even as I put it back in my jacket pocket. “You weren’t kidding about the pen.”

I grinned and shook my head. “I never joke about pens, my friend. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough firepower to clear out this nest tonight. After all, my pen can only shoot so much. Like any gun, it’ll run out of bullets. We can take out 2 more before we call it a night.”

JR nodded in understanding. “How many of these are in a typical nest?”

“Around thirty.”

***

Back in my apartment, I opened a newly bought box of red pens. This is gonna be a long night, I thought.