Bartimaeus fanfic sequel

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The warehouses near the outskirts of London weren't too hard to find; we'd been there before after all. I materialized on one of the roofs in my gargoyle form. Perched like a silent guardian my gray stone skin blended perfectly with the night sky.

Then a flash of light appeared on the roof to reveal the telltale dribble of smoke that was my old master. He came towards me while echoing a loud voice (1) : "Bartimaeus! I never knew dematerializing was like this; it was like I was flying through the city, but everything was in slow-motion around me..."

I swung my backhand at the overenthusiastic smoke, passing through it and successfully cutting him off. "Can you be quiet? You probably startled every bloody rat in the area just now. I don't know about you but I'd rather chase the Grayback than be chased by it."

Of course, his old magician habits kicked in. "Don't be cocky with me, Bartimaeus." He said in a threatening voice.

"You're not my master anymore; I don't have to be nice." I turned to face him and put my claws around the smoke threateningly. The smoke cowered from my impending grasp. "I could devour you right here and now... No one or anything would stop me."

"You can't." He hastily said. "Kitty would never forgive you if you did."

I smiled at him. "Too right you are." I pulled my claws away. "You're thinking more rationally; the old you would've fallen for it."

The smoke sighed. "Are you trying to make fun of me?"

"Just a little bit. Change form; I don't want every breeze blowing you away. Not your human form, something suited to fight... and don't copy me." (2) I turned back to watch the streets below, in case the enraged Grayback had heard us.

Nathaniel came and crouched beside me. He had taken the form of a green humanoid lizard. The upper body was larger than the lower body, but not too bulky. The skin was smooth without scales, large black claws on both feet and hands, while the square head had a yellow fin going along the rest of the spine and most of the tail. His green eyes were on the sides of his head, but not too far as to cut off his frontal vision; it rather gave him a larger field of vision. His mouth opened and closed a couple times, revealing sharp teeth and an unusually human tongue, probably getting used to the unfamiliar shape of the mouth itself. "How's that?"

I was genuinely surprised; it was his first non-human form, it was improvised and it looked like a decent djinni's signature form. "How about a little less ugly?"

"Oh, like your gargoyle is any better-looking. Are you going to explain to me what happened when I dematerialized?"

I sighed. "Long story short, it's the same principle as seven-league boots."

"I see... Nice advice back there by the way." He looked irritated.

"There was no other way to explain; it's all about instinct. You think, you do. Any magic works the same way too."

Nathaniel looked at his hand. "Using magic just like that... I'm so used to borrowing demon powers."

"Well, this time around you ARE the demon. I don't want you slowing me down, so follow my lead; I won't be dragging you around like before."

1-Subtlety was never his strong suit. In fact, he was rather good at standing out with his horribly-fashioned strong suits.

2- It's bad etiquette to copy another djinni's form. Imagine dressing up exactly like your neighbor; it's just weird. 

"I get it." He looked at the scenery for a moment. Then pointed at a warehouse in the distance. "Isn't that the warehouse we took to lure Kitty out of hiding 3 years ago?"