The Werewolf King by Ryan Matthew Harker (recommended books to read .TXT) 📖

and the two women glared at him while Max picked a stray piece of food out of his teeth.
Candlelite managed to get himself under control and repeated his question from earlier, “So who was the woman you mentioned Max?”
“Huh, woman?” Max asked absentmindedly as he had still been contemplating his meal. “Oh yes, that woman. Why it was our own dear Sefu Atarle.”
Absinthe’s usually cheerful expression immediately clouded over at the mention of the assassin’s name and Candlelite’s eyes narrowed when he said, “I figured as much. What did she have to say?”
“Who cares?” Absinthe demanded petulantly. “Candlelite should have had her exiled from the kingdom.”
“Now dear, the planet is the kingdom,” Farewethor chided motherly. “Where would he have sent her, Earth?”
“Ladies please,” Candlelite interrupted their debate. He turned back to Max. “And what did she have to say?” he repeated.
“That she’s been hearing things,” Max told him, the alcohol making him unintentionally evasive.
“What kind of things?” Candlelite asked patiently. “Rumours?”
“She said that she didn’t believe they were,” Max answered. “Apparently she’s been tracking an old friend of the late king Zakeriah.”
“And who might that be?” Farewethor asked.
“None other than your very own predecessor, witchy,” Max smiled.
“Nefarious?” Farewethor was only slightly shocked by this revelation. “But he hasn’t been heard from since Candlelite took Mega’N’s recommendation and had him step down as High Magician.”
“That’s because he’s on Earth,” Max informed her.
“Earth!” Candlelite exclaimed.
“Earth,” Max repeated. “It seems that the messenger that came back from the Sunset Monastery was really the second of the two spies sent here by Harmony before he made his way back from Earth.”
“Oh my!” Farewethor exclaimed.
“What does that have to do with Nefarious?” Absinthe asked before the witch had a chance to feel sorry for herself.
“Could you pass me some more of that creamy pastry stuff? Max asked Farewethor and then with his mouth full he answered Absinthe’s question. “Well it seems that he was pretty miffed at being dismissed from the palace and was approached by this spy for whatever reason and decided to follow him back through the wormhole.”
“For whatever reason?” Candlelite mused. “What do you mean by that?”
“Sefu was unable to specify,” Max said. “Evidently by the time she caught wind of this the trail was already six months old. It took her this long just to track down what little information she had. One more thing she heard though was that before they departed for Earth they went on a journey to the other side of AnEerth in search of some artifact of power that’s supposed to be related to the Lupelire.”
“The Luplire?” Candlelite muttered and pulled a small wolf figurine from within the folds of his clothes. It was carved from a chunk of amber and hung about his neck by a fine silver chain. It had been a parting present from he and Absinthe’s one time captor, the now departed Archmagi Florencii Splendora Ambrosia. It had been stolen by her from the dark sorcerer Harmony and given to him when he and Absinthe had been rescued from Harmony by the witch Farewethor. It was purported to be one of nine ancient artifacts of power and contained within it the magical power to control absolutely any of the canine/lupine species including both wolves and werewolves.
“Did they find it?” Farewethor queried. “What they were looking for.”
“That was one of the things that Sefu was unable to ascertain,” Max answered.
“Well whether they did or not they can’t be up to any good,” Candlelite decided. “Why didn’t we get any reports of their departure through the wormhole?”
“I have no idea,” Max admitted. “With the safeguards we’ve installed it should have been impossible for them to make the crossing undetected, either from this side or Earth side.”
Candlelite quietly considered what Max had told them for a few minutes before he came to a decision.
“Is Sefu still in the city?” he asked.
“She said she’d be for a few,” Max reached for a bit of bread on Farewethor’s plate.
“Hey!” the witch protested.
“Oh, sorry,” Max apologized casually as he munched. “Were you done with that?”
Farewethor muttered something impolite under her breath and Candlelite shook his head at the old man’s antics before saying, “Good. I have a chore for her if she’s not doing anything.” Max’s eyebrows rose quizzically but he kept silent as the young king continued, “Max track her down and ask her if she’d be willing to go to Earth and see what she can learn about Nefarious’ whereabouts and recent activities. I want to know what Harmony’s spy expects from our old magician. Tell her if she’s willing to do this for me there’s a large bounty in it for her.” He pulled out a coin purse and tossed it in the scientist’s direction. “This is just a taste of what she’ll get if she brings me the information I want.”
Max hefted the bag thoughtfully and grinned. “I’m sure she’ll agree,” he said. “That woman will do just about anything for gold.”
“You don’t have to tell us,” Absinthe stated sourly. “Are you sure this is such a good idea?” she asked Candlelite. “Can we really trust her?”
“Well she didn’t have to come to us with this information,” Candlelite said. “And while she’s definitely an unscrupulous bitch I do believe she’s sincere in trying to change her evil ways.”
“I agree,” Farewethor interjected. “Despite her coloured past Sefu has exhibited a substantial change in character over the last year. I’ve had reports that she has gone so far as to actually refrain from killing people.”
Candlelite laughed at this revelation. “You’ve had her followed?”
“You can never be too careful,” Farewethor replied modestly.
“I still don’t like her,” Absinthe pouted. In some respects the young queen’s attitude still came across as a touch childish.
“You have that right dear,” Farewethor told her as she got up to begin gathering dishes back onto the cart. “It seems that we’ve pretty much finished up here. I’ll just zip these on down to the kitchen and when I return we can resume our busy schedule.”
Candlelite groaned at this reminder of his official duties as the witch and serving cart disappeared in a flash of light.
“Ah the joys of bureaucracy,” Max unstoppered his flask and took a swallow. He resealed the flask and stood up. “I’ll be excusing myself then. I’ll just head on back to the city and relay your message to the assassin.”
“Good,” Candlelite stood as well. “Also tell Sefu that I would like her to report directly to me and Absinthe, she doesn’t have to slink around the city like an outlaw any longer. And thank you Max.”
“I think she prefers it that way,” Max winked at Absinthe. “But I’ll let her know ya said as much. And yer welcome, the both of ya.” And with a lurch the old scientist turned about and staggered off.
Absinthe came to stand by her husband. She wrapped her arms around him and laid her cheek to his chest. “What do you think this is all about?” she asked him.
“I don’t know but something is making me feel uneasy all of a sudden.”
“Me too,” she shivered slightly in his arms. “It’s like a cold, prickly feeling running up and down my spine.”
“Mine too,” he told her rubbing her back gently. “Mine too.”


Sefu had not been surprised when the wizened little scientist had approached her in the Hobbled Hobgoblin. She had just broken the arm of a large tub-stomached man who had made the mistake of getting too friendly with her and had just resettled to finish her drink when he sat down.”Nice job,” Max praised as he took a seat and looked around searchingly for a serving girl.
“Old reflexes die hard,” she shrugged. “He should have known better.”
Finally tracking down a drink Max nodded in assent and grinned broadly. “I suppose he should’ve.”
“You talked to the boy?” she asked sulkily. Her mood had soured since Max had departed earlier and the encounter with the randy drunk had done little to improve it.
“Yep,” Max took a swallow of his drink. “He wants you to go to Earth and see if you can find Nefarious, see what he’s up to.”
“Ok,” she said.
Max was a little surprised at her ready acceptance of the task. “Just like that, eh?”
“Yep,” Sefu eyed the scientist strangely. “Max, have you ever woke up one day and asked yourself why you’ve lived your life the way you have?”
“Nope,” he answered warily. “Can’t say that I have.”
“Me neither,” she laughed and pounded back her drink. “I’ll leave first thing in the mornin’.” Then she stood up abruptly and left Max, a little drunk and more than confused, sitting alone in the crowded bar.

Now, after a discrete service rendered by an old mage she was acquainted with, she stood in the shadow of the Dark Tower looking up at the swirling, kaleidoscopic mess of colour that perched at its top. This was the Harashna, or wormhole as it was called on the Earth sides, and it was her ticket beyond space and time, through the very fabric of reality, that would take her not to another planet necessarily but into a completely different universe which resided in another reality of the multiverse. She had to admit to herself that she was a little scared. Pushing her fear aside she entered the tower and began the long ascent to its top.
The Dark Tower had once been the home of the dark sorcerer Harmony, one time overlord of Earth, would be conqueror of AnEerth. It was a massive stone structure made of large, interlocking blocks approximately ***** feet around at its base which supported it’s nearly ***** feet of height. Like most of the impressively engineered feats of architecture on AnEerth its construction would not have been possible nor would it remain standing without the aid of magic. The top was accessed by a large staircase that spiraled along the inside of the exterior wall. Each step was twenty feet wide and sixty feet long, and there was a reason it was called the Million Tiered Tower, because there was one million of them in all. To say that it was a chore to climb them would be an understatement and it was nearly as tiring to make the journey in reverse, from the top to the bottom. There was definitely no way this edifice of evil could carry even half its height without magic.
Sefu was in excellent physical condition but even so it was nearly half a day and many periods of rest before she finally cleared the last step and stood gazing out at the landscape from the tower’s rampart. The view was extraordinary and as she stared across the many miles of her homeland that stretched out before her she felt a little more of the ice in her heart melt. What the hell is happening to me? She wondered to herself. First fear and now what, love? She had not been entirely honest with the Earth scientist the previous day when she had said that she had not woke up questioning her life but she pushed such thoughts away and turned to contemplate the Harashna.
The Harashna was an unstable mess of colour and movement that sat slowly swirling about ***** feet from the edge of the tower. It writhed and pulsated with a rhythm and cadence that made a person believe that it was a living entity, breathing, maybe even watching. Sefu shook her head and noticed from the position of the sun that she had been standing entranced by the portal for longer than she thought. She laughed inwardly for she had heard that it could