The Slayarians - Book One by JM Barnes (pdf to ebook reader .txt) 📖

bright smile of the server and took her hand in his own.
“Well, kind lady, I will have a bowl of that tantalizing stew that so beckons to my taste buds. And a loaf of that sweet cheese bread that has set my belly speaking angrily to me.”
He gently kissed her knuckle and turned her hand over to reveal a gold coin laid into her palm. “I would also like a bath and a bed for the night if that would cover it”
“Covered indeed. kind sir. When you are ready to retire a warm bath will be waiting and I will show you to your room.” She beamed him another bright smile and spun away for the kitchen on shapely legs made strong from years of working the floor of the taproom.
The meal was exceptional and the tall lean elf ate two bowls of the hearty stew and all but a quarter of the loaf that he had wrapped in waxed paper. He sat back in his chair and put his feet up on one of the empty chairs beside him. A curved pipe of porcelain he produced from a pocket inside his traveling coat that lay across the back of his chair. He popped open one pouch upon the bandoleer and pinched a wad of black Turl root and packed it gently into the bowl. Lighting the pipe from the flame of his table candle he drew deep the rich musky smoke and relaxed to the songs of a minstrel who had begun to play his lute beside the glowing hearth.
The dark lager and Turl root did their job well to release the tension in road weary muscles. He caught the green eyed server’s attention and nodded toward the stairs by the front entrance that led to the rooms upstairs. Soon he found himself immersed in the steaming potpourri water of a tub that had been brought into his room. The room was simple with one window that looked out upon the stables, a simple bed with a mattress made of soft down, and a standing closet with mirrored doors to hold one’s personals.
He leaned back against the tub as gentle fingers massaged his shoulders and crept smoothly over his chest. One hand revealed an ear through shoulder length black hair that was streaked upon the sides with wings of gold coming together in a point upon the back. Soft lips kissed and gingerly nibbled the edges of his elven ears as wandering hands explored deeper waters.
“Nerielle you certainly do know how to treat your guests. I could get used to being pampered like this.” He took her hand from the water and guided her naked form from behind the tub to come beside him. “I saw how hard you worked this night. Let me show you a few elven secrets.”
Her eyes lit with excitement and she quivered slightly as she stepped in and sat with her back against the elf’s chest. Soon Nerielle was drifting in ecstasy as practiced hands caressed and kneaded her soft and yielding form.

^ ^ ^

His eyes opened instinctively bringing him fully awake in an instant. Nerielle lie by his side fast asleep. Her breathing soft and steady. He slipped from the bed retrieving the wand he had secured under the mattress as he stood. He stepped to the side of the window and peered out cautiously toward the stables. There before the closed doors stood a man gazing up at his window. His eyes glowed softly in the darkness and his naked body stood out in the hazy moonlight. He made no movement but the elf could feel the man’s eyes upon him. Gemini stepped to the closet and opened the mirrored door. Quickly he donned his shirt and leather breeches. In seconds his bandoleers were secured across his chest and his wand belt buckled tight. He stepped quickly into his boots and with a quick motion of his fingers he released a minor spell of securing that caused the leather lacing of his boots to pull tight. Casting a quick glance over his shoulder he took note of Nerielle’s still form in the bed. He grabbed his leather riding coat and threw it over his shoulders as he closed the closet door. Reflected in the mirror was the glowing stare of the inhuman male. He seemed to be standing on thin air outside the now open window with his hollow gaze directed toward the sleeping woman.
Gemini hissed a single word of arcane power, “Sultah!”, and launched himself in magical flight across the room and out the window catching the stalking menace full in the chest with his out stretched hands.
With another sharp word, “Tach!”, the wand in the mage’s hand flared to life with a silent, silver burst.
The momentum carried the duo across the small courtyard slamming them against the wall of the stables. Startled whinnies sounded from within as frightened steeds were jostled awake. The blast from the wand was intended to paralyze its victim but had an altogether different effect on the being the mage now faced. Gemini released the man with the glowing eyes allowing him to drop to the ground below. As the elf floated above gazing down at his opponent the man’s head split apart to reveal what appeared to be a large luminescent pear shaped orb. The body of the man quivered and fell away like discarded clothing as the orb began to rise out of the skull. Many long tentacles trailed from the bottom of the orb like those of a jellyfish. Gemini slipped the wand he had used into his belt at the same time beginning the incantation of a spell that would enclose the creature in a sphere of magical force. Then he heard the voices in his head. The sounds of hundreds of voices speaking in unison and driving into his brain to drive away his concentration.
They said, “Do not be afraid. Peace will be yours. Tranquility in the light of joining. Allow us to meld your knowledge with ours to evolve you into a greater being.”
The voices threatened to break the mage’s concentration as he weaved his spell. But he forced his tutelage to the front of his thoughts and continued his casting. The creature was rising through the air toward him now with several tentacles outstretched for him. With a final gesture of his hand as if grasping a small stone the spell was released. A shimmering barrier encased the floating creature and slowly sank to the ground. Gemini too lowered himself and circled the spherical barrier he had summoned as he gazed intently at the creature inside. The voices had grown silent but the creature hovered within following the pacing mage as he circled its prison.

^ ^ ^

Ralac traveled the rooftops beyond the eyes of watchman patrols, above the heads of townsfolk in their beds for the night, sleeping and otherwise. He crept past open windows and leapt with the grace and stealth of a black cat across alleyways from rooftop to rooftop. Soon his pockets would be filled with gold and he could put this city behind him forever. No longer would he pilfer from drunken merchants or steal fruits from the market to feed his growling stomach. No, grander schemes loomed upon the horizon. He would soon have the funds to buy himself the finest tools of the trade. A well balanced blade to be hung upon his belt and vials of toxin tucked carefully in hiding. Then he would be prepared to plunder the tombs of kings and search out the lairs of long forgotten dragons.
He froze upon the peak of the roof he had just leapt upon. Someone was fighting in the yard below the building. He crouched low and slowly made his way to the edge of the roof. Peering over the side he saw below him a man slowly descending to the ground next to the stables of the inn that Ralac now crouched upon. The crumpled form of another man lay a few feet away. Not that a floating man was a common sight but what most grabbed the attention of the young assassin was the hovering jellyfish creature that shone in the night like a pulsing pearl. The man below circled about the creature gazing intently at it as it slowly turned, mirroring his moves. As he watched, crouched at the edge of the slate roof, something cracked beneath him. He shifted his weight to the heels of his feet and leaned back from the edge of the roof as a piece of slate broke away and fell to the ground below.

^ ^ ^

Gemini stroked his chin as he paced and pondered this strange being that sought to feed upon his knowledge. Something then fell to the ground by the porch of the inn distracting him from his pondering. He turned toward the sound and in an instant found himself wrapped in tentacles. It was then he realized his mistake. This creature had superior intelligence and inborn resistance to magic. It had lured him into a false sense of security by allowing the mage to think it was securely imprisoned within the capsule of magical force. His hands were each gripped by powerful tentacles preventing him from casting a spell or reaching his wands.
He knew he was in a struggle for his life but what brought him to this confrontation escaped his memory. Why he was here in this yard and what was this strange creature that wound about him like a python on a rat? The name Nerielle danced fleetingly across his mind but when he thought to place a face to the name it was swept away like a feather drawn on the wind. What city was this he was in and how did he come to be here? He knew he was losing memories but his struggling began to subside as the bliss of unknowing began to lull him toward slumber.
Like a lunar eclipse a shadow dropped from above snuffing the light that shone from the feeding creature. Tentacles released their grip upon the mage causing him to fall to his hands and knees. Tam Geminilanthis, that was his name! He took a deep breath as memory crept back into the forefront of his mind. Wands were in his belt and spell components in the pouches of his bandoleers. Verbal and semantic forms used in castings. A dark haired beauty caressing his chest and laying soft kisses upon his neck. A stranger in the window...
He rolled to his side and came up on unsteady feet preparing to hurl deadly flames at his foe. Tentacles flailed wildly about from under a heavy black cloak that covered the pearlescent body of the creature. A boy with curly black hair clung to the cloak with one arm locked tightly about the covered orb. With his free hand he stabbed repeatedly into the cloak with a long bladed dagger. A single flailing tentacle