Elves: Rise of the TaiGethen

Free Elves: Rise of the TaiGethen by James Barclay Page B

Book: Elves: Rise of the TaiGethen by James Barclay Read Free Book Online
Authors: James Barclay
Tags: Fiction, General, Fantasy
time?’
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘But—’
    ‘Don’t be naive, Takaar. We’re friends. Friends of the most curious kind, to be sure, but friends nonetheless. But when have you or I ever passed each other useful information, eh? Never forget that I believe in our occupation. Or I did.’
    The last was almost inaudible.
    ‘And now?’
    ‘This occupation is no longer to the benefit of Triverne. It is merely a resource base that will tip the balance in the magical struggle to come. Ystormun and his dark magic must be driven out before he becomes unstoppable. The future of both Calaius and Balaia depend on it. You understand what I’m saying?’
    Takaar nodded, mumbled his assent.
    ‘There’s something else,’ said Garan.
    The bedroom door slapped open, lantern light flooded in. Takaar leapt straight upwards, his fingers snagging on the timber roof supports high above the bed. He swung his legs up and his body swivelled, planting him astride a central beam. He flattened his body along it, one eye peering down through the dust he had dislodged, which spiralled towards the ground.
    Ystormun swept into the room flanked by four of his cabal of mages and two guards. Garan watched him come and, though any other man might quail, he rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically.
    ‘He’s been here. I can smell the mana on him. Give him to me.’
    ‘Naturally,’ said Garan. ‘He’s hiding under my blanket.’
    One of the mages moved to pull the blanket back. Ystormun stopped him with a hiss.
    ‘Idiot,’ he snapped. ‘Don’t waste my time, Garan. Where is he?’
    Garan, lying prone, shrugged extravagantly. ‘There are so many places to hide in this room.’
    Ystormun glared at Garan. He snapped his fingers and gestured towards the door to the washroom. A mage scurried off to check.
    ‘You are testing my patience,’ said the mage lord.
    ‘It is the only pleasure remaining to me,’ said Garan.
    Takaar was calm. Seven enemies in all. He could kill six before they touched him, three of those before they even knew he was there. But Ystormun was an unknown factor. There was an aura of invulnerability about him mixed up with the reek of magical power that enveloped him. And something else too: something seething and malevolent that ran through his veins and every cell of his being.
    Takaar waited and watched. He needed Ystormun to move directly beneath him. Dropping on him like a constrictor from a tree was his best and only chance. But as if he could sense Takaar’s intent, Garan stared upwards for a heartbeat and gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head.
    ‘Last chance,’ said Ystormun.
    ‘Or what?’ rasped Garan. ‘You’ll torture me for the truth? Have me executed? There is nothing you can do to me that I do not crave, nothing you have not already done that I fear. Even a demon-addled skeleton like you should realise he left through the window some time ago. Now get lost, Ystormun, and let me sleep. I’m an old man in case you hadn’t noticed.’
    Takaar felt the air chill and saw the mages shrivel in anticipation of Ystormun’s response. But the mage lord merely nodded. Takaar’s heart began to thrash in his chest. Ystormun was going to leave. Alive.
    You don’t have the guts. You never did .
    Wrong.
    Takaar dropped head first from the rafters, arms outstretched. A guard stood below him. Takaar caught the man’s head in his hands, twisting his neck while his body slammed into the victim’s back. The guard crumpled. Takaar turned a forward roll and was on his feet, twin blades in his hands.
    Takaar slashed the first through a mage’s midriff and the second through the neck of a guard still trying to draw his sword from its scabbard. Takaar ran forward, turned a roll over Garan’s bed, thumped to the floor the other side and cracked a roundhouse kick into the second mage’s temple.
    Takaar kept his momentum into the turn, ducked a flailing fist and sliced up through the guard’s face. The final mage was

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