Gemworld Read Online Free Page A

out most of the ambient light. That and the acoustics of the room reminded him of a cave of sorts, or maybe a large cellar?
    Even thinking too hard seemed to draw a complaint from his left eye. He raised a sluggish hand to his face, his joints screaming in protest. His fingers probed the area gingerly, seeking to gauge the damage to his ruined face, but instead of tattered meat and skin he found cloth—none too clean, by the feel, but cloth just the same. Someone had bandaged him up.
    “Leave it be,” a voice said. “I’ve sped up the healing process a bit, as much as I dare, but you should still keep it covered for at least another forty eight hours.”
    Sal groggily turned toward the voice. His remaining eye wavered in and out of focus, until finally locking in onto his companion. He was a young man, perhaps in his middle to late twenties, dressed in rags that hung loosely over his lean build. His hair was a chestnut brown sprinkled with premature grey. And his eyes were a glittering emerald green. His eyes... green from corner to corner! Sal started, fighting against weak muscles and dizziness to draw away.
    “Peace, my friend, relax,” the green-eyed man said, concern etched across his face. “You’re safe now—well, relatively speaking. No one’s going to harm you for the moment.”
    “Y-y-your eyes,” Sal panted, flopping lightheaded to the ground. “They’re green... I mean, really green!”
    This obviously confused the young man, but he could be no more confused than Sal himself. He ’ s got frikkin jewels in his head, for pete ’ s sake! Sal thought. And yet, they couldn ’ t be jewels—not real ones, anyway. Although the smooth green orbs looked for all the world like gemstones, Sal could feel their scrutiny as if they were natural. Inexplicably, he was sure they saw him.
    “Ahhh,” the man said as understanding dawned on him. Smiling, he closed his eyes. Sal saw a flash of light escape from between the lids. When the man opened his eyes again, they looked normal... or more normal, rather.
    “Better?” he asked. Sal nodded dumbly. He could still see hints of the gemstone hardness in the man’s irises, but it was good enough for now.
    “Guess I’ve still got the touch,” the stranger remarked, almost to himself. “Masking one’s eyes is a practice so outdated that few still know how. There are no Lynchers these days, of course, so most mages never bother to learn the technique. Anyway, I didn’t mean to startle you. I was just watching you for signs of infection, or any other health issue that might present a problem. The guards don’t take kindly to prisoners using their diverse talents, but a mage can get away with a few things, so long as he’s careful.”
    “Mage?” Sal tried to place the word, not completely alien to him.
    “Yes, mage,” his companion said with a smile, pleased to see his patient responding, perhaps. “Magic users. You know, like myself. No? Surely you’re not banged up that badly. Even the mundane of the Outer Reaches…” He let his voice trail off as he noticed that he was losing his audience. Sal could almost see the terms and phrases whizzing over his head.
    “Right, then. One thing at a time,” the self-proclaimed mage said. He offered Sal his hand. “Jaren Fiol, mage of the Emerald Order, formerly of Darsen’s Way, now fellow inmate. At your service, sir.”
    “Lieutenant James Salvatori, United States Navy,” Sal grunted, dubiously taking Jaren’s hand in his unsteady grip. It wasn’t until he had his hand back that he realized that he’d used his right hand. “How...?”
    “The shoulder?” Jaren asked. “Emeralds employed by the jail, most likely. I got a look at you when they first brought you in. You were pretty banged up, if you don’t mind me saying, and the staffers were none too thorough with their patch job on you. Barely healed you enough to keep the blood inside, the barmy hacks. They left almost a double handful of those