Light of Epertase 01: Legends Reborn Read Online Free Page A

thousands of insects crawling beneath his skin.
    How long …? he asked himself. How long have I been out?
    His stomach tightened and rumbled loud enough for him to fear another creature may hear. His every muscle ached like he’d been gnawed by a dragon with dull teeth. He forced himself to sit up but the skin on his back pulled like his flesh was glued to the wall. He fought against the tug, slowly making it to his feet.
    Something darted past the corner of his eye and he spun around. One of the creature’s tentacles hovered near his knees. He glanced upward. Three more of the flat, red strap-like tentacles floated above him. He flinched and threw up his hands to defend his face, but the tentacles didn’t move or attack. He stepped backward. They stayed with him. The skin on his back tore against itself like a freshly sewn wound trying to heal. He peered over his wounded, yet no longer bleeding, shoulder and followed the straps of meat with his eyes to where they met his own back.
    Oh, gods.
    The straps were melded with his skin the same way his fingers were to his hands or his legs to his hips. He took a step and they floated with him. He counted: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, all equally a part of him.
    Nausea replaced the hunger in his stomach. Panic rose in his chest. His breathing quickened. He told himself to remain calm, but his mind raced to the worse. I’ve become a freak.
    He staggered to the fallen creature, his new appendages hovering behind. As though they had read his mind, they wrapped around their former master’s leg and ripped it away from its body. Some of the maggots fell from the decaying flesh; the others continued their feast. With a dull thud, the straps dropped the leg at Rasi’s feet like a gift.
    He wasted no time brushing some of the maggots away before tearing off a batch of scales. The meat was still warm when he sunk his teeth into it. More maggots, the ones he had missed, crawled through his mouth and against the mutilation that was his tongue. He didn’t care.
    The torch on the wall had burned down to mere flickers, the other two extinguished. He grabbed the one from the wall, careful not to snuff its delicate light. The meat and the writhing maggots blackened in its dull flame. In his haste to feed on the carcass, he burned his lips and let out a painful moan, but the taste was worth the blisters. The straps danced in the air, invigorated by their feast.
    With a full stomach, Rasi thought of his wife, Edonea, and the rumors she must have heard. My love, I’m coming .
    The light from the two dawning suns shined on the upper edges of his would-be tomb. A tree root protruded from the stone wall near the top of his pit. He knew he could never reach it but he had to try. He dragged his hands along the rocky wall. The stones met with small, finger-width gaps where mortar should have been. Years of weather had taken its toll.
    He stuffed his fingertips into a tight crevice just above his head. With a grunt, he pressed his cold, numb toes against the stone, wedging them into the gaps. His arm shook. His other arm hung limp at his side.
    It was no use. He lowered his feet to the ground. His task would have been difficult with two good arms, but with one, he hadn’t a chance. He pressed his forehead against the wall and cursed it.
    The skin on his back tugged upward. He slowly lifted his head. One of the meaty straps had crammed its tip into the wall high above.
    He stared, his mouth agape, his feet lifted slightly from the ground. The strap tugged at his back, breaking his trance.
    He shoved his fingers into the cracks and pulled. The strap held his weight as he reached higher. The other straps joined the effort.
    His bicep burned, his injured shoulder ached, but the image of his beautiful wife awaiting his return prodded him past the pain. His fingertips stung and bled. One of his toenails ripped away and he winced, but refused to quit.
    The root represented his freedom and he