Nature's Servant Read Online Free Page A

man was still standing on the spot, breathing raggedly. Rekkit felt a tiny bit of sympathy for him. He had a more delicate disposition than Rekkit, and he’d obviously been shaken up by what had happened. “Come on Olaf,” he said as he neared him. “Grab a bag and put something shiny in it, and we can leave this place.” Olaf still didn’t move.
    Rekkit stepped right up to his partner of five years, keeping a wary eye on the expended corpse lying at their feet. “Come on man,” he said more gently. “It’ll seem like a dream tomorrow.” He reached out a hand and placed it on Olaf’s shoulder, but the second he did so he felt an invasive force seize him. It was cold and hateful and it was rushing through every part of his body. Rekkit’s eyes widened in terror as Olaf turned to face him, his once genial brown eyes now deep black and filled with an inhuman hunger and hatred that had nothing to do with the man he knew. Olaf’s ham-like, fleshy hands reached out, grabbing Rekkit by the shoulders and pulling him towards him. Rekkit’s screams echoed out into the night.
     
    …
     
    In an observatory in the middle of the Ruined City of Elmera, Shirukai Sestin stood at a broad, curving window looking out over broad avenues and once-grand palaces. He’d watched the inevitable demise of the two thieves and smiled in pleasure as the thin one’s death screams sounded from far below him. So, the Spirit of the Ruins had taken another victim, or indeed two. It guarded him well, Sestin mused to himself, but maybe it could guard him better. He whispered gently through the open window, a whisper that carried powerful magic. Shirukai smiled again as his magic went forth, looking forward to seeing what use the spirit would put its new powers to.
    Residues of the magic spun out into the evening, reaching beyond the boundaries of the city. For miles around children muttered and turned in their sleep, and parents looked at each other uncertainly, a feeling of dread and despair troubling their hearts. And then it passed. Without knowing why, men out drinking in taverns made their excuses and went home to their families, and many a husband and wife went straight to bed, anxious to be holding each other as night descended.
     
     

Section One
     

One
     
    Gaspi took a sip of his ale and sighed contentedly, peering out of a window in the Traveller’s Rest. Although the glass was murky from years of smoke and marred by a dozen air bubbles, he could still watch the diverse and colourful traffic of the city as it passed by. It was good to be back in Helioport.
    “ What’s the sigh for Gasp?” Taurnil asked.
    Gaspi looked at his friend ’s bluff, honest face and smiled. “I’m just thinking how glad I am to be back,” he said.
    Taurnil looked at him shrewdly. “Didn’t enjoy the summer then?” he asked.
    “ Not really,” Gaspi said with a grimace. The summer had dragged interminably for him, but he hadn’t talked to Taurnil about it at the time. His best friend had obviously been having a good time, and he hadn’t wanted to spoil it. Taurnil had taken his girlfriend, Lydia, back to Aemon’s Reach for the first time, and had loved showing her where he’d grown up. The couple had spent a lot of time in each other’s company, and Gaspi had been able to see how gratified Taurnil was that she showed such an interest in his village. Aemon’s Reach was a place full of happy memories for Taurnil. He’d grown up with loving parents, who’d quietly supported him in everything he did, and he’d always had a best friend in Gaspi.
    It wasn ’t the same for Gaspi. His parents had been killed by bandits in the forest when he was a baby, and he’d been raised by his guardian, Jonn, who’d survived the attack. Jonn had not only lost his best friend that day, but he’d also lost his wife. Much as Gaspi loved Jonn, and though Jonn did his best for Gaspi, his guardian’s life had always been shrouded in regret, and Gaspi could