The Hidden Relic (The Evermen Saga, Book Two) Read Online Free Page A

the visions of death and macabre destruction.
    When the retching ceased and his body again came under his control, Tapel climbed back to his feet. He put his hand to his forehead, momentarily light-headed. He breathed slowly in, then out. He fixed his mind on his mother, and, his face set with determination, deliberately walked towards the next dead soldier he saw.
    The dead legionnaire stared at Tapel with glazed eyes. The soldier's head was shaved and his face was flat and round. A tattoo decorated his cheek: the sun and star raj hada of Tingara.
    Tapel squatted by the soldier's side and examined him in more detail. He had been killed by a pike; it wasn't a question, the long haft still jutted from the centre of the legionnaire's chest. The body of the Halrana pikeman who had killed him was nearby, still clutching the weapon with both hands, a red slash across his throat and an expression of surprise on his face.
    Tapel tried not to think of the priests at the earth temple and their sermons about respect for the dead. This man was the enemy, he reminded himself. Somehow it felt better to search the enemy dead.
    The legionnaire was a big man in life, and wore a padded vest of scaled armour. The battle had taken its toll, and several of the scales were missing. If they hadn't been, he probably would have survived the thrust that ended his life.
    Breathing slowly and evenly to suppress his revulsion, Tapel began to feel inside the armour where two of the metal scales had opened up a hole. The legionnaire wore a simple jerkin underneath the armour; Tapel felt up and down, using his thin arms and small hands to advantage. Finally he gave up; there was nothing there. Where would he keep his gilden, were he to head into battle? He probably wouldn't take it with him in the first place.
    Jewellery. He should look for jewellery. He decided to quickly and speedily search for rings, necklaces, earrings, fancy scabbards, anything that looked valuable. This strategy had the added benefit that Tapel wouldn't have to spend too much time touching the dead.
    Scanning swiftly, Tapel immediately found a bronze ring on the longest finger of the legionnaire's left hand, and a small gold hoop around the lobe of his left ear.
    The sooner he could work, the faster he would be finished. Tapel took the jewellery, then left the body and continued his search.
    Some kind of explosion had left a huge gouge in the earth up ahead. With horror, Tapel realised that the lumps he had taken for clods of dirt scattered about were the pieces of bodies. He promptly left the scene behind and came to a group of Black Army regulars, motley soldiers whose luck had run out when they encountered a group of ironmen. The constructs had run through them like a scythe through wheat. Some twisted pieces of metal could be seen here and there, but scores of bodies in black tabards proved who had been the victor in that particular encounter. The Black Army regulars were laid out in an almost orderly fashion, limbs akimbo and flesh torn.
    Tapel moved quickly from corpse to corpse, keeping his mind carefully blank. He picked up mostly cheap metal jewellery, but also found a gilt scabbard and a gold ring set with a purple stone.
    Tapel crested a hill, and jumped when he startled a flock of crows gorging on the dead. They settled again, further ahead, their beady eyes regarding him as they tilted their heads, hopping from one place to another and cawing to each other. A nearby sound caught his attention, and he looked down; at his feet a crow glared up at him, blood dripping from its beak. Tapel kicked at it with his foot.
    It was growing dark. Looking around the battlefield Tapel realised he was the last of the youths still out. If he came home too late, his mother would ask questions, questions he knew he wouldn't want to answer.
    The shortest path back to the city was through yet another group of the dead, where it appeared a tremendous swordfight had taken place. As Tapel came