The Gems of Raga-Tor (Elemental Legends Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

pressed against the splintery walls. Daggers, one from each boot, were clutched in his hands. Fearful, tingling tension pulsed through him. Getting too careless , he scolded himself. He was taken by surprise perhaps once in the course of a year, not twice in one night.
    Sweat rolled down his temples as much from the blazing heat as by the knowledge that the red-bearded man, the same from the pier, stood before him with a broad grin on his ruddy face. Worse yet, he was a necromancer of sorts. He wasn’t ready to admit or believe that the great sorcerer, Raga-Tor, stood in front of him. Verin save his soul. There was nothing Eris loathed more than magic and its users, whose numbers seemed to multiply on any given day. Even the tricks of a street clown were often enough to churn his stomach.
    The big man stepped into the fire’s light, seemingly in good humor despite his fall into the sea. He now wore a magnificent, red-velvet tunic embroidered with golden threads. The pattern stitched on that broad expanse of red was of a longbow floating amidst a ring of flame. His loose-fitting black trousers were tucked neatly into the tops of the sturdy brown boots he had worn earlier. Boots somehow dry and clean, unlike the cold and wet ones that shrouded his feet.
    Eris blinked and would have sworn that for an instant the man’s eyes glowed like coals, and the hair on his face and head flickered like tiny flames dancing on the end of a log.
    “What will you do, burn the damned place down to get my green bauble?” Eris shouted over the roar of the fire. He glanced nervously at the fireplace turned blacksmith’s forge. His clothing was nearly dry from the intense heat, but nervous sweat rolled on his skin making him feel damp.
    The red-faced man suddenly roared with laughter.
    Eris stared at him. The stranger was crazed. The red beard waved his hand and the fire reduced to a normal, natural level.
    “Come, come, Eris,” the man said, smiling. He waved for Eris to come out of the corner, but resolutely, he stayed.
    Eris noticed the man was now unarmed. He considered his weapons. One good throw was all he needed, but thought better of it. There was no reason to be turned into a human torch for this man’s amusement, and Eris had no doubt he could do it.
    The stranger moved aside and waved his arms for Eris to join him at a table laden with food and prepared in a most lavish manner; a table that wasn’t there only moments ago. The feast, aromatic and abundant atop the polished surface, wasn’t exactly the fare served at the Black Mare either.
    “Have a seat. We have much to discuss and the time grows late,” the red beard said. “That was a clever trick you used to get away from me. I must have you explain the finer details of it to me sometime. However, I would suggest that for your own continued well-being, you not plunge me into water again. Fire and water—not a suitable combination.”
    Eris grimaced. He had been nearly turned into a cinder himself, hanged, drowned, and for what? To find this intruder, a magic user of all vile things, giving pyrotechnic displays in his room? Eris Pann disliked playing a fool’s game, and even more so when he was the one being made the fool.
    “You want to eat in the corner?” The man made ready to move the table.
    “What I want is for you to leave. I don’t care who you are, or what you want. If you want the stone, choose your weapon. Otherwise, get out and leave me alone. We have nothing to discuss,” Eris warned and struggled to keep his voice strong and steady. He was desperately trying to ignore his sense that magic was coursing through the room.
    “Leave me alone,” the man whined. “You sound like a petulant woman, Eris. A bit of sea water stuck between your ears, perhaps?”
    Eris nearly roared for his frustration. His jaw clenched and angry, violet fire flashed in his eyes. He was a man of action. He had no use for these senseless word games. Did the idiot want the gem or