Read Online Reunification by Timothy L. Cerepaka - Free Book Online Page A

said Lanresia. She stood up, the
hologram flashing back into the eyes of her speaking snake as she
did so. “Now, Apakerec, I think I have told you as much as you need
to know for now. I am going to leave, but don't worry, because
we'll send someone soon with some food for you to eat.”
    “ Ye are leaving?” I
said. I tried once more to lift my legs, but the action 'twas in
vain, as always. “I shall join ye. My sister is still out there. I
cannot simply sit here and rest, as if I was on vacation in the
Sunny Isles.”
    “ Sorry, but we can't let
you do that,” said Lanresia. She nodded at mine legs. “You still
need to rest. Your fight with Assassin took a lot out of you and
it's clear that the medicine is still affecting you. It would be
incredibly foolish to go looking after your sister again; next time
Assassin finds you, it will definitely finish the job it
started.”
    I scowled. As much as I was loathed to
admit it, the she-elf had a point. Whilst I did not feel quite as
bad as I had when I had fought with Assassin earlier, I believed
her when she said that I would not survive long if I fought it
again, at least in mine current condition.
    But I still did not like being here.
Despite Lanresia's reassurances that this 'Foundation' she belonged
to was a good organization, I deeply distrusted anyone who held me
in captivity and refused to tell me their true motives. The she-elf
was hiding much from me, but sadly I did not think I could get her
to tell me what.
    Then an idea occurred to me to convince
her to let me go. It was a brilliant idea, as brilliant as the sun
that shone over Dela and Xeeo, far more brilliant than I ever was.
Perhaps the Old Gods had given me this idea, though whether they
did or did not, I would still use it.
    So I said, “There is another reason ye
cannot keep me down here forever, Lanresia. I imagine ye know this
already, but I am a Knight of Se-Dela. Tomorrow, I am supposed to
return to work, and if I do not, then my fellow Knights will notice
and begin to search for me. They will find ye, and once they do,
your precious Foundation will come crashing down all around ye like
building blocks stacked on top of each other.”
    “ Your fellow Knights
couldn't find us if we opened the front door and placed a giant
'WELCOME' sign in neon lights outside it,” Lanresia replied, with
more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “But you are correct that
we can't keep you down here forever. Don't worry; we'll send you
back home soon, once all of this is over.”
    Lanresia snapped her fingers. My eyelids
became as heavy as a sack of potatoes and my muscles began to
relax. My conscious rapidly began slipping away even as I realized
what was going on: she had cast a sleep spell on me, the witch. I
had not noticed any skyras rings on her fingers, but perhaps the
Xeeonites could use magic without needing those, or maybe she had
some other way of doing it.
    I reached out toward her, but it was no
use. Sleep was coming upon me like a falcon flying over a field
mouse. I tried to fight it, but it was like trying to fight the
winds of a tornado.
    Just as sleep conquered me, a loud
explosion rocked the room, causing Lanresia to stagger. The chair
was knocked over, as if someone had thrown it, and my bed shuddered
and shook with the explosion.
    But I did not have a chance to find out
what was going on, because the comforting darkness of sleep claimed
me at last.
    ***
     

Chapter
Four
     
    M ine dreams were as frightening and
bizarre as the wildest tales of the story scribes. 'Twas like I
slept in an iron oven, burning like an everlasting flame, with the
groaning and clanking of the metal booming in my ears. My skin
seemed to melt before my very eyes, like butter on a hot pan, but I
could not scream because mine mouth was burned shut and my tongue
flew above my head, circling my crown like a vulture.
    Even worse, strange creatures crawled
along the ceiling, growling and howling like the wild dogs of