River Of Life (Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

with no apparent assistance or outside force,
into pyramidal forms with geometric folds.  Each eating utensil was placed in
the right position.  Each sat perfectly spaced with the seat that would later
support a guest or host.  With eyes wide open, the man who had been setting up
stared at Erelon.  The wizard smirked and then, nodding his head, disappeared
through an exit.
     
    Erelon passed down silent halls.  A few men and women walked
around the wizard, barely recognizing his presence.  Most were busy with work
of some kind, and the halls were mostly empty.
    Finally the master wizard stepped into the main lobby where the
fountain dominated attention.  Around it the wizard passed and then began to
ascend the stairs when an urgent voice called his name, stopping him short of
his previously conceived destination.
    “Yeah,” Erelon replied as he turned to face the man who had
addressed him.
    “Auri sent me to let you know, Yalen and his warriors. . . They
are here.”
    Erelon stared at the messenger for a moment before replying, “I
will wait for him here.  Hurry and bring him to me.”
    Quickly the man was gone, racing through the main castle door. 
Whatever Erelon requested was done promptly.  Yet the wizard knew it would take
some time for the man to reach the wall and then return, so he stooped to rest
on the steps.  Several men passed him going up or down the stairs, their legs
brushing against him as they squeezed by.
    Erelon stared at the empty door.  Boredom began to set in upon
the wizard’s mind.  Erelon was tired of living the same life.  He was
constantly on the move, never staying in one place very long.  He met plenty of
people, made many friends, but he was never around them very long to enjoy the
camaraderie.  Erelon was tired of always finding a fight.  He wanted to be able
to walk into a pub without meeting an assassin or go camping in the woods
without being disturbed by undead soldiers.  He wanted to be someone else, to
give this mission to a different unlucky person.  Yet Erelon knew he would see
the task to the end.  More people came and went, passing in and out of the
doors, some even ascending and descending the stairs to look down on the wizard
who sat there.
    In a state of loneliness, Erelon watched the people come and go,
virtually no sound except a slight trickle of the fountain as the water flowed
over the stone and fell into the water basin below it.  Erelon wanted to trade
lives with someone who followed, someone who did not have to make the
decisions.  Erelon wanted a life that came free of the stress of forming plans
that would decide the fate of lives.  He wanted someone to tell him what to
do.  He wanted a life where at the end of the day he could go to the bar, have
a couple pints with a few friends, and then go home to a wife. 
    A few of those that passed in and out whispered too low for
Erelon to understand what they said.  What they said did not matter, it only
furthered his feeling of being alone.  These friends had secrets.  They had
someone to confide in, someone to share their problems with.  Erelon only had
his shadow much of the time.  Time passed slowly as he did nothing but wait for
his friend.
     
    A dark form shadowed the doorway, and as more men moved in
behind, the little light from the opening was cut off.  Yalen followed a young
man inside, the same messenger who had visited with Erelon earlier.  The elf
still looked young.  He seemed to have not aged a day except for when Erelon
looked into his eyes.  They showed the extra days he had seen, the history gone
by, the wisdom gained and experience learned through encountering events and
living through another age.
    Yalen was a young elf, still he had already seen much in his
age.  Being immortal, he had many more ages to live.  In the years to come,
ages into the future, this elf would boast of knowing the wizard Erelon.  Yalen
would tell stories of having seen the wizard when Erelon was