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

waiting for me? You were close by during that incident.”
    “Oh, there was no doubt he wanted to. I saw the indecision on his face before you got there. He just hadn’t convinced himself to do it—too greedy. Obviously, he thought he could best you and take your gold before he ran.”
    “So what about me?”
    “Honestly, I’m not certain, but I do have an idea. Otherwise, you should be leagues from here by now. When you took the stone from the dead man, as past experience has shown, you should have fled into the night because of my presence. Crossbow or not, your urge to get away should have overcome my threat to you. Yet you stood your ground. I didn’t sense that mindless urgency of escape in you as in the others. That’s why I returned here to wait for you to come back and seek your help. Perhaps you have a magical talent I haven’t detected?” Raga suggested.
    “Don’t even think it, sorcerer, if that’s truly who you are,” Eris said ill-humored.
    “Or, it could be…” Raga paused searching for inoffensive words. Handling this man was like trying to put a rope on a cornered tiger.
    “Could be what?” Eris pressed irritably.
    “That you have a certain overriding influence upon you that negates, or lessens, the gem’s spell regarding me.”
    Eris simply looked at him, yet his eyes, the set of his mouth, told Raga he was on dangerous ground.
    Choosing his words carefully, Raga suggested, “It could be, contrary to what you told the girl below, you are the poor bed warmer.”
    Eris laughed, but Raga sensed the bitterness in it.
    “Surely, not I.”
    Raga shook his wooly head and a pursed-lipped frown ruffled his mustache. After a moment, he decided that a straight-forward approach was the only way to broach the subject.
    “I know your curse, Eris Pann. You can no more take a woman to your bed than can the sun catch the moons. Tonight, as on others before, I saw it work. I know what Charra-Tir has done to you. I feel your need, your anger, and your desire for revenge. You think the gems will help you get back what she has taken. Maybe they will, but you need to have all of them. I also know, though you will insist on believing otherwise, that you won’t be able to do it alone. Of that, I'm certain,” Raga said with finality.
    Eris remained silent. His eyes narrowed in deep-forged hatred for the memory the man called forth, and anger that this man knew more about him than he had the right to know. He clenched his jaw until it hurt. Suddenly, he slammed the silver goblet on the table and bent the stem. He stood up and knocked his chair backward. He leaned menacingly toward Raga. His clenched fists pressed hard on the table.
    “You don’t understand me well enough, old man,” Eris hissed. “By the fires in Riza’s pits, the jewel is mine as will be the others. Try to take any one from me and I swear I’ll gut you where you stand. The witch will pay dearly for what she’s done, and I don’t need any help from a half-crazed, self-proclaimed sorcerer.”
    Through the haze of his own anger, Eris saw again a faint glint of fire in Raga’s eyes. He knew, somehow, it was the fire of silent anger.
    “You’re angry. I see it. I feel it,” Eris taunted. “Raise your hand against me. Turn me into a blazing pyre. It would be better than living this wretched half-life that thrice-damned witch has thrust upon me. I’d just as soon be dead than ally myself with any sorcerer. Do you hear what I’m saying? A good length of steel is all I need. If that’s not enough, then death will release me from this damned curse.”
    Eris pushed away from the table and retrieved his weapons from the floor. He strode back to Raga and stood only a few paces in front of him.
    “So, sorcerer, who will it be? You, or me?” Eris demanded. With practiced skill, the weapons balanced on his fingertips poised to strike.
    “Neither, or both,” Raga said, rising unconcerned to his feet. “You have the first stone. Fine. Keep