The War for Mare (The Fall of Man Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

quite a distance on the
road from everything, I could still see the lights, how they lined
the streets, blinking in full colors.
    “It’s fun out there,” Iry said. “So much to
do.”
    “I see many out there,” I said. “Do they
just wander?”
    “Some. They also party.”
    “Do the Ancients not work?” I asked. “I know
you do. You are an educator. But the rest?”
    “Oh, without a doubt. Some are medicine
workers, some keep this city running. They are servants.”
    It shocked me to hear. “Ancient
servants?”
    “Not all can be wealthy, and not all can be
of royal blood. Some must be the support. The vein of human
existence does not come cheaply.”
    “Don’t I know it?”
    “Vala,” he moved closer, “I am not expecting
anything of you other than your company and companionship this
evening. Anything else will come in time.”
    “How can you be so certain?”
    “Because despite what you say, there’s
something there. There’s something between us.”
    I wanted to say ‘yes, my sister’. My sister was the reason I had stayed, married him. There was
no hatred toward Iry, not disgust like there use to be. And I would
admit that I didn’t dislike him. In my mind, however, a marriage
had to be based on more than just tolerability and family
obligation.
    My sister was my obligation. Her existence
in a new form baffled me, and I hadn’t yet figured out how that
would all play out. She was an Ancient and she would forever be a
child. She would, by all purposes, outlive me. She would live
beyond the years that I could care for her, unless, I too, became
an Ancient.
    I stared out into the bright lights of the
Ancient City. Tanner said he would find answers that I didn’t
know.
    I didn’t even know where he was. All I knew
was he was out there, in the City of the Ancients, searching. More
than likely, he was miserable and lost.

FOURTEEN – TANNER
     
    I couldn’t recall
the last time I laughed so hard. When those in charge told me and
Snake we’d have an escort, I was offended. They didn’t trust us. Of
course, I was on a spying mission. Snake seemed to be on what he
called a vacation. I wasn’t really sure what that was, but he was
having fun and kept telling me to lighten up.
    Really? We came to get Vala, which was a
bust. Her mission was shot because she was stuck getting married to
protect her sister.
    But the whole point of Vala going to Angeles
City was to bring down the Sybaris. I knew how to bring down the
Savages. Destroying them would surely bring a victory in the war
against the Sybaris. In actuality, there was no need to fight the
Sybaris. We could starve them by showing those under their rule the
true light of freedom. Lead them from bondage, like Moses did and
starve out the Sybaris.
    Although they had loads of those weird
communities like Vala came from, there were tons of humans living
happily in the City of the Ancients. Some had transitioned into
being Sybaris, though others just lived and worked there.
    I didn’t understand it.
    And if I didn’t know him better, I could
have sworn Snake would have been happy to become a new Ancient City
resident. He was having a good time.
    I started having a better time once our
private Sybaris started tagging us. I expected some stuffy elder to
lead us around, but he wasn’t. His name was too long and
complicated to say all the time, so we called him Talky. He was
young, or at least looked young. I think he said he was something
like two thousand years old. He had the typical wide, deep eyes of
the Sybaris and browner skin. He told us he was born of a human
mother, which explained his personality. Surprisingly, he was a lot
like me.
    Bataqua Shay Nu was the name he gave us and
Snake immediately shortened it to ‘Talky’.
    “Mind if we call you that?” Snake asked
politely.
    I expected him to scoff, but surprisingly,
he said, “Sure, if it’s easier. I like it. Talky. That’s me.”
    He was talky.
    He talked about everyone, but in a