The D'Karon Apprentice by Joseph R. Lallo Read Free Book Online Page A

The
tiny space, the smells of fires and other creatures. All of these
little details and pointless problems. How do you tolerate that place? How do you tolerate being so set upon by such drudgery
and triviality?”
    “How do I tolerate it?” Myranda said. “That’s
my home, Ether. That’s what a home is. It is supposed to be filled
with commotion, crowded with family and warm with the smell of
food. I’ve only had it back for a few months, and I’m already
dreading leaving it to go on this mission. I don’t know how I lived
without it for so long.”
    “But you are Chosen! You are like me,
or as near like me as all but a handful of creatures could ever be.
You were meant for more than this! Even this ‘mission’ is little
more than a chore to mend the lingering symptoms of the disease
that we cured! Our job is done. Why devote yourself to this? It
doesn’t matter. Nothing matters anymore.”
    “It matters to me. And to a great many
others,” Myranda said. She placed a hand on Ether’s shoulder.
“Desmeres once said to me that a short life was a blessing because
it would end before we’d seen and done all we cared to do. For the
immortals, he said, a purpose must be found to maintain the drive
to go on.”
    “I had a purpose, human. The grandest
purpose that could possibly exist. I was the guardian of this
world. And now that purpose is fulfilled. The world no longer needs
a guardian. And I watched my equal die , human. If Lain
could…” She stopped herself. “I shall be at the appointed place at
the appointed time. Contact me if you discover the taint of the
D’Karon in the south.”
    Without another word, her form dissolved
away, leaving only the notebook hanging in the center of a churning
female form. She burst skyward. Myranda watched her soar away.
She’d just slipped from sight when Deacon joined Myranda, throwing
a cloak about her shoulders.
    “What was wrong?” Deacon asked.
    Myranda shook her head, eyes still on the
sky. “A few months ago she was the eternal defender of a world.
Then, in the same moment, her world suddenly no longer needed her
defense and she learned she might not be eternal,” Myranda said. “I
don’t envy her for the path she’s got ahead. I only hope she can
find her way.”

Chapter
2
    Deep in Tressor, on the eastern edge of the Tresson
desert, a well-fortified estate was tucked away in a sparsely treed
plain. Though utterly surrounded by troops, smiths, and other
elements of a strong military, the estate was nonetheless
luxurious.
    A pair of men on horses, one in the red and
tan uniform of the army and the other in the rather shabby clothes
of a farmer, approached the ivy-clad trellis covering the cobbled
entry path. Four guards questioned the soldier, then showed him and
his guest inside.
    As they walked through the halls of the
estate, the poorly dressed man seemed stricken with both awe and
anxiety. As he paced through the well-built and better-adorned
halls, he clutched his hands anxiously in front of him. Paintings
and tapestries covered the walls, each of them quite likely as
valuable as his whole farm to the south.
    “Listen carefully. The man you are speaking
with is a military patron. You shall refer to him as Esteemed
Patron. Any question he asks, you will answer. Answer with all of
the detail you can manage and speak only the truth, is that
understood?”
    “Of course,” the farmer said quickly.
    “Good,” said the soldier. “Then this should
go smoothly.”
    They approached a heavy door carved with an
intricate depiction of a great battle early in the Perpetual War,
the Battle of Five Point. The soldier knocked on the door.
    “Esteemed Patron Sallim,” he announced.
    “Speak,” came a voice from within, managing
in a single syllable to sound profoundly arrogant and entitled.
    “I have here the man you asked to see.”
    “Send him in.”
    The soldier opened the door and ushered the
shabby man inside, shutting the door behind him.
    Inside was