The Monster Slayer Series Two: The Slayer and the Dragon, The Ogre and the Bridge, The Beast of Charn, A Murder of Vampires, The Missing Bride, Night of the Necromancer by Joseph Anderson

Author:Joseph Anderson [Anderson, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-04-06T22:00:00+00:00

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Kate woke up with her hand clenched around the hilt of her sword. Her eyes were open before she was fully aware of what was happening. All she knew was that a noise had rattled her.

Morning sunlight poured through the windows of the common room. The bright light exposed the ugly blemishes of the inn—long sitting stains on the floor, chunks missing in the wall, and the plethora of scratches on the tables and chairs. Paradoxically, she remembered it being easier to see in the room during the evening. The light from the room’s hearth cast pleasant shadows that insulated everything like a blanket. The fire was still burning but the morning light castrated its influence, obliterating shadows. The room looked cold.

A man was standing at the front door. He fumbled his way into opening it and then went outside. The door slammed behind him and she recognized the sound as the one that woke her up. Slowly, she released her grasp on the sword and lay back against the wall. She had fallen asleep on the floor. Several others were around her. Her head felt swollen and waterlogged; she was thirsty, and had an urgent need to urinate. She stumbled when she got onto her feet and took short steps to the back of the room and to the outhouse behind the inn.

The chill of the outside air dampened the desire to fall back to sleep. When she was finished in the outhouse, she leaned against the back of the building and closed her eyes. Recalling the night brought broken, fragmented pieces of events. Layton was laughing. She was laughing with him. The drinks kept clacking down onto the table next to her. Her response to each one was automatic, drinking them easily with the confident thought that her alchemical augmentations made her tolerate alcohol; it was true, but that had its limits. She remembered drinking well passed after Layton stopped.

The memory of the night was jumbled. She remembered sitting at the table and was then outside in the next instant. Layton was gone and then he was back. The common room was loud and buzzing with singing and then dead and silent. Layton challenged her to arm wrestle and the patrons became a circular wall around their table.

The man and woman that were at their table for dinner remained there. They were constant as her thoughts flickered over the night. They were there singing along with the others. They were there when she pinned Layton’s arm to the table. They were there when Layton kissed the girl on the lips, ran a finger through the line of soot on her face, and then turned to the man. He kissed him then, his lips still wet from the woman’s, longer and harder than the first kiss. The memory skipped and all three of them were gone. Excited footsteps on the stairs. The common room died and she settled against the wall at the bar.

The night was a waste. No, she corrected, it was more than that.

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