{"id":140,"date":"2012-06-25T12:30:29","date_gmt":"2012-06-25T16:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/?p=140"},"modified":"2012-06-25T12:30:29","modified_gmt":"2012-06-25T16:30:29","slug":"zervakan-free-fantasy-novel-chapter-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/?p=140","title":{"rendered":"ZERVAKAN – Free Fantasy Novel – Chapter 22"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\"\"<\/a>
Cover by TJ Lomas.<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\nI’m posting a chapter from my latest fantasy novel for free every Monday and Friday (click Zervakan<\/a> above for a synopsis and to start from the beginning). It’s in a “pre-published state,” meaning you might find the occasional spelling\/grammar mistake. If you do, please leave a comment below or email me at robsteiner01 [at] gmail [dot] com.<\/p>\n

If you’re uncomfortable getting something for nothing, you can hit the PayPal Donate<\/a> button in the Tip Jar section to the right. If you donate more than $3, I’ll send you a non-DRM ebook once the book is published (summer 2012). If you donate more than $20, I’ll send you a printed copy.<\/p>\n

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it!<\/em>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ZERVAKAN<\/h1>\n

by Rob Steiner<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chapter 22<\/h2>\n

After an hour of sitting in the shadows of an abandoned street trolley, Karak finally saw movement in the bushes near the Hallowed Bridge.\u00c2\u00a0 It was only a shudder of the bushes, but on a windless night, it was enough to tell Karak that something alive hid there.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, amazingly, a small flame appeared as someone lit his pipe, removing all doubt that a man inhabited those bushes.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak shook his head in disbelief, feeling a little insulted.\u00c2\u00a0 If this was the quality of assassins the Klahdera had sent against him, they must not think much of him at all.<\/p>\n

He waited another fifteen minutes before making his way to the bridge.\u00c2\u00a0 He wanted to be sure the soon to be dead man in the bushes was the only one.\u00c2\u00a0 The bridge was located next to a disposal yard for old, broken machinery and scrap metal.\u00c2\u00a0 Pipes and tubes and gears lay about the dark yard, the grisly remains of disemboweled factories.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak had to use his assassin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s skills, skills he had not used in a long time, to avoid making noise in this cemetery of metal.\u00c2\u00a0 He stepped slowly, carefully toward the dead man in the bushes near the bridge.\u00c2\u00a0 That old feeling of the hunt and the impending kill made Karak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blood rush in his ears and his heart beat faster.\u00c2\u00a0 His hand tightened around his knife\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hilt, the blade blackened by fire to avoid giving off a glint in any light.<\/p>\n

He approached the bushes from behind and stayed close to the mounds of metal that lined the river front.\u00c2\u00a0 He wore black clothes he had stolen from several vagrants, but he had washed them first to avoid giving off a stench that would announce his presence.\u00c2\u00a0 He blended in well.\u00c2\u00a0 The small light from the assassin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pipe might not have been noticed by someone walking or riding by on the bridge above, but it was like a lighthouse on a stormy night to Karak, guiding him onward and keeping the would-be assassin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s location known.<\/p>\n

The fool.<\/p>\n

Ten paces from the assassin, Karak saw the back of his head.\u00c2\u00a0 A cold knot formed in Karak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stomach.\u00c2\u00a0 He stared at the man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head for a moment, not believing\u00e2\u20ac\u201dor not wanting to believe\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhat he saw.\u00c2\u00a0 His emotions ran from betrayal to sadness to anger in a moment.\u00c2\u00a0 When he regained the cold objectivity of the trained assassin, he sprang forward.<\/p>\n

He pulled the man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s golden pony tail back and put the knife at the base of his throat.\u00c2\u00a0 The man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hands scrambled for the revolver sitting on his lap, but Karak growled into his ear, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Keep moving and this knife will come out the back of your neck.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The man froze, then chuckled.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hey, Karak, you scared me.\u00c2\u00a0 I thought you were one of the Overlords\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 boys.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Really, Marwa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122jin?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Karak said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re here to watch my back while I take Silek\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s han<\/em>?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why else would I be here?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want you to pick up your revolver by the barrel with your thumb and forefinger, and hand it to me slowly.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Marwa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122jin sighed, inching his hand down to the revolver\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s barrel.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Karak, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re awfully paranoid for\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Marwa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122jin tried smashing the back of his head into Karak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chin, but Karak was ready for such a move.\u00c2\u00a0 He jerked his head to the side, then brought the hilt of his knife down on the back of Marwa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122jin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head.\u00c2\u00a0 It did not knock him out, but it dazed him enough so that Karak could grab the revolver as it slipped from the blond man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand.<\/p>\n

Karak pointed the gun at Marwa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122jin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head as the blond man looked at Karak through half-focused eyes.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m insulted that Silek sent one man for me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Karak said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And only his bed boy at that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Then Karak made his voice deadly serious.\u00c2\u00a0 It was not hard.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he asked, not really expecting an answer from Silek\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Swornman.<\/p>\n

But Marwa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122jin shook his head to clear it, then snarled at Karak.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your head or his, Karak.\u00c2\u00a0 Simple as that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Then he lunged at Karak.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak pulled the trigger and blasted a hole through the blond man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s left eye.\u00c2\u00a0 He fell backward, dead before he hit the ground.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak half wanted to empty the revolver into the Swornman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chest, just to make sure he was dead.\u00c2\u00a0 Given the event that got Karak into this mess to begin with, he did not think it was such an unreasonable feeling.\u00c2\u00a0 He stamped it down quickly, though, since one gunshot was enough to draw a passing constable’s attention.\u00c2\u00a0 Five more would bring down a squad.<\/p>\n

Karak would have preferred to take the man with his knife, but plans had changed.\u00c2\u00a0 He had to adapt and change with them.\u00c2\u00a0 He put the gun in one of his coat pockets, then jogged up the incline to where the first support columns of the stone bridge met the land in front of the water.\u00c2\u00a0 He searched the column for the false bricks Silek had told him about yesterday, but could not find anything loose.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak would have been surprised if he had.\u00c2\u00a0 Silek had been setting him up all along.<\/p>\n

Knowing he had lingered, he ran down the incline and made his way back through the machinery graveyard, all the while struggling to keep his emotions under control.\u00c2\u00a0 Allowing anger or fear to cloud his decisions now would only get him to do something stupid and die.\u00c2\u00a0 Silek allowed his fear to overcome him, and it had cost him the life of one of his best Swornmen.\u00c2\u00a0 Karak had let fear overcome him in the silo with Crane, and look where it had brought him.\u00c2\u00a0 Revenge was a good thing, even a strong motivator, but it was something to pursue in a smart way.<\/p>\n

Karak found himself walking back toward the Low City, realizing his feet had made his decision for him.\u00c2\u00a0 He was tired of running and tired of being betrayed.\u00c2\u00a0 Crane, Silek, and the Overlords were about to find out why Karak was once considered the best assassin in the Klahdera.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cover by TJ Lomas. I’m posting a chapter from my latest fantasy novel for free every Monday and Friday (click Zervakan above for a synopsis and to start from the beginning). It’s in a “pre-published state,” meaning you might find the occasional spelling\/grammar mistake. If you do, please leave a comment below or email me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,28,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-free-stuff","category-novels","category-zervakan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}