Read Online Angst (Book 4) by Robert P. Hansen - Free Book Online

thought as he leaned forward and tossed the incense into the
fire.
    As the serving wench set down his beer, she asked, “What’s
that? A spice of some sort?”
    Taro smiled. The smoke was already beginning to writhe into
a frenzy of thin, wispy snake-like tendrils. “Yes,” he muttered. “A spice of
some sort.”
    Humphrey looked at him and then turned to the fire.
    Snake heads were forming, and their glowing red eyes were
seeking out their targets. It wouldn’t be long, now.
    Humphrey leapt from his chair and shouted, “What have you
done!?” The raucous crowd grew silent and turned to them.
    “I am old and tired,” Taro said. “They laugh at me because
they do not understand.” The snake heads emerged from the fire, their
smoke-like bodies stretching out from the flames like a many-fingered specter.
He had seen that in one of his visions too, just as he had seen the fireplace
and village. He hadn’t realized it before, but that part of the vision
crystallized in his mind. Something important is about to happen, he
thought. “Now,” he said, “they will.” He turned to Humphrey, who was staring
wide-eyed at the apparition approaching him, its red eyes piercing his soul
long before its fangs struck his temple. Humphrey was ill-prepared for it and
staggered back. “So will you,” Taro whispered, watching Humphrey sag to his
knees.
    He turned back to the fire. The snake-like tendrils had
fanned out from the fire to seek their unsuspecting prey. Three of them had
already attached to Taro, but he had been prepared for it. The disorientation
he had felt the first time it happened was still there, but it wasn’t as
debilitating as it had been when he wasn’t expecting it. He even sensed that he
could control the vision somewhat, possibly direct it to what he wanted to see
instead of passively allowing it to take him where it wanted to go.
    Some of the villagers screamed as the snakes began to strike
those nearest the fireplace. Those closest to the doors ran. The snakes let
them go and settled on those who remained. Then the vision came, and reality
faded into the background. The wizard stood in front of him, his dark blue eyes
intense, angry. The muscles along his jawline were taut, and his nostrils
flared out. His arms hung rigidly at his sides as he demanded, “Why have you
detained me?”
    “King Tyr ordered it,” a voice from behind Taro said. Taro
tried to turn, but the image of the wizard stayed directly in front of him no
matter which way he faced. “I’m sorry Angus, but you cannot leave the city.
Your paraphernalia—I believe that’s what you wizards call it—will be
confiscated and placed in the care of the Grand Master.”
    Angus? Is that his name? The wizard’s black hair
swished as he shook his head. “You cannot keep me here against my will,” he
said.
    “Now, Angus,” the voice said in a reasonable tone that made
it seem like he was patronizing him instead of offering consolation. “As long
as you are a member of Hobart’s Banner, you are subject to the king’s command.
You will abide by that command and stay in the city. If not, I have been given
orders to arrest you.”
    Angus looked over Taro’s left shoulder and frowned. Several
seconds passed before he said, “That will not be necessary.”
    “Good,” the mysterious man behind him said. “The king has
plans for you and your Banner, but he has not deigned to tell me what they are
yet. When I receive your orders, I will expect you to be ready to fulfill them
on short notice.” There was a pause, and then he asked, “Now, why don’t you
tell me what happened? Where are the other members of your Banner?”
    Before Angus could reply, the vision began to fade and a new
one replaced it. There was a crossroads, and as he approached it, a metal clad
behemoth on a giant white horse turned to face him. Beside the warrior, cloaked
in the shadows at the edge of the vision, were three pale riders with bows and
a boy on a pony. But