Read Online Target Of The Orders (Book 3) by Ron Collins - Free Book Online

had decided to go mage hunting. And he wasn’t going to tell Will that he was going to find the boy a new place to live, and that Garrick was going to leave him there while he went off on that hunt.
    There are things the boys of a dozen years or so don’t understand, and Garrick wasn’t ready to face any of those things tonight.
    “But for now we’re going to find you a place to sleep.”
    Garrick knew this city well, and figured they would be safest in an alleyway, or maybe against a shore dock. He selected an alley, and propped a discarded crate against a brick wall to give Will a place to sleep. Kalomar stood at the end of the alleyway, hitched loosely to a post.
    With his life force draining, Garrick did not sleep. But as he huddled against the wall using discarded fabric as a blanket, he slipped along the edge of lucidity and dreams played at the edge of his senses.
    Darien swept his blood-bathed sword toward the neck of a burly creature. The thing’s head tumbled to the ground. and as it rolled forward its features grew more human and more similar to Darien’s. When it came to a halt, Garrick saw it was Thale, Darien’s brother …
    Sunathri sat on a throne of polished stone. She twisted and pulled against restraints made of black and purple vines, but her efforts served only to draw the vines tighter. A snake slithered at her feet, twining slowly up one of the chair’s legs. She couldn’t speak, but her eyes were wide with terror. Garrick pulled a knife from his belt and sliced at the straps, freeing her just as the serpent buried its fangs deeply into her neck …
    As Sunathri screamed, another serpent wrapped around his leg, its mouth gaping open, fangs prepared to strike …
    Garrick screamed himself awake.
    A man was there, squatted beside him and shaking him by the ankle.
    Garrick scuttled away, preparing magic.
    “Calm yourself, Garrick,” the man said. “If I had designs to kill you, you would never have woken up.”
    The voice was deep and familiar. It was the bald ranger from the inn.
    He breathed easier. His back hurt where the rough brick had bitten into it. His muscles ached from sitting on hard ground.
    “How do you know my name?”
    “Stories about you are growing more numerous than you may be comfortable with,” the man replied. “You’ll need to be sharper about where you sleep in the future. An alley is too easy a target.”
    A dark body lay nearby.
    Garrick nodded at it.
    “Your work?”
    The man grinned, his teeth white despite the shadows. “Lectodinian by the look of the brand.”
    “Thank you,” Garrick said.
    “I’ve never been too fond of the orders.”
    “I’m glad of that.”
    The bald man took a crab-step over to the body, then reached around its waist to remove a belt and a sturdy dagger. He handed them to Garrick. “You’ll need something other than your magic to protect you.”
    The blade was short and stubby—a weapon balanced for throwing. He slipped it into his belt loop.
    “What do you want for your services?”
    “Nothing.”
    Garrick gave him a quizzical glance.
    “I figure you’re on the right side, Garrick. At least you talk a good game, eh?”
    “Thank you. I hope I can repay it someday.”
    The bald man glanced to the end of the alley. “You best be moving on,” he said. Then the man was gone.
    Will was irritable when Garrick roused him, but he got moving quickly at the idea of a dead body a few feet away.
    “Where are we going?” Will asked as Garrick lifted the boy up on Kalomar’s back.
    “We’ll think of something.”
    He glanced to the east. Morning was still a considerable time away.
    They were probably safer if they got out of town.
    That’s when he knew where he was going. It would be just for the evening, he told himself as he turned Kalomar to the west, and toward the sparse woodlands Garrick was so familiar with.
    Arianna lived there—Arianna, her family, and her quiet life. He thought about her, and about the one kiss they