Dark Sun: Prism Pentad 1 - The Verdent Passage Read Free

youth, his parents had
     required him to study the psionic arts for a time, enforcing a strict regimen of
     self-denial and painful rituals in the name of harnessing the spiritual and mental powers
     of his being. Under the harsh discipline of his master, Tithian had learned to use these
     energies to probe another's thoughts, to make objects move with the force of his mind
     alone, even to picture in his head what lay on the other side of a thick wall. But the Way
     of the Unseen, as his mentor had called the disciplines, was a difficult path to follow.
     He had left the school as soon as he grew old enough to make his own decisions, opting for
     the much easier and more lucrative life of a king's templar.
    A slight smile crossed Kalak's papery lips. The slave gurgled incoherently and began to
     drool, his pulverized face contorting in agony and terror. Then his jaws clamped together
     violently. The detached tip of his tongue slipped from between his swollen lips and
     dropped to the floor.
    At last, the king opened his eyes and took his hand away from his victim's neck. The
     slave's one good eye rolled back in its socket. His bloody mouth gaped in a silent scream.
     Then the wretch tumbled to the brick terrace in a heap.
    Ignoring the dying man, the king glared at Dorjan and shook the bone amulet at her. “There
     are two more somewhere in my ziggurat!”
    Dorjan's jaw fell slack. She shook her head in denial, but could not utter any words.
    “The slave's thoughts were easily read and quite specific on this matter,” said Kalak
     evenly.
    The slender templar moved backward two steps, the color draining from her face. “You'll
     have them by dusk.”
    Kalak shook his head. “Not from you.”
    Dorjan looked away, avoiding the king's gaze in a useless effort to save herself. “Mighty
     One, give meÑ”
    Her plea ceased in midsentence as the king fixed his narrowed eyes on her face. The power
     of Kalak's assault was so great that his attack flashed briefly in Tithian's mind as well
     as Dorjan's. Tithian almost screamed as the image of the Dragon's body appeared in his
     head. Its immense tail lashed back and forth angrily, and a cloud of yellow gas billowed
     from its sharp-toothed maw. Its staffs were pointed away from its body like weapons. At
     the end of one staff, a ball of red lightning crackled. At the end of the other, a small
     green flame licked the wood.
    Just when Tithian feared Kalak's anger would inadvertently destroy him, the Dragon faded
     from his mind. Dorjan screamed and began to shake her head violently. A wave of astonished
     murmurs rustled along the terrace as the jozhals and their overseers stopped to stare at
     the source of the agonized screeching.
    The high templar watched his rival's pain in grotesque fascination. Certainly he was happy
     to be rid of her, but her sudden demise was a sobering reminder of the price high templars
     sometimes paid for their positions of power.
    Dorjan's scream quickly became a feeble wail, then she abruptly fell silent and lifted her
     chin. Her eyes went blank, although Tithian fancied for a moment that he could see red
     lightning crackling and flashing deep inside them. Yellow smoke began to seep from the
     woman's nose, and a gout of green flame spewed from her mouth. Tithian stepped away,
     narrowly avoiding injury as a ball of emerald fire engulfed Dorjan's head.
    The woman dropped to the terrace in a lifeless heap. Tithian watched her head burn down to
     a pile of ash in uneasy silence, until Kalak drew his attention away by handing him the
     bone amulet.
    “Congratulations. You're my new High Templar of the King's Works,” said Kalak. “Finish my
     ziggurat in three weeksÑand find the other two amulets.”

ONE
    The Gaj
    Rikus slid down the rope and dropped into the fighting pit, anxious to finish the morning
     combat before the day grew hot. The crimson sun had just risen, sending tendrils of
     fire-colored