Read The Hidden Realm: Book 04 - Ennodius for Free Online

he said in a wounded voice.
    “Rid me of this outlander and perhaps I will believe that you are truly my friend,” said the Tarsi coldly. His image faded away, and the portal winked out of existence, ending the ethereal meeting.
    As soon as the arrogant face of the Tarsi vanished, a mighty oath suddenly twisted the thin lips of the Goblin King. His eyes flamed, suddenly red as coals, and around him, his throne room trembled, as if the earth had moved beneath it.
    “There will be a reckoning for you arrogance, someday, my friend,” Torquatus hissed softly to himself, “but first I will deal with the half blood and his misshapen Dwarf companion.”
    Impetuously rising from his cold black throne, Torquatus turned his face to the east. Raising his right hand, he stared for a moment with pleasure at the heavy silver ring that circled his second finger. Seen with his mage sight, it was a swirling band of mingled red and gold energies, huge and bloated with the life forces of the countless mages that it had drained and consumed.
    Opening his magical third eye and drawing on the power of his ring, Torquatus sketched the outline of a circle roughly three feet across in the air in front of him with the index finger of his right hand. A gleaming ring of shimmering red light now hung in the air before him, tethered to his silver ring by a slender red thread, which fed the portal the power it needed to maintain itself. When the space within the fiery circle cleared, Torquatus closed his third eye. As if through a clear pane of glass, his dark eyes beheld a green, rolling plain lit by warm, golden sunlight.
    The Goblin king narrowed his dark eyes, for the sun’s rays pained them and made him feel lightheaded. Rather than wait for the soothing darkness that was still hours away, Torquatus impatiently began his search. Under his direction, the scene in the confines of the portal changed rapidly as it skimmed across the empty plain. He was familiar with the road that his enemies must follow through Tarsius if they were bound for Ennodius, and after a long search, his persistence was rewarded by the sight of two tiny figures on horseback riding north across the plains.
    Torquatus’s dark, cruel eyes filled with a hungry light. Impatience, fueled by a desire to be rid of his chief enemy, swept away his normal caution.
    “This time, I will not fail,” he thought to himself triumphantly as he deftly guided the portal closer and closer until it hovered only a few feet above the heads of the two unsuspecting travelers. “I will destroy both of them while I have them within my grasp.”
    Torquatus centered his attention on Elerian, for the Dwarf could be dealt with later. He had only to enlarge the portal now before reaching out to grasp his unsuspecting enemy. With one pull of his powerful right arm, he could draw the half Elf through the portal and into his throne room. Once he and Eirian occupied the same space, his enemy would be vulnerable to the magic of his ring, which would drain him of his life force until he was too weak to resist. There would be time then for the most exquisite tortures. Filled with cruel anticipation, Torquatus raised his slender but immensely strong right hand to seize his enemy.

 
    A NEW THREAT
     
    Right at the brink of the portal, Torquatus’s hand suddenly hesitated, rendered immobile by a sudden misgiving. His long fingers trembled with the desire to seize his enemy, but still, he did not thrust his hand through the portal.
    “I have the advantage of surprise, but if the half blood resists, it will become a contest of strength in which we will be evenly matched,” thought Torquatus to himself, for he knew that the strength in the lean hands and sinewy arms of his enemy was equal to his own. “If Ascilius comes to his aid, who knows what may happen. Their combined strength might suffice to draw me through the portal into the sunlight where they will have the advantage.” 
    As Torquatus hesitated,