Eternity (The Calnis Chronicles Of The Tarimain: Volume I - Emergence Book 2)

By J R C Salter

Life is Hard. Eternal Life is Impossible

Having escaped an ambush, Luke must discover who, or what, is controlling the police. But is he willing to put his recently discovered immortality on the line for his new allies?
The second Chronicle in the Tarimain series.

Word count ~8000.

The Calnis Chronicles

The once great realm of Calnis lies in ruins. Few know of its existence except in fairy tales and myths. Older even than the nation itself is the ancient power that still lies beneath the capital​—​a power that must never be wielded.

Today the nation's legacy lives on through the Tarimain, immortal soldiers fighting for the good of all existence. But the forces of Hell are intent on reigniting the war that began before time itself. A war between Gods and Mortals that will lay waste to the Twelve Worlds.

The Calnis Chronicles is a series of novels, short stories, and other ephemera. The main collection will consist of four series.

Rise of the Emissary
Prophets foretell the arrival of the Devil’s Emissary. He will topple nations upon his arrival, and his power will cloak the world in darkness. Fate has recruited a solitary girl to ward off this destruction. First, though, she needs to confront her ideas of reality.
A series of three stand alone books. Each one chronicles the life of a particular character, and their importance to this pivotal stage of history.

The Calnis Chronicles of the Tarimain
The Tarimain, immortal soldiers tasked with fighting on the front lines of the eternal war uncover a dark demonic plot to raise an army. As Earth approaches a worldwide war, they hunt a Great President of Hell, and the mysterious Man with the Eyes.
A series of short stories that follow on from one another, and are collected in volumes of ten.

J R C Salter was born in the English Westcountry in the mid-Eighties, the first child of Karen and David, and he has two brothers and one sister.

He trained and practiced as a chef for many years, and now he works as a barista while publishing books on the side, with the aim of becoming a full time author.

He still likes to cook, and enjoys baking cookies, as well as reading, coding, and making giant Star Wars models from Lego.
He currently lives in the small town of Cullompton in Devon, and his main inspirations are Tolkien, and the works of Joss Whedon.

‘You let one get away,’ the Man said, as Harrison went to his drawer, avoiding the eyes as much as he could.
‘He will be found,’ Harrison answered. He took out the book and opened it. He wrote the names of each prisoner, their crimes, and other details. It was a mark of his fear and anger that he made three mistakes. Looking up and across his desk, he saw his letter opener sitting beside a pile of unopened letters. It was not the first time he had this thought, but he had never carried it out. His eyes looked to his right and out of the corners, he saw the Man with his back turned to him. He slowly took hold of the letter opener and turned. He saw the Man observing the noticeboard full of details from his latest cases. Harrison slowly took a step towards him, the letter opener, cold to the touch, grasped tightly in his hand.
Harrison reached up, and the Man turned around to look into his eyes. The sergeant forgot his assassination, lost in the fiery abyss of the other man’s eyes.
The Man calmly took Harrison’s hand and removed the makeshift weapon. ‘You had better find him. If you don’t, you know the consequences.’

• Language: English
• Publisher: J R C Salter
• Release date: Apr 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301798902

J R C Salter

J R C Salter was born in the English Westcountry in the mid-Eighties, the first child of Karen and David, and he has two brothers and one sister. He trained and practiced as a chef for many years, and now he works as a barista while publishing books on the side, with the aim of becoming a full time author. He still likes to cook, and enjoys baking cookies, as well as reading, coding, and making giant Star Wars models from Lego. He currently lives in the small town of Cullompton in Devon, and his main inspirations are Tolkien, and the works of Joss Whedon.

Book preview

The Tarimain, immortal soldiers tasked with fighting on the front lines of the eternal war uncover a dark demonic plot to raise an army. As Earth approaches a worldwide war, they hunt a Great President of Hell, and the mysterious Man with the Eyes.

An Alpira book

3rd Edition

Op.3.3.0

Epub Edition

First published by Alpira Media 2012

This edition published by Alpira Media 2017

Copyright © 2017 JRC Salter

Cover illustration © J R C Salter

Calnis logo © JRC Salter

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Cover by Alpira Designs

All characters featured in this work are fictitious. Any similarity to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at [e-mail].

Fantasy - Science Fiction

ETERNITY

by

J R C Salter

For my grandmother whom I never knew

because of the cruel and constant presence of death

____________________

ETERNITY

____________________

'Muß es sein?

Es muß sein.'

―Ludwig Van Beethoven, epigraph to String Quartet in F Major, Opus 135

Prologue

Unwelcome

Atharron dodged another spear just as it passed, tearing through his shirt. He felt the blade cut his arm; a mere surface wound. He ignored the brief flash of pain and continued his flight up the hill. His pursuers shouted behind him, and they appeared no farther away than last time he checked. As he crested the hill, he chanced a look behind him and saw the entire tribe still chasing him; some paused to pick up the spears they tossed earlier.

Why couldn’t he have kept his mouth shut? He was nearing the gateway, or at least a clue as to the gateway’s whereabouts, and then he had to say he couldn’t die. Of course they didn’t believe him. He’d experienced enough of that over the years, and it didn’t bother him. He decided to say nothing of the matter until a young girl​—​who couldn’t have been more than fourteen​—​approached him, asking about it…

‘Are you really a thousand years old?’ she had said.

Atharron looked at her. ‘Your people don’t accept that, so why should I answer?’

‘I accept it.’

‘Really?’ Atharron wasn’t sure he believed her.

‘Yes,’ the girl said, sitting down on the floor. ‘You’ve been living with us for almost a year now; some of us trust you more than others. I can’t see why you’d lie to us.’

‘Perhaps I should start.’ Atharron sat down with her and took out a cigar. ‘Some people can’t accept the truth.’

‘I have found that the older one gets, the less open they are to new ideas.’

Atharron laughed as he lit his cigar with a match. ‘You are wise for someone so young.’

The girl looked down