Mortality (The Calnis Chronicles of the Tarimain: Volume I - Emergence Book 1)

By J R C Salter

The first short story of the Calnis Chronicles of the Tarimain

The only thing worse than dying is never having it as an option.

The Tarimain, the immortal soldiers of God, tasked with fighting on the front lines of the eternal war, uncover a dark demonic plot to raise an army. Atharron, a four thousand year old former ruler of Calnis; Sarah, apathetic, but determined to do her duty; and Luke, a young Tarimai discovering the wonders and burdens of immortality. Together, they make their way through the first half of the twentieth century on the trail of a Great President of Hell and the mysterious Man with the Eyes.

Plymouth, England, 1887

When his friend's wife is murdered by a monstrous wolf, Luke seeks it out to avenge her death, but is arrested for the killings. His only hope to avoid the noose is a mysterious woman who claims to be immortal.
Set a hundred years before 'Allison's Defeat', this chronicle begins the story of the beings known as the Tarimain.

~7300 words

‘I’ve seen hundreds of people die. Thousands. And, I think it would be fair to say, millions. Everyone I knew, everyone I loved, died centuries ago. I have fought in battles and watched as my friends were slaughtered. I witnessed the Emissary of Satan himself destroy an entire civilisation in one blast. Everyone dies. Mary knew the moment of her death​—​which is rare enough in itself​—​and I am powerless to stop it. I can no longer get worked up about the inevitability of it all.’ She walked out the warehouse, rifle held down in a ready position, ‘In fact, I envy it.’

UK author JRC Salter trained as a chef and practiced for ten years before quitting to pursue a writing career. His epic series, the ‘Calnis Chronicles’, depict the adventures of different characters surrounding a mysterious artefact.
As well as his main Calnis series, he has collaborated with authors such as Russell Blake and Brandon Hale to produce the themed anthologies ‘End of the Road’ and ‘The Kiss’.
During any spare time, he likes to dabble in photography, build giant Star Wars models from Lego, and make cookies. J has an unhealthy thirst for knowledge, and has been known to waste time on Wikipedia and YouTube.
His main inspirations are JRR Tolkien and Joss Whedon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J R C Salter
• Release date: Apr 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301180660

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.2.3.0

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

MORTALITY

by

J R C Salter

For my grandmother whom I never knew

because of the cruel and constant presence of death

____________________

MORTALITY

____________________

‘Consider

The lilies of the field whose bloom is brief:—

We are as they;

Like them we fade away

As doth a leaf.’

―Christina G. Rossetti, Consider

Prologue

Full Moon

Silver light shone through the streaks of clouds and illuminated the docks of Plymouth; empty but for the occasional stray cat looking for a few mice to stave off hunger for another night. Water gently splashed the sides of cargo boats as they waited to be filled in a few hours. The ambient sound bounced around the dock and mingled with the sound of slow footsteps shuffling from an alley. The moon didn’t touch this dark corner of the city, and the man travelling down stopped when he saw the light.

In the darkness his appearance was almost as black as the walls surrounding him. His clothes seemed rich once, but now his trousers were torn, revealing bloody wounds; his waistcoat and shirt, darkened by soot and grime, lay open to expose his battered and bruised chest, and his hair matted together with congealed blood. From his head fell shoulder length hair tangled in a mess of black strands and soaked with sweat. He looked behind him and heard hurried steps. He knew of only one way out; step into the moonlight. But that would mean he would lose control.

He looked behind him again, down through the alley, and saw black shapes appear; moonlight glinted off their revolvers. He either stayed to die, or he stepped into the lunar glow and became a monster.

‘There it is!’ one of the shadows shouted. It raised its weapon.

The man stepped