Legacy First Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3 of the Legacy Series Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  FREE DOWNLOAD

  Book 1: Firstborn

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Book 2: Birthright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Book 3: Lost Ones

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Join the Legacy World

  About the Author

  LEGACY BOX SET

  Book 1: Firstborn

  Book 2: Birthright

  Book 3: Lost Ones

  RYAN ATTARD

  Legacy Box Set

  Ryan Attard

  Copyright © 2016 by Ryan Attard. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events or locales is purely coincidental. Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

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  Ryanattard.com

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  FIRSTBORN

  Book 1 of

  The Legacy Series

  RYAN ATTARD

  Chapter 1

  It was probably the black trench coat I wore despite the afternoon sun, or the twin guns strapped to my thighs, like an action movie hero, or the short sword handle occasionally poking out from under my coat.

  Any of these could have been why everyone averted their eyes as I hurriedly walked down the streets of my hometown in the La Fortunata district, Eureka. I get the irony, too. There was nothing fortunate about the constant appearance of supernatural creatures or the fear that permeates the air every minute of every day around here.

  My name is Erik Ashendale, wizard extraordinaire, and I'm perfectly comfortable with the sideways glances.

  Hell, they all knew what I did for a living. They all poked their heads into my office window, hoping to catch a glimpse of me performing a ritual which summoned forth some ancient demonic entity, or the other crap they see on TV. All they saw was my extensive collection of trinkets and, occasionally, my cat licking itself.

  To be fair, that would horrify anyone.

  I arrived at my destination, a narrow street in the quiet part of town. Or at least it was quiet before today's events.

  Police cruisers were piled in front of the entrance of the local elementary school, creating a thick black and blue wall on an otherwise grey road. Uniformed officers were bent over open car doors or kneeling behind their vehicles, their pistols steady in their hands, while others held shotguns, poking from beneath cover, and aimed squarely at the building.

  "You're late."

  I turned around and came face-to-face with a young police officer in plainclothes. "Fashionably so," I replied.

  Detective Roland March shifted his stance, a sign he was under stress, and fumbled in his jacket pocket for a pack of cigarettes.

  "Well, now you're here. That's good." He extracted a lighter and struck it three times before a small flame appeared. It took him another couple of tries to light the cancer stick. "I didn't know who else to call. The chief is on my ass and I'm lost out here. We've shot at them but bullets don’t seem to affect them." Roland's voice was shaking now.

  "And," he continued, his eyes now wide open, "they weren't human. I swear, Erik, they looked like giant walking lizards. No one will admit to it of course, but we all saw it. Looked like they belonged in a cheap sci-fi flick." He sucked deeply on his cigarette and did his best to hide his nerves from other officers nearby.

  "Lizards?" I asked.

  This wasn't the first time the law needed my help with some extraordinary case. Usually my job consisted of looking at cadavers and figuring out how they were ripped in two, while the coroner sits at the back denying everything not found in textbooks.

  But sometimes, my job gets a little more exciting.

  "Long necks, elongated snouts, tail thrashing about? Like an iguana on steroids?" I asked.

  "Yes!" Roland yelped. "Exactly like that. There are at least five of them in there." The cigarette was half gone by now.

  I smiled happily, much to Roland's chagrin. "Lizardmen," I said. "You found lizardmen. They're like the Big Foot of supernatural zoology. It’s been decades since the last documented sighting."

  I couldn't keep the glee out of my voice. Everyone is a geek about something. There are people who are completely obsessed with Star Wars, or comic book characters. Heck, I even knew a guy in elementary school who just wouldn't shut up about airplanes.

  Liking my job is probably what keeps me sane.

  "I don'
t care what they are or how long it’s been since someone saw them," Roland hissed angrily. "Just tell me how to kill them. There are kids in there." He lit a second cigarette.

  "You guys can't handle them," I replied. "Only I can. With my… um… methods."

  Roland leaned in close. "You mean magic, right?"

  I wrinkled my nose against the foul smell of his breath. "Yes, magic."

  Roland is perhaps the only cop who knows about the existence of magic. We've known each other for a couple of years now, ever since I saved him from a newly turned vampire when he was still a beat cop. The guy thought he was dealing with some kid hopped up on PCP. I happened to be wondering by and saved the young officer. About year ago he got promoted to detective and kept hiring me as a 'consultant' every time he ran into something cuffs and bullets couldn't handle.

  I yanked the half-finished cigarette out of his mouth and channeled my magic through it. The amber glowed until the whole thing burst into flames.

  "Hey, I wasn't done with that!"

  "Yes, you were. Smoking too much of this stuff will get you killed. And I need this gig. I got bills to pay." I walked with him towards the police cars.

  "So, what's the plan?" he asked quietly.

  "You get rid of every camera around here. I’ll go in and do my thing. When I'm done, I'll call you. Then you’ll collect the kids and everybody will live happily ever after."

  "You wanna go in alone?”

  "Yeah. If any of you go in, you'll just be providing them with a free lunch. You guys aren’t suited for this type of threat," I said grimly. "You'll only slow me down and I can't babysit anyone. Not when there are innocent lives involved."

  I was being harsh, but sometimes you have to be direct to get your point across, and this was the language that most cops understood.

  Roland raised his hands. "Fine. I'm not gonna argue. I'll say you're a negotiator or something. Just call me the second it's safe for my officers to go in that place. And Erik-"

  "Yeah?"

  "Don't screw up."

  I smirked. "When have I ever?"

  Before Roland could retort back with some very true accounts of my behavior around his crime scenes, I made my way to the front door of the school.

  I un-holstered my guns, a pair of identical Berettas, and took a deep breath. My sister was going to be so jealous when she heard about this. She might even chew my head off for not capturing one alive.

  After a few seconds of smiling like an idiot and pushing away the slowly building anxiety, I felt ready to confront the horrors that had the entire police force cowering in their boots.

  "Let's go negotiate."

  Chapter 2

  I may have magical powers, and I may make a living fighting off monsters, but I am still human. And every human has a reason to fear the dark.

  I knew they were there; I could feel their creepy lizard eyes on me. Of course, they were observing me. They were natural hunters.

  The first indication was a slither. It always starts with a slither, a movement in your peripheral vision and the whisper of a shadow. Then, once you look closely enough, the shadow grows into a nightmare.

  There were two of them, attached to the walls like the most bizarre ornaments in existence. Their claws were spayed for a good grip on the flat surface, their long, thin bodies held flat with only the tail moving like a lazy rudder. Their necks were unnaturally long for lizards and made them look like miniature theropods.

  Really bizarre, not-so-herbivorous theropods.

  I couldn't see them so much as feel their presence. My eyes could only pick out jerks of movements and the occasional yellow eye-shine. The entire corridor was coated in tangible darkness. I recognized the telltale signs of magic and knew someone other than the non-sentient lizardmen must have cast this spell. My mind had already displayed the red flags, the little hints of foul play. But it would all have to wait.

  I channeled my magic into my guns and there was silence no more. My powers enhanced the bullets, leaving little red streaks of light in their wake. It was a preemptive strike, meant to break up the formation. Surely enough, both creatures scurried about, hissing like crazy.

  I focused on one, trailing bullets behind it. The hiss became a croak, confirming that at least one of my shots had met its target. I saw something thrashing about and fired off a couple more rounds. Better safe than sorry when it comes to giant flesh eating lizards.

  I stopped firing and focused my eyes.

  A tail. That damn lizardman shed its tail.

  I sensed the owner coming back at me. In a practiced movement I holstered the guns and reached under my coat, pulling out Djinn, my magical short sword. My magic reacted with it, making the blade glow azure, and the lizardman veered to one side. I fully extracted the weapon and held it aloft. It was about half a meter in length, with a double-edged blade and a leather-wrapped hilt. My finger slid in its crossguard, a thick ring in between the blade and the handle. The short sword emitted blue light like a glow stick.

  I felt both lizardmen cower away from the light. That would explain the darkness magic. It was daylight outside, and having monsters which are afraid of sunlight wasn't very useful.

  Not unless you cast a spell specifically designed to dissipate light and turn the area pitch black. But as I said, lizardmen can't cast magic.

  What the hell was going on here?

  I poured magic into the weapon and sliced the air. Energy streaked from the weapon in a crescent shape towards the first lizardman. It let out a scream and fell silent. Without missing a beat, I spun and stabbed. Djinn's blade elongated, growing four times its usual size until, like a spear, it impaled the second lizardman on the other side of the corridor.

  I smiled, relishing in my victory. I mean, come on, if waving around a glowing magic sword and battling giant lizards doesn't get you going, you're dead inside.

  But in that moment, that little microsecond where I let my guard drop, was when the third lizardman emerged.

  My senses picked it up too late. I felt a blow on my right side and was knocked through a door and into a vacant classroom. The monster, erect on two legs, hissed furiously and stomped after me. I groped for Djinn and found nothing.

  "Crap, crap, crap, crap," I cursed, each word louder than the one before it.

  I pulled out my pistols and started firing at the lizardman. The last thing I saw was its giant shadow looming over me. I closed my eyes and kept on pulling triggers until my fingers ached and the guns clicked empty.

  There was a ringing in my ears, like when you suddenly turn off a really loud stereo and all you hear is that faint, high-pitched sound. Once my ears adjusted, there was complete silence.

  I opened my eyes and saw a dead lizardman splayed on the ground, its head resting comfortably between my legs.

  "That went well," I muttered, partially in sarcasm, as I retrieved Djinn. A series of deep breaths helped my racing heartbeat regain its normal tempo. I made it back to the pitch-black corridor, in the middle of darkness.

  There are many ways to undo a spell. A subtle and cunning magician would take some time to study the mechanics and energy flow and then find the right component to remove.

  But I am neither subtle nor cunning—I like blowing shit up.

  With Djinn held high I poured my magic into it, turning its blue glow into painful white light. After a few seconds it became a hot, searing, smiting supernova that pushed back against the swallowing darkness. Atmospheric pressure dipped and my ears popped.

  And then, it was over.

  Natural light hit the walls, revealing a very mediocre paint job. I heard things that had been dulled out before, like the chirping of birds, the tense orders from the police officers outside, and the muffled whimpering of children. Following the latter sound, I came to a plain wooden door and placed one hand on it.

  I concentrated on the flow of energy behind the door. Huddled in a corner were a bunch of tiny energy bundles: the children, presumably. Directly in front
of the door, as if it were some grotesque bouncer, was a jagged and sharp energy signature vibrating at an erratic pace and swirling in unnatural patterns. Its shape, color, and texture were completely different from that of the children.

  This was the aura of a lizardman.

  I willed my eyes open again. It wasn't a good idea to fight in front of those kids. If I made a single error they would end up suffering and that was unacceptable in my book.

  Instead, I calculated the position of the monster and pointed Djinn at where I assumed its chest would be. I placed the sword's tip on the cheap, wooden door and channeled my magic once more.

  The azure blade shot through the door and embedded itself inside the lizardman's sternum, throwing it across the room, dead and immovable.

  I opened the door and sheathed my sword.

  Suddenly, the air in front of me popped and the last of the lizardmen materialized out of thin air. I froze and stared at it, eyes wide open.

  This one was clearly different from the others.

  Its hide was a different shade of gray, lighter and milkier. Its eyes glowed yellow and were shaped like a cat's rather than a reptile's. It had slender limbs lined with wiry muscles. Its tail was shorter and stouter, as if its owner had evolved beyond the purpose of needing a tail. The snout was considerably shorter, like its neck.

  But the real dangers were those claws. The unusually straight, sharp claws it bore on each hand were serrated on one side.

  Nature had already given lizardmen everything they needed to survive—the claws, the teeth, the thick skin. There simply was no need to evolve. To my knowledge, none ever had serrated claws or any of the features that this particular specimen bore.

  The lizardman flicked its thumb and forefinger claws against each other. It honestly reminded me of someone waiting impatiently. It looked disturbingly human and those intelligent eyes spoke of evolution beyond that of its cousins.

  It dawned on me that those serrations were self-inflicted. It had found a way to improve what nature had given it—just like a human being.

  The monster's crocodile smile widened as it plunged one clawed hand into my chest.