Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book One (25 page)

Her mind turned to Lusam at that point. Instantly, she felt guilty of not thinking of him sooner. She needed to find out what had happened to him, but she knew questioning Skelly directly, would likely earn her only more pain. She decided to try and use a different tactic instead.

Smiling at him, she replied, “Pleased to meet you Skelly.” He looked at her with cold blue eyes, trying to spot any sarcasm in her face, but saw none. Neala could see the unasked question on his face, and decided to be bold enough to answer it for him. “I figured if we'll be travelling together for more than a week, we might as well be civilised with each other,” she said, still smiling. He looked at her for a moment
longer, then just nodded his agreement.
“Get back on your horse, we have a long way to travel today,” he said, taking hold of the horses reigns. She did as he asked, and he retied her feet under the belly of her horse, and her hands to the saddle.

“May I ask you something before we set off please,” Neala asked hopefully.

“You can ask,” he replied, tying Neala's horse to his saddle.

“Did you kill the boy I was with?” she asked, trying not to choke on the words. Skelly turned in his saddle to look at her, obviously contemplating whether to answer her question or not.

“No, I didn't kill him. The knife that my associate put in his belly probably did though. The last I saw of him, he was having problems of his own with some guy in black robes. Neither your boyfriend or the man in robes are any of my concern, so I have no idea what became of either of them.” He turned his back to Neala and kicked his horse into movement without another word. It was a good job Neala's hands were tied to the saddle as her horse jolted into motion, or she would have found herself on the ground again.

Her mind was reeling at the information Skelly had just shared with her. She didn't think he would lie to her about not killing Lusam.
That wasn't his style,
she thought.
She knew nothing about the man in black robes, other than he had tried to pursue them in Helveel.
She knew some of what Lusam was capable of with his magic, and felt confident he would have protected himself against the man in the black robes. She thought about the knife in his belly, and knew he was capable of healing that injury too, given enough time. That was the problem, had Lusam had enough time to heal himself before confronting the man in black robes? She just had no way to know. For the rest of the afternoon she remained silent, constantly playing out the possibilities in her mind over and over. She knew if Lusam
was
still alive, he would be coming to try and save her. All she could do now was wait and hope he would come.

As they approached a fork in the road, Neala became aware of two men stood in the road blocking their path. Neala took a sharp intake of breath, as she noticed them both wearing black robes, identical to the man's in Helveel. Skelly didn't slow the horses as he approached the men, but Neala noticed him visibly tense up when the two men made eye contact with him. Shortly afterwards, they focused their attention on Neala, and she too involuntarily tensed up, as she felt a strange sensation wash over her. It was like thousands of ants crawling around in her head, then it stopped just as suddenly as it had started. The two men moved to the side of the road, and let them pass unchallenged.

It was at least a mile further down the road before Neala felt confident enough to speak. “You felt that too, right?” she asked.

“I did,” Skelly replied, without turning his head, or slowing his horse. Neala offered a silent prayer to Aysha that Lusam would survive and find her in time, then resigned herself to her fate if he didn't.

****

Acknowledgements

When I began writing Lusam it was my intention to write an easy-to-read fantasy series of books. One that could be read by anyone, whether they were new to the fantasy genre, or die-hard fans such as myself. I intentionally avoided setting out too much of the world in this first book, keeping the knowledge of the reader in line with that of Lusam`s limited understanding of his own world. As his horizons broaden, so will the fullness and complexities of his world be revealed to you, the reader.

It is my sincere hope that you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you will join Lusam and Neala again as their quest continues in the Dragon-Mage Wars series, Book two.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who offered me support and encouragement during the long days, and weeks writing this series of books. I would especially like to thank my wife, without whom I`m sure this project would never have seen the light of day, and my two boys Luke and Sam, who were obviously my inspiration for the main character Lusam.

I would also be delighted to hear your thoughts and comments regarding Lusam and Neala`s adventures, what you liked, and even what you didn't like, as you, the reader are the most important person to any authour.

Please email me if you wish to be added to my mailing list. You will receive updates on forthcoming books and release dates, plus much more.

deancadmanauthour@hotmail.
com