She gasped aloud, reeling back from me, holding the mortal wound in her side. Disbelief marred her beautiful face as she fell to the ground, her remaining life pulsing out onto the forest floor.“You are indeed a great man to not have allowed yourself to fall for the erotic wiles of the Vanah. I’ll give you that much of a compliment at least, Jasper .”I wheeled around toward the voice. Across the clearing sat John on his horse.“What’s going on here, John?”John laughed, “I too am a great man, even though your grandfather chose to ignore it. This book that your grandfather and you would so casually have destroyed if not for me, is the answer to our prayers! It holds the keys to eternal life!”He held the big book up that he had somehow taken from the central pedestal without me noticing.“Its author is probably Satan himself or someone mislead by him, you fool! What knowledge do you hope to glean from it that’s worth your soul?”“Spoken like a true believer of the Valley Lander versio

He’d arrived at the answer too late, I thought to myself in private sorrow, as I imagined his last bitter moments of regret. Getting back up from my knees, I followed the jumble of tracks leading to the shore. The roughed up area on a small tree and the tracks trailing into the water told me one thing, there had been a boat moored here.I looked bitterly down the small river. They could move faster with a boat than I ever could on horseback through the dense forest. On top of that, there was no way I could track them. They could have taken any one of a dozen tributaries that fed into larger rivers. They had at least a day and a half journey’s start on me too. Pursuit was pointless.I turned from the river’s edge with a sick spirit of failure weighing heavily upon me. What now? There was only one thing left to do. Press on, and do the best I could at holding whatever dark revelations that the book may contain at bay, until it could be found and destroyed at a later date. With a heavy he

“It was a trap?”“Yes, it was. Most disturbing was who was involved in the deception. The Zoarinians have a secretive sect in their higher ranks of hierarchy that oversee the most intimate affairs of the empire, including the actions and private lives of the governors themselves. They are very cunning and, I have been told, quite evil.”Interrupting him I said, “I think I know who you’re talking about. Are there many of them?”“Nobody knows, but whenever they are involved, it’s serious business. I have kept a low profile throughout most of my spying career, ever careful to never reveal too much at any one time as to my involvement in the spying community. But of late, I’ve had to take some risks, which men of their cunning could possibly piece together given enough time.”“It would then seem to me a good idea for you to get out before they do find you out!” I said, not understanding his reticence against leaving.Sebastian looked up at me, “Better that I stay and deflect the attention

My eyes drifted down and I saw what she meant. Huskily I asked, my eyes still clinging to the well defined womanly curves, “Why does Sebastian have you dress so provocatively? He doesn’t strike me as the kind of man to show off something he values to others? I know he values you very highly.”She paused hesitantly and then looked up at me somewhat shyly, “Sebastian and I….. we don’t….. we aren’t intimate together. I’m for show, to make others think of Sebastian as a vigorous man for lack of a better way of putting it.”She looked embarrassed before she continued, “I help Sebastian in his work. Men will often let information slip that they wouldn’t otherwise around a…… around a.”“Beautiful woman,” I finished for her.She blushed a little and nodded her head. She didn’t know how much it meant to me to have her tell me what the extent of her relationship with Sebastian was. I had felt a big sigh of relief inside of me at the divulging of that information.“Don’t tell anyone please. I onl

I had liked my plan better than… well this stinking cell. The great unknown of what tomorrow would bring was not something I looked forward to either. I fought to quell the negative thoughts that poured into me at the thought of the evil tomorrow could bring. If the Creator was the God of today, then He was also the God of tomorrow and if He was preserving my life today, then perhaps He would preserve my life tomorrow as well. My resolve strengthened some, but I still felt like it would crumble at any moment.My voice echoed slightly in the empty room, “Thy will be done, but I do ask this of You. Please help me rescue Zarsha and escape with her, Krista, and my uncle’s information to the Valley Lands. If your plans for me are different, then help me obey and fulfill them, even if it means losing my life. My life is yours to do with as You wish, but………..” I stumbled to say the last part, “I don’t want to die yet. Especially when everything seems like it’s turning out for the better.”My