Death Mages Ascent: Revised Edition (Death Mage Series Book 1) by Jon Bender Page B

Traveler,” she said.
    “How did you know where we were staying?”
    “Few people come to Chams’dell. I would be surprised if anyone did not know where you are staying,” she said. She turned to leave.
    “Wait! You did not give us your name,” Jaxom said to her back.
    “Adriana Fielder,” she replied over her shoulder before melding into the crowd and disappearing around a corner.
    He stood staring at the spot where he lost sight of her. A chuckle to his side reminded him of Jerup’s presence. “What’s so funny?” Jaxom asked the older man.
    “Nothing. It’s just amusing to see a young man moon struck.”
    “I’m not moon struck,” Jaxom replied irritably.
    “Of course not,” he said, chuckling harder. “I wonder, though, if you would have agreed to hire her if she had been homely.”
    Jaxom felt his face flush in embarrassment. “Look, we needed a guide, and I got us one. Let’s head back to the inn and tell the others.” This only caused the man to break into outright laughter. Jaxom stalked away, and Jerup followed, still laughing to himself.  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter 11
     
    Jaxom told the others about the encounter with their new guide. When he revealed that the person leading them was a woman, Cribble spat on the floor, earning himself a withering glare from the girl serving them. Jerup enjoyed sharing the encounter with the others, going into great detail about how Jaxom had been so dumbstruck by her beauty that he would have agreed to anything she wanted. This earned a round of laughter from the table. Brenin elbowed him in the side with a wink and a smile. Jaxom tried to explain that they had no other options, but soon gave up. 
    That night, Jaxom couldn’t sleep. Lying awake for part of the night, he listened to Brenin’s light snoring and thought over the path that had brought him to this point. It was still hard to believe that a little over a ten-day ago, he had been going about his life, and now he was about to enter a forest that very few ever returned from. All to find a powerful unknown enemy. Recounting the events, he realized that he had been closer to death more times recently than in the previous two years combined. The dawn broke to find him staring at the ceiling of the small room.
    After a quick breakfast, they moved to the stables to gather their horses. Adriana was waiting for them, patting her piebald on the neck and whispering quietly to him. She carried a bow strung over her back and a flanged mace on a loop at her belt. Jaxom thought the heavy weapon an odd choice for her and hoped she carried it because she knew how to use it. A quick round of introduction allowed him to give her his name, as she had not cared to ask for it the day before. Once they had saddled their mounts, she led them to the smaller northern gate in the wall. The ride to the forest was quiet. Everyone stared, as the looming woods grew larger and more foreboding.
    Adriana stopped them just before the undergrowth turned into towering trees and held out her hand to Jaxom. He retrieved four gold coins from his shrinking purse and handed them over. “If you are coming back with us to Ale’adar, does it really matter when I pay you?”
    She pocketed the gold before meeting his eyes, and he was once again gripped by her beauty. The seriousness of her expression only added to it. “I will do my best to keep you away from danger, but it is likely that not all of us will come back. So I would rather be paid now,” she said, her tone matter-of-fact.  Turning back to the forest, she led them into the shadows of the trees’ high branches. “The first few miles are relatively safe,” she said. “You only have to watch out for wolves.”
    Jaxom had seen wolves in the past only from a distance. He found it hard to believe that even here they would be brazen enough to attack a group on horseback. Still, Adriana knew this forest. It would be foolish to