Lusam: The Dragon Mage Wars Book One Read Online Free

Lusam one silver coin, gave him one last dubious look, then turned on his heels and headed back towards the town square.
    “Here's your money,” Lusam said, offering the silver coin to Neala. “I'll show you where the shop is. Come, let's hurry, it will be dark soon. It's not good to be in that part of town when the sun goes down.”
    “Thanks, but you keep the coin. The man said he would give us two silver for the delivery, that’s one each by my reckoning. Although I could be wrong, I’m obviously not the smart one here,” she said with a mischievous grin on her face.
    “Oh, you don’t have to give me your money. You were first in line for the next job that came along. It doesn’t really seem fair if take your money,” he said, feeling his cheeks flush red again. “And I'm sure you're much smarter than me anyway,” he added, grinning right back at her.
    “There you go again, with those lofty ideals of yours. I've told you once already at the gate, they'll only make you hungry,” she said, still smiling at him. “Besides, when you arrived at the gate I was about to call it a day anyway. So, if you hadn't come by to lecture me with your high and mighty morals, I would have missed the job anyway, so it's only fair that we split the money,” Neala replied, trying very hard to keep a straight face. Lusam stared at her for a few seconds before realising she was teasing him again, and they both burst into fits laughter, playfully nudging each other as they set off walking in the direction of the apothecary .

Chapter Two

    Although the sun had not yet passed the horizon, it was still much darker in the narrow streets of the west district. The tall houses loomed overhead blocking out what little daylight there was left, as they cast their long shadows onto the street below. As they began walking down the damp cobbled street in the shadows of the houses, Lusam began to realise why the man had offered to pay two silver coins so readily, for what had seemed like such an easy job at the time. During the day these streets were much like any other in Helveel, but at night they were not for the faint-hearted. There were numerous brothels and seedy bars in this part of town, all setting up for the evening trade to come.
    Nobody walking past them so much as looked at them, let alone gave them any form of greeting. This part of town even smelled different, like a combination of rotting vegetation and old beer, with a strong smell of sewage mixed in for good measure.
    As they passed through a short tunnel under a large warehouse complex, known locally as The Arches, Lusam became aware of footsteps coming from behind them. He glanced back over his shoulder, but couldn't make out anyone lurking in the shadows behind them. He turned towards Neala and began to inform her in a whispered voice that he thought someone was following them. Neala turned her head towards Lusam and gave him a slight nod, letting him know that she already knew, then just carried on walking as if nothing was wrong.
    Lusam wasn't sure if Neala had understood correctly. Maybe she had nodded her head in answer to some other unspoken question, and didn't actually know about their pursuer lurking in the shadows not too far behind them. Nervously, he leaned towards her and whispered, “I think someone is following us back there.”
    “I know!” Neala hissed back at him, sounding a little annoyed. “Keep walking, and stay quiet.”
    They both increased their speed and rounded the next corner, only to come face to face with a filthy looking man holding a knife out menacingly towards them. When he smiled, he showed a mouth of missing and half rotten teeth. He had a vicious looking scar running down the left side of his face, from just under his eye, to the corner of his mouth.
    Leering towards them he spat to the side, then in a rasping voice he said, “G' me your money, or I'll gut ya both here and now!”
    Neala took a small step towards the man and calmly