Bellatrix: Swords of Chaos, Book One

by Alex Cannon

  ***

  Range watched the men emerge from the valley and stop just on the edge. He could see the leader was a mage. He rode a black stallion, had a short-cropped white beard and mustache, and was wearing a cobalt blue robe with the hood up. Range’s heart thumped madly in his chest.Were these the people searching for him, or just strangers passing by? A younger man with muddy brown hair rode next to the mage, wearing a tan robe, pulled tight.The younger man looked to be the apprentice. He seemed to defer to the mage.A group of about one hundred men stood respectively behind them, waiting.The men had a dangerous look about them.They were well heeled and looked loaded for bear.The entire group had stopped and the mage seemed to be listening for something.

  “What are they doing?”Range whispered quietly, the wind trying to steal away his words.

  “The mage appears to be hearing for something,” Rolin whispered back.

  Range’s heart continued to thump and his bowels began to clench.

  “He has a hungry look in his eyes,” Rolin said.

  “And of malice.”