Servant of the Serpent (Serpent's War Book 1) Read online

  Allie gasped. “He wanted to stay?”

  “He was hurt bad,” Gor said. “Run through a couple times. Not sure how he stayed on his feet that long. You must be something special to get that kind of treatment.”

  Allie shook her head. “I’m not. I’m nothing—just a dumb kid who didn’t know what she had until it wasn’t there. My dad was the special one.”

  Gor grunted and leaned his head against the rail. “Any ale on this thing? I need a drink.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Corian told Allie. “I owe you and your father.”

  “I don’t want anyone getting hurt,” Allie said.

  “It’s not your choice,” Jillystria said. “No matter your age, you’re not a child anymore. You make up your own mind and so do we. Where you go, we will follow.”

  Allie stared at her and then looked away as fresh moisture sparkled in her eyes. She ended up staring at the puddle of blood under Gor drying in the afternoon breeze. She lifted her eyes to see him watching her. “What?” she challenged the burly warrior.

  “Your dad made me promise to watch over you and keep you safe. Guess I’m with you too.”

  “That’s silly—you don’t need to do that.”

  Gor shrugged and then winced from the pain in his back. “Gotta die someday. I haven’t found it in the bottom of a bottle yet. Seems like there’s enough danger around you that maybe it’ll come quicker that way.”

  Allie frowned and shook her head. “You’re strange.”

  Gor smirked and turned his head away. He closed his eyes and was soon snoring softly.

  “So where do we go?” Corian asked.

  Allie turned to Jillystria. “They want half-bloods? Let’s start with your daughter. We’ll find her and see if we can figure out what the big deal is. Then, maybe, we kill the people responsible for hurting both our friends and families.”

  Jillystria’s lips parted in a gasp. She glanced at Corian and then back to Allie. A smile forced her lips up before she rose and embraced the young woman. “If Gildor raised you to be the woman you are, the world is truly a darker place without him.”

  Allie stiffened in the elf’s arms. Her rigor turned into a tremble and then, when Jillystria gave her a tender squeeze, her strength gave out. She sagged against the frail woman and began to sob out her anger and fear and denial.

  Corian rushed over and helped Jillystria sit on the deck while she continued to hold and comfort Allie. The sun dipped in the sky and the breeze carried them far from the city of the snake man. Allie’s tears dried, but she stayed silent and looked forward to a day when she could say she did something to make her worth being her father’s daughter.

  ###

  Afterward by the Author

  I love writing. I love the worlds and fantasies and characters that come to life in each story. Sometimes there are characters that hit a special chord with me. I can't explain why, but they do. This time around I'm talking about Gildor. I came up with the character idea almost ten years ago. I was sitting in a week long class for some Windows server version and started sketching an outline for a story. A few years later I started writing it, but between various events and moves I lost it.

  Well that just won't do! A lost story is even more tragic than a story never written. So when I was looking for what was going to happen next in the world of Kroth it was an easy fit. I had to bring Gildor back! Just like the first time around, he had to rescue a young girl and raise her. The rest I revised for the bigger storyline. Oh, and along the way I thought up Gor. He's got a story all his own that will be revealed.

  And of course, everybody's favorite green-skinned troublemaker is back! What would a fantasy story be without Thork in it?

  Servant of the Serpent is book one in the Serpent's War trilogy. Thank you very much for reading and enjoying it. As much as I love writing, it takes readers to make it possible for me to do it. Leave a review, send me some email / a tweet / a Facebook like. Don't miss out on a chance to sign up for my newsletter, visit my blog (http://booksbyjason.wordpress.com), check out my website (http://www.booksbyjason.com), and tell your friends! Let's make the adventures in the world of Kroth a household thing!

  Other books by Jason Halstead

  Child of Fate (Blades of Leander, book 1)

  Victim of Fate (Blades of Leander, book 2)

  Silver Dragon (Blades of Leander, book 3)

  Blades of Leander (all 3 books in one)

  Isle of the Ape (Order of the Dragon, book 1)

  Chasing the Dragon (Order of the Dragon, book 2)

  Sands of Betrayal (Order of the Dragon, book 3)

  Dragonlady (Order of the Dragon, book 4)

  Order of the Dragon (all 4 books in one)

  Voidhawk (Voidhawk, book 1)

  Voidhawk – The Elder Race (Voidhawk, book 2)

  Voidhawk – Redemption (Voidhawk, book 3)

  Voidhawk – The White Lady (Voidhawk, book 4)

  Voidhawk – Lost Soul (Voidhawk, book 5)

  Voidhawk - The Edge of Forever (Voidhawk, book 6)

  Wanted (Wanted, book 1)

  Ice Princess (Wanted, book 2)

  Bounty (Wanted, book 3)

  Marshal (Book 4)

  The Wanted Series (all 4 books in one)

  Transcendent (Transcendent, book 1)

  Dark Earth (Dark Earth, book 1)

  Devil’s Icebox (Dark Earth, book 2)

  Soul Mates (Dark Earth, book 3)

  Voices (a Dark Earth Book)

  Bound (a Dark Earth Book)

  The Lost Girls (The Lost Girls, book 1, a Dark Earth novel)

  Traitor (The Lost Girls, book 2, a Dark Earth novel)

  Wolfgirl (The Lost Girls, book 3, a Dark Earth novel)

  Black Widow (The Lost Girls, book 4, a Dark Earth novel)

  Guardian (The Lost Girls, book 5, a Dark Earth novel)

  New Beginnings (Vitalis, episode 1)

  The Colony (Vitalis, episode 2)

  Parasites (Vitalis, episode 3)

  Screamer (Vitalis, episode 4)

  Squatter's Rights (Vitalis, episode 5)

  Evolution (Vitalis, episode 6)

  Matriarch (Vitalis, episode 7)

  Vitalis Omnibus (Vitalis, episodes 1 – 7)

  Vitalis: Resurrection (Vitalis, book 2)

  Vitalis: Provenance (Vitalis, book 3)

  Vitalis: Genesis (Vitalis, book 4)

  Vitalis: Invasion (Vitalis, book 5)

  Vitalis: Chrysalis (Vitalis, book 6)

  Vitalis: Communion (Vitalis, book 7)

  Forbidden Love (Homeland, book 1)

  Broken Slipper (Homeland, book 2)

  When the Cookie Crumbles (Cookie Cutters, book 1)

  Devil's Island (Fallen Angels, book 1)

  Devils Rising (Fallen Angels, book 2)

  Devil's Dance (Fallen Angels, book 3)

  Human Nature

  Sex Sells

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Afterward by the Author

  Other books by Jason Halstead

 

 

 
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