Haldred Chronicles: Alyssa (25 page)

* * * * *

The figure
watched from across the street.

Clad all in
black, his form invisible in the shadows.  The test had been completed.  The
rival eliminated, the mark, found to be wanting.  A pity, as another ally would
have been most useful.  Still, he had learnt a lot from the events he had set
in motion.  Killing the drunk had yielded a great deal of unexpected
information. 

Horna Gladwell's
alliance with the Darnhun for example, had proven to be closer than expected. 
They were not simply hired muscle but a close connection, though to what
end...well, that would have to be looked into perhaps.  Neither had he expected
the Council of Peace Investigative Department to be so diligent.  Even when he
had arranged for the railings to be removed so swiftly to challenge them, they
had risen to that challenge.  How admirable.

It had been
interesting to see not one, but two individuals immune to the aura.  That was
not just coincidence.  It said, to his mind, that such individuals were more
widespread than at first believed.  If one could locate more, they would prove
useful in the future for operating undetected within the city. 

Satisfied that
nothing else could be gained from here, he turned to leave

He had pressing,
important business to attend to.

THE END

* * * * *

This is my first novel, and
hopefully depending on how it is received, not my only one.

There are a lot of people
who have contributed time and effort to helping me produce this.  Not least of
which are my elite cadre of very patient proof readers who even as they are
finishing reading this acknowledgement will be having painful flashbacks to
some truly awful grammar and spelling mistakes. 

All being well, these have
now been eliminated in this final product.  Cara, Lesley-Anne, Gail, Esther,
Andrew, Robert, Michael and Christopher.  To you all I say, thank you so very
much for all your time and effort.

A special thank you to K for
the immense amount of work she put into helping me with this novel, everything
from scene suggestions to correcting spelling mistakes.

Thank you to Mat Thampi who
illustrated the front cover and produced so many additional images for the
Novel.  Fantastic, professional work.

Finally, many, many other
friends, work colleagues and family members have offered advice and
encouragement in the completion of this book.  Whether it was a scene
suggestion, a character sketch or just a 'keep it up JG', to you all, thank you
for helping me to at last, finish this novel.

I hope you the reader,
whoever you are, will have enjoyed this little attempt at fantasy.