The Shadow of the Serpent

About the Book

While traveling through shadow with Danny and Nalini, Paula requests they stop for a toilet break. However, she does not return. Danny and Nalini find her footprints overlaid with prints of horses hoofs. The prints vanish into seeming thin air after only fifty meters. Danny and Nalini track Paula through shadow, eventually discovering her chained in a dungeon of a medieval castle, along with two males. After further investigation they realize the owner of the castle is a sorcerer, intent on sacrificing Paula. Nalini goes in search of bolt cutters to cut the chains, but Danny is ambushed by the same attackers who kidnapped Paula, and is knocked unconscious.

Danny wakes to find himself chained beside Paula. His torc has been taken, but he discovers that while his shadow shifting powers are diminished, he can still shift. He walks from the dungeon into an adjacent shadow, taking Paula and the two men with him. They are still chained, but they manage to remove the chains, then Danny moves them somewhere safer while they wait for Nalini to return. She lets him know via telepathy that the black robed figures are following her. She manages to stay ahead of her pursuers long enough to rejoin Danny and the others, where-upon a fight ensues.

Modern guns help win the fight, and then Danny, Nalini and Paula set out to return the two men - Amrik and Prospero - to their home city. Along the way they are attacked several times by the black robed figures, but each time they manage to break free.

During this Danny and Nalini become separated, Paula finds herself with Danny while Amrik and Prospero are with Nalini. Nalini and her companions manage to shake their pursuers and reach the city of Tarantia in the kingdom of Aquilonia. Danny and Paula shake their pursuers, but find themselves far from Tarantia. They decide to stay at a small town for the night.

The next morning Danny and Paula set off for Tarantia, but along the way the black robes ambush them, and this time they are lead by their sorcerer. Both Danny and Paula are captured. The sorcerer lets them know he will convey them to his castle, and then sacrifice them so he can steal their powers. Nalini enlists the help of her mentor Durathror to try to save them. Amrik, who has turned out to be the king of Aquilonia, promises to send his entire army to help. Preparations are made. Durathror opens a portal through shadow into the castle, which will transport the army through. He springs through with Amrik and Nalini, and they become embroiled with the sorcerer and his ally, the Serpent god.

The survivors return to Tarantia, where Durathror's sister Imladril arrives accompanied by several of her best healers to treat the wounded. Amrik arranges for a victory banquet for the survivors, to be followed the next day by the funeral for those who died.

Amrik asks everyone to stay for a week or two and spend some time with him, so he can learn about the strange places they are from. During this time Paula and Prospero seem to take a liking to one another. Is this just a holiday romance, or something more? They are from quite different cultures, so could it ever work?

An intriguing tale of adventure, sorcery and romance.

About the Author

David Noakes is a computer systems analyst living in Brisbane Australia. His hobbies include horse riding, roller-blading, self defense, cooking, keeping fit, gardening, reading, learning languages and sometimes painting. He writes novels and short stories in his spare time. He hopes that they sell well enough to enable him to write for a living. His stories cannot be assigned to one genre, but combine a blend of adventure, sword and sorcery, science fiction, mystery and romance. He feels that writing is probably the most fun you can have on your own, and not as messy as painting.