Guest Blogger: Rival Gates

His book "Quest For The Red Sapphire" is available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Quest-Red-Sapphire-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00DZ100MO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1383067234&sr=1-1&keywords=quest+for+the+red+sapphire



Excerpt 
(Please excuse any formatting issues this blog has caused to this excerpt)


Prologue
It was a cold and dreary night. Even for the rainy season in
the subtropical nation of Sartan, the air was damp and chilled. It
was the sort of night when children volunteered to stay indoors and
pets refused to set foot out of the house. Such were the conditions
in the capitol city of Sartan, named Fraylic, when a lone figure
strode boldly down the center of the street, in the area known as
Old Town. In the largest city, in the medieval world of Lavacia,
the original stone boulevards had been decimated over time
leaving grooves, cavities and numerous signs of neglect. The
buildings bordering the street fared no better. Time and lack of
maintenance had left the once pristine neighborhood in a
dilapidated state, giving shelter to those without means and those
without conscience.
The fine mist had settled into an icy fog, which clung to the
ground and swirled, as the figure passed its folds. Even in the poor
lighting it was clear that the individual was a markedly tall man,
with broad shoulders and a thick build. A gray woolen cloak
covered the top of his head to his feet and was held closed in the
front. The sound of his boot heels unabashedly striking the ground
was the only sound, save for the trickle of water running down the
sides of the street. Then a second set of heels sounded on the road
ahead of him. Moments later, a man of normal stature skulked into
the street and came to a stop at its center, where he turned toward
the oncoming person and folded his arms.
The first man came to a stop not more than ten paces away
from the one blocking his path. Then he spoke. “You certainly
chose an obscure place for this transaction, Mr…”
The second man answered. “My name is of no
consequence here, but yours is Dirk Grithinshield. I suppose you
would have preferred to do business in your sizable store in the
merchant district, but I find this setting more to my liking.”
“Your odds are better as well,” Dirk commented. “You can
tell your men surrounding me to come out. We are alone and Ialready know where they are hiding.”
“You are mistaken,” the man said halfheartedly. “The
agreement was that we each come alone.”
“Indeed, that was the arrangement,” Dirk confirmed. “You
can tell that I have not been followed. However, I can see the
breath of your men hiding there, there, there and there.” Dirk
pointed at places in a circle around him. “It makes me wonder if
you have kept your word on the rest of our bargain.”