Free Death Comes To All (Book 1) by Travis Kerr Page B

her back.
    Drom suspected it was probable that she knew every campsite on that
road, and knew exactly how far it was to the next one.
    I’m
probably holding them up, trying to argue with Garan about paying me
for my time. I’m being terribly foolish.
    "You're
right," Drom said after a moment "Sorry about everything. I
didn't mean to keep everyone waiting." He strapped his pack to
his back. "I'm ready to go when you are Garan."
    "That's
Malik," the assassin reminded him sternly. "You need to get
used to it. After all, it would be very bad if you said the wrong
name in front of others. Should you travel with us for longer you'll
find that I change my name, face, and occupation fairly regularly.
You will have to learn to keep up with things. Just think of me like
a different person. I don't look the same as I did before after all,
and from here on I'll be using a different voice than the one you are
used to. I've only been talking in this voice, the one you know,
because I know no one else is around. Trick would have told us
otherwise. He'll be keeping to the trees from now on, by the way.
Garan had a dragonling companion, but Malik does not. He'll follow
close by, and will discreetly let us know if anyone approaches."
    "Sorry,
I'll try to remember Malik."
    "No
harm done Drom," Malik answered. "As I said, there's no one
else around. See." He pointed to the tree where Trick still
slumbered as if no one paid him any mind. Malik had said that the
dragonling would warn them if anyone came near. Right at that moment
it appeared to Drom as if the tree the animal was in could have
caught fire and the small creature wouldn't have noticed, so soundly
did he sleep.
    "I
think I should take a different name as well," Drom said
suddenly. "Raine, I mean Tara, had said that you change your
name not only to protect yourselves, but also to protect those people
in your past, those that can be used against you by your enemies if
they should somehow learn who they are. There are people in my past I
would want to protect as well. As long as I'm staying with the two of
you, I think I should pose as someone else."
    "It's
probably a good idea," Malik admitted. "Did you have
anything in mind?"
    "I
haven't really had time to think about it."
    "We
have plenty of time before you have to worry about it," Malik
told him. "In the meantime we won't call you by any name should
we run into anyone. When you decide on a name let us know. There are
two things you should keep in mind when choosing an alias. First, try
not to use something that's obviously a cover. If you call yourself
Dread Blackhearted or something like that you might think it's
frightening, but really anyone who hears it will think it's
ridiculous. Only powerful mages use names like that, or really stupid
trogs, and even then it's rare and rather silly if you ask me.
Second, and possibly more importantly, don't use anything from your
past. If you take your grandfather's name, or even just the name of
someone from your village, it could potentially be traced back to its
source, which defeats the whole purpose of creating a new identity.
    "When
you create a new persona it's more than just a name. You're creating
a whole person, with a different background and everything. Keep it
simple and easy. You can keep most of the details the same, only
change small things like names and locations. Everything you make
different you have to remember that you've changed, otherwise people
will be able to see through it. For now, you're a Thane guard from
the north, don't specify where because a real Thane guard wouldn't,
and you're working for me. You don't have to tell anyone anything
else. If we run into anyone I'll do all the talking anyway, so you
shouldn't have any need to concern yourself with a background story
right away."
    The
group headed back to the road and began following it west once more.
On foot the traveling was fairly easy, though Drom could see that it
would be quite difficult for anyone