Firedragon Rising by Mary Fan Read Free Book Online Page A

die than allow
herself to be brainwashed by their lies again.
    “ My name is Tydeus Storm.”
The man stopped about three feet in front of her and pointed a
black wand in her direction. It was etched with angular runes that
glowed dark blue, their light so dim she could barely see
them.
    Though she didn’t understand the specifics
of such hoodoo, Connor had told her enough about wands that she
knew that the color of the wood reflected the wielders’ souls.
Golden-brown—like those of all the students, including Connor—was
neutral. Dark blue—like Everett’s—meant the wielder valued power
above all else. Crimson—like Williams’—meant integrity.
    And black meant dark magic. The kind that
drew its force from the Underworld, dominion of all that was evil.
The same kind used by monsters.
    Such magic was too evil
even for the Triumvirate. She’d almost forgotten that there were
people out there more dangerous than the government, but the
presence of Tydeus Storm reminded her why the Triumvirate could
make people believe it was good. They were evil, yes, but there
were those who were more evil. Those who wouldn’t even pretend to be good.
Those who, like monsters, used the kind of power that could destroy
the entire world.
    New fear raced through her, and she
struggled uselessly against the freezer spell’s bonds.
    “ I know what you’re
thinking, and I am not an agent of the Triumvirate.” Storm’s brows remained furrowed
as he spoke. “The Sentinels are my enemies too.”
    Because you’re a Class A
crazy person, and even the Triumvirate can’t stand you! Aurelia longed to shout the words, but her jaw,
tongue, and throat were all frozen by the spell. All her strength
and combat prowess were useless.
    She hated him with ever fiber of her being
for being too chicken to actually battle her. Any fighter with an
ounce of pride would have let his opponent use her best weapons
against his. If he’d defeated her that way, she might have
grudgingly respected his skill. But he was just a coward, and he
disgusted her. If she could just find a way to escape his dark
magic, she’d rid the world of the slime ball once and for all.
    “ But the Rising is also my
enemy,” Storm continued. “Destroying the Triumvirate will not bring
about the world you so desire. While the Triumvirate is far from
perfect, they are the lesser evil.”
    She wished her hands were free so she could
sock his jaw for spewing the same crap that had allowed the
government to treat her people like garbage for so long. How many
people, like her mother, had died because no one had taken down the
“lesser evil” out of fear of a greater one? Despite what Storm
claimed about the Triumvirate being his enemy, he sounded an awful
lot like them.
    He opened his mouth to continue, but before
he could, a sudden roar—an earthshaking blast of sound edged with
vibrating, high-pitched overtones—slashed through the air. It was
the unmistakable cry of a hungry monster, and Storm seemed to
realize it too, because he widened his eyes and spun, holding his
wand out before him.
    The spell around Aurelia vanished as he did,
and she dropped to the ground, startled, but still managing to land
on her feet. She exhaled, glad to be free of the spell.
    Her relief was short-lived. Something
dangerous—dangerous enough to frighten a dark Enchanter—was
approaching.
    The ground shook beneath her as the creature
came into view, lumbering down the road before both her and Storm.
Two powerful front legs, tipped with claws as long as Aurelia was
tall, dragged a thick, muscular body that tapered into the scaly
tail of an enormous rattlesnake—except with flames in place of a
rattle. The fire was so intense in the blackness that Aurelia could
make out the lime green edges that indicated the dark magic of the
Underworld. It was hard to see, most of the time. But in the dead
of night with almost no other illumination, she could see it
clearly. The blaze threw light over the