Firedragon Rising (10 page)

She aimed the arrow at him. “Drop the wand,
loser.”

The young man blinked, a startled look
filling his eyes. “Firedragon, I’m not—”

“
I said drop the wand.”
She didn’t waver, even though she was somewhat surprised that he’d
recognized her like Storm had.
Does
everyone
know who I
am?

“
Okay, okay.” A wand as
orange as his hair tumbled out of his hands, which he then raised
in surrender. From the color, she knew he didn’t use dark magic,
and that curiosity was one of his main traits.

She crossed the last few yards between them,
keeping the arrow aimed. “Who are you?”

“
My name is Tamerlane.”
Nervousness quivered at the edges of his voice. “I’m with the
Rising. We got a message from Professor Williams saying you’d be
here, and I was sent to get you and goldlight you back to
HQ.”

“
You’re
a rebel?” She cocked her head doubtfully. She’d
always imagined the rebels would be a tough, battle-hardened bunch,
and Tamerlane looked anything but. Still, he’d mentioned Williams,
and her gut told her that he was legit. Excitement sparked in her
chest as she realized her waiting was over. She dropped her arms,
swinging the bow and arrow by her side. “Why didn’t you say so,
dummy? And why did you arrive
outside
the Way Station’s perimeter?
The barrier doesn’t keep you from goldlighting, does
it?”

“
No, it doesn’t.” He
dropped his mouth into a sheepish expression. “I was aiming for the
house, but it’s not easy to goldlight to a place you’ve never
actually been.”

A zing was on the tip of
her tongue, but then she suddenly recalled where she was. This
was
not
the time
to be joking around, when the Triumvirate or Storm—or more
supernaturals, since they were outside the Way Station’s
perimeter—could show up any second.

Tamerlane seemed to have the same thought,
because his expression tensed, and he reached toward her. “We
should hurry.”

“
Wait! I’ve gotta get
something.” Aurelia raced back toward the house. Though he was
right, she wasn’t about to leave without her double swords. Not
only because they were amazing weapons, but because Connor had
given them to her. And it would take her less than a minute to
fetch them.

She reached the kitchen, where she’d left
them propped up against the wall, and strapped the blades to her
back. A flash of light caught her eye, and she turned to see
Tamerlane standing in the doorway.

“
Were you aiming for the
other end of the house?” she asked mockingly.

An annoyed look crossed his face. “I don’t
usually make mistakes like that.”

“
Well don’t goldlight us
into a wall or anything, okay?” She didn’t like the idea of being
goldlighted somewhere by a stranger who’d just proven that he
sucked at a lot of things, but she didn’t exactly have a choice
when he was the only way she could reach the rebel headquarters.
And they didn’t have much time. The Sentinels could turn up at any
moment.

He didn’t respond, but clamped a hand onto
her shoulder, and a wave of heat and a flash of light engulfed her.
Though she’d been goldlighted a few times before by Sentinels
sending her into battle against a monster, she hadn’t experienced
it often enough to be used to the sensation. Her body prickled
uncomfortably, as if a million tiny bugs were partying in her limbs
and frolicking in her gut, and her eyes quickly started to hurt
from the glare that erased everything else from sight.

When the light faded a second later, she was
standing in the middle of a wide room with tall windows covering
one wall. Looking up, she realized she was on the ground level of a
huge building with several floors, each of which was visible
because of the hallways overlooking the atrium. Excited tingles
raced through her as she took it all in. She’d reached the Rising,
leaving her enemies in the dust. Neither the Triumvirate, nor
Storm, nor the supernaturals had been able to stop her. The fight
was far from over, but still, she’d won the first battle. And she
planned to win many more.

To her left, an old man
was in the middle of descending a staircase that zigzagged along
the wall, and she turned toward him. Though he looked ancient, with
his pale, wrinkled face and snowy hair, he had a decently strong
body for someone who could have been raised with dinosaurs.
Something about the straight-backed way he held himself and his
no-nonsense expression exuded toughness and grit, and Aurelia felt
a sensation she hadn’t known in ages: an immediate sense of
respect.
He must be important.

The old man approached. “Welcome to the
Rising. Williams told me all about you. I must say, it’ll be nice
to have a real fighter on our side. No offense,” he added, glancing
at Tamerlane.

“
None taken,” Tamerlane
said. “I just saw her take down a flock of razorbirds in about
thirty seconds.”

“
And save your hide while
you stood there like an idiot,” Aurelia quipped. “You’re welcome,
by the way.”

“
Oh ... right. Thanks.” He
looked away with obvious embarrassment.

She turned her attention back to the old
man. “Who’re you?”

“
Frank Calhoun.” The old
man jerked a thumb at himself. “I’m the leader of the Rising. Have
been since I started it about twenty years ago, and will be until
freedom is restored to this great nation. I know that sounds like
an eternity to you, but believe me, it’s necessary. You can’t
defeat a government as powerful as the Triumvirate overnight. We’re
getting close, though.” A hungry look filled his pale eyes as he
glanced past her.

“
You’ve come at a good
time. All our efforts are about to come to their climax, and then
we will rid this land of the Triumvirs and their tyrannical ways.
Soon, Norms like you and me will be treated as equals to the
Enchanters. And
everyone
—magical and non-magical
alike—will live without being afraid of their own
leaders.”

His words rang in Aurelia’s ears, echoing
everything she wanted for the world. But she couldn’t forget the
question that had popped into her mind after encountering the
thorndevil. “What about the Underworld?” she asked. “Without the
Sentinels and Defenders, who’s gonna protect people?”

He turned his gaze back to her. “Fair
question. And the answer’s simple: same people as before, except
they’ll be given rights, whether they have magic or not. We’re not
looking to dismantle this nation—we’re looking to fix it from the
top down. Get rid of the Triumvirs and change the rules everyone
lives by without destroying the infrastructure. Believe it or not,
we’ve got a few Sentinels on our side, hiding in plain sight and
acting as our spies and sleeper agents. That goes for the Defenders
too—and there are even more of them. Trust me, kid, I’ve been
planning this for a long time. Ignoring the dangers of the
Underworld would be foolish. But we can’t let them stop us,
either.”

Sounds about
right
. Those words, too, were echoes of
her own thoughts, and Calhoun’s straightforwardness gave her
confidence. “People shouldn’t have to choose between being stomped
on by Triumvirate slime balls or being killed by supernaturals,”
she said.

The very fact that she could say that out in
the open—not behind closed doors and surrounded by a silencer
spell, terrified that someone would overhear—sent an excited shiver
through her.

“
I couldn’t agree more,”
Calhoun said. “Which is why we’ll create a new nation that will
protect them without demanding their freedom in exchange. So what
do you say, Firedragon? Ready to join the cause?”

“
Are you kidding? Yeah!”
She could scarcely keep from jumping with enthusiasm.

Finally she could
fight
for
something, instead of just following orders from people who
considered her property. She’d fight for freedom, for justice, for
equality—all those great ideals that had been denied the people of
the Triumvirate for far too long. People could say what they wanted
to say, think what they wanted to think, without fear. The Gold
Triumvir would finally be forced to pay for all his evil deeds—for
killing her mother and countless others whose names she’d never
know, and for trying to kill both Connor and herself. When she was
finished, no one else would have to spend their lives as she
had—enslaved by a lying government.

The Rising would make it
all possible. The rebellion represented the better world she’d
dreamed of. Already, she could see it manifesting. Calhoun was
a
Norm
, and yet
Tamerlane, an Enchanter, took orders from
him
. She was somewhat thunderstruck,
but at the same time, it made so much sense, she wondered how she’d
ever lived in a world where such a thing was unheard of. She’d only
just arrived, and there was still so much she had to learn about
the Rising, but she already knew that it was everything she’d been
waiting for. As one of these rebels, she could change the world for
everyone. And it would all happen soon.

It wouldn’t be easy, defeating an enemy as
powerful as the Triumvirate. She had a feeling that as perilous as
the journey to reach the Rising had been, she’d only just begun.
And there was still Storm and his dark magic to worry about. He’d
surely strike again, and she’d have to keep her eyes open for
him.

But no matter how many dangers lay ahead,
she’d face them each with the same fierce determination that had
freed her from the Triumvirate’s shackles. Now, it was her duty to
free the rest of her people from theirs.

Aurelia had never been more ready for
anything in her life.