《Light Chaser Universe (Epic and Dark Fantasy)》


 Light Chaser Book 1: Wild Lands Chapter 1

    "Don''t worry about it," I said. I had my eye on a small display of oranges, just five in a little grass basket sitting on top of a pile of apples. Oriana and I were hidden in the darkness behind the owner''s market stall, waiting for an opportunity. "I do it all the time. Besides, this guy Maddock is greedy. He''s got fifty more of those behind the counter. He just makes it seem like he only has a few so he can sell them for a higher price."


    "Where behind the counter?" Oriana asked. "I can''t see¡ª"


    "You can''t see them because he''s so fat. Now be quiet. It''s almost time to make our move."


    "I don''t know," she said.


    I sighed quietly and turned to her.


    Her long, white-blond hair was braided down her back, and wisps of it stuck to her scalp in the late summer heat, sweat beading on her forehead. But the color in her cheeks was pink, a good sign for someone who was usually so sick. It had been a rare opportunity to sneak her out from under her mother''s thumb, and I''d taken it.


    She was my only friend. I took every opportunity I could get.


    "Fine. Meet me out in the field in five minutes in case I need to run." And I knew I would need to run. "Go."


    She huffed, wanting me to abandon the idea entirely, but she turned and slinked away through the canvas curtain at the back without another word.


    I was almost ready to grab the fruit and make my escape, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Kenneth, Maddock''s son. I stepped back into the shadows until he turned and walked across the road.


    It would be a risk, but the taste of a sweet orange on the tongue would be worth it.


    I took my shot and pounced toward the counter, grabbed one orange in each hand, and fled into the dusty market street.


    Getting greedy was a mistake, though, because immediately I bumped into a shopper and dropped one of the precious fruits. In desperation, I bent over to pick it up, but not before someone accidentally smashed it under his boot.


    I stood up, looking first at the tall man who owned the boot and then at the counter. I realized that Maddock hadn''t even seen me; he was helping a shopper and hadn''t noticed his oranges disappearing.


    But his son, Kenneth, had.


    Kenneth was only fifteen, but he was as tall as a man, and his long legs could easily outstretch mine in a running contest.


    Maybe not if I get a head start, though.


    I took off deeper into the market, away from the field where I knew Oriana would be waiting for me. It was midday, and the place was crowded. It was perfect. Over the years, I''d become a master of weaving my way in and out of crowds, always on the run for some crime or another.


    "Bree!" I heard Kenneth yell. He''d lost me, I knew, or he wouldn''t have shouted out my name. "I''m going to find you!" he called.


    "Not today," I said quietly to myself.


    I found an opening in the crowd between the grain and butcher displays and ducked through, aiming to insert myself behind the market-stall curtains.


    I didn''t look back.


    I kept my head down and tried not to knock anybody over as I sprinted out of the market toward the field. Only once I was hidden from the road did I dare turn around.


    I was alone. He hadn''t seen me.


    I kept going, running along the outer edge of the market. Children were kneeling in the dirt out back, looking for rotten scraps the dealers might have tossed. Their faces were dirty, lips cracked.


    On another day, I might have shared my orange with them, but I had a friend waiting. And even though I was hidden behind the market stalls, I wasn''t completely in the clear yet.


    "I''ll get you some next time, Adair," I called, nodding at one boy I knew. He stood up, smiling as I ran by, shaking his head like an old man.


    I smiled back, distracted, so when Kenneth stepped out in front of me, I yelped in surprise as I collided with him. The orange went flying.


    He gripped my wrists and pulled my hands up to his chest. I wriggled, trying to get away, but he was stronger than I was. I wrestled against his man-hands, but he had me pinned with his forearms, too. He was smiling.


    "Ugh," I complained. "Fine. I''ll share it with you. You tell your old man you couldn''t catch me. He''ll never know."


    "I don''t think so," he said. "It''s going to take more than that." He puckered his lips and moved in to kiss me.


    I leaned my head back in disgust.


    "Oh, come on, Bree," he said.


    "Back off, or all you''re going to get on your lips is a spray of spit. Besides, you''re just a kid, and I don''t kiss children." I struggled, but he held me fast.


    I was only sixteen. Seventeen in a couple of weeks, give or take. But my age didn''t really matter, not with this kid. His interest in me was purely physical, and I knew it.


    "Fine." He leaned back again. "Give me a hit then."


    I sighed. "You know I''m not supposed to."


    "Never stopped you before now," he argued.


    It was true. But these days, I was a little more selective with my magic. If I were caught now, I''d be held in jail until my seventeenth birthday, until it was time for them to cast me out of the kingdom. But either in or out of jail, my days in the Eagleview Kingdom were quickly coming to a close.


    "Fine," I said. "But if you tell anyone¡­"


    "I won''t tell anyone," he lied.


    I smirked, but it was my only way out. I raised my eyebrows. "Hands, please," I said.


    "What? Oh." He released me.


    I put one hand on his chest, tried to concentrate, breathed in, and a pulse of energy ran through my arm and out into my fingertips. I let it go; as it moved between my body and his, he was knocked backward by the force and fell to the ground.


    The little guy, Adair, picked up the orange and held it out to me.


    "Thanks, man," I said, pocketing it.


    Kenneth got to his feet. He seemed taller, broader, and I knew he was stronger than he''d been a few moments before.


    "Gotta go, kid," I said, rustling Adair''s dirty hair, and I took off running again.


    "Bree!" Kenneth called after me. "I''m going to want that kiss!"


    I laughed as I ran. I knew he wasn''t going to hunt me down. Strong as he was, Kenneth was a good kid. Still, I picked up the pace until I was safe in the tall grass a half-mile from the market, all but invisible to anyone in the kingdom.


    "You got it?" Oriana called. She was smiling broadly, relieved. "They didn''t catch you?"


    "Nah," I said. "Nothing worth my time." I pulled back my long, brown hair into a ponytail to keep it out of my face in the breeze.


    We sat. I produced the orange, took out a small pocketknife and sliced the fruit in half and then quarters. I gave three to Oriana.


    "That''s not fair," she said, holding out one of the quarters to me.


    I sighed, then took it. There was no arguing with her.


    Peeling the rest of the skin off the fruit, I put it to my nose. It was so dreamlike to smell something different than the dirty, dusty road I lived on. Most couldn''t afford to live inside the protection of the castle, and even some wealthier folks lived in the kingdom''s shadow. Well, wealthier than I was, anyway.


    Oriana''s family was like that: close to the castle entrance, but not quite inside.


    I wondered if her family ever bought things like oranges.


    I put the fruit into my mouth and closed my eyes. So sweet. So unlike anything, anywhere. "Have you ever had something so delicious?" I asked.


    Oriana smiled, then looked down, embarrassed.


    "What?" I asked, elbowing her.


    "On my birthday when I was five ¡ª before I got sick ¡ª my mother took me into the city. They had a sweet shop there, and she bought me something. It was called fudge." She looked up into the sky, her face one big smile. She stayed that way for a moment, relishing the memory. I wondered if she was thinking about the fudge, of her mother, or both.


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    I had no such memories. My mother was dead, and money for things like candy was unheard of. I lived with my grandmother in a dingy apartment that looked out over the market. Most days we were lucky to have enough for bread.


    Oriana seemed to remember I was there, and she looked at me, blushing. "But no," she said earnestly. "Nothing beats a good orange." She elbowed me this time, and I smiled. It didn''t matter if it was a lie. I knew what she meant.


    I looked out over the field. Soon, Oriana and I would make our journey away from Eagleview. She didn''t want to spend her life in her room, and I didn''t want to spend my life in a cell. It was illegal for untrained sorcerers to use magic in the kingdom, and it was a crime I committed on a daily basis. Leaving was the only solution either of us was able to come up with, and it was as good an idea as any.


    Because Oriana wasn''t just sick. She was dying.


    I had only ever heard the coughing fits from across the road when I was standing outside her house, trying to figure out how to get her mother to let me come in, to let me help. I didn''t know what was wrong with Oriana, and I didn''t think she or her parents did, either. What I did know was that I could help her. My hands, my being, helped her.


    My magic was wild. Raw. Fire magic, some called it. Untrained. That was okay, though; all I needed to know was how to give a little bit of it to Oriana. I could keep her alive, she could keep me from going crazy, and we would find a way to get away.


    "Did you bring the map?" I asked.


    "Yep." She put down her piece of orange, pulled a sheet of paper out from a pocket she''d sewn into her flowery dress, and unfolded it. "I was able to copy more of it last night when my parents were asleep." She laid out the map, smoothing it flat in the grass.


    "What did you find?" I asked.


    "Father has a whole book about the Zemira Kingdom. I copied what I could but¡ª"


    "You should''ve just brought it."


    "No, I couldn''t do that. For one thing, it''s huge. Besides, I barely got out this morning."


    I supposed I could understand her mother''s attitude toward Oriana''s friendship with me. I was dirty and scrappy and poor, and anyone caught using magic who wasn''t part of the head sorcerer Zahn''s training program faced jail time.


    I wouldn''t be the only one in trouble if we were caught, either. Her parents would face penalties, too, for allowing me to heal with magic. They might have been wealthier than I was, but they couldn''t afford to buy magic from a trained sorcerer. Few could.


    I''d faced a trial with Zahn when I was very young, a test of my magic for him to judge. But he had refused to let me train with his other pupils, and once denied, forever denied.


    I''d never kept my abilities a secret, even after I was instructed to, and maybe that was why I was in so much trouble now. I''d been picked up enough times by the lawmen, the result of which was my impending removal from the kingdom. I didn''t play by the rules, and once I turned seventeen, I was no longer considered a child. That would be the end of it, and Eagleview would be better for it.


    So Oriana and I needed to leave. It was as simple as that: life or death, for both of us.


    I pulled the map over and took a good look at it. So far, Oriana had been able to copy down quite a few mountain ranges and a handful of kingdoms. I''d chosen the Zemira Kingdom for our destination. I didn''t know for sure, but I hoped I''d be able to use my magic there. Maybe I''d even find wealth using my gifts. That would be a trick.


    If we weren''t welcome in the Zemira Kingdom, we would move on to the next, and the next, until we found somewhere that would welcome us.


    "This is good," I pointed to a mountain range that lay between Eagleview and Zemira. "That one''s new. And what''s this?" I indicated a name that she''d scribbled down in the upper-left corner: Veiled Kingdom. "How come it''s not on the map?"


    "Because nobody knows where it is," Oriana said.


    I raised an eyebrow.


    "What?" Her tone was defensive. "It was in the book. You told me to write down anything interesting, and that''s interesting."


    "Okay, then." I smirked. "We''ll just have to keep an eye out for the hidden kingdom nobody knows how to find."


    She went to snatch the map from my hands, and I laughed. She only struggled with me for a moment before sitting back, arms crossed, staring at me like a little child.


    "What are you? Eight?" I handed the paper back to her, and she grabbed it.


    "You can be a real pain," she said, smoothing it out once more.


    That stung, not because it wasn''t true, but because it was coming from her, one of only two people in the world that I was certain cared about me. I had Grandmother, too, but she was supposed to care. There was a difference.


    "So when do we leave?" she asked.


    That made me feel a little better; I''d been chewing on the question as well, wondering when the best time would be. "Soon," I said, distracted.


    "When?"


    The truth was, I was as scared about leaving as I was about staying. But there was nothing for me in Eagleview. I wondered if my father would even notice I was gone.


    "Let''s say next week." I looked up at her. "Tuesday. The week will be gearing up still, and your dad will be at work."


    "What about my mom?"


    That mom of hers was always in the way. After today, she would probably be even more careful about knowing Oriana''s whereabouts. It wasn''t every day that Oriana could slip past her, and whenever she did there was hell to pay afterward. Usually, her mom would keep her shut up inside the house for a week just so she could watch her.


    I wondered what might happen after this most recent escape. Her mother had gone to the market, taking along Oriana''s little brother, Brand, and leaving her home alone. Oriana had been just the right amount of sick lately to allow for an escape. Tired, pale, coughing fits easing; her mother knew she would only be lying around with no energy to do anything stupid. And it was well known that "that girl, Bree" wasn''t allowed anywhere near her house.


    This thought made me grin. That girl, Bree. Well, they wouldn''t have to worry about me for much longer.


    "I don''t know," I said finally. "Do you think your mom would leave you again like she did today?"


    Oriana¡¯s face fell, and she shook her head.


    "Better make it two weeks then," I said.


    A lone tear trickled down her face, and I softened.


    "It''s going to be fine." I put one hand on her shoulder. "You''re going to be fine. You do want to go, don''t you?"


    "Of course I do," she said, frowning and sniffling. She folded up the paper.


    "So think of it this way: you take the time you need to write down everything you can on that map. You don''t have to have anything ready to go ¡ª I''ll do all the packing. Then, late that night, I''ll sneak in. You''ll probably need a good jolt of magic by that point. And then we''ll be on our way."


    "What if they find us? In the house?"


    I held up my hands. "Magic, baby."


    She snorted, and soon the two of us resorted to giggles. I didn''t know what would happen in the house if we were caught; I don''t think Oriana did, either.


    One thing at a time.


    "Okay." I sobered up. "Two weeks. Try not to look too healthy. And try not to get too sick."


    Her face became serious again. "Why can''t we go now?" she asked.


    I wanted to say yes, to agree that we were ready. Maybe we were. But something told me that leaving for real might be harder than staying. I hated it in Eagleview, and I wanted out. But I also didn''t want to say goodbye.


    Just a few more days.


    I turned around and looked up at the castle that towered above us. The architecture was aggressive, dominating, and the streets below the castle walls were dirty, crowded, and hot.


    Yes, just a few more days. Then we''d both be done with this place and ready to find a new home.


    "We can''t go now. Not yet. I have to¡­"


    "Say goodbye," she said. "I know."


    My eyes stung, but I knew if I allowed tears to fall, they would leave clean streaks down my dirty cheeks. Couldn''t have that. "Come on." I stood up and offered her my hand. "It''s getting late. Curfew."


    Curfew began at sunset and was strictly enforced from the moment that giant orb slipped beneath the horizon. The lawmen took their jobs very seriously; long ago, they''d determined that everyone, and everything, was safer once the sun went down. No parties. No gatherings of any kind. No one in the street except for maybe an old woman who couldn''t make it back to her dwelling in time.


    That was how they kept the peace.


    I wondered what it was like inside the castle. I had been so young the only time I''d been inside those walls. I imagined pubs and dance halls. Did those who could afford to live inside the walls have the same rules as us?


    Certainly not.


    "I don''t want to go yet." Oriana peeked through the long blades of yellow grass, looking for the sun.


    I sighed. That would mean I''d have to be out all night. It was okay; it wasn''t the first time. I could hide behind someone''s market stall easily enough. Oriana would get into trouble, but she was already in trouble. The lawmen would be looking for her, probably had been for hours already.


    "Let''s just stay a little while longer," she said. Her hands found the last bits of her orange in the grass, and she popped one into her mouth.


    "Okay," I said. "A little while longer."


    * * *


    I might have decided to stay out with her all night. The sun faded away, and the stars blanketed the sky above us. The summer evening was mild, and the air was warm. But then I heard a sound, and my blood ran cold.


    A dog barking.


    The lawmen. There was no other explanation.


    Oriana looked around, and I grabbed her arm, hoisting her up.


    "We have to run," I said. "Can you?"


    In answer, she took off toward the eastern edge of the castle. The men were coming from the west. I trailed behind her. Soon the barks seemed to double, to triple. How many dogs did they have?


    I sped up and grabbed Oriana''s hand, pulsing her with power as best I could while in full flight. It worked; she sped up, too.


    We never saw him coming.


    A man hiding low in the tall grass jumped out before us and grabbed Oriana by her braided hair as she tried to blow past him. He didn''t let go, and she grappled with him for her freedom, but then she stopped and looked around.


    Hoofbeats.


    "Bree, run," she cried. She was caught fast, and I knew the guy who''d snatched her wasn''t about to let her go without a fight, so I didn''t hesitate. I just ran. Away. Anywhere.


    The speed of the hoofbeats increased, and I knew the end was near. Nobody could outrun a war horse. That didn''t stop me from trying.


    I zig-zagged across the meadow, trying to trip them up. Then, seeing a small opening into the market, I dashed left and ran for it.


    An arm in full armor wrapped around my stomach. A moment later, I found myself lifted into the air, legs splayed, and unceremoniously slammed onto the neck of the horse. The rider had his arm around me tight. I wasn''t going anywhere.


    I looked back and saw two other lawmen gripping Oriana''s legs as she kicked with fury. I smiled. That girl had fire. Why couldn''t her family see that? I, for one, would have paid any price for her health. I was lucky it cost me nothing to give it away.


    The knight on the horse held me tighter, maybe thinking I''d continue to struggle, but I knew when I was bested. Struggling would lead to no more than a slam on the head and waking up somewhere unknown. So I rode with him as he circled around to the east side of the castle, where the open gates awaited us.


    Suddenly, I was nervous. Aside from Grandmother taking me to trial when I was a young child, I''d never been legally escorted past the gates.


    My stomach sank as the horse''s hooves echoed off the cobblestoned street. Where was he taking me? In the past I''d been returned to our tiny apartment, often with a beating to hammer home the message. But I''d only once been brought inside the castle.


    As we entered the last set of inner gates, I looked up to the sky. There was a great courtyard in the center of the castle, and the moon shone down into it, nearly as brightly as the sun.


    Little shops lined the edges of the circle, market stands put away for the night. It was like the outer markets, only these places sold things, not food. I tried to see what was behind the window glass, but bright as the moon was, it wasn''t enough to light their insides.


    The horse broke into a trot. The rider was taking me not through the square, but down a long, wide hallway. We passed stalls filled with horses, and the stables were warm with the heat of the animals. A few of the more curious ones stuck their heads out to see who was coming by at such a late hour. One whinnied.


    The rider slowed the horse to a walk and stopped at the end of the hallway, where he unceremoniously dumped me into the dirt.


    I looked at the horse''s hooves; they were enormous, and he was stamping down the dirt on the stable floor. I backed up quickly, snatching my hands away from his steel-shod feet.


    Arms wrapped around mine on both sides of me, and two men began dragging me away, holding me so tight and so high that the tips of my boots barely dragged along the dirt floor. I might have kicked out, attacked them with magic, but I knew it would be no use. Using fire magic against a jailer would undoubtedly make my situation much, much worse.


    When they descended a steep staircase and threw me headfirst into a cell, I was ready for it. My hands flashed out before me, and I was able to break the fall and roll away into the damp, dark corner.


    The cell door slammed behind me, and I wondered¡­


    How long?

 Light Chaser Book 1: Wild Lands Chapter 2

    I was out in the world, a great army behind me. Up ahead was an enemy, some foe I didn''t know and couldn''t place. They moved as one as I led them onward, but, when I looked back at their faces, I found they were blank, featureless.


    Who were these people?


    They didn''t look like soldiers. Few of them carried weapons for one thing, and shorter humans¡ªthey must have been children¡ªaccompanied the crowd. Why would anybody lead a child into battle?


    My stomach clenched painfully as I turned to meet the enemy. The sound of feet on earth was a loud rumble, a warning to anyone playing for the other side that we were on our way.


    After a few minutes of marching, I stopped. There before me stood a little boy. He was maybe three feet tall, cheeks dirty, lips crusted, hair black, and tears in his violet eyes. Eyes like mine.


    The army didn''t stop with me; instead, they moved past the boy and me until they encircled us. There would be no escape.


    I walked up to him and knelt down on one knee. "Where did you come from?" I asked.


    He didn''t answer, but tears rolled down his face until they pooled at his chin, dripping onto his tunic.


    "It''s not safe for a little kid to be out here. Don''t you know?" I took his hand. He looked down, frowning, then held up his other hand and placed it on my forehead. It was icy cold against my skin, but a moment later it began to burn.


    I gripped his arm with both of my hands, trying to tear his hand away from me. It didn''t work. Soon, the pain began to overwhelm me, and I screamed as I tried desperately to separate us.


    I grappled for his face. For the first time in my life, I purposely used my magic in an attempt to hurt another person. I''d defended myself over the years, but the anger and terror that were rising within me now brought out a darkness in my heart I had never known.


    I poured everything I had into that face, that monster. But it wasn''t enough.


    I could hear my flesh sizzling beneath his fingers. Just as I started to black out, he slammed me so intensely with his magic that I was thrown back several feet and landed hard on my back.


    I looked up and saw him turn away. The crowd parted to let him pass, and then they were all moving as one, away from me, leaving me behind as if I''d never led them at all.


    They had a new master.


    I turned over on the ground and touched the wound on my head. His attack had left a hand-shaped crater where he''d burned me. The people passed me by, not caring that I was in their way.


    I climbed to my feet and headed in the opposite direction, against the tide. Suddenly, a tall man appeared with those same violet eyes. I only caught a quick glimpse of him before he knocked me back and my head slammed on the hard ground. He hovered over me, his mouth turning to a snarl. "Stay," he said.


    And the gray sky above me faded away until all was black.


    * * *


    I awoke on the cell floor, the wind knocked out of me. My hands gripped my face, covered my forehead and searched for the burn I knew I''d find there, but my skin was smooth. Gradually the pain subsided until it was a dull ache, no more than a memory.


    "I said get up," a man said harshly, his voice warbling, as he opened the lock on the bars.


    I hadn''t noticed anyone arrive. Disoriented, I struggled to push myself up from the floor. "What is it?" I asked.


    "Zahn wants to meet with you." He smirked. "Good luck with that, little lady. You''ll be lucky if he leaves you in one piece."


    I stood up, the dream still whirling around in my head. Zahn? What did the head sorcerer want with me? He''d rejected me years ago and sent me on my way with the warning that I wasn''t to practice magic of any kind or I''d be banished from the kingdom.


    But I hadn''t listened; how could I? And now here I was, two weeks away from my last day in Eagleview. Two weeks until I''d be made accountable for my actions. If I stayed, it would be a cell floor not unlike this one that awaited me every night.


    The guard stepped to the side, holding open the gate. I frowned at him, then moved tentatively in his direction. I kept my back away from him, concerned that his boot might kick me to the ground if I wasn''t careful.


    Instead, he leaned in, his breath boozy. "I hope he sends you back here, girly," he said. "Then you and I can have a good time later."


    I glared at him. Zahn may have been able to lock me up, but he couldn''t keep me from using my powers, especially against this disgusting excuse for a man.


    The guard grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall. Several other cells lined the walls. Inside them, I saw all sorts of people: an old man talking to himself, teeth missing; a young woman, maybe a little older than me, her body rocking back and forth, hair knotted. And another person: a young man who looked healthy and well-dressed. He couldn''t have been there long, I thought.


    He caught my eye as I walked past and nodded his head. Odd.


    At the top of the stairs, the man pushed me forward and I almost hit the floor again. A woman stood waiting for me, and she caught me. She stood me back up onto my feet and put her hands on my shoulders. "You''re Bree," she said. "I''ve heard about you. Let''s go."


    She put her hand gently beneath my forearm and guided me away from the stinking man. "See you later, doll," he called after us. I turned back to look at him; he was waving enthusiastically.


    "He''s the least of your worries," the woman said as we hurried away. "Zahn is waiting for you. Whatever he does, you must not strike him."


    I looked up at her, confused, but she didn''t return my gaze; her eyes were staring straight ahead. "Why would I want to strike him?" I asked.


    "He will provoke you, as he did your mother before you."


    "My mother?"


    "Your mother was Alina, yes?" The woman looked down at me. Her face was quite pretty, and dark-red hair cascaded over her shoulders.


    "Y-yes," I stammered. "How do you¡ª?"


    "Everyone under Zahn knows of those who''ve been denied his training. But Alina is famous among us."


    "Famous? My mother?"


    I was confused. I knew very little about her. Father had barely spoken to me my whole life, and Grandmother kept her thoughts to herself. The questions I''d asked over the years had gone mostly unanswered.


    "When Alina was a young child," the woman said, "she trialed with Zahn. Her power was so great that he was threatened by her. He sent her away into the mountains to kill a dragon, an errand he knew would likely result in her death. If it did not, he would have killed her upon her return if she didn''t bring proof of the murder. Somehow, she beguiled the dragon in its lair, and it gave her a bone to bring back to Zahn ¡ª a great and magical gift."


    The hallway was growing narrower. At the far end was a door; I wondered what awaited me on the other side.


    "But when Alina returned," the woman went on, "the bone rejected Zahn and only Zahn. Every other pupil of his could use it as a powerful staff, but Zahn was left out. He was the only one unable to draw magic from it, the most powerful magical item he''d ever seen."


    I''d never imagined that Zahn could have a weakness. I''d always thought of him as all-powerful.


    "That angered him greatly," the woman said. "He sent Alina from the tower and banished her from the castle. From then on, Urvar, the dragon who had given her the bone, made it a point to visit her every night for the rest of her life to make sure she was safe from Zahn. Your mother is the only person known to have truly bested Zahn. You may wonder why he orders you to be treated the way he does."


    "What do you mean?" I asked.


    "He''s banishing you on your birthday. Isn''t that right?"


    "Yes. I''ll be seventeen in two weeks."


    "Just old enough to care for yourself on your own," she said. "He couldn''t very well get rid of you when you were a young child. Even the king would have thought that intolerable. But now¡­"


    "Now I''m an adult."


    "Basically, yes." She stopped in front of the doorway at the end of the hall. Before she opened it, she gave me one last word of warning. "No matter what magic you have within you, do not fight back. He will try to hurt you. You must let him if you want to survive the night. Do you understand?"


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    My chest feeling tight, I nodded.


    She opened the door and let me inside. "This is where I leave you," she said. "When you get to the top of the stairs, wait inside the round room in the tower. Good luck."


    She closed the door between us, and I stood there for a few moments, staring at the wood. I looked through the tiny opening at eye-height. Through it, I saw her walking purposefully away. I turned and started up the stairs.


    She''d said Zahn would try to hurt me. My hand automatically went to my forehead, the memory of the dream still strong.


    When I reached the top, I found a great wooden door had been left ajar. There was no little window in this one, so I peered inside through the narrow opening. "Hello?" I called, pushing it open slightly.


    "Come," a raspy voice from the other side commanded.


    I opened the door all the way. Standing before me was a man I''d seen only one other time in my life.


    Zahn was very tall and slim, his black robes hung loosely on his skeletal frame. His cheeks were hollow, as if he hadn''t eaten for months, and his brow seemed permanently furrowed with anger.


    He smiled as I stepped inside. His teeth were pointed, almost as if he intended to snap at me, to devour me. "Come closer," he said. He raised his hand, and the door slammed shut behind me.


    He held a staff¡ªa staff made of bone.


    My heart was beating hard in my chest, but I did as he commanded and stepped into the center of the round room.


    Great windows were cut into the stone all the way around the tower walls. The breeze outside had turned chilly, and I shivered as it came through the openings.


    "You are Alina''s child, are you not?" Zahn asked.


    "Yes." My voice was braver than I''d intended, perhaps even insolent. "I''m Bree."


    "It matters not what your name is," he said sharply. "You have been arrested for unauthorized use of magic. How do you plead?"


    "I¡ªI''m not sure what you¡ª"


    "The girl. You kidnapped her. You filled her with wild ideas about what was possible for her. You played doctor, no doubt damaging her beyond repair."


    I stood quietly, unsure if my answer would enrage him.


    He went on. "Do you deny it?"


    "She''s not damaged," I said. "I helped her. I just¡ª"


    "You used your fire magic upon her, and now she will become more ill than ever."


    I didn''t argue against his lie.


    He began to pace, walking behind me as he made a full circle around the room. The staff clicked against the mosaic floor with each step. I desperately didn''t want him at my back, but I felt sure that he''d take it as a threat if I were to turn to face him.


    "I remember when you trialed here years ago," he went on, his robes fluttering in the wind. "You were mediocre at best. So why is it you think you can, as you say, help her?"


    I tried not to lie, but I knew the truth was about to get me into trouble. "I don''t know," I said. "I guess it''s always helped her in the past."


    "So you admit it freely." He turned to face me. "You have used your fire magic against all the laws in this land."


    I didn''t speak.


    "Are you aware that the use of fire magic is punishable by death?"


    My eyes widened. He was lying: there was no death penalty for using magic untrained. Jail time, perhaps; banishment, maybe. But not death.


    "I was not aware of that, no," I said.


    His lips curled into a wicked smile, and he raised his staff, a staff I now knew he shouldn''t have been able to wield. My mother''s staff.


    A great pulse of power came through the bone and hit me squarely in the chest, knocking me back so hard that I fell to the ground.


    He approached as I tried to catch my breath. "You are lying," he said. "And you have done a poor job of trying to hide your magic. There is no dragon to protect you here." He raised the staff again and pointed it at my forehead.


    That dream. A premonition?


    He sent another jolt through the bone, and it took everything I had not to protect myself, not to scream. The bolt hit me squarely; this time, it knocked my head back so far that it slammed against the wall. In a daze, I raised my hand to my forehead, half-expecting to find the burning handprint of a child there, but there was nothing.


    Don''t cry. Don''t let him see.


    My breathing was coming in hoarse gasps. I rolled over to push myself up off the floor. A jolt hit me in the back.


    I cried out for the first time ¡ª and for the first time, I felt angry.


    I turned around again to face him. That must have surprised him, because he raised the staff again, snarling as he aimed it at my stomach.


    I was too quick. The staff was within my reach, and I grabbed the end of it just as he was releasing his power through it. The power rebounded against him and sent him flying.


    I quickly dropped the staff to the floor and tried to come up with some sort of defense. The red-haired woman had told me not to defend myself at all costs, but she couldn''t know what was happening inside this room. Or could she?


    Either way, I was a goner now.


    Zahn rose from the ground as if an invisible rope were doing all the work for him. He straightened his robes and summoned the staff to his hand. "Get out of here," he said sharply.


    He raised the staff again and produced a large ball of aquamarine blue flame that hovered in the center of the room. I scrambled to my feet and walked backward, floundering until I found the door. I didn''t dare turn my back on him again.


    But it didn''t matter. Once the door was open, he thrust the power at me, and it knocked me onto my back, sending me tumbling down the stairs.


    "You have two weeks," he said from behind the door. "Use them wisely."


    * * *


    A different man from the previous jailer was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for me, this one sober and with a dark, but not vengeful, face. He took my arm and guided me through the door. He didn''t speak as we walked down the hall back toward the dungeons.


    So I was to stay. I wondered if maybe I''d be held until my birthday, then sent out into the wild unprepared. That would seem on target for Zahn.


    We walked down the narrow stairs. On my way through the dungeon hall, I saw the same boy who had nodded at me earlier. He looked up, concerned, and I frowned at him.


    The drunken guard had passed out at his post.


    My escort quietly opened the cell door. Surprisingly, he didn''t push me into the cell but waited a moment to let me walk inside before he shut the door behind me. "You are of Alina," he said quietly once I was inside.


    I gripped onto the bars. "Yes."


    "You must flee. He will kill you."


    "He already tried."


    "No," he said. "If he had tried, you would already be dead."


    I wondered if that were true. "Who was that woman?" I asked. "From before? She had red hair and¡ª"


    "That was Erin," he said. "She is a great sorceress, second only to Zahn. And, perhaps, to you."


    I frowned. Me?


    "You must be more careful," he said, turning the lock.


    As he turned to leave, I slipped down to the cold, stone floor. I rested my forehead against the cool bars, a sliver of relief for my aching head. After a moment, though, my exhaustion overcame me, and I lay down right there at the entrance to the cell. Tears came now, though they were silent. My body hurt as if Zahn''s attacks had electrified my every nerve.


    He was right: I was no sorceress. Without training, I was almost nothing. The only thing I''d done was protect myself against his oncoming blow with the staff, but that didn''t seem like much. All I''d done was touch the bone, and his power had recoiled away from my hand.


    And it had knocked him down. How?


    "Bree," a voice called quietly. That boy at the end of the hall. There were no guards down here now, which explained him taking the risk. "Bree, are you hurt?" he whispered.


    I sat up and looked outside the cell, but I could see nothing. "Who''s there?" I asked.


    "My name is Albion. I can be a friend to you. Are you okay?"


    "Not really."


    "The guard is right," he said. "Zahn will send for you again."


    "It didn''t sound like it. He said¡ª"


    "He is a liar, Bree," he said. "He will call for you. You must leave now. Tonight."


    "But how? I''m in a dungeon, in case you hadn''t noticed."


    "As am I," he said. "But there is a way out."


    He was silent for a few moments, then suddenly he was at my door. Carefully, he directed a beam of green flame from his hand across one of the bars until it broke free. "Can you manage?" he asked.


    I climbed to my feet. "Yes, I think so." I felt wobbly but able to walk.


    He sighed, put one hand on my shoulder, and released a pulse of magic into me. Immediately, I felt better.


    I stepped through the bars and turned to him. "Thank you. I¡ª"


    "You must go now, while the other guard is passed out drunk. He will be cranky in the morning, and you will not be safe. Come. Follow me."


    "What about that man? The other guard?"


    "He''s no guard. That was Kieran ¡ª he''s one of Zahn''s. Come on." Albion gestured for me to follow him.


    "And are you one of Zahn''s as well?"


    "Yes," he said quietly as we walked down the hall.


    "Then why are you down here?"


    "Why are you?" he asked. "We come and go at Zahn''s whim. He is not a good man."


    "You think so? And yet you''re one of his students," I said.


    "Not by choice."


    As we approached the guard, we could smell the liquor on his breath. Albion paused to make sure he was asleep, then reached for the dungeon keys, and quietly took them off the hook above the guard''s head. We kept our footfalls light as we walked toward the gate, and we didn''t speak as Albion unlocked it.


    Once we were around the corner, he took me toward the market. The moon had set, and everything was dark. I was grateful for whatever cover it lent us.


    Soon, we were running through the side streets that encircled the castle. "Where are you taking me?" I asked.


    "Home," he said. "You need to get your things and be gone by morning light. Otherwise, you''ll be dead by tomorrow night."


    "No," I said. "I can''t leave."


    He slowed. "What do you mean, you can''t leave? I''ve taken you all this way to save your life. Don''t throw it all away. What possible reason could you have to stay?"


    I paused, unable to come up with the right words. "I have a friend and¡ª"


    "Don''t tell me this is about some boy!"


    I grimaced at the thought. "I have this friend named Oriana. She''s sick, and we were planning to run away together. But not tonight. She''ll be locked up tight after today."


    "Today?"


    "I broke her out this afternoon, and we spent the day in the field. Her mother is well, she''s just horrible. I know she won''t let Oriana out of her sight again for weeks. It''s too soon."


    "You must leave. There is no other way. People disappear around here. My friend Connell, he''s long gone. He should''ve been back months ago, but¡ª"


    "Connell with the horse? The big chestnut?" I asked. "I met him once."


    He stopped and stared at me, confused, then pulled me into a dark alcove. "You know Connell?"


    I shrugged. "Not well. I only met him the one time. I was out in the fields, and he was walking by. He said it was the first day of his journey away from Zahn. He never came back?"


    Albion shook his head. "No. He''s gone."


    "Well, he didn''t seem eager to stay, I guess," I said.


    "If you see him on your travels, tell him we need him back here. Tell him that Zahn has gone mad, that he''s been hoarding the magic Light he has all of us collect for him. Tell him that the punishments have become much worse." He turned around and pulled up his shirt. Welts crisscrossed his back.


    "Oh, my God, Albion. I can fix¡ª"


    "No." He turned back quickly, letting his shirt fall. "Zahn will know. He will check. I''m better off this way. You must trust me."


    He peered out from our hiding spot, then reached out his hand. I took it without question. "Come on," he said.


    It wasn''t much farther. Soon we rounded another corner and came to a small door with a huge lock hanging from the handle. With a simple flick of Albion¡¯s hand, the chain fell to pieces, and the door swung open.


    "You must go," he whispered. "You can''t wait. I don''t care who this friend of yours is. You''re in great danger if you stay."


    A guard walked along a path below the castle, and we closed the door quietly and hid behind it. "Why are you doing all of this for me?" I asked. "Why risk it all?"


    "You are Alina''s child," he said simply. "If she could beat Zahn, then maybe you can, too."


    "How am I supposed to beat him if I leave?"


    "You''ll need to come back when the time is right for you. I trust that you will. Now go."


    He opened the door again, checked to see no one else was walking down the dirt road on the other side, and hurried me through. "We''ll be waiting for you," he said.


    He closed the door and locked it behind me. I turned to face the night on my own.