Page 116 of The Shadow Wand

I take another step away, the assassin gasping and flailing as the carpet begins to catch fire, the sides of his clothing consumed by the violet flame as the dragon mercilessly tears at his neck, and I fleetingly note that there’s a collar around the dragon’s neck marked with glowing deep-green runes.

Another flash of purple fire streaks toward the man, and my head whips around toward the violet flame’s origin, to find Effrey’s purple-glowing palm still extended toward the assassin, her other hand raised and fisted around a large amethyst, her purple eyes wide with fear.

“Hold your geofire!” Thierren orders Effrey as he simultaneously unsheathes his sword and plunges it into the assassin’s chest while sending out a stream of water from his wand to douse all purple fire as the assassin’s body convulses, shudders, and goes limp.

Effrey’s frightened purple eyes meet mine as realization slams into me.

Effrey’s a geomancer.

Only male Urisk are geomancers.

Which means Effrey is male.

I look to Sparrow and find her poised for battle, a runic blade grasped in her fist, her eyes riveted on the gory scene, a line of blood splashed across her white servant’s tunic.

Thierren throws down his sword and moves toward Sparrow as she lowers her blade. “Sparrow,” he says, his tone impassioned, “are you hurt?”

“I’m all right. I’m all right,” Sparrow breathlessly insists as she dazedly looks to Effrey. “Effrey,” she says to the child, her face tightening with concern as she takes in Effrey’s fear-stricken stance. “He’s dead. We’re all right.”

Thierren turns to me, his wand still gripped in his hand. “Elloren, are you hurt?”

The words refuse to form, so I shake my head disjointedly, my heart racing.

He almost killed me. He almost killed me.

My fireline rears with chaotic heat.

The dragon’s head whips up, as if it can sense my sudden flare of affinity fire, its bone-white muzzle shockingly red with blood. The creature’s ruby eyes narrow, and I’m hit with a lashing tendril of the beast’s invisible fire power that’s so strong I gasp, its bloodred Wyvernfire searing through my affinity lines.

The dragon jerks its head back, as if in extreme surprise. Then it lowers its head and goes very still, its entire focus on me, its body coiling as a sense of danger builds in the air.

“No, Raz’zor!”Effrey cries, lurching toward me.

I recoil as the beast flaps its wings and takes to the air, darting toward me at the same moment that Effrey leaps forward to catch hold of its legs.

The dragon gives an outraged shriek as it’s yanked backward to hang upside down in Effrey’s grip, like a large chicken being brought for slaughter.

The creature growls ferociously as it writhes and gnashes its teeth at Effrey and Effrey struggles to avoid the dragon’s bite. Both Effrey and Sparrow let loose a stream of pleading Uriskal aimed at the dragon.

The dragon hisses back at them what sounds like a stream of obscenities in Wyvern.

“Order him to stand down,” Thierren insists of Effrey, his wand now pointed at the dragon.

Effrey looks to the dragon with an unnatural level of focus, the beast glaring back at Effrey just as fixedly, and I realize, in that moment, that Effrey is not only a Urisk male, but one of the rare Urisk males who can mindlink to dragons.

I point a shaking finger at the dragon. “How did you get hold of a dragon?”

They all fall silent as the suspended dragon growls and snaps and glares at me from upside down.

I look to Effrey, my voice quavering. “You’re talking to the dragon with your mind. Aren’t you?”

The small dragon lets loose what seems like another stream of vicious expletives.

“Can you tell me what he’s saying?” I ask Effrey, who looks ready to burst into tears.

The dragon is now panting, fury in its glowing ruby eyes as it spits out a small, sparking line of red fire toward me. I glance at the clock with no small amount of alarm. I’m to face Vogel in less than an hour’s time.

I turn back to Effrey, urgency rising. “Please, Effrey. Tell me what the dragon is saying.”

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