Page 26 of The Shadow Wand

The reason pricks at the back of my mind.

Yvan. His kiss.

Realization dawns that by giving me his Wyvernfire, Yvan’s made me immune to it, just like he is. But the sorceresses. And their horses...

I whip my head around, focusing in on their impassioned voices as they cry out to each other in the Noi language. My body slackens with relief as I take in their dark forms through the haze of smoke, the blue glow of the shield around them rapidly diminishing.

They’ve survived.

But only because of the shield.

I spot the horse that was left outside of the shield, Ni Vin’s mare, and my gut churns. The mare is lying dead, half melted into the sand.

Shocked by the devastation I’ve wrought, my head whips back to the sorceresses as their shield dissipates. One of the Lo Voi crones, bald Hung Xho, points at me and snarls something at Commander Kam Vin in their language, both her tone and the gesture thick with accusation. She launches into what sounds like a fierce argument with Chi Nam, Kam Vin, Ni Vin, and Chim Diec, the sorceresses appearing to have split into opposing factions.

As I stand on shaky legs, Hung Xho fixes me with a look of such pure hatred that I freeze, heart racing.

Even though I can make out only a few scattered words of their language, it’s clear from the way they’re glaring and pointing at me that they’re at complete odds over the use of my monstrous level of power. And it’s then that I understand, from the fear written on all of their faces...

I’m more powerful than my grandmother ever was.

And they were wholly unprepared for it.

Shaken, I watch as they yell and rage at each other and realize I’ve become an agent of division and discord, setting allies against each other.

One of the younger sorceresses, Quoi Zhon, a spiky-haired, sturdy woman with a powerful stride, breaks away, like a murderous crow straying from the flock, and makes straight for me.

Confusion, then fear, explodes inside me.

“Elloren!” Kam Vin cries out as she and Ni Vin surge toward me as well, their rune swords quickly unsheathed as Quoi Zhon reaches for one of the silver stars strapped across her chest and I start a rapid retreat backward, my pulse hammering in my chest.

On instinct I flinch sideways as Quoi Zhon’s hand jerks forward, and I lose my footing.

I fall to the ground, and a streak of silver strafes the side of my scalp as it whizzes past, a stinging pain exploding in its wake just as Kam Vin’s sword slices in a wide arc along the back of Quoi Zhon’s legs.

Quoi Zhon falls to her knees, her neck jerking back as she cries out in pain. And then her eyes snap back to me, full of rage-fueled determination as I frantically resume my scuttling retreat backward.

Quoi Zhon reaches for another star as Kam Vin slams an elbow into the woman’s arm, the silver star flashing with reflected firelight as it drops into a patch of smoldering embers. Then Kam Vin strikes the back of Quoi Zhon’s head, and the sorceress collapses facedown on the sand.

Chi Nam slams the bottom of her rune staff onto the ground, and there’s a loudcrackas a brilliant flash of blue lights the world. The light quickly clears to reveal Chi Nam surrounded by what appear to be countless spears made of sapphire light, hovering around the white-haired sorceress and pointed at Hung Xho and the sorceresses who seem to have aligned themselves with Hung Xho and against me.

Kam Vin, Ni Vin, and Chim Diec all have silver stars aimed at Hung Xho and her allies. Hung Xho and the sorceresses bracketing her have drawn rune swords that glow menacingly bright with sapphire light. Clearly at a deadlock, the sorceresses launch into another volatile debate.

My heart pounds against my ribs and blood trickles down my neck as I watch the two armed groups face off, knowing full well that my life is at stake. My instinct for self-preservation kicks in, and I glance at the charred ground, searching for a wand but finding neither my Wand nor the wand Chim Diec gave to me.

I immediately realize how futile this search is.

If, by some miracle, I could find a wand that wasn’t incinerated, what exactly could I do with it? Level it at all of them and kill my allies along with my enemies? As well as all of the remaining horses? I would be left alone in the desert, where I would probably starve to death.

I’m the most powerful Mage to ever walk Erthia...and I cannot use a wand to protect myself.

A few more minutes of furious discussion ensue as I pick up a sharp rock and ready it as a possible weapon, my heart thundering against my chest. But then, to my great relief, Hung Xho and her allies lower their weapons then throw them to the ground.

Chi Nam taps her rune staff on the sand, and the glowing spears disappear in a flash of light. Hung Xho snipes at both Chi Nam and Kam Vin then indicates me with a slice of her hand. Suddenly, the two young sorceresses beside Hung Xho run in my direction.

Fright jolts through me and I scuttle backward, readying my sharp rock for throwing, only to lower it again when the two sorceresses simply lift the semiconscious Quoi Zhon and carry her toward one of the surviving horses. I stare as that half of our group—the half that wants me dead—loads themselves onto three of the horses, snarls hate-filled words at me, then gallops away.

Four sorceresses remain, huddled together and talking in hushed tones.

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