Page 28 of The Shadow Wand

I shake my head, and she presses her blue magic harder against the resurgence of my fear.

“Yes, your power is extreme,” she insists with steeled certainty, “but youwilllearn to control it. You must tether yourself to that one thought, hmm?” She gently lifts her hands to my bleeding head. There’s another burst of blue light, and almost immediately I can feel the throbbing pain along my scalp recede, the lacerated skin knitting itself back together.

Chi Nam releases her hold on me, picks up the Wand of Myth from the ground, and hands it to me. I hesitate, then take it from her as she regards me keenly, my affinity lines instantly straining toward it as the candle-lighting spell dances on my lips, yearning for release. “You must remember,” Chi Nam says as she reaches back up to place a hand on my shoulder. “The Wand of Myth, the Zhilin, choseyou, Elloren Gardner.”

Thoughts of how much is at stake blare through my mind, making me light-headed. Both my magic and Vogel’s mounting power are something born of nightmares.

I remember how Vogel murdered the Lupines, mercilessly cutting down innocent families, children. How he murdered Diana’s whole family. Agony sweeps through me over how the Gardnerians and their allies, the Alfsigr Elves, are bent on taking over the Realms and forcing their hellish worldviews on everyone.

“What do I do now?” I ask Chi Nam hoarsely as I struggle to beat back the storming anguish.

Chi Nam sits back on her haunches and clucks as she considers me, her white hair covered in ash. “Well, we must crawl before we can run, eh? Seems we must simply keep you alive for now.” Chi Nam stands creakily and exchanges a look with Kam Vin as the sorceress hands her staff back to her.

“Our allies grow thin, Elloren Gardner,” Kam Vin says to me, her expression troubled and hard. She glances at Chim Diec. The graceful sorceress is watching me with grim indecision. Ni Vin stands beside her, stony-faced, her focus once again inward.

“Where did the other sorceresses go?” I ask Kam Vin, reaching up to touch the dried blood over my healed scalp wound.

“To the Noi Conclave in Voloi,” Kam Vin answers as she glances in the direction that the other sorceresses rode off. “They want the Conclave to send Kin Hoang assassins after you. They want you executed immediately.”

The blood rushes from my face. It’s what I surmised, but to hear it pronounced so starkly makes it terrifyingly real. I peer up at Kam Vin. “What should I do?”

Kam Vin hesitates then launches into a conversation in the Noi language with Chi Nam. The only words I can make out are those of a name—Lukas Grey. Surprise stings through me as a smile lights the elderly sorceress’s face, and she exchanges a conspiratorial look with Kam Vin.

“Ah, yes, Lukas Grey.” Chi Nam bumps my shoulder with the back of her hand and chuckles to herself. “Like a cat, that one. I used to spar with him, back when he was a lower rank. He made a game of it and tested me in turn. Seemed to enjoy it.” She grows reflective. “There is an elegance to his power. And it is formidable.” She eyes Kam Vin with cool calculation. “Yes, he’ll do nicely. The Kin Hoang will be well matched by Lukas Grey.” She turns to face me, newly serious.

I hold up a hand, disbelieving. “Wait.You can’t be seriously considering sending me back toLukas?”

“We’re past considering,” Kam Vin stonily affirms. “When you reach him, place yourself under his protection.Immediately.”

I stare at Kam Vin, Chi Nam, and silent Chim Diec, rendered speechless. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. They brought me here to train with them, so that I could learn to control this power and save all the people I love. So I could learn to fightagainstthe Gardnerians and their allies.

Now they want to send me back into Gardneria to the man who claimed he was a friend to me and then made use of my beloved uncle’s death to fast to me against my will? And I’m supposed to go and beg him for protection?

“No,”I protest emphatically, sickened by the very idea of it. “Ihatehim.”

“It’s the best way,” Kam Vin insists. “If we’re going to keep you alive.”

“Lukas seems to be flirting with a break from the Gardnerian military,” Chi Nam tells me, a slight lift to her lip. “He and I have been in touch from time to time.”

My head is spinning.Lukas Grey? In touch with Chi Nam?But then I remember his obvious hatred and disdain for Marcus Vogel. My own hatred for Vogel rises, hot in my gut, as I remember imploring Lukas, raging at him, to break with the Gardnerian military and his refusal.

I look to Chi Nam with fierce skepticism. “How can I learn how to control my power if you send me back to Gardneria? If the Gardnerians find out what I am, I can’t even protect myself there. I’d kill everyone around me if I tried. I might even level Valgard.”Killing countless civilians, Gardnerian and non-Gardnerian alike.

“Which is why you’ll keep your power hidden,” Kam Vin states.

“If they find out what I am,” I counter, facing down their level gazes, “Vogel will find a way to break me. And wield me.”

We’re all silent for a heartbeat.

“It’s a gamble, Elloren Gardner,” Chi Nam allows, a hard glint in her eyes. “But I’m convinced that your power is a tipping point. If you’re killed, I fear that we’re no match for what’s coming.”

Another terrible silence.

Perhaps responding to the anguish in my eyes, Chi Nam holds out her hand and gives me a fierce, bolstering look as she helps me to my feet. She fishes an onyx rune stone, etched with a midnight blue runic design, from her tunic’s pocket. The rune glows sapphire. She places it in the palm of my hand, and it feels cool to the touch.

“Keep this hidden and with you at all times,” Chi Nam says, closing her hand around mine. “It will summon me if you need me. You understand?” I nod once, and she reaches up to squeeze my arm. “That’sit, child. Be strong. There’s no other way.” She gives me a penetrating look. “If we’re going to defeat Vogel, wearegoing to need your power. Wewillcome back for you.”

“There is no more time for talking,” Kam Vin cuts in, glancing worriedly toward where Hung Xho and her allies have gone. She sets her harsh gaze back on me. “You have to leave, Elloren Gardner.Now.” She turns to her sister, Ni Vin. “Take her to the Phi Na Portal. Ride fast. To hesitate will seal her fate.”

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