Page 179 of The Shadow Wand

I stumble backward as the terrible sense strafes through me that this is no mere vision. It’s the forests of the Western Realm being burned down by Vogel. And Vogel searching for me to bring forth an even more rapid destruction.

When he turns me into one of his Shadow things.

“I’m not aligned with him!” I cry at the trees with desperate vehemence. “Let my magic go! I’m not what you think I am!”

“Elloren.” Lukas’s hand clasps hold of my shoulder.

“Let mego!” I cry out again at the trees as I yank my shoulder from Lukas’s grip and face down the forest.

Are you happy?I lash out at the trees with my mind.I’m set completelyagainstthe Magedom, and you’ve bound my power!

Well played, idiot trees!

Lukas’s hand comes to my arm again, but I’m engulfed in such a haze of anger that it’s hard to focus on him.

“Elloren.” His tone is calm but firm as he guides me around to face him.

I roughly swipe away angry tears. “It’s no use.” I throw my hand out toward the massive Baobab tree, outrage whipping through me. “I can’t break free. I can’t accessanyof my magic.”

“Not for the moment, no,” Lukas agrees. “Or you’ll kill yourself. I’m sorry, Elloren. But wands are off-limits for now.”

CHAPTER FOUR

MILITARY APPRENTICE

ELLOREN GREY

Sixth Month

Northwestern Agolith Desert

“So, that’s that, then,” Valasca says as she crosses her arms in front of herself and glances at Chi Nam. “Can we break Elloren free of the trees’ hold?”

Incensed, I stare over the red sands toward the trees and mentally hurl curses at them.

Chi Nam takes firm hold of my wand hand, the fingers of her other hand sliding over the runes of her staff. I flinch as blue energy flashes in my vision and through my lines in a tingling rush.

Every Noi rune on Chi Nam’s staff bursts into sparking sapphire light.

Chi Nam releases my hand, the Noi runes on her staff instantly dimming, her expression tightening with what seems like an ominous realization as she looks to Lukas and Valasca. “We don’t possess enough power to break the hold of the entire forest,” she says. “We’ll need to wait until we go East. We’ll need to enlist the aid of multiple sorcerers and Mages to break Elloren’s magic free and shield her lines from the forest’s manipulation.”

“They’ll need to be talented in counter-runic resonance,” Lukas notes.

“What’s that?” I ask.

He looks at me. “The ability to build runes to counter every part of a complex magical system. Sorcerers competent in this can break down elemental spells into their components and fabricate runes to dismantle each part of a spell. Tree magic is complex.”

“We could simply kill all these trees,” Valasca offers, glowering at them.

“That’s not a bad idea,” I snap, though I’m swept into an oddly strong, almost instinctual conflict over the thought.

“The damage is done,” Lukas counters, his jaw tight with frustration. “It would be a waste of effort and magic. And it might diminish the magical power I can access.”

“It also won’t untangle Elloren’s lines,” Chi Nam calmly adds.

Lukas sighs. “The trees are the source of our power, since we’re part Dryad. Gardnerians work very hard to deny this fact, but there’s no way around it.”

“Vogel’s cutting down large swaths of the Western Realm forests,” Valasca notes, her tone hardening. “You are aware of that, aren’t you?”

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