Free Firedragon Rising by Mary Fan Page B

surprised that he’d
recognized her like Storm had. Does everyone know who I
am?
    “ Okay, okay.” A wand as
orange as his hair tumbled out of his hands, which he then raised
in surrender. From the color, she knew he didn’t use dark magic,
and that curiosity was one of his main traits.
    She crossed the last few yards between them,
keeping the arrow aimed. “Who are you?”
    “ My name is Tamerlane.”
Nervousness quivered at the edges of his voice. “I’m with the
Rising. We got a message from Professor Williams saying you’d be
here, and I was sent to get you and goldlight you back to
HQ.”
    “ You’re a rebel?” She cocked her head doubtfully. She’d
always imagined the rebels would be a tough, battle-hardened bunch,
and Tamerlane looked anything but. Still, he’d mentioned Williams,
and her gut told her that he was legit. Excitement sparked in her
chest as she realized her waiting was over. She dropped her arms,
swinging the bow and arrow by her side. “Why didn’t you say so,
dummy? And why did you arrive outside the Way Station’s perimeter?
The barrier doesn’t keep you from goldlighting, does
it?”
    “ No, it doesn’t.” He
dropped his mouth into a sheepish expression. “I was aiming for the
house, but it’s not easy to goldlight to a place you’ve never
actually been.”
    A zing was on the tip of
her tongue, but then she suddenly recalled where she was. This
was not the time
to be joking around, when the Triumvirate or Storm—or more
supernaturals, since they were outside the Way Station’s
perimeter—could show up any second.
    Tamerlane seemed to have the same thought,
because his expression tensed, and he reached toward her. “We
should hurry.”
    “ Wait! I’ve gotta get
something.” Aurelia raced back toward the house. Though he was
right, she wasn’t about to leave without her double swords. Not
only because they were amazing weapons, but because Connor had
given them to her. And it would take her less than a minute to
fetch them.
    She reached the kitchen, where she’d left
them propped up against the wall, and strapped the blades to her
back. A flash of light caught her eye, and she turned to see
Tamerlane standing in the doorway.
    “ Were you aiming for the
other end of the house?” she asked mockingly.
    An annoyed look crossed his face. “I don’t
usually make mistakes like that.”
    “ Well don’t goldlight us
into a wall or anything, okay?” She didn’t like the idea of being
goldlighted somewhere by a stranger who’d just proven that he
sucked at a lot of things, but she didn’t exactly have a choice
when he was the only way she could reach the rebel headquarters.
And they didn’t have much time. The Sentinels could turn up at any
moment.
    He didn’t respond, but clamped a hand onto
her shoulder, and a wave of heat and a flash of light engulfed her.
Though she’d been goldlighted a few times before by Sentinels
sending her into battle against a monster, she hadn’t experienced
it often enough to be used to the sensation. Her body prickled
uncomfortably, as if a million tiny bugs were partying in her limbs
and frolicking in her gut, and her eyes quickly started to hurt
from the glare that erased everything else from sight.
    When the light faded a second later, she was
standing in the middle of a wide room with tall windows covering
one wall. Looking up, she realized she was on the ground level of a
huge building with several floors, each of which was visible
because of the hallways overlooking the atrium. Excited tingles
raced through her as she took it all in. She’d reached the Rising,
leaving her enemies in the dust. Neither the Triumvirate, nor
Storm, nor the supernaturals had been able to stop her. The fight
was far from over, but still, she’d won the first battle. And she
planned to win many more.
    To her left, an old man
was in the middle of descending a staircase that zigzagged along
the wall, and she turned toward him. Though he looked ancient,