The Firedragon
US copyright ©2014 by Mary
Fan
All rights reserved. No part
of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any informational storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher, except for inclusion of
brief quotations in a review.
Published in the United
States by Glass House Press, LLC, 2014. GLASS HOUSE PRESS and
colophon are trademarks of Glass House Press, LLC.
_____________________________
ISBN
978-0-9749096-4-6
Library Of Congress
Cataloguing-in-Publication is on file with the
publisher.
________________________________________
Cover by White Rabbit
Designs and Creations
Formatting by
Inkstain Interior Book Designing
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3
1
First Edition
Aurelia stepped into the
light
. Though she’d fought hundreds of
vicious supernatural beasts during her two years at the Academy of
Supernatural Defense, she’d never faced stakes this high
before.
The judges of the International Challenge,
the first worldwide monster-fighting competition ever, stared down
at her from one of the arena’s boxes. If she impressed them, they
would let her enter the contest. And if she made it past their
screening, and then through the qualifying round, and ultimately
took the prize … her life would never be the same. She’d have the
chance to do something much, much bigger than just taking home a
trophy.
She could change the world.
Suddenly, a man’s voice boomed out from
above. “Aurelia Sun. Age: Fourteen. Classification: Norm. Nation:
Triumvirate of North America.”
Aurelia inhaled sharply and walked forward,
trying to keep herself from jittering with excitement. Her shoes,
light and flexible, barely made a sound against the arena’s stone
floor, but even if she’d been tromping around in heavy boots, she
didn’t think she would have been able to hear her own footsteps.
The eager pounding of her heart was far too loud. This was her shot
at everything she’d ever wanted. All her life, she’d been told that
those with magic – Enchanters – were superior to those without –
Norms, like her. Now, finally, she had the chance to prove everyone
wrong.
Enchanters ruled the Triumvirate, or what
was left of the United States and its surrounding nations. They had
always done whatever they could to keep their own kind separate
from everyone else, and Norms got the short end of the stick.
Aurelia had lost count of how many times she’d been reminded that
this division was fair, because the Enchanters – specifically, an
elite class known as Sentinels – kept the people safe from the
monsters prowling the areas outside of the protected cities.
She knew the history as well as anyone.
Almost a hundred years earlier, the Lord of the Underworld and his
hordes of supernatural beasts had escaped their fiery dimension and
overrun the entire earth. The Sentinels had managed to destroy the
Lord, but the monsters had remained. Now, Enchanters around the
world were engaged in a never-ending war against the creatures. If
they lost that war, the monsters would invade the cities, and
consume every last human being.
But Enchanters were a small minority of the
human population, and there weren’t enough of them to fight the
monsters. Their solution: A special Defender class of Norms –
non-magical humans trained to fight the supernatural. One day,
Aurelia would join their ranks. She’d been preparing for it her
whole life, dreaming of the day when she could finally fulfill that
destiny.
Thanks to the International Challenge, that
day could be closer than she’d thought. If she won, she’d
automatically graduate from the Academy and be granted full-fledged
Defender status. But more importantly, the Challenge featured both
magical and non-magical contestants. Which meant that if she won,
she would show the world that a Norm could beat an Enchanter, and
that someone who’d been born without magic could be better than
someone born with it.
She walked toward the center of the arena,
the red and gold highlights that streaked her black hair glinting
at the edge of her vision. Someone had laid out a table there, and
covered it with weapons. Knives, pistols, bows. A pair of light
swords with silver blades.
Aurelia smiled at the two
gleaming weapons.
My favorites.
She reached toward them, then drew back. She
wasn’t supposed to touch any weapons until after her interview
began. Once the first question was asked, though, anything was fair
game. She couldn’t wait to prove herself worthy of competing
against the world’s best professional monster fighters, even if she
was still a student.
Her eyes shot up toward the box in front of
her. Although she couldn’t see the faces of the judges, she could
sense their skepticism. And she understood why; a five-foot-five
teenager – and a girl! – wasn’t anyone’s idea of a monster fighter.
It probably didn’t help that she looked every bit as young as she
was, with her round black eyes and full cheeks.
But many a monster had
learned – the hard way – how deadly she could be. Staring up at
your own headless body, in the moment before your life ended, would
do that to you. Though none of them ever saw it coming. They didn’t
believe such a small girl could do anything
like
take down a monster. Just like
the judges didn’t believe it.