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    The Firedragon: Flynn Nightsider, #0.1
    The Firedragon: Flynn Nightsider, #0.1
    The Firedragon: Flynn Nightsider, #0.1
    Ebook108 pages1 hour

    The Firedragon: Flynn Nightsider, #0.1

    By Mary Fan

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    About this ebook

    Almost a hundred years ago, the Enchanters defeated the Lord of the Underworld in one of the most fearsome wars the world had ever seen. The public thinks that this victory means the people are safe. But they’re wrong. The supernatural beasts the Lord unleashed remain on the earth, multiplying and ravaging what’s left of civilization. As long as these monsters exist, mankind will be in danger. And though the government, ruled by the magic-wielding Enchanters, seeks to protect their people, they are too few in number. They need the Defenders – a special class of non-magical humans – to fight the monsters. The Defenders are an elite force, and mankind’s only hope against the horrors that live beyond their gates. 

    Fourteen-year-old Aurelia “the Firedragon” Sun has been training since she could walk to become a Defender, and her extraordinary combat skills have earned the attention of the powerful government. In fact, she’s been tapped to represent her nation in an international monster-fighting competition, which pits champions from across the globe against creatures of the Underworld in a violent spectacle. If she wins, she will become a full-fledged member of the Defender force.

    But as Aurelia moves deeper into the competition, she realizes that all is not as it appears. There’s something sinister behind the competition, something that could change the way she sees everything … and the Enchanters, it seems, are not the heroes she thought. Aurelia begins to ask questions. But before she can discover the truth, she is pitted against the most dangerous monster in the competition – one that will take her life if it can .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCrazy 8 Press
    Release dateJan 5, 2018
    ISBN9781386235224
    The Firedragon: Flynn Nightsider, #0.1

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      Book preview

      The Firedragon - Mary Fan

      swordmaryfan

      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.

      ________________________________________

      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

      1

      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.

      They didn’t know who she actually was. What she lacked in strength, she more than made up for in skill and agility. She’d been snapping sidekicks since she could walk and learning to twirl double swords when most kids were being taught their ABCs – always training, training, training, transforming herself into the lethal creature she was today. She’d been born for this. And she was good.

      It was why her fellow Cadets had nicknamed her the Firedragon. And it was why the Triumvirate, the most powerful government in the world, had strong-armed the International Challenge Council into lowering the minimum age of contestants to fourteen.

      But even they didn’t know just how skilled she was. Better than any Enchanter – I’ll show ‘em, she thought with a smirk.

      The Challenge itself had taken over a decade to set up, and there might not be anything like it ever again. This was her one chance to shine, and to prove to the world that you didn’t need magic to be the best. It wasn’t going to be easy. The rules had changed so many times, she still wasn’t sure exactly what would happen after the qualifying round. She did know one thing, though: She was going to kick some monster butt.

      Aurelia Sun. The judge’s deep voice reverberated against the arena’s walls, and Aurelia straightened. C’mon, ask me anything. Let’s get this party started, already!

      To her disappointment, though, the judge just started outlining the rules of the Challenge. She clenched her fists, resisting the urge to yell, Oh my God, I know all this! Besides, it wouldn’t have made them stop, and it would definitely make her look bad.

      The idea behind the competition was simple: The judges would test the nominated contestants and, out of all of them, select five from each participating nation – Norm and Enchanter alike. Then came the qualifying round, where each contestant faced off with a monster – by themselves – in the arena.

      The judge, continuing his explanation, said, The only rule for the qualifying round is this: No one can interfere until either the monster or the contestant is dead.

      A chill ran down Aurelia’s spine at those words, but then she scoffed at herself. What did she have to be afraid of? She’d taken down dozens of beasts without any help from anyone. One more would be nothing, even if it was in front of an audience. That would just mean everyone else got to see her beat it.

      Her gaze fell on the silver blades again, and her hands itched to grab them. Enough talk! Let me show you what I can do!

      But the judge droned on and on about

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