Guardians of Magessa (The Birthright Chronicles Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

mess up on that
mission, but he pulled off his first one
without a single flaw.”
    “Yes, I remember that,” the commander
grumbled. “As I recall, that was the mission after which I accepted him into
our squad. Now I almost wish that I hadn’t.”
    “Now, Commander, you don’t really mean
that,” the orc spoke up. “You know that he just…”
    “Enemy magic in the area!” the human
hissed. Then, after a moment, “There's a magical shield surrounding the dragon
following Ebenezer. Who knows how much magic Jothnial's used in the last hour.
We can't count on him to be able to take the dragon down."
    “Then help him!” ordered the commander.
“Jared and Scrogg, you attack the shield directly. Wellter and I will try to
attack the magician that's sustaining it. With any luck, we’ll be able to take
it down.”
    “And it had better be fast,” the human
shouted. “Jothnial just passed out.”
    The four magicians became silent as they
each concentrated on their tasks. Jared and Scrogg attacked the shield, but
with no success. The magician behind it was very powerful. The commander and
Wellter both sent out tendrils to determine the size and strength of the shield
and found that it was small, surrounding only
the dragon it was protecting. The commander knew that as a rule smaller shields
were easier to sustain and consequently harder to attack. With the size of this
particular one and the strength of the magician sustaining it, there was little
chance of successfully attacking it directly.
    “We have to get closer to that thing,” the
commander hissed to Wellter while tucking his pendant under his breastplate.
“We’re too far away to do any permanent damage. We need to set up a shield to
protect Jothnial until we reach him.”
    The two magicians leaped onto their
dragons and headed in the direction of Jothnial and Ebenezer. Together, they
quickly produced a makeshift shield just in time to catch a blast of fire from
the pursuing dragon. The fireball bounced
harmlessly off of their shield and flew back at the dragon that had spewed it . It slapped
against the enemy shield and was deflected downward to the ground below.
    “Did you see that,
Commander ?” Wellter called. “That shield protects against both magic and
physical threats.”
    “And the magician's sitting beneath it on
that dragon's back,” the commander called. “You sustain our shield, and I will
take care of this man.”
    Without waiting for an answer, the
commander directed his dragon to maneuver to a position directly above the
enemy dragon. He crouched on his saddle and looked down into the eyes of the
magician. Without another thought, he leaped from his saddle and, as he plunged
toward his adversary, drew a silver knife from his belt and held it blade first
below his body. As the silver passed through the shield, the magic barrier
disappeared with a small explosion and a mass of fireworks. The commander hit
the dragon hard, knocking the breath out of his lungs and jarring the knife
from his grip. He recovered quickly, but even as he looked up, his opponent
slashed at him with a knife. The commander jerked away from the wild move, but
the blade slashed across his cheek, leaving a streak of blood. He clawed his
way into a more maneuverable position and crouched to face the next attack. The
magician again slashed with the knife, but the commander shot out a hand and
grabbed the hilt of the weapon. With a sharp wrench, he twisted the magician’s
hand around and slammed the weapon into his stomach. He let go of the magician
and watched him slip off the dragon then turned to face the head of the dragon. He composed a small spell, cast it at the
dragon’s head, and leaped from the back of the beast. As he reached the apex of
his jump, he felt the claw of his dragon settle around his body, and he knew
that he was safe. Below him, the enemy dragon plummeted toward the ground and
landed with a large splash in the marsh below. The commander looked