Red Madrassa: Algardis #1 Read Online Free PDF

know. You never know.
    If Ceralic, expect one-way.
    If Gaeric, there and back that day.
    She sighed. “Fine, let’s just find the nearest town with a portalway. We’ll regroup from there and make some decisions.”
    “ This is your master plan?” Maride cried. “Break me out of prison with a 1,000 shilling reward on my head, and casually stroll into the nearest village?”
    “If we’re as far away from the city as Sidimo thinks we are, your warrant is the least of our problems,” responded Allorna.
    As they started along the path, Sidimo grimaced, and hoped she was right.
    They had no way of knowing if the alarm had been sounded just for Maride or for Allorna and Sidimo as well. If not, then no one would know they’d gone up the tower; and even if they’d been seen, it would take days to sort through the rubble for bodies. It would take another few days before gardis protocol expanded the search beyond Sandrin.
    As they walked toward a bend in the mountain pathway and rounded the edge, little pebbles started pelting the ground before them‌—‌and suddenly it sounded like something much bigger was tumbling towards them.
    Fortunately for them, the onslaught of earth eased with no more than a few hand-sized rocks, enough dust to fill a tavern, and a filthy body that landed at their feet.
    Allorna rushed forward, Sidimo by her side. “Is it alive?” Maride asked from a safe distance. “Or better yet, make sure it’s dead!”
    Allorna slung a dirty look at him while Sidimo checked for a pulse and injuries. Maride quickly interjected, “You know, because of the roaming dead and the like! Can’t be too careful these days!” while backpedaling to the turn of the bend.
    “She’s alive, but badly injured,” Sidimo said as he picked her up. “We need to get her to a healer.”
    Allorna, who had been crouched next to Sidimo, stood and was now staring off into the valley below. “And I know just the place,” she murmured, gazing at the white cinder path a few meters below that led to the Madrassa.

Chapter 4

    Allorna:
    Memories from a previous visit to the Madrassa headquarters with her father surfaced. They had been there to ensure the security of the various schools prior to Prince Sebastian’s enrollment. Of course, instead of trudging across the countryside, they had flown in on a gryffn guard directly to the school grounds. It had been a good way for her father to review the aerial defenses of the seacoast while flying en route from Sandrin.
    The Prince would be joining classmates from all the kingdoms and races at the academy, which was famed for its schools of Healing, Politics, Research, Air, Fire, Earth, Water, and the Unknown.
    As they trooped down the mountainside, it occurred to Sidimo to question the path’s origin. With a tilt of his head as he searched the edge of the white thoroughfare for markers, he asked, “Allorna, you’ve been here before, haven’t you?”
    Her stance was sure and her gait was a fast clip. Even with the girl in his arms weighing him down, he could see that Allorna was almost eager to enter the citadel at the very base of the valley. “Yes,” she replied. “I was here with royal security in preparations for the arrival of the Prince. That town and the citadel to the east of it is the home of the Madrassa.”
    Maride’s mouth widened to an “O” as he stumbled along behind them. “Seriously?” he whispered sotto voce . Naturally, he knew of the famed Citadel and the academy it housed, collectively known as the Madrassa‌—‌officially, at least. Most people knew it better as the Red Madrassa, given the magical accident a century ago that had tinted the leaves of the Citadel’s trees a brilliant red. Even the tree trunks were colored a deep, light-drinking maroon. Once, Maride had told Allorna that he had dreamed of studying there since he was eight, when he had stumbled upon a book in the family library that boasted of the academy’s efforts to be