Dragon Fire: Draignis Clans, #1

By Aleah Raynes

Trained by the best to be the best, can her exceptional skills and extraordinary powers save her from an ancient war?

 

Talia Sarri knew nothing about her maternal grandfather until the state sent her to live with him in the wake of her father's tragic death. But unraveling the mysteries of her lineage only leads to more shock when she discovers that she's not just a mage. She's also half-black dragon, her new guardian is the head of a secret organization that is preparing for the coming dragon war.

 

Paired with her grandfather's most trusted team leader, Talia must learn how to fight and embrace powers she never knew she had. However, Talia has just as much to learn about distraction and focus with a mentor as intriguing as Raven Paules.

 

Leaning into her strengths comes at a cost, as great power also comes with chaos. With the pending war on the horizon, can she learn to control the chaos, or will she lose herself before her very first battle? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: After Glows Publishing
• Release date: Apr 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201739393

Book preview

Chapter

One

"G ear up. We have a job," my father said as he strode past my open bedroom door. I was halfway through reading a fascinating article on the applications of medieval torture in the modern-day world.

Unlike most sixteen-year-old girls, I didn’t mind leaving my door open. It was just me and my dad, but the house was more like a collaborative work environment than an actual home.

I swung my legs over my bed and hurried to the doorway. On such short notice? Is there even a dossier to read?

It’s already in the car, he shouted back. I heard him rummaging through his tactical bag. You can read it on the way there. I know you hate short-notice jobs, but this is a good opportunity to test your field skills.

I bit back a laugh. As if my field skills needed testing. Though, I suppose I could use the chance to practice magic. It was just so much easier to rely on traditional weapons.

I’ll be out in five, I shouted before closing my door. I stripped out of my pink-and-white-striped pajama bottoms in favor of an equally comfortable pair of black leggings. To anyone else, they would look like something swiped off the rack of a trendy yogalates place but they were so much more than that. The woven mesh added extra protection without bulking me down. Same with the matching long-sleeve top I pulled over my head. Sleek, black boots replaced fluffy, white slippers. My skilled fingers made quick work of my long hair. By the time I was walking out the door, my raven locks were secured in a crown braid.

Is your kit still in the car? My father emerged from his room in a similar ensemble.

The little one, I replied. Will that work?

It should, he nodded. I’m not expecting much trouble.

We climbed into our car. I reached into the back seat and retrieved my small, black bag. Inside was everything I needed on a night like this.

Pepper spray, a flashlight, a travel-sized lock-picking kit, an assortment of knives, and two small handguns. With purple accents, of course. No one could mistake them for anyone else’s, which was the point. I didn’t like people touching my things.

Where’s the dossier? I asked.

Side door.

I quickly located the manilla folder filled with fewer documents than I would have liked. I scanned the folder’s contents. This doesn’t tell me anything, I grumbled. No pictures, no names. What kind of job is this?

Simple information retrieval, my father replied. We could do this blindfolded.

How much is information worth if the source can’t be validated? I fired back. I don’t like going in blind.

I know, firefly. He took one hand off the wheel to stroke my hair. But we’ll be in and out in an hour. We can go to that sketchy Chinese food place you love so much on the way home.

The one with the fire damage or the one with the bullet holes? I asked.

Your choice.

Awesome. An unhealthy amount of dumplings and noodles should make up for the poor planning of this mission. ‘Mission’ was a strong word. This was basic recon. Dad was right. I could do this blindfolded. What’s the plan? There aren’t any schematics in the dossier.

I was going to flay whoever put this file together. Sloppy work has no place in the organization. That was the first lesson my father taught me and the one I’ve taken the most to heart.

Standard entry and sweep, he said. Though, I’d prefer it if we stayed together this time. I want to see how you’re progressing.

I’ve nearly halved the time it takes to pick a lock, I grinned. I bet I can do it faster than you now.

Don’t get cocky, he warned, though I saw the twitch at the corners of his mouth indicating that he was amused by my cockiness.

I had the right to be a little cocky. I was his protégé, after all. Though no one would ever know it, he was the deadliest man in New York City and I was right on his heels. At our backs was an organization filled with the best espionage agents the world had to offer. Using the shadows to our advantage, we silently picked apart crime syndicates and smugglings rings that plagued the city.

I couldn’t be prouder of the work we did, even if I couldn’t tell anyone. I had my dad. I didn’t need anything, or anyone, else. 

  I want you to work on your telepathy tonight, he said. It’s an invaluable skill to have in this line of work.

What if I get a headache? I asked. I still get them when I try to use my mental abilities.

Then you’re going to grit your teeth and work through it, he instructed. Sometimes, things don’t go according to plan. Sometimes, you’re hit with a challenge you didn’t account for. You need to be able to make it work. The ability to improvise in a dangerous situation will save your life more than your beloved firearms.

We entered the meatpacking district. It was early enough in the evening that the trendy bars and restaurants were still overflowing with women in shimmery dresses and men with slicked hair. Sometimes, I wondered what it would be like to be one of them. To know nothing about the despicable deeds that took place in the shadowy areas.

When I thought about my future, I could never picture myself in high heels, knocking back neon-colored shots with friends, without a care in the world. I couldn’t even imagine having a friend that wasn’t connected to the world I’d grown up in.

My father pulled into an alleyway and parked the car. Beside a greasy-looking dumpster, one of our agents stood waiting. He nodded to my father, who nodded back and brushed a hand against his ear. The agent repeated the casual gesture, indicating that his hidden radio was functioning correctly.

Another important rule I’ve learned from my father. Always have backup, as well as backup for your backup.

Should anything go wrong, we were covered.

Our target location is that warehouse, my father pointed to a pitch-black building a little way down the alley. Can you get a read on anything from here?

Within the confines of the car, it was easy to hone my focus. All potential distractions were literally shut out.

My father started my mage training long before he honed me into the weapon I am now, though I wasn’t sure if he planned it that way. When I was still ambling around as a toddler, I used to babble at voices only I could hear. Eventually, my father figured out I’d inherited the spark of magic that flowed through him.

The voices that used to rage in my mind turned out to be the thoughts of others. Instead of being bombarded, I learned how to shut them out and listen only when I wanted to. Most of the time, anyway.

I can’t hear a damn thing, I muttered. We need to get closer.

We exited the car and crept down the alley as if we were shadows ourselves. Like most warehouses, it had a back entrance that spilled into the alley. No handle. No lock to pick. At least, not on the outside.

You got this? My father challenged.

Of course. My confidence faltered but I didn’t let it show. My other…unnatural talent often gave me trouble, especially under pressure. I pressed my palm flat against the door and shut the world out.

When my magical studies first began, my father told me to think of using magic as if I were dipping a cup in a river. When I needed to use my powers, I needed to first fill my cup. The stronger I became, the bigger my cup would get.

I tapped into the well of magic contained within the earth and filled my cup. That was the easy part. The hard part was getting the damn metal door to do what I wanted. I focused my magic on the locking mechanism on the other side of the door. Thankfully, it wasn’t complicated.

Slowly, I used my mind and my magic to manipulate the gears until the door swung open. I stopped it from clattering against the wall and alerting anyone who might be inside.

My father nodded his approval before taking the first steps inside. No matter how capable I proved myself to be, he always went first. With two fingers, he tapped his temple, signaling me to listen for thoughts of anyone lurking nearby.

Once again, I honed my focus and released my power. I imagined it like a shockwave rippling through the building. Within my mind, I heard whispers coming deep from inside the warehouse. Two men. I was still too far away to clearly pick up their thoughts. I could, however, sense that this warehouse was more like a labyrinth than a storage facility. Whoever was holed up here likely made some renovations in case of unexpected company.

I held up two fingers. My father shook his head and tapped his temple again. He wanted me to relay the information directly into his mind. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. We could be done with this and on our way to mountains of greasy Chinese if he would just let me do this the normal way. But of course, he had to make a lesson of it.

Slick anxiety spiked hard in my gut. I never got nervous on a job. That had been trained out of me early on. Something wasn’t right, I knew it.

A metallic thunk sliced through my thoughts half a second before smoke poured into the room. My dad and I got low, covering our mouths in case it was toxic. I risked a small, controlled inhale. It was nothing more than water vapor. A distraction.

I tried to focus my powers to detect the two men I sensed a moment ago but a sharp kick to my ribs knocked the breath from me.

Talia! my father shouted. I couldn’t see him through the fog, but I heard sounds of fighting.

Looked like our targets found us.

From the ground, I swiped my leg out. I should have made contact with the weakest part of my attacker's legs, except he evaded at the last moment. Adrenaline kicked in at full force. I honed my power to a knife’s point, unleashing it on my opponent. His thoughts erupted in my mind with more clarity than I’ve ever heard before.

As if the thoughts were my own, I saw him planning his next blow. He was going to slam into me from above. I readied myself to dodge when I saw it. My own plan reflected back at me from within his mind.

He had psychic abilities, too! My mind might as well be a glass house. At least, his was, too. If I couldn’t take him down the normal way, I would just have to outlast him in combat. I could do that.

I fingered one of the knives strapped to my body. As confident as I was that I could outlast an older, larger opponent, I wouldn’t miss a chance to quicken the process. He dodged every swipe of my blade. I tried to push deeper into his mind, hoping for something to exploit, but he was completely focused on me.

On killing me, specifically.

But if I could just push through those mental walls. There must be something inside his mind I could use against him. Distract him.

Suddenly, within the walls of his mind, fire burst forward. It wasn’t normal fire. It was…alive somehow. I couldn’t explain it. Within the flames lurked something. A creature. Eyes glowed like embers. Teeth gnashed and snapped. It was so real. So vivid.

Fear knocked my focus out of place. I fell backward to escape a beast that wasn’t real to begin with. Too late, I realized that I’d slipped up.

My opponent towered over me, a grin as wicked as the beast in his mind splayed across his face. He was not going to make it quick. I watched my death play in his mind.

Two hands appeared on the side of his head. With one quick jerk, his neck snapped to an unnatural angle and he crumpled at my feet. I scrambled to a stand with the help of my father.

Are you all right? he asked. I could only nod. I wanted to tell him about the strange things I saw in the dead man’s mind, but I couldn’t find the words.

No! Came the anguished cry of the second man. He stared at us with vicious hatred. In his mind, I saw the attack he prepared to launch. I leaped forward, ready to beat him to the literal punch. From what I could sense, he didn’t possess the same psychic abilities as his now-deceased partner.

Talia, wait! My father called.

Too late, I noticed the second man’s gun pointed right at me. He pulled the trigger before I could disarm him with my mind.

Like a bolt of lightning, my father leaped forward, knocking me out of the way. Time slowed to an agonizing crawl as I watched him collapse on the ground. Dark, thick blood pooled around him far too quickly.

I pulled my firearm from its holster and fired a shot at the second man, striking him in the knee. My father only allowed me to train with firearms if I promised to only injure, never kill. Killing should only be done when absolutely necessary and, according to him, it was his responsibility to shoulder. A shot to the knee would prevent the second attacker from going anywhere while I tended to my father.

Dad! I knelt over my father. I knew from one look that he had lost too much blood. I reached for his radio to call for help, only to find that the bullet had shredded the wiring. I wasn’t a radio, but I did have my powers. Our contact was far away, father than I’d ever been able to cast my abilities, but I had to try.

Talia, my father’s weak voice shattered what little concentration I’d been able to muster. I looked down at him just in time to watch the light fade from his eyes. He was the only person I loved in the entire world. As the life drained from his body, love drained from my soul.  

I could have sat there for hours, staring at the shell that was once my father, if it weren’t for the murderous bastard groaning on the floor behind me.

Something deep inside of me snapped. Between one breath and the next, I felt myself shift into a stranger. A stranger filled with anger, rage, and the purest hatred ever to exist.

You killed him! I snarled. It took only three strides to close the distance between us. I towered over him, firearm still shaking in my hand. It would be so easy to pull the trigger and remove him from this world, just as he had removed my father.

No. That would be too quick. Too easy.

Instead, I fired off another shot into his other knee. Now, he had no chance of escaping without help. If I were to lure out any more of his conspirators that would be all the better. I’d take them all down. I’d make them regret the day they came into this world before I took them out of it.

What are you going to do, little beast? the man snarled through gritted teeth.

I smiled down at him. A cold, emotionless smile. I’m going to take my time.

I took one of my knives and jammed it through his wrist, pinning him to the floor. I did the same with the other.

I circled him like a ravenous vulture looking for a bone to pick clean. Where should I cut first? I traced my blade over my finger, careful not to slice my own skin. Not that it matters. Now that my father was gone, what was the point?

Right now, my only purpose was to cause the man who did it as much pain as possible.

My blade sank into his flesh. Not enough to kill, but enough to cause excruciating pain. He screamed, or at least I assume he