Red Madrassa (Algardis #1) by Terah Edun
ISBN: 9781479301072 (paperback)
ASIN: B00A4152SA (Kindle Edition)
Publication Date: November 8, 2012
A magical accident threw them together. But when Fate holds all the cards, it can be impossible to tell the difference between pure chance and Destiny…
The Madrassa, a magical school for mage practitioners, is the stuff of legend. With selective entrance exams and quotas for only the most advanced of mage children, it’s almost impossible to attend.
When Allorna, a guardian trainee for the royal family, ends up on the doorstep of the citadel on the eve of the final day of a recruitment ceremony, she decides it must be fate.
She was sure she knew the path her life would take before she enrolled. But sometimes life has a way of throwing in magical curveballs and strange friends, just to see if you’ll trip up.
Oh, and one of those friends is a mage accused of murder, another is a slightly psychotic dragon, the third a healer facing an existential crisis, and the last is a female storm-caller with more hidden secrets than a thief lord.
Do they all belong at the new school they call home?
Book Excerpt:
At the bottom of a pile of books, they discovered Vedaris. Flames licked at the frayed carpeting on the floor near his still form.
Allorna focused on the flame, urging it to behave and remove itself from the carpet. It jumped from the floor to the palm of her hand, where she carefully doused it. By then, a Library Apprentice and Research Initiate had rounded the corner. The Initiate looked from Vedaris to Allorna, and then to Maride off to the side. “How d-d-dare you!” he sputtered, “This is a place of l-learning, not a child’s playground!”
“Sorry,” Vedaris muttered, sitting up. “It…I don’t know what happened.”
“You don’t know what happened?” said the Initiate scornfully. “Are you not a dragon? Do you think that you can just set fire to anything you please?”
“That isn’t what happened!” protested Vedaris. “I wasn’t lighting!” “Hmph. You are hereby forbidden from re-entering these hallowed halls,” the Initiate sniffed.
“But it was an accident!” shouted Vedaris.
The Initiate looked ready to breathe fire himself, and with that Allorna and Maride decided it would be best to leave. They each grabbed an arm and dragged Vedaris out of the hallowed halls. As they left the building, Maride leaned close and asked, “What was that about?”
Vedaris, rumpled and disquieted, growled, “None of your business.”
“You made it our business whether you like it or not, Master Saracen,” replied Allorna, using the polite title for his kind as she blocked his path. She felt like using something less diplomatic, but restrained herself. “I felt magic from whatever that was. And we might not be friends, but uncontrolled magic isn’t good for anyone, Vedoris.”
“Vedaris,” he corrected. He looked at them for a long moment, then admitted, “I was reading a book. I was looking for a primer on basic magic. When I sat down, I saw that some snot had left another book open on the table. It was on something called Innate magic. The book said that if I want to use magic, I had to use my feelings as fuel, trusting my instincts.” He sighed deeply. “The next thing I knew, the table blew up in my face and I was under a pile of books.”
Maride whistled. “Wow, that’s tough. Innate magic isn’t something to play around with. It’s not necessarily what you think it’s going to be.”
Vedaris turned to him with a frown. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just something my uncle mentioned when I was a kid. He once met a waterwalker with Innate magic. You know what his power was? Calling lightning. Try handling that when you live in water. He accidentally killed his entire family one night during a big storm.”
Vedaris shuddered involuntarily, and hoped the others didn’t notice.
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