First Spell Read online

  Awaken to Peace Press

  Copyright 2018 Lucía Ashta

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction.

  Cover design by Mirela Barbu.

  I strive to produce error-free books. If you discover a mistake, please contact me at [email protected] so I may correct it. Thank you!

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  Back cover copy

  An ordinary girl, a dream to become extraordinary, and the powers that will lead her to change the world.

  Sixteen-year-old Isadora is recruited to join a secret school. She knows nothing of where she’s going, but anything is better than being stuck at the house of her belittling uncle.

  When a sect of sorcerers out to ruin magic finds her, she doesn’t possess the skills to ward them off. She needs to reach the academy. A whole new world awaits her if only she can make it in time.

  Will Isadora beat the sorcerers to the academy and begin her education in the magical arts? Or will they succeed in keeping her from her destiny?

  For my readers, who journey to my magical worlds with me

  Magic is one of many paths to an extraordinary life.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Winged Pursuit - Book 2

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  Acknowledgments

  Read more by Lucía Ashta

  About the author

  Chapter 1

  My brother was staring at me, and I was pretending not to notice. If I ignored him long enough, maybe he’d leave me alone.

  “I thought you’d be more upset by this,” he said, and I sighed. He wasn’t going to drop it.

  “Upset? Why would I be upset about being sold to a stranger, loaded up like cargo into an unfamiliar carriage, and sent to who-knows-where?” My sarcasm was as thick as the fog outside, unusual for this time of year.

  “We weren’t sold.” But Hernando’s tone revealed that not even he was convinced of the veracity of his statement.

  I turned to look at him.

  He huffed, a strand of dark hair that had fallen over one eye flying free. “Fine, we were more or less sold. But who knows, Isa? Maybe we’ll get lucky and things will be better wherever we’re going than they were with our uncle.”

  “Since when have I been lucky? You, sure, you’re lucky all the time. But not me, and you know it. I’m only along on this ride because of you, because Uncle wouldn’t think of being burdened with me without you there.”

  He opened his mouth and I could already anticipate his fruitless denial.

  I put a hand up. “Don’t. Just don’t. I heard them talking, I know it’s the truth.”

  My brother, usually smooth and composed, squirmed. “You... heard them?”

  “Of course I did. Just because everyone thinks I’m stupid doesn’t mean I actually am.”

  “Isa! Don’t say things like that! You aren’t stupid.”

  “No, I’m not. But only you and I seem to agree on that.”

  “Not just you and me. Mamá and Papá know it too, as do José and Rafael.”

  “All right, then no one but you and me know it on this continent. Is that better?”

  “Yes,” he said, his words enough of a whisper to indicate that he understood a bit of how terrible the situation made me feel.

  A few minutes passed in silence, long enough for me to believe he’d quit, and left me to suffer in silence. I turned my gaze back to the window, at the constant fog that hid the landscape I was barely familiar with despite living at our uncle’s home for nearly a year. He wasn’t overly fond of me getting out. In fact, he wasn’t overly fond of me doing much of anything.

  “So...”

  I could tell Nando wanted me to turn to look at him, but I didn’t. I had no desire to see pity shining in his compassionate dark eyes.

  He cleared his throat. “So you heard everything they said?”

  “Pretty much.”

  His next words rushed out. “You know Uncle doesn’t understand you. He doesn’t know you. He can’t possibly when he doesn’t even try. Don’t believe a thing he said about you.”

  I shrugged toward the fog as if our uncle’s words hadn’t cut me to the bone. It wasn’t that I hadn’t been able to tell that’s how he felt about me from his actions. But hearing him pronounce me stupid and peculiar and useless and a whole litany of other adjectives I’d work hard to forget stung worse than I imagined a snake bite would. At least a snake bite might kill you quickly; if it didn’t, then you’d eventually heal and forget. But Uncle’s words, no matter how hard I’d try, I feared I’d never forget them.

  I jumped a little when Nando put his hand on my shoulder, but he didn’t remove it. In the whole world, he was the only one who wanted to be there for me. I wasn’t fool enough to push him away just because I was hurting. It was hard, but I made myself move a hand over his.

  “He’s an ignorant, prejudiced man, who doesn’t know a good thing when it’s staring him in the face.”

  I barked out laughter. “He had no problem seeing a good thing in this old man’s offer. He sold us at a high price. He’ll be able to enjoy the luxury our payment will afford in peace, since we’ll no longer be there to bother him. I will no longer be there to bother him.” I didn’t like how bitter my words sounded.

  “Well, it goes both ways. We won’t be bothered by him again either.”

  I allowed Nando’s warm, caring hand and the sound of the horses and carriage rolling along start to soothe me. If I let idiots like our uncle break me, I’d never amount to anything.

  I turned back to Nando. He looked so worried for me. When his hand fell from my shoulder, I took it in my hands. “What will Uncle tell Mamá and Papá when they return for us? Papá will never forgive him for having sold us off.”

  “It’s not just Papá Uncle should worry about. Can you imagine what Mamá will do to him?”

  For the first time since the old man, who now drove the carriage, had come to fetch Nando, I smiled. Our mother was kind and caring and gentle, but she was everything but when anyone messed with her children. Mamá would make her brother-in-law wish he’d never let us go.

  “But you know how Uncle is...”

  “Meaning?”

  Nando met my eyes as if he wouldn’t allow himself to cower away from his duty. My brother, always the brave one for me. “Meaning that our uncle doesn’t expect Mamá or Papá ever to return for us. He doesn’t expect José or Rafael to come for us either.”

  “Of course.” Bitterness settled into my voice more deeply, despite my desire for it not to. “We’ve heard him say it enough times. ‘Your parents are fools, thinking they can go to uncharted territory to bring culture and sophistication to those savages! They’ve thrown their lives away, and saddled me with you.’” My voice came out so softly that Nando might not have heard me if he hadn’t known exactly what I’d say. It wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation. “Uncle thinks the native peoples will kill our family.”

  “He thinks they already have.”

  I tried not to look terrified at the prospect, but I failed; I was sure I had by the way Nando scrambled to say something to make it better—only there was nothing he could say that would.

  “Just because Uncle says it doesn’t
make it so. Don’t believe a word he says, not about our family, and definitely not about you.”

  “You think they’re still alive?” I asked the question of him every few weeks. I waited as long as I could in between, but the time was getting shorter the more time passed since they’d delivered us to our uncle’s care.

  “Of course I think they’re still alive.”

  “But you wouldn’t know if they weren’t...”

  Nando lifted his chin and spoke with conviction. “I believe I would. I believe we both would. Their love for us is strong. We’d sense it if that were gone, and I still feel it, don’t you?”

  I nodded because I didn’t trust myself to say anything. I did feel their love for me, I really did, but I wasn’t sure that meant anything about their survival, no matter how much I wanted to believe what Nando said.

  “Don’t worry about them, they’re fine. And don’t worry about what Uncle will do once they return for us and discover he’s… handed off our care to someone else.”

  “Oh I’m not worried for Uncle, trust me.”

  Nando laughed. “I hope we’ll be there to see Mamá grill him.”

  “Me too.” I turned back to the window. “Me too.”

  The fog appeared to be growing thicker even though it was only late afternoon. The sun should still be up, though it was hard to tell.

  I pulled in a deep breath and decided to let angry thoughts of Uncle go. Sure, he’d insisted that Mordecai, the stranger up front, take me along with my brother, the one Mordecai really wanted. Uncle had said he wouldn’t be saddled with the ‘peculiar girl’ all alone. And sure he’d said despicable things about me, as if my greatest fears about myself had taken residence in him.

  But we were fast leaving him behind, and I had no idea where we were going or even why Mordecai would want my brother in the first place. Why would a complete stranger, both to us and our uncle, appear unannounced to take us away, and pay handsomely for the privilege? It made no sense.

  Nando was all the things I wasn’t. He was handsome, charming, athletic, and intelligent. Everything was easy for him, and he handled every obstacle with grace. But even he wasn’t that extraordinary that a stranger would have heard of his reputation.

  “Why do you think this Mordecai fellow wants you?” I managed to get the question out, but it sputtered a quick death on my lips.

  Several horses thundered around us, sounding like they’d already overtaken us on the road. “Where’d they come from?” I wondered while pressing my face against the small glass panel.

  My breath fogged the window. I rubbed at it hurriedly with my sleeve, but what I saw outside was little different than the heat of my breath.

  “This fog isn’t natural,” Nando said, and I heard him draw his sword. “Something isn’t right.” He inched forward on his seat, seemingly ready to leap from it.

  I put a hand on his chest. “Please, don’t go out there.”

  “Something is going on.”

  “I know. I feel it too. And that’s precisely why I don’t want you to go. Let the stranger deal with it.” Even as the words left my lips, I understood they were pointless. Nando was unwilling to be a coward, whereas I had no problem with it.

  He edged closer to the door. “I’m just going to check. It may be nothing, just other passing riders.”

  He stared at me and I stared back, imploring. “You know it’s more than that.”

  “I do, which is why I need to go take a look.” He squeezed my hand against his chest before removing it. “I won’t leave an elderly man alone to face whomever has come.”

  The racket of horses grew louder, more frantic. My heart started beating wildly, and Nando hadn’t even opened the door yet. “Please! You’re all I have. Don’t go!”

  Why I was so worried about what he’d find, I wasn’t sure, but I was certain that whatever was bearing down on us was bad—very, very bad.

  The sounds could have been innocuous. Travelers passed each other on the roads all the time. There should be nothing alarming about the sounds of other riders.

  Yet every one of my senses was on edge, warning me of danger. “You’re all I have. Let Mordecai take care of it on his own.”

  “Mordecai is old. I can’t do that. I couldn’t do that even if he were young. This is my duty.”

  “I thought your duty was to protect me.” It was a low blow, and I knew it. I was desperate. Nando had wanted to go along with our parents and older brothers on what he called the adventure of a lifetime, but Mamá had asked him to remain behind... because of me. Mamá wouldn’t risk a young daughter on the journey, so she’d asked Nando to stay with me to take care of me. He resented me because of it, no matter how well he hid it. “Didn’t Mamá ask you to keep me safe?”

  “And this is how I do that.” But I noticed a flash of hesitation in his eyes.

  “Stop right there, you old fool!” A shout from outside filtered through the carriage, its aggression and derision making me shiver.

  I pressed on in an urgent whisper. “They sound foul. Stay.” I reached for his hand again but he wouldn’t let me grab it.

  He wrapped the hand free of his sword around the handle of the door and pulled it down. “Te quiero, Isa.”

  My heart started thumping an erratic, terrified beat. Nando rarely told me he loved me. His saying it now could only mean that he sensed what I did, that whoever was out there was bad and he might not be coming back to me.

  “No,” I implored.

  His eyes looked sad as he turned the handle.

  Then I screamed.

  Chapter 2

  Nando dropped his sword and removed his hand from the door handle. His hand rested in his lap for a few, drawn out seconds, before he scrambled to recover his sword from the carriage floor.

  He was the least shocked of the two of us. I hadn’t meant to scream, I really hadn’t. I wasn’t the squeamish, screaming type, nor did I want to alert the riders outside that there was at least one frightened girl inside the carriage.

  But... who would blame me?

  My mouth hung open, and while I wanted to close it, I couldn’t manage it. My eyes were unblinking and my heartbeat unsure whether to speed up or slow down.

  “Wha...?” Nando managed, and I was impressed he’d managed anything at all. “You’re a... Are you a...?”

  “We don’t have time for that right now,” a man who looked a lot like Mordecai said. Only this man wasn’t a man, or he was, but...

  “Are you real?” I asked. Had I not been shocked out of my wits, I might have managed my question with more finesse. But it was out there, and I needed to know.

  I inched my hand toward the man, who was there but not quite there, until he scowled at me, and I stilled my hand halfway between him and me.

  “Touching a person without their consent is considered impolite, or has no one taught you that?”

  He sounded like he was real. “So... you’re a person?”

  “Well of course I am, what kind of question is that? What else would I be, a monkey? I look like a person, don’t I?”

  “Well...”

  “It’s a simple question, girl, not one that requires so much deliberation and thought.” The old man looked offended, and despite my confusion, I felt bad at saying things that were clearly offending him. Having been on the other end of offense for much of the last year, I didn’t want to cause that discomfort in another.

  “Forgive me, I don’t mean to be insensitive. It’s just that you startled me. I’ve never seen anyone... like you, and I’m not quite sure what to make of it.”

  Some of the sting left his expression. When I looked to the old man, I mostly saw through him to Nando’s shocked expression, which hadn’t alleviated at all since our surprise visitor started speaking.

  “As much as I’d love to sit here and account for my appearance,” the half-there man said, sounding very much like he didn’t want to do exactly that, “there’s a serious situation going on, or can’t you tell?”


  I listened beyond the thumping sound of my heartbeat in my ears to the sounds of furious horses and even more furious riders. They’d stopped advancing, possibly surrounding us.

  “That’s it. I can almost see the wheels of your mind turning.” The visitor sounded at least halfway sarcastic. “You’re in danger. We’re all in danger. The time for explanations, if necessary, will come later.”

  “But...” Nando sputtered. “You’re a ghost.”

  The man scowled. “Now aren’t you astute. Of course I’m a ghost! A ghost who has much more important things to do than walking you two through the obvious. I popped in here to tell you not to do anything to bring attention to yourselves, like step out of the carriage like a fool with a sword in your hand, thinking you’ll be able to do anything to help.” He turned to me, long hair with beads in it turning with him, which I assumed would clatter together to make a sound, but they didn’t. “Or scream to alert the idiots outside that you’re in here.

  “Though I suppose even they’d be capable of checking inside to discover who is important enough for my brother to risk himself for.” He seemed to be thinking aloud now.

  Mordecai was his brother. That made sense; they looked alike with their long hair and beards and strange-looking robes. What didn’t make sense is that this... man was a... ghost. A ghost who was talking to us.

  I hadn’t believed ghosts existed. I’d never imagined I’d be carrying on a conversation with one.

  “Who are the people trying to stop us?” I was impressed. I actually sounded like I was speaking to a live man as if this weren’t the most bizarre experience of my life.