Laurie McKay - The Last Dragon Charmer #3: Realm Breaker

To Angie, Valerie, and Leslie,

who bring books to kids of all ages

T he locals called it the summer of red lightning.

Caden, however, knew better. Like all things involving magic and the Greater Realm, the locals had it wrong. It wasnt strangely colored lightning that split the sky. It was banishment spells.

The Greater Realm Council was exiling villains to Asheville, North Carolina. Twelve this summer by Cadens lightning count, and the most recent had been the night before.

The council believed the banished went to the Land of Shadow, a place of punishment, torture, and death. But the council also had it wrong. Asheville was a quaint mountain town full of art and music. The citizens called it the Land of the Sky and proclaimed the city the happiest in the South.

Caden wasnt a local, but he hadnt been banished. He was an eighth-born Razzonian prince from the Greater Realms Winterlands, a future Elite Paladin, and a protector of the kingdom. Yet seven months ago, bad magic transported Caden, his noble stallion, Sir Horace, and Brynne, a powerful young sorceress, to Asheville. Theyd been stranded in the happy, villain-filled realm since.

To make matters worse, Caden and Brynne had been sentenced to foster care and forced to endure middle school. And the school was where the Greater Realms banished villains fulfilled their sentences. While the villains punishment was to teach, Cadens misfortune was to be their student. Even in summer.

It was midday on Thursday in the Ashevillian month of Augustthe last day of summer sessionand Caden marched down the long hall in Primrose Charter School. Hed been summoned to the principals office. Again.

The classrooms were quiet. Most were dark, too. Caden was one of the few students in attendance. Brynne and his foster siblings, Jane and Tito, didnt have to attend. While Cadens mastery of spoken English was undeniable, his skills didnt extend to the written word, and Rath Dunnacting school principal, math teacher, and banished Greater Realm villainhad used that to trap him.

There were workers in the hall, men and women in mud-colored jumpsuits, painting the walls bloodred. The week prior, theyd replaced the schools dented pink lockers with sleek gray ones. The once-scuffed tiles shone with fresh wax. If Caden squinted, he could see his princely reflection in the floor.

The changes proved that Rath Dunn had truly usurped control of the school from Ms. Primrose, a powerful being whod collected the banished, forced them to teach, and who had been principal. The scent of roses, her essence, still lingered. No paint or wax smell could rid the halls of the flowery smell.

At the halls end, Mr. Creedly, assistant to the principal, sat at a large desk like a smarmy guard. His hair was slicked back, his arms folded across his chest. As Caden approached, Mr. Creedly narrowed his eyes. He uncurled and pointed a too-long finger at the door. He, Mr. Creedly spat, wants you to wait.

Not only did Rath Dunn force Caden to take summer classes, summon him daily, and threaten all good people, he now expected Caden to wait? Royalty didnt wait in the hall.

Caden pushed past Mr. Creedly. He placed his palm on the door but hesitated. Truth be told, he didnt want to go into the principals office. Rath Dunn meant to test him. Not with a math quiz like hed done in the school year proper. Instead, he meant to determine when and how Caden was cursed.

At the end of last term, Rath Dunn became suspicious when hed ordered Caden to chop off Brynnes long, beautiful hair and Caden had done so. No future Elite Paladin would be so cruel unless forced. Caden had been compelled to do it. Hed had no choice.

And it was all Brynnes fault.

While her magic was strong, her control wasnt. Shed accidentally hexed Caden with compliance for three days each month. During that time he had to do whatever anyone told him to do. While Caden had granted her his royal forgiveness, and shed forgiven him for slicing off her hair, she hadnt reversed his curse yet.

As he looked at the door, though, his annoyance trickled away. His stomach churned and he tasted bile, bitter and bad on his tongue. What if Rath Dunn figured everything out? He might order Caden to lie, steal, or hurt someone. Without doubt, whatever he commanded would be crueler than cutting Brynnes hair.

Today, however, that wasnt a problem. The curse wasnt active. Today Caden was in control. He centered himself and prepared for the encounter. Each day that Rath Dunn foolishly summoned Caden to his office, there was a chance Caden would learn more about his plot.

For Rath Dunns treachery extended beyond usurping power at the school. The tyrant schemed to break the barrier between Asheville and the Greater Realm by casting a powerful ritual spell that would be fueled by the destruction of the city. Once the barrier was gone, he could seek revenge on those who banished him.

Already, the tyrant had collected the rare ingredients needed for the spell: tears of an elf, magical locks, blood of the son, and essence of dragon. The magical locks had been Brynnes hair. The very hair Caden had cut and given to Rath Dunn while cursed.

Such complicated ritual magic required proper timing and preparation. As each sunny, sweltering day passed, Caden feared Rath Dunn got closer to his goal. And there were also the recent banishment spells. Those could only mean trouble in the Greater Realm. What was going on in Cadens homeland and how was it connected to Rath Dunns plot?

Despite the season, Caden wore his enchanted coat. It was a symbol of his people and his family, a gift handed down to him by his father. The imperial Winterbird was embroidered on the back in gold and silver threads. It gave him comfort always; it reminded him to be brave. He held his chin high as he strode through the doorway.

The office looked different from when it had been Ms. Primroses. Before Rath Dunn took over, the walls were silvery blue. Now they were red. The shelves, once filled with bowls of shiny rocks, beads, and cheap collectibles, were stacked with bookssome in neat lines, others in piles. The ones with visible covers showed pictures of delicious-looking foods. There was a large window near the back of the room. A mirror on the wall across from it reflected the sunlight.

There were five people inside.

The first was Rath Dunn. He stood behind the desk. His bald scalp shone in the windows light. One of his eyes was brown, the other blue. A scar split his face from his blue eye to his mouth. He wore a red linen shirt and red slacks that made his torso blend weirdly into the wall. Truth be told, he looked like one of the feared floating heads of the Springlands Mist Swamps.

Despite their reputation, Caden found the floating heads to be friendly and quite polite. Rath Dunn was to be feared much more than the floating heads. His current wolfish smirk meant nothing good for Caden.

The second was Ms. Primrose, once principal, current vice principal and placement counselor. She wore a flowery dress. Her blue-and-silvery hair was pulled into a tight bun; her mouth was set in a scowl. She looked like an old school marm and the scent of roses was strong. Her smell and appearance were misleading, though.

She was one of the eight legendary Elderkind of the Greater Realm, and one of four Elderdragons. Caden suspected she was either the more kindly Silver Elderdragon or the more vicious Blue. Hed seen scales of both shades on her arm: the silver when happy and sated, the blue when angry and not. Caden had yet to find out how she came to be in Asheville and collect trinkets, villains, and students; and currently he was in no position to ask her.