by D J DuMont
Willow’s Secret Mission
The Dragon Heart Academy of Magic, Book 2
By D.J. DuMont
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Similarities to actual people or events are entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 by D.J. DuMont. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Thank You For Reading!
About the Author
Chapter One
“We interrupt this broadcast to bring you breaking news. The President of the United States has been assassinated.”
Willow Ember froze in the middle of the busy airport terminal. Her small, carry-on duffel bag slipped from her fingers and landed with a dull thud, but she hardly noticed it. Harried passengers rushed by her, taking no notice of the pale-faced news reporter on the television screen. But Willow noticed. She strained her ears, trying to hear what the news reporter had to say. Her heart raced in her chest as the broadcast shared the few known details of the President’s death.
“White House sources have confirmed that fifteen minutes ago the President was shot while exiting Air Force One. The President was arriving in Chicago, Illinois for a discussion with Chicago’s government officials on how to keep big cities safer. As of five minutes ago, no suspect has been apprehended, and no details are available on why the Secret Service was not able to prevent this attack. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more.”
More people were noticing the news broadcast now. Bangor International Airport came to a standstill as person after person stopped to stare in shock at the television screens that lined the terminal. Jaws dropped, and a few women let out shocked shrieks. Willow knew she should pick up her duffel bag and head to baggage claim to get her suitcase. After all, the shuttle to Birch Point Academy would already be outside, waiting for her. But she couldn’t move. All she could do was stare at the screen and wonder how this had happened.
The shuttle would just have to wait.
The crowd around the television screens grew, even though the news reporter was repeating the same information over and over. There were no new details, but it didn’t matter. Everyone kept staring at the screen anyway, trying to process the fact that the country had just been turned upside down. How did this happen? How was it possible that someone had attacked the President without the Secret Service having any warning of the attack? And this was less than a year after the White House itself had been attacked. Was anyone safe?
Before Willow could think too much about these questions, a loud thumping sound pulled her attention away from the screen.
“Oh, no,” she whispered when she saw what was causing the ruckus. Running toward her at full speed was a large group of men in black uniforms. Their heavy black boots made a loud, pounding noise against the slick airport floor, and their eyes were focused directly on Willow.
Men and women alike screamed as the uniformed men sped across the terminal. Willow didn’t scream, but she did feel her heart start to race even faster. Why were they coming for her now?
The simple black uniforms bore few emblems, and most people would have had no clue why each of the men had a dragon embroidered in gold thread over their left chest. But Willow knew. This was a group of Dragon Heart Agents, the most elite—and most secret—division of the C.I.A.
“What’s going on?” Willow asked as the group approached her. But the Agents didn’t seem interested in stopping for small talk.
“Magicae obstructionum!” one of the Agents shouted, raising his right hand and pointing a chunky sapphire ring straight at Willow.
“What? Why would you—”
“Quiet!” Another Agent ordered. “Willow Ember, you’re to come with us.”
A few onlookers shrieked, and one brave man even tried to come to Willow’s “rescue.” He dropped his briefcase and ran toward the Agents, yelling at the top of his lungs. “Leave her alone! She’s barely more than a girl! Go pick on someone your own size.”
Willow flinched as one of the Agents turned toward her would-be rescuer and raised a threatening fist in the man’s direction. “This doesn’t concern you,” the Agent bellowed out. “Get out of our way or we’ll be forced to restrain you by force.”
“Please,” Willow said to the man. “It’s ok. I know them.”
And she did know them. At least, she knew they were Dragon Heart Agents. But she wasn’t happy about the fact that they were running up to her and restraining her with no explanation or warning. The strange words the first Agent had shouted, magicae obstructionum, were a magic spell that was used to nullify a wizard’s magic. The spell was a difficult one to perform, but Willow knew that the Dragon Heart Agents surrounding her now were master wizards. They had to be, if they’d been sent on a mission to a busy airport in the middle of the day. Usually, Dragon Heart Agents lay low, working in the shadows to avoid being seen by the general public. But today was turning out to be anything but usual.
Still, Willow felt offended that the first thing they had done was restrain her magic, like she was some kind of rogue wizard. She was one of the most promising Dragon Heart trainees right now. What right did they have to treat her like this? She might only be fifteen years old, but she had already done a lot to help out the Dragon Heart Agency.
These Agents didn’t seem to care who she was or what she had done. The one who had first cast the magic-restraining spell on her was now gripping her upper arm firmly and turning her toward a big, red exit sign.
“Come with us, Willow. And keep your head low. Don’t make eye contact with anyone. The less of a scene we make here, the better.”
Willow hesitated for a moment. “But where are we going? And what about my bags?”
“Leave the bags,” the Agent said, with barely more than a glance back at Willow’s duffel bag. The dark purple bag sat forlornly on the terminal floor. “Someone from the agency is already in the building to get your duffel and your suitcase. Your things will be delivered to Birch Point later today, but we need to get you out of here. Now.”
The Agent pulled Willow along, gripping her upper arm so hard that she suspected she was going to have finger-shaped bruises tomorrow. Willow knew better than to resist or ask more questions, but she couldn’t help herself.
“But where are we going?” she asked again. The Agents were surrounding her now, like she was some sort of celebrity and they were her personal bodyguards.
“We’re going to safety. Enough questions. Quiet, and keep your head down. We don’t know what security systems have been breached that allowed someone to assassinate the President, so the head of the C.I.A. has made protecting our Dragon Heart Agents top priority.” The Agent gave Willow a sidelong glance.
“Especially our Agent trainees.”
Willow wanted to make a smart-aleck comment telling the Agent that restraining her magical abilities and leaving her defenseless didn’t seem like the best way to protect her, but she bit her tongue. The Agent’s face had darkened, and he didn’t look like he was in the mood to argue with her. She did as he asked and kept her head low, allowing the group of Dragon Hearts to lead her out of the airport.
Almost everyone in the terminal had realized by now that the President had been assassinated. The whole airport was at a standstill, as people gawked up at the television screens. Few people noticed the group of men in black uniforms, leading a teenage girl out of a restricted exit. Willow knew that the Agents would have preferred to perform this whole operation under an invisibility spell, but casting one now and disappearing into thin air was out of the question. If anyone did happen to be looking at their group when they vanished, the Agents would be in a lot of trouble. Performing magic in front of non-wizards was strictly forbidden except in cases of extreme emergency.
Willow did her best to remain calm, but it wasn’t easy. If the President of the United States himself had not been safe, then what chance did she stand if someone wanted to harm her? And there was a good possibility someone wanted to harm her—Willow knew all too well about the Dark Sparks, a group of villains that wanted nothing more than to take down all of the Dragon Heart Agents.
Willow’s right hand twitched. She felt her magic ring with her thumb, strangely reassured by its presence even though she couldn’t use it right now. The sturdy metal band stood for everything that had become important to her over the last year: magic, her fellow Agents, and dragons.
The Agents and Willow exited the airport into a highly restricted area, but the airport security guards merely nodded at the Dragon Heart Agents. As a branch of the C.I.A., the Dragon Heart Agency had no trouble getting its Agents past security restrictions of all kinds, and Willow felt a puff of pride fill her chest as she followed the Agents toward a large ladder that went up the side of the airport terminal. The Dragon Heart Agents were an elite group, and she was part of that group! Sure, she was just a trainee, for now. But that was still saying something. She was still important—important enough that the agency had sent a dozen Agents just to make sure she was safe. For a moment, that realization calmed her, and even took away the sting of humiliation she felt over the fact that one of the Agents had so easily disarmed her magic.
The Agents started climbing the ladder. Three of them went ahead of her, and then it was her turn. She gripped the metal rungs and started to ascend, noticing for the first time that her palms were sweaty. The August air was hot and humid, but that wasn’t why she was sweating. Her stomach was turning in knots, wondering whether she would be attacked on the way to Birch Point Academy. Last year she had been. That felt like a lifetime ago in some ways, but in some ways the memory was still very fresh.
When she pulled herself up onto the windy airport rooftop, though, she forgot to be afraid. Instead, her heart filled with joy at the sight before her.
There were seven giant dragons on the roof of the airport. Willow was not sure how the Dragon Heart Agents had managed to get them up here without arousing suspicion. No doubt it had taken a variety of creative invisibility and stealth spells. But here they were, standing tall with their iridescent dragon hides glittering in the summer sunlight. And one of the dragons, a large beast with a deep red hide, came bounding toward Willow the second her feet were planted firmly on the roof.
Willow squealed in delight at almost the same moment that the dragon did. When the dragon reached her a split-second later, Willow threw her arms around the dragon’s neck and couldn’t keep a few tears of overjoyed happiness from rolling down her face.
“Oh, Cayenne. How I’ve missed you.”
Chapter Two
“Enough, Miss Ember,” one of the Dragon Heart Agents said in a gruff tone. “There will be time for reunions later. Right now, we need to move. Until we reach Birch Point Academy, your life is in serious danger.”
Willow’s happiness cooled quickly at the Agent’s words. She nodded, and with her heart pounding once again, she followed his instructions to climb onto Cayenne’s back and prepare for a full-speed flight to Birch Point.
It had been almost three months since Willow had seen Cayenne or ridden on her dragon’s back, but sitting atop her dragon once again felt like the most natural thing in the world. Willow patted the smooth scales on Cayenne’s back affectionately as she waited for further directions from the senior Dragon Heart Agents. The other Agents climbed onto the remaining six dragons in pairs. Willow knew that each one of them would have his own dragon, but they must have decided to share for this mission to reduce the number of dragons they needed to sneak onto the airport roof. Hiding seven giant dragons in a busy international airport was no easy feat. Nearly doubling the number of dragons would have made the task almost impossible.
Once all of the Agents were securely on the other dragons’ backs, the Agent who seemed to be in charge held up his hand in a signal to wait. Cayenne stomped her feet and whined, impatient to be in the air. Despite the stress of the situation, Willow smiled. Cayenne had been named for her spicy personality, and hated standing still.
“Easy, girl. We’ll take off in a minute. But we wouldn’t want to take off right into the flight path of a jet, would we?”
Cayenne whined again, as if to say that the jets flying in and out of the air space were a minor detail. Willow laughed and patted her neck again. Summer away from her dragon had been agony. It was good to be back.
A moment later, the lead Agent let out a sudden shout. He signaled for the dragons to take off, and Cayenne wasted no time in flapping her giant dragon wings to rise into the sky. Willow grinned as the wind began whipping against her face. She never felt as alive as she did when she was on her dragon’s back. Willow had more than her fair share of worries. She’d already faced greater challenges than any fifteen-year-old should have to face, including facing down international terrorists and searching for her father, who had been missing for two and a half years now. But those worries seemed to melt away as Cayenne’s wings sliced through the air, carrying Willow north from Bangor toward Birch Point. The world didn’t seem like such a scary place when viewed from the back of a mighty dragon.
The flight would take roughly an hour and a half, according to Willow’s best guess. She wouldn’t have minded a flight twice as long. The further away from the airport they flew, the more relaxed she felt. The horror of the President being assassinated felt like a far-off dream—like something she’d imagined that couldn’t possibly be real. Willow focused on the gorgeous view of pine trees and on the occasional glittering, blue lake. The Maine wilderness offered serenity unlike anywhere else in the world.
Even the Dragon Heart Agents surrounding Willow seemed to relax a bit as time wore on. Their faces went from stern, almost angry expressions to peaceful smiles. For a brief moment, Willow felt hopeful and calm.
And then, that moment ended.
“Incoming!” shouted one of the Agents. Startled, Willow turned to look in the direction he was pointing, and her heart sank. Several dark black specks were zooming through the sky toward them. The closer the specks came, the clearer Willow could see that these were definitely not friends. She made out the outline of jet packs and metal wings, and her mind flashed back to an awful afternoon just over three months ago when she and her fellow trainees had been attacked by a similar group.
“It’s the Dark Sparks!” she yelped. The Agents didn’t bother to acknowledge her alarmed cry. They were already tightening their ranks around her, and raising their magic rings into the air to shout out extra shield spells. Willow raised her own ring out of habit, then realized that she still couldn’t use her magic.
“Hey!” she shouted to the Agent who had first cast the magic-blocking spell on her. “Take off the magic-blocking spell! I’m defenseless otherwise! And we’re well past t
he airport, where you had to worry about whether I’d set off some sort of spell and cause problems with the escape.” Not that he’d ever had to worry, anyway. Willow wasn’t the type to argue with a dozen senior Dragon Heart Agents.
The Agent glanced at her with narrowed eyes, and for a moment Willow thought he wasn’t going to break the spell. But then he shrugged, and called out, “Magicae obstructionum deleo!”
Willow breathed a sigh of relief as her magical abilities returned, and immediately cast a shield spell around herself and Cayenne. If these attackers were similar to the ones that had attacked Willow and her friends three months ago, they wouldn’t be all that hard to beat. Those attackers had not been able to do magic, and their measly defenses had not held up to dragon attacks at all.
Then again, a lot might have changed in three months. Any group that managed to assassinate the President must have managed at least some improvements in their battle tactics. Willow didn’t know with one hundred percent certainty that the Dark Sparks had been responsible for the assassination, but she would have been willing to bet a fair amount it had been them. She gulped, and tried to hold her hand steady as the attackers drew closer.
There were quite a few of them, and the jetpacks and wings they wore did look as though they’d been improved since the last time Willow saw them. She took a deep, steadying breath, and told herself not to panic as the enemy flew closer.
For a moment, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. The Dragon Heart Agents raised their rings, and prepared to launch attacks at the incoming enemy soldiers. The dragons all reared their heads back. They roared as they flapped their wings to hover in one spot, standing firm against the incoming attack. Willow held her ring high, too, but wasn’t sure what spell she should use. She only had one year of magical education so far, and none of her classes had taught her how to launch serious magical attacks. She knew a few minor spells, but the heavy-duty attack spells were saved for third and fourth year trainees. Willow decided to focus all of her magical energy on shield spells. She would let the other Agents, and the dragons, protect her.