Read Azra of the Burning Sands (Genesis Project) for Free Online Page B

Sorcerer saw this man and bent down as the Raider said something too him. Due to the distance, Azra couldn’t hear anything.
    A chill ran through the Wyzard.
    Behind him, he heard the door at the back of the lobby slam open, and the sound of armoured boots rushing across the marble floor to where he was.
    ‘We will continue our meeting in a moment, Asssra. I have a sssmall mater to look into,’ Shakla said, his Mahgic imbued voice carrying.
    The snake man turned his mount around and rode through the midst of his forces, leaving them arrayed at the far end of the plaza.
    Azra turned around to see who was coming towards him.
    An enraged looking Cina was standing right behind him when he turned. Azra’s blood drained from his face as she grabbed his robe and pulled him forward.
    ‘Where is Kia?’ she roared, anger clear on her face.
    ‘You took her through the Archway yourself!’
    ‘She wasn’t on the other side when I came through. She didn’t come through with any of the soldiers either. She is gone!’
    ‘Shouldn’t our Guardian Marks tell us where she is or if she is in danger?’ Azra asked, pulling Cina’s gauntlet’s fingers off of his robe.
    Cina let go of his robe quickly, and closed her eyes. Azra, growing concerned, did the same. He concentrated on activating the Guardian Mark, in the hope of it showing him the location of Kia.
    The fact that it hasn’t activated must mean she isn’t in danger. An unpleasant thought came to Azra, Or it’s being blocked. .. by a powerful Mahgic user.
    ‘Asssra, I have returned, and I have a deal for you and your people.’
    Cina and Azra were startled by the loud hissing voice carried across the plaza, and both looked up in unison. Shakla sat atop his mount, with Kia standing timidly at his side, flanked by several guards, and with a chain around her neck. The other end of the chain was in Shakla’s hand.
    Azra heard Cina draw her sword and turned on her, grabbing her arm. ‘Don’t! She’ll be dead before you even get across the plaza. You’ll be dead for that matter!’
    ‘Use your Mahgic and place me over there!’ Cina demanded.
    ‘He already fooled me with Mahgic far beyond my own by stealing Kia right out of the Archway. I don’t know what I can and can’t do without him being able to stop it. You could be whisked away to the Zhakim Island for all I know!’
    ‘We have to do something!’ Cina said urgently.
    ‘You think I don’t know that? Let’s hear what he wants,’ Azra pleaded.
    Cina sheathed her sword and stood in brooding silence.
    Azra turned to Shakla and amplified his voice again, saying, ‘What’s your deal?’
    ‘Your help, for her life,’ Shakla stated simply.
    ‘My... my help? What in the Divine’s name do you need my help for?’
    ‘My original plan wasss to sssteal sssomeone of value and ussse that asss leverage againssst the king... However, negotiationsss with a Lord of the Land are hard to preform without the right set up. Being able to ussse you inssstead, here and now, isss of a more usssefull and timely manner.
    ‘My true prissze isss not any ssspoil of war. I do not come here in hopesss of ssslicing my own little empire. I only ssseek cssertain piecesss of knowledge. You can help me with that, and then you can get your Princesssse back, and I will leave here forever.’
    ‘Why me? Why not look yourself?’
    ‘My movementsss cannot be asss open asss yoursss. I wasss going to take your Archway and ussse it for my sssearch, after dissspatching your defendersss, asss I know more about their utility than you. If you had been more knowledgeable, you would not have had your Princesssesss sssnatched from your grip. Though, even with the Archway, and my prisssoner, sssearching on my own would be difficult and ssslow. My time is preciousss.
    ‘Ssso, again, Baron Hemnoth, you help me find the knowledge I ssseek, and you can have your Princesss back, and I will leave your realm forever,’ Shakla said.
    ‘Agreed.’
    Azra