Pain shot down my arm. But in spite of the pain my other hand was already thrust out and shooting magic to force the vampire back. He retreated slightly, giving me just enough time to figure out what to do.
We hadn’t been given any weapons to fight off any of our opponents. Magic was supposed to be our weapon of choice.
Where vampires were concerned, I knew of only one spell to stop them from coming after me. It was advanced, and had I been in motion I couldn’t handle it. Luckily for me, the vampire had cornered me, so movement wasn’t an issue.
Painstakingly, I wove a shield between myself and the vamp, allowing it to cover me.
The vampire watched as the boundary became stronger, the strands weaving together and forming a translucent purple dome. When they finally solidified, sealing me inside, he shook his head. “Interesting choice. The others were much more aggressive.” He smirked. “And I have to say, smarter. You have to come out sometime if you plan on passing this test. But me? I haveallthe time in the world.” He leaned up against the hedge and crossed his arms over his chest lazily.
A grin bloomed on my face. Clearly, none of the five participants who’d gone before me had tried this tactic yet. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have played right into my hands.
How’s this for smarter?
With a mighty heave I thrust my hands outward. The dome inverted, flew across the narrow space, and slammed down over the vampire, who released a cry of surprise. I didn’t even bother looking back as I took off.
Three more turns later and my fae adversary turned up. She was the one with gills, which puzzled me. Why would they choose a water fae for this challenge? I soon discovered why when the gills shot a strong stream of water straight into my eye.
I screamed and from the side of the classroom I heard people—those judging the competition and a couple of ex-headmasters—chuckle. I scowled as I wiped the water from my face. I wasn’t sure how they were seeing everything through the hedges, but I’d heard enough of their reactions to know that somehow, they’d made the foliage see-through.
And it pissed me off that they were getting enjoyment out of this. More than that, none of the participants who had gone before me seemed to have exited hurt. Were they better at avoiding injury? Or just better in general? Three of them had only taken about twenty minutes to complete the exam. I felt like I’d been in here for at least that long already.
Was I falling behind?
Frustration surged through me, almost blinding me. I was about to ignore it again, to tamp it down and just keep soldiering on, when suddenly I realized I shouldn’t be avoiding it—butusingit. Harnessing emotions and transfiguring them into magic was a powerful tenant of Battle Magic. A tenant that, so far, I’d neglected to utilize.
Focusing instantly, I harnessed my emotions and dug into every single nuance of anxiety, annoyance, and anger. Then I envisioned what I wanted. A buildup began and when I felt like I could hold it no longer, I finally let the well of emotion fly through me as magic. Strong nets of purple power blasted from my hands and flew over the fae.
My adversary squirmed but I knew she wouldn’t be able to get out—at least not in time to catch me, because I was already sprinting away.
Only one species of magical left.
While the thought should have been comforting, I knew better. The witches I’d be facing weren’t students, like the other opponents. They were instructors and would want to test us thoroughly.
Which meant that I really had to bring it.
Chapter Thirteen
Iwas running down a very long stretch of straight tunnel when an arrow flew at me from the side. I whipped around to face where it’d come from. My eyes widened, taking in the array of bows sticking out of a hedge, every single one of them already loaded with arrows. Before I could even blink, ten other arrows soared my way.
I sucked in a breath. One deflection, two, then three. My magic flew from me again and again as weapons soared toward me. When I vanquished the final arrow, I was sweating and panting.
And then, the damn bows reloaded.
Oh hell no.I sprang into motion, dashing down the hall of hedges. The bows pivoted, chasing me. A bend in the hedgerow came into view up ahead, and I pushed harder. My legs burned like no other, but when I felt the whoosh of an arrow fly past my back, barely missing me, I forced myself to run faster. All my training paid off and a dozen thundering heartbeats later I made it to the end of the leafy corridor unscathed. I swung around the corner, flipping the bird at the barrage of arrows as I went.
Ha! Screw—
“Ahhh!” I cried out as I slammed into something hard. Immediately, stars appeared in my vision. I nearly toppled to the ground but managed to keep from colliding with the floor by grabbing the hedge. Something—the thing I’d run into—moved and my eyes snapped up from the floor to find Professor Thrax, the Battle Magic instructor at Spellcasters standing before me. His green eyes glinted as a grin spread across his face.
“Good to see you this morning, Diana,” Thrax said, his Scottish brogue thick. “We quarreled over who would put you through the paces.”
The hedges still spun a bit from running into Thrax, but I forced myself to stand up straight all the same.Never let an opponent see your anxiety,one of Mother’s life lessons, ran through my mind.
“I don’t see how you won against de Spina and Umbra.”
“He didn’t.” A few feet past Thrax, Professor de Spina stepped out from behind a tall, vertical pallet dotted with blunt spikes. It was probably meant to be another obstacle judging by its proximity to the blind corner. If something or someone had been chasing me, I could easily imagine myself rushing around the corner and running straight into it. Thankfully—or unthankfully, I still wasn’t sure which—Thrax’s barrel chest had saved me from being pummeled by dull spikes.
“Great. So where’s Umbra?” I asked, buying time as I assessed the space around me. For the first time since I’d entered the course, I found myself in a sort of room instead of a corridor. This allowed for obstacles to dot the floor. In addition to the spiky palette, there was a mountain of shovels and, worst of all, an open cage—which could only have one purpose: to trap me.
