“Angelique, try using your core magic on it,” Evaristeinstructed.
“What?” Angelique shouted, unable to keep the fear from hervoice.
“You’ll be fine,” he promised in a soothing tone shortly before taking an abrupt sidestep to avoid the troll’s grasping fingers. “There’s a great number of sharp and jagged pieces of wood from this brute’s propensity to snaptrees.”
“My magic isdangerous,” Angeliqueargued.
Evariste wriggled his fingers, and a tree wrapped a willow-y branch around the troll’s neck and reeled it backwards, yanking it off itsfeet.
The troll hit the ground with a thump that vibrated beneath Angelique’sfeet.
“Your magic is nothing of the sort,” Evariste argued. “You need to use it so you seethat!”
Angelique shook her head. “I don’t have enough control over it. But I can distract the troll while you finish itoff!”
“No.” Evariste watched the troll struggle with the tree before it finally yanked the murderous branch straight off the trunk. “This is part of your lessons, Apprentice. Youneedto dothis.”
The troll lumbered to its feet, then chargedEvariste.
The Lord Enchanter darted behind a tree, but the troll rammed into it and collapsedit.
Evariste kept running, weaving between thetrees.
Angelique ran after them, scratching her arm on a thorny bush as she gavechase.
Evariste wove around a mud puddle, then stopped just past it. When the troll splashed through it, the mud sucked on its feet like quicksand, and it fell to itsknees.
It started to crawl out of the mud but caught sight of Evariste again and tried to snatchhim.
Enchanter Evariste lingered just out of the troll’s reach, teasing it. “Now, Angelique,” hesaid.
Maybe…maybe this will be okay?Her mouth was dry, and her heart pounded so loudly in her ears it was hard to think.I’ve learned a lot. But, but…She grimaced as she watched Evariste dodge the glop of mud the troll threw at him.I don’t have much of a choice. Not if I want to stay hisapprentice.
Angelique licked her lips and slowly loosened the ties on hermagic.
Her hands shook as a silver cloud of her magic grew around her fingertips. She blinked as her magic stretched her awareness, and she searched for anything in the woods with a sharpenededge.
Splintered stakes of wood broken off from snapped trunks started to float in the air like dust motes, suspended by the power of hermagic.
Though they didn’t have the cutting power of a blade, the wood could stillimpale.
Don’t use too much. Take as little as possible, Angelique reminded herself. She sifted through the chunks of wood, then rearranged them so they were pointed at the troll’s back like woodendaggers.
The troll, unaware of the danger lurking behind it, finally boosted itself into a standingposition.
“Good control, Apprentice,” Evariste praised as he took a single stepbackwards.
The troll chomped its jaw, and more phlegmy drool fell from its mouth as it growled. It took a giant step towards Evariste, nearly blocking the enchanter fromsight.
I need to strike now!Angelique hesitated a moment longer, then launched her attack, pelting the sharpened stakes of wood at the troll’s back like a storm of arrows shot by an army ofarchers.
But as Angelique launched her attack, the troll lunged for Evariste, twisting the angle of hisbody.
While most of the stakes hit the intended target, two shot past the monster, on a straight path for EnchanterEvariste.
NO!As soon as Angelique saw their trajectory, she yanked back on her magic…toolate.
One of the wooden stakes stabbed Evariste in the shoulder, the other grazed the side of hischest.
