hurtled her way.
The trunk smashed into her opalescent shield, which crackled with hissing magic. The shield bulged awkwardly for a moment before Angelique strengthened it with so much magic, it engulfed the tree trunk, cracking it into splinters and sawdust.
An angry roar ripped through the silence of the forest.
A troll.
Angelique heard it before she saw it as it crashed its way through the underbrush, smashing trees and ripping bushes and saplings from the ground. With all the destruction it wreaked, it took only a few moments before its ugly hide was visible.
It was slightly larger than average for a troll—perhaps around nine feet tall—and had limbs as thick as tree trunks and a hide that was stiff and hard. Even at a run, the troll looked like a strange combination of rock and damp wood.
Its yellow teeth jutted out of its mouth in a massive underbite, and its nose looked like it had been smashed into its face so many times it no longer stuck out. Ropy drool dropped from its mouth as it loped closer, wildly swinging its arms to beat tree branches back.
Trolls usually stuck to swampy wetlands or wetter forests. It was rare to find one in a place like Farset, particularly this close to Alabaster Forest. But Angelique had encountered a troll in Farset before, back when she and Evariste were visiting the elves.
At the time she’d been terrified and had accidentally hurt Evariste as she tried to fight it.
Unfortunately for this troll, years of scraping by without Evariste had carved through Angelique like claws.
With no one to count on but herself, she’d been forced to fight and survive alone against enemies far more powerful. She was a different magic user than she’d been when she’d first encountered a troll years ago in these woods.
Which was why, with the troll roaring and bearing down on her like a herd of stampeding cattle, Angelique only raised an eyebrow.
With a casualness that would have horrified her as a student, Angelique dropped her shield. Magic twined around her, and she whispered in the language of magic as she slowly extended a hand and pointed at the troll.
It was almost on her, now. It was so close, its putrid, swamp-water scent made her eyes water.
But Angelique held her ground, her face blank of emotion, and waited until it reached for her before releasing her spell.
With a deep groan that shifted all the trees in the area, the ground snapped open in a gaping, pitch-black hole.
The troll half fell in, but it managed to catch itself on the rim, its stubby fingers grasping at the dry ground for a hold.
The jagged jaws of the earth clamped down around it and squeezed.
Angelique released another spell, and the tree closest to the struggling troll bent so deeply it crackled on ground, then smacked the troll’s fingers with its whip-like branches.
The troll bellowed as it lost its grasp and fell all the way into the hole.
The ground sealed over the hole, and dead grass and leaves crawled across the dirt patch until it looked virtually undisturbed.
It had been so easy this time—a result of more battles than Angelique ever thought she’d see in her lifetime.
More than ever Angelique longed to turn around and point out to Evariste how much she had improved…but he wasn’t there.
He hadn’t been there for years.
“I am not the same girl I was back then,” Angelique snarled at the still ground. “You will find it a thousand times harder to kill me, even if I don’t use my core magic. Even if I am alone.”
Angry tears stung Angelique’s eyes, and her shoulders shook. She was so consumed with emotion, it took her a few moments to realize the earth was shaking.
Her heart jumped to her throat as she felt someone ancient and powerful. It was distant, but it was charging at such a rapid pace, it would be on her within moments.
Angelique scrambled to raise a shield.
What could this possibly be? Did that black mage report back to the Chosen, and now they’re sending monsters after me to eliminate me?
Angelique crouched down and pushed herself against the thick trunk of a leaning oak tree.
She forced herself to stay calm as she channeled more of her magic, twisting it into a usable form.
The thing stormed closer and closer. The ground rumbled, and the sky seemed to dim under the threat of whatever it was.
Angelique held her breath as she cradled a lightning spell in her arms, and the thing burst through