Abby Fullmer had prepared well for this moment, but that didn’t stop her heart from pounding as an unnatural darkness settled over the forest that surrounded her. She knew it was just past two in the afternoon, but the sky had become pitch black. Eerie rustling sounds came from the leaves of the trees, leaving her with no doubts that she was not alone in these woods.

She took a deep, steady breath, and forced herself to remain calm. She was well-trained. She could handle this. Out of all the wizards in Torch Lake, she was one of the best at defense spells. And whatever was making those rustling noises was about to see just how strong she could be when threatened.

Her right hand, on which she wore her deep emerald magic ring, was extended in front of her body.

“Magicae arma,” she whispered. A slight, static-filled buzzing noise surrounded her, letting her know that her shield spell was working. It was the simplest of shield spells, and she knew it wouldn’t hold long against whatever challenges she was about to face. But it would buy her enough time to figure out what attack and shield spells she should be using. She didn’t want to waste magical energy on more complicated spells until she had a better idea of what was lurking in the midday darkness.

Time seemed to stand still as she turned in a slow circle, peering into the black forest with her magic ring still extended in front of her. She knew enough about dark magic to know that darkness spells were all the rage among dark wizards right now. She wasn’t surprised by the sudden disappearance of the sun, but she couldn’t keep from feeling a little bit unnerved by it, anyway. She could have pushed back the darkness if she wanted to, but the amount of magical energy she would need to do that would leave her exhausted. Better to save her strength for spells that would do more than just bring back the sun.

Abby could kick ass and take names regardless of how much light she had, and she was about to prove it.

Wait for it, she told herself. Don’t make your move too soon. Steady nerves are your biggest advantage.

The charged silence didn’t make holding steady easy, but Abby refused to cower in fear. She had what it took to make it through this, whatever this might be. Every second that ticked by felt like an eternity, but Abby did not let her concentration waver for a moment.

And then, just like that, the floodgates opened. The silence gave way to angry, hissing shrieks, and the rustling changed to the sound of thunderous footsteps, trampling through the forest. And still Abby remained motionless, her ears cocked to listen. She would not make her move until just the right moment. She carefully analyzed the sounds rushing toward her. The shrieks were too low-pitched to be coming from genuine shifters. They were real animals, bears if her ears were not deceiving her. That would be an easy enough threat to take care of—she’d launch a force field spell a few seconds before they reached her, and that would keep them from harming her. Regular old animals would never be able to get through even the simplest of force fields.

But the fact that a good portion of the attack was coming from simple bears made her worry. This meant that whatever was behind the rest of the attack was going to be a force to be reckoned with. Whatever the attacker’s plan was, he wasn’t wasting any magical energy on side attacks. A few bears were just a distraction. All of the main energy of the attack was going to be concentrated into one, awful spell. And it was going to be a doozy.

“Magicae murus,” Abby called out, just before the bears reached her. The spell put up an invisible force field wall around her, and the bears ran smack into it, howling in frustration as they tried to reach her but could not, despite the fact that she stood only a few feet in front of them. Abby barely glanced at them. They were a nuisance, a distraction. Whoever was coming after her was using them merely to try to break her concentration, but she wasn’t falling for it. She focused sharper than ever.

Her chest still rose and fell rapidly as the adrenaline of battle sped through her veins. Her snug, black uniform hugged her curves, keeping her warm against the chill that filled the air. The sun disappearing in the middle of the day had an almost immediate effect on the temperature, causing it to drop nearly ten degrees within a matter of minutes. But the cold was the least of Abby’s concerns right now. Her attacker was taking his time, and she knew why. He thought he could break down her concentration, but he thought wrong. Abby knew people saw her blonde hair and blue eyes and assumed she was some sort of ditzy Barbie doll, but they were wrong. She was so much more than just a pretty face.

She was a warrior. A skilled warrior. And today, she was going to prove it. She was going to show everyone that no one messed with Abby Fullmer. No one. Not even the fiercest of the dark wizards.

Ignoring the bears, Abby continued to listen. She’d worked hard to develop the ancient art of spell-listening. It allowed you to know what magic attacks were coming against you before they hit. This skill required intensive practice to learn, but it was worth the time and effort. If Abby could keep her concentration right now, she’d be able to tell what spells were being thrown at her before they hit. And that would allow her to launch the most appropriate shields or counterattacks before any enemy spell could reach her.

The shrieks and trampling continued. The bears roared and pawed at the force field. And Abby waited, until, suddenly, with blinding clarity, she felt it.

An intense heat wave was coming toward her! Someone had launched a calor heat spell stronger than any she’d ever sensed before. The strength of the devastating heat frightened her so badly that no one could have blamed her if she’d faltered and thrown out a return spell too late. But Abby didn’t falter.

“Magicae crustallum!” she yelled out. Instantly, a shield of thick ice surrounded her. The calor spell melted the ice rapidly, but Abby held the shield steady. The ice replenished itself just as quickly as the enemy’s heat melted it away. Abby was relatively safe as long as she kept the shield going, but relatively safe wasn’t good enough for Abby. She wanted to be completely safe, and that meant taking out her attacker completely, not just holding him at bay.

“Magicae glacio!” she yelled. In the next instant, sharp spears of solid ice shot forth from her magic ring. Abby held both the ice shield and ice spear spells steady, devoting as much magical strength as she could muster to the ice spells, and keeping just enough energy leftover to hold the force field spell against the bears. The bears began to howl with pain, though, as they found themselves in the crossfire of the heat and ice spells. Within a minute, they had turned to run, roaring in angry anguish as they got as far away from Abby as they could.

And still, Abby held the ice spells steady. Snow began to swirl around her, even though the early April weather here in Oregon was far too mild for flurries. Abby closed her eyes and concentrated. How long would she have to hold these spells before her enemy would give in?

She knew that any dark wizard she met would be shocked to be hit by an ice spell. These spells were ancient magic, and precious few wizards in modern times knew how to do them. Abby was a master of ice spells, though. If all she had to do was keep the magical ice going, this would be easy.

Too easy, she realized suddenly. With barely a second to spare, she sensed that the wizard attacking her was shifting his method of attack. She should have known that the heat attack would only be a warm-up.

“Magicae anima!” Abby yelled in desperation. She was almost too late. The oxygen-sucking spell hit her hard. If she’d been a split second later with her own air-giving spell, she would have suffocated. She wouldn’t have even been able to draw the breath she needed to speak out a spell.

Bastard! Abby thought. I hope you enjoyed getting so close to defeating me, because it’s the closest you’re going to get. Game on.

For the next thirty minutes, Abby fought with everything in her. She launched attack spell after attack spell, and used shield after shield to keep herself safe. For every strike against her, she had an answer. She became a blur of flesh and magic as she spun around, running on pure instinct as she answered every blow with a strike more powerful. She had trained well for this. She knew how to overcome whatever spell her attacker could come up with.

And then, just as suddenly as the attacks had begun, they stopped.

“Time!” called a voice from somewhere in the blackness of the forest. Instantly, the sun appeared again. The unnatural chill left the air, and the terrifying shrieks ceased. Abby slumped to the ground, completely spent, but happy.

“How’d I do?” she asked, even though she already knew. She’d done fantastic. She was the first student who had not given up before time was called on the final exam.

“Abigail Fullmer, I am impressed. And I am not easily impressed.”

Abby tried to appear humble, but she couldn’t keep a satisfied grin off her face.

“Thank you, Professor,” she said, trying not to sound as out of breath as she felt. She’d done well on this exam, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t taken its toll on her. As her heart rate slowly began to return to normal, she could feel the exhaustion setting in. The Professor who had just complimented her was Barnabas Sparks, the head of Torch Lakes Academy of Ancient Magic. The Academy was still new enough that he was supervising all of the practical final exams. Abby had been nervous, knowing that he would be watching her. But she had relied on her training, and that training had served her well.

“I’m also impressed.” The voice belonged to Sunny Rivera. Next to Barnabas, Sunny was the most prominent professor at the Academy of Ancient Magic. Abby felt her heart leap, knowing that she had impressed them both. Perhaps that would mean that she had a shot at the coveted internship being offered this summer. She hadn’t dared to let herself hope for it, but now that she’d done so well on her finals, maybe she had a chance.

“Could you meet me in my office in an hour?” Barnabas asked, furrowing his brow as he looked down at a clipboard, where he’d presumably been taking notes on her performance.

“Of course, Professor,” Abby said, trying not to sound as giddy as she felt.

Yup, she definitely had a chance at that internship. And that meant she had a chance at being part of the Torch Lake Team that would take down the Dark Warriors for good.

“Bring it on,” Abby whispered as she watched Barnabas and Sunny nod and turn to walk away from the training area.

She had been born for this.