Trial By Fire (Schooled in Magic Book 7) Read Online Free

the soil started to give way under her feet, threatening to send her falling down the side and into the pit. She steadied herself, then peered down as she saw figures swarming at the bottom, fighting each other with a savage intensity that shocked her to the bone. It had been nearly three years since she’d last seen an orc, outside lessons, but they were unmistakable, even though the distance made them look tiny.
    “A breeding frenzy,” the Grandmaster said, quietly. “That isn’t a good sign.”
    Emily stroked Aurelius as she took in the sight. The orcs were huge, each one easily two meters tall; shambling parodies of humanity. They carried swords that were taller than the Grandmaster, lashing out at one another with more determination than skill, their blades cutting into stone-hard skin. She knew from grim experience that they were far stronger than the average human, although they weren’t very bright and could be outrun if someone was prepared to show them their backs and flee. They needed a strong leader to pose anything more than a minor threat to travelers. Shadye had recruited an army through force and led them against Whitehall. She felt the snake’s discontent at the presence of the warped monsters and shuddered, before smiling to herself. The orcs would be equally discomfited to see a Death Viper.
    “Only one in ten of them will survive - the strongest or the smartest,” the Grandmaster commented. “They will go back down into the tunnels and impregnate the women, then wait for the next generation to be born. There will be hundreds of thousands of new orcs soon enough, just looking for a leader.”
    Emily looked at him. “Why now?”
    “Good question,” the Grandmaster said. “Shadye would have pushed them into building a new army, but Shadye is dead.”
    “They might have another leader,” Emily said. She looked back at the orcs and grimaced. It wouldn’t be easy to beat one in a fight, without magic. Even the greatest swordsman in the land would have problems. Bows and arrows wouldn’t make much of an impression on their solid hides...but would bullets? “Someone else intent on forming an army.”
    “It’s a possibility,” the Grandmaster acknowledged.
    He took one last look into the pit, then turned and led her back towards the Dark Fortress. Emily followed, gritting her teeth as the howling grew louder and louder until it echoed within her very bones. The orcs might have seen them and given chase...she found herself glancing backwards as the haze closed in again, making it impossible to see if anything was climbing out of the pit. She shaped spells in her mind - the only way to win was to knock the orc down and out as quickly as possible - and waited. Nothing seemed to be following them.
    Aurelius would sense it if someone came after us , she told herself, firmly. It had been a disappointment to learn that animals couldn’t really talk to their human masters, but she was learning how to interpret the sensations Aurelius pushed towards her. There’s nothing up here but us chickens .
    She pushed the thought aside as the Inverse Shadow came into view. It was a towering building, but it was impossible to actually get a sense of what it looked like. Her eyes kept slipping over the exterior; one moment, it looked like a towering cathedral, the next it looked like something bent and twisted out of shape. She peered into the open doors, seemingly waiting to see who would walk inside, then shuddered as she sensed the magic - and something else - coiling around the outer walls. If Shadye hadn’t been mad before he’d walked into the Inverse Shadow, long exposure to the twisted building would have driven him mad.
    Her throat was suddenly dry, but she forced herself to speak. “What is the Inverse Shadow?”
    “No one knows,” the Grandmaster said. For once, he looked perturbed. “One school of thought suggests it used to be a nexus point, one that was drained by the necromancers, while