The Trials of Blackbriar Academy

by Olivia Ash

  Copyrighted Material

  The Trials of Blackbriar Academy copyright © 2019 by Olivia Ash.

  Covert art commissioned and owned by Wispvine Publishing LLC.

  Book design and layout copyright © 2019 by Wispvine Publishing LLC.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living, dead, or undead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Wispvine Publishing, L. L. C.

  www.wispvine.com

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  Books by Olivia Ash

  Dragon Dojo Brotherhood

  Reign of Dragons

  Fate of Dragons

  Blood of Dragons

  Age of Dragons

  Fall of Dragons

  Death of Dragons

  War of Dragons

  Blackbriar Academy

  The Trials of Blackbriar Academy

  The Shadows of Blackbriar Academy

  The Nighthelm Guardian Series

  City of the Sleeping Gods

  City of Fractured Souls

  City of the Enchanted Queen

  Demon Queen Saga

  Princes of the Underworld

  Wars of the Underworld

  Sentinel Saga

  By Dahlia Leigh and Olivia Ash

  The Shadow Shifter

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  The Trials of Blackbriar Academy

  Book One of the Blackbriar Academy Series

  Olivia Ash

  Book Description

  The Trials of Blackbriar Academy

  I shouldn’t be here, and everyone knows it.

  Blackbriar Academy is an enchanted school on a magical island, and everyone wants in. It’s a home away from home for the most advanced mages in the world—and only the best of the best are given an invitation.

  By some freak accident, I managed to get one.

  If I pass the trials, I get to stay. It’s my one shot at having a meaningful life, and I won’t let anyone take this from me.

  But there’s a catch.

  It turns out the people on this island are trained to hunt the darkness—basically, they’re being trained to hunt me.

  I’m being watched.

  To survive, I have to hide what I am. I’m half-human and half-mage, but my magic is mind-blowing—and incredibly illegal. It puts even the most skilled mages to shame.

  As the trials get harder, it’s clear I’m being hunted. If I’m caught… I die.

  Magic like mine? Over history, it has corrupted the souls of those who were born with it. They’ve all gone dark—razing towns and murdering hundreds of thousands throughout history.

  All but me.

  At Blackbriar Academy, nothing is ever as it seems. I want in, and absolutely no one will stand in my way.

  The Trials of Blackbriar Academy is a full-length novel with an alternative relationship dynamic that supports our badass heroine's right to choose more than one man. Get ready for a breathtaking story, soulmate romance, lip-biting love scenes, mind-blowing magic, one kickass heroine, four gorgeous men, lots of toned muscles, fights to the death, and edge-of-your-seat action.

  Warning: The Blackbriar Academy Series is an academy fantasy reverse harem series with explicit scenes and is meant for adult readers who enjoy steamy scenes and lip-biting action.

  The Trials of Blackbriar Academy is a full-length novel with a badass heroine, a riveting storyline, and an alternative relationship dynamic. Get ready for a heart-pounding story filled with an academy fantasy romance unlike anything you’ve read before.

  Buckle in for heart-pounding action, breathtaking magic, deadly assassins, four drop-dead gorgeous leading men, lots of toned muscles, and most importantly—a young woman’s journey of justice, self-discovery, and freedom.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Author Notes

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  I’m alone… sort of.

  Hiding within a dense crop of trees, deep in the enchanted forest I’ve been trapped in for six years, I know I’m close.

  So very, very close.

  After three years of trying to beat those jackass forest trolls at their own game, I will finally win. I’m faster, stronger, and no amount of cheating is going to stop me.

  I will be free. I can finally live on my own terms, for the first time in six years.

  I weave my way through the trees and edge toward a long-dead oak so I can duck out of sight. A bead of sweat drips into my eyes, and I use the back of my dirt-covered hand to wipe it away. With a quick check around me, finding only the silent woods, not so much as a branch or a leaf moves with the gentle breeze blowing around me.

  I’m in the clear.

  The sacred horn is close. I can practically feel it—and it’s not far off from where I stand.

  It will be mine.

  If I get the horn, that means I’m free. By earning my freedom, they won’t keep dragging me back once I leave.

  Because that’s the deal they made me.

  It’s the same as every year. They think I won’t be able to do it. That I’m too weak. Too human. They want to give me false hope, but this year is different.

  This year, the horn is as good as mine.

  The snap of a twig behind me draws my attention and I narrow my eyes in the direction the sound came from. That’s the difference between me and the trolls. I know how to sidestep a twig on the ground and avoid giving away my position.

  I hasten my steps as I draw nearer to the horn.

  The sacred horn is legendary among this village of trolls. It’s a thing of myth. Of ancient
lore. It’s been around for eons—longer than this forest, probably. Whoever gets the horn is granted honor and brings prosperity to their family for the coming months’ harvests.

  Most importantly, to them, it brings respect.

  But I don’t want their respect. I want freedom. And for a human living among trolls, that’s something I’ve never had. I’m always treated like a monster.

  A slave.

  Soon, I can go home to my aunt. Get answers. Find out who killed my family.

  Hell, I could go anywhere I damn well please.

  I shuffle my feet to the right, around a large oak, before jumping down a short slope toward a river rushing through the forest below me. Landing on my feet, I grip a narrow aspen for support and rake my gaze around my surroundings.

  No shadows move.

  And no shadows means no trolls.

  Moving on. I can almost taste the mouthpiece on my lips as I press it to my mouth and prepare to give it a blow. But that’s moving ahead of myself. Too soon to get my hopes up just yet. Too soon to celebrate.

  Six years ago, when I was only fourteen years old, the trolls kidnapped me. Now, I’m twenty and used to fending for myself, surviving on scraps and exploring the woods when I’m not being harassed by my captors.

  They probably didn’t know it, but they gave me everything I needed to survive without them. Without anyone. I once made it three entire days on my own before they finally caught up to me.

  Because they always do. Every time I try to escape, they find me. It’s only a matter of time.

  Not anymore.

  I’m done with them all.

  But first, I need that horn.

  I hop into the riverbed and look toward the east. The horn is within my sight now, sitting at the base of an ancient tree near the basin, north of the troll village. I’m so close to the damn thing.

  The sweet bliss of freedom is about to finally be mine.

  To be perfectly honest, I don’t know what is so important about a relic such as that horn. None of the trolls ever told me. And though the deal is to give me freedom if I get the horn first, they all treated my participation as a joke.

  Silly, puny human.

  You’re our slave. You belong to us.

  You will never win.

  And I don’t.

  Because Gnars does.

  He always wins.

  He cheats, but he wins.

  I’m done with losing to a cheater like him. It’s not fair, and I’m finally just done. I’m going to ensure things change for me from here on out. I refuse to spend another year as a slave, as an escapee, recaptured and forced to do their dirty work for them while they feast on legs of elk, drink their spirits, and praise themselves for the lords of the world they think they are.

  I glance behind me once more and slowly inch my way to the ancient tree, trying not to slosh my boots in the water. The heavy thud of footsteps pounds against the ground behind me, thick and clunky as the troll sprints toward the finish line.

  Out of time, I push myself forward and storm through the water.

  Something hits my back, and a weight knocks me off balance. I land in the riverbed, holding my breath to keep my lungs from being filled with cold water, as drowning is a very unpleasant experience. The weight leaves me, and I roll onto my back and stare at Gnars’ wart-covered face.

  “Stupid human.” His moss-green skin wrinkling as he sneers down at me. “I followed you. I do every year. Always. You make it so damn easy for me to win.”

  I narrow my eyes at him, wishing I could just shoot him with my magic—but the last time I used my powers on one of them, they broke my conduit and beat me for days. Magic is powerful, but trolls have thick skin and are quick to overwhelm their prey. Back then, I was only fifteen, and I didn’t stand a chance against dozens of full-grown trolls. It was brutal. I suffered a broken arm, broken ribs, and a punctured lung, and they forbade me from ever getting another conduit.

  They thought they could break me by taking away the one thing that allows me to use my magic. Without a conduit, I would be nothing but a frail human, easy for them to bruise and break.

  But I made another one.

  I reach for the homemade conduit tucked in my pocket and feel that it remains in one piece. My fingers slide along all the grooves of the small branch of birchwood with pretty, clear crystals I found during one of my adventures in the woods, wrapped with straw and mud. I’ve memorized every bump and groove over the years, and it’s perfect.

  My little secret, safe and sound.

  Good.

  I tune him out as he continues to berate me for being an irritating human and recites the various punishments he will force me to endure for the coming year. He laughs, but he won’t be for much longer.

  This year, the damn horn is mine—no matter the cost.

  It’s just me and him. There’s no one to outnumber me this time, and Gnars is truly on his own.

  I pull out my conduit and aim it at his big, stupid face.

  He stops talking, voice caught in his large throat which leaves his mouth hanging open like a dumb animal. He stares at my short wand in a blend of disgust and disbelief. “You dare—”

  “That’s right asshole,” I growl. “Back up.”

  He edges closer to the horn. His fingers flinch as they get ever so close to touching it.

  I sigh and roll my eyes. “The other direction, Gnars.”

  He growls and does as he is told.

  Keeping an eye on him, my conduit pointed dangerously at his chest, I climb to my feet. Cold water sloshes between my toes and I try to ignore the chill overcoming my body as the cool breeze blows like ice through my clothes.

  “Farther,” I say, voice deadpan and leaving no room for argument.

  “I won,” Gnars growls.

  “Not yet you haven’t.”

  He doesn’t win until he blows the horn, and I’ll be damned if he gets to it first.

  “You’re making everything worse for yourself, human,” he says with disgust, like I’m nothing more than an ant beneath his boot.

  “My name is Wren,” I snap. “And I won’t let you cheat your way to winning this year, Gnars.”

  His eyes dart toward the horn and he goes to grab it. Furious, unwilling to let him win yet again, I shoot a blast of my magic at his chest. It hits his arm instead, blowing a hole in his sleeve. He yells in pain, the cry echoing through the forest as he’s blown backward.

  As smoke spirals from his arm, he scrambles toward the horn. If he blows it, he can get help—and I won’t let that happen.

  I jump into a dead run, cutting him off before he can get a hand on the trophy of this hunt. He manages to get on his feet as I near, but I’m faster. Wrapping an arm around his waist, I throw all my weight into him.

  Lucky for me, trolls are top-heavy.

  We fall together to the forest floor. Furious, practically seething at my audacity, he pounds his hands into my back, and I bite against the pain as my magic fills me. It burns and swirls within my body, boiling my blood with all the rage and fire of battle.

  Time to end this.

  I aim my conduit at his shoulder and blast him with a shock of electric light.

  He cries out and releases me.

  This is my chance.

  I bolt to my feet, my eyes on the horn.

  It’s so close.

  Gnars grabs my ankle and tugs hard. I fall, and my chin hits a rock embedded in the leaves beneath us. My world spins, and I can’t stop myself from teetering as I try to regain my balance. “Enough,” Gnars says, his voice dripping with hatred. “You will pay for daring to touch me, you disgusting human.”

  Murmurs echo from around me, banging around in my aching skull as I try to clear my head. My vision slowly clears, and to my horror, Gnars and I are no longer alone. The thirteen other trolls that were participating in the hunt slowly emerge from the shadows, one by one, cutting off every possible exit.

  They surround me, sneering. Some lift the
ir clubs, ready to bash my head in if I so much as dare to move. They cluster around me, ignoring the horn despite the fact that it’s barely five feet away from my outstretched palm.

  They… they were all in on it.

  I can’t help but gape in dismay as I figure it out. They’re not going for the horn because they don’t want it. Whatever deal Gnars made with them, they refuse to let anyone else win.

  I knew he was a cheating bastard, but this is an entirely new low. Even for him.

  There’s only one rule of the hunt. Every troll for himself.

  They were willing to work together if it means I fail. If it means they get to keep their puny little human slave for another year.

  “You’re never going to let me go,” I say quietly, finally understanding. “All this—even if I got the horn, you wouldn’t honor your promise.”

  Gnars chuckles darkly, brushing off his still-sizzling shirt as he stands. “You finally understand how the game works.” He looks me over briefly. “You’re just a toy we play with, but it’s fun to watch you fail.”