Taking his leave of the wizard, Draken shakes the demons from his head. Tobias, he hasn’t thought about him in a while. That fool could have outrun an old woman and no one would have died.

Draken knows that if he’d been there he’d have never let any bodies drop. Then again if anyone had spotted him last week he might be dangling at the end of a rope himself. He rubs his neck at the uncomfortable thought. Red velvet curtains mark the witch’s territory. Draken feels a pressure deep inside of him, this consuming apprehension makes him pause. He feels a hand on his shoulder and jumps in his skin. A grinning farmboy meets his gaze, the same overgrown youth who he’d met before.

“You look pretty good considering what happened to the last guy, how’d you do?” The older boy asks. Draken shrugs out of the lad’s grip,“Said some stuff to him at the end, pissed him off.”

“Pissing off the proctors is getting to be a habit with you.” The boy laughs.

“How’d things go with the sorcerer?” Draken asks.

The older youth yawns. “You were right, he gave me a break once I leveled with him. Got any tips for the wizard?”

Draken smiles. “No freebees, tit for tat that’s the deal.”

The smile vanishes from the other lad’s face and he looks nervously at the velvet curtain.

“I already told you, she gets in your head, that bitch. She’ll Crack your mind open like an egg and scramble it. Your worst memories, your darkest fears, nothing is safe. I didn’t come close to passing, so I can’t imagine what it takes but you’ll need to anchor your thoughts just to stay sane.” He waggles his thumb toward a gibbering, blank faced girl. “She took the test before me.”

A tense feeling builds as Draken glances at the curtain again. He clears his throat, turning his attention back to his friend. “Alright, tit for tat, the wizard’s a softie. You keep that in mind and don’t panic, I think you’ll be OK. ”

“What do you mean by softie?” The older kid asks.

“I can’t give details on account of he changes the test up each time but no matter how bad it looks he aint about to let you die on him, so keep your cool.”

The boy scratches his lightly fuzzed chin, “the dead kid might say otherwise.”

“That kid was a fool and unlucky to boot,” Draken shrugs. “Guess I’d better head through that curtain and get it over with.”

Draken feels a hand on his shoulder again, the older lad is grim-faced.

“Be careful, this witch is most definitely not a softie. She gets a kick out of destroying people. ”

Draken nods, preparing himself for the worse.

(Because the chapter ran long I'm posting the first part separate and the rest as Chapter V)