He squeezed his fist. This conceited girl was making a fool of him and his friends. But she was right, he was really going to make a fool of himself as he knew nothing practical about magic. Emma reminded him of Balesky from school. No matter where he went, there was always someone who wanted to mess up his life. At first, he thought of his uncle and couldn’t bear anyone to say anything bad about him. He had to prove her wrong. And he needed to enter the academy and figure out what really happened to his uncle. Casey was up next. She conjured a tiny black-royal-purple mixed whirlpool above her head, and after several tough tries, a sun floated above the coliseum. Everyone looked amazed by her power, but Emma just sighed. 

Tyler eventually managed to summon what seemed to be a single white feather to a bird. Where the rest of the bird was, Victor didn’t know, but Tyler looked at Victor from a distance with a wide grin of pride as the old man asked them both to go to the table for classification. By then Emma was nowhere to be seen. 

Bethany very gracefully conjured a powerful, bright light, seemingly encapsulated within a tiny bubble that grew from in her hands into the size of a carriage wheel before shrinking back down into nothingness. She gave a nervous smile as she was asked to settle in her coven line and shyly made her way to the instructors. 

It wasn’t long until it was just Victor left, standing alone in the middle of the near-empty coliseum grounds. The old man looked inquisitively and expectantly at him, a fierce white eyebrow-raising almost on its own accord. 

It's now or never, he thought. Ever since coming to terms with magic, he had felt somewhat haunted by what had happened at school. He still wasn’t entirely sure what had happened that day, but now was not the time for doubts. He tried to push thoughts of confidence back into the forefront of his mind. The instructors were watching him now, but it seemed Casey, Tyler and the rest had already left the coliseum. 

“Come along now, Waltz,” urged the old man. 

Victor shrank a little. Could he do it? Did he possess magical abilities? Should he even be there? The questions cycled around his head enough to make him dizzy, but at long last he raised his hands and wished for something, anything, to appear in front of him. Closing his eyes, he tried to focus his mind, but had absolutely no idea if he was doing the right thing or not. He tried to clear his mind, think of something positive and happy, thinking that might help him. He felt, for a moment, a joyous warmth swelling inside of him. As he did, he felt as if the sand beneath his feet began to quiver and shake in response to what he was asking. It all suddenly felt so right and natural. 

But it did not last. Something quickly restrained the feeling, and Victor did not notice until it was seemingly too late. A dark cloud seemed to appear overhead, shrouding the bright blue of midday. But the cloud seemed different from that of a normal storm. It seemed to lack the nuances and comfort of natural weather. Abruptly, all was black and silent, and Victor seemed to stand in a place that no longer resembled the coliseum where he had been only moments before. 

He looked overhead and saw nothing in the sky. Around him, a familiar black desert that seemed completely void of life. Not a breeze seemed to pass through him, but a fierce cold took hold of him. And yet, as he tried to make sense of himself and where he was, he could hear the faint whisper of familiar voices half-forgotten, bouncing between the ancient rocks that told tales older than time itself. 

Victor, it said, over and over again. 

The voice grew louder and fiercer. Victor breathed slowly to make sense of what was happening, but the cold cut through him relentlessly. 

He clenched his fists in rebellion. Between his bouts of confusion, he discovered his frustration, finding his voice that suddenly erupted in protest against it all. 

“Enough!” he screamed into the abyss that sought to swallow him. 

“Victor!” the voice came again, and his eyes shot open. 

He became aware of his body moment by moment, realising he was lying on the sandy ground of the coliseum. The voice that suddenly stirred him belonged to the woman who was looking down at him, alongside several others who he felt were familiar to him, yet he could not properly recall. After several moments, memory and sense suddenly returned to him. It was Professor Wolflight and the examination instructor, and even Tyler and Casey had joined, looking worriedly at him. He stuttered a moment but managed a few words. 

“Wh-what... happened?” 

Professor Wolflight’s concerned expression said it all, and nobody needed to say anything. 

“The Veil.” 

Tyler and Casey helped Victor up, and he brushed the sand off of his clothes. Carrot leapt up onto his shoulder and worriedly nuzzled against his neck, making him squirm slightly in happy protest. It was enough to cheer him up somewhat. 

“What happens now?” he asked Wolflight. 

“Well, I would say you passed your practical test, Victor, and we would like to sort you into Dawn Coven, along with Tyler and Cassandra.” The two cheered and hugged him, and despite the chaos of the afternoon, he somehow managed to find some piece of joy for a moment. 

“Take this,” continued the Professor, passing Victor a silver bracelet that shone wondrously in the light of the clear skies above them. “The Magicloak is designed to hide your magical signature from others. All students of Darklight have them, each assigned to their respective Coven.” Tyler and Casey flashed their identical bracelets that hung around their wrists, each with their cheesy grins. Victor smiled back as he put his own on. “Now, we’d better get on, children,” concluded Wolflight, and she swiftly turned back towards the gate to the coliseum. 

“She doesn’t hang around much, does she?” joked Tyler. 

The newly enlisted students headed to the small refectory inside the coliseum, Victor, Tyler, and Casey had a lot to talk about over their lunch. After some hesitation, Victor opened up more about what had happened when he experienced the blackout. His descriptions were enough to send chills down Tyler's and Casey’s spines, and they reacted with what seemed to be a shiver. 

“Yikes,” said Casey. “How do you feel now?” Victor thought about it for a while. In truth, he could never really shake these strange half-memories that seemed to plague the far reaches of his mind now. 

“I’m fine.” He took another bite of his sandwich. Carrot went to nibble the crumbs that fell as Victor munched. 

“We’ll keep an eye out for you, Victor. Don’t worry,” asserted Tyler with a big grin. 

Casey nodded. 

On their way back, Victor looked up at the coliseum. The stone walls of the coliseum were cracked as well as the upper balconies. And the ground was half-sunk where he once laid unconscious. Victor gulped.