The Island Test

The test is what the island uses to place the new students on the paths. Headmaster Edrin says so at a meal in the dining hall, and Professor Arcanus prepares and runs the test.

The rules

• The students work in teams of three.
• The test takes place on a small, wild island close to Déynáir, about five kilometres across, with dense forest, cliffs and a mountain in the middle.
• Each team has to find three scrolls and reach a house high up on the mountain.
• They have three days.
• Each student may use only three magic words of their own choosing, and they have their Amícûs with them.

The students have already been admitted. It said so in their letters, and nobody takes that from them. The test only decides the path. If a team isn’t back before the time limit, it gets fetched, and nobody has ever been glad of that. The teams come home one by one, and the last ones arrive a few hours before the deadline.

Arcanus tries to calm their nerves: no one has ever died during the test. A couple have fainted, and one student lost their clothes, but he’s saving that story for another time. Nobody laughs.

Team eight

Chris, Ahra and Retia end up on team eight. Ahra injures his leg along the way, and Retia finds a route up the mountain that is easier for him, without saying so out loud. One night in the forest, something old and cold comes right up to their campfire, and Ahra has to use his shield for the first time.

Afterwards

When a team has come home, its path is already on the bed plates in their rooms. The whole team gets the same one.