The third Trial was rough on me. I think it broke me for a while. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and running out of my room. I banged on the boys’ door until Rio opened it and I could run to Nix. He held me while I cried. Nix is like my twin brother born into another family. He’s always understood me. Although I don’t understand him at all, to be honest.

  Eventually I fell asleep. I woke up in my own bed the next day. Nobody said anything to me about it. I think they understood somehow. I know that Addie’s Trial was difficult for her as well.

  We’ve learned from them, though. Everybody but Nix filled in some of the [unknown]s in their Blessing. Here are the additions.

  Addie - Chaos’ General (Acolyte Boon)

  Rio - Gravity Mage (Summon Boon)

  Kari - Space Mage (Summon Boon)

  Saki - Destroyer (Acolyte Boon), Elemental Mage (Summon Boon)

  Week 5

  I had the strangest dream last night. I was eating a formal dinner, sitting at a long table with people I didn’t know. About ten of us total. In this dream I could see. In fact, I could see with much more focus than I normally have. Both with my eyes and with my ESP.

  I sat at the foot of the table. At the head of the table sat an angel. Or at least, she looked like what I imagine an angel would look like. She had pale blonde hair, ice blue eyes, and smooth pale skin. Being blind, I’m not sure I’m qualified to weigh in on what’s beautiful and what’s not, but this woman definitely was beautiful. Seriously, so beautiful it frightened me a little bit. Maybe a lot.

  Like, I usually crush on any and every girl I come in contact with but I was scared to even think about it with this woman. She had an aura about her that made her unapproachable.

  And I mean that literally. She had an aura like I’d never seen before. A deep purple-black. It didn’t seem threatening to me like, say, a dark red aura, but it didn’t seem welcoming to me, either. It felt like she was holding me at arm’s length. The idea of getting close to her was compelling but also frightening somehow.

  Now I’m babbling. It’s just that she kept looking at me. Studying me like she was passing judgment on my soul. It was disconcerting. Really, really, disconcerting.

  At the end of the meal, which was really good, by the way, the dream dissolved. From there I think I fell asleep. I know, I must have already been asleep if I was dreaming. It’s just what it felt like. Weird.

  Excerpt from Saki's journal

  I snap my fingers and the candles burst into flame. Twenty-seven at once. In front, to the sides, behind me.

  I'm so awesome.

  Well, not really. I’ve learned. Practiced. Sweated. Cried. Screamed. Threw candles across the room many many times. Put in the effort. Dealt with the frustration and boredom.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  I heard my gym teacher tell a mother once, "Kids don't get tired, they get bored."

  Adults, teens, kids, toddlers, all are the same. We get bored. We stop. We say we're tired and move on to something else.

  Not a formula for success. If you want to get good at something, you have to practice. Even the boring things. Especially the boring things. My opinion: the people who achieve greatness are the people who have a high tolerance for boredom. The people who don't stop when it gets boring. Who take it to the promised land on the other side of boring.

  Am I preaching?

  Yep.

  I snap my fingers and the candles flame out. Twenty-seven thin columns of smoke rising toward the ceiling.

  I'm awesome....

  But I can get better.

  The line of soldiers breaks suddenly and our opponents roar in triumph as they surge forward. A horn sounds a three-note pattern and my unit surges into position. Panicked soldiers pass between us and I give a bellow as I turn to the front and plant my shield with a muttered incantation.

  A semicircular pulse of white light travels forward and stuns our foes - just long enough to allow the remaining soldiers of my unit to get behind me. My fellows plant their shields to either side, generating their own pulses in turn. Some bring strength to comrades, some have negative effects on our foes, others restrict movement to our front.

  The charging enemy has been stopped, their bodies now concentrated in front of our shield line. I hear a high-pitched keening sound as arrows arc over us trailing multi-colored streamers of flame. Then a deeper roar as the mages let loose, their spells guided over us and down into the mass of our enemies by the arrows’ flight.

  Another horn sounds as great holes are blown in our enemies’ ranks and confusion takes over. With a battle cry, Ettiene’s Strikers surge in from either wing to overwhelm the enemy and drive them back.

  Behind us, the sergeants have reasserted control of the broken troops and gotten them back into formation. Another horn sounds and my unit pulls up their shields and turns them ninety degrees to provide gaps for the men to move forward. The regulars pour through them and reestablish their own shield wall before marching forward to retake the ground they’d lost.

  I fall back to my own rally point and search the field for Tia. I spot her on a hill next to Commander Travess. Catching her eye, I give her a thumbs up and a smile just as the Commander sounds the end of the practice battle. She waves at me before turning back to attend to her duties.

  I check my unit over, exchanging shield bashes with each in our own version of a high five. The other healers are heading down to where the majority of combat action took place and I join them. This mock battle was ferocious and there are sure to be wounded on both sides that need to be patched up before we can start again with another exercise.

  You know, some days I wish I woulda just stayed home in bed instead of wandering around. Coz sometimes you see things you don’t wanna see. Know what I mean?

  Like today. I was working on my map. Not looking for stuff to add to the Hoard. Not at all. Nobody saw me do it. Which means I didn’t. You can’t prove anything.

  Aaaaanywaaay! I was looking for a way into the Royal section of the Palace. Just for the sake of adding it to my map. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. That’s when I saw him. Ettiene, the Great Dick.

  And he was with a girl. And he was all like, oh you’re so pretty, oh you’re so awesome, oh your greatness far exceeds mine, and etc. Gross! I think I prefer Great Dick Ettiene to Great Suckup Ettiene.

  So he’s walking with her and she goes in the entrance to the Royal quarters. Yeah, I followed them. Gotta keep up my stealth skills! She left him there but she let him kiss her good night. EEEWWWWW! Double gross!

  So who was she? Maybe she was a Princess!

  Nah. Couldn’t be. What self-respectin’ Princess would let Ettiene kiss her? Maybe she was one of those fancy maids? Whaddaya call ‘em? Ladies in Waiting. Maybe that’s it.