Is arson illegal if it’s an accident? Because if it was, I might be headed to jail in the middle of my magic trial. I look to my right. One of the judges, a woman with long green hair, four arms, blue skin, and six wings, was looking angrily at me. But I couldn’t blame her. Throwing alchemist’s fire and almost hitting someone has that kind of effect on people. Luckily, I had been able to hit on of the zendroya’a (and the building it was standing on), and it was shriveling into a black ball no bigger than my head. I was surprised; the monster had been the size of a kitchen table, big and orange with long tusks. Now it looked like an overcooked turkey fresh from the oven.

  The last zendroya’a leapt at me, it’s hulking frame shooting down to the grey stone bricks that covered the enchanted combat courtyard. My tantalizing tangerine target lunged at me, and I barely got my barrier up before it was crashing into me. I braced myself against my summoned savior and, with concentration, I add sharp spikes to the other side of my spell. The spikes pierce into the garishly gargantuan gorilla, hitting it’s liver and heart, among other organs.

  The beast drops against the bricks, and a pool of viscous violet blood washes over the bricks at my feet signals my first win. 1/3. I can get the other trials done, no problem. A voice echoes through the yard I’m in.

  “You have passed your trial of Magic, Vondryan Marie. Your next trial shall be a trial of strength. You must lift the corpse of the zendroya’a that you have killed onto the roof where the corpse of the other one you have killed lies. You may use all tools at your disposal except your magic,” the voice proclaims. I grit my teeth. The other corpse is about 20 yards away, so not impossible, but…

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Then, something catches my eye; a metallic cord is laying in a spool near the judges. I run towards it, a plan forming in my head. I’ll tie the cord to the corpse and use the beams across the yard like a pulley to bring the body to the roof. I grab the spool and roll it over to the zendroya’a. I proceed to wrap the cord around its feet, then realize that I cannot lift 400 pounds of hulking orange muscle. I toss the long cord over a beam over the beam that spans the court.

  I miss.

  It takes me 8 tries to get the cord over the beam, and 17 full minutes for me to get the zendroya’a’s huge frame onto the roof. I drag the hulking beast along the shingled roof, sweat slipping along my forehead and beading at my brow. As I drag the corpse along the breaking shingled roof i feel a bump at my foot. The corpse that was all shriveled up is lying beneath the heel of my foot. As the two corpses touch, a golden light flashes where the bodies meet. They then disappear in a puff of shinning powder, and a small scrap of parchment lies on the ground with a small, one-word scribbling of ink along it’s surface.

  “Survive.”

  As I read the text, a rumbling sound breaks out above me, and I turn my head to see large metallic spikes falling from the sky, piercing the through the air and ground in a beautifully shimmering storm of doom. I stop in my tracks, staring at the raining death above me, taking in the glimmering death that will (let’s be honest) most likely be my doom. Then, I remember my situation, and bolt down the slanted tiles.

  I sprint along the roofs of the buildings surrounding the shattering courtyard, dodging the falling steel spears, trying to get through this final trial. If I can just survive a bit longer, just a bit, I will get in. I was so, so close!

  And then, just as soon as the death rain started, it stops.

  I made it.

  I’ve made it into Coron’E’Al.