I licked one of my fangs, picked up my pen, forced my gaze from Drecken’s, and started.
Section I: Historical Analysis
Prompt: Kalista’s Second War: Identify the three big players involved and, in your opinion, the biggest outcome of the war.
That one was too easy. I’d grown up hearing retellings of that war from my parents since they’d actually fought in it. Bless the Fates for keeping them safe during that shitstorm. All of the opposing factions reported a lot of casualties.
All supernaturals were involved; even the fae helped the supernaturals, but our opposing forces were the humans and the dragons. The dragons declared war on humans, and the humans declared war on all supernaturals. A couple of supernatural species did side with the dragons, but the majority aligned themselves with the Supernatural Council and fought for all supernaturals.
Obviously, the peace treaties between all factions were a big deal, but in my opinion, abolishing the hierarchy was the biggest outcome of the war. It allowed supernaturals to intermingle in ways they’d never been able to before. For example, this academy now allowsallsupernaturals to attend. Back before the hierarchy was null and void, only dragons, drakes, basilisks, and phoenixes were allowed to become agents due to their ‘apex natures’.
I wrote out my answer, outlining the big players of the war, citing the abolishment of the hierarchy as the biggest outcome of the war.
My handwriting was calm and precise, like my answers.
Moving on to the next page, magic sizzled over my hands, extending from the paper itself…no. The magic came from the ink.
Section II: Prophetic Fragment Decoding
A blurred scrawl shimmered across the page in enchanted ink.
When the wilted flower blooms fire and venomous scales cover the thorns, Fate’s threads weave between the two.
That one was easier than the ones Dad and Pops helped me practice with.
A wilted flower blooming fire obviously meant a phoenix, and venomous scales referred to a basilisk. The Fate’s thread meant a matebond, which meant it had to be a matebond prophecy between a phoenix and a basilisk.
I decoded it, flipped the page, and moved on.
Section III: Magical Logic Puzzle
A magic circle appeared, and I had to focus on reading the aura of the magical essence that was used to create it. It was a simple protection ward. There were broken runes and a fractured intention aura around it.
I tilted my head at the lack of instruction, but as agents, we wouldn’t have our hands held. I could only assume they wanted us to fix the magic circle.
I knew aura and intent, but runes weren’t as familiar to me. Ironic, considering my namesake. My strengths weren’t runes, but surely I didn’t need to know complex runes to fix this. I could’ve built protection wards in my sleep.
The outer ward was a clear ill intention. Clever, but the rune between the outer and inner ward would collapse everything with something as simple as the intent being off. That could be easily missed.
I took a deep breath and let my magical essence seep into the existing one within the magic circle and pushed a protection intent until it became more stable. Thankfully, I didn’t have to rewrite the runes or anything.
I flipped to the next section, and my brows raised at the insane hypothetical.
Section IV: Ethical Judgment Case Analysis
A hybrid child with unstable magic is being hidden in a remote village within the Bizarre. You’re dispatched with no extensive briefing. Locals are unaware. What do you do?
My pen paused as I hovered over the answer box.
Observing the situation would be best instead of a full confrontation over what were probably rumors. Hybrids didn’t exist in Kalista, at least that I was aware of. Though, with our magic, anything was possible, so an open-mind was required. A supernatural was one species, taking after one of their biological parents. Assessing the magical reserve of said hybrid rather than the species would be the first step, if the hybrid does in fact exist.
It was paramount to speak to the child first, not the parents. There should not be any exposure or extraction. Many firedrake babies caused more issues than any other species, and as agents, we allowed the parents to handle the situations and only stepped in if an entire village or town was at risk of being burned down. Even then, they’re only given coping mechanisms.
A hybrid child, though unlikely, should be given the same chance as any other species. Document, observe, and move on.
Simple as that.
By the time I finished the last section of analyzing suspect behavior from transcripts, I was confident I’d answered all sections to the best of my ability.
