For the third and final time, Misty returned to the center of The Arena floor and waited for her next task. Her heart pounded with adrenaline from her little act of rebellion. Even though it had clearly upset The Assembly, she didn't regret what she did. She didn't want to leave any room for doubt. No one could possibly tell her she wasn't good enough when she not only met her requirement, but exceeded it. They may have disliked her boldness, but they couldn't deny her talent. That's all she really wanted. For them to finally see something more than just her family name.

"We shall move onto the final task," Scottie's grandfather said, demanding attention. "Given your...eagerness to get started in the first two tasks, I won't waste your time with chatter. So, let's get right to it. Sir Franklin, please proceed to the next task."

Once more he reached into the golden goblet. The time had come for Misty to prove herself yet again. She knew deep down that even though she had excelled in the first two tasks, any tiny mistake she made in this last task would be amplified and greatly diminish her success. She had to be perfect.

For the first time since she stepped onto The Arena floor, Misty began to feel the pressure. A hot, clammy sweat broke out on her palms as she felt the anxiety creeping its way into the pit of her stomach. She slowly and discreetly wiped her hands on the sides of her thighs, hoping no one noticed. She couldn't afford to let them see her sweat.

"Your final task is..." Sir Franklin said, with the same dramatic flair he had in the first task. "Shape shifting."

Misty's heart dropped. Of course, it had to be the one skill she hadn't thoroughly prepared for. She had done her best to practice all the skills equally, but with so many to master it was easy for a few to fall to the wayside. Shape shifting was also difficult to practice, since it required making a potion with many rare and unusual ingredients that were hard to get your hands on unless you were well connected. I don't know if I can do this, she thought to herself.

Unsuspectingly, Markos's voice slipped into her mind. You can do this, Missie, it said, I believe in you more than I believe the sky is blue. It was soft and gentle and encouraging. It brought her back to the days when she was a young, inexperienced witch learning magic for the first time. It's what he said to her whenever she felt like giving up, every time without fail. She didn't even need to say a word. He knew just when to say it. His timing was never short of impeccable.

Misty quickly dismissed the thought. The last thing she needed was to reminisce about a time long since passed. Thinking about how things used to be with her brother made her weak and she needed to be strong if she wanted any chance of getting through this next task. 

"You will have ten minutes to complete this task. That time starts now."

A table of glass bottles filled with various ingredients appeared in front of her. The table was overflowing. It was all a part of a strategy to increase the difficulty of the task. They would throw in a bunch of useless or even dangerous ingredients to confuse the students and make them second guess themselves. 

Misty took a quick second before diving right in. She knew she had no time to waste. Ten minutes was an extremely short amount of time to make any potion, but especially a shape shifting potion. There was no set standard of what she needed to shift into, but there were clear levels of difficulty in what you chose. The harder the choice, the better the score. Sure, she could've picked something simple like a toad or a cat, but that wasn't going to earn a perfect score. She needed to go big. 

At first she was unsure what she wanted to shift into, but then it came to her. It was a huge risk, but if she was successful it would pay off in a big way. She wasn't completely confident, but she faked her way through it the best she could. After quickly gathering, pouring, stirring and enchanting, Misty had created a sludgy black mixture that was dusted with silver sparkles. She  never made this potion before or even come close. She had only briefly glanced at it in her spell book maybe once or twice, so she had no idea what it was supposed to look like. It was equally likely that it was exactly right as it was completely wrong.

Misty held the glass out in front of her. Here goes, she thought to herself as she tipped back the glass and let it slug down her throat. There was an eerie cooling sensation that ran through her body as it hit her stomach. But..that was it. Seconds passed without a single thing happening. Misty began to doubt herself as she stood there with thousands of eyes on her, waiting for something, anything to happen. 

Right as panic began to set in, her body suddenly changed drastically. She grew ten times her height in a flash. Her skinny, pale legs were replaced with enormous haunches that were covered with shiny, black and gold scales. She sprouted wings that exploded out of her sides. She flapped them twice, creating a breeze that practically knocked over the spectators. Impressively sized claws sprung from her hands and feet as her face molded into a long snout and  a tail snaked out behind her. She had done what no other had done before. She had turned herself into a strong, beautiful dragon. 

The crowd exploded as she stomped around The Arena and blew fire into the air. Never in their lives had they seen something so spectacular. Misty circled The Arena a few more times before the potion wore off and she turned back into her normal self. She had done it. Her assessment was over. All she could do now was hope and pray that her displays of talent and ambition were finally, finally enough to earn amnesty for her family after what had happened all those years ago...