When 3:00 came, everyone was more than ready. I saw many of the students fidgeting or squirming, and others talking excitedly. As a whole, we seemed far more curious than afraid.

The dining hall quieted suddenly when Jared walked in, followed closely by Ms. Silver and Mr. Goldlake. They moved swiftly to the end of the hall, where Ms. Silver began to speak. I suspected this was because she had the loudest voice of the three, and the students were scattered throughout the entire hall.

"The first thing you should know is that you need not be worried," Ms. Silver announced in a clear voice. "The sudden darkness we experienced yesterday was not something unheard of or feared." She paused and let us think about this.

It did nothing to quell my curiosity. I craned my neck forward futilely to try to hear more, even though she wasn't talking.

When she finally resumed, the entire hall seemed to grow even quieter, everyone waiting to hear the explanation for the frightening event. "This occurrence was nothing more than the smoke from a forest fire in the mountains west of the valley. This, combined with the thick winter mist, caused an event of near-darkness to occur."

It was a reasonable explanation, if not as exciting as I'd hoped. Muttering began in low whispers, then crescendoed until I could barely think because of the anxious talking.

"Quiet, everyone!" Ms. Silver shouted. Then her voice resumed its smooth tone. "We will be finishing our animal tag game tomorrow. Remember your teams, please."

I already knew that wasn't going to happen, but I would definitely stay with the snakes. It sounded very fun to be able to both tag and be tagged.

We made our way out of the dining hall and to our cabins for free time. I opened my journal and flipped back to where I had left off, an idea beginning to form. As soon as I finished the prison scene, I could implement it.

I read quickly through it, picking up after Ravine dropped it in surprise, and it sank up to its hilt in the solid stone floor. Newly inspired, I began to write more.

Sapphire stopped screaming, instead taking on a sly, excited smile. Ravine cautiously picked the sword up again, setting it delicately on the table and positioning herself between it and Sapphire.

"As you hopefully know, every Shard has generic energy, as well as a special form that is unique, both of which recharge over time," Sapphire began. "Snowshade there has a particularly powerful specialty. It can cut through just about anything, except other Shards, of course, as well as shoot beams that do the same. I've had it for a long time, so I can channel my energy into it to trigger it without being in contact."

It felt nice to finally be able to explain some of the magic in the book, but I didn't want to overdo it, so I briskly continued after the dialogue.

"That's not very impressive," Ravine muttered nervously. "I could do far more with my own Shard." She was shaking visibly.

"Oh, I'm sure you could. However, you won't get the chance." Sapphire turned her eyes to Snowshade, and Ravine didn't have time to react. The spectacular lightshow that was emitted from Snowshade blasted her backward, and Sapphire turned around, focusing. She felt a singeing and winced, but her handcuffs fell to the floor, cut cleanly. She had slightly overestimated her distance from the sword, but she was only slightly burnt.

"Hey, Fia," Tennielle said. "Can I tell you about my book now?"

I groaned internally, but I figured I owed this to her for scaring her and being stupid. "Sure," I replied, closing my notebook.