"This way," Hara ordered as the two teammates raced through the woods, vaulting stumps, rocks, and other natural obstacles along the way.

The sun was falling quicker than Riarshi expected, and a slight October chill nipped at his sleeveless arms, making his hairs stand on end. If he wasn't flushed red and sweating through the back of his shirt from running with Hara, he knew he would have needed a thick sweatshirt.

After ten minutes of trudging through layers of fallen leaves and hanging branches, Hara came to an abrupt halt at the base of a fallen tree wrapped in a lime-green moss. Placing a finger up to her lips, she slowly sat on the ground and rested her back against the trunk. Riarshi got the hint and tiptoed to cover behind the tree as quietly as possible.

He sat down next to Hara, who peeked over the top. Her eyes widened.

"It's about twenty feet away," she whispered, sitting back down and pointing a thumb over the large moss-covered trunk.

Riarshi pushed himself to a knee and poked his head over. Along a small opening in the trees, the dog sniffed away at the damp, leafy ground, his glowing red paws caked in a thick brown mud.

"All right, there he - or she, is. Now we just have to figure out how to grab 'em," he mumbled.

"There you go with the 'we' again," Hara snarled in a gritty whisper. "I'll just grab it physically and carry it back to campus. My magic can't manipulate other's magic because spells don't contain matter. Your magic won't work, either. If you jump in there blindly, you'll scare it off, then we'll both fail."

Riarshi pursed his lips. "I'll have you know that I'm amazing with dogs," he said with a matter-of-fact tone.

"Whatever," said Hara, peeking over the tree for another glance at the dog. "Just stay there and don't move."

Although Riarshi wanted to help his team during this exam - Hara had a point. Even though he believed he could snatch a dog just as good as the next guy.

Hara carefully leaped over the fallen tree, sunk slightly in the soft dirt, and slowly crept toward the tiny red dog who was skipping on its paws in a happy trot.

Contrary to her amazing magical strength and the confident way she carried herself, Hara's stealth was anything but graceful. She threw her hands up like a monster as she stalked the dog. This display almost made Riarshi burst out laughing, but he ducked down behind the trunk and held his hand over his mouth to prevent the noisy outburst. Once he took a breath and composed himself, he peeked over the edge again.

Roughly within ten feet of the dog, Hara's comical creeping had shifted to a deflated drag. Her shoulders slouched and her feet noisily shuffled. Sweat dripped from her face, falling down to the soil shifting beneath her feet.

That huge sensory spell she cast earlier must have drained a ton of her energy. Why the hell is she pushing herself to do this all alone? She's on the verge of collapsing...

Despite Hara's attempt at remaining incognito with careful steps, the pup's keen ears perked at the crunching of the leaves accompanying each lethargic stumble. The little dog looked at the tiptoeing girl, tilted its head, let out a quick bark, then sped off in the opposite direction.

"That little shit!" Hara hissed through clenched teeth. She swiftly raised her arms. Her eyes again shone a bright blue. "I'm not letting that freaking mutt get away!"

The trees surrounding the small opening shook and took on a blue glow. Branches snapped, leaves took flight, and trunks creaked. Debris dropped along the fleeing dog's path. It was as though a massive storm suddenly surged through their neck of the woods.

"Hara! What the hell are you doing? You're gonna crush the thing!" Riarshi shouted, looking on in fear from behind the fallen trunk, holding up an arm to block his face from flying debris.

"Shut up! I'll block its path so it has nowhere to run!" she shrieked, wrinkling her brow, now wetter than before with dripping sweat.

Dammit, she's too tired, she has no control over all of that. Riarshi leapt over from his hiding spot and ran toward the dog.

"I said stay back!" she screeched. Riarshi stopped. "I'll handle this on-".

Before she could finish her sentence, the swaying trees she controlled snapped at their bases and crashed toward the ground, falling directly over the red magic dog.

The dog whimpered and tucked its tail between its legs.

Hara clenched her trembling fingers with incredible force, trying to regain control. Her teeth mashed and her face tensed. The tendons in her fingers and wrists revealed through her sweat-slicked skin. "Shit- shit- shit, I can't hold them!" The trees were too heavy, and her fingers gave. The trees fell, branches snapped on their descent.

A flash of lightning bolted by Hara's face. Hara's jaw dropped, watching Riarshi cradle the small pup in his arms, blue sparks littering the opening.

"Riarshi! Get out of the way!" she screamed, using the last of her strength to hold the trees.

But then, Hara's arms fell to her side, and the trees crashed to the ground with an Earth shaking thud.

"NO- NO- NO- RIARSHI!" she shrieked.

***

She sprinted toward the pile of fallen trees, gasping in sharp breaths as she raced along the leaf-littered ground. Her mind screamed and cursed at her for what she had done.

Her feet slid along the mangled pile of wood. Falling to her knees, she began frantically shifting branches out of the way with heavy hands, digging through the pile of wooden destruction on the ground. Panic shrieked from her throat with each branch and leaf she threw.

She heard a small bark from under one of the larger branches in the pile. Covered in tree sap, sweat, and dirt, she threw the branch to the side with a loud grunt. A long pink tongue plopped a wet lick on her cheek. The red glowing pup jumped out from the pile of leaves, wagged its tail, and trotted over to her side. It sat on the ground and wagged its tail. A brown-haired boy from under the same pile gave the teary-eyed girl a shaky thumbs up.

Hara fell to her knees and released the air trapped in her lungs. She covered her face with her hands. "Oh, thank the gods... you're okay..." she muttered with a trembling voice.

"Well, uh - my leg might not be in the greatest shape," said Riarshi, pointing to a large, three foot wide tree trunk that had landed on top of his left leg, pinning him down.

To his surprise, Riarshi didn't feel much pain, merely a light throb that traveled up into his waist. He blamed this on his adrenaline rush, since his heart was still wildly pounding against his chest.

"Oh, my gods!" Hara screamed, covering her mouth in horror.

***

After a temporary break and a few teardrops later, Hara used her newly recovered energy to levitate both Riarshi and the dog through the woods one final time. Riarshi held the dog against his chest while it barked the entire way back.

The two Newbies made it back to campus right as the sun dropped fully over the horizon. Once the pack of three met the short grass of the practice fields, they spotted Khohn in the distance with his arms crossed. The darkness from the nightly shadows concealed his expression, but his glasses twinkled in one of the walkway lights.

"It's about time you came back," said Khohn once they were within an ear's reach. "You two were the last team to finish. I was ready to send a search party out there. What took you so long?"

The professor's attention snapped to Riarshi's crushed leg floating in a blue aura. If his glasses could have shattered from pure shock alone, they would have.

"What the hell happened to your leg?!" he yelled, frantically rushing over to inspect the damage.

With a sly eye, Riarshi looked over to Hara, who hid her face by turning away from the two of them. She clenched her hands over her heart, tiny fingers still trembling.

On the way back to campus, Riarshi overheard Hara muttering to herself...

"Shit, shit, shit, I'm done for. I'm expelled. There it is, all gone..." she had cried repeatedly. Experiencing a near breakdown, every inch of her body shook so violently during their journey back that Riarshi's levitating bubble failed to give his leg any cushion.

He could tell she was entirely convinced he would rat her out, and he had every wonderful reason to do so. Throughout their entire adventure in the woods, and even before, she had belittled him and treated him like dirt every chance she got. Worst of all, she lost control of her powers at the worst moment, almost killing him and the dog. If he hadn't moved out of the tree's path at the last second, he was sure his own spirit would have added to The Divinity Rise's massive magic bank.

But something stopped him.

Riarshi scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Funny story about that, Professor. I was chasing after the dog when one of the old trees must have cracked and fell. It was totally about to crush me. Thankfully, Hara used her power to slow it down. Stupid me couldn't get out of the way cause my magic ran out. I'm lucky you made Hara my partner, Professor. Otherwise, I would have been completely done for."

Hara stared back at him with wide eyes and a gaped mouth.

"You... ran out of magic? With... just chasing the dog?" Khohn asked, rather confused with Riarshi's telling of events.

Riarshi nodded convincingly. "Yeah. I tried to push my power like you said. But I - uhm... keep hitting this wall." He knew what he said was pathetic, but it wasn't a lie, either. At the moment he launched to grab the dog, he felt his demonic power tempting him like a frigid breeze on the back of his neck. He needed power in that split second - strong, instant power, to cross the opening and save the dog. But he didn't dive into it. He refused, and used his human magic, even though Hara - in that moment - was an endless pool of negative energy. Just that one push drained him of his static.

"Sorry, professor," continued Riarshi. "I guess my magic has it's limitations. But I promise I'll make it stronger."

Khohn's expression lay blank. He stood motionless. "I see..."

The Professor squatted, gripped the pup around the ribs, and lifted the red magic dog into the air, looking it over like a piece of artwork. It let out a loud bark before licking him with its long pink tongue.

"Hmm." Khohn hummed, examining it one more time before, with one movement, he crushed it between his hands. Red shards scattered throughout the dusk sky, glimmering in what remained of sunlight before dissolving, disappearing completely.

Riarshi and Hara stared blankly at Khohn.

"Excellent work, you two," said Khohn cheerfully, patting his hands. "This one still had ninety eight percent of its health left. Must have got a tiny scratch or something. You're both lucky. The spell only had about ten minutes left before it would have dropped to zero health and self destructed." He spun on his heel and trotted toward the pathway leading to the Hero Street sidewalk.

"All right, it's late. You both pass. And Hara-" his voice grew serious, "-bring him to the infirmary on the second floor ASAP. He needs to get that leg taken care of right away."

They watched Khohn as he jogged down the street, their faces frozen in shock. That whole exam - the hours they spent finding that dog - was to have the dog crushed to bits before their very eyes. They both quickly shook the feeling away. They passed and survived another exam. That was what really mattered.

Riarshi couldn't help but feel bad for the dog.

Silence fell upon them like a thick blanket. Although the pain from his broken leg was now throbbing uncontrollably, and his ears pounded with the beat of his heart, Riarshi reclined his fatigued body in his floating bubble of Hara's magic. He might have been losing consciousness or even slipping into shock, but that made no difference to him. He was dying for some sleep, no matter what form it took. His body had its limitations.

Just as his heavy lids closed together, darkness coating his eyes, Hara dashed toward the sidewalk, yanking the broken teen with her. He released a painful yelp.

Hara clicked her tongue, ignoring his cry. "Whatever. Let's just get you healed so I can go home."