Isaac's Blessing

A young boy doesn't fit in at his church school, where they sacrifice dragons to steal their inherent magic.

Isaac and his bunkmate, Boyd, argue about whether or not they will take the equinox test and sacrifice a dragon to become blessed and attain the white hair and red eyes that mark a pastor. Some students have signs of being blessed already--gray hairs and hints of red. Boyd is already quite blessed, but Isaac shows no signs. They are the only two students in the church who don't believe in the Lord's ways and are deemed "dragon-lovers" and made fun of by the other students. At the end of the night, the servant who patrols the halls checks on them and they do not make a decision. The reader is then introduced to Rebekah, who is a very blessed student who wants to become a pastor one day. Her roommate, Priska, is not blessed, however, and she is thrown into a depressing tantrum at the fact. Rebekah is bummed because she and Priska had plans to be great pastors one day, but she knows that, despite showing extreme signs of being blessed, she will never be a true pastor until she takes the equinox test.