The impact of the bomb was cacophonous, a horrendous metallic gong that scraped and screeched against the stone. The explosion thereafter was worse.

A thunderous explosion blew back Emray’s hair and whipped her robes around as chunks of stone flew past her. A few hot pebbles and iron scraps tore at her clothes and scratched her face and hands as the fountain she’d been leaning against not moments before was reduced to a pile of rubble and spraying water.

Pandemonium ensued as the Tower klaxon sounded, a high and hollow wail signaling that an attack was imminent. Students screamed, Professors attempted to get people to safety and began casting warding spells around the pavilion, and unidentifiable bodies lay strewn about the ground around the crater that was the fountain.

“Emray, run!” Elifas screamed, shaking Emray from her stupor. Elifas’s eyes no longer glowed, and she pulled Emray nearly off her feet as the pair sprinted towards the Tower.

Another bomb landed a distance away from them, exploding in a spray of dirt and grass from the quad. Emray saw another one land back towards the pavilion before glancing off of a ward and exploding in the air. Emray’s gut knotted to think of the feedback to the caster that amount of force was causing.

As she and Elifas approached the Tower the screams of fright quickly turned into shrieks of pain and desperation. The door to the foyer slammed open to show Luxom, his eyes wide and his clothes disheveled.

“What the hell was that?!” he asked as Emray and Elifas half-stumbled half-sprinted through the open door. More and more streamed in after them as Luxom waded his way through the crowd to get to Emray and Elifas.

“It was an attack, by who I’m not sure,” Emray answered, hands on her knees as she tried to regain her breath. “Bombs falling from the sky, exploding on impact.”

“You think it’s groundlings?” Luxom asked. He looked like a man on the verge of having a heart attack.

“That’s where I’d place my money, but we can’t stand here talking about it. This place isn’t safe, we have to get away from here!”

As if to confirm her assertion, another bomb went off outside, this one much closer than any of the partygoers in the Tower would care for. Some students were crying, others hastily dragging the reception desk over to barricade the door with.

“Hey, hey stop that!” Luxom hollered at the barricading students, running over to shove the desk away.

Emray scanned over the room, taking a mental assessment of everyone she saw that she could recognize. G’Hiira had lain herself over down on one of the couches in the sitting area, stomach down against it to let her compound wing fracture face upward. Emray heard the avian girl sobbing into a pillow.

“Elifas, do you have healing magic?” Emray asked.

“A bit, but it takes a lot out of me to try. My mother was a good healer, but I still have a lot to learn.”

“No practice like practical,” Emray replied. “G’Hiira broke one of her wings really badly, go see what you can do before she can get to a clinic.”

Elifas looked over to G’Hiira, her face blanching when she saw the extent of the damage. Emray’s stomach twisted having to see it again, bone jutting out at the juncture between her back and the wing and blood oozing down her back. With a shaky nod, Elifas walked over to G’Hiira, a wave of pale gold magic radiating off of her hands.

Most of the other people in the Tower lobby Emray didn’t recognize, but there were two notable faces she wasn’t seeing; Professor Marigold and Professor Irhüm.

Heart beating hard in her chest and sweat pouring off of her forehead and back, Emray ran towards the Tower entrance that led to the courtyard. Luxom had just finished moving the desk away from the door, turning to see the source of her footsteps.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Luxom asked, holding an arm out to block Emray’s path. He was much stronger than his wiry frame would make him out to be, and he nearly clotheslined Emray with his elbow.

“Marigold and Irhüm aren’t here, I have to find them!” Emray protested, trying to shove past Luxom’s arm.

“Oh, like hell you are! It’s a damned war zone out there, and I am not going to let you go out there and kill yourself trying to find them! They’re two of the most skilled wizards in the world, they can handle themselves.”

Another explosion echoed outside, rattling the reception desk and sending a fresh wave of screams cascading through the crowd.

“Luxom, please! Marigold is old and small, he’s not going to last out there without help, no matter how much magic he has!”

Emray felt a fresh wave of fear and panic come over her and found tears sliding down her face, intermingling with the sweat. She shoved and pushed, trying to get past Luxom’s frame.

“Move, damn you!” Emray screamed, pounding against Luxom’s chest. “You told me to start caring about people, so let me do it!”

Emray banged her forehead into Luxom’s chest, sobs wracking her chest as she thought of Marigold out there, body broken and lifeless next to a smoking crater. She nearly fell forward when Luxom moved to the door, opening it and letting in the stench of smoke and soot.

“Fine, go get them,” Luxom said. “I’ll stay here and get everyone else prepared to move. If you’re not back in twenty minutes then we’ll be heading south, well out of town.”

Emray ran past Luxom, feeling the smoke sting her eyes as she walked into the frigid air. In the distance she could see the pavilion burning, the piercing klaxon shattering what had been a calm winter’s evening.

The door slammed shut behind Emray, and she heard the metallic scrape of the latch closing.