I walked down the corridor of the main building. The top floor, where only one room was accessible to students. A knock on the door.

  "Come in."

  All the summoned students lined up before the desk. Three teachers and the academy director were in the room. Yes, this was the director's office. Yes, all the students were from the Elite Class.

  One of the professors on the disciplinary committee spoke.

  "I can't believe my ears or my eyes. That students of your caliber, and every single one of you!.. Do you even understand what your pranks could lead to?"

  Selena spoke up defensively.

  "What are you talking about?"

  The professor's face reddened with indignation.

  "What am I talking about? Princess, you have the audacity to ask that?"

  The director raised his hand.

  "Please, Professor, calm yourself. I'll continue."

  He turned to address us directly.

  "Yesterday evening, around midnight, some unknown person opened the stable gates and let all the horses out. Are you aware of this?"

  "Are there zoo activists at the academy?"

  I meant to whisper this joke to Elliot. Apparently, I said it too loudly. Everyone immediately turned and stared at me. Okay, apparently that didn't land. Wait, what kind of word is that anyway?

  "So, let's continue. As banal as this sounds, besides your own footprints, you might have remembered the royal hairpin left in the grass. And now let's discuss how you managed to harm a couple of professors while so carelessly making your escape."

  Goosebumps crawled up my spine. Not because they found us—I was ready for that. But something here was clearly wrong. The director's words drowned in fog in my mind, as if I was slowly flowing somewhere beyond this reality. I stared intently at the director: his expression had changed too. He stopped speaking and stood up from the desk.

  I didn't move. The world around dissolved. Colors ran together as if washed away by water, and behind me came a terrible hissing.

  The director's voice cut through my confusion.

  "Luten, can you hear me?"

  "Y-y...Yes, Director."

  "Slowly form a shield behind you. Jump down on my command."

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Understood."

  I noticed the director slowly taking a stance and folding his fingers together.

  "Now!"

  I quickly threw myself to the floor.

  Snap. Explosion.

  I couldn't come to my senses, everything around was wrong. A second ago I stood among other students listening to being scolded. Now everything around had paled.

  I was—simultaneously—both still in the office and in some other space. From the adrenaline rush, I couldn't see past my own nose. Panic, I'm having an attack. Need to calm myself. I put one hand on my neck, the other on my heart. Tried to find a pulse. Found the point.

  Explosion. I was thrown a couple meters to the side.

  He shouted again.

  "I said get on the floor!"

  I tried again. This time my back interfered, it felt like it was burning, or maybe it really was on fire?! No, everything's fine. It's imagination. Fear.

  It took me a couple minutes to come to my senses before I tried to calm down again. Hand on neck, I felt for the lymph node. Hand at heart. In these places there's something that allows me to control my feelings.

  I sent a small charge of energy. It didn't work, damn! I needed to train more. But the knowledge I'd gained in classes was already useful. After a couple attempts, I managed to calm down and get rid of the adrenaline. With a clear head, I lay on my back to see what was happening.

  I was lying in some gray liquid. A couple meters from me stood a professor. I didn't understand what he was doing. With his right hand he snapped his fingers, with his left he constantly traced through the air.

  I shifted my gaze to the explosions. Visibility was very poor due to smoke, but from the explosion side, red threads stretched upward. Blood? Why was it flowing up? In the smoke I began peering at shadows that looked like human forms.

  "What's happening? Where are we?"

  "No time."

  I decided to help. Repeating all the actions from the exam, I decided to launch a clump of my energy into the smoke. Concentrating power in my fingers, I decided to fold my palms together: this way I could mix and distribute equal amounts of energy through my hands. As if pushing a projectile away from myself, the energy clump flew in the direction I needed.

  The smoke dispersed and hit a figure. It's a person. But... What's wrong with him? He seemed to be smoldering. Small red strips emanated from his body, which then joined into one. This was that same thread, apparently of blood, that went upward. But wait—it wasn't alone there.

  I didn't have to wait long for a response. From the fog, slightly to the side, a similar blood thread flew straight at me. I dodged it and the next one. But the third, like a needle, dug into the arm I'd used to shield my face.

  "No!"

  An explosion occurred and the vein detached from me. The director saved me. Though a little blood still got into my vein.

  "We can't stay here, we shouldn't be here."

  He stopped drawing something with his left hand. I felt a light touch on my shoulder from behind. I turned around and saw before me... a Siamese cat?

  Wait, how do I know what this breed is called?

  The cat calmly looked at me. The moment our eyes met, I began to feel as if my organs started moving, like when falling. I was being pulled... into the cat's eyes!

  With my right hand I tried to find anything to grab onto, but nothing worked. And then I began being pulled backward. It turned out to be one of the strange people. Up close I noticed he had no face, absolutely nothing, as if this was just a mannequin that had been allowed to move. I was becoming more and more terrified.

  "Don't listen to them!"

  "What? What are you shouting, Director?!"

  A different voice, cold and otherworldly, hissed from the shadows.

  "You shouldn't be here. Because of you! Because of you we'll all lose the gift."

  This ringing whisper chilled me to the bone. I felt myself losing consciousness.

  Elliot's panicked voice reached me from somewhere far away.

  "Brother! Brother!"