[b]“... It isn’t particularly dangerous, I trust. Wouldn’t want to put them in unneeded danger.”[/b]
	“Hmm. I don’t know.” Thayva tilted her head back and closed her eyes, enjoying the relaxing sensation of his hands kneading her shoulders. “I heard some pretty nasty sounds coming from one of the privies earlier. It may be mutating.” She grinned, showing off her sharp teeth.
	“Mmm, much,” she answered his question. She cracked an eye open when she heard him sniff. [i]He never has gotten used to that smell,[/i] she thought lightly, realizing what he probably smelled.
	When he finished rubbing her shoulders, Thayva quickly markrf the last of the tests as Serapis glanced over the others. 
	“The human twins’ grades have improved.” She placed the last of the tests with the others. “Though a few others’ have fallen.” She picked out about five tests from the bottom of the pile and placed them on top for Serapis to see. “But, that can wait.” She stood, stretched her back, and picked up the stack. Her stomach growled. “First, lunch calls. After all, a battle isn’t won on an empty stomach. Even one against poor grades.” She patted his chest lovingly.
	Thayva stopped at the door leading into the house, her purple scales glittering in a ray of sunlight that managed to breach the clouds and filter through the glass room.

[center]*	*	*[/center]
	Something felt off. The halfling child felt it the moment he entered the dining hall. He moved to the corner, as he always did, and slowly made his way toward the usual tables with their display of dishes.
	His classes had been as long and torturous as normal, even from his seat at the back of the room. The last thing he wanted was trouble while trying to eat. And yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that that was exactly what was going to occur.
	He glanced over the sea of faces, trying to figure out what, exactly, was off. Perhaps it was something simple. New cushions? Different tables? No. They were all the same. Then he realized. A few of the orphans were acting... [i]odd.[/i] They were not eating. Their plates sat in front of them, full as ever, and a couple he had grown used to seeing being talkative were quiet. Concentrating. Sure, some people took longer than others to eat, but [i]their[/i] plates were untouched, and they looked like they had been sitting comfortably for a while. The child couldn’t recall a time when, after a morning of classes, plates remained untouched for more than a few seconds.
	[i]Did someone do something to the food?[/i] The halfling waited until the last of the orphans had gotten their food before collecting his own plate, selecting his entrées with more precaution than normal before slowly heading to his favored nook.
	But, before he could get too far, the loud voice of a lizard folk rang through the room…

[center]*	*	*[/center]
	Once everyone got their food, Kai chose the perfect corner to keep an eye on the most important people in her plan. The few others she had recruited for their mischievous plot already speckled the fairly crowded dining hall. She had made certain to instruct them to sit in places to ensure mass foodstruction.
	Tor sat near at the table marking the center of the room. Beating Aurelian to his job, she had slyly coerced Greentail closer to where Nick sat. She gave the other lizardfolk a swat on the back with her tail when the teachers’ backs were turned. 
	Gereentail looked about ready to attack, before an adult lizardfolk far more intimidating than him caught his eye. He sat, swearing his revenge, between two other lizardfolk.
	Kai turned her attention to Nick, who met her gaze for a split second before looking back to his food. She half listened to the conversation floating around the table, discretely keeping an eye on how much everyone had eaten.
	Finally, she noticed the adults making their way nonchalantly toward the front of the room. The changeover. She looked once more to Nick, who gave her an inconspicuous wave to wait. 
	Ten seconds passed. Fifteen.
	Nick glanced behind him at the adults as they left the room, and started to count down on a hand. Five seconds.
	Kai quickly caught Tor’s eye. The lizardgirl cocked her head, tore a large bite off of what looked like a turkey leg, and quickly chewed it.
	Two seconds. One.
	Nick nodded her the go, which Kai gave to Tor.
	The lizardgirl promptly swallowed, and hopped to her feet. Paying little regard to the other plates sitting on the table, Tor jumped onto the middle of the table, making herself as tall as possible among all the sitting orphans.
	“Meats!” Tor began, her volume calling for everyone’s attention. “Vegetables! Breads! Too long have you sat idly by, allowing these [i]savages[/i] to feast upon your brethren!” She clenched her fists angrily. “But no more!” She spread her arms to the sides, glancing from one plate of food to the other. “Now is your time to fight back! Rise!” She spread her arms slowly higher, her clawed fingers bent wickedly. “RISE, MY BEAUTIFUL DELICACIES!”
	Magic buzzed through the air from unheard spells as select magic users around the room simultaneously called on it, including Kai and her close friends. Then, mass chaos broke loose.
	Food all around the room quivered, then began to explode, sending gooey pieces of fruit, chunks of bread, puddles of water, and mulched meat spewing everywhere. Screams and laughter erupted, all but drowning out Tor’s manic, triumphant guffaws.
	Across the room, a dwarf boy tried to escape as his sandwich started convulsing, then spat out its innards at him before the bread exploded into a fine dust of crumbs.
	At Greentail’s table, the lizardboy’s pile of meats burst forward, throwing themselves on Greentail’s face. The meats started to bubble and turned into a pinkish goo that caked into his scales.
	Kids tried to run to the door, to escape the food flying everywhere and catching ruthlessly on hair, scales, and clothes. Many slipped and fell on the paste that had formed from the combination of jellified fruits, bread, and meats.
	With her own damage done and seconds carefully counted, Kia stood, a look of panic that matched the others on her face. She tried to run into as many of her cohorts as she could to show them it was time to go before everyone got caught.
	She slid to a stop, and suppressed a grin as she noticed two of her acquaintances, both humans of about sixteen who proved to be talented sorcerers, working together. They created a small tornado out of the paste, which lasted only a couple seconds. But that was long enough. It sucked in a few other food bits, then barreled between the legs of children. It burst apart, making the substance airborne once more and splattering a handful of people unlucky enough to be near it.
	Noticing Kai, the two joined the crowd of fleeing students.
	“Kai!” Ilyrana raced toward Kai, her face a perfect picture of shock and fear. “You okay?” she asked loudly to be heard above the noise of over a hundred students trapped in a gory battleground of fruit guts, vegetable blood, and severed pieces of meat and bread.
	“I’m fine!” Kai grabbed her friend’s wrist and pulled her forward. “Let’s get outta here before things get worse!”