Thayva nodded her agreement to Serapis, and followed him through the dining hall, her hands clasped regally behind her back.
	“A little warning that you’d made up your mind would have been nice, love,” Thayva said with a sigh once they were out of earshot of the others.

[center]*	*	*[/center]
	“No doubt there,” Nick whispered back. Panic at being discovered blossomed in his chest when he, too, noticed the dracons coming toward them.
	He looked around for somewhere for them to hide.
	“Quick! This way!” He ran down an adjoining hall leading toward the front doors as quietly as his bare feet would let him, keeping close to the shadows clinging to the walls.
	About half way down the hall, he stopped, listening for any sigh he and his friend had been spotted.
	He was about to give a sigh of relief, when a gentle knocking echoed down the hall, only to be drowned out by a peal of thunder. He glanced to Aurelian. “Did you hear that?”
	Before the human could answer, he held up a hand to silence his friend, when the knocking came again, this time louder and fiercer. Someone was beating on the front door.
	“Go get the headmasters!” Nick ordered, looking to Aurelian a moment before sprinting down the hall toward the front door.

[center]*	*	*[/center] 
	The wind howled through the forest, making even the mighty trees bow to its power. The rain pelted through the foliage, the world lighting in a near constant stream of lightning that cast eerie shadows about the dark woods.
	Valera and Seaella made their way slowly through the forest, their heads bent against the wind, and clothes and hair soaking wet. They had lost track of the path long ago, the trees offering little assistance in finding it as they fought their own battle to remain upright.
	Valera gritted her teeth, the weight of her drenched cloak slowing her down further. Even her thin, lightweight armor felt heavy. Seaella trudged a couple steps ahead, never straying far from her sister, and casting her worried glances from time to time.
	When another gust blew through the trees, blowing Valera’s hood from her head, the older elf gripped the staff in both hands and leaned her weight on it as her strength threatened to fail her.
	“Lera!” Seaella shouted over the storm, her cloak whipping about her as she hurried back to her sister.
	“I’m fine!” Valera growled through her teeth unconvincingly, her face twisted in pain.
	“No, you’re not!” the nine-year-old groaned. She glanced over her shoulder. “I’m going to scout ahead for shelter!”
	“What? No!” Valera reached out to grab the girl’s cloak, but she missed as Seaella bounded away. “Seaella!” She tried to follow her sister, but her legs threatened to give out, forcing her to return her weight to her staff.
	[i]Could this night get [u]any[/u] worse?[/i] She let out a groan.
	As if to answer her question, movement in Valera’s peripherals made her turn around.
	The next flash of lightning shed its electric light over the forest, flashing over the knotted fur of three massive, emaciated wolves a few yards behind her, their eyes glittering hungrily from where they couched. 
	With a painful inhale, Valera held her staff in front of her with both hands, the gem in its top glowing softly and creating a gentle, silvery-green haze in the wet air.
	She heard Seaella’s voice call through the forest, the thunder cutting off her words so she only got short snippets:
	“—era!... house ahead!”
	“Seaella! RUN!” Valera bellowed, her voice easily slicing through the night.
	As if the wolves, too, took her words as an order, they darted forward.
	Valera turned and ran. “GO!” She shouted when she nearly ran into her sister. She pushed the girl ahead of her and into a clearing with one hand while swiping her staff behind her, sending out a burst of light to momentarily blind the wild dogs at their heels.
	At the vast clearing’s center, sat a large mansion, the lightning eerily illuminating its dark form. A couple warm, fiery lights glowed from inside, flickering with the howling of the wind.
	Without the meager protection of the trees, the full force of the storm hit the two in a harsh wave.
	“Whatever you do, DON’T STOP!” Valera shouted from a few feet behind her faster sister.
	She turned to see where the wolves were as she felt her light spell break, her well of magic dwindling as quickly as her little remaining strength. The wolves were not far behind.
	She shouted when she slipped on a patch of grass particularly slick with rain and mud. She fell onto her stomach, and a searing agony filled her chest and radiated through her body. For a precious second, her vision was flooded with starbursts. The raging storm momentary dulled in her ears, and Seaella’s voice calling out her name sounding realms away.
	A metallic taste in her mouth, she rolled over and blindly swung her staff with the movement, sure the wolves would be on top of her any moment. A burst of pure energy exploded from the staff as one of the dogs leapt for her.
	The burst caught the dog midair and sent it flying with a pained yelp. Its companions fared only slightly better as they rolled across the ground from the force.
	Though the world spun around her, Valera got shakily to her feet, panting heavily and glaring wildly at the dogs, daring them to make another move for her or Seaella.
	Apparently deciding there was easier prey in the forest, the three wolves turned and ran back into the woods with defeated snarls.
	With a pained moan, Valera fell to her knees, her head bent and teeth grinding together as she grasped her staff like a lifeline. 
	“Valera!” Seaella slid to a stop beside her sister, an arrow nocked in her bow.
	“Keep going!” she hissed, forcing herself once more to stand, darkness lurking at the edges of her vision. But she refused to give into it. Not until Seaella was safe inside. Head bent and an arm wrapped tightly around her midsection, she and Seaella climbed the couple stairs to the wraparound porch of the mansion, unconsciousness creeping ever closer no matter how hard Valera fought it.
	At the door, the wood illuminated by the meager light of Valera’s staff, the teenage girl reached up weakly and rapped at the door. The impact of the side of her fist against the wood sent another shockwave through her, her knocks drowned out by another clash of thunder. With a heavy moan, she sunk to the porch, her palm running over the door and her staff clattering beside her.
	“VALERA!” Seaella dropped her bow, went to her sister’s side, and helped lean her back against the house beside the door.
	“What...” Valera gritted her teeth as she reached for one of the pouches at her belt. “Whatever happens, don’t let anyone get this.” She unhooked the fabric pouch and handed it to Seaella. “Understand?”
	“Lera...” Seaella bit her lower lip, her voice quivering.
	“[i]Understand?[/i]” Valera leaned her head against the house as Seaella nodded, the older girl’s eyes closing. 
	“Lera?” Seaella’s wet eyes widened when she did not receive a response. Checking quickly that her sister still breathed, she scrambled to her feet, clutching the pouch tightly.
	“HELP!” the child screamed, a fist pounding against the door with all its strength. “SOMEONE! Anyone,” she finished in a quiet sob.