A flash of light made Hathor and her friends jump from their seats, running out of the café they were sitting in. Smoke was rising from one of the dorm buildings. Looking around, Hathor saw they weren't the only ones who noticed. Everyone was staring at the rising plume.

They were thrown from their feet as the shockwave hit, the noise deafening. They were thrown to the ground, into the walls, through windows. Glass shattered, raining down on all those who had been outside. Hathor stumbled to her feet, raising her hands to her ears. Gilded blood was trickling from them. Her friends weren't in much better shape.

Troy was climbing out of the window he'd been thrown through, a hand to his head. Maddie was covered with cuts from the glass and was hauling Imogene to her feet. The Firebringer had a nasty looking cut on her head which Maddie was healing. Isaiah, using the now-cracked wall he'd been thrown against as leverage, pushed himself shakily to his feet. A cry from behind made Hathor spin. Sky had pulled a rather large piece of glass from his shoulder. She ran to his side, using her power to heal the wound.

Hathor glanced to the still-rising smoke. There was no way that dorm building had been empty. A lot of people would have been hurt. Some would be worse. Much worse . . .

She turned to her friends. "We have to go help!"

The group ran, weaving their way through the maze of buildings. Others had the same idea and were close on their heels.

"Why would anyone blow up a dorm?" Imogene called.

Hathor glanced back at her friend. "Attention. Distraction. There's plenty of reasons."

"Whatever it is," Isaiah interrupted, "people would have been in the blast radius."

"We were in the blast radius," Maddie hissed.

"He's right," Troy said, ignoring Maddie. "Pick up the pace!"

Another three blocks. They reached the building. The Vivus dorm was barely recognisable now, the wall on one side having been completely blown off. Majority of the building was scorched black and smoke was billowing out. People were running out the broken front doors to get to a safe distance, all of them injured in some way. And those were the lucky ones. 

Imogene, Maddie, and Isaiah ran to help those struggling to make it through the front doors, other bystanders doing the same. Sky placed a hand on Hathor's shoulder, saying he'd be the one to make sure the Headmaster and Jay knew. Once he left, Troy took her hand, squeezing it once. Together, they ran into the building.

The lowest level was creaking. Hathor had taken barely three dashing steps inside before she was tackled to the ground by Troy. A flaming beam fell from the roof, missing them by centimetres. Before she could thank him, Troy had dragged Hathor to her feet and started up the first set of stairs he could find. Students ran past them, a few stopping to ask if they could still get out of the building, others asking what was happening. Hathor cursed under her breath after providing no answers to the latter question.

The second floor was far worse. It was in pieces, sunlight streaming in through the missing wall to the left. Hathor ran that way, Troy at her side. The pair skidded to a stop at the edge, looking down at the drop. Anyone who had been standing there would have nothing left of them. Hathor cursed again. She spun away from the light and took in the sight. It was beyond worse.

They'd been caught completely off guard, students and teachers alike. Bodies were everywhere, some crushed under furniture or the fallen beams of the floor above. Some had shards of stone, glass, and wood impaling their bodies. Others had limbs missing. The stench of burning flesh and smoke was bad enough Hathor feared she'd puke. She pushed down the sickness. There would be time for the horror to hit later. Now was not the time. 

"That's just fucked up," Troy breathed from beside her. "Who would do this?"

Hathor shook her head. "I don't know." She turned to her friend. "Let's see if there's any other survivors here."

* * * * * * * * 

Jay had been reading over the student files in Orion's office when the explosion came. He jumped to his feet, running to the window. One of the dorms was smoking up a storm. Screams rose up from the buildings around it. He could see figures being swept from the feet in the distance, some being slammed into buildings close by. 

He spun to Orion, the Headmaster looking on at the sight beneath them. "Call Amneris," Jay said, running to the door. He glanced back to see Orion bringing up a call screen and, with a nod to the Headmaster, dashed to one of the platforms. It had gone two floors down when a second explosion shook the Towers. 

Jay, along with the three students he'd been with, were thrown from the platform to the floor below. He helped them to their feet, telling them to take the stairs and tell other students they met along the way to do the same. Once they were out of sight, Jay ran in the direction of the explosion. 

* * * * * * * * 

"Is anyone here?" Hathor called as she and Troy walked through the building. They'd slowed their pace to be sure no one living was left behind. Bodies could be recovered later. 

"Make some noise so we can find you!" Troy yelled. "We're here to help!"

"You're a wolf," Hathor said. "Sniff them out."

He gave her an irritated look. "There's so much blood here. I can't tell living from injured from dead."

Before she could make any remark, a loud crash followed by a voice caught her attention. She pointed to the hallway to the left. "That way." Hathor broke into a run.

Two students were attempting to lift a large stone off another student trapped beneath. Troy grunted as he helped lift the stone, Hathor dragging the student out from underneath. The stone was dropped, the three panting.

"Thanks," one of the girls huffed. She gestured to her friend who Hathor was helping stand. "We didn't think we could get him out from under there!"

"All good," Troy said.

"Have you seen anyone else around here?" Hathor asked. They shook their heads. "We'll just have to keep looking." 

Troy nodded. "You three might want to make a run for it now."

The boy who had been trapped under the stone laughed despite his obvious pain. "Me and my broken leg will run."

"Just get out," Troy growled. 

The three did, the injured boy half-hopping between them.

"Keep going?" Troy asked Hathor.

"After you."