"This has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever done," the Firebringer male teacher - Alev - said for what must have been the tenth time. 

"I warned you it would be," Jay shot back. 

The Lyriumian woman teacher - Nasim - ushered her group of students toward Jay. "I hope you're right about this," she told him. "If it screws up, we're all dead. Excepting you, of course."

"Can we try to stay optimistic?" Tarak - the Dreama male teacher - asked. "We do have to set an example." He tilted his head toward the group of students standing just behind Jay. 

Nasim pulled her shoulder-length blonde hair into a ponytail. "Fine. Optimism. But I still don't like it."

"None of us do," Jay sighed. He turned to the six students - Enya, Idalia, Helen, Jasmine, River, and Pulan - who looked just as freaked out as their teachers were. "This will be terrifying," he told them. "Don't let that stop you. As soon as we hit the ground, you run as fast as fucking possible."

"Yes, Sir," they said.

"Right then!" Jay clapped his hands. "Positions."

The group stood in a layered circle. Helen and River stood in the middle with Jasmine, Pulan, and Tarak around them. Jay and Nasim stood on each side. Enya, Idalia, and Alev took up the outer ring. They all took a step forward until their was barely any room for any of those in the centre to move.

Nasim called, "All ready?"

The group called their confirmation.

"On three then."

Jay raised his fist, Nasim doing the same on the other side. Together, they counted down as the others braced themselves. 

Three.

Two.

One.

Jay and Nasim slammed their fists into the ground. The floor beneath them shattered in an instant. The group fell. The level below was rapidly approaching. From any onlooker's perspective, it would look like there was no chance of survival. They were wrong.

Enya, Idalia, and Alev used their fire power to create a flaming shield, protecting everyone from the falling debris that followed them. It turned to ash as soon as a flame was touched. Jasmine, Pulan, and Tarak used the elemental power they had to increase the speed of their decent as Helena and River kept a shield of their own around everyone to protect them from the damage impact would bring. Jay and Nasim, as they reached the floor, used their power to smash through it. It was a painfully quick decent. Even more so considering they had been on the top of fifty floors . . . 

* * * * * * * * 

Sky was running toward the Towers. He'd barely reached the entrance when several things happened at once. 

The doors were thrown from their hinges from the inside, the force throwing him onto his back. A group of exhausted looking teachers and students ran outside. Jay was with them, ushering the rest of the students who had been inside to run as far as they could from the building. They'd barely got the last student out when the tower groaned. It fell, smashing the study nooks, shops, and cafes in its path. 

At the same time, something that could only be described as a spaceship appeared over the Academy. Sky gaped. No one used ships. Ships weren't able to access Lyriumia or Terpola from the outside worlds. It was impossible. Clearly that was no longer the case. 

Ropes were tossed from the ship, black-clad armed soldiers lowering themselves to the ground. Everyone had been so busy staring that they didn't realise the danger until too late. The soldiers raised their weapons upon landing. Sky and Jay yelled "run!" as they opened fire. 

* * * * * * * * 

Across the campus, Hathor was carrying the barely conscious Troy outside when a similar scene took place. Black-clad soldiers landed in front of them. Hathor eyed their weapons. They looked an awful lot like those guns Humans used . . . 

Her eyes snapped up as one clicked. Imogene was at her side in an instant, the two dragging Troy back into the collapsing building as a hailstorm of bullets followed them. They crouched behind one of the walls. The firing stopped and switched targets.

Hathor risked a look outside. Maddie, Isaiah, and a few others were behind a close building. They were all watching a scene in front of them - to Hathor's right. She raised a hand to her mouth at what she saw.

The soldiers had indeed switched targets. They were firing upon those running away. Bursts of blue, green, red, and silver splattered on the walls, the path, as the students who had come to help those trapped in Vivus were shot from behind. 

For a moment, Hathor thought the soldiers would move on. That was when it happened. One of them, their superior, order the injured to be killed. This time, Hathor looked away, unable to watch. 

Dex. The name shot through her mind. She knew Dex was behind this. Hathor jumped to her feet. "Look after Troy," she told the shaking Imogene. "I'll be back."

* * * * * * * * 

Two women sat in the ship's cockpit, watching the onslaught below. With them were the four pilots needed to keep it hovering and the single commander giving them updates on the situation. After all, they weren't here just to turn the Academy into a slaughter house. No, that was just the way to get the undivided attention of the Queen.

The first woman was watching with wild eyes, her red-painted lips twisted into a cruel smile. Anyone who saw her would think she was enjoying the slaughter. They would be right. She was enjoying it. 

"Has she been found?" the woman asked.

The Commander spoke. "Yes, moments ago. She's cowering in one of the building."

The woman nodded approvingly. "Good. Very good. I want her taken alive." That smile widened. "Uninjured is up to her."

"Understood."

The second woman was watch the scene with a deep frown, arms crossed, one hand tugging on her curly golden hair. "The mission is to get the girl," she said, voice croaky. "What is this supposed to accomplish."

The first woman spun in her chair, sending her companion a disapproving glare. "Clearly, you've never tried to steal something from Amneris." She raised a hand. "If you don't distract her, she will defeat you." That hand was swept across the scene below. "And what better distraction than this."

The second woman's frown deepened. 

"Relax." The first woman placed a hand on her shoulder. "We will get our prize."