“They’re not here,” Ardwyn said.

Flynn rushed over. “What do you mean they’re not here? They have to be!”

Myriel asked, “Are you sure this is where you left them?”

“Yes, I’m certain,” Ardwyn said. “I put them right here, in the corner.”

“Where on earth could they be?” Flynn asked. “They couldn’t have just vanished.”

“Someone must have taken them,” Ardwyn said. Suddenly he started to feel upset. The Ethereal Blossoms were his property. The herbalist gave them to him. No one had any right to take them. He felt a rush of emotions come over him.

Before he could finish the thought, distant screams echoed from the courtyard below. They all rushed to the window, peering down into the previously peaceful scene.

Down below, in the center of the Academy courtyard, stood a massive, grotesque creature. It was unlike anything Ardwyn had ever seen. The creature looked like an ogre, with large muscular limbs, and razor sharp teeth. The ogre stood about three times the size of a human. It let out a load roar and picked up a wooden table from the gazebo, and then threw the table against the wall. The wood shattered into pieces. Several students stumbled and fell as they ran, trying to get away.

Ardwyn stood frozen at the window, his face pale with shock.

Then the creature, let out another shriek, beating its chest in fury.

“Hurry!” Myriel said. “We need to notify someone.”

Flynn said, “I know where Mr. Gimble’s office is. I was just there yesterday. He’s an administrator. Most of the teachers are still out for the break.”

“Okay,” Myriel said. “Lead the way.”

They found Mr. Gimble’s office at the end of a long, winding corridor. The large wooden door had been left slightly open. Ardwyn gently pushed the door open.

Mr. Gimble stood in the center of the room. In his clutched trembling hands were the Ethereal Blossoms, with their roots dangling down, ripped up from the soil of the pot.

When Ardwyn walked into the room, followed by Myriel and Flynn, Mr. Gimble turned toward them. “You!” Mr. Gimble shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Ardwyn. “This is all your fault! If you hadn’t brought these cursed flowers here…”

Before he could react, a thunderous crash echoed through the building. The walls shook, dust coming down from the ceiling. The ogre’s roar, closer now, filled the air.

“You stole them!” Ardwyn yelled, feeling the fury rise in him. “They are mine! And you stole them! They were my only way to get back home.” Ardwyn tried to grab the flowers from Mr. Gimble.

“Let go!” Mr. Gimble shouted. “You are not getting these back!”

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With both Mr. Gimble and Ardwyn wrestling over the flowers, the blossoms tore apart and fell on the floor. For a last moment the Ethereal Blossoms glowed with a final sparkle, and then faded out, the life of the flowers dying right there on the floor between them.

Ardwyn looked at the flowers, and then at Mr. Gimble. His eyes started to fill with tears. “I just wanted to go home.”

Suddenly the wall behind them crumbled inward. Debris flew everywhere as the monstrous form of the ogre filled the doorway, its single single eye fixed hungrily on them.

Mr. Gimble turned to run, but his foot caught on an overturned chair. He fell. With uncanny speed for its size, the ogre lunged forward. In the next horrifying moment, the ogre picked up Mr. Gimble with one hand, holding him high up in the air. The ogre let out another monstrous roar. Mr. Gimble screamed and flayed his arms and legs wildly, trying to get away, but the ogre’s grip was too tight. For a second, the ogre looked at Mr. Gimble with a curious intensity, and then pulling him closer, with its massive jaws, bit Mr. Gimble’s head off. There was a sickening crunch. He then proceeded to bite off Mr. Gimble’s arms and then the legs. He finished by devouring the rest of Mr. Gimble’s body.

Ardwyn, Flynn, and Myriel stood there in horror, momentarily paralyzed by the scene. However, they didn’t have much time to reflect on the situation. The ogre immediately turned its gaze to them, letting out another loud deafening roar.

“Run!” Ardwyn shouted, his voice cracking with fear.

They ran down the corridor. The ogre, its body too large for the wooden door, tore through, the frame falling apart. Behind them, the ogre let out another roar that seemed to shake the building’s walls. The ogre’s heavy footfalls pounded on the floor.

“Quick, in here!” Myriel gasped, yanking open a heavy door.

They ducked inside what appeared to be a classroom, slamming the door shut behind them. The room was filled with rows of desks, a chalkboard covered in arcane symbols, and shelves lined with various magical artifacts.

“We need to barricade the door,” Ardwyn panted.

He found a large heavy desk, and along with the help of Myriel and Flynn pushed the desk blocking the entrance. As they stepped back, the door shook with the force of the ogre’s impact against the other side. The ogre let out a frustrated angry growl.

“It won’t hold for long,” Myriel said.

The ogre’s massive fist punched through the wooden door, sending splinters of wood everywhere. The large arm felt around blindly in the room for what was on the other side, its claws trying to grip on something.

“There!” Myriel pointed to a narrow window towards the far end of the room. “Through the window.”

“What?! Are you crazy?” Flynn yelled in shock. “That’s a second story window. The drop will kill us!”

“Do you have any better ideas?” Myriel asked.

The door finally came apart with a thunderous crash. The ogre ducked its head down to get through the door, its eyes fixed on them as if they were prey.

They raced to the window, moving between the desks and chairs.

“It’s stuck!” Myriel cried with panic after trying to open the window.

Ardwyn grabbed a nearby chair and swung it at the window with all his might. The glass shattered.

“Go, go!” Ardwyn shouted, helping Myriel climb onto the windowsill. She hesitated for a split second, staring down at the drop, before closing her eyes and leaping into the open air. Flynn went next, muttering under his breath and jumped. Ardwyn heard both Myriel’s and Flynn’s screams as they jumped flying through the air.

Ardwyn scrambled onto the windowsill, preparing to jump, and felt a sudden jerk. The ogre’s hand caught the back of his foot. The ogre pulled him back, Ardwyn’s hands trying to reach for the window. Ardwyn kicked his feet wildly trying to get free of the ogre’s grip, but the ogre’s strength was far too powerful for him to be a match, just twisting aimlessly in the ogre’s grip. The ogre pulled him back again with a sudden sheer force.

Ardwyn swung his leg back and kicked with all of his strength, the heel of his foot coming down on the ogre’s eye. For a moment, the ogre let go of him, screaming in pain and rubbing its eye. Ardwyn seized the opportunity and bolted for the window, and then closing his eyes, he jumped.

The wind rushed past him as he fell. He could hear the ogre’s roar of frustration that its prey had gotten away as Ardwyn plummeted down from the window.