"Headmaster! We have new information." A panting teacher shouted and continued to make his report.

"Miss Pyrith and Miss Kunzy returned from the infirmary."

"Very good. What do they have to report?" The headmaster asks.

"Well, Miss Kunzy is hysterical and completely out of it. We are not sure what happened to her. Miss Pyrith told us it just happened suddenly. In addition, she reports that the entrance to the infirmary is blocked." The teacher went on.

"Why didn't they do something about it?!" The headmaster interrupted. "Bring me to them!"

The reporting teacher nodded and led the headmaster to a secluded corner. There, he saw both women, one stroking the hair of the other, who seemed to be sleeping. He could see some streaks on her face, seemingly from crying, and her eyes looked puffed.

"WHAT!" The headmaster started to shout but got shushed by the awake Pyrith.

"Quiet, she finally fell asleep." She whispered.

"What are you doing here?! I sent you to get the status from the infirmary!" The headmaster continued in a stern whisper.

"Yes, and I told it already. The infirmary is blocked by debris. I don't know why the Adepts can't teleport out or if something worse happened. But just as I wanted to clear it, Kunzy here went hysterical and ruined my concentration." Miss Pyrith explained.

"Then why didn't you return immediately?" The headmaster chided.

"Because I thought I could still do something, and at first, it looked like it, as two boys made their way to me. I immediately instructed them to get Kunzy to safety, but this was a bad idea. So, those two decided to get a better look at the infirmary. And if that idiot next to you had only a bit of intelligence, he would already have sent help for those boys! Like I asked him to." She went on.

The other teacher started defending himself, but the headmaster silenced him.

"We will discuss that later! Now get going!" He ordered, and the teacher rushed away, only to be stopped by an elderly voice.

..........

Mor scrambled into the infirmary, followed by Orth, and both broke down in mostly relieved tears, but those also entailed a bit of something akin to horror. Amber instantly reacted, got them some blankets, and looked at their hands.

In shock, she recognized their dirty, scraped, and wound-covered hands.

"Did you dig with your hands?" She asked, trying to keep a calm voice.

Mor looked at her and nodded.

"At first, Orth got rid of the stones, and I used my magic to remove everything else, but then... and because of... we had to remove the rest with our hands. We needed to get you." Mor tried to explain in a shaky voice.

Amber quickly glimpsed at the other boy, who got even more pale and pressed his lips together.

"What happened?" She asked carefully.

"It... He.... She... It was so much blood...." Mor stuttered, and Orth tried his best to get the recurring pictures out of his head.

Amber nodded towards another adept, and with a few head jerks, she got the adept to look at what had the boys so shaken. The other adept crawled out of the hole the boys had dug and noticed the crumpled remains of someone on the ground. She had to hold back a horrified scream and quickly crawled back.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

The adept leaned down to Amber, who was still tending to the boys, and whispered.

"It seems like there was a failed teleport attempt, and with how shaken those two are, it wasn't long ago. Meaning it's probably Adept Amborin." She said, and Amber nodded.

"It's fine boys. You saw something bad happen, and naturally, you reacted like this. You just saw someone die with a failed teleport. This is also why you must be careful with spells like that." Amber explained to Orth and Mor.

°Listen to her. It's not your fault. It was just bad luck, but remember, you must get out of this. You need to be able to protect your friends, right? Wouldn't all that hard work be for naught if you just give in to horror and panic right now?° The human asked, calm and soothing, and Mor took a deep breath, trying to steel himself.

°Good man, after all this is over, you can cry and panic all you like. But until this crisis is over, we need to be able to act.° The human added.

°You're right, still... I don't know if I can.° Mor answered.

°I know you can. I believe in you. You are stronger than that.° The human reinforced, and finally, Mor nodded.

"Thank you, Amber. It was just horrifying how it almost dropped on me." Mor said, still shaky but doing everything to fight down the horror.

"Dropped on you?!" She asked, shocked.

"Yes, I could just get out of the way before it would have hit me." Mor nodded, and Orth took a sharp breath at the memory, trying to not puke again.

Amber ruffled Mor's head.

"And you two still continued on? Now I understand how your hands ended up like this. Come on, let's fix that up first." Amber said.

"Yes, we needed to get you. Many students are hurt, and you are the best healers." Orth mumbled and got a ruffle of his own.

"I'm proud of you. You two did very well. You are real heroes!" Amber told them, and both seemed to latch on to this, regaining a bit of confidence.

"But now you need to be brave again. We can't teleport out of here, so we need to get out and see if the sigils outside are fine." Amber explained, and again, both boys turned a shade paler, but to their credit, both nodded.

"The teleport things should be fine. Another teacher already left earlier." Mor said.

"We were told to gather in the gathering hall. It seems the teachers are getting all the students there." Orth added.

"Very good. You are very helpful. Now, let's fix up your hands and then get moving." Amber said, but the boys shook their heads.

"We can do this later. It's more important to get you to the most badly hurt." Orth said.

"If you say so. But then I will take care of your wounds. And I will allow no protest then!" Amber said, but Mor still opened his mouth in protest.

"I can..." He began, but Amber shushed him softly.

"No, I need to thank you two. I will take care of you." She said, and Mor nodded.

°Let her do this. You need to accept the thanks. It will help you.° The human said.

After the first adept clambered out of the infirmary, taking a blanket with him. The boys followed soon after, and luckily, the adept had enough foresight to cover the awful on the floor. Therefore, their reaction was less extreme than the first time.

The human put one of Mor's hands on Orth's shoulder the whole time, and both boys gathered strength from that touch. While Amber nodded at that proudly. Those two would come out fine after this was over.

Finally, the adepts invoked the teleport, and with a bunch of "pops", the group appeared in the gathering hall, just to hear the headmaster order the next teacher to go find them.

"No need, headmaster. Those two freed us, and we are ready to help." Amber said, ushering Mor and Orth to a safe spot next to Pyrith, who nodded a thankful greeting.

"You did it. Great work, boys." She said.

Amber and her adepts quickly got to work, healing the students with the worst wounds until she finally got back to the two boys and took care of their hands. To no one's surprise, both had fallen asleep from exhaustion, covered in their blankets. Then, at Amber's touch, Orth awoke and asked.

"Where's Saphine and Clare?"