Alura's PoV
3 years ago, the day that Malistaire lost his mind
I'm in my dorm, reading the book Introduction to Death by Alexandra Grave when I start to feel a gentle shaking. I decide to ignore it, but fate has a different idea, for the shaking grows strong enough that I immediately assume that one of Professor Drake's Myth students has gotten the Earthquake spell wrong, and is now causing a very strong Earthquake.
I dive under my desk and get in the position. Things fall off my nightstand, I command my candles to go out, and I squeeze my eyes shut. This happens so often that it's routine, and I even have four cushions down here so it's more comfortable.
A few minutes later, after the glass in my windows shatters and my alarm clock is broken, along with a few pictures in frames, the shaking stops. I peek an eye open and look around from my shelter. Glass is scattered all over the floor, and my alarm clock is smoking (never a good sign).
I shakily emerge from my hiding spot, being careful as to not cut myself on the glass. I open my front door to see the campus in chaos. People are running around, and several buildings are alight with black fire. I find that particularly odd.
What I find even weirder is the fact that everyone is running towards the fires, not away from them. Or, really, something in the fire. I, never one to run away from the interesting, follow the crowd. We're moving along between the schools and towers when everybody stops. I growl under my breath. "Hey, what's everyone looking at?" I push to the front of the crowd, ignoring all protests.
I get a look at what was so exciting.
The Death School and tower are missing.
Not even the land it was on is there.
Almost on cue, everyone starts screaming and running around in a panic while the professors try to calm everyone down. I just stare at the empty square of former land, hoping my father, the Death Professor, isn't dead. I'm also wondering how this happened.
I vow to find out.
I go up to a teacher, and unwisely find Cyrus Drake, who absolutely hates me. "Professor Drake, do you know what happened to the Death School?" I ask him.
"Shut up, you inept Necromancer!" he hisses at me.
Figuring that I'll get nothing from him, I push my way through the crowd to Professor Balestrom. "Sir, what happened to the Death School?"
He jumps when he sees me and shifts uncomfortably. "Your father…" he hesitates.
My heart beats quicken, "What about my father?"
"He… destroyed the Death School."
My eyes widen, and a thousand emotions run through me. "No, he wouldn't do that!"
"I'm sorry, Alura," Balestrom looks at me sadly, "but it's true."
I narrow my eyes and run through the crowd, searching for Headmaster Ambrose. I finally see him trying to calming down a group of students, and I march up. "Why is Professor Balestrom saying my father did this? That's nonsense!"
He jumps in surprise and looks very nervous, "I'm afraid that he's right, Alura. Your father did this."
"That's impossible! He would never do this!" I exclaim.
"He's been understandably… unstable the past few days, I'm afraid," he continues. "He wasn't in his right mind."
"No…" I back up. Several of the students are eyeing me warily, and some are eyeing me in pity, "No…" I take off running to the commons, hoping everything outside of campus makes sense.