Ominous Birth
Lance woke up with a start. He went to sit up, but only managed to splash in the frigid sludge that had broken his fall. Every bone in his body creaked. The sea of clouds that he liked to gaze upon while grading homework in his warm office was now far above him, and scattered by his own hand. There were so many demons flooding into the academy's collapsed roof, and so many screams.
'Why?' he thought. 'Why did it come to this? I followed the rules. I taught my students with pride. I finally got them to ask questions too. Pince was close to a breakthrough. Ronlo was finally getting his mind around compound spells. Cerlius had just come back.' He shivered, and not just because of the frigid water. 'Where am I supposed to go now? I don't have a home, not anymore. I don't have a family. It's all gone. I don't even have any mana left.' He shivered again. His limbs grew numb.