Fire blazed all around me. My home, which had once been a safe haven for us, was now basking in a sea of fire.

It wasn't supposed to turn out like this. It was supposed to be easy. Leave the village, and come back home with our missing masters - that was the plan. So how? How did it turn out like this? What went wrong?

What I had seen before me was enough to bring me to my knees. Tears welled up in my eyes. I looked around me, to my colleagues. They were in just as much shock as I was. Some yelled. Others couldn't.

The fire spread from building to building and began to spill into the forest. My house, which had previously stood just ahead of where we were, had become nothing more than a pile of rubble. I wonder if my grandfather escaped in time. No that couldn't be right; he did. He had to have... right?

"Can't you... something about this... please..." I heard my sister call out to our friend, but it was muffled. My vision began to go black. I felt too weak, and my consciousness began to fade.

"I'm... trying!" I think I heard him respond.

An explosion was heard from the house closest to us as the windows burst and the flames spilled out into the cold night air. The glass shot towards us and the wind sent us backwards. I was knocked off balance from this. My legs were too weak to stand. There was nothing I could do, and even if there was, I felt like there was nowhere to go.

"My mother... could be... I need to go to my house!" one called out. He bolted in the direction of his house directly after, supposedly. I couldn't tell. That's just my assumption.

Another explosion was heard in the distance of the direction he ran, followed by flashes of light and the unmistakable sound of magic coursing through the air.

"It's not over!" I heard one of my colleagues yell. I couldn't make out who it was. My head began to throb. I curled myself into a ball. It was pathetic, but it was the only way I felt I could defend myself. All around me were sounds I couldn't identify well. Blaring loudly into my ears.

"Somebody! Help Meseal!" a different voice called out, it sounded feminine.

I went numb after that. The sounds around me slowly became inaudible and I felt as if I was free from the chaos. As snow ceaselessly fell all around me, I faded into unconsciousness, but one question remained in my mind.

How did it all lead up to this?