Max shrugs. "That's all very possible," he says. "Trouble is, first, we don't know if this one is, and second, we don't know if the two of you can, and we probably shouldn't leave you sat on the ground here while the rest of us do a little mountain climbing."
"Wait a minute," Will protests. "I mean, we're not helpless."
"He's not saying you are," Sonia says, not unkindly. "What you are, however, is mortal, which puts you at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to…" She gropes momentarily for a synonym. "Not dying."
"She's right," Michelle says, stepping forward before Will can respond. "If we fall from a hundred feet up and land on some sharp rocks, it's a mildly amusing anecdote. But if it happens to a human…"
"It's a lot more serious," Sonia finishes. "We have to be careful about this."
Will doesn't look entirely satisfied, but Sonia is already striding towards the slope.
You take a step forward—
—and freeze, looking about you.
They're gone. Sonia, Max, Michelle, Renault, and Will have vanished. There's no sign of them, no indication that there was ever anybody here but you.
You turn, eventually going in a full circle. The ground, the trees, the fallen leaves: all the same. And you. All alone.
Panic falls in on you, threatening to crush you beneath it. You hang on, trying to keep a grip on yourself. If you give in, if you let the fear sweep you up in its wake, then the forest will take you. You'll break, and you'll run, and you'll never be seen again.
The thought gives you some measure of control. You close your eyes, take a deep breath, hold it, and then release it. Once that's done, you open your eyes again.
All you see is black.
You gaze around, blind, panic giving way to terror. Has whatever you're searching for truly taken your sight, or is that just what it's made you think? You can't even tell which of the two you'd prefer.
Then flames appear in your vision, burning brighter than any fire you've seen. The inferno engulfs Cavalcade Academy, ripping it apart like a savage beast, as you stand rooted to the spot.
Flames ripple over the ground, licking at your shoes and legs, but you feel nothing. So you move to take a step towards the school, but you've hardly raised your foot before your perspective…shifts.
Now, you're on the grounds, lit by the roaring flames. A giant wolf lies before you, its stomach torn open, letting blood and viscera spill out onto the grass. Still alive, letting out a deep, keening moan, it gazes at you beseechingly.
Beside it, a spike has been plunged into the earth. Atop it, black blood dripping from its eyes and nose, Sonia's head stares at you, her mouth open in a silent, unending scream.
You turn from the sight, feeling bile rising up in your throat, and your eyes fall upon Michelle. She lies on the ground, her limbs twisted and stretched out over the blackened grass, and her golden eyes stare, dull and unseeing, at the sky above.
Your head is spinning, reeling from what you've been shown. You can't understand what's happening or how you're being shown these things.
But maybe, you realize, you don't have to. If you can bring the information back to someone who can make sense of it, who knows what this phenomenon is, then maybe that'll do some good.
You need to get as clear a picture of this as you can. The more information you can bring to Matron, the more they'll be able to make of it. They, after all, are the expert.