The crashing and blundering has grown closer and a good deal noisier. The others must really want to find you.
The girl lets out a sob, so great that her entire body shudders. She shakes again, and you think for a moment that she's broken down into tears. It's only when you see the bitter smile that's twisting her face that you realize that she's laughing.
"Not my fault?" The words are gasped out of her, spat out with an almost insane mirth. "I asked for this! I came here! I thought…" She shakes her head frantically, as though trying to dislodge something from within it. "You lied to me!" she screams, staring wide-eyed at the canopy of leaves and branches above. "You made me a promise!"
The thrashing of foliage is even closer now, as though using Grace's shriek to navigate by. Paranoia and trepidation prickle your scalp. Whatever Grace knows or has done, you can have that conversation back at Cavalcade Academy.
"Look," you say, "let's just—"
Whatever you were about to suggest, the words are lost in a bellowing roar, matched by another scream from Grace, this one pure terror.
The headmaster has staggered into the clearing, staring at you with such anger, such directed fury, that your legs almost give way.
That's enough for Grace. With a choked cry, she stumbles back before turning and sprinting away through the trees.
The headmaster's eyes shift from you, following the movement. Perhaps it's one of the instincts that this Renzfal has left him with, you think wildly, if it's inside his head as well. Either that, or perhaps it's simply the natural impulse of a predator.
What matters is that he's no longer staring at you.