Your body moves on its own, darting forward and throwing out a hand: without her, there could be no way of reversing what magic she's unleashed. Your fingers find Lady Rastan's wrist, holding on tight even as you jerk backwards, fighting as hard as you can against her momentum.
The tall woman seems to have barely any weight to her at all, and you're able to pull her forward, falling backwards as you do so, sending the pair of you crashing to the rocky ground.
Pain spreading through your body, you push yourself to your knees, and you finally see over the edge of the plateau.
Hundreds of feet below you lies a crater that looks as though it could be miles across, filled with burning, scarlet flame. Squinting your eyes against the fire's harsh glare, you see something that makes your heart stop cold in your chest.
Something is down there, below the flames, pressed against them: every second allows you a glimpse of some small part of the immense form that's concealed—or perhaps trapped—within that crater, and your mind recoils as it tries to picture the sheer size of such a being.
Something scuffs on the rock behind you, and you spin around, suddenly remembering Lady Rastan.
The vice principal has pushed herself to her feet, staring at you. There's more emotion on her face than you have ever seen before. Her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes are wide open as she gasps in air.
"You…" The words are somewhere between a whisper and a murmur, as though, for the first time, she has no notion of what to say to you. "You saved me."
You force yourself upright, dusting off your hands. "That's right," you say, breathing hard. "Now, shut this down. Whatever it is, finish it."
Lady Rastan's eyes darken, and her expression clouds over with sudden bitterness as she shakes her head. "You can't understand," she mutters. "If you know what I am trying to do…if humans could ever comprehend the struggles that the undead face, try to help them, then do you think that any of this would be necessary?" She glares at you, some of the familiar steel reasserting itself. "Do you think that I would be doing this?"