Cary didn't take seeing that damaged floor all that well. None of the students did. People started screaming as they all ran for the doors in the distance.

"Witch," they yelled, as if the witch was still roaming those halls, searching for their next victim. Searching for people to kill.

And as Cary headed down the hall, something told her that she would be the one they were looking for.

As the stampede of students rushed forward, Cary had to struggle to keep up with them. Her short legs pumped feverishly under her, trying to stay ahead of the people pushing her from behind. Trying to keep from being trampled. Trying to stay alive.

When the students broke out into the day, they all scattered, heading deeper into the campus. All thoughts of heading for the dorms and checking in were gone from most of their minds. All they wanted, all Cary wanted, was to be away from those school buildings. For once, for the first time since she arrived at TPS, there really was a witch, and she really could escape them. Or at least try, stuck there within the confines of campus.

It took Cary a while to calm down enough to remember that she was supposed to head for the dorms. As she looked around at where she was, she found herself on the Cadavraball field. At first, she had no idea why she ran there, of all places. She had generally been avoiding it those past few weeks, ceding it to David and his friends. But as she looked around at the place, she was surprised to realize that David was exactly the reason why she was there. She was looking for her friend, the one that she had before all of this had happened. The one that she thought she lost ages ago.

As those emotions played through her head, she just stood there on the edge of the field, staring at home plate. Staring at where she had last seen David there, as if he were some toy that she had forgotten about. A toy that she had left outside, expecting to find it the next time she went to play. But he wasn't there. There was no sign of him, or of anyone there on the field. Once she realized that he wasn't there, that he was probably back at the room, she was about to turn and head that way.

"Cary?" came a voice from behind her. A familiar voice. The voice that she had been searching for.

Suddenly, Cary was running. She didn't have to look back, to see where she was running to. She knew where he was, could almost feel him standing there just a few paces behind her. His arms found her without either needing to say a word, and they just hugged each other there on the edge of the field. All injuries were forgotten. The chasm between them mended.

"You're alright," she said. "I thought..."

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "I was the one that headed for the dorms. You were the one missing. I thought that the witch got you. It would have... I mean, you were so worried... I'm... I'm sorry."

"Forget it," she said. "It's already forgotten. I'm just glad you're alright."

"Where's Nelgomi?" David asked. "Is he with you, too?"

"Nelgomi?" Cary asked. She pulled away from David, looking around at the field, as if the dwarf would be there too. "What do you mean?"

"He wasn't in the room when I got there. No one was. That's why... I mean, you and he hang out so much these days. He's like your new best friend, or whatever."

"Pfft, only by default," Cary said. "No one is ever going to be as good a friend as you are."

"Ha, some friend I am. I'm... I'm so sorry. I was just so jealous. Magic just comes so easily to you."

"I know. It kind of scares me a little. Anyway, where would Nelgomi be?"

"How would I know?" David asked. "You're the one hanging out with him all the time."

"Yeah, well," Cary started.

But then she went silent as she thought about the dwarf. While they had been hanging out most days, they were usually doing whatever Cary or Siobhan wanted to do. They'd hang out in the mead hall, or the sitting rooms in their dorm buildings. Usually studying, or privately reading. Just hanging out with each other, without really talking to each other. As friendly as the two of them had been towards each other, Cary realized that she didn't really know much about Nelgomi.

"The dwarven citadel?" Cary asked, shrugging. "He goes there on Sundays to worship..." She tried to remember the dwarven deity that Nelgomi worshiped, but she had long since forgotten it. The fact that he didn't worship God was bad enough, but she had decided to overlook it given that he was a dwarf. That God might not have come to his people in the dwarven realm. "To worship," she said again, figuring that was enough.

"Alright," David said, nodding. "Come on, then."

The two of them headed back through the small copse of trees that separated the Cadavraball field from the area around the chapels. As they walked, Cary realized that the campus had been quiet. Far too quiet for her tastes. More quiet than she thought she had ever heard it be in the weeks she had been there. Even during the night, the air was filled with conversation and shouting from her fellow students. But as they went across the open field, there was nothing. No other students. No sounds of nature. Thankfully, no cackling witches. But Cary knew that was no indication that the witch wasn't right on their tails.

They didn't have to go further than the citadel's door to know that Nelgomi wasn't in there. The tall metal doors were locked tight, barely moving at Cary's pushing. She took a step back from them, looking all over the wall, and at the statues on either side of it. But there was no sign of Nelgomi out there. No sign of the dwarf anywhere.

"Well, I guess he's not here," David said.

"Are you sure he wasn't back at the room?" Cary asked. "Maybe..."

"Unless he went back there after I left to look for you," David said.

"Why don't we head over there?"

The silence of the campus only deepened as they made their way back over to the dorms. There was no sign of anyone out there, with everyone hiding out in their rooms. As they came around the admin building, Cary could see the windows for the dorm lit up with the torchlight. The sun was only just setting in the distance, heading down beneath the tops of the tall fairy mushrooms. The torches hadn't been set up around the campus yet, either because it was too early or because the teachers were too busy. Cary didn't think much of it as they came inside the door.

"Ah, more students," someone said. Cary looked in the direction of the voice, surprised to see an upperclassman standing in the middle of the sitting room. This was the first time she had seen an upperclassman in her dorm.

"I already checked in," David said. "I'll go check the room. You need to check in."

"Sure, sure," Cary said, nodding.

The sitting room was packed with students, all underclassmen. Most of the seats had been taken by the seventh graders, either by them being there first or by throwing their weight around. Sam had managed to grab one of them, and keep it despite several seventh graders taking the floor near him. Greg was sitting off in the corner near the back hallway, his eyes trained on the window next to him. Cary tried to avoid catching his attention, but he seemed to be lost in thought.

"Uh, Cary Simms," Cary said, as she picked her way across the room towards the upperclassman.

"Ah, there you are. Great." He crossed off her name on his list with the pen in his hand with something of a flourish. "Just three more and I can leave. Ugh, these stupid drills."

"Is uh... Did Nelgomi check in?" Cary asked.

"Nelgomi?" the upperclassman asked. "Last name?"

"Oh, uh... I..."

"Never mind, he's one of the three. He's still out there somewhere."

"Maybe I should..." Cary started to say, as she looked behind herself towards the door.

"Oh, no, you're supposed to stay here," he said. "The staff are supposed to be looking for lost students, once their own meeting is over. Which can't happen soon enough."

"But he could be out there somewhere hurt," Cary said.

She glanced over towards the hallway leading deeper into the dorm, wondering if David would be back soon. Wondering if she should wait for him. But she was more worried about Nelgomi than she was about herself. With David safe there in the dorm, and knowing that Siobhan had made it through the witch attack fine, she headed out in search of her last friend.

"No, wait, stop," the upperclassman muttered, with no real emotion behind his voice.

"What?" Cary asked, pausing halfway across the room to look back at him.

"No, I was just kidding, I don't really care." He waved at her, his pen still in his hand. "Buh bye. Don't get yourself killed, and stuff. Not that there's anything out there that can hurt you. Seriously, stupid drill."

Cary rolled her eyes as she rushed off, wondering if the teachers knew how immature the guy was. She hoped that the next time something like that happened, she didn't have to rely on that guy to save her life. She hoped that Nelgomi wasn't waiting for him to save his life.

With Nelgomi not having checked in, and not in the citadel, there were only so many places that he could be. At first, she thought about the classroom building, but that was the last place she wanted to go. If Nelgomi was still in there, it was likely that the witch had gotten him. That he was already dead, and there was nothing that Cary could do to save him. The only other place that he could have been was the mead hall. As she headed out the door to the dorms, she turned in that direction, walking purposefully towards it.

As she went, her eyes were constantly wandering around her, searching for signs of danger. Searching for the witch coming to get her. But there was nothing and no one out there. The place was as silent as it had been earlier. Unsettlingly so. It wasn't until she made it to the square around the fountain that she finally saw someone. More importantly, it was the right someone.

Nelgomi was standing there, once again staring at the fountain. From a distance, Cary had thought he was the fountain, as he was wearing a stone gray sweater and jeans. It was the perfect camouflage for the square, as even the cobblestone road was the same color. As Cary came closer, she was relieved that he was there. That he was alive.

"Nelgomi," Cary called out. "Finally. I've been–"

"Cary," Nelgomi shouted. He practically jumped in place, turning around to look at her. "What are you..."

As Nelgomi turned around, Cary realized why she had confused him for the fountain earlier. It wasn't just that his clothing looked the exact same color, and his squat, girthy stature made him the perfect replica of it. It was that the fountain wasn't there anymore. The fountain was little more than rubble, spread throughout the square. In its place was a gaping hole.

"What... What happened?" Cary asked. She looked at the hole, staring into its depths, as if trying to figure out what had been in there. Or perhaps, what had come out of it. "Is that where the witch came from?"

"The witch?" Nelgomi asked. "Oh, I don't..."

Cary looked at the dwarf, surprised to see him covered with rock dust. A large, heavy looking sledgehammer was in his left hand. And clutched in his right was what looked like a smaller version of the fairy mushrooms that stood tall all over the place.

Only this one was glowing.

"What is that?" Cary asked, though she had a feeling that she already knew the answer.

"It's the heart of the forest," he said. "I told you they had it."