Thud. Thud.

Taya's eyebrows furrow and she rolls onto her other side. For some reason, her muscles feel stiff and her head pounds.

"Taya, open the door."

Her spellbook jabs her neck. Slowly, Taya pulls herself upright. Tendons crick and snap like a burning newspaper.

"What are you doing in here with the door locked? Are you napping?"

"The door was locked?" Taya blinks, vision fuzzing into place.

"There's a schoolwide evacuation, so get up and grab your stuff. Don't just sit there."

"Evacuation...?" Taya looks around their room with measured calm. Four walls and a cieling. Furniture in place. Books on the bookshelf. Mirror on the wall, unbroken. Spellbook on the ground where she left it. She looks at Adenne, then finally notices the acrid wisps of air flooding in from the hallway.

Taya stands and walks to the window. Smoke fills the nightsky and forms a stage for gigantic writhing shadows. Firelight reflects off the clouds, casting the schoolbuildings in flickering shades of crimson.

The school is burning.

"When... how...?"

"This afternoon. Teachers are dead set on finding the culprit, once they have control of the fire. All students are ordered to take what they need then report to the main lawn as quickly as possible for assignments. Stop standing, start packing."

Taya pulls herself from the window like a marionette. Right. Evacuate. Report. Bag, where's her bag... oh. Right. Where she left it. What will she need, a book, clothes...?

With all the speed of an unwound wind-up toy, Taya takes her bag, opens her trunk, and peers over the contents. Adenne walks to the center of the room and lifts the spellbook. She reads the page, then stares at Taya.

"D- do you think they'll put it out soon?"

Adenne looks at the walls, walls that somehow remain untouched between sizzling neighbors. Then she stares at Taya again.

Taya looks up. "Are you, um, not packing anything?"

"You did it."

"What?"

"You started the fire."

Taya squeaks with recognition and gapes.

"That explains why it started during class." Her roomate's voice is composed, almost awed. "You hate everyone here, of course you'd do it. And nobody would ever suspect the Magimute."

"But I didn't, I can't..."

"You locked the door," she insists. "You were casting for the first time in months. And you protected one room in the entire school, this one, so you wouldn't get hurt."

Taya backs up into the windowsill. "It would take someone really good to do this. You /know/ there's no way I...!"

"You were casting Fire!" Adenne snaps the spellbook shut inches from Taya's face. Taya winces and presses against the window glass, wishing more than ever to be nothing but a spot.

"But I didn't actually cast Fire!"

Adenne stares at her. Taya trembles against the window. Adenne continues to stare, then lunges for the window, flipping up the latch. Taya steadies her balance on the windowpane when the glass slams upward. Open to the night air, the sickening heat of the fire invades the room. Rooms to the right and left smoulder, filling her lungs with smoke. Her eyes sting and she squints at her roomate.

"Out."

"What?"

"Get out." To emphasize, Adenne grabs her arm and pushes her over the windowsill. Too confused for coordination, Taya topples onto the ground. She winces as twigs dig into the small of her back and ashes float into her hair.

She opens her mouth to speak but can't think of any words. She watches Adenne lean over the window with confusion. It isn't betrayal if she had no allies to begin with, but she feels betrayed.

"If you're smart, you'll jump the wall while you can."

The wall? Taya scrambles to her feet, clutching at the strap of her bag. She coughs into a hand. "But... past the wall... it's dangerous, there are monsters."

"There are monsters here." Adenne slams the window closed, turns her back to Taya, and packs her own bag one handed.

Taya stares at her retreating figure until the smoke makes her eyes water. Dizzy, Taya backs away from their room and stumbles her way towards the far western edge of the wall. She edges unnoticed between flaming buildings as teachers and students rush to the appointed meeting place. She can't help but notice magic in the fire. But for a few stray shrubs, only the buildings burn. Buildings she quickly leaves behind.

Riverbale-Sensei used to take his class out here, to sit on the tiny hillside that borders the wall. They would sit in a circle, sometimes perching in tree branches, as he demonstrated the day's lesson. On warm days, the wind would carry smells of thyme, sage, and peppermint from the school garden.

Taya trips on a tree root and sprawls onto the ground. She half walks, half crawls until she regains her balance enough to run. Her knees feel wet from grass stains and her toe stings but she can't stop yet.

The downward slope of the hill evens before her stamina dies. She follows it, stumbling, towards the marker that divides Pao from the wilderness.

Taya reaches the wall, panting and choking. She stoops over to breathe, heart pounding, throat raw like sandpaper. She doesn't dare glance over her shoulder. Adenne would tell someone. And then they'll rally together, and anyone who can be spared will be sent in pursuit. In pursuit of the Magimute, in pursuit of the girl nobody really liked and everyone can hate if given the chance. Blood rushes to her ears, defeaning any sounds of the inevitable approach.

She almost wishes she really did do this.

Taya straightens, staring at the face of the wall. Centuries of rainwater erosion have formed a large clump of soil at the base, nearly as strong as the rocks they cover. Two feet of stone haven't seen the light of day since 5059. Thousands and thousands of rocks compose the wall, a hybrid of all shapes, sizes, and colors. They jut at odd angles here and there, a clever person's footholds. Parasitic weeds and roots stick through the cracks providing ample grips.

Nobody maintains the inside of the wall, more fearful of what may enter than what may leave.

Driven by desperation, Taya grips a vine and steadies her foot on a chunk of shale. She stumbles, slips, and scrapes her way to the top of the wall. Taya searches for a grip to steady her descent. At this height, she's too easy to spot. Toeing for a gap in the rocks she slips and falls down the other side, a flawless fusion of stone into stone. Generations of magic have smoothed the outer wall into a slippery plummet that not even ivy dare climb.

She lands on the grassy earth, disoriented. Taya forces herself standing, ignoring the protests of tired muscles, raw palms, and fresh bruises. Phantom fires obscure her vision, but at least she can breathe the air here. And if she can breathe, she can still run. Any minute they'll open up the gate, she has to hide.

Taya gasps in breath, slowing her heartbeat to a less painful rythym. Picking a direction at random, she steadies her bag on her shoulder and sprints into the world outside.