Into the Storm

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my years at Ioth Academy, it’s that the school has a way of attracting strange events. I suppose it’s to be expected, by the very nature of things here, but things still manage to surprise me. Sometimes I even manage to surprise myself.
 
Vindur’s attack ripped through what had been an entirely unremarkable night. I had finished my readings, cleaned my bagpipes, and wrote down my to-dos for tomorrow. I was getting ready to turn in for the night when the air grew unbearably cold. Unnaturally cold, in retrospect. I went to close the window, figuring it was just a night wind blowing through, and that’s when the trouble started. I could barely see past my snout with all the wind and snow, and I could feel the chill all the way through to my bones. Just as I pulled the window shut, the first lightning hit, and that’s when I realized this was no ordinary storm.
 
I’ll always remember the moments afterwards, where my classmates sprung into action. One moment we were sticking our heads out into the hallway, trying to figure out what happened, and the next everyone had spread out. People got to checking in on each other, and when we realized the storm was battering the refugee camp down below, we got to work making food and relief packages to take down there. In all the rush, I couldn’t keep track of who was and wasn’t there, but I’m not sure it matters. People needed us, so the students of Ioth Academy rose to the challenge.
 
Between the blizzard, the lightning, and Vindur’s minions storming the area, we knew it was dangerous, and the wardens were antsy about our plans to go out, but what were we supposed to do? The way I saw it, we were in danger no matter where we were, and I would rather be in danger trying to do something good than in danger just twiddling my thumbs in the dorms. So I went outside with the others. I linked up with Cora and Mazoku to head down to the camp and see what we could do – a surprising team, to be sure, but I’m glad we had each other’s backs out there. Cora had a close call with some ice mephits, but Zoku thought fast and brought up an illusion to distract them and let her get to us safely.
 
Further down the path, we found two refugee girls trapped under the rubble, and I’m so thankful that we were able to work together in that moment – I’ll admit I panicked a bit, hearing the fear in the one girl’s voice as she explained that her sister had been knocked unconscious, and I’m not sure I could have faced the challenge alone. Zoku’s spellcasting helped with the heavy lifting (as an aside, I wonder if I could learn that Arms of Hadar spell, it was extraordinarily helpful!), and Cora was able to wedge herself underneath the debris to pull the two girls out. For once, I didn’t think about who would hear me play, or what they would think – I just knew that my music could help get them back from the brink of death, so I grabbed my bagpipes and played until I bought them enough time to get them back to the Academy. It wasn’t ideal – I still wanted to get to the camp with the kits, after all – but Cora pointed out that we needed to get them some proper aid, so we started the long trek back up through the storm. We ran into some wardens who were certainly not pleased to find that we had gone out against their orders, but they were fortunately more focused on the injured refugees in our care, so we managed to avoid a lecture for now. I’m sure they’ll track us down when things are a little less hectic, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.
 
But for now...I’m back in the Academy, waiting in the common area to see what else I can do. Something about the cold outside was so unnatural that I’m really struggling to warm back up, although the tea is helping with that a little bit. The wind is still howling, and I can feel the building shaking a bit against the force of the storm, but people are starting to come back inside. I’m not particularly close with anyone here, but I still feel this pang of relief in my chest every time I see a familiar face return in one piece. I keep thinking about how none of us were really trained for something like this, and how it didn’t matter. How I normally have to run every worst-case scenario through my head before doing anything, and yet I went out into the storm without even really thinking about it.
 
I’m realizing I could have died out there. Any of us could have died out there. My hands are shaking, but I can’t tell if that’s the cold or the adrenaline wearing off. I had no idea I was capable of being so sure of anything the way I was today.
 
I hope I can hold on to that confidence. Maybe it’s that the storm’s still raging, but I have a feeling we’re not in the clear yet. And I want to help. I want to make a difference.