He woke up panting and out of breath. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as his blurry vision slowly became clearer. In a panic, he looked at his own palms, and only breathed a sigh of relief as he recognised them as his own.
"You nearly died." A soft voice startled him. His gaze met that of a pair of golden eyes. "At least that's what I think, because I couldn't get near you at all." Lady Luna added with a bitter voice.
"What do you mean?" Aether asked, surprised by the coarseness of his own voice. He coughed and took the glass of water Lady Luna offered him with gratitude.
"You were…" She hesitated. "Shrouded in darkness. Solid, tangible darkness. Master Soren used a spell to carry you to this room, and it was enough to nearly knock him out as well." She avoided meeting the young man's gaze. "What was it that you did?"
"The students? Are they safe?" Aether asked after taking a sip out of his glass of water.