As soon as he opened the door, Orion barged in, sighing in relief seeing that the bed was still made and all the buttons on the two youths' uniforms were in proper order.
"Why didn't you answer your communication amulet? I've been calling you for hours!" Orion yelled.
"I was busy!" Phloria angrily rebuked.
"Please forgive us, Lith." Lady Ernas said. "I couldn't stop his rampage after he heard the news. The moment Phloria missed his tenth call, we were already on our way here. I suppose you know that something is going on."
Lith nodded.
"Yes, Lady Ernas. We were just about to call you." He reported to them Professor Nalear's announcement and his doubts about it.
"Excellent thinking. Emotions are important, but in time of crisis, keeping a cool head is of the utmost importance." Jirni clicked her tongue, making both father and daughter blush in embarrassment.
"Also, it's the exact reason why we are here. By now, most of the students should have been contacted by their parents and informed about the current predicament."
"Which is?" Lith asked.
"Have you ever heard about the god of death?" Phloria and Lith shook their heads.
"Ilyum Balkor, better known as the god of death, is one of the blackest pages in the Griffon Kingdom's modern history. Twenty years ago, before either of you were born, he was a commoner of humble origins that had entered the Black Griffon academy, soon revealing to possess an outstanding talent for magic.
"It quickly turned out to be more a curse rather than a blessing. According to the academy's old standards, might makes right, so he and his family were constantly victims of harassment from the noble families.
"The previous Queen ignored all the reports because she considered such behavior useful to her agenda. In her mind, they would push Balkor to seek the Crown's support, making him more malleable to her requests in order to satisfy his thirst for revenge and protection.
"Her 'brilliant' plan fell apart when a few months before his graduation, Balkor's village was set ablaze and his family killed by unknown bandits. It's still unclear if it was just an unlucky incident or something staged by one of the old noble families.
"What matters is that Balkor didn't care for the Crown's promises of finding the culprits, nor for all the flatteries coming from the academies and noble families alike, aiming to recruit him. They tried to exploit his pain of losing his family by replacing it with a new one.
"After graduating, he disappeared for a few months before returning at the lead of an army of greater undead, exterminating in one night all the noble families in his birthplace.
"Then he escaped to the Blood Desert while the army and the Mage Association were still busy dealing with his thralls.
"That night, Ilyum Balkor gained the title of god of death and the old Queen abdicated in Sylpha's favor. The following year, the Crown received a single word from him: 'Past'.
"During the night of the anniversary of Balkor's family's death, a whole old noble household disappeared. Not even children or elderly were spared, the only thing left behind was a single word, painted with blood over every single wall, ceiling, or floor: "Soon."
"Every year, for the following four years, the Crown received the same note and another ancient household would disappear during the night of the anniversary. Then, for the next five years, the note contained a different word: 'Present'.
"During the anniversary, the new target became the Crown and the Mage Association. Their most notable members would be attacked by legions of never seen before undead.
"We know this because most of the intended victims managed to survive, thanks to the heavy security. The King and the Queen survived all five attempts, allowing the Association to collect a lot of samples and devise new weapons against the new race of undead.
Sadly, this is the eleventh year and the note changed once again. Now it says: 'Future'."
"So they think he will now target the academies? It makes sense since the students represent the future of the Kingdom. What makes them think he will target the White Griffon?" Lith asked.
Lady Ernas shook her head sighing.
"No one thinks the god of death will target the White Griffon. We think he will target all the academies. The first five years were just the appetizer. He used them to perfect his creations while putting to test the magical defenses of the most powerful families, succeeding most of the times.
Then, he targeted both the Crown and the Mage Association, attacking all of their most notable members. He is the reason that lead the Griffon Kingdom to hasten the reform of the nobility and academy system, leading to the current crisis.
The existence of the god of death is a secret to the public, but every major power of the country knows about him, and lives in fear of his return."