"Nikhil! Wait!" He can hear the panic in his aunt's call, but it just makes him run faster, to the end of the corridor and down the spiral stairs, running anywhere as long as it's away. He stumbles at the bottom, barely looking where he's going, until a shout makes him pull up short. "Hoi! No running in the corridors!" In front of him are four boys about his age, all looking at him askance. Beyond them a tall Thysian is walking away, without a glance behind, although it is he who shouted. "Get in line!" he says, a sharp edge to the command, and the boys scramble to obey.