D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

"Grab everyone you can and get them…" Green paused as she looked around for a good spot to leave. The wall of fire was gone now but that didn't mean the town was any less surrounded. The fire burned lower, not powered by the crystal anymore, but it would still be too much to walk through in most areas. That was, until Green managed to spot an area between two houses. The ground must have been softer there as the explosion had taken out a large chunk of dirt, leaving nothing for the fire to burn. There was of course fire just past it, but that was a good enough starting point, "get them over to that crater!"

Green and the others got to work. Green intentionally went for those further away from the rendezvous on account of her being the fastest. Buff also took note of this and headed in the other direction, grabbing the furthest Thymes by the shoulder before shaking them and pointing to the crater. Two Thymes tried to ignore Buff, but they just slapped them around a bit before piling the Thymes up onto their shoulders with Gloves. It didn't even slow Buff down.

Tophat was doing what they could, taking a few moments with each person to calm them down before sending them on their way. It was slow, but effective and worked every time. Gray on the other hand would order them to the crater, and when ignored, start whacking them on the shins with her walking stick repeatedly till they decided it was just in their best interest to stop arguing.

Green only had one major issue, a Thyme that was limping asked her to get a walking stick for them… but the house they indicated it was in was clearly on fire, so Green said, "I'm sorry sir, but it's too late for that walking stick, now please come with me we're running out of time." Which was true, at this point they were. This was one of the last Thymes and the last Thyme Green personally would wake up. The fire was getting hotter and she was really feeling it. She was sweating a good deal and wanted nothing more than to use mana to keep herself cool with a gust of wind. Sadly that was off the table.

"I'll manage on my own then," said the Thyme as they hobbled forward. Green nodded and turned, only to see that the other Thymes had been collected, there was just one more and Buff looked like he had that all handled. Green was about to run off anyway when she realised just how far away they were. Turning around Green swooped in and placed the hobbling Thyme's arm around her neck. "I can manage I can manage," but Green ignored them.

The Thyme, while annoyed, wasn't suicidal enough to actually fight Green, just complain and she started to make… acceptable progress. In the end though, Buff made it to the crater, dropped off the two stubborn Thymes, and then jogged over with Gloves still on his shoulder before easily picking up the hobbling Thyme and placing them on a shoulder. They grumbled slightly under their breath but didn't complain.

Green and Buff arrived in the middle of the crater, Tophat had taken a position at the 'front' of the crowd and was doing what she could to keep everyone calm with Gray standing off to the side, occasionally raising her walking stick and glaring at people, "We have a plan. Please just remain calm, we are gathering all the villagers now. I need everyone ready for the next stage. This is a nice safe zone for now, but if the temperature climbs too much we'll still be in trouble," A gasp ran through the crowd but Gray raised her stick and Tophat continued, "I said don't panic. We are aware of this and taking steps,"

*That's great to say and all but frankly it's a bit of a lie. I don't really know what to do at this point. The fire is spreading to the trees and a lot of the undergrowth. It's not spreading as fast as I'd expect from real fire but it's not exactly slow either. My best idea is to punch a hole through the fire with an air blast, but I'm not sure if that will be enough. We might have to lean on Buff a lot. I mean, I'll definitely be out of it if I blast a big enough hole through the forest, that'll take everything I've regenerated. He'll need to carry me, Gloves and maybe that Thyme with a dodgy leg.

Damn I'm thankful for Buff. If I didn't have him we'd all be so screwed. I really wish I had some other competent help though. Gloves was such a big let down. It'd be nice to see Gareth, Nixilei or more likely Kat hear soon. There's no way Kress has finished dealing with his shit, but I really do hope that the others can arrive. Kat has the highest chance of getting here sometimes soon… but no sigh of her yet and the trees will make her hard to spot. Hmm… do I have any better ideas? Not really?

Is it worth risking panic by taking the time to form another plan… no. Tophat is barely keeping them all calm with the assurance that we already know what we're doing. We'll just have to hope for the best and see what that can do for us. Damn. After all that effort it'll be coming down to a mad dash through the forest. Certainly not ideal, but not the worst thing ever.*

"Buff, can you throw me up? Just to the lower hanging branches, I don't want to be burned. I just need to take a good look at what lies ahead of us," explained Green quietly. Buff just nodded once again, the calm quiet self assured Thyme new his capabilities, and this was well within them.

*Buff you're the best. If I didn't already love Gareth I might be willing to kiss you when this is all done. Who even cares that your just a Thyme clone at this point it'd be worth it. Heck I still might. He has been an absolute wonder.*

Green readied herself as Buff bent down slightly and turned his hands into a stepping platform. Green felt a twinge of unease at the way she was about to be thrown but didn't have long to contemplate that fact. Launched into the sky Green looked around and was pleasantly surprised that the fire was spreading, but not too badly. An air blast WOULD be enough, but they'd need to be ready to run. Green was getting ready to land when she noticed Buff holding out his arms. Letting herself fall sideways she landed easily in Buff's grasp. "Thanks Buff. I'm going to announce the plan, but I'll need you to carry me afterwards. I'll have no strength yet. You still good?" whispered Green.

"Yes. I will be fine for a while. Can keep up easily, especially if held back by some members of crowd," said Buff in a somewhat shocking display of verboseness.

"Thank you" said Green happily before she jogged to the front to stand by Tophat who was still keeping the lid on everything. "Tophat, you want me to announce the plan or announce it through you?"

"I think it's best if you do it Ms Green. I've been keeping things steady for now, but I can't then jump in with the plan, they'll wonder why I didn't explain before," said Tophat.

Grimacing Green nodded and strode to the front of the rock Tophat had been addressing everyone from. "ALRIGHT!" shouted Green before waiting a few moments to make sure that she had everyone's attention. "I'll be using my mana to blast us a pathway out of here. I need everyone ready and willing to run before the fire can refill the gap. You don't need to run forever, just this first 200m. Get ready to run on my signal. You'll know what it is."

Green then turned around walking to the edge of the crater as she gathered her mana into the enchantments on her armour. *I'm going to have to force this through my boots. I'll probably fall over but aw well.* Green raised one leg pointing her show forward as she forced the mana down into her shoes. She could feel herself straining at the limit, her mana channels wheezing as the last droplets of it were squeezed into the spell.

BOOM

Green stumbled backward into Tophat, who barely managed to keep them both upright. Green's ears were ringing from the sound and body shaking from the exhaustion. It took everything in her power to not turn into a complete noodle and pass out right there but the Thymes needed to see she was ok. Just for a bit longer. Green's ears were still ringing when she watched the first person run past her, followed by a dozen others, all charging forward away from the burning town. Green smiled and felt the last of her strength go as the one leg she was standing on gave up. Pulling her and Tophat down. Buff was clearly ready for this though as he took them both into his large arms and ran forward, now carrying 4 people with no trouble.