The Alphabet Superset: Week 19: Screw This, I'm Outta Here

Reference Image: https://www.craiyon.com/image/D8p5uF0dQXOfrzSLrTXHcg

    Four heads all turned at the sound of the crash. The group could hear people rushing in to the building and spreading out. Scrawler motioned to the girls to stay put as he quietly moved toward the sounds. Meave and Aiyanna rose and began helping Catelyn to her feet.

    "Fan out and find the enthralled girl. We know the druids hold their classes here so this has got to be one of her hiding places." An authoritative voice called out. It sounded like a student around their age. The footsteps began to fan out. Scrawler inched back toward the trio as quietly as possible.

    "Is there a back door out of here?" He whispered, keeping his eyes locked on the sounds near the front door.

    "Yeah, at the opposite end of the green house." Meave whispered. Scrawler thought for a moment. The longer the intruders went without finding something, the more scattered they would get. But if they found someone, maybe they would stop, especially if that someone wasn't their target.

    "Okay, it sounds like they're looking for her. I'll distract them as best I can and buy you guys time. You guys sneak out the back as quietly as possible." The girls nodded and Scrawler turned back to the voices. He took a calming breath before walking straight towards the sounds. He tried to put on the face of someone confused, hoping that the performance would be convincing. By the time he got back to the front, the group had already fanned out from one side of the of green house to the other and seemed to be moving forward as a line, looking through hiding spots that they came across. About the time he saw the group, they saw him as well.

    "Hey, can I help you?" Scrawler asked, looking at the boys suspiciously. They were dressed in normal enough clothes, but seemed to carry themselves in a confident manner.

    "Yeah, we're looking for a druid student. She used to attend the Barrymore Dorm before it closed and we think she might have come back here after everything that went down." One of the boys, a brown-haired boy in slacks and a t-shirt, said. It was the same voice that barked orders earlier.

    Scrawler took in the boys around him. There seemed to be four of them. Aside from the leader, there were two boys searching to his left and the other was searching around to his right. All of them had athletic builds to them, as if they regularly worked out. They carried themselves with an air of confidence, as if unfazed by the fact that they had kicked in the doors and searched the building.

    "Yeah? and who exactly is 'we'?" Scrawler asked. He had a guess, but was hoping he was wrong. If they were who he thought he was, then holding four of them off was going to be a tall order at best.

    "We are Paladins of the Order here on campus. Our leadership has decided that the school can no longer be trusted with the safety of the students. We have been dispatched to ensure its safety in their place." That was the one answer that Scrawler was hoping it wouldn't be. Once the Paladins put their collective minds to something, things got done fast.

    "Okay, well that girl got sent to the Barrymore Dorm for a reason. She was caught doing drugs in here. Even if the dorm is closed, we would never let her back in here." Scrawler really hoped that Catelyn would know what he was doing and not get mad at him, assuming she was still in hearing range.

    "Yeah, we're still going to check things out, just to be sure." The leader wasn't even paying attention to the conversation. Scrawler noticed the boy to his right, a Hispanic guy with military cut black hair, pull out his phone and begin looking at something on it. There was nothing on there that would bode well for him or Catelyn.

    "Fine, do what you want." Scrawler said in an annoyed voice, turning back to go deeper into the green house. He hoped that if he could disappear from view, then maybe he could use tricks to slow down the boys. But he had barely turned around when the Hispanic kid spoke up.

    "Hey Jeremy, he's one of the Enthralled!" The shout might as well have been an explosion. Scrawler had his quill out in seconds, already writing out the spell in the air as he spun around. As he finished writing it, he pointed the quill at Jeremy. He could feel a wave of air shoot out from him. Jeremy had no chance to react before he went flying backward, slamming into a table behind him. The druids weren't going to be happy about that.

    Jeremy saw flashes of fire in his peripheries. All three remaining boys were now covered in suits of armor made out of fire. Swords made of the same flames appeared in their hands. Scrawler ran back into the cover of the plants.

    "I got him, you two find the girl. No way he isn't covering for her." Scrawler cursed his luck. He was hoping all three would come after him. Now he needed to find a way to stop the other two without the guy chasing him catching him. To make matters worse, he had to be cautious of the plants in the green house. The wrong spell could have serious consequences on either the plants or the glass of the building.

    He could hear the two boys racing past his location toward the back of the greenhouse. He raced after them, trying his best to ignore the sounds of running now behind him as well. He quickly wrote out the next spell in the air in front of him. As the two came back into sight, Scrawler watched the words turn in two tiny balls of light. They flew out forward and slammed the boys in the back, both sent sprawling across the floor.

    Scrawler only had a second to witness the aftermath before a body slammed into him, flames hot against his skin for a moment before he hit the floor. As he got back to his feet, he saw that the Hispanic boy from earlier was now moving to stand between him and the other two boys. There was no choice but to face him if he wanted to cover the girl's escape.

    "You need to stay down. Our leaders want you guys brought in for questioning and we will do whatever it takes to make that happen." The Hispanic boy raised his sword in warning, pointing it at Scrawler.

    Scrawler knew he need to get past this guy without getting too burned himself. His jacket was now singed where the Paladin's armor had hit him. He knew he needed to keep his distance.

    "If it's a sword fight you want, you got it." The Scrawler wrote out the next spell as he spoke. He watched as a sword of air formed in his hand. He was trying hard to minimize collateral damage, but the Paladins were giving him very few options. Their armor alone was enough to set the building ablaze if anything went wrong during this fight. He hoped this sword could counter that.

    "You're gonna regret this." The Paladin warned before charging forward. Scrawler had only a moment to protect himself before their swords clashed in the air. A percussive wave emanated from where the magical swords impacted, forcing his opponent backward slightly. 

    Scrawler was happy the spell seemed to work, but it was not as effective as he hoped. For one thing the boy was still on his feet. For another, his armor and sword were still on fire and the boy himself seemed unfazed. His shock must've been evident on his face.

    "What, did you think that your magic sword would automatically give you a win? Newsflash amigo, Paladins are specifically trained to fight people like you. You better bring your A game." The Paladin charged forward again.

    Scrawler needed to escape this fight to protect the druid's escape. But the other two paladins were already up and running again and the guy he was fighting wasn't giving him a chance to think, much more act. To make matters even worse, another set of flames drew his attention.

    Jeremy was back on his feet and he looked angry. Scrawler watched his sword appear in his hand as he quickly moved to join the fight. Scrawler tried to turn his body and back away so that both of his opponents were at least in front of him. The paladins didn't seem to care as they advance.

    "Come on Marko, lets end this." Jeremy said to the Hispanic kid. At least now Scrawler knew the names of the guys about to kick his butt. He raised his sword and held it up defensively. Jeremy and Marco charged.

    Scrawler did his best to hold the two back. The wind sword he used pushed them back a little every time their blades clashed. But Scrawler was no swordsman and he was facing off against two people that were. They began coordinating their moves, with one of them rushing in whenever Scrawler managed to push the other back. 

    Soon, Jeremy was able to get in a good kick to Scrawler's stomach. Scrawler fell to the floor winded as his sword disappeared. Jeremy and Marco each pointed their swords at him, silently ordering him to stay down.

    All attention was pulled from Scrawler when a roar filled the room. One of the paladin boys, a black kid with short dreads, came sprinting back from the chase. Behind him a ghostly white bear seemed to phase through the plants, chasing the terrified kid. Jeremy and Marco both backed up in alarm as the bear came to stop between them and where Scrawler lay.

    The Scrawler saw more commotion as the plants themselves seemed to be moving on their own. A second later, the other paladin who had gone ahead, a younger looking Asian boy, was literally thrown by the plants. Jeremy tried to catch him, cushioning his fall when they hit the ground.

    "Stand your ground, boys." Jeremy ordered as he stood back up, helping his friend along the way. "Remember, under God, no evil shall cause us harm." The Paladins mustered up beside Jeremy, the fire of their swords and armor growing more intense for a brief moment as they faced off against their opponents. 

    Meave and Aiyanna appeared from the plants on either side of Scrawler. Aiyanna helped Scrawler up off the floor before turning her attention back to the paladins. Scrawler smiled at the two girls before turning back to the Paladins. He silently hoped that at least Catelyn had managed to get away safely. "Yeah? Well good thing we aren't evil." He said confidently.

    The bear charged forward and the Paladin raced to meet it. The bear knocked Marco to the side as soon as he got in range. Before Marco could get back into the fight, vines from the ceiling of the green house seemed to snatch him up, tying him to one of the rafter above. That gave Scrawler an idea.

    He used another ball of light to hit one of the paladins from behind. More vines came down and grabbed up the downed Paladin. The bear smacked down another one of the paladins, leaving Jeremy alone.

    "Alive or dead, you are coming with me!" Jeremy yelled before raising, the fire on it starting to go wild as it seemed to gather energy. Scrawler barely had time summon a wall of dirt between them and Jeremy.

    "Under the Father's Holy Name, I SMITE THEE!" A beam of fire blasted forth from the sword. A cut right through the astral bear, wiping it out. It crashed into the earthen wall with a roar and shot out in all directions. The wall held, but glass and smoldering plants rained from the ceiling. The smell of smoke filled the building.

    As the fire died down, there was a blackened ring that cut right through the building. Melted glass hung from red hot iron supports. Tables caught in the path were now cut in half, smoldering where they got hit. Plants burned, popped, or were reduced to ash. Smoke slowly began to fill the room despite the new ventilation.

    Scrawler felt the rage from the druids before they even acted. Vines from the plants behind them shot out and grabbed Jeremy. In seconds, Jeremy was pulled off his feet and dragged into the plants. He watched as vines and enormous leaves wrapped around him like he was a mummy.

    Scrawler fell on his butt as he tried to catch his breath. Aiyanna put a hand on his should as Meave reached out her hand toward the last fallen paladin, wrapping him in vines as well.

    "You okay?"

    "Yeah, just winded. Thanks for coming back to help. I don't what would've happened to me if you hadn't."

    "No problem. Glad we did." She smiled, before looking around the ruins of the room.

    "Did Catelyn make it?" Scrawler asked. A small part of him was worried that all this chaos would've been pointless.

    "Yeah, she's gone." Meave said while also surveying the room. "It's a shame. We could've used her help with this."

    Scrawler fished his phone out of his pocket. He rose while opening the camera. A second later, he was recording the room.

    "What are you doing?" Meave asked.

    "Warning people. If the Paladins are after us, there is no telling who else is on there list."