Chapter 679 - Timber

This is still Green's perspective

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Buff jogged forward at what to him was a reasonable pace. That reasonable pace was already passing a number of the slower Thymes even with the four people he was carrying. Green was basically a wet noodle. She was simply surprised to have kept her conscious together at all. She was flat against Buff's shoulder with eyes glazed over. Part of her wanted to just go to sleep despite the fact she'd managed to avoid that fate… but the rational part of her knew it would be best to stay awake just a bit longer before collapsing.

Tophat was sitting somewhat awkwardly on Buff's shoulder and needed to hold herself in place to avoid falling off. Buff was big yes, but not quite so broad in the shoulders as to be able to keep two people either side. In this case Tophat ended up half on Green and half falling down Buff's large arms. She was very awake but made no move to get off Buff. The big Thyme was faster then Tophat by a long shot and it wasn't worth forcing him to stop just in case.

The Thyme that had been hobbling was doing quite well. They had a nice comfy seat even if it did require them to hold onto Buff's head for stability. Gloves… well they weren't awake to realise they were the chair in this instance. Hobble's weight was keeping Gloves from just falling off and that was all the help the fool was going to receive. He'd wasted too much time before ruining everything and nobody was enough of a saint to protest the somewhat poor treatment.

The fire was crackling all around them and the trees were starting to burn somewhat. The leaves were already up in smoke and many of the branches were heading the same way. The trunks hadn't quite gotten hot enough to start truly burning but the fire was already making Green and the others sweat. The heat alone would start to cause problems for most if they had to keep running through it for too long. While the forest wasn't liable to go up in flames all of a sudden, the slow roasting from the continuous heat would still be enough to do them in.

That's why, Green felt like jumping for joy when she saw a dark dot flying down towards them. It could only be one thing. *KAT!* The demon in question slammed into the ground next to Buff and shouted, "Green, are you alright?"

"Mrgmhmr" was the best approximation of what Green could manage. She'd tried to say, 'I'm alright' *But apparently I lack the strength for actual words. Urgh… I really should have taken the time to rest on that first tree. Running across town, then through the forest then to jump and it just kept going. I really abused my poor mana pool today.* 

"Um… hmm…" Kat had started to jog next to Buff, the other Thymes giving her a decently wide birth at this point after seeing her landing crack the ground. "You seem safe… little weird you're getting carried… but… it's hard to tell if you're struggle or this Thyme here is carrying you because you're out of breath. The lag of gag is telling, but you're sweating horribly…"

*Kat you IDIOT. We're in the middle of a fire of course I'm sweating!* Sadly for Green she was the only one. None of the Thymes were bothering to fake having sweat glans and Kat herself wasn't really feeling the heat. Seeing all the others completely fine was leading her to guess the fire wasn't actually that bad. It was. The Thymes were just ignoring it because even just minor parts of Thyme were more than able to stand up to fire of this level just like Kat.

Luckily Tophat was on the case, "No she's fine. Green had to use all her mana to make a path through the fire. I'm surprised she's even conscious at all. Buff here has been a big help, doing literally ALL of the heavy lifting. Solid guy really. He deserves a raise. Not even sure what he does for a living or what the pay is. Certainly not enough,"

Buff shrugged his large shoulders proving once again that his name was fitting. Tophat needed to cling desperately around Buff's arm to ensure she didn't slip during the motion, using her other hand to keep Green in place as well. The other side faired a bit better, but Gloves nearly slipped off to the side. Then again, nobody important was at risk, so it was fine.

"Right… right. Um… what can I do then? You seem to have this handled even if the forest is on fire. I'm not really sure I can do anything about that to be honest. Buff looks like he's got the whole 'carrying people' thing down. I mean, I could take one or two people off your hands if you want Buff?" asked Kat unsure. She'd rushed here after helping Nixilei but while things weren't perfect they were running smoothly enough.

As if Kat's question invoked some sick retribution from a bored god, a creaking sound resounded through the forest even over the top of the fires and Kat turned. Green wished she could see what was happening at the time as Kat dashed forward. Towards the front of the column one of the trees had started falling over and Kat leapt straight at it, colliding with the burning log in mid-air. She strained against the weight, but was being pushed back. While she could lift it on the ground, her wings were not capable of supporting such weight. "QUICK I CAN ONLY SLOW IT DOWN!" shouted Kat.

Buff instantly sped up, no trouble at all and many followed him even as the tree continued its fall as if in slow motion. The issue was the three Thymes Green could see behind Buff that were likely not going to make it in time. *Shit shit shit. What can I do? I can't move, I can't use anymore mana. What can I do? Shout a warning perhaps?* "Grehr" attempted Green. She wanted to say something. Anything. Maybe an encouragement to run faster, maybe a warning to stay back. Didn't matter as her mouth wasn't up to the task right now. 

The three were quite a bit behind having been struggling to keep up and as the falling log came into view for Green it really hit home that they had no chance to stop it. That was until Kat's feet hit the ground and things stabilised. Green's eyes went wide as Kat supported the entire 50m tree all by herself. It didn't mat it had cracked part of the way up, it was still a huge amount of tree. It also wasn't optimal for the others. They managed to avoid getting hit, but now they were hesitating, Green could see it.

*Hmm. What should they do here? Kat might have stopped the log but the fire is still burning strong. Will they run through the fire, maybe ducking to try and avoid it, or will they do something else?* Kat had the answer apparently because Green could somewhat hear Kat saying something to the three but she didn't catch whatever those words were. A few moments later, Kat seemed to get her answer because the trunk was shoved off to the side letting it crash to the ground and removing Kat from view.

*Are they going to be alright? I hope Kat knows what… she's… WHAT THE HECK?* Green watched in surprise as Kat suddenly showed up soaring over the fallen log. She had managed to grab all three Thymes quickly. One was sitting on her shoulders like a kid, another clung to her back like a monkey and the third sat in her hands. Kat's wings had been completely flattened by this choice which meant her current air time didn't have anything to do with them. Green smiled slightly at the sight, drinking in the view of Kat soaring through the smoke. *I bet Nix would appreciate this view. I mean, it's still super badass even I can see that.* 

Kat hit the ground and stumbled slightly, all the extra weight doing her balance no favours and Green's breath hitched in her throat. Kat's tail whipped out and hooked around a nearby root sticking up and held her in place for just a few seconds before Kat righted herself and kept charging forward. Green let out the breath she was holding and managed to smile despite the exhaustion she was feeling. *YES. GO KAT. Stick the landing.* 

With that rush of relief came the flushing of what little adrenaline Green still had in her system causing her eyes to droop. *Stay… stay awake… gotta gotta… safe… Kat… Kat keep safe…* Green's tired mind had decided enough was enough and she floated off into dreamland. Kat had things in hand for now. She'd done her part.. It was time for a nice nap.