BullRun

" Forget it. Only children make choices, adults want it all. " Claire decided. 

She zipped towards Dolce and Robin, at the same time, she retrieved her phone to call Zayne. 

" Zayne, call the middle school for me, and have the twins and Brea wait for me at the tree outside the middle school. Zayne, this is of 'mayday' importance. Do it right now, and have them come out right now. " Claire implored him, as she looked for Dolce and Robin through the windows. 

Class little chicks, too young. Pass ! 

Class hawks , too old. Pass ! 

Class puppies, … Robin should be here. She eagerly looked through the windows. Only, Robin was not there. 

Only, there are no kids in the class. 

Damn ! She did not want to fly out in the open. 

So, she chose the alternative. She blinked, with her feet off the ground just by an inch. 

The barrier followed swallowing up the walls of the school as she moved forward. 

The architecture of the three schools of the village was special. 

They were built on a hill, in three squares of different elevations. They are like single color squares on a chess board. The building they could reach was the middle school, which was built at middling elevation. From there, one proceeds to high school, which is at its highest elevation. Then, there's the primary school, which is at its lowest elevation. 

A road splits into 'Y' fork, one going up to the middle school, and high school, the other goes down to the primary school. 

The fence walls of the three schools are connected, the middle school and high school with a gate, and the primary school and high school with a staircase. 

The barrier followed stair by stair as Claire watched, and it proceeded in a straight line following the edge of construction in the primary school. 

She acted before her brain could catch up. 

Fortunately, that proved to be the correct decision. 

Robin and Dolce were both in the playground, Robin sitting in his wheelchair, and Dolce running around playing hide and seek. Claire zipped through the field faster than the wind. 

The moment she passed by, Robin's chair floated up an inch, following her. With her right hand, she nabbed Dolce who was hiding behind a rose bush. She rushed full speed to the fence wall. Wind resistance increased as her speed increased. 

The barrier will reach the fence wall before she does, she realized at the last minute, breaking her steps. 

Only, as soon as she stopped, the sporadic mountain wind hit, creating a mini tornado at where she stopped. Combined with recoil from sudden stop, and the tornado, they flew up in the air like rag dolls. Claire's head is in fight or flight mode, as such, she caught on the moment they are at the zenith of the tornado. Before the barrier could cut through her, she used the float. They all floated up straight into the sky, the children screaming underneath both in fright and awe. 

Meanwhile, Zayne called the middle school. 

" Sir, there's a family emergency. Mother of the children had a brief spell of awakening. We do not know how fast she would lose consciousness again. This is the last chance for the children to say goodbye to their mom. Please, send them out to the tree at the 'Y' fork. My friend Claire will pick them up. If you remember, she is the other guardian we signed papers for. Arrange this as soon as possible, sir. Time is of the essence. We don't want to arrive at the hospital only to face the departure of their beloved mother. " Zayne urged the principal. 

Sure, their sister-in-law is in a coma. But she could not be revived. Not even by magical means. 

The school will not verify such news. Sending children out for a day is not such a big deal. In no time at all, Brea and the twins were standing underneath the tree with an attendant in tow. After all, the school can not send children off with someone just because they asked. 

Robin and Dolce were in extremely high spirits from the flight. 

The twins and Brea looked extremely nervous as they shuffled their feet. 

Finally, Claire put her feet on the ground instead of hanging it off an inch above ground. She walked over to the children, greeted the teacher, and signed the waiver form, which is provided by the school. 

" Miss ! the children's attendance is already touching the danger lines. We are making an exception this time, but they can not miss any more school. " the teacher informed her. 

Claire was surprised. 

" Their attendance in the danger zone ? Why ? Each child has more than twenty days of sick leave allowance itself. We never took them out for twenty. " claire said, surprised. 

" Because the children joined mid term. The amount of holidays they can take is halved. " The middle school teacher explained. 

" I understand. Thank you. " she told the teacher. Then, she signed the waiver form, taken the children away. 

She walked to the edge of the road, turning the pin bend which takes the road behind another hill, covering them from view. She made sure that no one's following behind her. She still had mirror eyes activated, so she could see the barrier eventually covering all three schools. 

She left behind Zayne, but she was not worried about him. Zayne could hold his own, and is an adult. 

" Sister, are we really going to see mom ? " Brea asked, her face tense. 

" No. Whatever the teacher told you, it's only an excuse to get you out of the school. " Claire told them the truth. 

" Then, mom is not getting better ? " Prudence asked, her eyes brimming with tears. It seems she had some unresolved issues with her mom. 

" Probably not. I am sorry, Prude. " Claire offered her sincere apologies. 

Before the next child could speak up, she raised her hand, halting them from speaking. The barrier is progressing even as she speaks. Once the barrier is completely in place, covering every room of all school buildings, the person trying to trap her will know that she escaped. 

She needs to get out before that, and she needs to take the children away with her. 

" Right now, this is an emergency meeting, Children. You know what an emergency meeting is, correct ? " Claire asked conversationally. 

This is something Zayne had told her, when she asked how he explained their parent's death to the children. The moment she said emergency meeting, the expression on the children's face changed, all of them becoming somber. 

" There is a bad guy trying to catch Sister. So, for now, we are going away to the holiday Island. However, this time around, neither your brother, nor I will be with you for long periods of time. You need to be responsible for yourselves, and deal with any dangers by yourselves. Are you up for it ? " Claire asked. 

Despite doing the asking, in her heart, she was a bit scared that they would say they are not. 

" Will you and brother come back to us ? " Credence asked. 

" As soon as we are available. " she answered. 

" How long do we have to stay ? " Robin was the one to ask this time. 

" I do not know at the moment. " She answered. 

" What about the strawberries ? " Dolce asked. There are strawberries planted in the green house, and he had been looking forward to eating them very eagerly. 

" Yeah ! Can we take our bikes ? " Brea wondered. 

" For now, we will be going straight to the Island. After we get to the island, you guys can make a list of what you want from home, I will bring them to you over time. " Claire told them. 

" Can we not get them now ? " The twins whined this time. 

" Just the surf boards. " they said when Claire looked at them. All the children seem to share this idea. 

" No. we can not. I will bring them to you soon. We are going to start now. Come now, gather around, and hold my hand. " Claire said, extending her hands prompting the children all to place their hands on herself. 

Teleporting to the dungeon had become second nature by now.

So, in one more, they were all in the slime dungeon. 

However, Claire did not leave immediately. 

If she was going to leave the children for extended time, they need at least basics of spells to protect themselves. 

Just pouring in raw fire power into sand like the time they made sculptures will not do. 

Neither can Brea pour in vitality not caring for how the healing is done. 

So, they need at least a blade, and there's no place better to get that spell than the slime dungeon. 

They could each kill a sickle slime, if nothing else, she could give a small rod to each of them, and they can make it into the kind of blade they want as they work with it. 

She took each child to kill a sickle slime one after another. 

In the end, all of them had at least the sickle spell with themselves.