25 Escaping the Maze

With the help of Matcha, Aayla slowly made her way back through the maze. It seemed totally deserted, but Aayla still moved extremely slowly. For one, her side burst into agonizing pain if she moved too fast. Secondly, she didn't want to take any chances. She checked every for monsters at every turn. Matcha's constant sobbing about losing her precious cookie maker could have attracted monsters from miles away before. Now, they were few and far between. There were occasional booms and rumbles off in the distance. Other than that, everything was quiet and peaceful.

Aayla had no idea where the monsters were headed, but they were terrified. They were all running away from the center of the maze. She made sure to keep her new shield out just in case. They never needed it though because the monsters paid them absolutely no attention. Well, Aayla didn't know how to get rid of the shield anyways.

The trip back was slow, but felt faster than the trip in with Matcha's company. The little gremlin was constantly chatting. Matcha was like a compact GPS and monster radar. She always knew which path to take and when monsters were nearby. After a while, they found black marks on the ground. Aayla had left them when she had started exploring. She sighed with relief.

"Good job Matcha! We're almost out. Extra cookies for you!"

Matcha did not respond at all at the mention of cookies. Aayla glanced at the little glutton. Her tiny brows deeply furrowed together and her large ears twitched and turned in all directions. Suddenly a low growl echoed from the path behind them. Aayla paled.

She knew that growl. Darn it! That stone warrior survived. How could it have even caught up with them? Aayla pressed through the intense pain in her side to move faster. Her breathing grew ragged as she jogged through the maze. She started running as the growling got louder.

Aayla was knocked off of her feet by a sudden explosion behind her. When she looked back, the stone warrior was only about 350 feet behind her. There was an enormous hole in the hedge. The stone warrior had lost a leg and its weapon, and the rest of it was in very bad shape as well. Its eyes were red and the cracks in its body were emitting a red glow.

The stone warrior started to hop on its remaining leg towards Aayla. It would have been hilarious if the stone warrior wasn't trying to kill her. She picked up Matcha and ran. Sometimes the stone warrior would tear off pieces of the ground or hedge to throw at her. Aayla could barely dodge with Matcha's help.

She dashed around the corners as fast as she could to build up some distance. That thing couldn't handle them well. So, it often just smashed through them. The game of cat and mouse continued. Aayla would frantically flee while the stone warrior chased. Sometimes it would smash through walls to get in front of her, then Aayla would have to turn back.

Her side was burning like fire and Aayla felt light headed. She couldn't go on for much longer. This game was going to end soon. Matcha chirped and pointed ahead. There were several residents walking down the pathway towards her. They chatted happily amongst themselves, unaware of the danger.

"TURN AROUND! GO BACK NOW!"

Aayla screamed as loud as she could. The group smiled and waved then walked towards her. They froze when the wall exploded behind her and the stone warrior emerged from the dust and debris. Spells were cast immediately and the stone warrior was hit with fireballs. Thick roots burst from the ground and entangled the creature, forcing it fall to the ground. The roots constantly broke and regenerated as the giant struggled.

"Jacki, grab Miss Glowery! First and second years go back to the entrance! We'll buy you some time."

A familiar face supported Aayla and helped her move towards the entrance. After Aayla had not appeared for some time, Dormi got worried and grabbed the upperclassmen still in the dormitory. Coincidentally, that included Theodore Lawlor. He led a group of student volunteers to investigate with Dormi's permission. All of the students were excited for a little adventure after being trapped on campus for so long, and ultimately Jacquelyn Vhassohrin was one of the lucky few selected to along.

"Is there anyone else inside the maze?"

"No. Dormi only let our team and a couple of others into the back courtyard. They should be at the entrance to make sure that no one else goes in. Well, we did see a few gremlins sneaking around."

<( ^o^ )/ -- Only Matcha went inside to find cookie hooman! Only Matcha gets cookies! --

"You all are the only ones? Good. I still have the key in my bag. As soon as we all get back, one of you needs to call security. We'll lock the door when everyone gets through to keep that thing contained."

The residents nodded and quietly continued walking back to the entrance. The roars behind them got louder. Soon, the upperclassmen came running up behind them. With only a few bruises and a broken arm, they got off fairly lucky during their fight with the stone warrior.

"We set a trap for that thing but it won't keep it busy for long! We need to move faster. Can any of you first or second years use aura manipulation or physical augmentation magic?"

The younger students all shook their heads.

"Void take us all. Nick, you go ahead and let the rest know. They need to set up a defensive perimeter. Elias, can you carry Miss Glowery so we can run?"

One of the third years quickly ran ahead. Another well-built young man quickly picked Aayla up into a princess-style carry. The entire group began to run. The upperclassman continued setting up traps along the way. Theo was unfortunately very correct that their trap wouldn't keep the stone warrior busy for long. They soon heard more crashes behind them after a few minutes. It had already broken free and was crashing through walls to catch up to them.

"I have the key to the entrance. I'm not sure if the door will hold, but it should at least slow it down. Dormi can also act if it leaves the maze."

Theo nodded. Good. One more layer of defense until security shows up.

Matcha chirped excitedly! They were almost to the exit. Aayla felt around in her bag for the key. She held it firmly in her hand. As soon as the door was closed, she was going to lock it up tight and never open it again as long as she could help it!

A furious roar shook the residence hall as the team crossed through the doorway. The students standing guard shut the door behind them. Aayla quickly shoved the key into the lock and twisted it. With a clang, the door firmly locked and the furious roars instantly vanished. The team collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.

****************************************************

The residents of Nafriton Residence Hall were itching with excitement that Shade Day afternoon. A couple of fourth years messed around by pretending to have a magical duel the rear courtyard. They went too far and scorched one portion of the hedges very badly along with the furniture. No one was hurt, but the resident advisor, Miss Glowery, and the artifact spirit, named 'Dormi' by Miss Glowery, were furious.

Miss Glowery kicked everyone out of the rear courtyard for temporary maintenance. She still didn't reappear and reopen the courtyard for a couple of hours. Which was odd because Miss Glowery is normally efficient getting temporary fixes in place until the faculty and staff could address the actual issue.

That's when the excitement really began. The artifact spirit forcibly summoned the third years for a mission. A few were interested, but the rest decided to study instead. Then underclassmen were allowed to volunteer. Anything was better than studying, so many jumped at the chance to join even though they had no idea what was going on.

No one really paid much attention after that, until roars were heard from the area behind the hedges. Residents crowded around the windows to look at the courtyard. Since when was there a door in the courtyard hedges? Suddenly, the entire team sprinted through the door and locked it as fast as possible. They all looked exhausted, especially the third years. One even looked like they had a broken arm!

Miss Glowery was with them, and she looked the worst out of all of them. Her clothes were in tatters, and she was completely covered in dust and leaves. She had a silver shield on her arm which no one had seen before. One of the fourth years happened to be a medical major. They rushed out and began helping Miss Glowery and the third year with a broken arm.

Soon, security and two of the Deputy Headmasters arrived, including Deputy Heston. The entire courtyard was sealed off until further notice. They even applied an illusion spell to hide it! All of the residents were so excited. They had never been involved in something so secret before. All those involved proudly raised their noses and smugly replied that they couldn't say anything about their secret mission. However, they did talk extensively about the praise and rewards that they got from the security officers and the Deputy Headmasters.

All of the fourth years still in the residence hall were still confined to their quarters, so those poor idiots missed the entire incident. They even got a scolding from two Deputy Headmasters for damaging school property! Haha. The only ones that regretted more than the fourth years were the third years that rejected the opportunity in the first place. They couldn't be any greener with envy! Those two deputies were infamous for their stingy praise. And they missed the opportunity.