BOOK 1, CHAPTER 16 – Escape

“Ooowooorrgh!”

Deep inside an old forest with trees four meters thick and two hundred feet tall, a large white form howled in anger. The exposed roots of the trees vibrated as the enraged form slammed two large fists into the ground. The fists hit the ground repeatedly, more out of anger than pain. The white beast stopped, huffing as it thought. It mumbled low, making nervous servants nearby confused.

One servant, a large, giant brown bear with black spikes down it’s spine, came forward. “Your Majesty?”

The mumbling stopped, and one arm from the white beast swung out, slamming the bear. The bear flew, crashing into one of the elder trees and landing on the forest floor, dead.

The other servants quivered, staying completely still for fear of drawing attention. The white beast looked up, revealing the silver ape. His eyes glowed red, bloodlust filling them.

“I want those two little brats found!” He growled out. When no one moved, he slammed a fist down on the dead bear, making paste. “Now!” He yelled.

The servants scattered, all going in one direction. When they were all gone, the ape sat down. He reached down and pulled the bear’s beast core of it’s remains, slipping it into his mouth. With a few crunches, the core was swallowed. He closed his eyes, growling.

While the King Silver Ape was resting, the servants were threading through the forest towards their newly acquired territory – what used to be Seora’s nest lands. After a few hours they came up to the opening of the nest cave. There those good at tracking began following the path Artien and Little Green took. As they traveled, they spoke.

“Look here, a step.”

“I smell him going this way. Look, another step.”

“Something happened here. Dead beasts. These are his Majesty’s men now. How dare they wantonly slaughter in our territory!”

“That’s strange. There’s a crater. What’s that at the center? Footprint?”

“There’s another one over here! What could have made this?”

“Must be the human. And there! Look at the trees! They exploded and fell over? I smell his scent going through here.”

“Is this thing we’re following really human?”

They began to question themselves.

“These craters are evenly spaced out. This is the human running? How tall is he? These are a dozen feet apart.”

They continued tracking, following the path the two took. After a few hours of time, they stopped to rest. Some more energized went out to hunt, returning to feed everyone. One scouted ahead on the trail, returning with face full of fear. The others, seeing how quiet he was, sat him down and gave him some meat.

“Why do you look so? What did you find?” One finally asked.

The scout looked up at him, the meat untouched in his hands. “D-death.”

The others all looked at each other.

“The brats are dead?”

The scout shook his head, clenching his eyes shut.

“Tell us, what was dead?” They prodded.

The scout’s eyes shot open as he wailed, “Everything else!”

He began to recount his findings. At first he found dead beast here and there. Then a few. Then dead by the pack! “There was signs of poison from the snake.”

“From the human?” One beast whispered.

The scout turned his bloodshot eyes on him. “Devastation. There wasn’t an intact body anywhere. There were only burned parts, sliced parts, or exploded parts.”

They all fell into silence, going off to think while they finished eating. After another hour of procrastination, one of them got to his feet. All eyes turned to him. He cleared his throat.

“We’ll kill the brat and take the snake back.”

“Let’s not. I don’t want to die!” One said.

“If we go back to master with nothing, we’ll be the ones to die.”

Another stood up. “Then we’ll chase them until they run out of energy and kill them then. This way we won’t be harmed at all.”

The rest stood up, completely rested. They headed out, following the trail. As they came upon scene after scene of dead beasts, the scout grimaced. The rest heaved, trying to keep their meals. Still, they persevered on.

Down the trail, the direction turned. They followed, coming to a realization.

“That snake has stopped fighting.”

“The human slowed down. His steps are closer and don’t crack the ground.”

Further down the trail.

“He’s running normally here. We’ll catch up soon! Humans don’t have as much stamina as beasts. Keep going!”

Meanwhile, Artien and Little Green woke from their slumber. The night passed and early dawn broke. Artien stretched his muscles, his whole body aching. After checking his condition, he found his mana had recovered little. His force, however, felt stronger than before. A loud grumbled interrupted his thoughts.

“I’m hungry and you need to eat.” Little Green said.

“If we hunt we might get caught.” Artien frowned and rubbed his empty belly.

“I’ve got food!”

Little Green opened her mouth, a small speck appearing in the center. The speck let out another speck that expanded in size fast. It hit the ground, becoming two plucked birds. She closed her mouth, grinning.

“Is that sanitary?”

“It is! I put it in my second stomach. I can hold lots of things in there.”

He nodded, understanding where the treasure had gone. “When did you hunt this?”

“Back when I was getting beast cores. I prepared many different things to eat.”

“Any of it cooked?”

“Nope.”

Artien sighed, unable to argue with the glittering-eyed Little Green. He sat down, quickly biting into and eating a full bird. Little Green joined him, swallowing hers whole. After a thought, he paused.

“You ate all the treasure, right?”

“Mmm.” Little Green confirmed.

“Do you still have some potions left? Or elixirs? The kind that restores mana and fatigue?”

Little Green finished swallowing her bird. “Not fatigue. I think there’s two or three that does mana.”

His own eyes began to glitter. “Take one out. Let me drink it.”

Little Green spat out a small, crimson vial.

He grabbed it, quickly drinking it whole. The liquid entered his stomach. He began meditating, focusing on his mana to suck up the liquid faster. After a few minutes, he felt his mana completely restored. He let Little Green swallow the empty vial back, standing up.

“How is it?” She asked.

“It’s good. I’ll use wind mana today. Once my mana is gone, I’ll use force. That will get us further than yesterday, I think.”

“Let me know when you want another one.”

Little Green climbed up to hang around his neck. She tapped him on his back with her tail. “Let’s go.”

“Don’t get used to this.” Artien gave her a narrow look, then left their rocky hideaway.

They began another long day of running. The day passed slowly. When it came to one-vs-one, two-vs-one, or three-vs-one, Little Green fought by herself. She conserved energy when being carried, eating the beast cores. When there were more than three beasts, Artien would pick them off, leaving three to Little Green. In this way Artien used mana through most of the day.

At sundown, he was made to use force. Force was more powerful than mana, propelling them at high speeds. Force also drained faster, lasting only 2 hours. When it ran out, they looked for cover to spend the night. When they stopped, it was in a barren area between the forest and distant mountains.

In the morning, they ate. Artien consumed another mana potion. They left, shooting towards the mountains. It was on the third day and the last mana potion they noticed something behind them. The long barren landscape allowed them to see dust trail into the air.

“We’re being followed.” Little Green whispered.

Artien nodded. “Do you have anything filled with mana left?”

“You ate most of it already back at the cave.” She thought hard while riding. “I stockpiled some beast cores. I was saving them for emergencies. I guess you can eat them.” Her words came out bitter.

“Let me try one.” He took a black core with red stripes. It was small, fitting in the palm of his hand.

He popped it into his mouth. When nothing happened, he passed mana through his mouth. The mana touched the beast core, drawing out some of it’s energy. He sucked, feeling the foreign energy enter his mana stream. It went to his mana source, where it split into two.

His eyes widened and his steps slowed when he watched the interaction. His mana source refined the energy, creating a secondary type that left his raging mana source and traveled to his own core on his back. The energy entered his core, quietly disappearing. He grinned, extending his hand.

“Another one.”

Little Green pouted, spitting out a green sphere with yellow spots. He continued eating them through the coming days. They managed to stay ahead of the dust trail, even as it grew bigger. His mana steadily declined until it was exhausted. His force grew stronger each day, but still ran out.

They traveled for 2 weeks before reaching the foot of the nearest mountain. The dust trail now had visible forms at the base. Artien stopped, gasping while leaning against a large boulder. Around them, trees once more dotted the area. The boulders were growing small in number and size.

Little Green climbed down and looked up the mountain. “There’s mist up there.”

Artien gasped for air, looking at one mountain larger than the few around it. Mist covered it mid way up to the top. Nothing could be seen in the mist. The mist swirled and moved, never leaving the mountain. He spied the surrounding mountains that were somewhat rocky and had sparse patches of hardy trees.

“The mist it is.” He stood.

Little Green took her place around his neck, spitting out another core. “Last one.” She said. Her voice no longer carried bitterness. She had decided living was more important twelve days ago.

Artien ran towards the misty mountain. Little Green watched the dust cloud behind them gain distinct figures. “They’re catching up.”

“How long?”

“An hour? Two?”

“If I increase the pace?”

Little Green looked back at the misty mountain, then at the figures again. “Hard to say. How close are we really to the mountain?”

Artien’s face went grim. He used airflow over his entire body. He enhanced afterwards, feeling strength spread. Mana filled him to the brim. He drew on his force, letting it flow with the mana, activating it faster.

One, two, three steps. He launched from the ground, speeding forward. Little Green’s eyes widened as she hung on for dear life. With the speed, they raced past the gradual incline of the mountain’s base and came to the steeper side of it. Artien’s steps no longer hid his presence. Echoing booms reverberated off the mountains.

Several distant roars echoed back off the smaller mountains. The power of the roars set Artien on edge. It was a familiar feeling like the time Seora and the white monkey fought. That of king beasts! His heart pounded heavily. He poured all he had into running towards the mist.

“They’re coming!” Little Green warned, seeing three different disturbances in the nearby mountains. Down below, the others chasing them stopped, turning around and running away.

“This is as fast as I can go!” He yelled back.

To the right, a red back could be seen along the tree tops racing down the mountain it was on. It let out a noise deep, rumbling through the air. A long red tail whipped behind it. It stopped a moment and lifted it’s head to see the direction. A thick lizard head poked out, a tongue tasting the air. It lowered it’s head and again gave chase.

On another mountain trees were pushed out of the way with ease. The long, displaced trees flew through the air, rolling downhill. Rushing down the steep side, a grey body appeared. An elephant, with small ears and four tusks, eyes yellow as the sun, trumpeted.

Across the way a screech tore through the air. Huge wings erupted out of the top of the mountain, spanning a hundred feet in each direction. The wings pushed a feline body topped with an owl’s head into the air. It rose in a few beats, then glided down it’s mountain.

Seeing the three beast kings, Little Green again tightened around Artien. She watched, ready to defend. The owl-cat arrived first, swiftly reaching them through flight. She perched more firmly on Artien’s shoulder, raising her head back. She reached into her core, ready to spit her deadliest venom.

Artien ran with all his might. Despite his efforts, a large shadow shaded him from the sun. He heard a soft whistling and spotted feathers at the edge of his vision. Ahead of him, the mist was just out of reach in a few steps. He felt Little Green bounce backwards, feeling her loosen her grip.

There was a loud screech of pain. Above them, the owl-cat retreated. It mewled, going back to it’s own mountain. Little Green fell back, falling down. Artien grabbed at her, bringing her length into his arms. He saw a large gash running across her scales, leaking blood.

“Little Green!” He cried.

Behind him, the two remaining beast kings saw their chance at prey and sped up. The mountain trembled beneath their feet, revealing their closeness. Artien ignored them, feeling anguish. He ran the last few steps into the mist, not stopping. The two beast kings stopped at the mist’s edge, roaring and trumpeting in defeat.

Artien continued, coming through the white mist and climbing atop a plateau. He ran across the flat surface, worried.

“Little Green. Little Green!”

He put pressure on her wound, hugging her close. Just as he came slightly back to himself, he felt his foot slip. He fell down through empty air, a cliff wall shooting past him. They fell, wind rushing past.

With a thought, he placed several layers of air flow underneath. He felt himself slow, but continue at a rapid speed. He pushed out all his mana, creating a total of eight spells beneath and enhancing his body to his limits. He curled his head into his arms and created a cage around Little Green.

After a few seconds, the layers of spells hit solid ground. They ruptured at the force one-by-one. All the spells broke. His feet hit the ground. His reinforced feet shook, his knees and ankles taking the strain but holding. He turned his feet, tucked, and rolled, launching himself forward.

He rolled with moment, slamming into stones among grass. He came to a stop. He released all mana and force, unfurling to check on Little Green. To his relief, he didn’t see any new injuries. He held a hand to her snout, feeling a soft breath.

He looked around in the mist. It had somewhat lightened, letting him see several yards. He was in softly rolling hills. Green grass grew knee-high. No beasts were in the vicinity. Upon closer inspection of some of the larger rocks, he was surprised to see bricks.

Ruins littered the area. He cautiously moved forward, looking for a place to rest. As he moved, the little light that reached down dimmed. He found a small line of brick wall and settled his back against it. He cradled Little Green in his arms. He pushed mana from his hand into her wound, hoping to aid her.

He worried, wondering if he should start a fire. He mulled, then decided against it. Not wanting to garner further attention, he silently healed Little Green until his mana ran out. He removed his hand to see her bleeding had at least stopped. He sighed, curling her up in his lap. He rested his head and closed his eyes.

Artien’s eyes shot open. Above him, a wooden paneled ceiling appeared. He sat up, his body complaining. His stomach rumbled. Across from him a fire burned. A hanging pot sent out a delicious smell. He looked around.

“Where?” The floor was also made of wood, as were the unpainted walls. There were no windows. Only a door to his right.

His heart picked up speed, his worry for Little Green returning. He searched, only sighing when he spotted Little Green at the foot of the bed. A bandage wound around her body. He looked at the door as it creaked open.

A small child entered, no older than 10. The small child saw him awake, and came to stand before the bed. The child smiled harmlessly.

“To answer your first question, you are in a valley known to some as ‘Valley of Death’, ‘Land of Mist’, or ‘Mist Valley’. I simply call it home.” The child’s smile widened. “Welcome!”