**

Chapter 37: Rocky Road

**

Traveling through a damned land was never going to be easy. Nearly all the main roads were infested with the same red-eyed murders he snuffed out in the villages. And the forest wasn’t any different.

No problem. He was here to challenge his skills and to clean up his mess.

Aiden kept his new friend invisible as he went to work setting the murderous knights ablaze. None of them knew she was watching behind the tall, slender trees, but Aiden looked over his shoulders a few times just in case.

Telekinetics was his favorite ability thus far. His opponents were helpless against it and they died faster once their necks were snapped. Yet, they continued to materialize from the fog as fast he could kill them.

Stopping time would give him a much-needed advantage if he weren’t afraid to use it. The last time he thought about playing with time, Damnation came to him. Even if it was a dream, Aiden wasn’t comfortable using it. Not yet.

He had to prove Mishael and Jaff wrong. No crazy rune was going to control him and he wasn’t going to destroy the world because of it.

One of the knights caught his cloak and yanked him to the ground. “Oh, shoot!” Aiden exclaimed. Dozens of enemies anxious for the kill descended on him with their spears. His hands trembled as he forced multiple weapons to stop in mid-strike. More and more knights joined the assault, pressuring his power. Too weak!

How was he expected to destroy Damnation if he struggled against its minion’s minions?!

Aiden vanished seconds before their weapons touched down.

“I’m still too weak!” he said as he dropped down from the sky, slicing through a knight with a long sword. He vanished again before the others could respond. Teleportation was how he reached the island nation of Nihon.

Although it wasn’t as fast as he thought it would be, or as easy. He nearly drowned when he miscalculated how far he was from land several times. Who knew how vast the ocean was? Thankfully teleporting between the clueless knights from Hell required much less effort.

Maybe he’d just morph into a bird, like Jaff, for the return trip. He hated Jaff and everything about the man, so he wasn’t morphing into anything. Ever.

While Aiden was focused on his remaining opponents, Asia decided to join in by tossing a stone at one. It bounced off the knight’s helmet and alerted it to her presence. The young girl ducked behind a tree as the knight curiously approached. Even though it couldn’t see her the evil knight sliced through the trees, anxious to kill whoever was there.

“Hey!” Aiden shouted at the knight searching for Asia. He launched a small sword that lodged into the fiend’s helmet, killing it instantly. His last opponent immediately disintegrated after Aiden plunged a longsword through its chest.

Asia came running up to Aiden and was gradually lifted off the ground. “Maybe I should keep you out of their reach,” Aiden said, levitating her up to him. Her initial hesitation gave way to joyful content as she sat up in the air. “Like that, don’t you?”

Asia nodded with a toothy smile.

At least one of us was having fun.

The jingle of a chain grabbed his attention, but it was an acute pain in his chest that Aiden focused on. He was caught by a large metal hook like a fish then yanked to the ground. A rider dragged him behind his horse making the throbbing pain worse. How could he have been so careless?!

His trembling fingers took hold of the chain and Aiden swung his legs forward. With his feet planted on the ground, he yanked the chain, snatching the rider off his fire-red horse. Eyes watering, Aiden staggered to his knees as he pulled the hook from his body. Why wasn’t there a Rebirth that numbed pain?!

By now the rider was on his feet. His suit of armor favored the scales of a huge lizard, all the way up to the jaws of his helmet. By the looks of him, he wasn’t just another bloodthirsty knight. Something about him seemed more real, more human. Aiden didn’t have time to speculate. His opponent had already drawn two of his four long, curved swords and was ready to use them.

Aiden quickly switched from healing his wound to deflecting the enemy’s attacks. There was hardly a break in his assault and Aiden desperately needed one. He needed to stop his bleeding before he passed out. Even though death wasn’t permanent for him, losing consciousness right here and now could be his last mistake.

A timely warp kept him from losing his head. Aiden reappeared behind his aggressive foe and telekinetically sent him soaring through a bamboo forest. Sending him so far away probably wasn’t the best idea, but he needed a moment to finish healing. Fighting both the lizard armor wearing swordsman and his injury was taxing. His legs wear barely steady enough to stand.

Aiden looked back at Asia as she hovered in the air. She was safe as long as he kept himself alive. There was no movement in the path of broken bamboo or anywhere else. From now on he had to keep his guard up. Someone wanted to make his visit to Nihon a very short one.

The forest remained quiet as anxious seconds turned to minutes. Aiden brought Asia closer to him. “Let’s go see what’s keeping our lizard friend.”

Asia slapped her hands over her eyes and moved her head in disagreement. “You’re invisible. He can’t see you.” I think.

Aiden wasn’t sure what the man could do. He was dangerously fast and strong all without a Rebirth. But he was human which meant he had limitations.

“Be my eyes behind me and clap if you see someone, okay?” A longsword came to Aiden’s hand and he stepped into the forest. “I don’t want any more surprises.”

A path of broken bamboo stretched on longer than Aiden expected but there was still no sign of his opponent. The trees eventually ended and a cliff began. Long and wide, a river cut a path through a canyon some thirty or so yards below. Large rocks protruding from the racing water waited to break the fall and bones of anyone that tumbled over the edge.

Yet, there wasn’t a body to be seen below. “What do you say, Asia?” Aiden asked, relaxing his chest. "Do you think he's dead?"

Asia shook her head. "Yeah, me neither."

Twenty-two Rebirths were at his disposal and he nearly got killed by someone who wasn’t using one! If he was going to challenge Damnation, he had to do better or accept his destiny.