Hunted

Grey sands stretched into the gathering fog until they vanished in the haze. As Tomita rolled over to hoist himself up, he felt the unwelcome scraping of thousands of wayward grains sifting through his clothes, hair, and teeth.

“Ack! Shit!” he spat as he shook his head and moved as quickly as he could to reorient himself.

Izhari let out a gasp of agony but was already forcing herself onto her feet. Trembling hands clung to her staff for safety, but the shaking was no longer from exhaustion. Fear was causing her entire body to tremble in unrelenting fury.

“Oh, Ether. Oh, Ether no. No, no, no, no. He knows about me. He knows about me. He knows about me…” she began to whisper as her mind spiraled.

Panic seized her, and she couldn’t focus any longer.

“He knows. He knows about me. He knows… He knows. Tomita?! Tomita?! I need help?!” she begged.

Tomita threw himself forward to reach her as swiftly as possible.

“Izhari. Izhari I’m here. I’m here. I made it! You saved us. We’re okay. We’re okay…” he whispered as he rubbed her back.

Raspy gasps of unfulfilling breaths rattled from her shaking chest.

“Breathe, Izhari. Breathe. Breathe with me. I am here with you. Breathe in.”

It wasn’t working. She was sobbing now. His chest was on fire. It felt like his eyelids had been sawed away. His hands were shaking. Her throat was seizing, and she was gagging. Stay with me. I am here. Breathe. Breathe. Stay with me. Everything hurt. Oh god, everything hurt. He knew about them.

He knew about them. HeKnowsAboutMe. HEKNOWSABOUTUS.

Terror flooded Tomita’s veins like pure heroin, and he feared he was beginning to spiral himself. Whatever fear he had known before, it was unlike whatever ancient malice was ripping at his very moorings as he reflected on the great maji that had nearly killed them only moments ago.

Breathe you have to breathe.

“Breathe, you have to breathe, Izhari. Please, breathe for me.”

Inhale slow. Oh god everything hurts ICAN’TDOTHIS.

He knows about us.

Mathael knows about us. 

Hold.

He saw my face.

He is coming for us.

We may be dead soon.

Exhale through your mouth. TAKEONELASTBREATHINCASEYOU’REABOUTTODIE.

Izhari felt a shadow of dread haunting them, as though something was watching just beyond the fog. She screamed in fear and pointed her staff towards the feeling and fired a bolt of pure energy towards her spectre. Tomita nearly fell over as the blast exploded out in front of him.

Nothing was there.

“He knows about us…” Izhari cried in anguish.

Tomita didn’t fully understand the scope of her threat, but he knew that by whatever power he had just witnessed, they were now likely being singularly hunted.

Up to that point, they were hiding because their crowns were fake, and most hunters were told to track those that stood out. Now, it was likely that every hunter in the realm was going to be looking for them specifically. Now, they were going to have to be ghosts. But they were out of food. And Izhari’s strength was not fortified enough to expect more than a handful of meals to be conjured.

None of that mattered to Izhari. In her mind, she was going over every scenario of what was likely about to happen. If Mathael was watching all of her attack on Currtasi replay in spectral form, he was going to see her rip the guide’s memories from his mind. He was going to hear Izhari speak of the crowns and of the Shores of Time. They had to get there now. It was their last chance. Even now, he might be waiting for them there, but they had to go.

“We have to go…” she spoke.

Tomita turned to his manager.

“We have to get to the Shores of Time. I know how now. But we cannot take a regular journey. It is too perilous and would take too long. I have to…” she sighed in concern.

Tomita understood and braced himself for pain.

“You have to teleport us there?” he asked.

“I’ll teleport us to each crystal. As soon as we touch one and move to the next island, I will teleport us to the crystal. Hopefully, there are no more traps. With luck, we can make it swiftly. But it will be excruciating. My skill is not refined enough to block that. But we have to go…” she said with apologetic shame.

Horror began to twist Tomita’s stomach into knots, but he forced a smile even though she couldn’t see. He hoped her well-honed hearing couldn’t detect that he was masking his own nerves as he spoke up in a positive tone of encouragement.

“Manager, I believe in you. Do your best. I am with you. Use me for strength and let me share the burden of your pain,” he answered as he steadied her hands.

Izhari paused, then nodded. She had to set her mind. She had to breathe and focus. It was up to her to make this as painless as possible. 

Inhale slowly.

This was the beginning of the end. No matter what awaited them, she had to make it to the Shores of Time and find answers.

Hold.

All this suffering. All this fear. Years of searching, building to a desperate sprint made with unrefined spells.

Exhale through your mouth.

She prayed to the silence that it would be worth it.

“Please forgive me for what I am about to do to us…” she whispered.

Tomita took a large gulp of etherdrop and shook his head.

“There is nothing to forgive…” he said as he took her hand.

There was a crackle, then a booming thud as bone and spirit vanished from space and time, flung across The Void and set to reappear at a distant marker, where a glowing crystal awaited. With that, they began the excruciating journey of glitching across every island.