Chapter 8 Run Away (I)
Aria
We all stood like deer in headlights.
Heat was building, growing, coalescing.
All of it radiating outward from the source of that massive flow.
A monster that was capable of manipulating—no, generating—pure heat was on the horizon.
But it had stopped in its tracks before we could see it. What was it doing?
Shit!
"Dodge!" I yelled out with all my might. "Left! Right! Anywhere but the direction those roaches went!"
The moment after I finished shouting, I jumped toward the right—as far away as I could. Joining me were Jessie and Sunny.
I tried to see if the rest of us had jumped left, but—couldn't. My line of sight to them was completely blocked. A shockwave emanated outwards pushing us further back. A wall of flames had engulfed the place where we all stood.
A breath of fire, wider than two buses, exploded forward to destroy everything in its path.
It pressed forward, far faster than anything I've seen in this world, and chased down the fleeing roaches.
Up until this point I had never heard them make a sound. A screech—like a little girl beginning to scream her lungs out and stopping in the next moment, starting and stopping almost 10 times a second. That was the best way I could describe it.
That was the scream that rang out in the direction the roaches fled toward. Its high pitch made itself known over the roaring and whooshing from the torrent of flames.
In the aftermath, a clear path of ash stretched out as far I could see. Whichever trees weren't immediately turned to a pile of ash stood like 3-Dimensional shadows. Eventually the wind would blow away their charred remains. Fire spread and ran rampant from the path of the original breath. Flames began consuming everything around me.
Footsteps boomed in the distance. They were heavy and earthshaking. To me they sounded like they belonged to a giant.
Each step sounded like thunder. Then those steps became more numerous until their sounds nearly blended into one another. It was speeding up.
Then, for a moment I saw it.
A yellow blur, as big as an elephant, ran past us at the speed of a train. Air was shoved aside to make way for this powerful creature.
The force from the wind—it wasn't theatrical like the roaches'. It was pure, raw momentum that created these gales. The nature of its flow wasn't wind at all. It couldn't push air aside to help it move, nor did it gain that speed boost effect that aspect normally gives. Its speed, unmatched by any creature I've seen before, came purely from raw power.
"W-What was that?" Sunny stammered.
Jessie didn't take his eyes off the speeding beast. "I don't know, but I think it was hunting those bugs. Let's run! Before it turns its attention toward us."
"What about the others? Should we try to find them?" I asked.
"Yeah, let's run back to where we were. They either dodged in the opposite direction or—"
He didn't want to finish that sentence, and I didn't want to hear the end of it. We knew what he meant.
Either way, if we dodged then there's a good chance they did too. They were close to the left; it made sense that they dodged that way.
We didn't have to worry long. Sunny looked out into the distance to where Havi and Andre once were. Jessie and I heard movement in the distance and turned our heads ourselves.
There they were! They had survived and came looking for us first.
A knot untied in my stomach, and relief washed over me.
Thank God! The words flashed in my mind, more as a feeling than a phrase.
"Let's get the hell out of here!" Andre spoke in an urgent hush as soon as he reached us.
"Before that thing decides to hunt us next," Havi added.
The sprint of the giant beast had stopped dead in its tracks. We didn't know what it was doing, but it could turn and chase us at any moment now.
We didn't need to vote on this. As quickly as they finished talking we started running away as fast as we could.
I slowed myself down significantly. My more potent flow and the speed boost I gained from its wind nature would let me run multiple times as fast as them, but I didn't want to be separated.
I felt like if I left them behind, I'd never see them again. I didn't want to die, but I also couldn't stomach seeing any of them die. We had to all survive.
The thunderous sprint began once again.
To my horror, its sound was only getting louder.
It was coming. Coming right toward us.
The others picked up on this as well. Through sheer adrenaline, they cycled more flow throughout their bodies and sped up.
I looked toward Sunny. The strain on his face was visible. All of them were running at a speed well beyond their limits. They couldn't keep this pace up for long.
But that didn't even matter. Even this speed wasn't fast enough. Soon the speeding beast had closed in on us. For the first time I could make out its appearance.
It was familiar, not alien like those roaches, but still filled me with dread. In a fitting irony, its visage mirrored that of the king of the Jungle.
It was shaped exactly like a lion, except it was the size of an elephant. Its mane, shaped like a spiky shield, ran around its entire head like a cone. Its teeth were longer and far sharper than normal. Its jaw was something out of a nightmare.
I kept staring at it. This monster was quickly catching us.
Instinctively, I sped up. I kept going faster and faster with the motivation of survival.
I looked back again.
I saw my friends. They couldn't speed up anymore.
The lion was nearly on them. Heat began to rise. Its eyes were locked on the person farthest back in the group—Sunny. It was going to kill him in one attack. Then Andre with the next, then Havi, and finally Jessie. I was the only one with a chance of outrunning it.
An overwhelming dread filled my entire being. My heart felt like it was going to fall out of my body. I didn't want to die. I thought that would be my primary instinct. And yet, the thought of watching everyone else get killed gripped at me just as much. Maybe I'd die; they definitely would.
A pressure built behind my eyes as tears began to form. My head began to ache and spin. I knew running now would turn into a regret for the rest of my life. It would be a scar that I didn't know if I could live with.
I stopped.
My flow ignited and flared in every part of me at once—its nature, once again transformed into wind.
I ran at full speed. Except this time—
My course ran in reverse.
With an aura of wind surrounding me, my body became a complete blur. In moments I was face to face with the lion.
I transferred the energy of the wind into me. My cocked back fist exploded forward along with the momentum of my sprint. I struck the beast's face with all my might. A shockwave boomed out as my fist made contact with it.
I fell back down to the ground. Everyone had stopped, including the lion. My attack didn't harm it at all, the beast didn't even flinch. Yet for some reason it had stopped, and began eyeing me.
"Aria…" It was Andre who said my name. I knew he was worried about me and what I'd do next. He also knew that if I didn't do it he was dead. He didn't know what to say after my name. I did.
"Run. I'll buy time for as long as I can—"
"Aria, that thing's going to kill you if you stay. You can't beat it!" Jessie interrupted.
The beast was staring at me—perhaps surprised I had struck it, and now reevaluating me. I met its stare with burning eyes; not daring to look away.
Sunny was the next to speak. "No, I don't want you to die." His voice was soft, desperate. No logic or plan behind those words, just inability to accept the situation. "Let's run again; we'll be faster this time. Or maybe we can try something else—"
"We'll fight this thing with you! Together, maybe we can kill it." Andre's voice was raw and loud. "We have a better chance for everyone to survive that way. Don't try and sacrifice yourself for us. If we die then at least it'll be together."
"Yeah, let's all work together in killing it." Havi added.
Did he really take solace in us dying together? I looked back at him for a moment, his eyes were filled with fear. I'm sure he didn't even know the answer to that question.
Just like me, no one here could stomach the thought of anyone dying. They didn't know whether they wanted to prioritize their survival or stay together.
"Right idea, Andre." I made my voice flat, calming, and as steady as possible. "But wrong execution. Us all fighting doesn't give us a better shot at surviving—no, it just guarantees we all die."
Heat began to rise in the air. The flow of the lion was stirring.
I shot a fighting gaze at the beast, trying to keep it unsure of how dangerous I was. It was exercising caution, but if it was going to retreat it would have done so already. As soon as it was done with evaluation, or saw something move, it would start its attack once again.
Breathing in deep to calm myself, I continued speaking. "You guys can't outrun it, but maybe I can. Let me stay and stall it as long as I can. That way it will lose your trail. Then, I'll run away."
My reasoning was correct, and it put most of the danger on me. Deep down they wanted to listen but they were still hesitating for my sake.
"You know this is the best chance for all of us surviving. Please, before this thing starts attacking us, just run."
I heard a faint whisper behind me. "You better survive, Aria." It was Jessie, I think. The whisper was soon followed by the sound of running. Again, a sense of relief washed over me.
The lion saw this and began to react. I was prepared for this.
I flared the flow beneath my feet and pushed it outwards. With it, I generated a burst of wind that launched me upwards as I uppercut the lion.
The beast wasn't hurt by it at all, but I had succeeded in getting its attention.
With its focus on me I sprinted away from my fleeing friends toward my left and around the beast. As I had hoped, it began chasing after me instead of them.
A smile slid onto my face. I felt more relaxed than I had before. The anxiety I felt at facing this beast alone had subsided now that I was in action. More than that, I was happy my friends would be safe. Now I could give this all my focus.
Jessie
My lungs were screaming.
My body was crying out—like it would collapse the moment I stopped.
Every part of me burned; I was running on pure will alone.
Most distracting of all was the pain in my chest. Not any physical pain, but strong enough to feel physical anyway.
While we were running away, one of my closest friends was busy fighting for his life. We chose to leave him.
I knew he told us to. I knew he was right, that we wouldn't be any help, but that didn't help my actions feel any less disgusting.
A part of me wanted to turn back right now; to see with my own eyes that he would survive. To help him if he needed it. But I didn't.
I was afraid. Too afraid to fight that thing again. Shame dug deep into me. I lamented at how weak I was. I wished there were some way I could help my friend instead of running at his expense.
But this was our only choice. It was the only thing we could do.
Please, survive Aria. You have to. Next time, I won't abandon you. I'll be able to help so just live.
You have to, I repeated to myself.
!!
In the next moment I sensed multiple flow signatures up ahead.
All of us stopped.
"Are they roaches?" Sunny asked in a trembling voice.
"They don't feel like roaches." I answered. "Their flows are stronger than a bug's, but they're far less proficient in using it."
"They aren't suppressed either." Havi added.
Andre squinted as if to concentrate harder. "But what are they doing? They're using their flow but I can't tell what for."
"For fun? Or maybe they're practicing?" Havi guessed.
Wait—
"They might be other people!" I blurted out. "Like us, transported from that party. Maybe they discovered flow and are practicing it."
Andre's face lit up. "That has to be it! We've found other people."
Havi stared straight in their direction. "Let's go join them. As quickly as we can."