Luthra turned back. The hunters were closing fast, maybe fifty yards away now. Their surprised faces had shifted to confident grins. Borris looked like he was enjoying this.
’We can’t outrun them. Not with this tar slowing us down. And I sure as hell can’t fight with these busted arms.’
He looked ahead at the dark outline of the Closed Labyrinth in the distance. That was their only shot.
’There’s one way to get there. It’s going to hurt like hell, but better than being turned into a slave.’
He twisted around in the saddle, wincing as his splinted arms protested.
"Grab my neck and don’t let go. Whatever happens, don’t let go."
Something in his voice cut through her panic. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face against his back.
’Okay, Lilith. How many jumps can I make?’
[Based on your current stamina and physical condition, approximately twelve consecutive uses of Void Step. Beyond that, you risk severe muscular damage and cellular breakdown.]
’Twelve shots. Better make them count.’
The hunters pulled up short, staring at empty air where the cart had been. Borris’s grin twisted into a scowl.
"Where the hell did they go? Jako, find them!"
The tracker was already scanning the horizon. He pointed north.
"There! He’s fast but I can still track his scent!"
Luthra reappeared with a flicker. The landing jarred his bones and the lizard roared in protest, still fighting the tar. Dizziness washed over him but he gritted his teeth and prepared for the next jump.
"He’s just teleporting!" Borris bellowed. "He can’t keep that up forever! Spread out and box him in!"
The hunters dropped all pretense. Thick earth mana wrapped around Borris’s legs and he shot forward, tearing up the ground with each step. The others fanned out, cutting off escape routes. They weren’t hunting anymore. They were running prey to ground.
Luthra saw them coming through his Mind’s Eye, their auras blazing with power. He jumped again. When he reappeared, Borris was already changing direction mid-stride, his mace swinging in a deadly arc to catch Luthra right where he materialized.
’Can’t step again this fast.’
No time to think. He shoved Rebecca off the lizard, sending her tumbling onto dirt.
He twisted, taking the mace’s shockwave with his shoulder. The force still launched him from the lizard and he rolled across jagged rocks, his splinted arms screaming.
He scrambled up, grabbed Rebecca, and jumped a third time.
They appeared near a ridge but Misha was waiting. She slammed her staff into the ground and vines erupted right where they were about to land.
His Mind’s Eye had caught her mana buildup. While still in the void between spaces, he forced his destination to change. It took everything he had. Instead of landing in the cage, he appeared ten feet above it, hanging in the air for one vulnerable moment.
Jako was already there, leaping from higher ground with daggers flashing as he dove at him like a hawk.
’No ground to push off from.’
With no other choice, Luthra wrapped his chain around Rebecca and swung her once to build momentum.
"What are you doing?" she shrieked as he threw her through the air.
The hunters froze. Why would he throw the kid? It made no sense.
In that moment of confusion, he used the throw’s momentum to twist in mid-air. He planted his foot on Jako’s chest and kicked off, using the hunter as a springboard. They flew apart in opposite directions.
He crashed hard, the impact jarring every broken bone in his arms. Rebecca had landed safely in soft sand near the Labyrinth’s edge. She was getting up, looking more annoyed than hurt.
The hunters regrouped, their faces grim. The fun was over.
[Four more steps, Luthra. That is your absolute limit.]
Borris roared, his voice shaking with rage.
"No more games! We end this now!"
They charged from all sides in perfect coordination, leaving no room to escape.
Void Step. He appeared behind Goran and kicked the back of his knee, sending him stumbling into Borris’s path.
Void Step. He grabbed Misha’s staff with his chained arm and yanked, throwing her completely off balance.
Void Step. Halfway to Rebecca now. His vision was going dark around the edges and he tasted copper in his mouth. The small muscles in his legs were tearing.
Borris had enough. He ignored his fallen teammates and raised his mace high.
The ground exploded. A massive fissure raced toward Luthra, promising to swallow him whole. One jump left. He scooped Rebecca into his arms, her eyes wide with terror and amazement.
He pushed everything he had left into that final, desperate leap.
They appeared at the very edge of the Closed Labyrinth. The ground crumbled into the new chasm just inches behind them. His strength gave out completely. He collapsed to his knees and set Rebecca down gently before his body failed him.
The hunters stopped at the fissure’s edge. Their confidence was gone. Misha stared at the dark, silent forest ahead.
"The Labyrinth. He actually went in there."
Borris spat on the ground.
"He’s dead either way. The Shriekers will pick his bones clean before morning. Our job is done."
But Jako was still staring into the woods.
Luthra was pushing himself to his feet, body trembling with exhaustion. He turned to face them from the forest’s edge, a faint, bloody smile on his lips.
From the darkness behind him came a high-pitched chittering sound that froze their blood. A pair of glowing red eyes opened in the gloom. Then another. And another. Soon the forest edge was filled with watching, hungry eyes.
Luthra turned his back on the hunters. Without hesitation, he walked into the darkness and disappeared among the trees and the things that waited within.
The moment they stepped into the forest, all sound died. No wind stirred the leaves. No chittering from the monsters they’d seen. The trees grew in a dense, twisted tangle, their branches woven together into a canopy that blocked out the sky.
Luthra took two steps onto the damp black earth and his legs gave out. He dropped to one knee, black spots dancing across his vision.
Rebecca rushed over and grabbed his good shoulder.
"Hey! You okay? You look like you’re about to keel over."
"I’m fine." The lie barely had enough energy behind it to sound convincing. He pushed himself up, leaning heavily against a gnarled tree trunk. Every muscle in his body was screaming.
[Luthra, your condition is critical. The repeated Void Steps have caused widespread muscle damage. Your stamina is at two percent. You cannot fight in this state.]
He looked around the disorienting woods. Every tree looked identical and the path they’d followed was already gone, lost in the shifting twilight.
Rebecca’s head swiveled back and forth, eyes wide.
"This place gives me the creeps."
She was right. It wasn’t just a feeling. A low hum vibrated through the ground, constant pressure that seemed to push in from all sides.
"Lilith, what exactly are we dealing with?"
[The Shriekers are D-Rank avian predators. They hunt using echolocation. Their primary weapon is a focused sonic attack that targets water molecules in organic tissue. At close range, it can rupture cellular structures, liquefying brain matter and internal organs.]
"So earplugs won’t help."
[Correct. It’s not about volume. It’s a specific destructive frequency.]
"Hmm, I think its time then, unleash some of my mana."