Abby leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding being impaled by a descending spear. Its blade still sliced through her calf, eliciting a strained shout. She landed in a roll before springing to her feet. The wound she’d just incurred was only one of many inflicted upon her over the last few weeks, but still, she struggled to ignore the pain lancing through her leg. However, Abby couldn’t afford to let it affect her, so she pushed through the pain and limped into a hobbling sprint.
An arrow thudded into a tree only a second later, barely missing her. She ducked behind the trunk, then sprang into a twisting leap as she drew back her bowstring. A glowing arrow manifested just as the elf skidded into view. She loosed the arrow, and it streaked across the intervening distance in only a moment before blistering its way through the enemy’s leather armor and scorching a hole through his chest.
Abby couldn’t admire her handiwork, because even as she landed, the sound of trampling feet announced the continued pursuit of the rest of the elves. There were seven more – down from the twenty-five that had originally attacked her – but even though she’d established her superiority, she knew that her success was short-lived.
The elves were powerful enough to threaten her, which meant that she’d been forced to leverage every ounce of mana she possessed in an effort to defeat them. So far, it had worked, but she’d begun to run on fumes. It was only a matter of time before she ran dry, and when that happened, she’d have nothing but her attributes to protect her.
And for better or worse, raw physical ability had never been her forte. She could hold her own, but against skilled opponents like the elves, she had no shot of survival. The gap widened even further when she took the fact that they were on native territory into account.
No – the only option was to keep going as she’d been, using hit-and-run tactics to cover her retreat. Eventually, she’d leave their territory, and she could only hope that, when that happened, they’d give up their dogged pursuit.
The current hunters were only the latest threat she’d been forced to overcome. Beasts of every sort had harassed her every step within the forest, and she was a long way from her best self. She’d taken countless wounds along the way, and in addition to running low on mana, her stamina had long since begun to wane. Even as she continued her sprint, dodging trees and leaping over various roots and crevasses, she knew that she was running more on momentum than the strength of her endurance.
But it didn’t matter.
The only other option was to give up, and though she didn’t possess the superhuman willpower of someone like Zeke, she was more than capable of pushing herself past the bounds of her stats.
So, she ran.
The elves did not give up, and they certainly didn’t give in. Every step was dogged by one attack or another. Arrows followed her every move, and more than a few found a home in her flesh. She did what she could to mitigate the damage they inflicted, but her armor had long since been destroyed, and there was only so much she could do.
Days passed, and slowly, her body was whittled down. Whatever energy she still had, she used to stay ahead of the persistent elves. At first, she’d harbored some hope that they would be subjected to the same issues she was forced to confront, but somehow, they avoided exhaustion. Perhaps it was because the forest was their home.
The elves, who were shorter and stouter than the other elves she’d encountered after her ascension, had attacked her shortly after entering the forest, and they’d pursued her for weeks even before her current stretch. But back then, she’d been afforded a few opportunities to rest. They were invariably short-lived, but even a short respite was better than nothing.
But now…
How long had it been since she’d stopped moving? She had long since lost count of the days, but Abby knew that she verged on surrendering to exhaustion. It was unavoidable.
Still, she could not let herself give in. She wouldn’t allow herself to give up. She had come too far, survived too much to let them win.
And she had no doubts as to their intentions. Abby’s every experience with elves had painted a vivid picture of a proud race that looked down on everyone else. That was one of the reasons they were so prized as slaves among the citizens of the Imperium. There was a certain pleasure in seeing the proud race brought low and enslaved. Even then, they’d toed the line of impropriety, and often, they’d gone too far.
Punishing them had become something of a national pastime.
Abby had seen them endure some truly horrible things, and what’s more, those practices were not kept secret. Surely, the elves of the Emerald Expanse knew precisely what the people of the Imperium had done to their cousins.
No – there would be no peaceful surrender. No quarter given. Even if they let her live, Abby had no interest in seeing what they would do to someone like her. She’d never participated in slavery, but the colors she wore – before her armor had been torn to pieces – painted a vivid picture of her values.
Besides, even Abby had to admit that her lack of participation in the enslavement of elves, beastkin, and a host of other races didn’t absolve her of blame. She had allowed it, and as such, she was complicit in its proliferation. So, even if she wasn’t individually guilty of taking slaves of her own, she couldn’t escape the implications of her position. As such, she did not expect mercy from the pursuing elves.
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At best, she would be taken as a slave herself.
She would rather die than endure that particular fate.
So, she ran, and with every passing day, her gait grew sloppier. Her endurance waned, and her mind wandered. Even as she took one wound after another, splattering her blood across the forest floor, she considered her path. And her future, should she be fortunate enough to escape the elves’ pursuit.
What would she do if she reached the edge of the forest? Where would she go? Returning to the Imperium was not an option, and for multiple reasons. For one, she suspected that if she did make it back, she would only find the ruins of Zeke’s wrath. She knew her former partner well enough to know that he would not allow for its continued existence. Even if he failed to bring it down, the Imperium – and the Radiant Host – would be mortally wounded. That, in turn, would invite challenges from all the people they’d conquered along the way.
The Imperium was going to die. Whether it was by Zeke’s hands or through the actions of their conquered enemies, they were doomed. It was only a matter of time.
Knowing that, Abby recognized that returning to her old position was out of the question. Even if the Imperium somehow made it, she would not be welcomed back. After all, she’d fled the scene of battle. She had proven herself a coward. There was no way Ignatius would forgive her that.
Finally – and perhaps most importantly – she didn’t really want to return. For years, the indoctrination she’d experienced in the Crucible had been fading, and it felt like the last vestiges of her dedication to the Imperium, and to a larger extent, the Sun Goddess, had finally snapped. It hadn’t happened all at once. Indeed, it was more like it had happened without her noticing. It was just that now that she was looking, it was gone.
And she scarcely remembered why she’d been so enamored with Shar Maelaine’s lies.
Of course, Abby knew the answer to that question. Or answers, plural. The first was that she had been psychologically manipulated. No one ever believes they’re vulnerable to that sort of thing – least of all Abby, whose background should have afforded some measure of protection against it – but the reality of being human was that everyone could be victimized in such a way.
But there was more to it than that. In addition to mundane manipulation, she’d also been subjected to a magical influence. What, specifically, had it done? She wasn’t sure. But it certainly had challenged her footing and made her vulnerable to the Sun Goddess’ influence.
And then there was her many personal issues, not least of which was her oft-ignored inferiority complex. After spending so much time with a savant like Zeke, she was understandably reminded that she just wasn’t all that special. And the Radiant Host had offered a cure for that. Through them, she became important. She’d fooled herself into thinking that she had a chance of catching him.
She had been wrong.
Sure, Abby was strong. Maybe even gifted, in the grand scheme of the Eternal Realm. However, she was not special – not like him. And the second they’d been reunited, she had been reminded of just how far behind him she truly was.
That, more than anything, had broken her resolve, and now, even as she fled for her life, Abby found herself wondering if any of it had been worth it. Did she truly care about being the strongest? Or did she only want to beat him? Maybe it was that she wanted to prove herself worthy of his love.
Perhaps it was all of that, tied together into a huge knot.
Regardless, as she sprinted through the forest, wounded and facing down the very real possibility of her death, Abby knew she’d been a fool. Not for what she’d done with Zeke. She still thought that her heart was in the right place when she shot Micayne. The method was a little suspect, but she’d accepted her own mistakes. Rather, she was foolish because she’d kept comparing herself to Zeke.
And that was a losing battle.
It wasn’t the first time she’d experienced such thoughts, but in the haze of exhaustion, she finally accepted it as fact. It was a freeing moment that, in her current situation, she was incapable of truly appreciating. Still, if she was going to die – as seemed likely – it was good to finally reach an understanding with herself.
On and on she ran, covering dozens upon dozens of miles each day. At one point, she thought she was running in circles, but then she remembered that the Emerald Expanse was just that large. The forest dwarfed any that had ever existed on Earth, and by no small degree. It was difficult to know for sure, but from the maps she’d seen, it was likely the size of a continent.
Unfortunately, the elves never wavered in their pursuit.
They weren’t inexhaustible, which kept them from closing ground, but they also never fell too far behind. Then, finally, the inevitable happened, and in her fatigue, Abby tripped over a fallen tree. She didn’t fall, but that slight stumble was more than enough to expose her vulnerability. A second later, an arrow thudded into her back with so much force that she was sent sprawling.
She fell, skidding across the wet undergrowth until she came to a stop. When she tried to rise, her muscles simply wouldn’t cooperate. She wasn’t paralyzed, but she was so exhausted that the fall had robbed her of the momentum that had so far kept her going.
Abby tried to push herself to her feet, but failed after rising only a few inches. A moment later, a foot connected with her jaw, spinning her around until she landed on her back. The arrow splintered, and as the head dug deeper into her flesh, she let out an agonized hiss.
She didn’t even have the energy to scream.
“You have trespassed for the last time, human,” spat an elf. Abby couldn’t even tell if the figure was male or female, but that was no surprise when it came to the pointy-eared species. Most of them were androgynous enough that determining gender was often extremely difficult.
Another said, “You are –”
Just then, a huge, hairy figure burst through the brush and tackled the elf to the ground. With a roar, the man gripped the much smaller elf’s ankle with one hand and the wrist with another, then yanked. With a sickening sound accompanied by an agonizing scream, the elf was ripped apart.
“The Beast!” screamed one of the elves. Another shouted something else, but Abby was more interested in trying to push herself upright. She failed, so with the last of her strength, she attempted to drag herself away from the roaring man who’d rescued her.
Predictably, the elves scattered, and just as Abby began to drift away, she felt a large hand resting on her back. She struggled weakly, but she couldn’t stave off the coming unconsciousness.
“U-unhand me…”
That was the last thing she said before finally passing out.