We split up after the planning session. Shan jumps ahead of them while I have to go the long way. My goal is two hundred kilometers daily with only four hours to sleep and twenty-four hours to run, leaving two hours for personal maintenance. That requires a seven-minute kilometer to be maintained constantly.

Breathing in the air rolling off the prairies centers my apprehension. Run until my limit before circulating magic. My pace is seven minutes, furrowing the forest as the worries of life stamp down underfoot. I could not conceal my passage at such an absurd rate, leaving my trust firmly in Shannai’s plan.

The next step requires more than the last, the months of studying in the Athenary taking their pound of flesh from my legs. I am still in shape, but I can't compare it to the state I was in earlier this year. The pain is welcoming, embracing a time before all of this when strides were simpler. I am closer than I have ever been to the goal I have dreamt of since losing my mother. She was always gone, but I can remember the first time my father told me that my mother was gone and wouldn't be in my life-

The sparse forest interlacing patches of tall grass remind me of the willows and reeds I grew up with. The grass isn’t quite tall enough, and the colors are all off, but the rest puts me at home. Pulling me deeper into thoughts of my mother, thoughts of her fate. Is she happy out there? Will she want to see me? My father explained her choice to stay and not come back with us. Part of me thinks there is some reason to lessen the feeling of betrayal. Part of me worries she will not care for me or even want to see me. Neither outcome will change what I have to do for myself. This revelation connects me to my mother, or at least the choices she made-

Footfalls faintly brush my ear from behind as I jog through an animal trail. It will be a footrace, after all, a test of wills with no equal. Is it an animal or a person? I increase my pace and strain to hear the sounds. The forest is buzzing with mid-afternoon noise, blocking out all but a step here and there.

Their footfalls have quickened and grown in resonance, taking only a moment to adapt. That’s bad. Trying to shake them off several times pushes my pace to a five-minute kilometer, an unmanageable speed for long-distance running and something I can’t maintain for more than a dozen miles. My speed increase only lessens the intercept time. Go faster? Hope to hold the pace? Or think of something else?

I need a strategy to deter my will-be captors. What am I not considering? They can gauge my speed and will catch up to me. Staying on the trail makes it easier to follow while moving off of it will decrease the distance I will have to travel, but the terrain will reduce my speed.

I am unaccustomed to the terrain but not the dangers. Research yields that the primary predators are saber-toothed wolf packs and a solitary population of Drevald. The wolves are ordinary enough to deal with, while the Drevald are the real threat. The twenty-meter-long ambushers are territorial in mannerisms, and all the many spikes on their enormous body coat in bacteria that will kill you within one day.

I continue on the trail for another half an hour, mulling over the risks and possible alternatives. Finding no better options, I choose a route that veers away from the Styx while still in a favorable direction. Avoiding sources of water will also reduce the probability of encountering one of the deadly Drevald.

The grass is similar to the reeds in height, only a meter shy. Unlike the reeds, thin strands wrap around my legs as I pass— The sound of my pursuers stops. Visibility is sparse as I try an old trick, pulling my knife and stabbing it into an exposed root. Strangely enough, I can sense further than in the willows, even though the density of roots is visibly lower.

Several heavy thuds are nearby, momentarily causing my knife to slip from my grip. The vibrations aren't moving; they merely stay put. Thinking of how a twenty-meter ambush predator can hide in five-meter tall grass explains the vibrations. The giant reptiles must press their bodies to the ground, and I am sensing their heartbeats. My reluctance for the unpathed wilderness quiets, as now I can avoid the dangers. Yet even a full minute of listening detects no hint of the trackers.

I start again at a comfortable pace, an eight-minute kilometer, while trying to better acclimate to the ground. I run until the extent of my previous scan, then refresh it. The unrelenting grass only breaks in wide furrows, possibly created by the Drevalds. Using the path will be easier but dangerous, not worth the increase in speed.

As the hours fragment underfoot, I grow to understand this unfamiliar forest. Instead of trying to touch the ground, it's easier to step on the grass itself. The height of the grass requires the step to start pointed straight in the air. Once contacted, you can move from heel to toe as usual. The benefit of this is limiting the strands of grass latching around your limbs. Even with this advancement and my durable traveling clothes, strands of grass will cut into my flesh as they snag.

Sooner than I like, I have to start cycling magic. Forty percent death magic adds energy to the muscles, forty percent creation magic heals my body as it tears, and ten percent elemental regulates my body temperature, reducing strain and water loss. The first two are prohibitively expensive, so they tick every hour or so to refresh me, while the temperature regulations are economical at a constant rate. I can last another ten hours at this consumption rate as long as I have time to get some water every few hours. Springs are abundant, so I am not too worried about water.

When my tanks falter, I drink the mana water, taking in more than I need. Yet it replenishes all my magic equally, meaning I am losing the excess. Can I equally incorporate each magic in my running? Let's see, space? If I teleport a portion of my body within my range of motion, will my body move with it? Or will the teleported part separate from my body? Shannai said it would. That's a bust, no teleporting punches.

Elemental, creation, and death are easy enough. Elemental maintains its current state. Playing with amounts puts creation and death at work to decrease the strain, reducing the number of tears to heal. They work well in concert with each other. Destruction is interesting; it can decay anything, so I scan my body for any use. I determine small deposits of acid accumulating, prompting a tendril of destruction magic from the flow to break them.

Time magic—Slowing my perception of time will have little effect on my current situation. Soul magic is similarly inapplicable. Mental magic maintains my mind palace, though that doesn’t take much, so a portion cycles for mental acuity. In this marathon, one slip can cost me time that I don't have.

Stopping to rescan the area spurs a use for my time magic. It usually takes a minute to get a full image of the surroundings, and interpreting the vibrations takes more time. Slowing my perception allows interpretation of the signals at ten times the speed.

Hardtack and dried fruits are enough on the go, with a brief stop to refill my mana jug. In these quiet moments, I stumble across still countryside views with the sun setting behind my goal.

I continue in the dark for a while longer, the bottom half of one moonlighting the way. I drink the rest of my infused water before bed and start another for the morning. Camp is a tree; in my meditative state, I can still see through the dense foliage to get a view of the road. With one eye open, I can manifest in the palace with a floating window that looks out into reality.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

The next few days blur together, grass everywhere, only broken by abandoned ambush points. One stride follows the next, thousands of steps turning into hundreds of kilometers. Strangely enough, my mind starts to waver before my body. The uninterrupted stream of consciousness taxes my cognitive functionality. I usually get six hours of sleep, so four is rough.

I use the time to perfect my meterport, where I teleport a meter ahead. I can show Shan once we meet back up in four days if I can make it that far. Setting up my next item on the agenda, I notice a glint of moonlight rebound into the window in my palace. fuck.

Awakening in my makeshift cocoon, I jab my knife into the tree while slowing time. Three assailants, in a v formation, are closing in a kilometer out, moving at a six-minute pace. Their movements suggest familiarity with the terrain yet not mastery. My path is clear, with a few lizards on the way. I slide down the trunk, swinging from a low branch to soften the landing. Mana water swishes in my mouth before I hit the ground.

I am stumbling through because the planned four hours weren't enough to soothe my mind. I got two hours, worsening my status. My arms flop at my side for the first few strides, and my legs are equally unresponsive. What is my best choice in this situation? I outran them earlier or disrupted them by going off the trail. Maybe going back will mess up their magic. Unlikely. If I changed the terrain, would that disrupt them? I imagine flying through the clouds.

Shaking the unhelpful thought out of my head, I search for another way. If they get within a minute of me, I can delay with the gas and smoke balls, especially since the wind speed is nonexistent tonight, allowing the effects to stay present for much longer.

Even though I will be imprisoned for life if they catch me, the group behind me doesn’t deserve to be hurt, nor some Drevald. A crashing sound comes from behind. I have to move faster, or I won't be able to get away, but how? How can I make my body faster? My current magical effects deal with reducing wear. I stop the subtle touches and let the magic of each affinity pour through my channels. I hold my jug with both hands in an attempt at constant regeneration.

My feet dig into the soft brush of the forest, and the dewy dirt underneath presses through my toes. I forgot my shoes. Death chase aside, a race brings back memories. Ruthless people chase me, not even a half kilometer behind, but I will run. Air rushes to and from my lungs with each stride as my legs strain to dig out more and push my body forward. Each step has a tickle of something as processes burn themselves into me.

I throw a smoke and a gas ball about ten meters apart, creating a border they must avoid. I had done my best to avoid the Drevald in my escape route, and the dispersion should also. Despite its namesake, the smoke ball affects visibility and not breathing. I lament having the altercation so close, but I have no choice.

I tear forward for hours at an absurd pace, nearly three minutes, using my catalysts and mana water recklessly. The nutrients burning away refill as they empty, causing a whiplash between exhaustion and exhilaration. My pursuers are ever behind by a moment, running me ragged at a blistering pace. There is a hint of something at the edge of my mind. After the second hour of running, I grasped it for a second with slowed perception. A snippet of the world is revealed in a sudden jolt, lasting as long as my foot digs into the ground.

Another hour of running gets all of the aspects right. Step, slow time, interpret, resume time, repeat. Doing it with every step is too cumbersome, so I do it every fifth. I no longer need to stop to scan, which is good as I currently can’t. I can't relieve myself or replenish my water while the noises of pursuers haunt me.

The Wall stretches the continent from one horizon to the other. As if it is the end of the world, from here, it's small, yet it's a few hundred meters tall. The sky past the Wall is dimmer. There is no time for rest. Their vibrations are a little more than ten minutes away, but at least the pace has slowed to eight minutes. My magic envelope allows each problem to be addressed faster and more accurately. But there is another thing that happens. I can't deduce it, but I know I have felt something similar, reminding me of the athenary. What is that?

Running again, pushing my brain to stay alert, using twice as much magic as before, distracting from the sensation. How can they be this persistent? Few body-enhancing Mages can alter their mental endurance this well. Though considering I can, hiring a tracker who can will make sense. The skill also makes for intensely good hunters. My sleep-deprived mind can attest to that. They can keep up and are gaining again, which further prods me.

Again, I consider using the Drevald and their unconsenting cooperation to delay my fate, but I can't if there is a way out, a visible end. As a stop-gap? No. I can't. But there must be another way out of imprisonment. While searching for an answer, I toss another smoke ball, using the diversion to change my trajectory.

Something catches my eye as I cut across a patch of brambles, a rare choke point in this open forest. The brambles on either side of a denser grove forge a trail in the center. I see a way to keep them at bay, to ensure my freedom for one more night. Or stop my captors entirely with a decisive attack. In the desperation of my mental fatigue, I consider attacking someone with no precision. Their careless lethality is akin to those who terrorized the ball, who captured me and killed Speaker Odin’Kirk, who are likely the ones chasing me. Still, I can't.

Passing through the choke point, I throw my first explosive ball, aiming for the thicket to the right from a fair distance. The explosion emits a fireball. The obtrusion successfully blocks the trail, forcing them to slow. Thanking the trees for their sacrifice, I dart into the thickening foliage. Bramble bushes speckle the forest, slowing me by half. Slowing does allow me to hide my trail better by stepping on the correct ground and bending around bushes.

I consider resting securely within one of those dense bushes. A check of the surroundings shows one pursuer a kilometer out, progressing towards me. Assuming the two who aren’t chasing are making camp gives me some hope. Then I sense a vibration from a kilometer in the direction I am heading, brief but significant. And again, after a second, is that a heartbeat? It's similar to the Drevald but larger and further apart. I would move away from it, but I have little choice with the brambles. Whatever it is, I don't think we all will pose much of a threat.

Sweat drips down my forehead, taking a portion of my exertion as it falls from my face. The sun will be coming up in a few hours, and my chances for sleep will diminish once that happens. I need space, but I can't outrun them. Can I outplay them? This tactic is exhausting me and putting me no closer to losing them. The only part of their ability I have yet to test is their tracking. Assuming it would be a strong suit, I opted to outlast them.

However, keeping up is exhausting them as much as myself, so this is the optimal time to try and slip by. I need a place where I can take advantage of that, and this place is a tracker's dream. With my objectively skilled efforts, I must lose them in this terrain. I come within a hundred meters of the creature, moving my path to skirt around them at range. I could provoke a confrontation but let the thought pass and observe its depravity. I can't. I focus on my trek, allowing everything else to fall away as I run.

A presence emerges before I see it, evoking a primal fear that freezes mid-stride. Eyes the size of my head stare into me. A Drevald with dark greenish scales is meters away from me. Not even a breath escapes my open mouth as I stare in awe. Their body is only visible when I look directly at them. Once your eyes are off, the distinctions become less so. If not for the eyes and presence, I wouldn’t have known.

Those vertical slits of green with yellow irises are jade in a pool of gold. There is compassion and understanding in them. Something happens, something like making a mental connection but different. My soul magic siphons away, and a piece of it goes along. I should shit myself and run, but I don’t. The soul given is a soul returned, but different. What is this? Why am I so calm? Is this a predator using soul magic to eat me? Yet that is wrong; I know this creature because I am them. I've spent thousands of years here and thousands more in other dimensions. I've traveled to places and seen wonders that will break my mind so they recede. It locks away due to care for myself. I will help myself so that I can escape.

Something snaps with a command: run, and I do. A hissing roar reverberates behind me as I speed mindlessly. I will save me—my friend will help me. Before I can contemplate my unexpected savior, I have to focus on my running again. Circulation stabilizes into place like an old bedfellow, not caring for my track as I sprint from the thicket. Screams provide the night with a rumbling, hissing monstrosity.

My evasion takes place a few kilometers southeast at a tributary river. I cross it in an area with trees growing near the bank and run about two kilometers past the stream. Now, the real fun. I teleport into the tree above me. The usual weightlessness pitches me until I grab the tree. I don't have enough space magic to move farther than a meter. I can replenish it and keep teleporting, but that will take too much time. So I jump from tree to tree, trying my best not to scuff up the bark or shake the branches. If they are good, they will find this, but I doubt they will guess my next move. I land in the tributary and start running northwest, nearly opposite to the direction I've traveled thus far.

I exit by teleporting into a tree and get a half-kilometer by jumping before returning to the ground. I jog in the wrong direction for five hours as the sun creeps above the horizon. If they get my first double back, they will separate as they did for the scrub. The question is: which one will they send in the correct direction? If the tracker comes this way, then I'll have done all that for an hour's lead or so. I bought myself a considerable lead if it's the others.

All I can do is run, milking every drop from the seeds I’d sewn by the river bed. Suffering a burn unrivaled since those long nights spent training with Jer, I uncover A place where all your fibers transfix on a single thing. In transcending that, I can push past what has always been enough.

Step after step, nothing in the world but the tempo of my heart. Wind wades against me, now moving to my side as it sees no success restraining me. As I am wind, earth, water, and fire, so are my movements. We burn a path that rebels against everyone who has and will stand in our way.

My last step lands at the base of an oak tree, old as the day is shit. Nestling in its roots is a cubby padded in moss. The leaves cover the early rays like willows, but only because the tree is grand. Or are those rays of a fading sun? And where was I running? An evaluation reveals that I am at the precipice of depletion sickness. Was I poisoned? What animal poisons such a warm bed? Rest will be fine. For now-