Chapter 37: Not Goodbye

The detour and stop in the woods was only a short rest from the jostling of being carried. Trint was already sick of it. He never liked the situation, but it added irritation to his boiling anger. Communications were received and passed through the ranks. Trint was now more aware of the enemy forces he was up against.

There were about 30 people. Most were from this iteration, but a dozen were from higher up. Their levels were easy enough for Trint to see with his skill and Spiritual assistance. With every fiber of his being, he wanted to kill them. He was responsible for Jung and Befiny being dead. Sure they would get to Restart, but that wasn’t the consolation Trint needed at the moment. Death was different now, but vengeance was not. He swore to attempt to avenge them.

The distance from the temporary hideout in the forest to the city wasn’t that far for Trint to run. He could quickly cover the distance but didn’t know the restrictions someone from higher up would experience in this iteration. He never asked Jung what they were. He knew Jung was at a much higher level than even i7, but could he utilize the max level of the iteration, or could there be other limitations. Trint was metaphorically beating himself up for not finding out these details before.

‘I just need to hold on a little more,’ Trint reassured himself. ‘I know a chance will come to get away. Wait!” Trint got Pneuma’s attention. ‘Pneuma, I think I know how to do this.’

The convoy of kidnappers was now moving to the edge of the forest. It was a straight shot to the city from here. Trint and Iliana had been placed closer together now. Four captors guarded each. Trint still couldn’t communicate through the system. The guards had gagged them to keep them from talking, and their restraints blocked system messages.

Trint was left with the largest contingent of guards, including Elise and Constant. The rest split into a front guard and rear. Both scouting groups were to interfere if necessary and avoid slowing the main group. As the command to leave the woods and separate into three parties came through, Trint picked up the sign he was waiting for with his extended Spiritual perception.

“Incoming!” The guards were already in their three groups, but the first guards to exit the woods were immediately attacked. Ranged attacks of magic and arrows thudded against them, and several were killed or wounded in that first volley.

“The plan changed!” Elise called to her people. “The front and rear guard. Hold off or destroy this attack party. Assume they know who we have and that they too will have higher-level forces. Be careful not to attack above your iteration. We will reconnect in another iteration or not at all.”Elise ended the command but not her thought, ‘I’m not coming back here again.’

Trint felt it was time for his plan. He formed his Spirit to do a few things at once. First, he used it to slowly force the gag out of his mouth. At the same time, he started to tear at the bindings on his hands and feet, and last but not least, he allowed his Spirit to billow out of his back and surround the guards holding him. The last part was a distraction while he worked to escape, but then he remembered the suffocating Clax skunk-like soldiers.

The mist he was using to billow into a fog thickened and began to move towards the faces of the four guards carrying him. They were more concerned with the approaching forces between them and the city to notice the vapor passing in front of their faces. Unfortunately, they began breathing the stuff in. Very quickly, they all four nearly simultaneously dropped Trint. They began clawing at their throats and holding their chests as their lungs were coated inside by Trint’s thickened spirit, completely prevented from drawing a breath.

“It was a terrible thing to suffocate surrounded by open air,” Trint whispered to them. “Too bad you had it coming.” Trint didn’t relish killing other people, but he felt justified in executing his friends’ murderers and his kidnappers. This didn’t bother him too terribly.

Trint had continued to push his Spirit cloud around him, and when his transport dropped him, it had reached Iliana’s guards too. Trint split his time silently, killing another four guards and trying to free his restraints. It took a bit of work. Unfortunately, they resisted his attempts to break or cut them with his Spirit. But he was able to pull a necklace with a medallion on it off one of the guards. The symbols matched those on the restraints. When pressed together, the shackles just fell away. He was free and rushing to Iliana.

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“Let’s go,” Trint whispered. But his guards were not the only ones near them. Trint knew it was time to go all out. He began transitioning into his Alpha form. He chose the fastest form he could think of and only turned into his humanoid eight-feet tall black mist-covered form. But he kept the tail. He picked up Iliana and started running parallel to the forest edge. And in his first steps took out three guards with his trailing tail. Whipping it back and forth, the first three guards to notice Trint’s escape died. One gurgled out a cry as his throat was cut. That was enough to get the attention of another dozen, who then alerted the rest of the escort group.

Now it was a race for Trint. He was swift, but he didn’t know how he would do against those from a higher iteration. He wasn’t even equal level with the lowest of this iteration.

“I guess now we will find out how I stack up against some higher levels?” Trint smiled as he spared a look at Iliana. She was inhumanly calm given the situation. ‘I guess she has only been human for a short time,’ Trint thought as he put some distance between them and the fight they wanted to leave behind. Trint felt something approaching his back. He side-stepped, and a ball of white-hot light blasted past him.

“Constant, you idiot,” Elise yelled. “If you kill him, I will ensure you are tortured till you age out and restart.” Elise gave her troops a few hand signals, and they moved out in a wider formation.

Trint heard Elise but didn’t know what the hand signals meant. As he covered a few miles, his pursuers maintained their distance but never stopped. They also were not falling behind. He assumed those that did were lower level or up to some trap. Either way, his plan was still the same. He needed to get to the city.

“Iliana,” Trint began, “Would you be alright if I unsummoned you? You would be sent to i5 and have time to explore and figure out what you want to do long term.”

“But, Trint,” Iliana began to argue, “I don’t want to leave you now. You might need me.”

“I might, but I can’t risk losing consciousness and letting them hurt you,” Trint began to plead. “ Please, If I unsummon you, I would be on my own, but I can resummon you in a week. If they don’t kill me, you can surprise them in a week and get me out of whatever situation I am in.”

“Sovereign, if you will it, I will do as you say,” Iliana reverted to her term and tone of reverence.

“You know I don’t like that, but thank you for understanding,” Trint felt a sense of relief. He didn’t want to see her go, but he also didn’t want to worry about her. “Are you ready?” He asked her.

“Yes, Trint, see you in a week,” Iliana reluctantly agreed. “Don’t forget to summon me. I will scout i5 and make plans for our eventual arrival there.”

“This is see you later, not goodbye,” Trint assured her. “See you soon.” With his words meant to encourage, he willed her to be unsummoned. The next moment she was gone. Not a dissolving mist but instant teleportation to a distant iteration and world.

WIth Iliana gone and hopefully safe, Trint finally turned and exited the trees. His goal was the city. He knew the pursuers were following him at a distance as he picked up their change in direction as soon as he made it. They were probably going to lead him into an ambush. The chase continued just like that for over 20 miles to the city. Only as he got within a mile of the outskirts did he sense his pursuer’s speed increase. They were cutting the distance to him.

He sped up to keep his distance. Before encountering many other people, he transitioned to his Beta form, hoping not to be as conspicuous. Running down alleys and side streets, eventually Trint hit a dead end. The best direction was forward, so he transitioned to his Alpha form and jumped over a few buildings. He clawed his way to the top of another tall building and slid down the backside, dragging extended claws to slow his descent. As soon as he landed in an empty alley, he turned back to his human form. Trint knew it was a gamble and not going to help him fight, but He kept a Spirit blade the size of a knife in his right hand. He tucked it into a hooded robe he threw on from his ring.

He reasoned getting lost in the crowd would be more effective than fighting in the city. As he walked, he threw up the hood of his robe and slipped into the passing crowd on the street. He was ready to change into the Beta Form if he needed it instantly. It would let him fight for a while but not stand out like his Alpha forms. He added bladed edges on his boots.

The streets were getting crowded. It reminded Trint of rush hour on Earth. The work day was ending for many, and it was probably time for them to head home and eat. That thought gave him a deep pang of guilt and loss. He had gotten to know and care for Jung and Befiny. He was the reason they were killed. He had been running non-stop through the iterations and not really considering how his situation could and now did get others killed.

‘Focus, Trint,’ Pneuma rebuked. ‘Do you want me to numb your emotions, or can you handle this?’

‘Pneuma, you promised me you won’t do that again,’ Trint gritted his teeth as he thought that to his companion. ‘Now that I am not under that influence from you or the system, I am repulsed knowing I was manipulated. Some unfeeling robot, running around murdering people without blinking an eye.’

‘I was the one who murdered those trashy opportunists,’ Pneuma tried to take the credit. ‘But I suppose back to my earlier point; we are now one and the same, so technically, you did have a part in it.’

‘Not helping, there, buddy,’ Trint challenged. ‘You seeing anything I need to be aware of? I’m only getting the crowd, and I can’t make out any threats with this many people around us.’

‘There isn’t much to go off of,’ Pneuma was on edge but tried to be helpful to Trint and encourage him. ‘Even with perfect clarity of the crowd, I wouldn’t know any other faces than the ones we have seen, and I know there will be a contingent of them here. For now, our enemy is everyone and no one. Even that little girl selling dirty fruit could be a lookout. That man walking beside you could be an assassin or communicating with your captors. And that man pushing through the crowd right towards us is probably not your friend.’