BEEP!
You have received a trial token.
Overlaying navigation directions to the nearest trail gates.
Please choose the trail you want to go through.
Sheetal looked at the words that had popped in front of her out of nowhere. From the hitch in Ash’s steps she knew that he had seen them too. Moments later, when he began to curse she knew that her guess was right.
“Gods dang spam. Keep popping up from nowhere. No matter how many times I hit the ball it just keeps coming back.”
“Ash!” Sheetal hissed “Focus!”
“How can I, with this thing distracting me every fifteen minutes?”
“Ash the dogs are catching up.”
Sheetal wasn’t wrong. Ash could hear the panting dogs close the distance in between them. Then came the barks as they got nearer. Ash looked at the words that had shifted into a small window at the side of his vision. They were now hovering over a map with three glowing places.
Ash turned left and began running towards the nearest one. Which got them closer to a hell dog. The mutt took that chance to pounce at them. Sheetal felt its hot breath on her neck and cringed. Luckily the dog missed her and then they were past their canine pursuers.
Sheetal looked back and saw the dog that had almost bit into her skidding on the desert sand. It turned and growled at her. Sheetal gulped as it began to chase them both.
Sheetal screamed “Ash, what are you doing?
In response Ash screamed over the wind “Following the GPS.”
Sheetal looked at the line overlaid on her head up display and growled “That’s not a GPS. GPS needs satellites.”
“Can you even for a moment stop poking holes into this system in our heads. I am scared that it will take offence and do something to our brains.”
Sheetal looked at the back of her partner’s head “That makes no sense but okay. Why are you doing that? Where are you taking us? ”
“To the nearest dot on the map.”
“Why?”
“She. There are dogs behind us and who know what is following them. We need a safe space to rest and figure this stuff out.”
“Don’t call me that. My name is She. I mean I am She.” She grimaced “I prefer to be called Sheetal.”
Ash chuckled “Okay, She. Whatever. Now just hold on. I am going to do the nitro boost thing again.”
Ash, ever since he had taken the shard he was fast. Faster than any man had the right to be. He moved faster than anyone She had ever seen. And since she had been around soldiers with reflexes and strengths honed to precision, she knew Ash was unnaturally fast. But that was not compared to how fast he was when he used his shard.
She tightened her hands around Ash, gripped him harder and announced “Okay, I am ready.”
She felt it just like before. She felt it when Ash fed his potentiality into his shard. The world around them suddenly slowed, The dust plumes under the dogs chasing them stopped mid air. Even her coat that was flapping in the air stopped and then in a jolt they were off.
Ability - Run
Duration - 5 Seconds
Potentiality Usage - High
Ash’s ability didn’t last that long. He could only use it for five seconds at a go before he needed to rest and regenerate the potentiality but in those five seconds he was fast. Most probably as fast as a car running at forty to fifty kilometres per hour.
“Yeepeeei!” Ash screamed in excitement.
“Ahhh!!!” She screamed in terror.
And then it was over. Ash slowed and began to take huge gulps of air. He coughed and almost fell to his knees catching himself at the last moment. She crashed into his back and kept herself pressed to him with her eyes closed.
Ash panted “She?”
She didn’t respond.
“She!”
“Wha… What…?”
“Can you…” Pant “Stop…” Pant “Doing that?”
“What?”
“Pressing your bazookas…” Pant “Into…” Pant “My back?”
“What?”
“Look…” Ash took a deep breath to get his breath and then continued “I know you are scared. I know you don’t like the speed thing but those balloons on your chest make me really uncomfortable.”
She let go of Ash and he fell to one knee and then glared at her chest.
“I… I don’t get it? I thought you were bisexual. That means you like women too. And women have breasts.”
Ash glared at her “Yes I like women. I just don’t like you. Not like that. And I like women who have smaller ones. The ones who don’t just bounce around like they have a life of their own.”
Awooo!
A mournful howl stopped their conversation and She turned around. Ash watched her overshoot the turn and then bit by bit slowly turn back around.
“How far…” Ash took a deep breath to get his breathing back into control and started from the top “How far are the dogs?”
Sheetal watched the dogs running after them in the strange light of the nebula “They had left them a few kilometres or so behind but they had started giving them a chase once again.
“Five, maybe six minutes.”
Ash got to his feet and looked at the dogs “No, more like three to four. Dogs are fast. And these ones, they are faster.”
“We can’t outrun them can we?”
Ash was silent for a moment and then looked at She with a contemplative look.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“What?”
“She, we got lucky with the blue weirdos. They underestimated us. These dogs, we can’t…”
She looked at Ash and sighed “I know. But you can run away without me holding you back, can’t you?”
Ash grimaced.
She smiled at Ash “You need to run. Getaway from here. I will…”
“Oh, shut up.” Ash kicked the sand under his feet “I can’t believe I am doing this. Heck, I don’t even know why. Any other person, by now, I would be leaving them to die.”
“Ash, we both don’t have to die here.”
“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” Ash gave her a sharp look and screamed “I AM GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU DANG DOGS!!!”
She looked from Ash to the dogs. They stopped and lifted their ears and homed into their position. One after another they began running straight for them.
“Great now they know exactly where we are.”
Ash huffed “Grab me. Let’s see how far we can get and then we will do whatever needs to be done.”
Ash ran and She kept holding onto him. She’s breath hitched every time she saw the dogs gaining on them. Ash didn’t slow down. He kept running for more than fifteen minutes, even when he was out of breath. Then in a final act of defiance he engaged his speed shard. The scenery buzzed past them and the dogs were left behind.
She was just starting to feel more confident when Ash in the middle of the run lost his footing and collapsed underneath her. They both skidded to a stop on the sand that parted for them like water.
That was mostly because of She’s shard and its electrostatic nature. It also stopped them from getting any injuries from the fall. Still she placed her hand on Ash’s back and ran a burst of static into his skin. That would stop any dirt from clinging to him.
But when she did that, she could feel his heart thumping hard and artistically. He had pushed himself too hard. His body was covered in sweat, and his breath’s were coming short and fast. dripping sweat on to the sand.
She rolled off him and floated up.
“Ash, are you okay?”
In response Ash let out a wheezing noise.
She tried to move Ash and just ended up shaking him “Why did you have to push yourself this hard?”
Awooo!
The first howl was accentuated by two other dogs barking.
She turned and scoped up the sand dune they had skidded down. She saw one of the dogs. It had stopped and was waiting for its barking friends to catch up to him. Its eyes caught the light of the twinkling nebula above them, and She saw its snarling teeth as it growled down at her.
She involuntarily moved a few centimetres back and then caught herself.
“Ash, get up. You need to go.”
Ash lifted himself up onto one foot, slipped and fell back to the ground. He let out a pitiful groan.
“Ash. I will try to hold them off but you need to run.”
Ash turned his head to give her a disbelieving look “You…”
He said and then burst into a coughing fit.
“Yes, me. Now go.”
She looked past him and at the dogs they were running and falling down the sand.
Ash looked at her and responded with a defeated smile.
“Don’t give me that look boy. Only one of us is getting out of this mess and we both know that it is you.”
Sheetal pointed at the dogs behind Ash. They had stopped ten or so feet behind Ash half turned back. She yelled the last words “Only you can outrun these stinky dogs.”
In response the dogs began growling and snarling.
Ash groaned as he slowly sat up and looked at them. In response the dogs scampered back a foot or so.
“Ash…”
“Shut up, She.”
Sheetal glared at him and then at the dogs.
Ash continued “They have run us down and now they are getting their breaths back. It’s when they start circling and stalking us that’s when they will attack. Let me get my breath back until then.”
“No, you need to go before that.”
“I am not leaving you.”
“What!?”
In a hoarse voice Ash answered “I didn’t run all this timer to let you die.”
“And I can’t have you die because of me.”
“She, the reason I ran all this while was to tire these cursed mutts out. They will be tired and slow now. That will give us a good chance against them. Now let me get my breath back”
Sheetal teared up “Ash! Just go.”
Ash looked at She’s contorted face and smiled “You know, I thought about it. But I can’t leave you. I don’t want to leave you.” Ash said and then in a growl completed “You are mine.”
Sheetal turned to look at Ash “What?”
“I am not leaving you.”
“No. Not that. What do you mean, I am yours?”
Ash shrugged “You are mine.”
“Exactly! What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t know.” Ash while panting tried to explain “You know like a cell phone you really like. The one who does weird things and hangs at the worst times. But you love it? Mayber because of its design. Maybe because it just feels right. Or maybe because it’s not from that stupid fruit company. You are like that.”
“What in all the gods name is wrong with you?”
“Nothing. I am awesome.”
“Oh for fuds sake, this is the wrong time to get emotional. Just run.”
“I am not…” Ash watched the dogs as they inched closer and began to growl in earnest “She. I don’t have emotions like you do. Like everybody does. I don’t know why I am feeling like this but since I am awesome I am just going to say you are mine and you are awesome too.”
“Ash… Thank you. That is the first compliment you have given to me. It was nice. But these things are going to kill us both now.” In a defeated voice She muttered “They have started circling us.”
“Yeah, but not barking. They are still out of breath.” Ash chimed in.
She exhaled “Oh, we are so dead.”
Ash with a pained expression got to his feet and asked “One of them, the one closest to you is going to jump at you. He is going to try and tear you out of the air. Can you hold him off?”
Sheetal turned to look at the dog nearest to her. It barked at her. She flinched. A glint shot into the mongrel’s eyes looking at the reaction he had elicited.
“I need an answer, She.”
She’s voice quivered “I… Uh… I will… try.”
“Do or do not do. There is no try.”
She blinked “Did you just quote…”
“Yeah… Yeah…Yeah. You are a nerd. And you all like that green goblin from that stupid movie series. You all also like to say it is Sci-Fi. It’s not. It’s fantasy.”
Sheetal almost turned to look at Ash but stopped at Ash’s words.
“Don’t take your eye off the enemy stupid. Keep looking at him. He will attack if he sees you distracted.”
Sheetal grumbled “It’s not fantasy. It’s sci-fi.”
“Yeah that is why magical swordsmen fight other magical swordmen with light swords.”
“They are called lightsabers.”
“Do you even know what a saber is? It has a curve.”
She opened her mouth to respond and that’s when the mutt in front of her pounced.
Ash had been watching the two dogs who had correctly identified him as the tougher target. He saw one bunch up on his hind legs and the other one lowered its head.
Ash, who had taken out his tonfas, spun one to cover his left arm. The other one he kept pointing outwards. He knew how the dogs were going to attack. He had seen this before. Whether they were tiny, big or hounds they all reacted the same way. One would go high at his throat. The other one would go for his ankles.
They both barked to startle him and then pounced. Ash lowered himself and moved. He tucked his leg in and slashed with his tonfa. He felt the dog who was pouncing on him bit down on his raised arm. Its teeth crunched down on the metal and he let the large dogs weight pull him. That gave his outstretched tonfas that extra momentum.
Crack!
Ash felt a jolt of impact vibrate from his tonfa to his arm. He looked at the dog. His tonfa had hit it straight in the temple. It flopped down and Ash grinned. Then he looked at the dog who had pounced. It had let go of his arm and was biting the air.
This time Ash pounced. The dog tried to jump. Ash brought down his tonfa to its right.
Thump.
Then jabbed his left tonfa at its eye.
The dog opened its mouth to yowl. Ash didn’t give it a chance.
He growled “Eat this crack face.”
He showed his other tonfa up its open mouth until he felt something give. The dog stiffened and Ash jerked his tonfa out with blood and bits.
You have killed a hellhound.
You have earned - 1 Creck
Ash spun his tonfa and turned. The first dog was trying to scramble to its feet. He could wait. He ran to it and kicked it in the throat. The dog fell on its side. Before it could move again, Ash stomped its head. Once, twice and finally thrice.
You have killed a hellhound.
You have earned - 1 Creck
Ash ran his eyes though the notification and then spun. He needed to know if She was okay. With wide eyes he looked in She’s direction and stopped. He titled his head sideways with a stupefied expression and flung his hands in the air in frustration.
Sheetal with widened eyes had seen the dog jump at her. She brought her hand to cover her face and closed her eyes. It was an instinctive reaction. As was curling herself into a ball. With her attention completely shot she fell to the ground. That first reaction had saved her life.
Then the dog tried to come in low. Just when it was about to bite her She used her levitation ability and flew up to evade the dog’s teeth. The dog on the other hand was pinned right below her under her power. Sheetal looked at it for a few seconds baffled. Then her mind began to process what was happening.
Polar forces. It was not about levitation or about electricity like the one she had shot into the air. That had just been an electrostatic by-product. They were about dipole effects. And right now if she was floating the negative pole floating in the air, everything below her was the positive pole. Which included the dog’s ugly head.
She slowly comprehended that fact and increased the pressure. Levitating higher than she usually did she looked down and saw the dog’s head disappear into the sand. That was good. She did not want those teeth anywhere near her.
The dog tried to wrench itself free and She increased the pressure once again.
The dogs violently jerked left to right and She in response increased the effect again. Levitating seven feet above the dog She knew she could not push anymore and tried to look for another solution.
“What the heck, She?”
She could barely hear Ash over the blood rushing in her ears.
She was confused, afraid, and happy at the same time. That is why she gave Ash a blank look and asked “huh?”
“You have a screwdriver. Use that.”
“Uhhh…?” She did not know why Ash was looking at her like that.
“Seriously, you are drowning a dog in the sand. Why are you doing this to me?”
“What?”
“Making me feel for our enemies.”
Sheetal blinked and looked down at the dog. She saw its feet scratch the desert sand ineffectually. The thing was about to get free or was it?
She turned to Ash and muttered “Help?”
Ash threw his hand up in the air and walked to her. He raised his tonfas over the dog and nodded “When you are ready, let the dog go.”
Sheetal shook her head violently “It will eat me.”
“She, let the dog go.”
She gave Ash a panicked look.
“She, I am here. I will take care of the dog. Hust let it go.”
She used her hovering ability to move as quickly as she could away from the dog and hid herself behind Ash. She saw the dog’s head erupt out of the sand in a fountain of dust. Ash quickly brought his tonfa down on the dog’s spine with a crack. The dog keened and then thudded to the ground.
A notification popped into She’s vision.
You have killed a hellhound.
You have earned - 1 Creck
She released a long breath and flew down only catching herself at the last moment. Ash steadied her and looked at her.
Ash looked at She’s wide eyes and asked “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I don’t know what happened. Well, I do know somewhat but…”
Ash waved her words aside “It doesn’t matter. You are okay.”
She grabbed Ash’s hand and turned it “Ash, you are hurt. Did one of those things bite you?”
Ash looked at the two puncture wounds on his forearm. The dog must have gotten him in the first exchange. He shook his head and opened his mouth to explain when something caught his eyes.
He saw the dog turn into sand and fall apart except for one part of its pelt. He looked closer. There was a brand there. As he looked at it he saw potentiality slowly tearing it apart. Usually when something died here, most of the potentiality dispersed into the air while some rushed into him or She but this, it was different.
“Ash, your wound, it just disappeared.”
Ash ignored She. His eye was on the pattern on the piece of pelt left behind. The brand was a series of circles. They would have created a bullseye if the circles were complete. Only these were in segments. As he watched one part broke down and potentiality rushed out of it and into the distance. That part caught fire. It was a ghostly blue fire that made She yelp and float backwards.
She turned around and saw other places where the dogs had died, lighting up in flames too.
“Okay, what the fud is going on?”
Ash didn’t take his eyes off the brand. He was slowly beginning to understand something and as the next part broke down, he followed the potentiality with his eyes. It rushed back to the direction they had come from.
Ash grimaced “Oh bull!”
“What?” She asked.
Ash pointed at the brand with his tonfa “This is a tracking thing? I think it is a tracking symbol.”
Buggles erupted in Ash’s mind.
Congratulations Warder.
You have shown an understanding of Glyphs
Glyph unlocked - Track.
Collect two more glyphs to get access to the compendium.
“What are you talking about?” She asked.
“God dang those blue weirdos. They put trackers on their dogs.” Ash cursed “She, we don’t have time for this. Grab hold of me. We need to run. And right now.”