In the near vicinity — inside a large and thick tree trunk, Elijah and Niko were listening to the beginning of the rainfall create an assortment of noises across the various pools of water close to them. The large tree was on the very edge of this jungle, which looked into the hilly marshlands and mountainous plateaus.
"Wish me good luck."
Silently, Elijah flew out from the hole of the tree. Near instant movements of dark figures were seen in the jungle behind him, which worried Elijah.
"Are we being chased?"
Elijah flew into the open hilly marshlands to draw their attention. One gorgon had revealed its body from behind a tree, and within a matter of seconds, it shot into the air.
"Ha!"
While quickly swerving to the side, Elijah saw the head of the beast turn in fear. It had just given itself an early death by catapulting itself into a place only god knows where. These savage beasts could be called suicide bombers.
One by one, Elijah saw them whizz by his face. Some even managed to land a scratch after they had watched their comrade fail to kill the target.
Elijah had wanted to have some fun, so in the midst of dodging and weaving, he shuttled mana through every cell in his body with a focus on his right fist.
3…
2…
1…
BOOM!
A crude memory had been brought back to his brain as his fist obliterated the small torso of the beast while sending its limbs flying in all different directions.
At this point, the rain had become a downpour, blocking the sun that was beginning to set and creating a perfect environment for the stalkers of the night.
"BEHIND YOU!!!"
Niko had his head sticking out through the trunk of the tree. Silently rolling across the hilly and overgrown ground cover was a being that blended in perfectly with its surrounding. Even when crossing over a puddle, the small reflectance did not seem to flutter even the slightest bit.
From behind, a fist of someone who looked exactly like Niko had transformed into a spike of death.
"AHHHH!"
Elijah was just barely able to avoid a fatal blow while the spike pierced through even the bone of his arm. However, when Elijah had turned around with the slightly illuminated fist, he saw an exact replica of himself.
There was no such thing as a mirror in the Kingdom of Astraea. The first sensation of seeing himself in what he thought was a dream caused him to hesitate in dealing a killing blow. The just barely glowing radiance coming from his fist lessened while a tear joined the rainwater that dripped down his body. Even the unknown being had come to a halt.
That was until Elijah shook his head in denial and followed with a devastating punch that began to disintegrate whatever stood in front of him before the punch itself had landed. The fake fibers of the clothes this being had copied dematerialized, and followed was the skin that had begun to transform into the pattern of an unfathomable matrix of blood vessels, muscle fibers, and bone. It was as if this creature had full control of every part of its body allowing it to reconfigure itself at will — to even the lengths of disguising itself within the overgrown ground cover. Essentially, this beast took the name "chameleon" to an entirely new level.
The rainwater from above glued itself to Elijah's body while he flew towards the safe house. If more of these beasts were around, the only option was to run as one could not know if even the air they were breathing in was of a chameleonic beast.
"GET READY TO FLY!" Elijah grabbed the arms of Niko and swung him through the air in the midst of a few gorgons catapulting themselves into the tree. Glowing fists of pure magical strength extinguished these lives. However, something was off.
Staring into Niko's eyes made him feel like nothing was there. Trusting his instinct, Elijah pulverized the chest to see the unfathomable matrix once again. "DAMMIT! Where did he go!"
"ELIJAH! HELP!"
Running through the towering jungle and slithering in between trees was Niko while creating beams of fire that shot point blank at any beast that came close to him. Illusions were sliding out of his body like candy, and even a true clone that took him to the edge of completely running out of mana. However, it was all worth it.
The few seconds of deception Niko was able to buy himself was enough for Elijah to figure out his plan.
The arms of Elijah brushed past the trunks of the trees while using them as support for a more controlled movement pattern. "I got you!"
While just barely being able to escape with their lives, Elijah and Niko made it into the stormy skies where a flash of lightning illuminated their smiling faces alongside a momentary bright light that suddenly exploded within the far distance. In the moments of danger where every single fragment of their life was on the line, both Elijah and Niko had found a sense of not happiness, but excitement within their souls.
'Twas the fate of being introduced to massive amounts of novel stimuli.
Yes, the air was cold.
Yes, Niko had wounds that were being healed by Elijah.
Yes, they were currently running for their lives without an inkling of stopping.
However…
The feeling of flying through the air – unchained from everything they once knew – was the taste of freedom both of them relished in.
Currently, Elijah and Niko were flying far above the ground level – unafraid of potential flying beasts that could knock them into oblivion with a single swipe of their wings. While Niko was strapped to the Back of Elijah – constantly wiping his eyes within the harshness of the rain and the symphony of lightning strikes that were creating small explosions on the ground level, he pointed to a bright set of lights in the far distance. A light that seemed to stretch across the horizon – just barely seen with the naked eye.
"I THINK THAT IS GION!" Yelled Elijah with a smile on his face.
Over the course of their flight of freedom, the hilly marshlands had finally passed to open up into a rather weird jungle with even taller trees than the jungle they had created a safe house in. Trunks with a radius of seven feet and more soared into the skies. However, because of their height, they toppled over each other creating crosses of trees that leaned on each other for life. Also, the same mountainous plateaus were scattered within the jungle, however, not a single one reached the height of any of the towering trees, but instead acted as a pillow for them to lean on.
Slowly, Elijah descended to the ground, on top of a plateau covered by the trees that gave them a modicum of cover from the downpour. The aim was to plan out their way into the Kingdom.
Elijah began this conversation once they had carefully jumped astound to shake the excess water off their bodies. "We have to think about where we will live, making money, and deciding if we will return to Astraea."
"I don't think that is anything we have to decide on now…"
"I know… But we do have to assimilate ourselves into the society by not just hunting. I can guarantee you that this kingdom is far more advanced than Astraea."
"Elijah… Remember when you told me that you could do anything you wanted to do?"
"Hahaha. Niko, sometimes there are just too many cards stacked against you that it seems pointless. We were lucky to survive, and it turns out we may have been thrown into this mess to fix the problems the gods caused…"
"What is wrong with you?! Just moments ago I saw you smiling as wide as possible! And now you have returned to this good for nothing child who doesn't want anything to do with this world. We can do anything we want Elijah!"
Elijah laid down on the cold and wet stone. "I'm sorry for acting like this, Niko. To tell you the truth, in my past life I was a radiant light of confidence and hope. A beacon that people looked up to for not just their health, but also the state of their mind. I always told myself to accomplish anything notable, I had to become delusional of my own reality. In the end, I suppose I became crazy enough to turn enough heads, which resulted in my success." Elijah paused…. "But now, I'm a completely different person. I don't even remember most of my past life, and I feel like I am forgetting it with every fleeting second. To top it off, All of my friends I made in this new world are going to die. Novius, Alexia, Theon, Raylen, and even Emery. Everything new I am creating is being destroyed for reasons that I cannot stop… So I'm sorry for acting like a depressed bloodshed addict…"