Escape through the Forest

My heart pounded like a war drum as I made my way through the doors leaving Deadbeat behind. If its not one thing its the other, I barely escaped "The Seven" only to have the Man-child chasing me and now the situation has turned worse with Deadbeat now pursuing both of us.

These doors seem to work differently from those other room doors. They were a lot larger and actually gave off magical energy. Running from door to door in that place gave me the impression that they were never ending but as soon as I exited into the demension, I could tell that these doors were not the same.

I clutched at my chest as my breath came in ragged gasps. Behind me, Deadbeat and in front the Man-child. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"We can't stop here, it won't take long for the door to recharge and he'll be after us again".

"Why should I continue to follow you, hes gone now, so its best we split up and go our separate ways".

"ARE YOU STUPID??" he said angrily, the vein pulsing in his arms as he clenched them tight. He looked as if he was about to blow his lid. " Do you think that man is not capable of capturing you and then coming back for me. We barely stand a chance fighting him together but its a better chance than fighting him alone".

"That maybe so, but I dont trust you, you were the one who got me in this mess in the first place" I said and he scoffed. "Whats going to happen after we get rid of him, are you planning to let me go?".

"Thats a bridge we will have to cross if we get to it".

"Exactly, yuh cah tell d difference between what you shud do verse what yuh want to do".

"Follow me until we figure it out, if that door charges and we are standing here when he gets through, its all over for the both of us.

I thought about it for a second and decided that maybe going with the man-child was the best option right now, atleast until Deadbeat is completely off our backs. I will have to think of a way of escaping the man-child once we get to that point.

We started to walk, trying to regain as much of our stamina as we are able to before the chase continued. The man-child didnt show much signs of fatigue, could be more results of his training, but it was hitting me in waves. Moments passed where it took all I had to keep what was in my stomach, where it was.

"Do you know where you are going?" I asked, feeling on the verge of death. Pushing the question through my lips.

"Not exactly, we are currently in the day realm. This is technically my first time here".

"What! But i thought guards patrolled the realms all the time".

" I am not your average guard... I mean I wasnt your average guard".

I was about to question further but remembering what happened and how i was tied to him basically loosing his job, i decided against it. " How are we going to find our way around?".

"If we had one of the guards maps this would be so much easier" he said sounding a little frustrated.

We continued walking some more. Where we were, looked to be like the country side, and in the distance you could see a large city. We passed a few modest dwelling but they were all empty.

As we continue to trug on, the words "A map" continued to ping in my mind.... "Oh wait, you mean this?".

"Jesuz! Yes this is it, Where did you get one?".

"I found it while wondering around, im glad i held onto it".

"They give these to new recruits to help them navigate the realms on patrols". He said excitedly. "With this we will be able to navigate our ways between the doors. If we can find any of the other two doors we should be able to go back to the collosium and find someone to help.

"Who is going to help us, as soon as they see me they are going to realise i am not dead".

"Your face is covered, im sure that will buy us enough time to explain".

"That didnt stop you from recognizing me instantly, but what i am afraid of is not them recognizing my face but my magic. It strange but i can tell that everyone magic, faint or not gives off its own specific kind of energy".

"Is that so, and what is mine giving off".

" I can tell your attribute is fire, it feels warm and fluid at the same time. I can also tell that it blazes bright, that it is dependable and strong, stronger than all the guards i've met so far.

"Is that true?" He said brightly.

"No!" I said bursting into laughter.

"You!... " he grunted " So you cant sense peoples magic".

"I can but thats pretty much it, i cant tell all those other things. The attribute is shown by colour. It engulfs you like an aura".

"Okay, thats another bridge we will have to cross when we get there. Open up your map and let it guide us to the other two doors".

"I open up the map, and the realm appeared showing us where we were and where we needed to go".

"The Day Realm".

"Couldnt the Seven have came up with better name for these realms" i murmered.

"I was told that they were not the ones to develop the doors, they just know how it works and given control over it".

"Who in their right mind would give such fasinating and magic doors such lame names".

"Thats the least of our converns now, lets focus on getting out of here".

"Okay lets follow the map and get going".

We found our way to the door and the magic surged. The man-child opened the door and we stepped through finding ourselves back in the colloseum.

Panic flooded my mind and out of sheer desperation and with a cry of defiance, I acted quickly and summoned the last reserves of his strength and sent a fireball flying toward Deadbeat. He stopped suddenly and braced for impact. The fireball connected but it didn't do much damage, it was only good enough to increase the distance between us. I quickly opened a doot near by and pushed the man-child through, diving in seconds later into the unknown and closing it behind me.

"Oh shit!, that was scary".

"How did he know that we would come back to the colleseum".

"The doors are connected to one of three places. The Colloseum, The Chambers and the Lobby" he said as he pulled me along.

"Stop for a second, I need to catch my breath".

"Come on, we still have a long way to go".

"We can't keep running like this, he is bound to catch us or at least me," I said through raspy breaths.

"We are currently on the fourth floor, this is the "Night Room". The door you opened sent us to the one on the outskirts of the city".

We stood at the edge of a cliff and he pointed out into the distance.

"Over there is the Night City, I dont know the official name but as you can see its very far away".

.

" If we go there and Deadbeat is waiting for us or he decides to chase us there, that is going to cause a commotion and guards will definitely show up and we both lose".

"We need fo come up with a plan though to get rid of him or to at least throw him off the trail".

I looked behind me as the door powered down. I didn't notice before but as the light slowly faded I saw weird writing around it. Weird letters like what I've seen when I decide to cast magic. It was fascinating, I said to myself as I slid my finger over the carving into the wall that housed the door, across the air.

"Are there no lights in the Night room?".

"There are no houses and other buildings out this far. This door is on the outskirts and is about a hundred miles away".

"How do you know that, I thought yoi didnt visit the realms?".

He glared at me and the silence stretched on " This is the only one ive ever been to. Never the city but the forest. I would come here on a bad day and just sit and listen to the forest and look up at the stars.

I looked up at the sky and my mouth fell open. There were so many stars in the sky, A mixture of colors stretched across space. Ribbons of lights danced across the sky but yet they didn't illuminate the area.

"Why is the place so dark if there are so many stars in the sky".

"Because they are fake, This is a pocket dimension and those are an illusion.. Apart from the trees, the grass, the buzz, the flowers, and the buildings, nothing else is real. You can't travel out into space. I know you humans love to do that".

"Oh wow," is all i could say.

"Come with me" and he grabbed my hand forcefully and tugged me forward. " Follow me" was all he said.

We didn't walk far, just down the cliff and deeper into the forest, beyond the door.

"How can you see so well in this darkness".

"The sight, can't you?".

"Obviously not, I thought you knew that and why you were dragging me along".

"No, I didn't, I just didn't want to constantly hear you ask where are we going, or you get lost and I have to waste time looking for you".

"Well show me how to see in the dark".

"It's not needed now, just sit here and catch your breath and stay still".

"If we are lucky, Deadbeat will see we are not near any doors and leave".

I was about to argue but decided against it. Right now we are on the same side and I need to keep the peace as best as I can, at least until Deadbeat is off our backs. Right now I'll focus on regaining my strength and stamina. As the final glow of the door faded away and the area became pitch black, I could hear the creatures of the night come alive.

The air was thick with the scent of pine and damp earth. Fireflies took flight buzzing around and illuminating their path. There were so many that I could make out a little of where I was. Craved out of a bush was a little hideaway. A bench made out of fallen limbs off the trees and the ground covered in soft grass. But there was no time to savor his newfound freedom.

I laid back on the grass to catch my breath and it was then that the toll caught up with my body. I have been casting spells all day and that last one took a toll on me.

"If this is the only door out here, then does that mean we would have to go into the town to the next door where Deadbeat is probably waiting on us?".

"No, ... We will use this door again".

"If it's that simple, why have we been running. Wouldn't it be simplier to just go through a door and once we got through. We use that same door again and again until we are at the last one".

"It doesn't work like that" We would have to travel back to the colleseum and pick the door we want which is the lobby but as you can see deadbeat is guarding the door in the colleseum. 

"Tell me how it works".

"Well, with Deadbeat chasing us, we couldn't well just turn back and go through the door we came and I know that looks like a possibility now but once the door is used, it takes a few minutes before it's charged to be used again. That's why there are so many. Usually, they are used to move large amounts of people from one area to the next.

Each dimension houses specific creatures and you rarely find that people travel between dimensions apart from the guards and merchants. If we attempt to take the door to the Chamber or Lobby, There is no telling what or who we might run into.

"Wait, What!" I said in shock. "I've been to the Offices" i said touching my pocket. "That's how I got...." I stopped talking immediately.

"What... What do you have in your pocket?".

"He grabbed at me and I moved away from him quickly but the quick motion caused me to feel dizzy. He grabbed me and rifled through my pocket and pulled out the box.

"Once a thief, always a thief".

"I'm not a thief, technically it belongs to me".

"How'd you figure that?".

"I.. I...I answered the riddle left to guard the ring correctly. It's bonded to me and it has been calling to me from the moment it left my possession" I finished confidently...

"I'll just hold onto this, it could be worth more than me trying to carry you back".

"Is that so" A chilling voice said in the night. " Is that one more thing I can use to force that "Better than thou" thinking Marcus into fighting me once and for all?. You kids are just my good luck charms today". He said laughing to himself.

"I thought you said that the next door was a hundred miles away" I whispered.

"It is, I don't know how he reached here so quickly". The man - child said looking a little nervous.

"You're pretty clever kid, but it wasn't hard to find you", 

"Shit"...

"Now this brings back memories, I haven't been here in ages", He saidin a slight reminicing tone but it got dark quickly after. "Now get out here before I come in there and pull you out myself".

"What are we going to do" I said as my mind raced. I couldn't continue like this, I didn't have the strength to move. He was going to catch us and it would be all my fault. Stamina, I need stamina.

Deadbeat took a step and I shuffled back and our hands touched. Something strange happened. I slowly started to feel better but as soon as he moved his hand, the feeling went away.

Give me your hand, I grabbed his hand and held on with both of mine.

"Let go, now is not the time to turn into a battyman".

"Shut up, let me see what happens".

I could feel my stamina increasing. For some strange reason, I could feel myself getting better.

"Stop that, my strength is slowly fading".

"Is that what's happening, I am pulling from your pool of stamina".

"Wha did I say, once a thief, always a thief ".

I closed my eyes and focused all the energy I gathered on the images of myself and Perruit trying to block his words from my mind. I have done this spell many times so far and even though I might not know what the words mean I could picture them clearly in my mind but something was off. Another symbol appeared and I saw two figures that looked exactly like us down to the clothes that we wore. I pulled Peruitt into the corner and when Deadbeat fell through the top, landing behind our images, They took off.

He reached for them but they were too fast. The image of me raised his hand as if he was going to cast magic but nothing happened so instead they ran towards the direction of the town. I summoned fire in the palms of my hand and set the entire forest ablaze.

"Why did you do that?".

"To slow him down, I am preventing him from picking up our actual scent, and also if we are lucky, someone will see the fire and call for the guards and hopefully someone will stop him".

"Okay and what were those things".

"Honestly I do not know".

"What you mean, yuh no know".

"I do not know, I wanted to create clones of us but those weren't clones, those almost didn't feel real".

"We're clones how you escape your execution".

"You're asking a lot of questions for a guy so broadish".

With a silent command, I urged my clones to run faster, as they raced toward the edge of the forest. But the demon was gaining ground with every passing moment, its monstrous form looming ever closer.

"Come on let's go, this is our only chance to leave".

"Where are we going?".

"We are sticking to the plan and leaving this place. I don't know how long they will be able to fool him".

"We should be able to head to one of the seven, preferably the Rolling calf. This has gotten a lot bigger than the both of us can handle".

"I don't plan to go down without a fight, all I need is my ring and to find out what im capable of".

"Are you crazy, if I couldn't beat him, then surely you can't".

Let's compromise, Let go to one of the Sevens.

"Yess".

"But not the Rolling Calf, Let's find Papa Bois".

"Why him?".

"Let's just say I have a hunch that he would be more willing to help. Plus by using the aid of Papa Bois and not the Rolling Calf , you would have Me, The Ring and Deadbeat, to show that you deserve your job back" I said to him, but truthfully I had no intention of sticking around. Deadbeat should be enough to prove to his father that he is a warrior.

" That could work," he said reluctantly.

We turned and walked towards the door at the top of the hill. The fire illuminated the way ahead.