Episode 5

*pant pant

Running for a very long time, she stopped to catch her breath. Despite the unbearable pain, she forcefully tucked her remaining wing beforehand. Completely merged onto her back while the side where her other wing used to be, all that was left was a wound with her bone exposed.

'I know this place like the back of my hand nevertheless she does too. I can't turn back, those masked figures were too many. I can't make sense what their power was with all those mask and cloak covering them. For sure there's no one with keen hearing, fast speed, foresight nor great strength or else my escape wouldn't succeed at all. I should be wary of the guy with Dina, he's the most dangerous one'

"Ah! No!" quietly exclaimed Freya when she accidentally tripped on one of the roots covering the ground. Luckily she was able to grab a hold on a tree. She fell too many times already while escaping, suffered small cuts on her knees.

'If turning back wasn't an option then I must go beyond here. Go to a place we never ventured before. I don't know what's in it but its better than getting caught' were Freya's thoughts as she fled desperately into the woods.

'If I remember correctly, there's a wolf amidst them. Damn! They're tracking me. Think Freya, think! With how sharp the wolf's senses is, my scent was a huge giveaway. He can practically smell me from a mile away with all this blood. At least I don't need to worry if someone can fly on their side, with all this foliage obstructing the view from above'

'Shoot! I forgot to erase my tracks! I'll find somewhere to hide first. Quickly, I need to do something, I'm losing too much blood. The river!'

She closed her eyes, entirely focusing on hearing any sound that may indicate the movement of water. When she finally pinpointed the direction. She then turned her back towards it and carefully walked backwards to confuse her pursuers who's studying her tracks. Along the way she picked up small rocks, smeared her blood on it then threw it as far away with varying distances and as quietly as she can.

'Here!' Freya washed herself promptly. Her blood and scent got carried along the current of the river.

'I almost forgot I had those in my belt' she removed her belt and turned it upside down. Hidden on the other side was a very hard to notice small zipper then she pulled something from it. A 0.1ml syringe, so small that it's length was comparable to a person's thumb and it's width was half the sized of a writing pen. Inside was a green liquid.

[Author: what the syringe looks like in reality. https://www.flickr.com/photos/fatcatanna/5616603948/in/album-72157626371959807/]

'The potion's not that effective without mana. The bleeding stopped but the wounds weren't closing. Why didn't Master Gene invent a mana potion?! Why does everything need mana to work? Damn it!' complained Freya after she administered two shots. She then searched around the river for an inconspicuous spot with the right amount of wetness in the mud. She smeared mud all over her body not even sparing her face and hair.

'Hmmm... The wind's blowing from this side. I'll try another method' were Freya's thoughts as she held her index finger wet with mud and waited for it to dry. Determining the direction of the wind by observing which side of her index fingers feels the coolest and dried first. To double check, she picked up dried leaves and threw it upwards. She then watched the directions of the falling leaves.

'The wind is very important. I can't have myself fleeing in the direction against the wind. The wind will just spread and bring my scent towards my pursuers. In the end I'll get caught faster. So by moving along the wind, it will erase my tracks further and carry my scent away from the trackers. Looks like even without activating my power, it's still useful' lamented Freya.

Following the wind, she crossed over the river. Carefully stepping on the stones to not leave any tracks. Before leaving, she made sure to create false tracks in 3 different directions to mislead her pursuers again. After crossing, she speedily and cautiously treaded on a path where there's more rocks so that there won't be any foot print.

Standing at crossroads, once again chose her next course of action.

'To be or not to be? Oh fuck it!' reasoned Freya then she dashed. Facing a rocky steep downhill slope, she chose to ran downwards.

'Shit! That almost got me! I read this before. The books said that I must maintain my balance. Don't lean forward too much or you'll stumble forward and don't lean backwards too much or you'll slip then roll down. Running downwards, I should step using my heel to carefully receive the force. I mustn't fight the force of gravity but rather go along with it. That's what the book said. Master Gene will definitely be proud, I thought those books he forced me to read was useless'

After making her swift descent, she continued to follow the wind.

'I've reached the point of no return. Sigh'

Before her very eyes, lies a breathtaking panorama of trees. A beautiful horizon where the sky meet the sea of trees. Lowering her line of sight, she was yet again had to make a decision. Wait here to die or continue to move forward. Her answer,

'Guess I'll bite the bullet' she walked towards the edge of the cliff. Looked down and studied where her foot holds shall be as she make her descent.

She slowly hoisted herself down. Although she has no prior experience just like how she ran downhill, she had read rock climbing before. It's one of the many books that Master Gene forced upon Freya. He said that it is one of the essential skills in gathering ingredients in creating concoctions because some rare herbs thrived in the most dangerous places. In short, he's old and she as the his only disciple must do the labor.

Focusing her whole attention, she was attentive in all details. Carefully calculating every move. Perfectly replicating the instructions. Halfway down, the rock she grabbed a hold of unexpectedly broke off. Her body suspended in the air. Trying her best not to let go. After a while she managed to overcome it. Trying a few more movements, she's confident that she can climb down much faster. Finally landing on solid ground, she felt her whole body sore. She examined her hands and found it to be full of cuts. Her fingers along with the palms were all chapped, some skin broke, and her nails were cracked.

Glancing at the sky Freya said, "The Gala must be starting now"

Numb to the pain, she braced herself and hastily sprinted towards the forest. No longer minding of leaving foot prints since the ground was solid enough not to have depression.

When she felt her lungs burning and can't run anymore, she stopped and looked for a place to hide. Considering the time it took and all her struggles to get here, now she's very far away from the pursuers. Finally taking a breather, she walked around collecting fallen branches with leaves still attached on it. Taking advantage of the dried mud all over her body, she sat down behind a rock, curled her legs and covered herself with all the braches. with leaves that she collected. Perfectly camouflaged to her surroundings. Utterly exhausted she then carefully felt around for mana.

'Finally! The Mana Obliterate subsided just for a bit'

She meditated for a long while collecting mana. Recovering a very negligible small amount of mana. Scarce but enough for her to take something from her spatial storage and use it. Without wasting any second. She summoned a magic scroll from her storage and poured everything she got in it. A magic scroll created solely for her. A scroll that will alert all of the people she knows, of her distress call. An SOS Magic Scroll, one of her reward given in advance for her award in tonight's Heroes Gala. A reward that no one hopes to use at all in their life time.

Seeing the lines of the magic circle lit up one by one, she felt her blood boil. At last she'll be free. And right when the magic circle was fully powered, it sent the distressed signal only to be answered back by a loud sound of shattering bells. When she peeked at the sky she notice a dome like light appeared almost at the same time that the signal was sent. There she saw it deflected by the dome only to bounce back. Then the magic scroll, teardown at the middle by itself.

**

"Whoopsies! I found you! Hehe. Damn she made it that far by herself. Just a few steps away from the boundary and she'll be free" said 4TH gleefully.

"What boundary 4TH?" inquired Dina.

"I've set up a precaution beforehand, just to be sure. I didn't know if it's going to be used at all. Good thinking me! She was able to send a distress signal. Don't worry 6TH I took care of it. You, you, you, you and you. She's at the boundary. Fly over there this instant. Drag her back here!" commanded 4TH.

**

Above her, she saw silhouettes of the masked figures appearing one by one in the air, looking down at her. Their haunting black cloaks flapping in the sky as if to blend to it's darkness.

Now she knows what true despair feels like.