Momo turned out to be a lot lighter than Arthur predicted. The small girl didn't look physically toned at first sight. Anyone could take for a noble's only daughter who'd lived a sheltered life.
However, when Arthur started running alongside his small team of friends, he quickly changed his perspective. The girl's hands gripped his chest firmly.
It was just enough grip force to keep her glued to him and not hinder his oxygen supply, 'I'm just glad I healed quite a bit in the night.'
Arthur was relieved, reminding himself to thank Darius later.
Another bone-chilling roar shook the forest spurring them to run even faster. As they ran, Arthur strained his ears, trying to discern the optimum direction they were meant to be running in and directing his friends to do the same.
The prince aimed at running away while at the same time, getting out of the path of the Behemoth.
Running forever was not the ideal situation.
For a while, this was all they did. Jogging through the forest and getting even further from the horrifying thrum of gigantic footfalls.
"Hey, Darius. Do you think we can outrun that beast again?" Leo asked the double-lance-wielding Warlock.
"I'm not sure. I am not sure how we survived yesterday either," Darius sighed, "Perhaps it didn't notice us then… and won't notice us now. Who am I kidding? If that thing is still alive, then I'm guessing it will find us eventually."
Leo steeled his expression and kept up the pace. Deep down, they all knew there was some truth to what Darius had said. And if they ever came to face the Behemoth, did they stand a chance? Or would they just die?
The brewing dark thoughts were stopped by a new sound interrupting the rhythm. Mixed with the slow drumming sound of footfalls were several vibrations.
Arthur beckoned for his friends to stop running. With Leo's help, he set Momo down and crouched low to the ground, observing the pebbles, twigs and dried leaves that littered the ground.
Everything was trembling with short frequent vibrations that were occasionally interrupted by the powerful shock from the Behemoth's footsteps.
Arthur strained his senses… his awareness expanding. His eyes widened and blood ran cold when he picked up on the source of the noise.
"Everyone get cover," he told his friends, facing the direction they'd come.
"What's the…" Leo was cut short abruptly. Darius grabbed him by the collar and slammed his back behind a tree, hiding behind the same tree as well.
At the same time, Arthur quickly and carefully lifted Momo, placing his back against another tree in a similar direction… the ground trembled even harder now, making standing a chore in and of itself.
Just as the two groups moved into cover, a large pitch-black panther shot past them vanishing under the cover of the trees as fast as it had come…
…without sparing them a glance.
There was silence for a while with Leo breathing from the shock. Two more panthers sprinted past them from different sides in a similar manner.
However, the third one had a human seated on its back, holding firmly to its fur. On the boy's back, a heavy axe was slung across it, runes covering its thick handle.
'How does anyone carry that thing?'
As the panther passed them, Arthur locked eyes with the boy's cold gaze if only for a brief moment before the panther vanished from sight.
Perhaps it was the boy's gaze or the manner with which the dark creatures darted past them that gave Arthur the idea.
Either way, Arthur quickly came to the conclusion that for as long as they stayed still, they were more vulnerable than newborns.
"Momo, get on my back. We have to run," Arthur's voice took on a hint of seriousness that had them all on edge and kept them from questioning him.
This time, however, they ran faster with Arthur setting the pace.
As they ran, they crossed paths with other beasts that were running away from the creature. None of them seemed interested in killing the students anymore.
When faced with a great enemy, self-preservation took precedence. Some of the dark beasts were fast enough to pass by them while others were too slow or exhausted and fell back.
Arthur even saw a few goblins and felt the urge to wave fondly at the feral green scoundrels… but his hands were preoccupied with holding Momo safely on his back.
The creatures that fell behind were never heard of again and those that forged on ahead didn't care for the potential prey running along with them.
At some point, the four first years even locked eyes with a demon bear but the creature was too worried for its life to spare them a second glance.
It simply rushed off in another direction, trying, like everything else, to get away from the fearsome Behemoth.
Arthur was now getting curious to know what this behemoth was like. How big was it up close?
While the idea of seeing the Fire Behemoth and perhaps feeling the intensity of the heat its flame core gave off amused him for a bit, he had no intention of fighting the monster whatsoever.
Someone like him had no business fighting a creature that powerful in the first place.
As they ran on and on, time and distance became a trivial concept. Who knew how long they'd been running?
Their lungs began to burn and their pace suffered considerably, Leo and Darius more than Arthur.
Darius was the first to run out of breath. The pale shorthaired Warlock slowed his pace as he struggled to catch his breath.
Leo was not in as bad shape as the tall scrawny Warlock but in far worse shape than Arthur.
Naturally, Arthur and Leo slowed down to keep from leaving their comrade behind.
Arthur could only think of one reason for their short endurance.
'Using those R-Tech weapons really does a number on their stamina.'
The prince slowed down to match their pace, "Guys, we have to keep pushing forward."
"For how long, Arthur? We don't even know where we are going," Darius scowled, finally stopping and leaning against a tree.
By now, there weren't any monsters around them. Some had either run forward while others had fallen back or changed direction entirely.
The ground trembled with the sound of the Behemoth's fearsome steps.
"Yes, we know where we are going. Away from that thing," the prince responded confidently.
The sound of footsteps had not gotten any less… if anything, the Behemoth sounded much closer now.
"The Behemoth could be programmed to attack students. What then? What if we keep running and it just keeps coming after us?"
Darius made a valid point.
"Then we keep running Darius. We run until there is nothing left in our bones. This is not where this ends. Not even close…
If we stop running, then it's over…
But if we keep running, then we stand to fight a little longer. I didn't come all this way to fail and neither did you. Now, get up and let's go," Arthur finalised his speech with a firm expression.
Darius sighed heavily before pushing off the tree and standing upright, "Alright then. I'll follow your lead."
'Follow my lead?'
When the next bloodcurdling roar came again, it was much, much closer to them. Arthur was almost sure the Behemoth could see them.
The ground was starting to tremble rhythmically to the steps of the colossal beast which seemed to be happening faster and more steadily.
To add to the noise of the creature's movement, they heard the sound of trees groaning and breaking under its heavy feet.
That was all the motivation Leo and Darius needed to resume their seemingly endless dash. The three of them continued running through the forest.
Darius and Leo were soon running on adrenaline… their speed fuelled by adrenaline brought by the fear of what was behind them… chasing them.
Over the sound of the chaos, Darius had warned Leo against using the speed enchantment in his weapon as it was bound to drain his stamina even more.
"Arthur… put me down," Momo's soft voice whispered in Arthur's ear. A hot liquid dripped and trickled down the prince's neck. She was crying…
"Not a chance, Momo."
"I'm only slowing you down."
"No, you're not. You do need to eat more though. You're far too light," the prince yelled back over the noise of the wind as they ran.
"I can buy you guys time to escape," she tried again.
"That won't do… If you want to help us, then save your energy for when we all have to face this thing, together… If it comes to that."
In truth, Arthur didn't want to face something like a Fire Behemoth on his 'second' day of school. It wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he was setting off from home the day before.
Another roar tore through the sky and shook the ground. The Behemoth's footsteps began to come more frequently than before, getting louder with each deep thrum they made with the ground.
A harsh hot wind blew from behind them, raising dust and wrestling trees to the ground. Not only were they forced to run for their lives but now they also had to avoid getting clobbered by the wild thrashing trees as well.
The world had gradually descended into chaos. Arthur couldn't exactly describe when it had gotten this bad. All his mind iterated over and over again was:
'Run! Run! Run!'
Trees shattered behind them and the trembling earth got significantly worse, faster and more erratic as though their pursuer were accelerating.
Arthur could almost feel the Behemoth at their backs but he didn't dare to turn his head. He had to keep going…
Just when it seemed like there would be no end to this hell and all was lost, the prince's sensitive eyes picked up on streams of light ahead of them.
There seemed to be light coming from the edge of the forest.
They'd run out of forest to cover…
Was this a good thing? Perhaps it was… Arthur couldn't tell what lay beyond from the brightness but he could think of a thousand ways the other side of the tree line would present a bad thing…
And a thousand ways it could present a good thing. A cliff serving as the edge of a waterbody would definitely be a good thing.
There wasn't much he could do but hope…
The prince braced himself and put all his energy into making it out of the forest. Anything was better than trying to dodge the thrashing trees that, miraculously, hadn't hit him yet.