I run as fast as I can, I know those guards won't be stunned for long. I rush into the forest, even though I know it could be dangerous, but this is not the time to think about these things.
"Darion, are you sure you're entering the forest? Many beasts are on the alert at this hour, especially the noterozo." Jusy, who is currently carried princess style and wrapping my arms around her neck, warns me that's not exactly a great idea.
"I know, but if we follow the path sooner or later they will reach us, instead if we cross the wood we could lose them." These soldiers are far beyond my power, and surely they will be faster than me, but with the forest... we might have a chance.
"Okay, I trust you." She brings her head under my neck, leaning against me.
"Thank you for the trust." It's nice to know that someone trusts you.
"Here they are, they are not far away, let's increase the speed." I hear the cries of the guards, they are very close, I can't waste time. I increase my speed and enter the forest. I avoid all the roots on the ground and various other obstacles, while I perceive presences around us, the beasts that inhabit this forest already know of our arrival... but they also know of the arrival of the guards.
"Surely they know entering the forest at this hour will be dangerous, but I'm sure their earl scares them more." I hope everything goes according to plan, at least I hope so.
I go deeper and deeper into the forest, hoping to get as much attention as possible, and from what I hear around me, it's working.
I run more and more, until I reach a clearing in the middle of the forest, the same clearing where Jusy has unleashed her power as a priestess. I hear the foliage moving, it's the footsteps of armored feet.
"You've finally stopped running, brat! Give us that girl, and maybe we'll give you a painless death." The guard who comes out first starts talking as she slowly walks towards us.
"If I were you I wouldn't be so sure, can't you see where we are?" I warn the guard that he is closing in, trying to play for time.
"Enough of this idle chatter, boy, I know exactly where we are, at your grave." The remaining soldiers end up joining us in this clearing. "Come on, be good, and give us the girl." The first soldier doesn't stop wanting to listen to me.
"Apparently you're poorly informed, but luckily for you, I'm here to enlighten you." I back away slowly, making him think I have no more escape options, which I do, but doing so will cause him to let his guard down further.
"Hey, wait! I feel presences around us, be careful!" One of his companions warns him, but this does not change the bravado of the soldier who is approaching us.
"Shut up! We can't let these kids get away from us again or we won't have our heads attached to our bodies anymore." He takes a quick look at his mate, then continues to approach us.
"As I was about to say earlier, this clearing is right next to the territory of the trigrelos who inhabit this forest, and apparently they have an alpha that only hunts at night... and guess what time of day it is?" I smile as I speak, startling the soldier who is walking towards us, pinning him in place.
"W-what did you say?!" He just says these words…
"AHHHHHHRRRGG!" A scream comes from behind him, he turns around and what he saw shocked him.
A tigrelos twice the size of a normal one, it has trapped a soldier in its jaws, crushing him between its fangs.
"HELP-BRLGHH" The soldier tries to call for help, but it's all in vain, as his body becomes a paste of flesh and bone inside the tigrelos's jaw.
'That's the alpha...he has the same degree of power as these soldiers, but a notorozo has been known to be stronger than a human, especially if we're in his territory with someone of his kind in tow.' I see five tigrelos coming out from behind the soldiers, starting a fight against them. 'The soldier is distracted, it's time.' I start again to circulate the astra on my legs and quickly run away from this clearing.
"HEY! Damn boy-" That guard tries to follow me but a tigrelos attacks him, allowing me to escape, involuntarily.
In all of this Jusy is silent, he limits himself to observing what happens, he rightly trusts me and does not oppose any of my decisions.
"Jusy, we'll get out of this alive, don't worry." I continue to reassure the girl in my arms. She nods, hugging me even tighter.
'I think we've come quite far from the clearing, but I can't afford to slow down, we're still in the middle of the forest.' I start to sweat, this adrenaline is spreading throughout my body.
I am lost in thought, as suddenly a shadow runs past me, stopping in front of me. 'No... why is he here?' That shadow is the alpha from before, I thought the soldiers would hold him off more.
'A already killed those soldiers? It seems strange to me...' Even Jusy notices the huge tigrelos that observes us with a chilling growl, it begins to tremble in my arms.
"Jusy, stay calm, we can only have hope if we coordinate." I whisper to Jusy, I slowly support her on the ground, trying not to make sudden movements. But the alpha is not kind enough to offer us time, she jumps on us.
"Jusy! NOW!" I yell at Jusy to use that skill, Jusy slams the staff on the ground, it radiates a strong light again, hitting the alpha's eyes, he stops, rubs his eyes, tries to reopen them. I take advantage of it and throw myself towards him, holding the sword I bought a few days ago. I slide the astra over the blade of the sword, strengthening it.
I approach the alpha and I swing my sword, thinking of cutting him but it didn't happen... the alpha gives yet another proof that he is not a simple tigrelos, he is using both hearing and instinct, dodge my I cut quickly.
But I don't lose hope and continue to cleave and lunge with my sword, but the alpha dodges everything I send against it. 'The difference of 14 degrees of power is felt.' The alpha starts opening his eyes again, he's tired of being attacked, he reacts.
He throws a powerful claw at me, but I manage to parry it with my sword, but that doesn't change the fact that I took an attack from a 20th rank noterozo and was thrown a few meters away from the alpha.
I get up quickly, but I'm not fast enough, the alpha appears next to me, he is with his tail, he gives a whip.
"BLURG!" A mouthful of blood comes out of my mouth and I'm thrown away again by the tigrelos. I was thrown a little further and felt my bones and organs shatter. 'Shit! This hurt.' I try to get up, but it's all in vain, but I don't panic because I see Jusy who is on her knees and concentrates her forces on me.
A pillar of light surrounds me, partially healing my wounds, just enough to cheer me up. 'Great assist, Jusy.' I smile at her from afar, but I know the situation isn't the best.
I look into the alpha's eyes and my brain starts thinking of various tactics I can implement to resolve this situation.