Just as she approached to finish Umbra off, a rush of adrenaline kicked in. Umbra's darkened with a black mist as he materialized into one, promptly reappearing behind the assassin and driving his palms forward to bring forth the shadows into a tangible force, knocking all seven of them back. Before the dust settled, he took this chance to flee, knowing that his powers were exhausted due to the tournament. Umbra knows he doesn't have much left in him.
Over the wall, over the fences, and through the woods near his home, Umbra ran as fast as he could into Estralyn's enormous Forest of Zanara. Despite his fastest, however, he could still see the dark silhouettes catching up to him in the corners of his eyes.
"Argh! Get him!" An assassin shouted.
"Don't let him get away!" the dual-wielding assassin commanded back amidst the chase.
Umbra ducked under tree branches and hopped over between gaps, using his powers over the dark to give him as much of an advantage as it could give him, even in this deprived state. He could be seen briefly turning into a black mist to skip a small distance, and even summoning forth shadowy tendrils to bring down trees to create obstacles for the assassins. But no matter what he did, they always seemed to be able to catch up to him. Arrows and bolts fly past him, some of them barely missing him. An assassin wielding a chain bullwhip with a blade at the end of it was the first of the seven to get a clear attack on him.
The assassin spun the chain around as he jumped midair, hurling it towards Umbra to hook it onto him. The chains wrapped around his neck so tightly, and while he was successful, Umbra fell to the ground but was quick to throw a ball of mist at the assassin's face, covering his vision and suffocating him. He struggled to break free from the chain's grasp before continuing to run again, hearing the effects of his powers choking the assassin he left behind.
What felt like mere moments turned into much more than that, as Umbra had no idea how far he'd been running, or for how long. All he knew was that he had to keep going - that he couldn't stop since his life was on the line. The moon was shining bright overhead, indicating that the curfew hours were in effect, but that was the last thing on Umbra's mind at the moment. He ran as far as he could, crossing small rivers and tiring his legs out until they couldn't move anymore, or until his breath gave out. Whichever one came first.
Just around the bend of a hill in the dense forest, Umbra's foot fell onto what felt like an old, ancient trapdoor covered with moss, dirt, and grass. He felt his weight sink entirely into it, breaking and splintering the trapdoor into various pieces as he fell toward an unknown chamber. Landing on dusty stone, he took a moment to catch his breath before getting back up. In pain and exhausted, he looked around where he ended up. The hallway that he was standing in was made of stone as it looked like this place was carved out from a mountain itself. The symbols and hieroglyphics present on the hallway walls were from a language that Umbra hadn't even heard of before, and the thick, humid air inside this place indicated that it was beyond ancient. The place was dimly lit with glowing crystals and rocks and candles that seemed to never melt. At the very end of the hallway, a door made of stone laid still, while behind him were stairs going up to a locked gate.
"What the…. What is this place?" Umbra wondered out loud, the threat of the assassins seemingly gone for now.
Perhaps it was his voice that was the cataclysm, but the place that he was in suddenly exhibited a shift in nature. Something woke up, causing the walls and ground to rumble, knocking off the dirt from the ceiling down to the floor. It was only now that Umbra noticed the old skeletal remains littering the hallway, and blood stains painting the stone a burgundy brown. He quickened his pace as his heart started to race again, running towards the door at the end of the hall. Pushing the heavy door forward, the room before him explored an expansive library filled with dusty old bookshelves that were as tall as the high ceiling in here. Ancient books littered the shelves, as Umbra looked around the place in search of a way to bring in more light.