There was something unnatural about this situation. For the life of her, Kindness couldn’t figure out what. It was probably because of the headache thinking about this gave her, and since it was giving her such a massive headache, she decided not to think about it anymore.
“I suppose now is not the time for us to speak about this matter,” Kindness said. “Since you are already outside of your cells, this should make things simpler. Listen, Queen Alice has determined that Enyo is going to be sentenced to death. You have to escape.”
Her words sobered the trio up. Their expressions became grave, their countenance shifted, the very air around them seemed to become denser. It felt like when a feral animal found themselves trapped by a hunter and was preparing to attack. She supposed she couldn’t blame them.
“I… suppose that is only natural,” Enyo admitted at last. “I did steal the otherworld gate key, and I’m of the Dark Clan. Our kind doesn’t exactly get along with humans.”
“Speaking of the otherworld gate key, why did you steal it?” Kindness asked.
Enyo looked at Jacob, who she seemed to hold a silent conversation with. For whatever reason, Kindness felt mildly uncomfortable as she watched them speak without words. It felt like she was looking into a private conversation between lovers.
“Because I want to send Jacob back to his world,” Enyo said at last. “Not just that, but I would like to start a new life with Jacob in his world.”
Even though her answer had been kind of expected, it still shocked Kindness. Even though she was surprised, it really did make a lot of sense. Why else would someone seek to claim the otherworld gate key if not to travel to another world?
“You do know that there is a chance you won’t be able to go with Jacob,” Kindness said. “It has been a well-documented fact that people from our world cannot travel through the otherworld gate.”
“That may be so,” Jacob started, “but we’re hoping that she’ll be able to travel through it if I am with her.”
“And if she can’t?”
“Then we’ll find another way to reach my world,” Jacob said, his eyes burning with determination. “After everything that’s happened between us, I’m not leaving Enyo behind.”
“Jacob…”
Kindness coughed several times when Enyo placed a hand over Jacob’s. She was not at all comfortable with their intimate display. And speaking of, she wondered what was happening between these two. Were they lovers? How in the goddess’s name had that happened?
“In any case, you three should take this opportunity to leave. Come tomorrow morning, Enyo will be dragged out of this cell and put to death. That is why you should go now.”
“You bring up a good point,” Fellis said, standing up. “We were staying here because we had hope that this situation might turn around at some point, but if we’re not even getting a chance to plead our case, then there isn’t much we can do but leave.”
“What will happen to you?” Enyo asked.
Kindness smiled. Even though she was the one who’s life was in jeopardy, Enyo still worried about her. It was moments like this, more than anything else, that let Kindness know she was making the right choice.
“Do not worry about me,” Kindness said. “I’m not the one with a death sentence on her head.”
To that, all Enyo could say was, “Touché.”
CHAPTER 5
ESCAPE FROM ALYSSIUM
Since they had decided to escape, he, Enyo, and Fellis, followed Kindness as she led them out of the dungeon. They moved swiftly across the courtyard, traveled through the castle, and evaded detection from the guards. As they moved, Jacob couldn’t help but wonder about something.
What will Alice do when she finds the guards still dancing inside of the dungeon?
A thought for another time.
It didn’t take long to reach the castle gates. Fellis had used her Mind Manipulation magic to make the guards forget they were there. Kindness had given her a strange look, but fortunately, she seemed to have realized that Fellis wasn’t the type to just manipulate people on a whim—unless it was for a prank.
Like making guards dance naked on the table.
Since they were already inside of Avant Heim, they needn’t worry about the barrier. Kindness opened the large gate, a massive structure of gleaming silver and gold, and then closed it when Enyo, Fellis, and he exited.
“I’ll be returning to my room now,” Kindness said. “Thank you again for saving me when you did. I hope… I hope you manage to find happiness in this world if you can’t travel to Jacob’s.”
“Thank you very much,” Enyo said. “Stay safe.”
“Come on.” Jacob grabbed Enyo’s hand and gave it a gentle tug. “We’d better get a move on. The sooner we leave the city, the better.”
“Right.”
Jacob took Enyo and Fellis down the steps that would lead into the noble district. He looked behind them. Kindness was no longer there, having likely disappeared back into the castle.
Ever since the three White Council members were murdered, the soldiers stationed in Alyssium had been on constant guard duty. Soldiers patrolled the streets at night in squads of three. Jacob, who knew Alyssium better than Fellis and Enyo did, guided them along the routes that would have the least amount of guards.
The noble district had the largest number of guards. Jacob avoided them by traveling through parks and only straying into streets when there was no other option. Several times, they ran into a patrol, but each time that happened, he and Ellis would subdue two of them while Fellis used her Mind Manipulation to control the first one, and then ensnare the others, making them forget that they ever saw the three of them.
Before long, they had traveled down the large stone steps that led to the Market District.
“How long will it take to reach the gates?” asked Fellis.
“That depends on how many guards we have to evade,” Jacob said. “As a straight shot, it’s only about an hour, but we’re not going straight for the gate. I’d say… maybe two or three hours—five at the most.”
“Then let’s hurry,” Enyo suggested.
Jacob moved swiftly down the road. Up ahead, three guards were patrolling. The fairy lamps were on, providing enough illumination to spot them. They were coming this way. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to have noticed him, Enyo, or Fellis yet. Knowing better than to remain on the road, he darted into an alley, the other two following close behind.
“There’s a side street up ahead,” he told them. “It’ll take us to a place where we can get onto the roofs. We’ll travel along the roofs for a while and get down when we’re closer to the gate.”
“Is it wise to travel the roofs?” asked Fellis. “What about drake patrols?”
Jacob shook his head. “They don’t use drakes for patrol unless they’re actively searching for someone. Right now, everyone is just on guard. We won’t need to worry about drakes.”
Even as he said this, Jacob’s danger sense went out of control as he sensed the air shift above them. Looking up, he barely had a second to shove Fellis and Enyo away before a dark object slammed into him. Stifling his scream of pain, he channeled energy into his arms, legs, and torso as he shoved the object off.
The “thing” was actually a creature. It was similar to an orthos in that it had four legs, a long tail, and bristling fur, but that was where the similarities came to an end. Three vicious muzzles barked at him. Six glowing red eyes gazed at him with an insatiable hunger as if he was their next meal. Drool dripped from its three mouths, falling to the road and sizzling as it melted right through them. It pawed at the ground. Gouges appeared in the road.
“Oh, great,” Jacob muttered. “A Cerberus.”
Cerberus were three-headed dogs that were said to have originally been guardians of the underworld. He didn’t know where that particular legend had come from, but Jacob did know that they were used to guard ancient treasures. He’d fought them on a number of occasions. Mostly, he
found them inside of dungeons and caverns. They were strong, fast, intelligent, and damn near impervious to most attacks.
“Jacob,” Enyo said as she stared at the large creature with eyes that were reminiscent to a rodent that had been trapped by a cat. “What should we do?”
“What do you mean what should we do?” Jacob asked back. “Isn’t that obvious? We run!”
The cerberus howled as it leapt at him. Jacob reinforced himself with Linked Energy Manipulation and slammed a fist into the ground. A giant chunk of road jutted into the air, which the cerberus slammed into face first—well, one of its faces did. The other two snapped at the chunk and crushed it in their jaws.
Not wasting any time, Jacob followed through with a devastating kick that launched the creature into the air.
“Let’s go!” Jacob shouted.
They raced through the alley and burst into the side street that he’d been talking about before they were attacked. Because of the cerberus, Jacob decided not to travel via the roofs. If it found them, it would follow them, and if it followed them… well, he didn’t want to imagine the kind of damage it would do to the roofs.
Loud howling echoed behind them. Jacob would have groaned if he wasn’t so busy running. The unmistakable thudding of paws hitting pavement resounded with a touch of ominousness. If he turned his head, Jacob knew that he’d see the cerberus bounding toward them.
“It’s chasing us!” Enyo shouted.
“I know that!” Jacob yelled back.
“What should we do?” asked Fellis.
Jacob didn’t have long to think about their next move; the cerberus’s howling was getting closer. He came up with a decision that would either work brilliantly or end up with them being worse off than before.
“Follow me!” he commanded.
They vacated the side street with an immediate right turn. The cerberus, which had been moving way too fast for such a quick turn, skidded along the ground and slid right past the alley they’d run into. Jacob didn’t stick around. He knew this move would only give them an extra second or two at most.
He took another turn, left this time, and continued running until the next turn, which he also took. Again and again, he took as many twists and turns as possible. No matter how many turns he took, the cerberus stayed close behind them. He could hear its heavy breathing, its grunts and its growls, and the sound of its feet gouging out chunks of the cobblestone roads. Given that it had an amazing sense of smell, there was no way they could lose it.
It was a good thing that he wasn’t trying to lose it.
“Get ready to scream for help,” Jacob told the two.
“W-what?” Enyo asked.
“Three. Two. One. Scream!”
Despite clearly not understanding why he asked this of them, they screamed anyway, shouting “HEELLLPPP!!!” at the top of their lungs as they burst out of the alley. Two guard patrols who’d been just passing each other on the street stopped. They looked at the three of them, their expressions startled. Those gawking faces soon turned into outright fear as the cerberus suddenly leapt out from the alley. However, even afraid, they were still knights, and their job was to protect the innocent.
They charged at the cerberus and started attacking it. The cerberus howled as it tried to swat the knights out of its way, but even if they weren’t trained to slay monsters, Terrasole’s knights were still excellent fighters. They wove around the cerberus’s giant paws as it swiped at them. Each attack caused it to change targets, but it was being attacked from so many different directions that it couldn’t figure out who to attack first. It didn’t help that all three of its heads wanted to attack a different enemy.
It was the cerberus’s one weakness.
“Let’s hurry up and leave,” Jacob said as he raced down the street.
They were already near the gate. It loomed before them, a massive archway composed of bricks. Guards patrolled the top while several more stood in front of the gargantuan metal gates. Fairy lights situated on the walls illuminated the area, allowing him to see the doorway that led inside of the wall. Jacob knew there would be a lever inside.
“You two take out the guards in front of the gate. I’ll take out the ones inside, open the gate, and then we can make our escape.”
“That is a plan I can get behind,” Fellis said. “You’d better be quick, though. There’s no telling how long those knights can keep that cerberus occupied.”
“I know.”
They split up; Jacob rushed for the door while Enyo and Fellis charged the guards. He heard shouting, which was quickly followed by the clashing of weapons, as he busted the door in and rushed inside.
“What the—who are you?!” a guard shouted. He’d apparently had the misfortune of walking down the hall when Jacob was in a hurry.
Jacob didn’t even bother answering that question. He slammed a reinforced fist into the guard’s chest, breaking the plate armor and sending the knight crashing to the ground. To keep the guard down, he’d also sent a good dose of energy into the man, scrambling his nervous system.
Rushing past the downed guard, Jacob traveled up a set of stairs, down a hall, and entered a large room. The lever was in the room. So was another guard. Jacob didn’t even give the guard time to shout before he rushed forward, jammed his elbow into her throat, and then knocked her upside the head. The guard crumpled to the floor, allowing Jacob to pull the lever.
The wall shook as the sound of metal cranking echoed around him. Jacob raced back outside to find that Enyo and Fellis had already taken care of their guards. Of course, since they hadn’t been subtle, a lot of the guards up top were yelling, and several were already running to get down. Also, and Jacob almost swore when he noticed this, but the cerberus was bounding toward them again, howling like a ravenous beast who’d just spotted its next meal.
It seems the knights couldn’t keep it occupied for long. Damn.
“I think we’ve overstayed our welcome,” Enyo said.
“Then let’s get going,” Jacob responded.
With the cerberus still chasing them, the guards shouting, and their hearts pounding in their chests, Enyo, Jacob, and Fellis left Alyssium behind.
***
Alyssium was a gorgeous place, not just its city, which was renowned for its cleanliness and beautiful gardens. The surrounding forests that covered the area around Alyssium was just as gorgeous. Thick trees held a vibrant glow as the morning sun struck them, soft grass glistened with morning dew, and the sound of songbirds singing their tune would have normally made all who heard it feel at peace.
Except normally there wasn’t a large dog with three heads chasing people through the forest.
Jacob didn’t know how far they’d run. It wasn’t like he’d been keeping track of their pace, but they had to have been at least several kilometers from Alyssium by now. He felt like they’d been running for hours, and while that was fine with him, Enyo and Fellis looked ready drop.
“We’re making our stand here,” Jacob announced.
“What?” Enyo gasped. Even exhausted and making nasally rasps as she ran, she still had it in her to look at him with a wide-eyed expression. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I’m not kidding you. We can’t outrun this cerberus forever. We have to face it now before we run out of energy.”
“Ugh.” Fellis grimaced. “I think I ran out of that several hours ago.”
“Whatever. Look, if you two could each keep one of its heads occupied, I can take care of the rest.”
Behind them, the cerberus howled as it slammed into and smashed apart several trees. Fellis, who’d looked back and saw the dog’s steaming slobber eat through wood and rock alike, grimaced, and looked back at him.
“You’re asking for a mighty tall order.”
“It’s either that or we all die,” Jacob said.
Another grimace. “Point taken.”
“I’ll take… the left…” Enyo rasped, pulling out a pair of daggers she must have stol
en from a guard.
“Then… I guess I’ve got right.”
Enyo and Fellis stopped running and turned around. The cerberus was literally right behind them. Enyo muttered under her breath and sent a white orb of light at it. The orb struck its left head, igniting like an exploding star.
Cerberus were magically resistant. Magical resistance was a term used to describe creatures or people who magic didn’t work on very well. A cerberus’s thick hide protected it from all but the most powerful attacks. Even for someone like Enyo, who’s three-word chants were powerful enough to destroy toad demons, it would take at least a twelve-word chant to build up enough power to damage a cerberus, never mind killing it.
That said, blinding it was another matter entirely.
As the cerberus head howled in shock and rage, Fellis lashed out with her whip, striking the rightmost cerberus head in the face. She got lucky and gouged its left eye. Blood spurted from the wound. The creature roared as it jerked back.
Racing forward, Enyo struck the creature in the face with her dagger, imbued with the magical essence of Darkness. Even with her weapon imbued with magic, the blade still only left a scratch. Just like Jacob had suspected, this cerberus, like all the others, was strong against physical attacks and magic. Only a really strong spell would be enough to slay something like this, and Enyo didn’t have any time to chant a long spell.
Jacob knew that he needed to deal with this thing in one blow. Cerberus were tenacious. They’d keep attacking until they were mulch, no matter how much pain they were in or what limbs were missing. It was better for both him and the cerberus if it died quickly.
Channeling energy through every part of his body, Jacob enhanced himself until his energy burst from his pores. It was a physical aura shaped like a flame. He could feel it rushing through him like a typhoon.
His body tore. He could practically hear the sound of his muscles tearing under the strain. He hadn’t even used this much power during his fight with Lust because he was still so out of shape. He was going to be a wreck after this.
Journey of a Betrayed Hero- Volume 2 Page 14
