CHAPTER 77: REST NOW WHILE YOU CAN. NOBODY KNOWS TOMORROW

As we ran through the forest, I spread the white flames behind us, burning every path that allowed them to pursue. The fire trapped them in walls of pale light, their only way out being to go back the way they came.

She grabbed my hand and we didn’t stop running until we were sure we’d covered a reasonable distance. Then we finally came to a stop.

Nisha and I walked down a slope and reached a flowing stream. The first thing she did was bend down, scoop water with her gourd, and drink deeply. Then she splashed some across her face, washing away the sweat and grime.

I stood there, looking around with a dark and hopeless expression in my eyes.

The day was brighter now. Birds chirped in the branches above, trees with green leaves stretched toward the sky, and colorful fruits dotted the downhill slopes — the trees that bore them were short and wide, their branches heavy with the weight. It should have been peaceful. It wasn’t.

She glanced at me.

"You’re not going to drink?" she asked, passing a gourd full of water to me.

I collected the gourd from her hand and studied it with a distracted look.

"Cade."

My mind came back and I raised the gourd to my mouth, drinking a mouthful of water and letting out a deep, relieved exhale after all that running. We’d been going for two hours at least.

"What do we do now?" I asked her.

She was bending down, staring into the clear water at her own reflection.

"Now? Now we rest."

"Rest? How can we rest in such a situation!"

She stood and straightened, rolling her shoulders.

"Relax, Cade... right now, we already have a way out. All we need is strength." She smiled as she said it.

’Looks like she has a plan.’

At least the look on her face told me so.

But rest, though...

She sighed.

"Look, it’s going to be a long ride out of here. You can’t get tired on the way because there’ll be no stopping until we’re at Mishard. So you need all your rest, okay? Take it now while I’m giving it to you. It’ll be scarce soon."

I sighed, agreeing with the breath. But then I held her gaze again.

"What... what if we encounter them in Mishard? I mean, they caught up to us this early — what’s to say they aren’t already there?"

"Mishard is dominated by the Iron Covenant."

"Iron Covenant?" I asked, clearly confused.

She looked at me and her face widened in realization.

"Oooohh, ooohhh, of course you don’t know!" She placed her arms akimbo and turned to face me fully. "There are six religions in Ealdrim. The Radiant Faith — that’s the Eternal Light Church—is just the dominant and most powerful one. It doesn’t mean the other religions don’t pose threats to them or other people. It’s just that here in the Central Continent, which is the second largest continent of Ealdrim, the Radiant Faith already consumes ninety percent. The remaining ten percent is shared by other religions. You’ll find it like that in other continents too."

"Ah... I see..." I paused for a moment, a thought forming. "So, I can simply... run to another continent and they’d stop chasing me?"

She laughed.

"I wish it were that easy, honestly. The Eternal Light Church is in every continent. Even with the protection of other religions, it’ll be hard if they consider you their priority. These religions — they don’t play around when it comes to heresy. And on top of that, you killed people. It’s going to be hard for any other religion to protect you."

I smiled. "I see... that’s so relieving."

’It’s so relieving to know there’s no way out of this for me. It’s exciting!’

She examined my face with a worried expression for a few moments, then moved forward.

"Let’s cross... I see a cave down there. We should rest for three hours and then leave. We need to touch Mishard’s grass by dawn."

She walked forward. My eyes followed her as she did, tracing down to her rear.

I tried not to think about what I was seeing. The smooth brown skin, the curve of her lower back and the Venus dimples there, the way her modestly sized ass moved with every step.

’Guy...’

I really couldn’t help it. Even in such a situation, with rage and sadness mixing together, I found horniness entering the mess and making it even worse.

The feelings worked despicably together to create a yearning in me. The urge to close myself in someone’s arms, weep against their chest, and luckily find myself between their thighs too.

My shamelessness truly knew no bounds. I didn’t think anything would take it away from me. These were intrusive thoughts, of course, but they were things I could do if given the chance. So yes, I’m shameless.

It was at least reassuring to know that I hadn’t lost that side of me to grief and rage.

We crossed the stream. As she waded deeper into it, the water rose past her waist — splashing over her skin and dampening her clothes until they clung to her, revealing the outlines of her ass cheeks and even the cleft between them. Each droplet traced along her skin like it was mocking me.

I found myself rising with an urge that burned in my chest, something that was becoming difficult to contain.

We crossed and entered a cave — an old collapsed mine, from the look of it. We sat down inside, leaning against the moist wall. It wasn’t until then that I felt the wave of tiredness hit me. My breath came out heavy and ragged, and I silently thanked my stars that I’d decided to just listen to Nisha.

She sat beside me, leaning back too. Her breathing was freer, no exhaustion in it. It made me wonder.

"You must have done things like this a lot..."

"Rescue people? No. Not my strong suit." She paused. "Survive? Too many times. I’ve lost count."