While time had stopped for Ethan, at least figuratively, it seemed to have sped up for those still within the ruins of Coppershear. At first everyone thought they were dreaming, and then that it was perhaps some kind of trick by the monsters to lure out the survivors, but soon the few remaining afflicted began to pass the word that they had been saved, at least for now. While the instructions and reasons had changed drastically as residents began to let each other know the idea of moving to the gates opposite of the cliffs had remained firm.
"Someone or something drew the monsters toward the cliffs, the afflicted felt it!"
"Head to the opposite gates and flee along the road. Take only what you can eat and drink."
"The swarmed is moving toward the cliffs for some reason, hurry while we have a chance!"
It had taken some time before the swarm had made it far enough away from the town that the sounds of Ethan's battle with the monsters were able to overtake the rumbling from its mass of running bodies. Even if the sound was delayed by several seconds they could hear what sounded like explosions, shrieks, and bellows echoing off the cliffs and rolling down over the ravaged and torn earth that lead to the city. The explosions were sounding so fast that they almost blended together though there was just enough space for some to realize they were countless individual ones. It had been several hours since the last monster had left the city and the sun was now closer to the horizon when the evacuations began in earnest. Leading up to that time they noticed sporadic bouts of silence, at least from the sounds of the explosions and crashes, though the sounds of dying monsters could still be heard regardless. That was the part that was so confusing to those looking out from the battered walls, trying to figure out what was going on up near the mountain face.
The heaving body of the battered boy slumped back against a pile of fallen rocks, his clothes ripped in dozens of places, and his bared skin covered in cuts, bruises and dirt. Even though his clothes weren't originally dyed, and of natural tan colors, they were now almost completely a red so dark it could be mistake for black. At least two of the cuts on his body could be considered gashes and he had a rather large bump on the left side of his head from being slammed into the mountain earlier. He didn't know why but every so often the attacks stopped and he was able to take a few minutes, sometimes several, to rest as much as he could. It seemed this was another one of those times and he fell to his knees before crawling the few feet needed to fall into the pool of water at his side.
Unlike at the beginning the pool was no longer clear and instead was a murky brown from all of the dirt, stone, and monster parts that had been thrown in. The falls were still flowing though and it was near the base that he was still able to obtain fresh water to drink and wash away what he could.
"Perhaps whats being washed down stream is helping..." He said softly to himself between several breaths.
He winced as the water soaked through the crusty blood covering one of the gashes, causing the piece of shirt clinging to it to fall away. Unfortunately, the wincing continued as more and more of the blood slipped away from his body and into the brown a foot or so away from him. Looking up toward the sky he closed his eyes and then reached behind him to carefully pull out a crystal from a small pile. The crystal was no larger than a small stone and was nearly clear, though it was smeared with green blood. Frowning after opening his eyes and looking down at the stone he dunked it in the water to clean it off for a second or two. Finally he took a breath and plopped it into his mouth, his teeth closing down on it quickly in an attempt to crunch it up as fast as possible so he could swallow it. Though he dropped his head down to suck in as much water as he could the truth was he would have fallen forward anyway, as he was now dizzy and unable to keep his upper body under control.
As the Nel' Ina rushed through his body he went from feeling drunk, to feeling sick, to feeling like he had a hangover in less than half a minute. After raising his body from the water he fell back against the side of the pool, his chest heaving now just as much as when he first took his break. He had always been warned about eating the Nel' Ina organs from slain monsters and now he knew why; it was horrible. He could also understand why they said it became poison after you ate a certain amount because he could feel the double edged sword slowly cutting into his insides. He didn't have a choice though, as he didn't have any food, and he also needed to maintain his Nel' Ina levels to fight. During this battle, while he hadn't hit rock bottom, he came close enough to know he was in trouble regarding his reserves. The fact that he had managed to make it as long as he had without eating any crystallized Nel' Ina would become stuff of legends later in his life. Many still question the authenticity of the accounts.
As Ethan began to move back toward the edge of the pool he suddenly looked to his right, and then his left, the thin hairs on his arms and neck standing up straight. He had felt the sense of danger during the entire battle, but there was something else out there and it was close. Whatever it was, it wasn't a mindless monster simply trying to eat. This thing could reason and had been.... it had been hunting him. He couldn't tell if the unseen enemy was waiting until he was completely worn out or what but the sense of being a target, not just prey, was very unsettling for him.
