Chapter 4: Pursuit
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Over the next several minutes, Celeste continued dragging him through the winding streets and through dark alleyways. On two occasions they had to hide in the shadows as patrols of guards with torches passed by. They aren't going to let us waltz out of here easily. he thought as they dashed across another dark intersection. The path they were taking was meandering its way downward toward the wall of the large city. 

When he had first looked at the city from the church, he had thought that it only covered the area on the face of the hill it stood upon, but according to his guide the city actually wrapped around the entire hill. "Why didn't we head straight for the gate down the road from the inn?" he asked.

"We need to go around to the other side of town and through the gates near the slums if we hope to get out. They will expect us to try something stupid like go out the main gates," she replied in a whisper. "Come on, we have a long ways to go."

There was a complete lack of light on most of the back streets of the city and even the ones that did have light only had a few lamp posts spaced sporadically along winding roads. Anytime they found themselves on one of those streets, however, Celeste headed straight across them into more dark alleyways. At least she knows where she's going. I'm freaking lost. 

Luckily, the moon was full, so they had just enough light to see by. It illuminated everything with a dim emerald colored light and thanks to his new eyes, he could see almost as good as if it were daylight except in spots where there were particularly dark shadows. "We just need to go a little further. We're almost there." Celeste said while panting. 

The two of them had been moving at a breakneck pace from almost the moment they had left the inn. Yukito just hoped that they would get out of this mess without having to do any more fighting. It seemed that his power was pretty limited and if they came face to face with a large group of people, there was only so much he could do in 30 seconds, after that he'd be without his ability for at up to fifteen minutes, based on his past experience. He wished he had the luxury of knowing exactly what his power entailed, but this wasn't a video game or manga and he wouldn't be having it spelled out for him apparently.

After a few more minutes of ducking through the dark alleyways, the houses took a noticeable turn for the worse. The houses went from being well built and normal looking, to little more than wooden shacks that were in great need of repair. He saw buildings that looked as though they would fall over if he shoved on them hard enough. 

"Hey, look it's a demi-human skulking about with that girl over there," a quiet voice came from somewhere off to the side.

Damn. Someone saw us. They didn't stop and just kept moving and kept their heads down. I wish I could hide this tail. They ducked into another alleyway and that was when they ran into trouble. At the mouth of the alleyway there were four men who stood waiting with knives out. Celeste grabbed his hand and tried to turn back the way they came, but when they did, they came face to face with three more men. 

"Filthy demi-humans have no place in our kingdom. I had a brother who died in the war against you people," A man said as he stepped forward brandishing a long, curved dagger. 

We don't have time for this. Without wasting any time he activated his power. The world slowed and he moved into action immediately drawing his sword. He lunged forward and stabbed the man who had been speaking when they had turned around. He yanked the blade free and then decapitated the man to the right. 20 seconds left!

He slashed the third man across his throat and then ran toward the group of four men as fast as he could. 13 seconds! With ruthless precision he hacked and slashed at the four men; the last man fell just as the time ran out. When he turned back toward Celeste he saw a look of amazement, or maybe a bit of fear. "Where do we go now?" he asked while panting. 

"T-That way. We need to go straight across the next street," she replied while pointing in the direction where he had slain the four men. 

I hope that's the only trouble we run into for a while. We would've been dead if we had come up against that many people under normal circumstances I think. Celeste lead the way down a few more streets and they were now running along a small road that ran next to the city's huge wall. Suddenly she came to an abrupt stop and held up her hand. 

"What?" he whispered. 

"The gate out of the slums is over there, but it looks like there are more guards than normal. Word must've got here before us. Can you take them out like you did those thieves back there?"

He eyed the two dozen guards who were arranged in front of the gate. "No... I can't do that again so soon. What else can we try?"

"I didn't want to have to do this, but I think we can bribe our way out of the city. It's a long shot, but everyone knows that if you need to get something or someone out of the city, Coronero is the man to see. He has a building to the west of here. We need to backtrack."

"If you say so. People around here don't seem to like me much, I hope we don't have to fight a whole den of criminals or something."

"Don't worry. The only thing that Coronero is said to care about is money. I took everything we had saved from the inn. I just hope it's enough for them to smuggle us out unnoticed." They went back a little ways and cut back up into the city. Once they found a safe place to cross the large road that lead to the gate, they dashed across it and into the darkness on the other side. Yukito's heart was pounding in his ears and his legs were getting tired from all the exercise. 

His new body was in far better shape than the one he had left on Earth, but he wasn't a machine or something. A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination. Coronero's hideout was a large shack that loomed over all the buildings nearby. There were six men leaning lazily against the wall near the front door in dirty clothes.

One man was casually cleaning his fingernails with a large knife when they walked up. He addressed them when they tried to enter the building. "You two are on the wrong side of town. Get lost," he said with a slight accent.

"We need to get out of the city," Yukito said.

"Then go use the damn gate, boy. Get lost."

The other five men stirred slightly and Yukito couldn't help but feel their gaze upon himself. This could get very ugly, very fast. "Look, friend. We don't want any trouble. We need some help, and heard that your boss is the guy to see if we need to be smuggled out of the city. We can pay."

"I'm not your friend. Lower your hoods so we can get a good look at those faces. I don't talk to people who I can't see clearly," the man said.

Yukito hesitated, but Celeste removed her hood and looked the man in the eyes. "Please, just hear us out."

The man waited without responding until Yukito removed his hood as well. "Wait here, I'll go see if the boss will see you. You'd best not have been wasting our time."

Without waiting for a response the man turned and went inside. Two of the other men who had been talking to the side moved over to the door and blocked the entrance. Just a moment after they had begun waiting, a voice sounded out in the darkness behind them. "We found them, ma'am. They're over there."

I just cannot seem to catch a break in this world. Yukito looked toward the criminals guarding the entrance to the building. They didn't say anything, and instead shrugged and all of them went inside; a lock clicked into place behind them leaving Celeste and Yukito alone. He turned back around and 9 guards came forward, all carrying spears, followed by a woman. "Don't suppose you have a weapon on you, do you?" he asked.

To his surprise, she lifted up her dress a little and pulled a dagger out of a hidden sheath. She held it in one hand, and all he could think of was that he hoped she was good with it. Enough time had passed that he knew he had his ability available, but he needed to be careful before using it again. "We just want to leave town. Let us go and I won't be forced to kill every last one of you," he threatened.

The woman pushed her way through the men and burst into a fit of laughter once she looked at them. "You've got to be kidding me, right? THIS is the hero that has had you guys running all around town? What a joke." 

"Lady Scorpina, don't underest—"

The woman backhanded the soldier so hard across the face that his head spun and his neck snapped from the force of her blow. He fell to the ground lifeless and the other guards stepped back a few paces from the woman. "Don't speak unless I ask you to," she growled.

What the hell is wrong with these people? They're on HER side. I need to take her out, and fast. He drew his sword and readied himself for battle. The woman didn't appear to be armed other than one of her hands had a strange gauntlet. The fingertips ended in long blades and there was a glowing yellow gem in the center of it atop the palm of her hand. Yukito wasn't sure what to expect, so he waited.

"Okay, hero, you have two choices here: Drop that sword and come along quietly to the dungeon, or die where you stand. The priestess won't be pleased if I have to kill you, but just the same, we can't let you escape the city and join the enemies of the empire. I'll give you until the count of five to choose." She held up her unarmored hand, "5."

Going to the dungeon is not an option. For sure they'll kill Celeste and I'll never again see the light of day. 

"4."

She shouldn't know any details about my abilities, how can she be so confident?

"3."

I could try going with them and then at the last second activate my ability. Only... she might have a way to block it for all I know.

"2." 

Shit! I don't know what to do. I've never been in a life or death situation before in my whole life before today. He looked over to Celeste who was holding her knife up in front of her, but he could see that she was trembling in fear. That decided things for sure for him. He wouldn't go down without a fight, and he wouldn't let them him from getting her to safety.

"1." 

"Fuck you, lady," he spat to the side. 

"Have it your way. Let's see what you can do. Guards, go get him. Dead or alive, it doesn't matter to me," she replied.

The guards nervously looked toward the woman but complied and began to move forward in a formation. They got within range and stabbed at Yukito. He moved lithely to the side of the strike and grabbed the shaft of the spear with his free hand. He yanked the weapon as hard as he could and the inexperienced soldier stumbled forward. Yukito stabbed his sword into the man's left eye socket and then jumped backward avoiding a strike from one of the other guards. 

Celeste, however, wasn't faring as well and had allowed herself to be pushed back by two of the men who had broke away to pursue her. She was almost to the point where she had her back against the building. She isn't going to make it unless I do something. he thought desperately as he dodged the three remaining spearmen who continuously thrust their spears toward him. 

The woman hadn't joined in the fighting and merely watched with that same grin on her face. "You're pathetic. Show me what you can really do."

He ignored the comment and ran toward the two guards who were after Celeste. They hadn't been paying attention to him and he caught one off guard. He smashed into the man, knocking him to the ground and then with a quick stab ended the man's life. The second man swung his spear to the side as if it were a baseball bat and caught Yukito across the side of his face, throwing him to the ground. 

His world spun and pain exploded where it had hit him. Move! You don't have time to be in pain! Yukito forced himself to dodge the man's follow up attack which would have ended with a spearhead through his chest. From all the games he'd played and books he had read, he knew the key to fighting spearmen was to get in close, and he did just that. He moved quickly and slashed at the man's middle. The blow glanced off the guard's leather armor, however. 

Celeste hadn't been idly sitting by in the moments that had passed and she came in from the other side and stabbed her dagger deep into the space between the man's shoulders. The guard collapsed. No time to pause now. 

The other three guards had been chasing him and three spears were coming right for him. There would be no time to dodge. He didn't want to, but he had to use his trump card. He activated his power and the spears slowed to nearly a stop. 30 seconds! Go! 

He moved to the side and quickly dispatched the guards. He didn't halt for even a second to think about strategy and ran for the woman. I have to make it! I just have to! His legs burned with the effort of being forced to go all out yet again, but he ignored it and kept running. The woman was still a dozen yards away. 13 more seconds! Move, damn you!

A few precious seconds later he saw that her eyes had begun to glow with a faint yellow light that matched the one coming from the gem in her gaunteted hand. This isn't going to be good. 4 more seconds! He wasn't going to make it. He knew it in his heart that he would fall short. He looked around for the briefest of moments to see what the woman was doing. That was when he saw it. In the darkness, moving in slow motion, he saw the outline of a gigantic monster that was shrouded in shadow. With only two seconds to go, he ran to the side of the woman. 

The world came crashing back to normal speed and the shadow formed into a gigantic Chimera that leapt into the place where he would have been if he had kept charging straight for her. It had the body and head of a lion with a gigantic snake for a tail and second head in the form of a goat with horns on its back. It roared and turned toward him. The woman began cackling again. "I thought you had me there. What? All out of steam? Get him, my pet."

The goat head breathed a stream of fire that raced toward him. He ran to the side and luckily only the hairs on his arm were singed. This isn't going to be good. he thought as he prepared to face down the mythical creature.

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