"ELIJAH! ELIJAH!"
Niko saw everything from afar, and once the impact of destruction occurred, he sprinted forward only to trip and roll down a small mound of rubble.
His attack was borderline suicidal, leading to a dangerous thought pattern of what he would do after losing the one person who understood him.
Laying calmly in the midst of the rubble was Elijah incubating in a body of water. The transfer of affinities had been almost instant, and the thought of why never seemed to cross his mind.
Ten minutes of Niko anxiously peering over the edge passed. The drop was too steep for him to check on Elijah, but knew he was alive from the use of magic.
Also, another reason plagued his determination for blunting his own fall…
Who knew if there were more beasts, or worse, more judges coming to return them to an eternal sleep. Ever since Elijah's exclamation of free will, a part of him he lost awoken again. The part of him that suddenly woke up after being pushed to his death. The self-control issues and deep desires still lingered, but Niko had something he wanted to do no matter what.
See what life was like outside these walls. Just maybe… It would be something worth living for.
"ELIJAH! ELIjah… Please…"
The lukewarm water that had created a cocoon of life around Elijah slowly faded into the cracks of stone and debris underneath him. Elijah's eyes slowly opened, revealing a slightly scarred hand reaching for the stars.
Planting his feet, Elijah lifted off from the ground without looking at Abel's corpse. Already, the sight of a charred and cracked chest was too much to look at. When coupled with the angle at which his head leaned at, it would only remind him of Amaris…
"We did it… Niko. Now we can finally leave…"
Elijah's voice was shallow with the sensation of depression, but was also filled with an odd sense of determination.
'Could Elijah have returned to his former self?'
Multiple pairs of footsteps were heard coming from the entrance to the underground ravine.
"Well, well, well… I hate to admit it guys… But I think I might be afraid to face whatever killed Rafe."
"ELIJAH NOW!! FLY US INTO FREEDOM!!!" Niko tugged Elijah's arm.
The only words that could've struck Elijah's cold heart were the words of his ultimate desire.
A seemingly never ending goal with the potential to truly be accomplished.
Elijah bursted into the air with speed while shuttling small amounts of water magic into his body to null the pain of his organs being shifted to such a high degree. His legs were still severely injured, but the bones, ligaments, tissue, and most of the muscle tissue had been repaired in their natural spots besides the fact that everything that had healed was attached to each other by threads.
Elijah grabbed a hold of Niko and took him to the top of the mound of debris. "I have one last thing to do before we go, Niko. Please, hold onto me, I don't think I can stand on my own."
"Oh-okay."
"Stand down boys. I don't think he actually wants to attack us." Rodrick said while walking forward.
Elijah pulled back out his black short sword and pointed it at Rodrick and his crew of hunters. "I will kill you someday, Rodrick. I swear by it!"
"Oh yea! And what is stopping me from killing you right now?" Rodrick said while taking a couple more steps forward.
"This."
Niko was holding Elijah's left side up to relieve the pressure, but was forced to let go as he began levitating just above the mound.
From the tips of his fingers spread an ethereal glow that covered his entire arms. It was the only place of light besides Rodrick's glowing spear of lava.
Elijah's fist winded back while holding the sword in place, and when contact was made, the sword practically disintegrated from the force.
Bam!
In reality, the sword had split into miniscule pieces that were not visible to the eye, and shot at lightning speed into the group of 15 hunters. Rodrick instinctively created a shield of bubbling lava that instantly turned solid while keeping its temperature relative to that of a volcano.
His hunter squad however, stood completely still as if bushes inside a windless grassland.
"GO! Kill them!"
There was not a single response from any member of his team. Only until small droplets of blood began dripping out of their pores did he realize what had happened.
"Dammit! How in the gods is that even possible?!" Rodrick looked back towards Elijah, and saw only the wisps of dust that softly settled onto the mountain of debris.
Rodrick would have chased after him, but his affinity granted him not a single aspect related to speed.
Elijah and Niko had escaped because of the perfect execution and imagination that had yet to see its peak.
Although, Elijah had intended to deal a killing blow to Rodrick after he had clearly said he would not kill him. Fortunately it ended up with new information about a devastating and invisible attack that would be nearly impossible to dodge if one did not know of the extremities of such an attack.
However, would the same occurrence happen with every punch to a knife, or was the power and strength just perfectly right?
Niko was struggling to breath as Elijah carried him through cave after cave. The memories of his path were beginning to come back while taking note of the sharp engravings on the ceiling that led them to the light.
It wasn't until twenty minutes of flying and passing by a select few beasts did they make it to the familiar boulder that no longer sat nicely in the hole.
The left side had been carved out, resulting in the boulder sinking further into the ground.
"Niko, I think there might be a number of beasts outside this hole. We should rest and recuperate as much mana as possible. I also need to heal, I think my left leg is broken again… Can you keep an eye on the surroundings while I focus on absorbing mana?" Elijah asked while nearing the small exit where a fountain of light shot into the inclined tunnel cavern.
"Yea, I'll do that. But I think we should take a look outside if you aren't planning to do so."
"Yea… I guess you're right. Just make sure to squint your eyes. The sun will be blinding."
Elijah's voice was slightly erratic from the expectation of the outside world, but also sad from having no one besides Niko. Although it could be worse, he at least had someone…
Instantly, when the rays of sunlight hit the eyelids of Elijah and Niko, there was a feeling of comfort and relief giving themselves the potential to create a life on their own terms.
Directly straight ahead was a barren wasteland with black and dark gray rocks and rubble that covered what used to be a floristry filled grass land littered with inanimate objects. Small and large rocks, bones, and entrances to cave systems that led deep within The Catacombs.
Straight ahead was the direction of west, which was signified by Elijah's remembrance of the surroundings.
To the North was the start of a towering mountain range that curved around the entire north side of the kingdom. Optimally, the council could eventually build a new wall between the mountain ranges on the west and east side giving them space that wouldn't even be filled within the next ten thousand years. To the left — where the southern mountain range began — was what looked like an upside down ribcage of some horrid and towering beast. This simple fact further strengthened his their resolve of aiming in the right direction.
Elijah and Niko had adjusted to the light while sticking their heads out from the ground, and began developing the optimal route. Unfortunately, a great number of different types of beasts were loitering outside the walls as if waiting for something. This included the familiar and dreadful bone reapers that meandered in between the abominable void walkers.
A tall and towering forest of trees that bore too many branches and leaves that they dropped to the floor was seen in the distance, and would be the first biome they would come into contact with.
Although, the northern half of the forest was burned and covered with ash and rocks, likely from the volcanic explosion.
This was their first goal. Reach the forest while staying high within the overgrown branches as cover, and decide on whether they should fly high into the sky to reach Gion, or fly between the trees while taking their time.
"What do you think, Elijah?" Niko asked with a straight and worried face.
"I think if we don't play this right. We will be welcomed with a painful death…"