<h4>Chapter 12: Fleeing</h4>


    Whenever the broad swordnded on his body, she felt physically hurt. It was like a deep knife twisting inside her. The internal pain trippled when she thought about Nexus being a human, and her being a subus. And yet, he was sacrificing so much to save her- a subus.


    Crystal decided she was not ready to die yet. And she definitely did not want Nexus to die either. It was up to her this time. She could not just do nothing!


    Determination wed through her, rising above her dark thoughts, silencing the quiet doubting voices, until it filled her with a new burst of strength. The subus'' face contorted in a fuck-the-world grimace, she closed her eyes, and bolted right through the encirclement that had kept her briefly incarcerated!


    By some odd divine miracle, she emerged on the other side! Behind her, she heard the copsing thud of some men she had apparently caused to fall over. They cursed aloud, threatening to rape her when they caught her.


    Ignoring the ruckus behind her, striving to rise above her weakness, Crystal''s feet stomped hard on the earth with each step.


    Tears stung her eyes as she bounded off. She did not want to leave Nexus behind. The fact that she could be of no assistance to him in his fight caused it to ache twice as much.


    So, she decided to remove herself from the equationpletely, by drawing the men to herself. After all, it was her they were truly after. The subus was still very much the prize.


    ''I''m sorry Nexus. . ." she sobbed inwardly; "Please don''t hate me. . .please. . .''


    Her all ck, curvy form dashed across the tufted soil, and past the wiry trees, gradually making her way out of the bloodbath, towards anywhere else.


    The n was deceptively simple; have the men chase her, and free up enough time and space for Nexus to get a breathing space- or maybe even to escape.


    Fully engaged in an all out battle, Nexus glimpsed Crsytal sprinting away from the corner of his eye, and immediately assumed she was trying to tell him to follow her and run as well.


    Ambitiously, he returned his attention back on the two men bashing him in, and decided tounch onest major attack to slow them down before he took off- at least, to buy him enough time to catch up with her.


    Nexus'' strength returned with a dramatic surge. He no longer had Crystal''s safety weighing him down, so, he went full beast mode on them. A quick frown dotted across the water mage''s face when he noticed the upsurge in Nexus'' movements. He tried to double down on his magic attacks, but Nexus evaded them easily.


    The armored dude was Nexus'' primary problem. His shield and armor made him impervious to de attacks, so Nexus rushed towards him, and at thest minute, dropped to the ground, and slid under him, passing between his open legs.


    Making good use of his dagger, he sliced the soft flesh behind his knees which was the exposed part of his joint in his armor, and emerged on the other side. The big man felt the searing pain, and immediately dropped on one knee.


    Nexus did not even bother to look back. He took off in Crystal''s direction, leaving in his wake, the partially crippled armored dude.


    The water mage danced on his feet nervously. He looked at Nexus running away, and nced back at hisrade howling on the ground. Torn between dashing after the enemy, and sticking to attend to his wounded friend, he remained undecided for a moment.


    Finally, he made his decision by turning his back on Nexus, and dropping low to attend to his friend''s bloodied wound.


    Meanwhile Nexus chased after Crystal like a bloodhound. Behind him, he could hear the remaining men from the hunter''s group rousing what was left of them, no doubt preparing to give a hot chase.


    Panting furiously, he eventually got Crystal''s sprinting frame within his sights. He doubled up, and brought himself next to her, pacing, and matching her every stride.


    Crystal''s eyes lit up when she saw the familiar figure sprinting by her side;


    "You came after me!!!" she cried with a child-like excitement.


    Nexus shushed her; "Shhhh they''re close! We need to find a ce to hide!"


    She nodded briskly. But where? As far as the eye could see, there were sheets of leaves, tall proud maple trees, and---


    "Nexus look! Beyond those vines!"


    The excitement in her voice seduced Nexus into feeling hopeful. His gaze darted up, and sure enough he spotted the vines. But it was what was behind them that was the prize;


    "Heavens that''s good, let''s go!"


    Barely visible from a distance away to the naked eye, a formation of grey rocks emerged from behind the vines. Nexus thought it was the most glorious thing he had ever seen. They were not so prominent, but at the base was a kind of underground cleft, and it looked big enough to fit two.


    "Here, you go down first, I''ll get some branches to cover the entrance."


    Crystalplied smoothly.


    Heart pumping, and body nging, Nexus'' eyes zed over the ce, and found a rtively long decaying branch. Promptly, he dragged it with all his might, and pulled it to the mouth of the cleft. Just as he lowered himself down the hatch, he heard the unmistakable sound of rushing feet in the distance.


    Another jaw dropping surprise snatched his breath away when he entered the hole. He heard himself gasp aloud when his eyes adjusted to the dark. It was not some six foot deep hole, it was not even an idental cleft at the base of a rock; it was a cave!


    And it was humongous.


    Rays of sunlight from the hole filtered in in slim golden films, loosely illuminating the hidden cave. The walls were matted with clouds of moss, and the air smelled of a mix of things that Nexus was not at all familiar with.


    "What in the hell in this ce?" he wondered.


    "Come on Nexus, we gotta keep going. If we found this ce, best believe the hunters will."


    Damn it she was right! Those bastards were certainly not going to stop.


    So, with Crystal in the lead, the duo plunged right into the belly of the earth. Hands trailing the ancient rocky walls, they crept through the dark cave at an urgent, but cautious pace. asionally, a couple of fireflies emerged, providing a temporarily illumination. But a lone bat would drop down from the ceiling, and sweep them up hungrily.


    As they continued to plunge deeper and deeper into the cave, it continued to get even bigger. In the dark, he lost all concept of timepletely. He was not even sure how long they had been walking. But eventually, they came across their first anomaly.


    Like a maze, three openings suddenly appeared. All very simr in, sight, in sound, and in abysmal ndness. Nexus grabbed her hand in the dark, and marched towards the left entrace;


    "I think we should stick to all left entrances henceforth. That way, we have a sure way of getting outter on."


    Crystal''s voice came back to him in a whispered tone; "You really think we''re going to make it out of this alive?"


    Nexus swallowed. He had not really thought about that.


    "C''mon, let''s go. We shouldn''t really be thinking like that."


    "Why not?" the earnestness in that question was genuine, and Nexus knew it.


    "Because we might jinx it. We''ve gotten so far by ourselves haven''t we?"


    "Well, yeah..."


    "Good. That should count for something. Besides, this cave is like a friggin'' maze. It has tons of intricate caverns, plenty of room to maneuver. We have a good chan---"


    Suddenly, without warning, Nexus stopped dead in his tracks. Crystal by his side, froze as well when she sensed his tension. Nexus dropped on one knee,id his palm on the ground, and cocked his ear towards the open space behind them. It was dark, so Crystal could not see the worrisome frown on his face. But his tension was contagious, and he had infected her already;


    "Nexus you''re scaring me, what is it?"


    Rising from his knee, he answered quietly; "Hunters. They''re in the cave."


    Dread seized Crystal once again. Her heart sank, and her palms began sweat.