Waking from slumber, I stuck my head above the ground. I'm sure people would faint if they saw this, a head popping up from the ground. The coast was clear, starry skies above as the final radiance before nightfall receded. I started my long trek again.

  Walking for an indeterminate amount of time, the river of light above as my only guide in this moonless night. Streaks of light floated with the bck canvas.

  No need for food, no need for much rest. Am I still alive?

  A yellow comforting light glimmered in the distance. People don't usually set up camp this far out. I should avoid it, as it's probably my pursuers from the mageseekers. Gotta give it lots of space.

  -Inside the mageseeker camp-

  A pair of eyes shot open in the darkness. The tent didn't rustle, as their body y still, chains unmoving as the firelight flickered against the walls of the tent.

  Another mage in the dark? This is probably be the mage they're looking for. But. Why should it be my problem?

  Fresh air for the first time in 8 years. Even if it's for this short period of time, I should take this opportunity to escape.

  Still have these darned petricite chains on, limiting my magic. Whatever, as long as they don't know, it is safe.

  The eyes shut in the darkness, the light breathing continuing without a hitch.

  (Aerth's POV)

  I climbed the top of a hill, as a dark forest spread out in front of me. The lights of Terbisia could be seen far off in the distance, torches hanging on its white walls. The location of my house couldn't be seen from here.

  Looking back towards my destination, no light could be seen. There was supposedly a vilge in the darkness somewhere...

  My pursuers will probably head towards there, as running without any food will make you starve to death. But I don't need food.

  The thing is... I really, really want to eat something solid after not eating for an entire day. Heaving a sigh, I continued down the river, hoping to make it out of Demacia by tomorrow.

  As I walked, eventually the first glimmers of light peeked between the valley, a new day, a new hope. There was supposedly a mountainous settlement to my left, on the far side of the other river. Small bck dots could be seen moving in the distance.

  Whistling with the birds, I walked towards the sun, where a new life awaited me. The grass smelled of dew, and the flowers started to widen. The telltale signs of horse trotting, and the slow sounds of the river pacing downstream.

  'Wait a moment, horses?'

  My heart leapt out of my chest as I channeled my magic to dive underground. I went as deep as I could, but the pressure squishing me became heavier the deeper I went. Feeling the distance to the air, I was around 3 meters deep. Turning sideways, I crawled through the earth slowly with a swimming motion, hands scooping in front to push me forwards.

  The sounds of the horse beating on the ground reverberated, shaking me slightly. When came closer, I realized something. It was heading downstream, opposite of where I was going. The horse stopped, neighing as a voice coddled it. Something has jumped off the horse, thumping the ground as they walked. My heart thumped in my ears, as the steps came ever closer.

  Suddenly, the sound of water appeared. They were taking a piss! My eyes widened, as I quickly inched away underground from the traveler. A loud neigh shattered the air above, as the horse started pawing the ground, frightened. The noise of water quickly stopped.

  "What's the matter?"

  An unknown voice garbled by the earth could be heard above me.

  'Am I discovered?'

  Tensing up, I prepared to jump out of the ground. Focusing on my ears, I heard something else in the distance. A convoy of people? They started talking, and I need to get out of here. I continued crawling away, the more efficient way for me than walking. The less dirt I have to move, the less tired I get.

  Spears stabbed into the dirt, however only around halfway to me. I trembled in fear, as how did they find out about me underground? I pointed both arms ahead of me, and kicked off the ground behind me, just like swimming. Strangely, I felt this was wrong. Why am I the one that needs to use force?

  I controlled the ground slightly, as I jettisoned forward at an increased rate, sliding past roots, insects and rocks. Was I getting squished or was the ground getting moved. I felt tired, in a metaphysical way. No sound could be heard above, so I just continued like this.

  'Hmmm? Why do I feel slightly hungry?'

  I had thought my magic made it so I didn't need to eat. I had to experiment with this ter. Hopefully, I was far enough from Demacia that they stopped chasing me. So I popped my head out. Only to be greeted with a gigantic raptor cd in ptinum feathers right above me.

  "Shit."

  Diving down again as fast as possible, my soft leather shoes were caught by a pair of hands. I waved my hands, causing the earth around me to sp towards my assaint, disturbing their bance. The hands loosened, and I quickly shook it off my shoes as I headed deeper. A beak pierced the ground towards my feet, however, it failed. Then chains shot down and caught my feet, slowing the flow around that area.

  Petricite again, stagnation spreading into my legs. I kicked back, shattering the chains as well as shaking the ground, causing a miniature earthquake. Yelps were heard above, as wings beat heavily into the air. I had escaped again, hopefully for good.

  lirvothethird