<h4>Chapter 233: a Major thud</h4>


    Nothing seemed to be strange about the ground other than the abundance of roots. Looking closer at the leafy cover, it seemed that once you got past the thinyer on the surface it was all knotted roots. The trees as well, were rather close together, even for a forest. Kat hardly had the space to stretch her wings if desired.


    That didn''t matter though, because with Minor in her arms it was simply too risky to jump from tree to tree with so much foliage in the way. Letting herself fall down slowly, making sure that her wings didn''t catch on the nearby trees Kat dropped to the ground and let out a sigh as her body rxed.


    This of course, was a herald of bad things toe, as arge thud resounded from behind her. *Ohe on. We''ve finally gotten out of that stupid endless maze, and while infinite trees isn''t great, it''s at the very least not wheat.*


    Another thud rang out, getting closer this time. Kat turned to face the direction but angled Minor away from her in case something was going toe flying out. She couldn''t see anything approaching, even as a third thud rang out, but with therge tree cover that was hardly surprising.


    You could have the best eyes in the world but without the ability to see through walls, or trees in fact, you were just as blind as any other. Kat was thankful the darkness from the rain wasn''t affecting her, and that the rain bounced off her.


    It was at that moment though, as the fourth thud sounded, that Kat realised Minor did NOT in fact have her strange rtionship with liquid, and was slowly getting soaked through. Her tails had already started to collect water.


    Seeing this, Kat pulled her to the side and tried to angle her wing so that it was over Minor. It worked… well enough. Shifting herself to the side as another thud rang out Kat positioned herself under some of the canopy, she hadn''t broken to help shield Minor further from the rain.


    As she moved though, everything seemed to still. As if by some unspoken sign, the forest had ceased moving. This should have been ridiculous. Kat could see with her rather exceptional eyes that it was still raining, but somehow the silence permeating things.


    *This can''t be normal.* Kat put some demonic energy towards her ears hoping for some hints, but heard nothing. *Seriously, this can''t be normal I can SEE the rain still, why isn''t it making rain sounds.*


    That was when she heard it. The horrifying roar of a monster. It shook the trees, sending cascading droplets of water down on Kat, and it was all she could do for Minor to block most of it with a wing as it spilled over her.


    Then, Kat looked towards the sound… not sure what she was supposed to see, but what she found was a nightmare. Sorry, a Nightmare. It was in its ink form, except this one seemed more solid. The strange liquid that made up its form still seemed to cascade down towards the ground but it seemed to have an endless supply as it dripped onto the ground from its outstretched arm.


    Kat couldn''t see the rest of the thing, as it slowly started to bend and twist itself around the tree. The only thing that was clear, was that it was above her weight ss. With an arm longer than she was tall, and almost as thick as her with wings fully extended, Kat didn''t wait a second longer before turning away and sprinting.


    *Dammit.* Trying to keep her wing above Minor to protect her from the rain, while she ran over uneven ground made out of roots, while also trying not to jostle herpanion in the slightest was a real task.


    She was burning demonic energy in her arms to absorb the shock, as well as pushing it towards her leg for more speed as she metaphorically flew through the forest. Her feet touching the ground for only fractions of a second as she quickly jumped from perch to perch, abusing her naturally good eyesight but refraining from burning yet more demonic energy.


    All the while the thud, thud thud, of what must now surely be the Nightmares feet chasing after her rang out. It sounded like it was slowly gaining on her, as the noise got increasingly louder as Kat moved. She didn''t want to risk ncing back though. It was already all she could do to keep juggling her tasks without tripping over or slower down.


    *Dammit. What am I supposed to do? I don''t want to fight the thing, especially not with Minor in my arms. And I mean, how would I beat it?! The dam thing sounds huge. I''m not sure I have enough fire to coat the thing without going all out.*


    *And that might not be possible anymore. I didn''t use too much up freezing those leaves… but now that I''m running with such minute care, I''m starting to see the strain on my energy pool. Should I just risk it then?*


    *Burn through all my energy and hurl as much fire as I possibly can at the thing? I don''t know I can risk that though. If I pass out it can get to Minor which is something I really really don''t need.*


    *So what the hell do I do? I need to get out of this damned forest somehow but I don''t know what I''m looking for. This almost seems like apletely different scene… but the fact that everything didn''t shatter is a point against that.*


    *Minor also said not to break it… so should I be looking for Major instead.* Kat bit her lip as she ducked under a particrly low hanging vine before straightening up and continuing her run. With no destination in mind, she was just running straight ahead as fast as she could.


    *So, this is the same scene, and I can sort of move between what? Mini-scenes? Somehow, or rather, with special ces. I can''t try the turning around trick that I used in the maze to find the pool because there is a Nightmare chasing me…*


    *And I can''t run endlessly because I''m losing energy. Not much, and most of it is from sh freezing the leaves earlier, but I am losing some. I can''t take off and fly away because of course, now the canopypletely blocks that exit.*


    *Dammit, I should have flown back up through that whole in the trees. I didn''t even think of that! I can fly dammit, so why did I just run away! Kat growled to herself. Should I try and turn back?*


    *I''m mean, if I can find that gap again that would be great but… I''m not sure I can make a specific enough turn that I''m heading back where I want to. Sure I''m heading mostly straight but the roots make that hard to be entirely certain off…*


    *But I think I might have to try. I don''t really see any alternatives other than to keep running. Now the question is how sharply can I turn. I don''t want the damned thing to catch me, so it can''t be too sharp… but I need to be able to actually turn around 180 degrees within almost no error considering how fast I am.*


    *Hmm, could I perhaps get away with making two 90 degree turns? No that wouldn''t work anyway because then I''d be however far off course, shit. Ok, so that isn''t an option… I guess I''ll have to go with the gentle curving around and hope for the best.*


    *I really hope my memory is up for this. Sure, perfect recall sounds perfect on paper but when all the trees look the same, its pouring rain and you are running for your life, the details still get lost. *


    Kat grit her teeth and started to turn anyway, taking just a slight left tilt to her forward direction hoping that she wouldn''t be giving away too much ground to the monster this way. Risking one nce back, Kat could just barely see the things fingers in a gap between the trees, pulling itself along.


    The thick, inky ck fingers stood out even in the rain and darkness. To Kat''s night vision the substance almost seemed to repel, light, as if the mere presence of the thing was the antithesis to anything bright and colourful. Where it touched the tree, a dark ck patch seemed to spread across the rest of the trunk. Kat didn''t have time to see how much of the tree it would spread to before she focused on what was in front of her again.


    Steeling herself, Kat tried to order her legs to run faster, but s, a demonic body was nothing if not efficient, and without adrenaline she couldn''t just will herself to be faster. Her energy was already helping her reach what was basically top speed when taking the horrible terrain into ount.


    Didn''t stop Kat wishing that she could move faster but… well, she was a beggar at the moment, and choosing to move faster didn''t even make top three right now.