--- Kamiko ---


    Kamiko had a good n. She''d given up on fighting the cow-thing she''d recently dubbed the taur and returned to her shelter long enough to pick the light up. That was all as ording to n. The problem urred when Kamiko realised that the taur was following her.


    She''d been nning to take a short break for a drink of water or something in the shelter when the damned thing yelled at her from somewhat nearby.


    Scrapping the n for a short break Kamiko took off into the snow, attempting to get as far away from the monster as possible. After thirty minutes of running though… Kamiko noticed that it''s asional yells were getting closer and closer, and there was something else. Just barely on the edge of her awareness.


    She would find out ten minutester the ''something else'' was a second tauring from the direction she''d headed in.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Kamiko managed to dodge the attack by a hairsbreadth… but she couldn''t help but be slightly concerned. The damned thing had managed to approach in near silence. The snow didn''t seem the be making the noise it should when the monster walked over it and only the slight whistle of air that signalled the attack allowed Kamiko to dodge at all.


    That and her continued awareness as the original taur wasn''t making a secret of the fact that it was following her.


    Kamiko managed to dash around the new taur and keep moving forwards. It didn''t seem to be that fast… but obviously that assumption was wrong if they were managing to keep up. *What is going on here? I was content to leave them alone… and I thought they''d let me go. They didn''t seem to use follow up attacks before I went back in… are they annoyed I managed to actually cut them?


    I know nothing about these monsters and its costing me. What to do… what to do.*


    Deciding to perform a ''quick'' test Kamiko sped up, utilising her demonic energy to drastically increase her speed. When Kamiko started her sprint the taurs were only somewhat close so she feltfortable burning essentially all of her energy for this test. Kamiko ran at full speed until she was down to twenty percent of her demonic energy.


    Kamiko was pacing herself somewhat and she was able to run for a full hour before running out of energy. A lot longer then nned. Her new Rank 3 physique and demonic energy pool really pulling its weight.


    Once she hit her goal though, she jumped as far as she could off to the side and then took out her canteen. Kamiko gulped down a good amount of water and then summoned up a jelly cup… ok more like three. Kamiko inhaled the food, sadly not able to take the time to taste it properly, and then rxed. Her goal was to regenerate as much demonic energy as possible and see if, or when the taurs caught up.


    Five minutester Kamiko had recovered a good fifty percent of her reserves, leading her with seventy percent total. She would''ve waited until her reserves were full… were it not for the fact that she could hear the taurs charging after her.


    *How?! They couldn''t seem to keep up with me back when I was just working with my muscles so how did they manage to catch up? Are they faster together? Or is it some sort of magical ability that changes their speed rtive to my own?*


    Kamiko didn''t get long to think about the issue because fourrge arms were swinging in her direction. Kamikounched herself to her feet and took off once again. The fact that they''d caught up was certainly annoying, as was the fact she hadn''t managed to leave the bubble yet, assuming this was a bubble anyway.


    *Do I keep running or not? I can probably keep moving long enough to guarantee I leave the bubble, even if I have to run for a full day… but if they get faster based on how many of the damned things there are I might not be able to keep them at a distance. And… can they follow me out? I think Bower said, or perhaps implied they could not… but we were also separated which is outside of the norm.


    Could it be the wave of time magic? Or… or maybe there''s a piece of the drake HERE.*


    Kamiko nced backwards, searching for some sign of the taurs. She wasn''t using any demonic energy to increase her pace at the moment… yet nothing seemed to be right on her tail Which was nice, but just led to further confusion as to how the taurs could keep up at all. Kamiko clicked her tongue.


    With that new realisation that the bubble might hold a piece of the drake she wasn''t entirely sure leaving was the correct choice anymore.


    *Obviously we were heading towards one of the pieces… so this might be the correct ce. Would Meg have told us though? I have to imagine if it''s here that she would''ve… but if it''s deep in the bubble maybe it''s not that close to the entrance? I''ve already been running for a good while…


    Ok no I''m being silly. Even if the drake piece IS here there''s no way I can find it. I don''t have thepass to keep track and Meg only had the one. Though… if it is here that means the others are likely here as well looking for it. Hmm…*


    Kamiko''s thoughts were cut short when she heard a rumbling sound. Looking backwards instinctively to try and get a better read on the taurs, Kamiko quickly realised two things. The first, was that once again the sound wasing from the front. The second thing, was that it wasn''t a taur.


    Kamiko racked her brain for a few moments as she tried to figure out what the sound was, taurs likely catching up as she did so… when it clicked.


    Continue reading on empire


    Kamiko''s eyes widened as she realised an avnche wasing. It was a low rumble that kept growing in volume but with the heavy snow around dampening the sound she had no idea how to tell how far away from her position it was. Kamiko nced around desperately for a tree or something to climb only to quickly dismiss it as pointless.


    She couldn''t see shit and despite her straight line sprint, she''d not seen any sign of nts in the bubble.


    "Um… um…" Kamiko nced backwards again. The taurs would be here soon… probably. Going forward was out. Sideways? Kamiko nodded and took off running to the right. It let her get further away from the taurs as she tried to work out what to do.


    I''m not trained for this! What are you meant to do in an avnche?! I doubt it''s powerful enough to do serious damage to me but if I get trapped somehow the taurs might be able to finish me off. I could dig a bunker? But that would probably take too long. Dammit.


    *Will the taurs be able to deal with the avnche? This is clearly their native habitat but I don''t know howmon avnches are dammit! Do I have anything in this ring? No not really… hmm… got some crates… would they stand up to the force of an avnche? Could I jump over it? I''ve got no idea how big it is… but probably?*


    The rumbling was getting closer and Kamiko was getting more certain as to the distance. It was just about to be upon her and she still had no good ideas. The jump seemed like the best way to avoid the avnche, but if the taurs managed to bull through it they''d likely be at hernding zone ready to catch her.


    Deciding that was a risk she was willing to take Kamiko reached into the ring and pulled out antern. A momentter she''d thrown it in the direction of the avnche. Kamiko bent her knees and got ready, watching the faint light as closely as she could. As Kamiko was getting ready to jump the taurs let out a yell behind her, locking her legs in ce as she fell forward.


    Kamiko''s eyes went wide in panic as she craned her neck upwards to see the light had gone out.


    NO! Kamiko knew she didn''t have time anymore; her muscles hadn''t fully recovered and they weren''t going to do so in time. The avnche was upon her. Kamiko summoned one of the crates she''d been eyeing and pulled it over her head with shaky a shaky arm just as the avnche hit. The crate itself was nothing special, just made from generic wood as far as Kamiko knew.


    The only saving grace was that so far, Kamiko had found NOTHING. No trees, no rocks. Just snow. Hopefully that meant the only thing in the avnche was ice.


    Kamiko heard it when something mmed into the side of the crate, lifting it slightly before Kamiko yanked it back down, the inside already half filled with snow. Kamiko could hear it as massive amounts of snow impacted the crate but it wood seemed to be holding up so far… just had to hope the taurs didn''t get to her before it was safe to leave… and the box held up.