Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 41

Finally making it to the area of the academy where the other students were evacuating; Dante found an isolated alley, Blinked down, then walked out to join the crowded streets.

Everyone completely ignored him, which he was more than thankful for. They all seemed to be too busy dealing with their own problems. It was rare to find someone who wasn’t lugging around baggage, loading a cart, or just leaving the academy.

There were so many students and workers that were continuously leaving the academy that they formed a rough line leading all the way toward Kenguard. He watched them for a moment, checking to see if any guards were checking the evacuating students, but there didn’t seem to be any.

After making sure things seemed safe, Dante hopped into the line of students exiting the academy.

Their pace was slow, everyone moved at an easy walk to match the burdened wagons that were being pulled by their small horses. He had to resist the urge to move faster, if he were still in range of the Calmans trackers when they found out that he escaped, things would go badly.

Tracker Classifications were rare, Lord Tibbott was one of the few lords in the region around Alazel who had one as a retainer, but he had no doubt that the Calmans had multiple. They were likely even more proficient in tracking than Lord Tibbott’s, who could track a scent for miles.

It made hiding somewhere nearby like Kenguard, which would have been stupid anyway, impossible. Not only that, but it also made every minute count. The time that he spent slowly walking with the crowd could be the time that he needed to get outside of the trackers’ range.

Dante released a sigh, there was nothing that he could do. Drawing attention to himself by running through the crowd would only end poorly. So, walking at the slow pace of the crowd, he made his way toward Kenguard.

“Don’t be afraid, they can’t hurt us anymore.”

Dante tried not to release a groan. That was the fifth time that she had told him not to be afraid. He didn’t know what could have possessed her to walk beside a fully cloaked figure that she didn’t know.

Who raised her?

Eliza’s brown eyes were lit up with excitement. “Greg said that the fighting can’t hurt us if we leave the academy.”

Dante glanced over at Eliza as she walked by his side. After he joined the line of refugees fleeing the academy, he had somehow attracted the attention of the small girl next to him. “Why don’t you go walk with Greg?”

Eliza stopped walking, and he could see her eyes turn red and begin to water. “Greg died. Someone accidentally killed him when the fighting started”

Dammit. Why would you even bring him up then?

The last thing he wanted was to make a small girl, who couldn’t be more than eight years old, cry. But he had no idea how to stop her. “Uh, why don’t you go walk with your parents?”

Surprisingly it worked. Eliza immediately stopped tearing up, and her expression turned stubborn. She even began to pout. “I don’t want to.”

He couldn’t believe her sudden change in attitude, but he wasn’t going to complain about it. “Won't they get worried that you're lost if he doesn’t find you?”

Eliza crossed her arms over her chest. “I didn’t get lost. I ran away.”

Dante stopped walking. “What?”

Eliza said each word slowly, as if talking to an imbecile. “I ran away.”

“Why would you run away… and where are your parents?” They had now traveled for several hours, and most of the groups had already stopped to set up camp. If her parents were still at the academy… that would be bad.

She gave him a proud smile. “They are still at the academy.”

Of course they are…

Dante cleared his throat. “And why would you run away?”

Eliza stuck her tongue out at him. “Our house was gone, and I couldn’t find them.”

He paused mid-step. “Come again?”

Eliza shrugged. “Mommy sent me out to get water from the well, and when I came back our house was smashed and I couldn’t find her or daddy.”

He looked at Eliza for a moment, wondering if she understood the possible implications behind her house being crushed. It was even possible that she knew that something had happened to her parents and was just blocking it out. It would make sense, her personality seemed to erratic and bipolar for someone so young.

Dante let out a sigh, he wanted to help, but he was about to break away from the group he had been traveling next to. It had taken hours, but they had finally made it past the vast farmlands and were now traversing a road surrounded by a dense forest. He didn’t have time to deal with Eliza.

“Listen to me.” Dante glanced over to make sure he had the focus of her limited attention span. “As soon as the groups begin to move in the morning, you need to find a group to travel with. It isn’t safe to wander around alone.”

At his words, Eliza just rolled her eyes. “Obviously, why do you think I’m walking next to you. Without me, who knows what kind of trouble you would have already gotten into?”

Dante rubbed his eyes in irritation. “Alright, fair point. I need to go relieve myself, wait here for me.”

He felt terrible for it, but he wasn’t in a position to help Eliza. So with no other options, he decided that the sooner he left her the better. He made his way into the dense underbrush of the forest. Then, as soon as he got out of sight, he used his Agility to move as quickly as possible while utilizing his Dexterity to narrowly avoid any obstacle in his path.

He had made it out of the academy cleanly, now he just needed to get outside of the trackers’ range.

Tabitha Tolli

Tabitha looked over the groups of people that were finally settling down for the night and sighed. She was more than ready to have this debacle over with.

Her father seemed to be losing his mind. He had been sending her away from the academy to perform every mundane task he could find, like escorting the refugees to Kenguard.

A rider came into view, riding hard as he came towards them. It was Edwin, who had just come back from scouting ahead. “There seems to be a problem, my lady.”

Tabitha looked at him expressionlessly. “Why didn’t you take care of it?”

Edwin looked embarrassed. “I was going to… but it seemed improper given the girls mood.”

Tabitha’s eyebrow arched. “Oh? Lead on then.”

She found the girl only a few minutes up the road, a short ride away, and exactly where Edwin had said he found her.

She could see why Edwin had been reluctant to deal with the situation, the girl was ferociously crying while she paced back and forth along the forest edge. Tabitha cleared her throat. “What are you doing?”

When the girl saw Tabitha, she sobbed even harder. “He’s dead.” The girl ran up to her, latching onto her clothing and crying into it. She was taken aback by the sudden contact. The girl didn’t seem to have any understanding of what was socially acceptable.

The small girl was completely ruining the expensive coat with her tears, but despite the lack of interest in her expression, she had a rather soft spot for children. Seeing her distressed, she felt a need to do something. Tabitha sighed. “Who’s dead?”

“I was walking with-” The girl paused to heave large mouthfuls of breath between her sobs. “now he’s dead, just like Greg” She continued to breathe heavily, unable to get the words out while she cried.

Tabitha put her hands on the girl’s shoulders, trying to calm her. “Calm down, or I can’t do anything to help.”

The girl was still breathing heavily, but she took a moment to collect herself so she could speak. “He went into the woods and said he would be right back, but he didn’t-” She couldn’t finish the sentence, and instead started to sob into Tabitha’s clothing again as she pointed into the woods.

Tabitha let out another sigh, then turned toward Edwin. “Can you track him.”

Edwin went to examine the underbrush of the forest, then turned back to her and nodded.

“Alright, let’s get this over with.”