Chapter 7 At Least It Can't Get Any Worse

"Run!"

He could only hear her. The light she unleashed blinded him as well as the goblins but he wasn't exactly worried. He knew what a flash bang was and had been on the receiving end of it multiple times in his training.

His mother believed experience was the best teacher.

'What doesn't kill you….'

He got the idea.

So he knew his vision would return in a few hours, a bit longer for the goblins.

He quietly followed behind the strange girl after she pulled him out of that mess. Although he couldn't see, it didn't really affect him as his uncanny ability fed him all the information he needed for three hundred meters.

His mother often joked he saw better with his eyes closed.

They'd been running a while, and from what he could tell, the goblins hadn't caught up yet. He couldn't be sure they weren't still on their tail. They could simply just be outside his range. 

From their direction he knew she was headed to the nearest fort and at this pace it'd take them two days if they could keep it.

Unfortunately they cannot.

Ezra could already feel exhaustion creeping in and his lumen reserves were almost gone, soon he wouldn't even have enough to keep his body hot enough to endure the cold.

He could sense she was in the same situation, she's been slowing down for a while now. She'd no doubt been fighting for hours like him and even beastmen need rest.

But resting meant the goblins catching up.

He didn't get a chance to think of something though.

"Stop!"

The slowed a moment, confusion and a bit of annoyance visible on her face as she turned to look at him.

"Why should I…"

He didn't let her finish, he reached for her immediately, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards him just as a giant boulder landed right in front of them.

BOOM!

She crashed into him with more force than he expected thanks to the shockwave from the impact and the snow it sent their way.

He sensed it immediately as it entered the area three hundred meters above them. At first he was confused, a foreign object the size of a house was coming from the sky. He had seconds to process what it was and react.

Luckily for him, the snow cushioned them from any serious injuries but buried them in the process. Unfortunately, that hit knocked out whatever energy he thought he had left.

It took a while just to dig himself out of the snow and pull her out as well, the hit knocked her out and he laid her on her back and he fell down beside her, breathing heavily.

His body screamed for him to rest but his instincts were ringing the warning bells. There's no way a boulder that size magically appeared just to fall on their path.

It was certainly thrown and he knew the only thing around that had enough power to pull that off.

'The Troll'

When they started running, he had hoped old man Dax and the other ascendant would either keep it busy long enough for them to escape or better yet, kill the damn thing.

'No such luck'

The Troll clearly knew their location and no doubt the hobs and goblins were closing in on them quickly.

They needed to keep moving and the situation was not favorable in the slightest. He was exhausted, temporarily blind and the girl was unconscious so he'll have to carry her from here on out.

"At least it can't get any worse."

He stupidly said that out loud and immediately scolded himself. He was about to force himself back up when he sensed it, felt it and heard it; something was breaking.

His ability told him there was a space beneath them, a large one and that boulder had destabilized the area.

"Shit!" He yelled as the whole area immediately shattered, sending him, the girl, the snow and the trees around them into a massive hole.

---

He woke with his sight returned as the first thing he saw was the full moon. 

"It's night. That's not good."

He didn't know how long he was out but his body took the time to regain some energy and lumen.

He got up to look around but all he saw was darkness. From his estimate they had fallen a thousand meters and the only reason they weren't dead was because of the snow again.

"Snow might just be my lucky word." He murmured.

Then he heard movements and some groaning.

'Oh, the girl.'

He didn't bother looking for her. His ability told him exactly where she was and in what condition. She had a few scraps but aside from that she was fine.

"Hello, again." He said cheerfully as she pulled herself out of the snow and dirt.

She groaned some more as she placed a hand on her head as she slowly opened her eyes.

"You might have a concussion, I'd suggest sitting back down but something tells me the monsters are going to be here soon."

He approached her slowly, like one would a wild animal.

"Where am I, what is this place?"

She turned every which way, probably trying to figure out their surroundings but all around them was dirt, broken trees and snow, illuminated in a circle by the moon. Everything beyond that was darkness.

"Probably one of those old temples."

He could feel her tense as he said those words. He couldn't blame her though, being in a temple in their condition was most likely a death sentence.

But Ezra was feeling really good about this one.

Why?

Well they've been here a while and nothing has tried to kill them.

"Why do you think that?"

"Just a feeling."

He wasn't ready to tell her what a freak he was or maybe a part of him didn't want to reveal all his cards just yet to the beautiful beastman that's likely stronger and faster than him.

But he was sure they were in a temple. His ability told him what lurked in the dark around them and for now it was nothing but rodents and pathways with carvings on them just like the ones his mother had told him about in her stories of her time in the army.

"But we do need to get moving."

"Wait, what happened, how did we get down here?"

"Oh you know, just the occasional falling giant boulder. Definitely tossed our way by that Troll."

"Which means….. it's definitely on its way."

"Correct, so we should get moving."

"Moving where? There's no way we're getting up there and the only other option is going deeper into the temple which is crazy. That hallway is definitely booby trapped or something."

"You can see the hallway?" 

"A little bit."

"I heard the beastmen had great sight even in the dark. That's pretty cool."

She raised an eyebrow at that comment which made him feel like he said the wrong thing.

"It'll be useless as we go deeper. Not even I can see in total darkness."

But Ezra smiled. "Don't worry, we'll be fine on that front."

"What? How do you know?"

He could sense light crystals further down but he couldn't just tell her that.

"My mom told me these temples are usually illuminated by light crystals. I'm sure we'll see them as we head further."

Not necessarily a lie. His mother had told him of the strange light crystals she found in the various military expeditions she joined into temples. 

The girl considered him for a moment, eyes filled with suspicion before sighing.

"Okay, I gue

ss we have no other choice."

"Wonderful" he smiled and she scowled a little as the two of them slowly walked away from the moonlight and into the dark.