Not So Easily Lost

“Come on, girl. You can’t run forever!”

Aeron was absolutely furious. She had already traveled across what had to be a half a dozen countries to get out of Bellum, and for some reason her pursuers had managed to follow her all the way out this far. Thana had been certain that they wouldn’t come after them through the vast expanse of Desierto, but here she was three countries over in Seven and these men were still after her.

The body that belonged to Trinity currently looked nothing like the woman’s normal aesthetic. Her long pink and brown hair had been changed out for extremely short brunette locks that barely reached her ears. Mismatched eyes had been traded for ones that shared the same bright blue hue. Though Aeron was merely one of three personalities that inhabited the body of Trinity, the magic they shared allowed that body to be shaped and altered to nearly any look they wanted, allowing the two unnatural personalities to present themselves to the world how they believed they looked.

Unfortunately, those who pursued her now knew what their prey looked like in all three of her main forms.

“Shove it up your ass, Karsson!” she yelled back angrily at the man that had called out to her. Gods, how had they even found her? It had to be Thana. That stupid woman couldn’t help but draw attention to herself. She was always getting Aeron in trouble, going out of her way to toy with and murder people for the hell of it just to keep herself entertained. Aeron couldn’t could the number of times she’d needed to ditch garments and steal new ones because the old had been soaked in blood after the insanity that Thana dragged her into. No doubt they’d just had to follow the trail of bodies to reach her.

She bobbed and weaved her way through the trees of the dense forest that the country was known for, altering the mass of her body to allow herself to move as swiftly as possible. Karsson’s greatest strength was speed, and she would have to stay on top of her game if she wanted to keep outrunning him long enough to lose him.

She chanced a glance behind her to see what kind of headway she was making, and it was in this single action that she slipped up. Aeron felt something shift beneath her feet and turned around just in time for a wide net to snap up around her. She gasped in surprise as her body got swept up into the air, yelling in fury as she bounced in her hempen prison as it swung from the boughs of the tree above her. The netting glowed briefly and she felt her body revert to its usual state, its density returning to normal and her eyes and long hair shifting back to the typical pink and brown hues. “What the hell?”

Aeron struggled in the netting, trying to loosen herself from it. Nothing. She tapped into her magic, calling out to the hag whose sharp claws and teeth would easily slice through the rough material. Instead when she reached out for her pools of power she found herself grasping at nothing just before a violent jolt of electricity surged through her body. Aeron screamed in pain, her form seizing as the energy coursed through her veins. By the time it ended she was gasping for breath and clutching desperately to the ropes to try and steady herself as her muscles spasmed.

“Bet that didn’t feel very good, now did it, girlie?” She glared down at the man standing below her. Karsson was not an altogether unattractive man. He had long brown hair that he kept swept back into a loose braid, and bright emerald eyes. He dressed very flatteringly, and was often quick to smile. However, he had a cocky attitude about him that made him ugly to her, the type of man that strutted about like he was entitled to everything he could possibly want. Aeron growled down at him and he chuckled. “Come on, Trinity. This would be so much easier if you just behaved.

“Stop calling me that!” she spat at him angrily.

“Cut her down,” Karsson said, turning to one of the two men with him and ignoring her completely. “Darius is going to be quite pleased when he learns that we were able to capture his prized fighter.” Aeron’s eyes went wide with fear. She scrambled to try and stand up in the netting, stretching her hand through and trying to grab ahold of the branch over her head so that she wouldn’t fall once the rope was cut. Out she reached, getting close enough that her fingers brushed against the rough bark.

Then, she felt the netting drop beneath her and she plummeted several feet to the ground, landing with a hard thud. Aeron cried out in pain and rage, momentarily stunned from the drop. As her vision cleared she saw Karsson kneeling over her with his smug grin. “He’s got several good fights lined up for you. Looking forward to you coming back home.”

“That shit hole is not my home!” With a growl she lunged a hand out, once more trying to tap into her power only to find another electric shock crackling through her body. Again Aeron screamed. She was gasping heavily when the effect wore away, her limbs feeling weak and stiff.

Karsson’s chuckle broke through the ringing in her ears. “You always were a stubborn one. Had to be to survive the game this long. That’s why you’re so valuable, you know. But you would do better to listen now: This netting is magically enhanced to cut you off from your magic. Every time you try to use it, you’re going to get shocked for your efforts. Learn that the hard way if you must. You always do. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He motioned to one of the men, who grabbed the lead rope and started dragging her after them. Though Seven was full of lush trees and soft grass, it was not devoid of stones and sharp sticks and other such things found on forest floors that weren’t entirely compatible with flesh. She picked up several cuts and bruises, her dirty rags becoming even more saturated with dirt and producing several more holes than they previously had.

Aeron stayed silent for a long time, curled up into a desperate ball in the netting as her mind scrambled to deny the fact that this was actually happening. It felt like hours that they pulled her along the forest floor until they reached one of Seven’s many druidic cities scattered throughout the natural land. “Just tie her up there,” Karsson said, pointing to a tree a few dozen yards out of site of the city. “We can stop to get something to eat. No need for anyone to see her while we pass by.”

She was tied to the trunk of a rather large tree and told to behave, which a not so gentle reminder about what would happen if she tried to use magic. They seemed pretty confident that she would be fine on her own, as they didn’t leave anyone to guard her. Once Aeron was by herself, she snagged a sharp looking rock from the ground and furiously set to trying to cut the ropes. Not only did they not so much as fray, but she noticed after a bit that the rock was actually the item that was grinding away into nothing. Apparently, the ropes also had some kind of spell on them that prevented them from being cut.

Frustrated she threw the rock and heard it splash in a nearby puddle. A bunch of the water sprayed her, which only made her more angry. But then she paused. Her eyes lingered on the puddle, then moved to the tree, and back to the puddle. “This is a stupid idea,” she growled to herself, but desperation had made her willing to accept all options, even the ones that might get her killed.

Carefully, she rolled over in the netting until she was submerged in the sizable puddle. Electricity and water did not mix, and Aeron knew this was going to hurt like a son of a bitch, but with any luck it would work. With her knees in the water and her entire lower body soaked, she reached out with her hands and wrapped them as far as they could reach around the tree. Taking a deep breath to brace herself, Aeron once more dove into her power.

Lightning shot through her, making every nerve feel like it was on fire. She bit off another scream, though tears of pain streamed down her face as she held on, refusing to stop. The electricity jumped all over her flesh, sparking along the trunk of the tree and leaving behind little smokey tendrils. Aeron was going through about as much agony as she could bare, but it wasn’t enough. She needed more.

Throwing all caution to the wind, she reached as deep into her magical reserves as she could. The electricity shot so violently through her that she could hear it humming in the air. The netting was glowing like crazy, the shine from it burning brighter and brighter the further she swam into the pools of her power. The tree was starting to warm and smoulder a bit. Just a little more, she told herself. With one final bellow, she surged her magic into the netting, forcing a violent expulsion of electricity through her body and into the tree.

The tree exploded.

Aeron was thrown forcefully back so quickly that she didn’t even process it until after she was struggling to sit up. Her own body was streaked with soot and some of her hair was burning. Her clothes had been all but entirely destroyed. Thankfully, as she looked around with unsteady eyes, she noticed that the net was in tatters around her. Somehow, she’d managed to over power it with more magical energy than it could properly channel.

She could hear yelling coming from the town, which could not have missed the sound, nor could the residents mistake the smell of smoke and fire that was starting to fill the area. What was left of the trunk was quickly smouldering into flames, and several of the large and small splinters around the forest were charred and on fire. It was only a matter of time before Karsson and his men came back out to track her down. She needed to cause a bigger distraction to keep everyone preoccupied.

Picking up one of the burning shards in each hand, Aeron scrambled into the city. She wasted no time setting fire to everything that looked like it would catch -- which was nearly everything, given that the town was built into the plant life of the forest. Behind her, the shattered tree was fully inflamed and catching other nearby trees on fire as well. It wasn’t long before the whole town was screaming for the help of water mages to keep the whole area from burning to the ground.

Karsson and his men stumbled out of a burning building, coughing on the choking fumes. Aeron waited just long enough to catch Karsson’s eye as her body shifted once more to the short haired, freckled brunette that Aeron viewed herself to be. She raised a middle finger to him. Then, she shrank to the size of a pixie as wings sprouted from her back. As Karsson cursed, Aeron flew up into the air and out of sight, fleeing above the treelines and using the smoke as cover so he couldn’t see which direction she’d gone.

With any luck, this time she’d lose him for good. Aeron would rather die than go back to Bellum, where Darius waited to treat her like bait and property. She was free now. Both her and Thana had seen to that, and she would kill herself before returning to that hell hole of a caravan.