My calling

Author: Cornell Valentine Gainsborough

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

MAKAI! Seperates Paragraphs

Chapter 5: On the run

Nelius ran and ran fast through the trees.

Things were already not off to a good start for him. He was already wanted property back in Sirea's Netherworld, and he was probably a wanted man here. He wanted to get a good start in this world, just not in this way. Hell, it could hardly be considered a start at all; he stowed away in a box of valued goods and, unknown to him, probably just pissed off the Overlord.

As he ran, he leaped over fallen trees, jumped over small rivers, and moved with such a ferocity that he apparently caused a few old trees to sway in the direction he ran. The one thing he probably didn't realise was that he had a visitor, or, more accurately, a stalker.

He stopped for a minute or two to catch his breath. He had been running nonstop for a good fifteen minutes, and it felt like his lungs were set aflame, then tossed into an incinerator.

"Huff... hff...I think.. I'm safe." He looked around the general area. "Someone tell me I'm through with the worst of it."

"You most certainly are." A female's voice called out from around him. "The best of it's just beginning!"

"What the.." He whipped his head around in all directions, but saw nobody. "Where'd that come from?"

"I'm right here, you naughty runaway." Nelius felt a finger trace around his jawbone, freezing him up completely. Someone had come up from behind him! His arms were tightly bound by the other person's, making struggling a losing battle. "We don't get this kind of excitement often." Whoever it was, she was either playing some kind of head game or attempting to flirt with him. "Now, what could cause you to come around here and cause this kind of trouble, hmm?" Her breath could be felt on the right side of his face, her chest pressing into his back. "Well? Ohh, don't be shy. I'm not going to bite... maybe just nibble a bit." That statement caused Nelius to burst free from her grip and speed off. She giggled to herself. "Oooh, I just love it when they play hard to get. Well, I know everything about this place. He may be able to run, but there's nowhere he can hide!" With a laugh, she gave chase.

Nelius was running, not even sparing a glance behind himself to see if that girl was chasing him. He already had one bad enough experience with a girl; he didn't need another one! Unfortunately for him, he never saw what was coming next, the miserable kid. Actually sparing a glance behind himself, he certainly ran -right into the waiting arms of the huntress he escaped earlier. With a mighty "Ommf!", he found his face firmly implanted into the Elbacky's chest.

"You're certainly a bold one, aren't you?" Nelius could only see a sea of dark and light brown fur. When he looked upward into the face of his captor, his eyes grew to the size of small plates, and he tried to escape, but to no avail. It was painstakingly obvious that she was a deal stronger than he was. "There's no need to rush, right?" She looked down at him, a wide grin spreading across her face. "Now, mind telling why you're here? I'm not going to hurt you."

Nelius just gave an audible sigh. He figured that, if at least one person was listening, he may as well spill his guts before he gets turned into demon sausage. Taking a deep breath, he began.

"I had to flee my Netherworld." The Elbacky's expression changed from one of amusement to one of concern. "For a while, things seemed OK. About three years ago, though, Sirea suddenly changed."

"Sirea?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"The Overlord of my home Netherworld. She actually used to be a rather fair person, until she headed off for this exploration.." he took another breath before continuing. "When she returned, she suddenly became... hell, for a lack of a better word, irritable." He closed his eyes, remembering everything that had transpired over the past three years. "For some reason, she started to become lenient... but only to her vassals; I was the one getting stuck with all of the dirty work. She makes Overlord Priere look human by comparison."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I'm... I'm just not sure, really." Any further conversation between them was cut short by the appearance of one of Brad's search squads. Startled by this turn of events, her grasp went limp, allowing Nelius the chance he had to turn tail and run.

Thusly, the chase was on. He ran on for such a distance, taking several turns here and there, trying to throw a good number of them off of his trail; he figured that an erratic trail would be tough to follow, right?

Wrong. No matter what kind of move he made, the chasing squad would match his every move. Knowing that he couldn't outrun them forever, he decided to take a different approach, hearing the sound of running water.

The squad of Felynn stopped at the edge of the wide river that was formed by the waterfall about six miles away.

"He's gone." One of them, a red and purple Werecat, looked around.

"How'd he lose us?" Another one asked.

"Well, he can't run off too far. Let's keep looking." As they ran off in a different direction, a telltale straw moved from behind a rock near the water's surface before Nelius popped up about two minutes later.

"Never... thought... that would work." He swam over to a small outcropping of rocks where he'd hidden his bag. Finding the immediate area to be safe, he climbed out of the water, wringing out his clothes as best as he could, then reached into his bag to grab his Journal.

MAKAI!

Nelius Log Journal August 21, 33XX

I have made it to another Netherworld... but I think I pissed off a good number of the locals, including this gigantic black jaguar who appears to be the Overlord here.

I'm just not sure how long I can keep on the run before I am caught. Most of the inhabitants here are Felynn, which making straight confrontation with them a near impossibility in my current state. Though one of them seemed interested in why I was here, I don't know if I can trust her completely yet.

I guess only time will tell.

MAKAI!

He closed his Journal, noting that it was starting to finally get dark. If he wasn't too careful, this would mean that he could easily be captured. With his (still worn) clothing drted out some, he slung his bag over his shoulder and began hiking upstream. As he walked, he began to think on the events that had been going on: from popping out of that box to being chased into the thick foilage by a squad of cat demons.

Not at all the way he'd expected things to turn out; then again, when has anything ever turned out as someone expects it to go? It's one of the contemporary laws of the Universe, even in the Netherworlds.

Nelius just sighed, but he couldn't allow this to get him too far down; after all, he was here on his own personal mission. True, he did claim that he'd fled Sirea's Netherworld to find his own way in life, and he held his word to that, but there was another reason for him leaving.

"I don't care if it sounds impossible, I will find a way." His resolution was absolute; he wouldn't allow his status as a wanted man deter him from his true goal.

Finding a cave located near the waterfall, he decided to use that as a shelter for the night. The clouds above signaled a heavy portion of rain was on the way, with the 50/50 chance of lightning. Not even caring as to extract the pillow he'd swiped from his chamber in Sirea's castle, once he ventured deep enough into the cave, but close enough to see the entrance, he lazily tossed his bag onto the floor and flopped down on it, settling to sleep as the rain finally started coming down.

MAKAI!

Whew, chapters for this are really coming along at such a quick pace... wish I could do the same for my Legends story, but trying to focus on such a grand story is fairly tough.

Nevertheless, I won't be detered so easily.

Until next chapter,

Cornell Valentine Gainsborough