บท 202: Chapter 200
"Vefir, push to the left and back two more steps! Rulac, you go another three steps after Vefir approaches! Sybil, Foire, and Took, spread yourselves out more, but make sure not to stray! We're going to continue pushing onward at this same pace!"
Even though we were running at a near sprint, I didn't tire at all. I hadn't eaten more than a mouthful of goat, but even that had almost felt needless. I wasn't sure if using [Fanatic's Fortitude] for such a prolonged time was just making sure I would be absolutely exhausted once I was forced to deactivate the [Skill], but the swarm needed it. After a painfully slow feeding, I'd forced the swarm to rush onward as the suns set once again over us. Over a full day without more than cursory stops, and who could say when the opportunity for recovery would come.
With seven khatif, presumably, with [Fanatic's Fortitude], I'd immediately set to experimenting with how the aura would be able to spread across as much and as many as possible. Near as I could figure, if another person with the ability to amplify the aura was within my aura's range, then they would project their own aura that complemented and was complemented by my own beyond that. If we all spread ourselves as broadly as possible, we could spread the effects of the aura to about 400 feet. Within that space, the keelish and khatif alike were fortified by the [Skill]'s active effect and ran with greater strength and determination than ever before, even when we'd only recently left our old home.
400 feet long and at most 80 feet wide. My mind ran the calculations and quickly settled onto the fact that, with nearly 100 keelish dead at the hands of the damned hunter, to say nothing of the other reasons my followers had fallen, we could all fit within the influence of [Fanatic's Fortitude]. I had let my hope grow stronger and greater then. After all, even if there was an eventual price to pay, if we could move so tirelessly and continuously, nothing would be able to catch us. Then, an hour or so later, Wisterl's aura abruptly died. All the keelish surrounding her immediately flagged, the effects of running for nearly two days without rest or filling their stomachs making themselves immediately apparent. The exhausted, starving members of my swarm pressed in, hoping to find some solace by entering back into the auras provided by a member of the six still able to activate [Fanatic's Fortitude].
At most half an hour later, Foire couldn't support the [Skill] any longer. Then, not long after him, Rulac's aura died. It hadn't taken long before at least half of the swarm was now unable to be bolstered. I continued on in the journey, showing no mercy or hesitation. After all, the choices were pushing through exhaustion or death. An easy choice, if you asked me.
Took's aura dropped without any warning, and the weakest keelish began to be left behind on the march. Halfhearted cries of "Wait for me!" and "Please, just let me in!" were ignored by the rest of the swarm, and before long, dozens of completely spent bodies littered the path made by hundreds of tromping keelish feet.
As the first light of the suns began to show appear in the skies in front of us, Sybil's aura dropped, leaving just myself and Vefir. Only those of my elites and their direct supporters could fit comfortably within the influence of our two auras, and we were pressed cheek to jowl trying to press onward at the same blistering pace. After her aura petered out, Sybil had unsurprisingly run next to me and whispered what I'd already thought, her voice labored even under the influence of my [Fanatic's Fortitude] aura.
"You can abandon us. Those too slow and weak to escape. You should use us as a distraction to this force that you say is implacable; make the sacrifice necessary to survive, and once you grow to heights we never could have dreamed of, avenge us."
There was more of me than I cared to admit that wanted to do just that. So much of this swarm was easily replaceable, especially with my [Evolutionary Exemplar]. All the keelish could be forgotten and used to slow or distract the High Speakers in favor of the khatif. The dregs left behind would be slaughtered without even a prayer of being able to do anything about it, but they could give us enough time to find some avenue of escape. After all, I could understand, though whether through [Pack Tactics] or mere intuition I couldn't tell, that the squad hunting us was small in number, and desperate to stop us quickly. The Callings of the Windspeaker were either from a High Speaker beyond my comprehension, or from a person desperate to kill those he found as soon as possible.
A High Windspeaker making this much noise this consistently was overexerting himself, and maybe we could exploit that to survive. I looked at the swarm around me to evaluate what survivors remained and how much energy remained within them. As I watched, three more keelish dropped out of the run, too exhausted to do anything more than to simply allow their legs to give in. More of my swarm flopped to the ground, and I knew we couldn't continue. If nothing else, we needed to figure out what we needed to do to allow all seven of us with the [Skill] to be able to use it again.
I lost myself in thought, but slowed to nothing much more than a walk as I thought. Did we need to rest? Or was it just food? Before I could think more deeply about it, a keelish, old enough that his scales had begun to ship and wear away, stepped close to me.
"Alpha."
"What is it?"
"It… is good to… serve the swarm. I… am old. Cannot continue. Kill me. Add my strength… to the swarm. Escape the monsters. Survive."
So surprised by his words that I stopped walking, I looked at the old male. His voice and eyes were resolute, but unable to continue. I didn't know how he had made it this far, but I could guarantee there was something that had helped him along. Before I could gather any thoughts, he repeated himself. "Add my strength… to the swarm." He sagged to his knees, unable to support his weight any longer. I gritted my teeth.
"What is your name, old one?"
"Never… got one." There was the barest hint of laughter in his voice. "Too… stupid. Didn't… deserve it." He locked eyes with me. "Please. Let me serve."
"Tashia. I'm sorry. Thank you." As I gave the old man a name, he closed his eyes and sighed in relief. He didn't say a word, but smiled as a couple others of his pack stepped forward and volunteered themselves alongside him. I couldn't bear to kill them myself… but I couldn't let anyone other than myself deal the final blow. And I did.
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