Chapter 344 Fates Gift Part 1 (1/2)

I ran through the forest, but not towards the Ortava. I was running towards western direction. The reinforcements must've stopped to check the corpses, because the distance between us increased. 'I don't know how many of them are there, and for how long they will persist' I thought.

I ran, and ran and ran. With a few short stops to refill my energy. 'They are still on my tail. They must've brought some kind of person who can track me' I thought. I tried to leave as little disturbances on my way as possible, but they were still able to track me somehow. 'It cannot be the smell. I checked, and there are no foreign smells on me. No Formations were placed on me either. How the hell are they able to track me?' I asked myself.

I used my Natural Path skill, which should decrease the tracks. But due to the speed, I might've left some anyway. 'In that case, I will go slower. If they can still track me, then it must be something else' I thought. I made my way through the forest, without disturbing anything. My speed suffered a bit, but not enough, for them to catch up.

When I stopped to rest in the evening, I waited. One hour, two hours… 'Impossible! They are still able to track me' I thought. I wasn't sure how, there were no tracks left, for them to track me. It wasn't my smell, nor was it a Formation. 'Just what the…' I thought, and realised something. 'The skies!' I exclaimed in my mind.

I scoured the skies for anything that was suspicious. 'There' I thought. A bird was flying around my location. Not only that, it was also looking at my general position. 'So that's how they were able to track me' I thought, and took out my bow. The bird noticed my actions, and immediately flew away. 'That bastard is well trained for sure' I thought, and shot one arrow after the other. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to kill the bird, it was to agile for my archery skills.

'No matter, I now know how they were able to track me down. I will get my chance to kill that bird sooner or later' I thought, and left that area. I still headed west, but a bit more south west this time. The pursuers were still onto me, and chased me like a plague. On the third day of pursue, I finally managed to kill the bird. Unfortunately, they had two more of them.

'I need to get rid of those birds. Otherwise, I will never escape' I thought. There was one more solution. I could set up a trap, with the use of Yellow Dust. I still had a bag full of that stuff. 'I can easily get rid of them, but I want to conserve my Yellow Dust. I might need it a lot more in the future' I thought. I decided to try and get rid of the birds first, if I couldn't do it, I would set up a trap.

Running straight for a few days without any sleep, tired me out quite a bit. I decided to run through the night, then rest. I avoided any populated areas, for obvious reasons. Although I could potentially hide inside a village, I could also be located more easily. It wasn't worth the risk. I arrived at a river in the morning, and took a look at the skies. 'No birds so far. This can change quickly. Either way, they should be tired too. I need to get some rest' I thought, and I climbed a tall tree. The crown of the tree hid me pretty well, the birds wouldn't be able to spot me easily.

I closed my eyes and rested. Although the danger didn't pass, I had to get some rest. I slept lightly for about four hours. When I opened my eyes, I had a look at the skies again. I noticed something after a while. 'There they are' I thought. The birds flew towards my location, but I wasn't spotted yet. I quietly took out my bow, and notched an arrow. I took aim, and waited. The birds suddenly split. One flew further towards west, while the other continued towards me. This was my chance.

My target was the bird heading towards me. I still waited for the other bird, to fly further west, before I released my arrow. 'Now!' I thought, and released the arrow. The arrow created very little sound, as it flew through the air. The bird didn't even realise what hit it. The arrow pierced right through it, and the bird crashed to the ground. 'One down, one more to go' I thought, and stayed still. The other bird must've felt something, and turned around.

Its companion was gone. The bird decided to head back, probably to save its life, report the general location where the other bird died. I didn't try my luck, and allowed the bird to leave. Moreover, I learned where its master was, or at least its master's general location. 'They have one last bird left, at least to my knowledge. Then I can finally escape' I thought. I jumped down from the tree, and headed west again. For some reason, I didn't spot that bird for another two days. I even thought that they finally gave up, but I was wrong.