Rebellion: Prince of Dawn

Chapter 21.3: Go Your Own Way

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JAIME FONTOYA

The thief's friend ran parallel to him, waving and calling out his name. "Clint! Clint!"

That friend was an elf whose body was covered with patterned ink. There were complex symbols and designs linked with the god of battle on his skin. Piercing his lips, nose, and ears were an excessive number of earrings made of different metals.

The elf darted through the streets, saving his stamina by using his longer legs to take larger steps.

After calling out to him for a dozen or so seconds, Clint finally took notice and expertly tossed Ilias' purse to his friend. The thief was then hit with a slash of air from above.

Clint spun around, stirring up russet dust before locking his eyes on me. Just as he sprang forward intending to keep me from pursuing his friend, Ilias dove down from the sky, tackling him first. They tumbled along the ground with their hands wrapped around each other.

Ilias and I shared a half-second glance and knew the plan.

Since I've already gained momentum, I'll keep up my chase with the elf and get our money back.

He'll stay behind and deal with Clint.

"Get out of the way!" I yelled, ordering the sea of people to part and make way.

The area of town we were at slowly became a downward hill. The elf's long legs were perfect at keeping him balanced while I had to be careful not to stumble on the angled ground.

Should I use Intermission to catch up to him?

No, the time it takes to gain the necessary speed to catch up is not worth however many lives I have to lose.

As our chase continued, the elf snatched merchandise from the street vendors and threw them at me. Produce, vases, books, tools, chickens—anything you imagined vendors sold were thrown in my direction.

I contemplated using Clash to defend myself in case he threw knives but quickly objected. The sword would do everything in its power to defend me even if I had my eyes closed. I had no control over the sword if it decided to cut through a bystander to protect me from an apple.

Instead, I unsheathed Sting, using my own skill to slice apart all the objects thrown at me (except livestock which I simply dodged). If bystanders were within my swinging range, I used Sting's ability to phase through their bodies. This left more than a few of them frozen.

The tattooed elf seemed to outpace me the longer this chase went on.

I'm never going to catch him on foot. His long legs give him more distance and saves his stamina

"Stop! I'm not afraid to use my sword to stop you!"

He shot a glance back, almost as if he were saying, "Worry about catching up to me first."

When I spotted an almost empty cart of oranges, I hopped into it, having Sting phase through the wheels to cut the bricks securing it in place.

I tipped it to the left, manoeuvring the cart into the crowds as it slowly barrelled down the angled hill. With the dangers of a runaway cart crashing through them, the people screamed in terror as they dodged my makeshift chariot.

The cart's vendor threw up his hands, cursing at me.

"Sorry, I'll bring it back, thank you!"

Ilias' first lesson when he was teaching me how to use Water Cannon flashed in my mind.