THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 211: 211. ESCAPE

Sagiri remained still in the darkness. Even his eyes remained closed in the moment. He did not know whether to laugh or cry at how things had turned out or how they were going. It had been only four days since he talked to Senraki and Salka. He did not know whether this was what Senraki meant by fear could work to his advantage.

That, he would find out soon enough.

”We first have to get him out of the Galka War Academy,” Senraki said. Turns out there were underground passages within Galka Academy. sagiri had always thought that Galka Academy looked like a war fortress in the past before it became an academy. Salka had agreed to show them one. It was the one at the back of the cave that looked perfect, like a rock. Of course, this man could not come with them or talk Lira out of it. That was the name of the girl. She bore one name, just like sagiri. Salka still did not like that sagiri was walking with the enemy, but even he and Senraki could not do much at that point. He was being haunted, and if they kept standing for long, not even Salka and Senraki could get him out.

The turns led to the eastern side of the wall, and with how rocky and damp it was, the two were lucky not to find any grave scale in it. If sagiri could guess. They were in the dark cave for at least the tunnel for three hours. It was treacherous and hard to walk in, and it was with the help of Sagiri’s right eye that they were able to navigate the place. According to Salka, they were to remain in the tunnel till nightfall to move. During the day, it would be hard to evade the warriors that were now swarming not only Galka, but every inch of the roads, woods, and villages was being watched carefully. During the night, however, Sagiri had at least a chance to slip through and avoid them using his sensory abilities.

Lira had been mostly silent during the walk, and Sagiri had never been much of a talker unless it was completely necessary, and thus, the journey was silent. Perhaps if she had not been tampered with, she could have had a different personality, but the damage was already done. After nightfall, Sagiri and the girl finally left the tunnel, which had spat them out just outside the walls of the academy. They seemed to have emerged from within the roots of an ancient tree. No one could have guessed a tune to be in such a place.

Senraki had asked them not to head to Galka City at all costs and instead to go even further north before going west. Since what they were looking for was in the west. Sagiri could perceive all warriors and beasts on the way, but all he had to do was avoid them by a few hundred feet, and they could remain unseen. Lira was agile, fast, and stealthy, and the two did not have trouble avoiding most of the patrolling warriors. When they could avoid them well, they could stay hidden in total silence until they moved before continuing.

It took them almost the entire night to get all the way north at top speed. Lira had not complained of tiredness. Not once, and Sagiri had not offered their rest. This was not the time for them to rest. At some point, Sagiri had passed two blades to her. Further north, the place was even further from civilization, and the forest was thick and more treacherous. They would try to avoid all beasts as much as possible, but it was impossible to avoid all of them. Being that further north brought fond memories for sagiri. Especially when he and Salka’s team had to tame the tree snakes only to run into another enemy. The first time, he and Nokai had also acted as one. Nokai stirred at the fond memory.

Even so, Sagiri did not have time to sit and reminisce. When daylight finally broke, that’s when they stopped. There was no sign of patrolling warriors further north. Sagiri was right. Salka was right. They could not think him to have gone further north, at least they won’t search it until they have covered the more habitable places. So they had till nightfall to clear out the place. And be further north west by the end of the day. Or at least try. Sagiri could hear a running stream where they had stopped. The two did not have to talk before they headed there. They needed to quench their thirst and at least eat something. The stream was clear and untouched, and after they drank their fill, Sagiri jumped inside to scrape away the blood that had dried on his combat suit and to cool his skin for a bit. Lira’s misty grey pupils looked at him with the same barren expression, but she did not say anything or join him.

Lighting a fire was out of the question, so after the two drank enough to quench their thirst and Sagiri soaked in silence for a few minutes, Sagiri finally spoke.

”We find wild fruits to eat. We can’t hunt and light a fire here,” Sagiri said, and the girl just nodded and followed behind him. Sagiri was beginning to think that whoever sent her after him had tried to turn her into some sort of hunting beast or a dog that obeyed its master’s will. Now she was following him around like a lost puppy of some sort. They did not have time to search, but Sagiri knew that some wild fruits only grew close to some kind of trees, and so he steered them in that direction. They took a minute to pluck and eat, and even carried a few in their pockets.

A few minutes later, their journey northwest began. There might not have been civilization further north of Galka for thousands of vaara, but they would be sure to break into civilization at some point if they kept going west. Sagiri was moving faster than he had ever done, but the girl still managed to keep up. He was going slow by the archive’s standards, but if he moved that fast, then she could lose him, no doubt. The wound on his side had long recovered now. After soaking in the water on the stream for a few minutes, he was sure to have killed the smell of blood that had been hanging on him. At nightfall, the two finally broke away from the woods, and the trees started to look a bit normal. Normal in a way that perhaps some hunters came through to hunt, but did not dare go much deeper.

After three more hours of running, they could see a light. Some peculiar tribes still preferred to live further from civilization and not care about matters of Tagayia. This made them hostile to outsiders, but Sagiri did not know whether to be relieved or worried. Relieved that they might not recognize the Galka, and the Yalami academy uniform, and worried that they could start a fight.

Only one way to find out.