The mere sight of the abomination struck fear and disgust into the three hapless Sleepers.
The boys moved to flee, but it was too late. The creature scooped them up before any could think about summoning a weapon.
They screamed, the difference between them no longer mattering as they prepared to meet their end. The world spun and blurred around them, heightening their disorientation and panic.
Stella kicked wildly, his boot making contact with the creature's leathery shin. As if hitting a release valve, the three Dreamers were tossed to the ground like sacks of synthpaste. They scurried back, their bottoms dragging against the ash as they did so.
"That wasn't very nice." The creature's reptilian eyes narrowed. "Perhaps I'd better take care of you first and save myself the hassle."
"You see?!" Stella screamed. "He's trying to eat us up!" His aspect activated automatically, but to no avail.
Ignoring the change in gravity, the monster took a step forward, and his overly wide mouth frowned. "That's quite a claim. Hm, you three are far too bony for a good meal. Although..."
An inhuman hiss escaped as the monster scratched his protruding chin.
"Stop gawking and start fighting!" Grass came to his senses as sparks formed in his hand.
A moment later, a throwing star sailed at the abomination. It was plucked from the air by a clawed hand.
The monster used it to pick something from his teeth. "Thank you. I needed that after my last meal. That candidate was scrumptious but a little too chewy."
Galvanized into action, the other two boys summoned weapons and charged at the reptilian monster with all their might.
The creature shook his head. He batted away Ashincan's great sword. The young man was shocked to see that his proficiency Aspect had been countered so easily.
Having rendered two of the boy's attacks useless, the reptilian beast then tugged Stella's axe from his hand.
"This will do nicely." The monster flipped the axe around and used it to scratch his scarred back. "Just for that, I'll give you a minute."
"A minute?" Stella furrowed his brow.
"You can have a minute head start before I track you down, and then the real fun can begin..." The monster's yellow eyes flashed.
"When you say f-fun..." Ashican stuttered. "W-what kind of..."
The reptile tossed the axe aside lazily. "One. Two. Three..."
"Come on!" Grass took off across the plain. He pushed his feet against the ground, sending ash flying into the air. Beside him, he heard two others gasping for breath as they rushed to catch up.
"This way!" Ashican directed them with his goggles. With his Memory, he could see the outline of a city in the distance.
Where were they, and where had the Academy gone? Was this a hallucination? The lightheaded feeling they had experienced with the monster grabbed hold of them could have been some method of mind control.
But if it wasn't, and that city really was his only salvation? Then they needed to move, and fast.
In the distance, a voice echoed across the plain. "Thirty-one, thirty-two..."
"It's too far! We will never make it in time," Ashican lamented as he calculated the distance.
"Then take one for the team and slow him down!" Grass yelled over one shoulder.
"Don't try to annoy us into making a mistake." Stella shook his head. "Run!"
The trio sped toward the wide flat spot and pressed into their power. The countdown continued behind them. Each second passed like a blink and an eternity as they tried to leave the ash behind in favor of the hard-packed frozen ground.
"Fifty-Nine!..."
The counting fell silent. The only sound was the boys' ragged breath and their footsteps beating against the ground.
Ashican glanced behind him, expecting to see the monster crawling across the ground at them or even bounding like a dog. But there was no one in sight. The dark expanse was empty.
"Did he..." Stella missed a step as something swiped at his foot.
"Tsk, don't slow down. I'm not the only monster out here, you know."
The voice sounded like it was all around them. If the creature had closed the space in a blink, how could they possibly outrun him?
"Ah!" Grass ducked as something screeched and threatened to take off his cap...or his head!
"It can fly!" Ashican placed his hands over his head. They were not safe from any direction, and the creature was toying with them.
"It? Hmph! I should remove your neck just for that, shouldn't I?"
Stella and Grass exchanged glances as they ran. Was the monster asking their permission?
"Please don't!" Ashican summoned a set of armor as he sprinted. He had not wanted the sparks to draw the monster's attention before, but there was no reason to try to hide now.
The helmet would protect him from another aerial attack, but if that thing got a hold of him...
The ash became solid as the trio reached the delineation between the plains and the tundra. The mountains were growing closer, and the glowing smoke from the distant volcano placed the city in stark relief.
The sound of snapping at their heels made them reluctant to look back, and if they stepped off the path, maniacal laughter threatened to make them go absolutely mad. The attacks from above were infrequent, but the hideous scritching that accompanied them was enough to warn the boys off of looking up to find the source.
There was only one escape.
Forward.
Even that wasn't a guarantee.
But it was their only hope.
"Slowing down? What a shame!" Off to one side, a ball of fire lit up the night and melted a snowbank.
"He has fire?!" Stella screamed.
"What else do you expect? He's the devil himself!" Grass shoved against the other boy's shoulder as he passed.
"The devil, you say? Devilishly handsome, perhaps..." the voice rumbled around them like thunder this time.
Ashican ducked as another fireball whizzed past. "Don't taunt him. It's only making things worse!"
The minutes stretched into an interminable run. None of the boys could say how long or far they had traveled, only that it wasn't far enough. The phantom of the night chased them.
Finally, when the boys could take it no longer, they collapsed on the ground in an untidy heap.
The monster was too powerful and unknowable. They could not go another step.
"Make it quick!" Grass pressed his face to the ground. He did not want to see his own death coming.
The monster loomed over them. "Tsk, you almost made it too. I suppose there is nothing to be done about it. Who's ready for a barbecue?"
The boys covered their heads as an immolating heat filled the space all around them, sucking even the oxygen from their lungs.
When the flames abated, the monster held a roasted leg in his hand and took a bite. "Delicious. You should really try it."
Stella looked to see which of his unfortunate friends was the creature's first snack, but both of them were fully intact. When he looked back at the abomination, it was gone.
A few tense moments passed, during which the boys waited for the creature to appear and renew his assault.
Instead, they saw the light of a torch in the distance rushing towards them.
Having seen the light, the figure of an Awakened came cautiously forward to examine the scene.
When he found three hapless Dreamers babbling about a monster, he brought them back to the gate for examination.
Then, as dawn finally broke, they were escorted to the Jade Palace and the gateway there.
They were the Academy's problem now.