John stood up from the rubble, his freed hands flexing, blood streaming down his back from Gregor's claw marks. His concussed brain latched onto the only strategy it had left.
Bullshit.
He dashed forward toward Gregor, arms spread wide, his voice rising to a theatrical shout.
"THANKS FOR FREEING MY HANDS! I CAN FINALLY USE MY POWER! REST IN PEACE, ALL OF YOU!"
The effect was immediate and beautiful.
Gregor's eyes went wide. His confident stance faltered. He threw his arms up in a defensive block, crouching low like he was bracing for impact from a massive spell.
The chief actually covered himself with his cape, ducking behind his throne.
Several beast folk in the crowd scrambled backward, tripping over each other.
John ran straight at them, still screaming. "AGHHHHHHHHHH!"
At the last possible second, he veered left.
Not toward Gregor. Not toward the chief. Toward where Lui and Selio were being held by guards.
The guards were distracted, watching the supposed incoming magical attack. John didn't slow down. Just scooped Selio up with one arm, the hybrid yelping in surprise, and grabbed Lui's hand with the other.
"BYEEEEEEE FUCKERSSSSSSSS!"
He yanked Lui into motion and kept running. Out of the courtyard. Into the maze of ruined buildings. His legs pumped, adrenaline overriding the pain in his back and the dizziness from his concussion.
Behind them, shouts erupted. Realization dawning. Orders being barked. The sound of pursuit starting.
But John had a head start and pure desperation fueling him.
He ran through collapsed corridors and over piles of rubble. Lui stumbled beside him, trying to keep pace. Selio squirmed in his grip but didn't fight, just held on and made worried chirping sounds.
"Where are we going?!" Lui gasped.
"Away! Just away!"
They burst out of the ruined city into wilderness. Trees. Underbrush. And the sound of running water.
A river. The same one where Marcus had found John? Maybe. All rivers looked the same when you were running for your life.
John hit the riverbank and turned to follow it downstream. Water meant direction. Water meant potential escape routes. Water meant they weren't leaving an easy trail.
His lungs burned. His back screamed with every movement, the deep claw marks flexing and tearing with each stride. But he didn't stop. Couldn't stop.
Lui kept pace beside him, his lesser male build surprisingly good at endurance running. Selio had stopped struggling and just clung to John like a particularly large, semi aquatic backpack.
Five minutes of running. Ten. Fifteen.
The sounds of pursuit faded behind them. Either they'd lost them in the ruins or the beast folk were regrouping for an organized hunt.
Finally, John's legs gave out. He stumbled to a stop beside the river, gasping, his vision swimming with black spots.
"I think... we're safe... for now..." he panted.
Lui collapsed beside him, equally winded. Selio slid off John's back and immediately went to the river's edge, lapping up water.
"Safe?" Lui wheezed. "We just... escaped execution... by lying about having powers... they're going to hunt us... forever..."
"Yeah well..." John coughed, tasted blood. "Better than... definitely dying... in five minutes..."
He straightened up slowly, still breathing hard. Looked at Lui, who was looking exhausted and terrified and alive.
"See?" John managed a weak grin. "I guess an ape can be a helpful hu—"
Lui grabbed his face and kissed him.
Hard. Desperate. The kind of kiss that came from thinking you were about to die and suddenly not dying and needing to do something, anything, with the overwhelming rush of still being alive.
John's first instinct was to pull away. This was sudden. This was a guy. This was a femboy beast folk who'd spent most of their acquaintance insulting him.
But then his concussed, traumatized, desperate brain asked a very good question.
Why did he want to pull away?
This was nice. Warm. The first gentle physical contact he'd had in this world that wasn't a prelude to violence. Lui's hands were on his face, careful of his injuries, and his lips were soft despite the fangs and—
Fuck it.
John kissed back. Passionately. Poured everything into it. The fear and relief and desperate need for something good in a world that had given him nothing but suffering.
They stayed like that for several seconds. Just two people who'd survived something terrible together, sharing a moment of connection.
Then John's survival instincts kicked back in. He pulled away gently.
"We should... we need to keep moving. They'll be tracking us."
Lui nodded, his face flushed, ears flat with embarrassment. "Right. Yeah. That was just... adrenaline."
"Totally adrenaline."
"Doesn't mean anything."
"Nothing at all."
They stared at each other for a moment. Both knowing they were lying. Both okay with the lie for now.
Selio chirped happily, oblivious to the tension, just glad everyone seemed calm.
"Come on," John said, standing up and immediately regretting it as his back protested. "Let's follow the river. Find somewhere to hide."
They walked together, Lui supporting John when his legs got shaky, Selio scouting ahead and reporting back with excited chirps. The river led them deeper into wilderness, away from the ruined city, away from civilization.
After maybe thirty minutes, they heard it. The roar of falling water.
They rounded a bend and stopped.
Waterfall. A big one. Maybe sixty feet high, the river plunging over a cliff edge into a pool below before continuing downstream. White water churning. Rocks visible in the foam.
"Shit," John said eloquently.
"We'll have to go back," Lui said. "Find another way."
John turned to head back upstream.
Gregor stood blocking the path.
He looked rough. Blood on his face from where John had kicked him. His breathing heavy from the chase. But his eyes were clear and focused and filled with murderous intent.
"I... found you... ape..." Each word came out separated by gasping breaths.
John spun back to look at the waterfall. Maybe sixty feet. Deep pool at the bottom, probably. Lots of rocks but also lots of water. Survivable. Just maybe survivable if they jumped.
He turned back to tell Lui the plan.
The spear punched through Lui's stomach from behind.
Time slowed.
Lui's eyes went wide. His mouth opened in a silent gasp. Blood bubbled from his lips.
The spear's point protruded from his abdomen, dripping red. Behind him, another beast folk, one John hadn't seen, held the shaft.
Lui coughed. Blood sprayed. His legs gave out and he collapsed forward onto the ground.
"FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!" John's scream was everything. Rage. Grief. Denial. All of it compressed into one word repeated until his throat was raw.
He dove selio Lui's body. Tried to reach him. Tried to do something.
Gregor moved faster. Crossed the distance in a blur and grabbed Selio by the scruff. The hybrid thrashed and bit but couldn't break free.
John had a split second decision. Try to fight Gregor barehanded while wounded and concussed, definitely die, Selio definitely dies.
Or jump.
He grabbed for Selio. His fingers brushed fur. Gregor yanked the hybrid back.
John's momentum carried him backward. His feet hit the cliff edge.
"FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!"
He fell.
The world inverted. Sky where ground should be. The roar of the waterfall overwhelming everything. Wind rushing past. His back screaming as the wounds flexed open wider.
Sixty feet of empty air.
John saw Gregor above him, holding Selio, watching him fall with satisfied eyes.
Saw Lui's body on the ground, blood pooling around him.
Saw the white water rushing up to meet him way too fast.
His last thought before impact was wondering if this would finally be the death that stuck.
Then he hit the water and everything went white and cold and violent.