It was unnerving to be stuck in the cramped spot, only able to watch and hope that she wasn't discovered. The lanky, elven man crouched down abnormally, standing on all fours before bringing his chest close to the ground, inspecting the blades of grass carefully.
Only when finally looking around the perplexing figure did she realize there were two more of the elven men–one was clung to a tree, inspecting its bark, hanging on nimbly like a spider with his long, thin arms.
Another was doing something that haunted the archmage: checking small crevices around the magically-formed forest, digging up small holes and checking behind bushes. This realization made the silver-haired woman's heart rapidly thump, realizing it was now inevitable her spot would be found.
Perfect hunters; this is what she was up against–a frightening force that seemed almost inhuman in their immaculate approach in hunting her down.
'...I need to move! I can't stay here–I'll be found. But, if I move even an inch…they'll know. The smallest sound…they'll find me by the slightest noise–I know that for sure,' she thought.
There was a clock ticking in her mind–vague on its remaining time, but sure that soon enough, time would expire; she needed to act quickly with what little choices she had.
'Should I attack now then make a run for it? Is there another option? No–I have to act now!' She hurriedly thought.
Giving her no time to think her options through, the tall, black-eyed elves continued emitting unnerving "clicks" with their tongues, prowling closer-and-closer.
Slowly, she moved her hand away from her mouth, pointing it towards the outside of the tree cavity, focusing herself as she steadied her breathing.
'One, two…' She counted in her head, readying herself.
With a single exhale, she strained her body for a moment–from the ground ahead of her, an eruption of soil spilled upward, releasing a wrath of roots that whipped around and extended.
In that moment, the tongue-clicking, peculiar elves turned their attention towards the thrashing roots, evading them.
'--This is my only shot!' She thought.
Jumping out of her hiding spot, there wasn't a second wasted even looking back as she immediately placed her mana into reinforcing her legs, boosting her agility as she ran with everything she had.
Glancing back just once as she neared the tree line of the sprouted forest, she found her heart skipping a beat–the three figures weren't present near the thrashing roots that were smacking against the closest trees.
'What–?' She thought.
It was only out of the corner of her eye that she noticed it: sprinting through the foliage, keeping up with her, were the elven hunters, who silently watched her with their pitch-black eyes. A daunting sight; the speed she ran at far outpaced any normal person, using mana to amplify herself–yet, the hunters did just that.
They never looked away from her, watching her the entire time even as they sprinted hard, making long, swift strides with their lengthy legs.
Finding herself surrounded as they pursued her through the trees, she had to make careful choices with her mana, seeing as she was nearing her limit on casting.
'They're keeping some distance still–they're likely predicting I'll try another attack. Even if I do, I don't have anything that'll hit all three of them, not at the speed they're moving. It's smart…One staying on either side while the other pursues from behind, not letting themselves be grouped together,' she thought.
Clutching her staff, she breathed out as the temperature cooled around her; the air became moist briefly before bubbles of water appeared, giving way to a perpetual slide of water that manifested beneath her feet: "Aquatic Dance Beneath The Noon."
The spell took away any need for her to move her own feet, instead using the rapidly-moving water to slide across the ground as if surfacing on the surface, allowing her to focus on the trio of hunters.
'Alright, I'll start with this one–!' She decided.
Pointing the end of her staff towards the elven hunter to her left, she invoked the chaotic element of fire, blazing into existence with a fireball that sailed straight towards the figure. The elven hunter made a flexible movement with lightning reflexes, leaning back to avoid the fireball, however, Celly predicted as much.
'He's fast, but that's what this is for–"Seeking Blaze Lob"!' She thought.
The unique fireball changed its own trajectory on the fly, following the elven hunter and exploding directly near him. Before she had any chance to celebrate, through the explosion of flames, the attacked elf with short hair jumped out from the blaze, tossing his burnt shirt away and continuing the chase without wasting a moment.
'--The attack failed? How did he defend against that?' She questioned.
There wasn't any time to focus on the failed attack as she focused on her surroundings just in time to duck down as an arrow missed her head. Looking to her right, one of the sprinting hunters had shot an odd, sideways bow that seemed mechanical in nature, reloading it without breaking eye contact.
As another arrow shot straight at her, aiming for her side, she quickly swerved out of the way, sliding her feet as the small, rapid wave of water carried her out of harm's way.
'It's as I feared—physically, they're incredible. To avoid being harmed by a fireball like that is impressive, and frightening. Just where am I and who are these people? I've got too many questions,' she thought.
As a steep cliff suddenly appeared in her path, she didn't fear it, instead embracing the chaotic descent by using the slide of mystical water to swiftly descend.
Looking back as she reached the base of the cliff, continuing to slide across the field below, the sight seems anything but orthodox:
The three, elven hunters leapt from the summit of the cliff, leaping bounds beyond anything ordinary before smoothly landing on the ground without any injury. Unaffected by the immense landing, the hunters immediately continued chasing her with their long, fast strides.
'You're kidding me! I can't lose them,' she realized.
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