The weeks of his chase are all a blur. Nikolaos kept his arrivals erratic, sometimes giving them false hope by not showing himself for days, and other times appearing right as they landed. The inconsistency of it crushed the morale of the group and tensions were high.

  Everyone had very little time to rest, finding food was difficult, and even though most of the adults had enhanced constitutions due to their bound spirits, the children did not. So they had to make more frequent stops then they otherwise would have. Which just gave Nikolaos more chances to harass them.

  On one such stop, late in their travels and low on supplies, they stumbled across an older man with a cart full of goods who expressed interest in joining their group so long as they took him far away from where they were. He didn’t seem to care that they were being chased, he just insisted that those after him were worse. Joaquin still insists that to this day and none of us have ever gotten his full story. However at the time his supplies were welcome, and his company did a surprising amount to ease tensions in the group.

  Watching Lexie push herself so hard was excruciating for Rowan.

  She had eventually gotten used to the excess strain of carrying so many people at once, but the amount of travel and lack of rest were putting her body under additional stress that a pregnant woman should not be under. Her husband helped where he could, trying to push everyone to travel faster while on foot so that his wife could have more time to rest, but it was inevitably not enough.

  Lexie went into labor just as they finished passing over some mountains, with the pain of her contractions causing her to crash land in the wooded vale beyond. Everyone was disoriented but otherwise fine, as Meteoros had taken over at the last minute to ensure their partner's safety upon impact.

  Joaquin quickly went to work setting up camp, and Jieun and Sarah acted as midwives to the best of their capabilities and with their limited supplies. Lucius and Lin corralled the children, making sure everyone was fed and looked after.

  While Rowan prepared for his last stand.

  Rowan didn’t know when Nikolaos would show himself, but he knew it would be soon. Far sooner than it would take for his wife to finish giving birth. They had tried to avoid fighting him as much as possible, as every fight risked harming the group's children, and they wanted to avoid casualties. However the few times blows were exchanged Rowan had catalogued how their pursuer fought, and he felt he had a strategy that could work. Especially in the new area they found themselves in, with its ocean of trees and dense wood aligned qi.

  He commanded Bough to spread their roots wide and deep in the center of their camp, drawing up as much energy as they could and passing it to Rowan through their link. While his partner worked, Rowan claimed as much of the earth as he could, using the energy gathered by his friend.

  From past experimentation this would prevent Nikolaos from appearing right in the center of their camp, and would make it more difficult for him to sunder the earth in his usual manner. The myriad trees in the area would further suppress their attacker and put the two men on a more even playing field.

  He hoped it’d be enough.

  Almost five hours passed before Rowan sensed his foe enter his claimed territory. It had taken longer than he feared, but shorter than he’d hoped for Nikolaos to find them. Lexie would need another few hours at least if the previous times she gave birth were any indication. He wished he was there with her instead of keeping watch.

  He wished for a great many things in that moment, as many wishes as there were trees in this forest of the lost.

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  He walked in the direction of his wife’s brother, each step drawing power from the earth, making sure to have one foot fully connected to the ground before the next step was taken. His muscles swelled, his bones creaked, yet still he fed his body more. More than he’d ever taken in before.

  It hurt.

  He didn’t care.

  Eventually the two met.

  Nikolaos cocked his head to the side, amusement clear on his face. “Finally decided to stand your ground and fight, coward? Because I’ve been eager to teach a lesson to you in particular.”

  “Why me?” He asked, but knew the answer.

  The man’s previously passive expression filled with rage, madness taking root in his eyes as he took a step closer to Rowan. “Because you are the one who dragged my sister from a place of privilege and respect to instead have her debase herself as a farmer's wife!”

  Step.

  “You are the one who soiled her and made her birth your wretched spawn!”

  Step.

  “You are the one who stole a spirit from my family to strengthen yours!”

  By now he was screaming.

  “And you are the one who ruined my sister and made her unfit to be a daughter of House Petros!”

  With a final step the two were now face to face. Storming grey eyes stared into maddened viridian.

  “Lexie chose to make her own home, rather than stay a part of your House.”

  Something snapped.

  “Her name!”

  Rowan saw the blow to his face coming, but didn’t move to block or counter. It hit his cheek and he barely moved, though he felt one of his teeth come loose.

  “Is!”

  Another hit. This time to the stomach. It’s fine, he hadn’t eaten that day anyways.

  “Alexandra!”

  Third hit. This time going for an uppercut. As it was about to connect Rowan dodged the blow and caught his opponent's arm, shifting and slamming the man into the ground over his shoulder, causing the earth to shake with the force of his throw.

  “She gave up that name long ago.”

  The shaking of the earth grew stronger, and from the indent in the ground he now lay in Nikolaos roared a mixture of pain and rage.

  Before Rowan could follow through and finish his foe a crack in the earth appeared beneath his right foot causing him to briefly lose his balance. Before he could regain it the ground quaked again and he stumbled, planting his foot firmly in the newly opened earth.

  Which then slammed closed with a painful crunch.

  Rowan blanked out from the pain for a moment and when he came to his opponent was standing and he was on one knee, trying to keep his weight off his mangled limb. Nikolaos was battered and bruised, and the way he held his right arm made it clear it was dislocated from the throw. However he was clearly in better shape than Rowan, whose foot currently felt like it was dipped in molten lead.

  Yet still he stood between his wife and the man who would bring her to harm.

  Nikolaos moved closer and placed his foot on Rowan’s head.

  “This is where filth like you belongs.”

  He stomps down, making Rowan grunt in pain.

  “Under my boot.”

  Rowan raises his head despite the difficulty, trying to glare at his assailant in defiance.

  It was the only reason he saw it.

  A flicker of light in the distance.

  Lexie crashed into her brother like a falling star.