Chapter 241: The Taste Of Defeat

I pulled myself up and off the ground, and started to run back through the forest I had been tossed over. I ran with hands in front of me like a snow melter with rocket boosters.

"Dodge Left!" Eva called out over the speakers.

I rolled and jumped back up and burst through the trees. That bastard had thrown a boulder half the size of me, but I was back at home now, and I turned up the speed. I cut a path through the snowstorm and high-tailed it out of there.

I didn't even bother to look back, no point. I was out of boulder range and I didn't plan on slowing down. I wasn't running in fear for myself, I was just worried about my wife, and I guess the orphans too.

"Everyone okay?" I called out, but no one answers.

"They are all in the house and they can't hear you, but Kyra is on her way up," Eva called over the intercom. 

It was kind of nice to hear her voice with my ears rather than just the thought. Something about the sound of her voice felt better than always talking in my head.

"I'm here babe, looks like you decided to make the right choice," Krya called out in a smug voice.

"Oh yes, I ran away, so much fun," I grumbled.

"Don't be like that! I was only joking, I am glad you decided to wait to fight that thing. I know you wanted to do your normal fake it till you make it, but I think that this guy is in a whole different league. I just don't want to see you get that's all babe."

I knew that she meant well, but having her remind me of running away made the feeling that I had pushed down come back up. Defeat. It wasn't something that I was very familiar with, but lately, I seemed to be getting more than my fair share.

It just didn't make sense, I always just bruted through things. I thought my specialty was my overwhelming strength that couldn't match. Even if I was beaten down I could just push past, but I always left the girls behind, or they had to stay far away from me. If they didn't, I could just as easily kill one or all of them.

The Gate gave me unlimited power, but I had been using it wrong the entire time, letting the power leak out of me. The problem was now I was starting all over again on the thirteenth level, and I was feeling the effects of always being just at what I needed.

I would just have to find somewhere to sit and open the fourth gate. I didn't have Keepa with me so whatever I got I would be using the power blindly, but I wasn't going to get smacked down again. This was all a result of my overconfidence and poor planning, but I would just have to work with what I had.

"Hyde, I am sorry. I know you don't like to run, but it's my fault for coming. If you would have come alone you might be already doing the challenges. I can see why you always tell us to stay back and wait for you…" Kyra said, letting her voice trail off.

"No babe, I am sorry. I was the one that wasn't prepared for this. Now, that I have the power to bring you all along with me, I plan on doing it all the time. The house seems to be a safe haven that isn't affected by my movements, so I think that I could keep you all safe. I need to learn to control this power that's all. I should be able to control this power, but I have been doing it all wrong for the entire time I have been in this game, so I need to learn it all."

"You will, and I am here for whatever you need, like stress relief," Kyra said suggestively. 

"Let me absorb another Gate and then we can talk about that. It would be nice to have a win under my belt so it could be winner sex, not pity sex for the guy who didn't win, hehe" I said mostly joking.

"Hyde! You are not a loser!" Kyra shouted at me.

"Hey! I didn't say I was a loser!" 

I slowed down as the two of us laughed.

"Okay, I need to step out for a little bit. I don't know how long I will be gone, but Eva will let you know when I am done, okay?" 

"Sure, just remember what I said! We would have last night if someone's boring talk didn't put me to sleep! Just kidding! I really enjoyed that you told me about you and Dave. I don't really know much about the guy that saved my life. Be safe my love," Kyra said blowing me a kiss and heading back out of camera range.

I slowly sat down in my little summer patch. I melted away, and the snow that was piling on my upper half slowly dripped and fell off me.

I closed my eyes, letting my body relax. It was a bit harder to get grounded in this form, but after a few moments of blocking my mind out, I was floating about my form.

Time to let the Gate fill me, and I slowly opened it up. The stream of power was stronger this time, the first three gates had all felt about the same, but I felt like the power was coming faster this time.

I started to get worried, thinking it might be coming too fast like when I snapped the Gates open before.

'I am here, and you are fine, with absorbing this Gate, you will break the Law of Speed. Since Keepa isn't here, I can fill his place and I will do the Memory Download for you.' -Eva.

I was thankful that Eva could come and help. The Law of Speed; this might speed things up!