The next morning at dawn, the trio was already on the move.
They knew they couldn't stay holed up in that cave forever — it was time to get going again.
And the fact that they were being tracked didn't help either. Better to keep moving than stay in one place.
The day before, they'd taken the time to absorb their anima gems, reinforcing their spiritual essence cores. Even Élisa had formed hers.
Now, all three were more or less at the same level of awakening.
All that remained was to awaken their stigmas to reach full awakening.
Before leaving, they'd treated themselves to a feast worthy of the name — roasted demon-tyrannosaurus meat.
Élisa, ever the pragmatist, had suggested pulling out the beasts' teeth to sell them later in Martissant. A bit of pocket change never hurts.
Their progress was fast — much faster than they'd anticipated.
Now that all three were strengthened, they no longer felt like they were dragging each other behind.
