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As the landscape changed around them, Ibai began wondering where the Monster was taking them. If nothing else, it seemed apparent that they were leaving the Sandlord’s territory, but that wasn’t exactly surprising.

After a spell, his old nemesis finally arrived.

Boredom.

He shouldn’t just teleport out of Gohvis’ grip right now. There was no reason for it. That would be a very stupid thing to do. And he wasn’t stupid. He was responsible.

But supposing he did... what would Gohvis do? Would he just leave him behind? Would he chase Ibai again? Hmm.

Anyway, it was a bad idea.

But... this was taking forever. And he was so bored. It had been like three minutes since an interesting thought had occupied his mind. That had to be some kind of personal best. Really, he’d done an amazing job holding out this long.

So he teleported. To his left, he jumped through the void and waited to see where he would end up.

He felt freedom. Tumbling through the air while utterly disoriented, and the resulting rush of excitement brought him back to himself.

But then it was gone. Before he could regain his bearings, before he could even touch the ground again, he felt the Monster’s arm there, having reacquired its hold over him.

Ibai didn’t understand. When he actually DID regain his bearings, he was precisely where he had been before--tucked snugly under the Monster’s left arm.

But. But.

Had he not teleported? No, he was sure that he had.

So he tried again.

He jumped. He saw the flash of mud, the void, and felt the freedom.

And now he was here again. Somehow, Gohvis had caught him. Just that quickly, Gohvis had caught him.

Another question Ibai wanted an answer to. If nothing else, though, it gave him something to ponder for a good long while--so long, in fact, that his brainstorming was interrupted by the realization that the Monster’s pace had finally begun to slow.