The individual piloting a lesser mech known as an "auto" "mobile" from the olden centuries had a projectile of expanding mass launched their way.. but that, frankly, was [i]over there.[/i] Not over here. Enemy wizards had methods of scrying, so it was nothing surprising that an attack would be launched at the rear detachment. 

Unfortunately, Hayden was between the source of this corrupted magic and its target. Thus, he would never know its true intended victim. Only that a problem lie ahead. Let us not get ahead of ourselves though: first the prelude.

The forest descended into unnatural summer, turning the once lush canopy into a sweltering oven. The air shimmered with heat, thick and heavy, as if it were resisting any attempt to breathe it in. That same air vibrated with the piercing cries of panicked animals, their voices carrying through the darkness ahead and abound like a haunting symphony of rage. In the business that was supernatural extermination, this was what often got called a "tell." Magic worked like that, sick, [i]degenerate[/i] magic. Sure enough, any time you heard a queer noise or spotted a warped sight, you could be assured it was that arcane [i]failure[/i] at work. 

Hayden choked back the bile at the back of his throat, air conditioning inside the [b]Knight Model[/b] working overtime to keep it a comfortable 69° Fahrenheit. Made him sick. Bet there were dark clerics nearby waiting with mac-

"[color=fff200][b]!![/b][/color]"

The signal. We exited the prelude and entered the rising action phase. Oh sure, the forest bent to the [i]sick sorcerer's whims[/i], trees moaning and grass crying, but it was the pressure.. that undeniable [i]pressure[/i] like when facing down the barrel of a gun and attempting to preempt the trigger pull. That was what gave Hayden the runner's alert. If it took three seconds to reach "the car," and Hayden was somewhere prior to those three seconds, certainly above one second, 1.5 seconds or perhaps we could generously grant 2 seconds..

[b]That was more than enough.[/b]

[hider=Flash Step Synopsis]♃Flash Step: Feet thrusters emit a brilliant, golden fire that trails behind the Knight Model as he takes each lightning-fast step. The combination of Knight Model’s swift and purposeful footwork, paired with the fiery propulsion from the thrusters, creates a mesmerizing spectacle of speed and power. 

With each step, the Knight Model covers a massive distance. It can maneuver in increments of 10 feet near instantly, and can chain successive uses of Flash Step in lower amounts to move in disorienting zig-zag patterns in this same action economy. His movements are a graceful blur, and the combination of the knight's armor and the blazing thrusters makes him appear like a living comet streaking across the landscape.[/hider]

Pressure regulators, gravity stabilizers (and destabilizers where appropriate), inertia dampeners, shock absorbers. These things and more engineered within the suits of Hayden were what separated his speed-ups from the rabble. A galloping horse or a marching army, a leaping athlete or an agile bird, they all shared [i]flaws[/i]: dedicating time to adjust their movements, to turn. Many didn't even have thrusters. Frankly pathetic!

This was to say, the foliage and trees weren't impediments. Not because they were weak, but because to Hayden as he ping-ponged around them while maintaining top momentum in a blurred haze of mechanized [i]nightmare[/i], their "outline" was found wanting, insignificant in mass and their stillness. The red swordbot would exit this sudden acceleration having aimed itself at a 45 degree angle from off the ground, and though the "step" was only 10 feet in total distance, the machine would easily clear another twenty feet as its feet finally clapped onto the ground from momentum -- north from his original placement and with advanced notice provided by [i]the entire landscape and all of its inhabitants[/i], the time to make his distance from the expanding "scythe" was hard to argue insufficient.

Thus the druid spell [b]Sunbeam[/b], as Hayden has initially presumed was going to imminently strike him due to the heat signature detection and beast frenzies, had been [i]avoided[/i]. All was well. For him. Exclusively for him.