Bethany, Cory, Stevens, and Audrey were making their way south. Half way through the first day, while scouting around they found the path of destruction that Tara and Eli had made and collectively decided to follow a path parallel but a couple miles east. The first night was rough, not only did monsters spawn and attack but they didn't really trust each other yet, so they had a hard time sleeping while the others were on watch. Bethany and Stevens couldn't sleep at all while Audrey was on watch, they knew it wouldn't end well for them if something happened to her. Ash treated her like a daughter or little sister so they wanted to make sure she was safe.
At the beginning of the trip, after only a couple of hours, Bethany was angry that she wasn't travelling with Ash and Tara. After the first night though, she understood she would not grow in Ash's shadow, she needed to fight without him, in real danger in order to grow stronger. If she used him as a crutch too much, then she would not be able to handle herself when she got her own missions or tasks. Bethany had sold herself to the group as useful to convince Ash and Tara to let her join so she needed to be useful on her own not just when he is around.
The second day of travel saw more monsters and some tricky terrain with a gorge to cross. They started working together more on obstacles and monsters, there wasn't a lot of teamwork but they were all strong enough to solo the monsters in this area so they just took turns. With not much that was challenging around them, they weren't seeing much growth. Bethany practiced her balance, Cory and Stevens performed some magic experiments, and Audrey would meditate on her magic. But with it being over a day since they started and no one gained a level, it was becoming frustrating.
They all had this ideal in their head that they were chasing. Bethany wanted to be Tara, young beautiful and right hand of probably the strongest person on the planet. Cory was chasing the ideals and wisdom that his mother was always trying to help him with, and his new friend Stephen was helping. Stevens wanted the awe that Eli inspired, he wanted his magic to be unique and so mesmerizing that people looked at him the way they looked at Eli. Audrey was chasing Eli's magic, ever since feeling his magic from touching him, she wanted that power, her mind was burned from her witnessing it.
Even though she was 14, Audrey knew that this power that Lord Ash had was something she just had to have. That was the only way anyone could truly be by his side, Tara had no idea, even Lord Ash didn't understand what he had, or at least he didn't know how to use it. If she could awaken that power in herself then there wouldn't be anyone who could stand in her way, and if Ash didn't like it, she could start her own group. Surely the system would recognize her as a lord if she was strong enough, then she would be able to be….
Then she woke from her meditation and realized that she had been grinding her teeth, sweating, and foaming at the mouth a little. The three others were standing around her with worried looks on their faces. She didn't speak and walked toward a stream that they had passed an hour before their break. When she got there, she changed into a dress-like thing and got in the water. Audrey didn't know what had happened but she was sure of one thing, it wasn't her connection to Ash that made her react that way, it was her heart node.
Without anything better to do she stayed in the water aware and awake just letting her thoughts float around. Maybe she had rushed into joining Ash, or maybe her soul was rejecting the connection. Maybe there were side effects due to power disparity or age, it could be anything really. She wasn't going to figure it out by forcing her thoughts, she needed to meditate again but not out here where she had no back up. Audrey stood and walked back to the others, changing back into her armor and cloak. Just as she got it on, she heard someone or something moving in the brush, she put her hood up and disappeared.
Audrey sent Bethany a message letting her know there was something out here and roughly where she was. After about a minute the sounds got closer and she got a peak at who was following them, it was that same group that said they wanted Ash to fight off some other lord. She sent more messages to Bethany and after they passed her she followed behind slowly and as quietly as possible. Despite all the sneaking, she wasn't feeling like they were here for trouble, almost the opposite, like they were here for protection.
Stevens let loose a large area-of-effect skill knocking down trees and brush and exposing the group getting close to sneaking up on them. Most of them were knocked over, but two of them stood as if nothing had happened, they weren't even phased by it. Stevens stood with Cory and Bethany flanking him on either side.
"Why are you following us?" Stevens asked with a bit of edge to his voice, he wanted them to know he meant business.
"Relax kid, we just happen to be going the same direction." the taller of the two still standing said.
"Then you won't mind if we let you go ahead of us?" Bethany asked. "And if we change direction for a while."
The taller one made a grumpy face and was about to say something in anger, but the shorter one stopped him and spoke instead.
"We do not wish to fight, only to speak with Lord Ash."
"Why do you think we have anything to do with him?" Bethany said, taking over the conversation from Stevens. She felt it was only right since she kind of outranked him and was better at negotiations.
"A scout of ours saw you fighting with him during the monster horde. Now let's be civil and can you just send him a message." the shorter man said again as the taller one grabbed the hilt of the sword at his hip.
"Wow, I am shocked by your boldness, I am Bethany, 3rd servant of Lord Ash, and you are?"
"I am Rick, 2nd servant of Lord Ghost, ruler of the largest city of the safe zone."
"And what message would you like me to pass along, Servant Rick?" Bethany asked.
"Tell him to leave us be, or my Lord will be forced to involve himself."
"Ok, I've had enough of the propriety, do you mind if we cut the crap Rick?
"Yes please."
"What's this all about?" Bethany asked, putting a hand on her hip.
"You guys made Ghost look bad and he wants to flex a bit to gain back some reputation."
"Well, we will be at that same spot for the next monster horde, if he still has a problem with us, he can come tell Ash to his face then. Until then we will be out here training."
"Ok, so now… I guess we will go back. Thanks for the info Beth, if you're going to be in town before the monster horde, come find me, I would love to talk more."
"I'd like that." Bethany said and they both turned to walk away, but the taller man drew his sword and charged at Stevens. Bethany and Cory did nothing but smirk as Stevens hit the man with a fire arrow and an air wave knockback that caught the man on fire and threw him back a few feet.
"Why did you attack?" asked Rick in a panic.
"Our men are dead," he said, "and you were just going to let them get away."
"What do you mean, dead? He just knocked them out," Rick said, turning pale.
"He did something else and they have been dying this whole time, one by one."
"What did you do? Is this true Beth?" Rick asked, looking like he might throw up at any moment.
"I did nothing, but I have seen first hand how people who upset Lord Ash just end up dead, it's very mysterious. You may want to relay that information as well when you two get back… actually it looks like it's just you." as the taller man fell to his knees then onto his face.
Rick took off in a sprint back the way they had come and didn't look back. After enough time had passed where they knew he couldn't hear them, Bethany's face grew angry and she stared daggers at where she sensed Audrey was standing, their shared connection to Eli giving her away.
"Show yourself you little psycho!" Bethany yelled.
"Why are you so upset?" Audrey giggled and pulled back her hood dispelling the feathered cloak's effects. "I only did what Tara told me to do. The only dead guy is that one." Audrey pointed to the tall guy who had been standing with Rick. "The others are just knocked out."
"So…" Bethany took a breath to get control of herself, "You only killed one person. And you are ok with that."
"He really wanted to kill Stephen," She said, "I could feel it in his magic. Tara told me I was only allowed to kill to save one of you, so I did."
"Ok, we don't have time to unpack all of that so let's just move on. We are falling behind. Can you wake them up so a monster doesn't just walk by and eat them?"
Audrey snapped her fingers and they started moving. They rushed away heading further south back on track to make it in time, at least they hoped. Bethany couldn't help but stare at Audrey while they were running, how could this girl kill a person so casually and it just not affect her? Was she some sort of little psychopath or something? She was going to have to keep a much closer eye on her, so she sent some messages to Tara to let her know what happened and to see if she really told her to do that.
Stevens was dissociating, he had just watched a man die by a young girl's hands who didn't seem affected, like killing was normal. Not only that, but she had knocked out ten guys in a minute or two with no sign of her being there at all. She acted on her own and took a life. This was something he was going to have to keep an eye on, or she could end up being a killer. Now he was running with tears in his eyes, fighting back a sob, trying to push himself through it. He needed to keep his head in case anything else came up, everyone seemed off from what had happened so he would need to keep his head, at least until it was his turn to sleep.
Audrey was in shock, she was running with the others and she kept her face blank, but she had literally wet herself when she killed that guy. She was working on getting herself together but she just kept seeing the man falling to the ground. She didn't even know his name, but she had been told by Tara that with her skills and senses she would need to help them with hidden threats. She had knocked those guys out by touching their heads and pushing her magic into their brain, snapping her fingers was her releasing her control over that magic. She wanted to bathe in a stream to clean herself of her own urine and to clean her soul over what she had just done. The scariest part for her was that the feeling of power when she killed that guy… she liked it.