Chapter 6: Troubled Young Lady in the Forest

The second arc begins!

Chapter 6: Troubled Young Lady in the Forest

The heroes head north in their journey to reach Zeth’s home.

Having left the town, the heroes enter a deep forest, full of trees, tall and small, flowers and weeds, vines hanging from the trees, and small bugs crawling and flying around.

“How long until we are out of this forest?” Zeth asks, seemingly disinterested in the scenery.

“Not that much longer,” Kurt replies.

Zeth turns his head and glances at the other. “So, what town will we be arriving at again?”

“Flagron Town,” Emily answers.

Joe smiles. “I’ve never been there before, so I’m looking forward to checking out a new place.”

As the heroes continue to walk through the deep forest, they hear crying, the continuous sounds of a teenage girl weeping. The heroes stop in their tracks.

“Do you guys hear that?” Joe asks, looking ahead with concern on his face.

Zeth nods. “Yeah, let’s go check it out.”

With determination, the heroes run straight ahead, sidestepping trees when needed, toward where they hear the sobbing. It does not take them long to find the source. They find a teenage girl sitting against a tree with her face buried in her hands, continuously sobbing. Her straight black hair flows down to her mid-back. Her irises are red like fresh blood. Her scarlet-colored shirt and blue jeans are covered in dirt and other outdoor particles like she has been in the wilderness for a while. She is 5 feet, 10 inches tall.

Lost girl in the forest: Sasha – Age 17.

The heroes stare at her for a moment and then approach her. Hearing their footsteps, she looks up, tears flowing down her face.

Zeth takes just one more step forward, trying not to startle or scare her. “Hey, are you alright?”

“What’s your name?” Joe asks, trying to calm her.

Tears still flowing, Sasha replies, “My name is Sasha and I’m not alright.” She sniffles upon finishing her sentence.

“What’s wrong?” Emily asks with concern. “Why are you out here by yourself?”

Sasha sniffles again. “Just a few days ago, my adoptive parents and I got in a typical parent-child argument.”

Sasha has a flashback, showing her arguing with her adoptive parents inside their house. Her step-dad is a 40-year-old man who has short brown hair and a bushy mustache. Her step-mom is a 39-year-old woman who has upper-back-length, brown hair. Both of them are wearing casual clothes.

Sasha narrates for them. “But then everything went wrong. Suddenly, for no reason, their anger turned to fear.”

In her flashback, her parents’ facial expressions change from anger and frustration to extreme fear and shock.

Continuing to narrate, Sasha says, “They called me the devil’s spawn and told me to get out of the house and never come back. They said the Light Goddess would find me and execute me!”

More tears flow down Sasha’s face as her sobbing resumes. “I don’t think I have ever been so hurt!”

Zeth’s eyes narrow. “Sounds like cruddy parents to me.”

He holds out his hand for her.

“You should come with us,” he says with a welcoming smile.

Sasha looks up at him with her eyes widened in awe. “Do you really mean it?”

Zeth nods. “Yep, I’m not just gonna leave someone in need to suffer. Especially when you have no home to go back to.”

Sasha sniffles again before shouting, “Thank you, thank you!”

She grabs onto Zeth’s hand to help her stand up. She continues to hold onto his hand and looks at him in awe. After a few moments, she looks down at her arm.

“But, umm, one thing I want to mention is that my arms get this red aura,” she says with uncertainty.

She holds out her other arm, leading to both arms developing a red aura that fully surrounds them.

Zeth smiles warmly. “Don’t worry. That just means you have magic power.”

He holds out both his arms, leading to a purple aura forming around them. “See? I got a purple aura on my arms.”

Sasha smiles a bit as she warms up to the thought of it. “Oh, okay. So, then it’s completely normal.”

“Anyway, we are headed to my home city. We've got a long way to go,” Zeth says.

Kurt points forward. “Flagron Town is only a mile ahead. Let’s go.”

With Sasha in their group, the heroes continue moving on, the end of the forest not too far away.

Meanwhile, the silhouette of something sinister and creepy is watching them as they leave.

“More humans are coming. Hehehe. Drought will be pleased,” the figure says with anticipation.

The heroes have found Sasha and are adding her to their group. But who or what is watching them from a distance?

Chapter 6 END

To Be Continued in Chapter 7: The Ranks of Magic Power