ShadowBound: The Need For Power

The group followed the arrow for about seven minutes.

The path it chose was tense but controlled, winding through trees without dropping into the lower mist. The floating steel arrow stayed ahead of them at a steady distance, never too far, never so close that someone could grab it. Edith kept watching the terrain instead of staring only at the arrow.

If this was a trap, the trap would not be the arrow. It would be where the arrow led. But the route remained reasonable: firm roots, better sightlines, fewer hollow logs, fewer reflective stones. Whoever guided it knew what to avoid.

Eventually, they reached a small clearing surrounded by thick trunks and low brush.

Edith raised her hand, stopping the group before they stepped fully into the open. She studied the clearing carefully. No bodies. No obvious disturbed soil. No false markings. No low mist thick enough to hide Glassmaws. The branches above were dense but not completely closed. There was space for an archer.

For several moments, nothing happened.

Then a familiar voice spoke from above.

"Well, would you look at that," Dylan Wellington said. "It really is Edith. Stars bless us. Someone academically and emotionally stable has arrived."

The group looked up.

Dylan crouched on a thick tree branch above the clearing, balanced comfortably with one hand resting against the bark and a grin spread across his face. Several steel arrows floated lazily around him, their points angled harmlessly toward the ground now, though Edith had no doubt they could become dangerous again in a blink. His field uniform suited him annoyingly well, the archer-light combat design giving him enough freedom to move through branches without looking as ridiculous as his personality deserved.

Edith stared at him. "You almost killed us back there."

Dylan waved a hand. "Oh please, if I wanted to kill you, I would have aimed lower. Or higher. Depending on message."

"That is not comforting."

"It was not meant to be. It was accuracy."

"Dylan."

He sighed dramatically. "Fine. I did not know it was you at first. We found traces of a group moving from the north, but given this charming realm and its hobby of making horrible things pretend to be people, I had to confirm you were actually students and not a lure, hostile group, or emotionally committed shrub."

Caed muttered, "He shot at us."

Dylan pointed down at him. "Near you. Important distinction."

Before Caed could respond, movement came from the brush at the edge of the clearing.

Ariana Merdin emerged first, her auburn hair slightly disheveled from the forest and her field uniform marked with mud along one sleeve, but her green eyes were alert behind her delicate glasses. Another female student came with her, a dark-skinned girl named Liora Fenn, who carried a small field pack and several route markers tied to her belt.

Edith felt immediate relief at the sight of Ariana, so sharp and genuine that she had to keep it from showing too plainly. Familiar. Reliable. Intelligent. Exactly the kind of person whose presence made a bad situation easier to organize.

"Ariana," Edith said, allowing some warmth into her voice.

Ariana looked just as relieved. "Edith. Thank the stars."

Dylan dropped lightly from the branch, steel arrows drifting down with him before settling into a slow orbit at his side. "I was also here."

"Yes," Edith said. "We noticed."

"Through my heroic warning arrows."

"Through your attempted murder."

"Again, near-murder at most."

Ariana gave him a look. "Dylan."

He raised both hands. "I am being slandered in a realm of danger."

Edith looked from Ariana to Liora. "What happened to your group?"

Ariana adjusted her glasses, her breath steadying as she shifted into explanation. "We landed with five at first. Dylan and I were close enough to find each other quickly, then we found Liora and two others. One group separated from us after we heard false voices. We did not follow blindly, but they panicked before we could stop them. We marked the location and moved only after we confirmed the voices were not responding properly."

Dylan’s grin faded just a little. "We tried to find them again, but the sound kept shifting. Ariana said the Myst flow was wrong around that area."

"It was," Ariana said. "The sound was carrying through denser Myst pockets, almost like the realm was bending the direction. Not magic in the normal sense. More environmental interference. We chose not to chase without stronger confirmation."

Edith nodded. "Correct choice."

Caed scoffed under his breath.

Edith ignored him for the moment. "And you found our traces?"

"Broken branch patterns, route marks, and one of your caution cuts," Dylan said, his grin returning. "Very Edith. Neat, judgmental, quietly disappointed."

"It warned you, did it not?"

"It did. Ariana helped confirm the direction and said the Myst flow along the ridge was steadier than the lower path. We suspected you might be avoiding a bait route."

Ariana stepped closer with her map already unfolded. "Moving directly south from here may bring us closer to Veyrhold in distance, but not in safety. The guide marks lower terrain in this area as high risk for Hollowbacks, and the Myst flow I can feel is heavier in those dips. It may also carry sound strangely, which is dangerous if mimic threats overlap farther west. South-southeast should give us a safer approach. Longer, but the ridge line keeps us above the worst root beds and gives better visibility."

Edith listened seriously, eyes moving between the map and the surrounding terrain. Ariana’s explanation matched her own instincts and the earlier markings. It also gave structure to what Edith had only been able to judge from signs. That made Ariana immediately valuable, not simply as a familiar face but as a guide through the realm’s unseen patterns.

"How confident are you?" Edith asked.

"Enough to recommend it," Ariana said. "Not enough to call it safe."

"That is the only honest answer here." Edith turned to the enlarged group. "We adjust. South-southeast."

Dylan tilted his head. "Do I get to continue being dramatically useful?"

"You scout ahead," Edith said. "Your way, but not too far. If you move beyond signal range, you leave arrow markers low along the ridge and return every few minutes. No firing near heads unless you want me to break your bow hand."

Dylan smiled. "A firm and caring command."

"Ariana stays near me with the map and reads the Myst flow. Liora, your role?"

Liora straightened slightly. "Support and route marking. I am decent with field signals."

"Good. You work with Ilyen. Double marks, but subtle. If one of you sees a mark that looks too obvious, flag it before anyone follows."

Liora nodded. "Understood."

The structure settled quickly, helped by the presence of students who understood why it mattered. Edith could feel the group becoming more workable already. Dylan was ridiculous, but competent. Ariana gave the route intelligence they had lacked. Liora strengthened marking discipline. It was not the perfect team, but it was better than before.

Then Lyra spoke.

"So now we are taking orders from another quiet girl because she feels the air strangely?" she said, voice tight with frustration. "Wonderful. Chris would have us at Veyrhold already instead of letting every cautious person add another delay."

Ariana’s expression tightened, not quite shrinking, but drawing inward the way she did when struck suddenly in front of others.

Edith turned.

This time, she did not soften the edge in her voice.

"Enough."

The single word cut through the clearing.

Lyra stiffened.

Caed opened his mouth, but Edith looked at him too, and he shut it before sound came out.

"Your loyalty to Chris does not give you permission to endanger this group," Edith said. Her voice remained controlled, but it had lost the gentler restraint she had been using since arrival. "Constant noise is not leadership. Repeating his name every time a decision displeases you is not tactical input. You have questioned pace, route, authority, caution, and now Ariana’s judgment without offering one useful observation that improves our survival."

Lyra’s face flushed. "We are allowed to disagree."

"You are," Edith said. "And if you have useful observations, I will hear them. If you notice a broken branch, wrong silence, unstable mark, terrain risk, student fatigue, or anything else that matters, speak. But if all you have is Chris’s name repeated like a prayer, keep it behind your teeth."

The clearing went quiet.

Edith let the silence sit long enough for everyone to understand she meant it.

Then she continued, still looking at the cousins. "I tolerated it because splitting the group early would have been foolish. Do not mistake that for weakness. We are in a hostile realm. Every pointless argument costs attention. Every loud complaint gives the forest more sound to work with. If you want to help Chris, survive long enough for your opinion to matter at Veyrhold. If you want to help this group, follow structure until there is a real reason not to."

Lyra looked humiliated and angry, but she did not speak.

Caed’s jaw worked once. Then he looked away.

Edith turned back to Ariana. "Continue."

Ariana blinked once, then nodded, steadier now. "South-southeast. The ridge should bend after several minutes. If it drops too sharply, we correct east before descending."

"Dylan," Edith said.

He gave a small salute with two fingers, his grin subdued but still present. "Scout ahead, not too far, return often, avoid becoming a handsome corpse. Understood."

"Try for once."

"For you, Edith, I will attempt discipline."

"That is all anyone can ask from you."

Dylan moved ahead, stepping lightly toward the trees as several steel arrows floated after him in a loose orbit before slipping between the branches. Ariana moved near Edith with the map held carefully in both hands, her focus already shifting between drawn landmarks and the subtle feeling of Myst in the air.

Liora joined Ilyen near the rear route-marking position. The rest of the group formed more cleanly than before, quieter now, more attentive, and perhaps slightly ashamed of how much energy had been wasted on argument before it was properly cut away.

Edith looked once over the group, counted faces, checked positions, and gestured them forward.

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