Damien handled the roadblock with ease, but he was quite annoyed he was put in this situation in the first place. Aya vanished and he was to deal with whatever came his way even if he didn’t want to. He began badmorubing her under his breath only to find she reappeared with each ogre being dragged by one of her arms. Damien quickly closed his mouth and acted like he wasn’t just insulting her behind her back. Aya threw the two unconscious ogres right at Damien’s feet and crossed her arms intimidatingly.

“You know I can hear you perfectly no matter how low you speak.”

Damien stood still with no reaction like he didn’t even hear her. Aya realized he wasn’t giving in so she just dismissed it.

“Whatever, but I’m not going to let this go. Why didn’t you kill them? They will just come back causing more problems, so why didn’t you?”

This time Damien faced her since he had strong feelings about ending someone’s life. He knew there would be a time he would have to do it, but if he had the choice he would rather not. It already hurt him deeply the first time with a beast, so he could not imagine what it would be like with a person. He shook his head as he walked away from the bodies at his feet.

“That is something I will not do. I am not ready for my first time nor do I wish to be. Let’s just tie them up and continue.”

Damien was looking for something that could restrain them for the time being, but he was stopped by Aya who was trying to work through her confusion.

“What do you mean your first time? You haven’t killed a person before, but that’s impossible!”

Aya came up to Damien and sniffed him again. Damien tried to back away but he was forced still be her. After a few sniffs, she reaffirmed what she believed the first time. She knew something was up if he said otherwise, since there was no reason to lie. She asked him again to be sure and got the same answer without detecting any lies. She could only leave it as it is for now and see how his true nature really was when the time came.

“We are not going to leave these two alive. If you don’t want to do it, I will. Even a tiny bit of energy will help me advance and I don’t take it for granted.”

With that being said Aya got down with bent knees and jabbed her fingers into both of their bodies. Her fingers aligned where their hearts would be as she began absorbing all of their blood. Similar to the sight of Damien’s abilities, Aya left the ogres with a husk of their body. Their once impressive stature was nothing more than a memory for Damien. He felt quite unnerved by the fact Aya did that in front of him, but he also understood how she trained. Although it gave Aya the most insignificant amount of boost to her cultivation it was something nonetheless.

While they finished up what they were doing, they were being watched by a group of shadowy beings. They were huddled together watching a crystal ball that projected the images of Damien and Aya. No words were exchanged between them nor was there any anger visible on their countenances. In the background, there was a large figure that could barely be made out. The only thing visible was a bright set of white eyes that pierced through the very darkness they were in. That figure waved one of his various limbs to signal everyone for their attention. They quickly fanned out into a line, giving their undivided attention to their leader. In unison they all got down onto their knees and awaited his words.

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“It appears we have two unruly guests on our land. What do you all suggest we should do about them?”

The group took their time to think about what to do and each took their turn to answer. Some suggested to murder them and make an example out of them by staking their bodies out on the forked road. Others suggested sending them out as an envoy to have negotiations. Everyone had a different perspective on what to do but none seemed to please their boss. He was disinterested in every approach but he noticed one of his subjects had not said a word. He gestured toward a small being that appeared to be a little girl. In every sense she was exactly like an innocent little child, but that could be farther than the truth. She was a bloodthirsty creature known to prey upon others' ignorance.

“Frey, you have not said anything. Is there something wrong?”

Frey, the small girl, smiled creepily when she was called upon. Her teeth were razor sharp that glistened just as brightly as the leader's eyes. She took a moment to compose herself and recited her thoughts for everyone to hear.

“I just think some people here have no brains. They just want to go straight into barbaric methods or try to please you with just a purely political route, when they are clearly here to start trouble and they won’t leave until they do. Also, everyone’s focused on that little runt but forget to see the taller bloke. I’d be more weary about him.”

Her words caused no shortage of sneers and arguing among their group. It got to the point where they were ready to start a fight, but these wild dogs were all kept in their place by their boss. The boss got annoyed with their bickering and came out of his shadowed throne. His visage finally became visible as his body was as dark as the shadows where he rested. However, the color of his skin could not hide the prominence of his overflowing muscles. He had 6 arms, each filled with boundless strength, and he towered over each of his subjects at 5 meters tall. Anyone with common sense would know to not get in his way. His steps thundered the cavern until he arrived onto the tiny and whimsical Frey. She held no fear in her eyes, in fact it was like she wanted to goad him into a fight.

There was something off he had always felt about Frey, so he let go of the fact that she wasn’t backing down entirely. Instead he insisted for Frey to elaborate on what to do.

“I did not ask you to incite in-fighting, Frey. Just answer my question. What do you think we should do?”

Frey nonchalantly looked around the room as the others cowered by his presence. She turned toward them and pointed at every single one of them.

“We send these brainless idiots to test them out. They are at least good for that.”

“And what about you Frey? You will not go as well?”

Frey couldn’t help but let out a jubilant laugh that brightened and accentuated her character. It took a moment for her to calm back down and answer her leader.

“You know very well Tenzin, that would be no fun. It’s better to give them hope and crush it with your might. Besides, these idiots need to show their worth.”

Tenzin’s face snapped in anger being directly called by his name, but something held him back from starting a fight with Frey. It was an instinctual struggle that told him he wouldn’t like the outcome if it came down to it. Instead, he heeded her suggestion since it was the one that made the most sense. Tenzin ordered his captains to go along with her plan and they had no choice but to accept it. Tenzin watched them leave while he returned to his seat with Frey in tow. She carried the orb with her and sat on Tenzin’s lap so they could watch together. He has gotten used to her teasing nature as she wanted to cause problems anywhere she went. No words were spoken between them anymore as they focused on Damien and Aya traversing their land.

Damien sneezed loudly while they walked through the prairie. He was enjoying the scenic landscape from this abandoned road. Without the ceaseless bustle of peddlers passing by, everything was beginning to return to its natural state and with that brought back a lot of the native animals. It was almost like he forgot they were on enemy land. Damien was skipping along the path until a wave of immense danger washed over his body. He knew if he were to go along his current trajectory he would be hit with something that could fatally injure him. He quickly backed away while a slash of a white light passed by. It was shaped and looked just like a crescent moon, however the beauty could not take away the precise destruction it had on the land.

It continued to go down until it dissolved into the distance. The land was carved through and it shifted slightly like it was an earthquake. Damien quickly found out the strength of his opponent was not something easy to deal with like the ogres. Damien gave a quick glance around to see if Aya was sticking around this time, but he got what he expected, she was gone.

“I should have just known.”

A couple more crescent slashes headed his way, which made him back away into the uneven prairie field. It felt like he was placed there intentionally, but he had to remain vigilant until he knew what he was dealing with.