Anything ~ 4!

The newly-promoted Marquess Woodswright settled heavily back into his ornate chair and took a hefty swig of his drink to calm his nerves. He looked at the documents in a daze, then up at the Ascenders that had joined him in his meeting hall. “Do you have any idea what this means?”

“I’m guessing war.” Taylor interjected coldly before anyone else could speak. “The sheer amount of troops that you’ll be expected to raise and maintain as a Marquess will raise the suspicions of the Dynasty. As you increase the forces you have available, they’ll increase theirs along the border until someone accidentally sparks off a major conflict.”

“I have time, but not much at this pace.” The Marquess sighed and looked around at the massive amount of power he had sitting in the room with him, and a hopeful light appeared in his eyes. “I’m also able to have a stable force of Ascenders… what are the four of you doing in the near future?”

That gave the group pause. They had been having this conversation previously, but the final choice was something that they had agreed needed further discussion. Taylor had lost the trust of the team when she threw herself into the belly of the beast; nearly dragging the others to their death against the Chimera threat… all for the ‘safety’ of the Hollow Kingdom. Zed was the first to speak, and even then it was hesitant, allowing others to speak up if they disagreed.

“I don’t know about the others… I kinda want a vacation. While we got a great story from our first mission, and also got great rewards… ” Zed looked around helplessly, “I haven’t had a moment of relaxation in years. I think it’s been worse for them.”

“Lying low might be a good idea.” Taylor admitted. The room went silent as most people were lost in thought, only broken by Luke licking the table and muttering that he ‘knew it wasn’t local wood’. “What does that mean for us? Where could we go and lay low or relax?”

Andre smiled helplessly, “We aren’t allowed on the front after Luke’s… incident, and haven’t gotten an official mission yet. I doubt we will for at least a little while. If It’s okay with the rest of you, I’d really like to go take a look at the Scarocco Desert. I’ve been planning for years to get to work on fixing it-”

“That’s about as remote as you can get.” The Lord of the area nodded at them as he set his cup down with a *thunk*. “I don’t think you should go there. I think you should stay in this area and help protect this area. If I had you here, I’d feel better about supplying skilled troops to the front.”

Taylor shook her head. “We can’t. You have all four of the most politically-contentious Ascenders in the entire Kingdom here. If we stayed, none of us would have a single moment of peace. We also don’t want anyone to get… restless.”

Everyone’s eyes twitched to Luke, who froze like a rat in a corner, ready to fight. “I needed the weapons and armor.”

“You destroyed the guardhouse. Had to tear it down and rebuild the entire place.” The Marquess was starting to understand why Taylor wanted them to go. “Zed also has a reputation in town… the more I think about it, the better the desert sounds as a destination vacation for all of you.”

Zed looked completely affronted, “Hey! I have a stellar reputation.”

“People still spit to the side when they speak of you.” The Lord bluntly informed him. “You’re a mind-bender. No one trusts any feelings they have toward you. Not only did you sneak into this town and live off their generosity, you stole from everyone and made them trust you. Worse than that, now everyone is far less trusting of each other, because if one person can hide away and do that, what is stopping a rogue Bard from doing the same?”

Zed looked crushed as the accusations were piled on mercilessly. Luke slapped the table gently to pull attention to himself. “If we have nothing going on, I want more time away. Send me back to Murder World.”

Andre shrugged helplessly, “You got ordered by the Archmage directly; you need permission from our handlers to go through. Only someone of a higher rank can allow you more time away. That’s the King, or Crown Prince. If it’s just about fighting, I hear the desert is infested with monsters. The reason it is the Scar-rocco Desert, and not the Rocco Desert, is all the open scars in the area. If you want to kill things and earn rewards, there’ll be lots of chances there.”

Luke glared darkly at the Druid. “Fine.”

“Luke has the most, um, straightforward plans.” Zed told the concerned Lord. “He wants to fight, and get ‘Cookie’.”

“A cookie? He wants… a cookie?” The Marquess gulped nervously as he looked at the hulking man that had destroyed an entire outpost just to steal cheap weaponry. “Not very… present, mentally? Is he controllable?”

Luke slapped the table and walked out of the room, leaving behind a shattered wreak of wood and cracked stone beneath. Zed coughed into his fist and stood as guards flooded into the room, “He tends to take offense to people saying he needs to be controlled. I think we’re off… good to see you again, M’lord.”

Three people visibly followed after a fuming Luke, and a half-dozen guards did so while out of sight. Taylor wanted to let Luke work though his thoughts, but also knew that he wasn't exactly someone who was forthcoming about their emotions and feelings. If one of them didn’t break the silence, no one would. “Luke, he didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Huh.” Luke acknowledged her words with a noncommittal grunt. “Where we going?”

“We are going to the desert, I believe.” Zed cheerfully explained, ignoring the trio of bloodshot eyes that locked onto him. “I think you all need a nap and some water, you seem dehydrated. Not great, when you’re going to a desert.”

A man came sprinting toward them, his eyes locked on Andre. Luke howled in excitement for a fight and lunged at the man; barely retrained in time by grass intertwining and yanking his feet to the ground and tripping him momentarily. The unknown person snapped off a salute and coughed out some of the road dirt that had entered his lungs during the run. “Messenger Friedrich number two-two-nine reporting. I have a top-priority message for the four of you.”

Luke stayed on the grass as it danced in front of him, and a flower grew from a seed in under five seconds. Zed nodded politely at the messenger, “Go ahead, unless it’s orders for us to go somewhere. Then I’d like you to pretend you missed us, and go away. M’kay, pumpkin?”

“I have orders for you… um. To…” The young man was flustered by Zed’s words, clearly uncertain for a moment if he should continue. He shook his head and relayed the words he had been entrusted with, “For the high-risk mission group that has recently returned from a successful campaign against the Dynasty of Dogs, and enriched the Hollow Kingdom, you are cordially ordered to appear before King Alexander at the best speed you can manage as a group.”

As soon as his words were complete, the man held up a document bearing the seal of the King, and all four of the Ascender’s Sigils flashed as one.

Mandatory order given. Begin to travel at once.

A single sigh slipped out of Zed’s lips as they all adjusted the direction they were walking and started moving faster. “You guys are going to leave me behind again, aren’t you?”

“I can carry you.” Andre offered, and Zed hopped onto his back without even thinking about it. He looked just as surprised as Andre was.

“I… suppose the orders were for the best speed we could manage.” Zed’s face shifted toward downcast and troubled. “I hate that magic is so literal.”

The messenger bowed at them as they began to speed away from the backwater border town. As he stood up, a rock whizzed by his head and he jumped away in startlement. Zed shook a fist at the man he had tossed a rock at. “I told you to keep your fat mouth shut! I wanted to like you, Friedrich!”

“Why are you even complaining, Zed?” Taylor inquired as Zed howled about the ‘indignity of being carried like an invalid’. “Isn’t this a great chance for you to get into a populated area and start gathering experience and followers? We’ll stop at an inn or two along the way, and there is no way that we’ll get in to see the King as soon as we arrive. A power play will happen, and we’ll be forced to wait for days after getting orders to go there ‘right now’.”

“You’re saying we’ll need to sit on our thumbs and wait after getting to the capitol?” Zed eyed her suspiciously. “You think they’re really going to be so rude as to maybe not even put us in nice housing, and instead need to pay for our own lodging?”

“Sounds like a bunch of stuck-up nobles to me.” Andre’s murmur earned him a glare from the only person who had been a noble her entire life.

“Yes!” Zed bounced in place excitedly, causing Andre to stumble a little. “I’m gonna make sure we’re the most well-loved team in the entire Kingdom by the time they make us go anywhere!”

“Just don’t do anything stupid.” Taylor ordered him shortly. “The capital is the seat of power for the King, and there’ll be people reporting on everything we do, and especially anything we say.”

Zed smiled at her brightly. “But of course!”