CH74

Ben stopped in his tracks. “Did you hear that?”

“I think so.” She said, easing his mind. At the very least it wasn’t another case of only him noticing something. “What are we supposed to do about this though?”

“I mean, I’d think we go check it out? Sounds like it’s the way we’re going anyway.” They hadn’t stopped moving when they heard the cry for help so they were slowly getting closer anyway.

“Yeah we’ll check it out, I more meant someone’s yelling for help. Do we run and hurry or not? I don’t exactly know what’s happening so getting there quickly might be important, but on the other hand, maybe that’s a trap to distract us and so we’ll fall into a pit and die.”

He thought for a moment. “I mean I really hope your god’s a bit more creative than to do death pits twice, but you’re right, what do you want to do?”

As they spoke their speed had increased slightly and the yelling had continued. Something about it had nagged at Ben, making him want to rush to it more than he thought he would considering it was part of the trial. He reached to connect to a tree to see if that shook the feeling but it didn’t help, either the feeling was actually coming from himself or the trial had compensated for his ability, he didn’t know how adaptable it was. Still, he was able to ignore it for now and waited for Thera to decide. The trial was more important for her than it was for him after all.

She hesitated for a minute before making her choice. “I don’t want to learn that this part is about protecting someone only to find out we failed before we even make it to them. Come on, let’s hurry.”

It was good enough for him, although he did make use of his now expanded mind as they ran to try and watch out for anything that may show up on the path, not that he was sure it would help, all the while listening to the calls growing closer. It was a higher voice, but distinctly male. Presumably young. Something about it gnawed at his mind, he was growing more and more sure he knew the voice, he just couldn’t place it.

They went with as much haste as they could muster, Ben letting the feeling take over and running as hard as any time his life depended on it, lungs aching and legs pounding.

Somehow he was even pulling ahead of Thera, something she would have been more concerned about if she took the time to notice. She may have been shorter than him, but her agility stat was much higher; it should have given her an edge in overtaking him.

Perhaps if she had paid more attention she would have noticed she was under the effect of a minor debuff, and that Ben was slightly buffed, not enough to be too noticeable, especially when one was rushing, but enough to make the difference and slowly split them up as he pulled ahead.

If Ben was less distracted he may have slowed down himself to help them stick together, but the nagging feeling in his mind was slowly turning to one of familiarity. He recognized the voice, he just couldn’t place how. It definitely wasn’t Karly or Glob, that was for sure, but why would anyone else be in the woods of the trial?

When he came to a clearing in the woods he saw the figure of a child, clawing at the ground as a vine that had wrapped around them seemed to pull them into a waiting pit. Really? We’re doing death pits twice? He thought to himself before he was going to run towards them to help when he heard a dull thud from behind him and Thera scream.

He looked back and whatever had snared the child had gotten her too, a long thick vine had coiled around her and started to pull her to her own endless hole in the ground. He didn’t understand what this part of the trial was meant to accomplish, but the choice was easy for him, he wasn’t going to hesitate to save Thera. At least he wasn’t until the kid called his name.

“Ben? Ben help me! Please I’m scared what’s happening?”

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He felt his blood run cold and turned to look again, seeing a face raised from the ground to scream and cry for him while tiny hands desperately clawed at the earth, trying to get a handhold to keep them from being pulled farther, but without any luck.