Gods and Men

Jocasta nodded to him before turning back to Ashera.

"How much do you need this plant? We should try to get this," she pointed a foot at the man, "Dealt with as soon as possible."

"It's not necessary, just useful..." Ashera said, "We should go..."

Jocasta nodded.

"Agreed."

She spent the next few minutes untying the man's feet and binding his hands in front of him.

"Lead the way," she told him, tapping him with her dagger, "But remember that I'm right behind you."

The man nodded, looking slightly uneasy at the thought of having Jocasta right behind him.
"This way..." he said, leading them to the road, then down the road to the west, "It'll take a few hours to get there..."

"Oh joy," Myrddin said, "more walking."

Jocasta punched Myrddin lightly on the shoulder.

"Buck up, kiddo, or I'll have you marching."

Ashera giggled softly, then quickly clapped a hand over her mouth and looked over at Jocasta, eyes wide with anxiety. Trying to act as though nothing had happened, she fell back aways and began sorting through various plants in a small pouch from her bag. She seemed slightly disappointed with what she had.

Myrddin grimaced, "Please, don't even joke about that. I appreciate that this is how you've been living, more or less, but I'm not precisely accustomed to this style of life."

"Aw, don't worry," Jocasta said, leaning in and grinning, "I'll have you up to mercenary standards in no time."

Ashera hid a smirk as she listened to the others talk. She had never spend much time with anyone like any of them before, and she was surprised at how different it really was. spotting a plant by the side of the road, she made a small noise, and ran over to take a closer look. A smile spreading across her face, she picked the leaves off the small flower. She only found two of the flowers, and about 7 leaves between them, but seemed ecstatic at finding even that tiny an amount.

"What're you running off for?" Jocasta called after Ashera, "You picking flowers?"

Ashera shook her head at Jocasta before saying,
"no...it's an herb..."

As the group rounded a bend in the road, a village came into sight. The man picked up the pace when he saw it, crying out,
"There's my village! Please hurry!"
He lead the way to a small house just on the outskirts and vanished inside.

Myrddin started to speed up before turning to look at Jocasta. "On second thought, perhaps you should lead."

Ashera quickly placed the herbs into a section of her pouch, placed the pouch in her bag and followed the others, staying a few steps behind.

Jocasta drew her shortsword and grabbed her shield from amongst her belongings on the horse. She knocked on the door sharply twice before booting it open.

"What's the idea?" she asked the man, sword slightly raised in front of her.

The man looked up from where he was kneeling beside his brother, then backed away from the sword.
"Please..." he said, "he's not doing well...help him..."

Ashera peered in the doorway and looked over at the man laying on the bed. He appeared badly burned all over, and was unconscious. She paled slightly, then moved over to the bed. Placing one hand on the man's forehead, and one holding his hand, she closed her eyes. She glowed brightly for a few seconds, before her eyes flew open and she fell backward, her hands falling away from the man. She sat there for a few moments blinking, as though trying to orient herself.

"Woah, woah, what's going on!?" Myrddin exclaimed, looking frantically at Ashera on the ground, "was that supposed to happen?"

Ashera shook her head, then seemed to perk up a little and grabbed her pouch. She crumpled a few leaves up in her hand, then placed half in the man's mouth, and half in her own.
"He's almost gone..." she told the others, "I'll do what I can..."
She grabbed his hand in both of hers and bowed her head over their hands, closing her eyes again. She and the man glowed brightly, so much so that the man who had led them there had to close his eyes and turn away.

Jocasta shifted uncomfortably. Magic really isn't my thing. She sighed, but stayed visibly alert, sword still slightly aimed at the man who had brought them here.

The man who had brought the group here seemed genuinely worried, though whether for Ashera or the man in the bed one really couldn't tell. He began pacing back and forth, then seeming to realize something, said to the others,
"Do you need anything? Food, water?"

The glow around Ashera seemed to pulse, growing brighter, then fading, then growing brighter again. Anyone who knew a lot about magic would know that this was not a good sign, and meant that the healer was overexerting themselves and could hurt themselves badly if they didn't stop.

Myrddin looked to the man, "N-no, I think we're good, thanks." he said uncertainly before looking back to Ashera and jumping slightly, "Uh, she needs to stop. Like, right now!"

Jocasta turned to Myrddin.

"Can we pull her away without hurting her or ourselves?"

As the other's debated what to do, Ashera pushed herself away from the man and promptly collapsed onto the floor, reaching for her bag but not able to get to it. Her eyes remained closed, and her breathing was shallow, but steady.

Jocasta walked to Ashera's bag and yanked it open, kneeling at Ashera's side.

"What do you need, girl? Zath's ass, you're going to have to learn to be less stupid if you're going to make through the next 24 hours, never mind this whole bleeding quest."

"flask..." was all Ashera could manage to say. She seemed upset by either the words Jocasta was saying, or the way they were said.When she opened her eyes, only Jocasta was close enough to see (if she were paying attention) that her pupils were dilated so much that her irises were barely visible. Almost as soon as she opened them, Ashera closed her eyes to hide them from the light.