"Lucius, out front. Keep us apprised of any approaching monsters or people. It's going to be about a day or so travel to the small village where the quest was based." Jen ordered.
"Understood." Lucius responded mechanically. His tone surprised everyone, even himself. It seems that the loyal bodyguard act has been so ingrained in him that Jen's stiff orders brought it out for a moment.
All Jen did was smile at him. She seemed rather clever and had a knowing air about her as if she understood everything there was to know about Rena and Lucius. Not that this was a bad thing really; she seemed trustworthy so what was the harm?
They had been walking for about an hour before the road from Pelith began to fork. They took a right down a much less traveled path than the main road. In all likelihood, the only traffic this road saw was foot traffic and the occasional cart bringing crops at the end of harvesting season to the town.
Everything around them smelled so new to Lucius and unlike the woods where the trial occurred, there was no ominous sense of foreboding, so he was able to simply enjoy the scenery. Birds chirped happily and leaves rustled in the wind. Essentially, it was a perfect, picturesque day.
Something inside him made him feel uneasy despite everything going well. Honestly it was one of those going 'too well' situations. It was entirely possible that he was imagining it, having never had a peaceful experience like this, but it always paid to be cautious.
Occasionally one of the party members would chat with another regarding various different events and past adventures. Mostly, it was Rena asking the party about things that they had seen. Ever since she came back from the trial, she's been enamored with adventure, action, and excitement. Her childlike awe of the situation amused Lucius to no end.
After a few more hours the sun reached its zenith, so they stopped for a quick rest. It was not time to eat yet as they wanted to reserve rations in case tracking down the monster took more than they anticipated, so it was mostly to sit and drink water.
Paul took primary watch, claiming the walk was nowhere near enough to wear him out, but Lucius kept his ears peeled all the same. It took little effort for him to be able to monitor the situation like that, so why not?
His ears suddenly twitch, and he swung his head toward the woods.
"What is it?" Jen whispered, noticing the change in his mood. Even Paul was intrigued because he had not seen anything.
"Hmm" Lucius said.
"What's up?" Paul asked.
"Oh I heard a woman screaming in the distance. Probably further down the road?"
"Wait what? Is she calling for help? Is she being attacked?" Jen asked.
"Mmm...can't tell. She just screamed, probably scared. No words, just a plain old scream."
"Lucius...why are you being so calm?" Rena asked.
He looked at the party and noticed they were all antsy and had their hands on their weapons, like they were ready for a fight.
"Why are you guys prepping for a fight?"
"Because we are going to go after the screaming woman!" Jen answered.
Lucius could not understand why they wanted to. It was just some random person screaming. She was probably dead now anyway if it was bandits or monsters. Honestly, if they tried to rescue her, it would only sidetrack them from their true mission, which was to hunt the bear monster.
"I guess we can go find her...but I already am smelling blood since we are down wind, so I don't know if we are going to find what you think or want." Lucius stated plainly.
"Kid...just...let's go." Jen stated. And with that they all ran down the road. Lucius followed as well since it was his party, but he really did not understand why it mattered to save some stranger. They were adventurers hired for a job. Not heroes in a story.