The blade did not reach its target, and as Edrin lashed out to counter, his attack only struck the air.
"Hm, what's this?" Ashar said to himself.
He felt it now, that around him was a barrier which restricted his movements. It was a solid barrier of energy, and Ashar knew immediately that he would not be able to break free from it.
"You," he said and turned to Maereth, "You did this."
Maereth did not understand how this ability came to be, but it had happened so naturally that she trusted her movements.
"There won't be any more killing while I'm around." she said, "I've had enough of this."
Ashar smiled.
"What's going on here?" said Edrin, "Who are you people?"
The face of Ashar changed in that instant, as if it had reverted back to the expression of a child.
"Look what you've done, Maereth!" he cried, "All we had to do was stay quiet, and now look! They know who we are! They're going to find out what we've done!"
"What are you talking about?" said Edrin.
He stared at the two of them, deep in thought, still not fully understanding the situation. But Maereth immediately knew what was about to happen, and why Ashar had acted the way he did.
"It's you," said Edrin,
Maereth knew that they had to leave this boat immediately.
"You're the ones who killed all those people in the desert. You're the fugitives."
"Eye of Sophia!"
Back then, when Ashar had touched the shoulder of Maereth, he had placed the Eye of Sophia into her energy system. This allowed him to activate Maereth's hidden ability, but it also meant that upon activating the Eye, he would be able to control her. This was essential now.
Edrin activated his ability, and several others who sat around in the boat now joined him.
Flashes of fire, and water, and lightning, with various spells now encompassed them, but it all failed as an invisible shield now protected both Ashar and Maereth, under Ashar's control. The guards were beginning to approach. Ashar knew that with their abilities, they would be able to break through the barrier.
"You cannot escape now." said Edrin, "You are going to pay for what you did to the people in the desert."
"Those people no longer had lives," said Ashar, "Now, they are free in the Higher Realm. They are free from pain, and free from their bodies."
"It's not your choice to make, as to whether someone should be saved from their mortal life or not."
"Then I will make the choice, that no one else dares to make."
Under Ashar's control, Maereth's barrier rose up and tore through the side of the boat, and raising them both high above into the air. They flew across the expanse of the Cosmic Sea and went high up into the emerald tinted skies. The passengers of the boat watched them from afar with curses.
"This is where it gets complicated," said Ashar to himself, "Now they will be after us. Every move from now on needs to be perfect."
The Eye of Sophia returned to Ashar, and Maereth resumed her consciousness.
"What happened?" she said.
She looked around the vast sky, and then down to the sea. And the first thing she noticed was the boat that still lay intact. She had been waiting, in her dread, for a scene of bloodshed and chaos. And yet there was none.
"They're alive," she laughed. "No one died!"
"I could not save them in the end," Ashar said bitterly.
The barrier raced through the clouds and the cold, and Ashar stared down into the sea with a deep sorrow.
"Why do they live on?" he said, "Why do they not die from the madness of their existence? Why do they go on when it is nothing but hellfire through which they walk, without any hope of an ending?"
"Because they are strong." said Maereth, "Far stronger than you are, Ashar."
"They are strong because they do not face the truth. Perhaps they see the reality of this existence, and they simply choose to forget. The absurdity of life, the inability to reach the truth, the pain of aging, the toil of everyday servitude, the burdens we carry on our backs, the manipulations and hardships we suffer, the final loss of all that we gain. I tried to save them from these sorrows."
"And haven't you figured it out yet? Nobody wants your salvation, Ashar. No matter what you do, the world will find a way to live on. That is how it has always been."
"I swear. In the end, they will raise their hands and they will cheer as their existence is liberated from the cycle of life and death. That is the Revolution of the Realms!"
Through the emerald skies, they carried onwards, soon to descend and to disappear from the ones that had now begun pursuing them.
"I'll say it again. There won't be any more killing while you are with me." Maereth said.
"And what if I decide then that you are expendable?"
"As of now, with this ability, I am more powerful than you are. And besides-"
She turned to him, with a hardened intensity emitting from her stare.
"You're still looking for Bethryl, aren't you?" she said, "If you kill me, then who's to say that she will cooperate with you?"
Ashar smiled.
Just as he had seen Bethryl developing the ability of foresight, Ashar had seen Maereth developing this enhancement of her ability to create barriers. This ability could be essential for when they reached the Base Dimension, and came closer to the Golden City and its outskirts. A Second Tier body, combined with Bethryl's foresight, combined with Maereth's skills would surely give him a chance for what he was planning to do.
But at a certain point, Maereth's ability would be of no more use. He had already devised a plan to eliminate her. For now, he simply needed to locate the temple.