Flint glared at the others around him. Aether's intense gaze and Roan's stalwart presence were unexpected in light of the mission he had set out to do. His muscles tensed.
"What? Do you plan to ambush me now?"
Roan activated a dome of silence around them.
"Think of it more as an intervention." The cohort leader placed his hands on his hips.
Flint pursed his lips.
"Good, because we need to make sure Blondie here never tugs at my soul like that again. Maybe if you both tell her, she will…"
"We are here for you, not Bel." Aether's firm voice startled Flint.
The surly Master pointed an accusing finger at the woman who had dragged him across the encampment.
"But she…"
Noble smoothed her cloak.
"What I did was in order to save the camp. You could have accessed my power at any time and floated around until the job was complete."
"Bel provided a way for you to remain safe even while she fought a horde of Nightmare Creatures. You, on the other hand, seem to have no regard for others or how your words and actions affect them," Roan continued the thought.
"What are you talking about?" Flint was genuinely offended. "If anything, I am the heavy-lifter around here. Or are you forgetting that I heal all of you at my own personal cost?"
"It is in your best interest to do so." Roan shook his head.
"You do have some good moments," Noble's expression softened slightly. "And when you aren't drunk, you are an incredibly competent fighter."
"But your decisions on the whole are selfish, and that is a huge problem." Aether nodded.
"That has to stop now." Their leader confirmed.
Flint frowned.
"What about all of you? You are acting so high and mighty, but each of you is just as selfish. You won't hesitate to do what is in your best interest!"
"Not at the expense of the team," Noble chastised him. "Your poor judgment could have killed Aether and me. It could have burned the camp to the ground and taken everything we've been working to preserve!"
"But it didn't." Flint retorted. "Everyone is fine, and the creatures are all dead. I heard you say so yourself. And we discovered the cloak enhances the charm as you thought. Unlike Aether, not a hair on your head is even singed. If anything, you should be thanking me."
"T-thanking you?!" Child of Promise could not believe her ears.
"Yes. I helped you with your cloak and simultaneously rid the area of those wood wights in a way that was far more efficient than your tactic. Ah, that's it!" Flint snapped his fingers. "You are all jealous."
"Jealous? JEALOUS?!" Taking a deep breath, Noble resisted the urge to crack the man's skull with her Paradox Fang. Since it acted a moment before it moved, he would never see it coming…
"I might have been envious of your skill before, but I am most certainly not right now." Aether shook his head.
"I don't know what your cohort was like when you became a Master, but accusations like that have no place in this group." Roan stood his ground. "We need to know you are on our side and that you have our backs."
"You say you don't like accusations, but you all seem pretty comfortable accusing me of betrayal. I don't have to listen to this." Flint turned to leave.
He made it four steps before the tether pulled him back to his original location.
Child of Promise clicked her tongue.
"You aren't going anywhere. We have to set out some ground rules going forward."
"I am not a child." Flint huffed, struggling against the belt, "Now let me go!"
"The best way to convince someone that you are not a child is by not acting like one." Aether straightened his back. "If you are a gentleman, show it!"
"What has gotten into you? It was an accident, alright?" Flint shrugged.
"A gross misjudgment due to inebriation, maybe," Roan corrected him, "but the choice was intentional."
"Hey now!" Flint's face flamed red.
"You said you could hold your liquor." Noble threw his mocking words back at him.
"I can." Flint squared his shoulders.
"Your actions tonight suggest otherwise." Aether pointed to the smoldering landscape.
"If it was a mistake, apologize and…" Noble was met with a derisive laugh.
"You'd love that, wouldn't you? You'd love to see me grovel. No, Blondie. That's not going to happen." Flint rolled his eyes.
Roan frowned.
"If you want to be part of this team—"
"And what if I don't?" The surly Master stuck out his jaw.
"Don't what?" The leader blinked in confusion.
Flint crossed his arms.
"You three are barely tolerable on your own. Blondie and I almost had something close to a partnership going. But all of you together? I can't stand your valiant, holier-than-thou attitude. Roan only brought me on this excursion because he needed a healer, and I only came to be a Saint and anger his wife. So let's stop pretending we are best friends for life. Shall we?"
Noble took a deep breath.
"Flint…"
"Save it, Blondie. This was never a team. It was just a bunch of desperate people. I am better off on my own." The man scowled.
"No one survives the Dream Realm alone," Roan tried to lay his hand on the other man's shoulder.
Flint pulled away and clenched his jaw. "Watch me."
"Why are you pushing us away?" Noble pressed her lips together.
Flint held his head.
"You really are hopeless. Everyone leaves sooner or later. I just have the sense to do it first. No need to be stuck with you losers."
"Fine. Go…I won't stop you." Noble balled her fists. Mirage's fabric crumpled in her palms. "If you don't want to be a part of this team, maybe we are better off without you."
The man stared at her, defiance in his eyes, but also full of hurt.
"I knew it. Just like everyone else…"
Noble swallowed her retort. He always wanted the last word anyway. Talking back would only keep him longer.
His emotions and hers were bound too tightly. She could feel all he was feeling more intensely, and that only served to fuel her own anger.
And all thanks to that ridiculous relic!
Right now, she wanted Flint and his belt out of her sight. Out of her life!
As he turned to leave, he granted her silent request with a heavy sigh.
A strange tug pulled at her soul.
'Go.' She banished the foreign feeling from inside her. All at once, the dull ache ceased.
Roan released their shield of silence, and Aether stepped aside. Neither of them was willing to stop a man so determined to insult them.
With a tilt of his chin, Flint walked away. Noble watched him march to the edge of their boundary. But instead of going to his tent, he continued on toward the far edge of the camp…
Past the range that the tether should allow.
Looking in her soul, Noble found what she already inherently knew to be true.
The set of runes linking her to her surly companion was gone.
The tether was broken.