William watched Miss Mina slowly walk away from them. She stumbled and barely caught herself before she fell face first to the ground. He started to go after her to help her but Renault placed a hand on his arm, shaking his head.

“She needs to prove to herself she isn’t weak,” he said.

“But she isn’t weak. She took down an orc alone. Not many people can do that. I saw what she did to the last orc camp she found,” William said with a frown.

“And she turned around and saw that we’d taken out five in the time she took out one, and then she got her ass handed to her by an invisible one.” Renault crossed his arms. “Anyone would have difficulties with a fucking invisible one, except me of course, but she’s probably feeling inadequate right now.”

William stared down at Renault and blinked. That was actually incredibly thoughtful of the man. He’d thought the swordsman was only there for a paycheck, but maybe not. Perhaps there was more to him than he let on.

“I see, that makes sense.” William nodded. He turned back to where Miss Mina was still walking away from them and started to follow her.

Renault walked next to him, his grey eyes not leaving Miss Mina. Her step faltered and her legs gave out. The swordsman caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.

“Miss Mina!” William rushed forward. He shouldn’t have let her walk by herself. He should have made sure she was okay. He should have made sure that she wasn’t too injured.

“Stop it,” Renault said, glancing up at William. “She wouldn’t have let you fuss over her.”

“I could have tried,” he muttered.

“You could have, sure, and it wouldn’t have worked and she would have brushed you off. Stop blaming yourself. She’ll be fine.” Renault glanced down at her.

Miss Mina’s breathing came in quick, shallow bursts. Her face wasn’t pale though, which was a good sign.

Renault stood with her in his arms and he looked at William. “Do you know if there’s a healer closer than Lynden?”

“The village should have a healer,” William said. Most villages did have one—it wasn’t always a good one, but any healer would work.

Miss Mina made a noise under her breath and her eyes fluttered, her fingers grasped onto Renault’s clothes.

The two men glanced at each other and then back to her. Her body twitched and then calmed down.

Her eyes flew open and they darted around before focusing on Renault.

“What happened? Put me down!” She pushed at his chest and then met the ground as Renault dropped her.

“You don’t remember?” William asked, brows furrowed.

She slowly stood, glaring at Renault as she dusted her pants off. “Of course I do,” she snapped.

“What’s the last thing you remember then, wench?” Renault crossed his arms.

“We had just sparred and you were being a dick.” She blinked and stared up at the sky and the fluffy white flakes that were drifting down. “It’s snowing.”

“It was snowing this morning,” William said carefully. She could have a concussion, which would explain the memory loss.

“No it wasn’t. It was cold, sure, but not snowing. I think I’d remember that.” Her hand went to her chest, at the torn shirt that sat precariously across her body, and she gingerly touched the cauterized wound there. “...what hit me on the head?”

“Nothing that I’m aware of, but you did get slammed into a tree,” Renault said.

“There’s a healer nearby that we can take you to,” William offered. He leaned against the handle of his warhammer.

“I don’t need a healer. I’ll be fine. A small bump to the head isn’t an issue.” Mina’s mouth turned down into her usual scowl.

“We don’t know that for sure, and I like my ass too much to take the chance,” Renault said.

“Sir Renault is right. You need to see a healer, just to make sure you’re okay.” William lowered his head slightly.

“Fine,” she grumbled. She slowly stood, her legs trembling beneath her weight.

“The village shouldn’t be too far away.” William glanced in the direction they were going. He was worried. If the orcs were attacking in broad daylight this close to the village…that didn’t bode well for the people. He started walking, glancing back to make sure that the other two were following.

They saw the dark smoke before they saw the village…or what was left of it. The wooden buildings were left in shambles and the thick, metallic scent of blood hung in the air. Cracks crisscrossed the ground, large fissures had opened in the middle of the larger houses.

Renault stood at the edge of the village, surveying the scene. Miss Mina stopped next to him, her fists clenched at her side. William walked past them, steeling himself for what he would fine.

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He hated getting to the villages too late. How long had the orcs been antagonizing this village? They didn’t usually destroy a village until they got bored with torturing the people that lived there.

The bodies of men and young boys were strewn haphazardly across the ground, over buildings and carts. Some of them were missing limbs, torn into two, or just so brutalized that there would be no way to determine who they’d been in life. William’s stomach roiled at the brutality.

“Fucking savages,” Mina snarled from next to him. “We need to find the women.”

“Agreed,” Renault said from William’s other side. He clenched the hilt of his sword, his knuckled having turned white.

“This is–” William couldn’t find the words to finish. “I don’t understand…I’ve seen this so often…but I can never understand how they’re so…brutal.”

“Because they’re beasts with no care for life. Monsters that only want bloodshed and violence,” Mina spat. Butterflies appeared around her, their combined heat causing the air to become hazy.

Renault narrowed his eyes at her and nodded. “Aye, they’ll all die for this.”

William looked between the two of them and took a calming breath. “I will help too. We’ll…bury the dead after.”

He hated leaving the bodies there to rot, but they needed to focus on the villagers that may still be alive. He’d prefer to attack at night, but they didn’t have the luxury of waiting.

The three of them hurried through the village. William made sure to sear every single body into his mind. The orcs would pay for they’d done to this place. He’d make sure of it.

Miss Mina strode ahead of him and Renault and William slowed down so he was in step with the other man.

“I’ve heard there’s another healer in this area, a powerful one. Her name is Ada I believe and she lives in the abandoned tower about a day’s walk to the east,” he whispered.

Renault glanced up at him and arched a brow. “Aye?”

“Miss Mina isn’t going to be able to fight.” He hated taking the choice from her, but as she stumbled for the third time in as many minutes, he knew it was the right choice. “Knock her out and take her there. I’ll take care of the orcs.”

Renault blinked and stared up at William, his brows practically in his hairline. “She’s going to be pissed.”

“I know, but it’s for her own good.” William didn’t take his eyes off of her.

“Fine, but you’re taking the fall for this,” Renault grumbled. He picked up his pace and in one smooth motion his hand impacted with the base of her neck and she dropped. Renault never let her hit the ground and turned to William. “Be careful.”

William watched him leave and then turned, Jormund appearing at his side.

“They will pay for their atrocities.”

He nodded. “Yes, they will. They’ll regret each and every innocent life they took.

It took several hours until the trees and grass began to wither and brown. They were near.

“You ready?” William asked his Spirit. The large snake didn’t respond, but the growing bloodlust was the only answer he needed.

He couldn’t fault Jormund. He agreed. There was no saving these ones. They had committed horrible crimes, and for that they had to pay. Achlys would be sure to punish them even further than he was about to.

He removed his warhammer and set it across his shoulder. It was time to send them to Elth.

They could be heard before they were seen; the screams of pain and terror combined with shouts and laughter were a dead giveaway. He tightened his grip on his hammer and picked up his pace.

The first orc never even saw him coming as its face collapsed with a crunch against the flat of his hammer. The others saw though and converged on him.

“Nineteen of them.” Jormund turned into a mist and power filled William’s body, making his muscles ache.

He dashed forward, lances of earth formed behind him and followed. He sent them into the first five orcs in his path, his hammer made contact with another orc’s chin and removed his jaw.

“Thirteen.”

A wall of stone erupted from the ground, stopping swords of ice that came flying at him. The wall extended over his head and sizzled when a green liquid hit it.

Spikes grew from the wall and impaled the two orcs that had attacked him.

“Eleven.”

Four more fell to his hammer and two to earthen lances.

“Five.”

The next two tried to run, but a large serpent head made of stone rose from the ground and bit them in half.

“Three.”

The last few got smart and held the kidnapped women in front of them. The humans stared at him in terror, tears streaming down their filthy faces. The anger inside of William threatened to overwhelm him. How dare they! Cowards.

He stopped and glared at them, vibrating with rage. His eyes darted between the three women and then to the orcs holding them.

He didn’t understand the words they spoke, but they didn’t sound good. He narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the hammer.

“Kill them,” Jormund said, his voice resounding in William’s head. He found his hand raising, stone lances rising with it.

“Stop it!” William demanded and forced his hand down. “I’m not killing the women to get to them.”

He could feel the irritation emanating from the serpent, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to turn his back on his morals, no matter how angry he was. It would make him no better than the orcs themselves. The stone lance disintegrated into dust. It was a good distraction, one that the orcs took notice of. They never saw the same lances reappearing behind them. They didn’t have time to react as the stone removed their heads from their bodies.

The orcs dropped and the women didn’t move. They stared at William with a mixture of terror and relief.

Then the screaming began and the smell of burnt flesh assaulted his senses. He watched in horror as each and every single woman erupted into flames.

He whirled around, trying to find who had done that. He couldn’t see anyone though.

“Do you sense anything?”

“No, there are no others alive here.” Jormund’s voice was just as confused as he felt.

His heart clenched. He hadn’t been able to save them. He’d killed the orcs…and still hadn’t been able to save the women. If he’d gotten there sooner…maybe…maybe he would have been able to.

William shook his head, banishing where his thoughts were taking him. He didn’t have time for that. He’d bury the women, but there weren’t any bodies to bury. They were nothing but ash.

However, he did take the time to bury the orcs. Yes, they’d committed unthinkable crimes, but that didn’t mean they didn’t deserve a burial. He wouldn’t wish Arianna’s carrion birds on his worst enemy. That punishment was beyond cruel. To have the soul obliterated was unthinkable.

He wiped the sweat from his brow as he covered the last grave with dirt. He needed to find Ada’s tower now. Hopefully Renault had found the tower and the healer was there. He glanced up at the sky; he’d need to find them soon. There looked to be heavy snow on the way and he didn’t want to get stuck out in a blizzard.