"Mr.Elba! Mr.Elba!" Signard shouted the name of the potion master and the healer of the camp urgently. When the onlookers pointed him to the tent, he entered it without thinking twice. "Mr.Elba, please save my mother." He requested while crying. On his back was his injured mother, the madame of Indran. A young girl, whose face showed pure worry and fright, was sticking close to Signard. She helplessly put the pressure on her madame's wound with a cloth already soaked in red hoping the blood wouldn't ooze out more with one hand. There was a still baby in another. However, at every step Signard took, a gush of blood spewed out of the wound.

Old man Elba tended to the patient immediately. He told Abel to bring a new cloth and pressured the wound. "I need a flat place!" He shouted. After hearing him, Cleo pushed the stuff on the table away and made it as a bed. Signard put his mother down slowly with the help of Gura and Jonah. Elba checked the pulse. It was faint but still pulsating.

Madame was still conscious although her eyes looked tired and her breathing was shallow. She called Cleo to come closer by waving her blood-soaked hand. The blood had already dried. Some clots hid between her nails, proving much blood had been spilt. She gently grabbed Cleo's hand and cleared her conscience. "It was my fault. I made a mistake," told Madame. The sound was full of regret.

"No. Don't speak now. Just focus on breathing and don't sleep. Mr. Elba will help you get better." Cleo told Madame to rest and not to think too much. "You can tell us after you get better." Cleo stopped Madame but Madame insisted. Madame was afraid she would die before she got to clear her conscience. She said that she had to tell but her voice was so low, the noise overwhelmed her.

Elba checked the wound and shook his head. The wound was too deep so he believed the viscera were damaged. "I need to open her to stop the bleeding." He gave his opinion.

"Open what!?" Signard shouted in surprise. He thought sewing up the wound and drinking some marvel potions would heal his mother. "You want to open my mother? There is a gap in her belly and it is killing her but you tell me that you want to open more? Are you crazy?" He protested strongly. "No, I don't want you. I want Mr. Simba. Th-the royal healer. Where is he? I don't trust this senile bastard." Signard shouted madly, fuming in anger. Elba, even though he was yelled at, explained calmly. He understood that Signard was in no state to think rationally. "Yes, I understand it is scary and there is no guarantee of success either. But I will try my best. I have learned from the book of Sahel that if we operate with precise movements, we can open a human without killing. I will be able to see the damaged viscera and sew it to stop the bleeding. But...like I said earlier, there is no guarantee. However, if we don't try, she will have no chance. So, if you want to save your mother, let me do it now. I want to do it while she has some strength left or it will be too late."

Signard finally permitted hearing him so Elba prepared to perform a surgery immediately. He asked Abel to bring a tear of opiates and some clean knives, needles and threads, a bucket of fresh water and Ethan.

"Why Ethan?" Cleo asked.

"Because I need someone who can control his blade precisely while maintaining a lightning spell. The book said a lightning spell can stop the bleeding from vessels by the cut."

As Elba and Abel prepared to perform the surgery, everyone left the tent leaving only Signard and Cleo inside; finally quiet enough for Madame to continue the talk.

"It was my fault. I called the Templers to here." Madame admitted. "When I saw you and the king expelled from the palace, I panicked. I thought I bet the wrong champion. So I called the temple hoping they would forgive me if I cooperate with them. I was wrong. I am sorry." She muttered.

After hearing Madame, Cleo lowered her head in shame. She was wrong too, about Maria. Louise was right. She acted with prejudice and nearly killed an innocent person. "What happened," asked Cleo to Madame so Madame retold her experience.

"After you went in the desert, I immediately sent a bird to my informer. He told a unit stationed on the east coast about your whereabouts and they came to us by that evening. There were fifty of them. I could hear the clanking sound of the metal boots loud and clear. Children were playing in the field. I was afraid the kids might offend the Templers for playing loudly in the presence of the Lord so I told the mothers to call them back home. I noticed they were all afraid when they saw an army was coming. Of course, they should be worried. We do business by giving haven to the criminals banished by Temple after all. But I told them we would be fine because I thought I made a deal with the Temple that they would not harm us if we cooperate and gave them your location. I-I..." She paused for a moment as she felt guilty.

Cleo saw Madame's eyes turning blurry with tears. Madame sniffed and swallowed a ball of regret and guilt before she continued, "It was my fault. The kids didn't want to stop playing but I forced them there. We lined up in the village square to welcome them. The villagers did exactly as I told them, giving their best smiles so as not to offend them. But I guess it didn't reach into their hearts. The-they..."

She paused again, coughing up some blood. She spit out the blood and took a sip of water Cleo offered. While taking a sip, her mind slipped back to the time.

The villagers nervously lined up in the village square in front of the inn as the army of Temple marched into the village. Madame and the villagers gave their best smiles showing their ragged yellow teeth to make the Templers feel welcome. It was ugly but heartwarming.

Soon, the skyline of Indran was filled with lances and flapping banners from the army.

"Break march! Form line!" A Bannerman shouted as soon as his commander gestured to him. The metal boots busily moved accordingly and soon stood in a line in front of them.

Madame sensed something wasn't right.

"The eyes of those soldiers had no warmth. Their looks on us were icy cold like they were looking at the criminals." She said to Cleo with her eyes straying to a blank. Cleo noticed her voice was trembling.

The Templer stepped forward on his horseback. Madame and the villagers kneeled immediately and paid homage to Lord Mordu', a gesture of submitting to Temple. She saw the Templer smirk. He took out a scroll and read "Temple has heard the prayers from the people of Indran to be forgiven for their heathen actions. For they were foolish and weak-minded then; allured by the gold and false promises of the devil spawns, now they understand the true son of God and his intention, awaited to be forgiven by him."

The villagers, after hearing the reason for the visit, had started to move nervously from their spots. They weren't sure whether they were forgiven or faced persecution. They glanced at Madame hoping they would find a solution. Madame, herself, was sweating beads. She had nothing but to pray for the Templer to withhold their deal.

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The Templer cleared his throat and continued, "The Temple has acknowledged the truest desire of the people of Indran to be forgiven, thus the Temple has granted the way of salvation."

Their heads pecked up when they heard the word salvation. "Are we being forgiven?" They muttered to each other happily.

The Templer heard and smirked again, "Yes, you will. After you have sworn that you will give your life dedicated to Temple; that is. Atone your sins."

Without further ado, the villagers, one by one, touched their heads to the soil and cried their fealty to Temple. Some pushed the others to reach the feet of the Templer first and kissed. "We shall give our lives to Lord Mordu' and the Temple." They bawled. It was chaotic. The older children followed the action of their parents while the younger ones were frightened by the chaos. They cried.

The Templer smiled contently as the villagers treated him like a god. He truly was a god for them at that time. On his whim, he could damn them or forgive them.

Seeing how scared her people were, madame felt wrong about her actions. She was disgusted by how the Templer treated her people like they were insects. She didn't like his haughty eyes which were filled with greed and arrogance. Her guts repulsed in disgust. Maybe she shouldn't have called them. But it was the only way to survive. She bit her lips and watched.

"Good. Good!! Praise the Lord!" The Templar shouted fervently. "Denounce the false god and come back to light. Trust your lives to the true son of God, lord Mordu' and you shall achieve salvation. The Lord has shown the way. Accept it with trust, and grace for the lord only has a love for you. You shall forbid this tainted life and rebirth in a new form of life so shall be more faithful," said the Templer. He turned to his soldiers and told them to proceed.

As soon as the Templer gave the order, the soldiers lowered their lances toward the villagers and stabbed them mercilessly without warning while the Templer kept crying the same earlier words, "Denounce the false god an.."

"His voice was cold even though he spoke love and trust." Madame described the scene she had witnessed to Cleo. "Their intention was forgiveness and salvation yet their actions spoke violence and death. Amidst the blood sheath and brutal massacre, the eyes of those zeals didn't waver. Their faith was rock solid. In the name of their lord, they killed us all mercilessly like they were killing insects. They felt no remorse even when the iron blade of their lances ripped the flesh of a child. They took away a newborn from a mother's warmth and slammed the baby to earth while the mother watched with broken hearts. Nothing stopped them. Their feet stepped forward as their hands repeated the same action that only a devil would dare to do. They are..not the agents of God. They are monsters. I am sorry that I did not believe you. It was my fault and my people paid the price."

Tears drained down her eyes as Madame retold her horrible experience. They turned red as mixed with blood. "I was alive because they took the lances for me. They used their flesh as a shield to make a wall for my escape. A mother gave me her baby to take away from there. I promised her I would keep her baby safe. I-I failed."

She burst into tears as she spoke. She vividly remembered the scene.

With a baby in her chest, Madame ran to a hideout dug behind her inn. A young boy and girl were with her too. There was no light but she could tell they were scared from the breathing and trembling. She noticed the girl next to her kept touching and withdrawing so she pulled the girl to her side and hugged her. "We can pass this. I will be with you all the time so don't worry, alright?" She reassured the girl in a whisper.

At that moment, she heard a clanking sound approaching them from above. They all went silent, holding their breath. A zeal passed over the hatch unnoticed of the hideout. Only then, they could breathe again. But an unexpected thing happened. When the soldier went over the hatch, it shook some dirt off the door and the block of dirt fell onto the baby, frightening him. The baby cried. Madame quickly shut the baby's mouth with her hand but it was too late. The soldier was alerted. He searched the area but never did it came to his mind that there might be a secret place. He loomed around.

"Oh lord, why did you cry?" She asked the baby in a whispering coo. She was desperate to keep the baby silent. "You must be sacred too, right? Don't be. I will protect you, alright? So don't cry. I will sing a song for you."

"~oh baby, no more cry

for time ain't right to be

when the shadow passes by we_cry til you please~

~la baby, weeping baby

I sing a song for we

We shall see another sunlight_ when tomorrow is here~"

With a warm whisper, she soothed the baby. It worked like magic. The baby felt safe and rested peacefully in her chest. A danger was passed or so she thought.

The dust made the boy opposite of her sneeze. A lance suddenly came into the dugout through the hatch. With a ray of light coming through the hole made by the lance, they saw the blade go inside the skull of the boy, killing him instantly. The girl screamed.

Leaving no choice, Madame pushed the hatch hard with one hand while a baby in another. The wooden door opened and pulled the lance away from the soldier's grip. She used the chance to escape. She pulled up the girl from the arm and ran into the desert. The soldier tried to chase but his superior told him not to. They believed she wouldn't survive in the desert for long anyway.

After a safe distance was covered, Madame dropped to the ground from exhaustion. She checked the baby worriedly since the baby hadn't made a sound since a while ago. She found out the baby was passed out from exhaustion after crying for a long time. She searched her body if there was a water bag with her. Unfortunately, there wasn't. The only thing she found was a bleeding wound in her belly. And she passed out too after that.

It was Signard who found his mother. After the attack on the camp, he left there immediately for his village and on his way, he found his mother with a baby and a girl. In the distance, he saw smoke rising from the village direction. Without hesitation, he put everyone on his camel and rode back to Imba immediately.

"I failed her." Madame wept. "The baby. I had nothing to feed him. I-I..."

"Don't worry. The baby is still alive. Signard is taking care of him now so you can rest and save strength for the surgery." Cleo responded. "And I understand your reason even though I can't forgive."

Madame smiled as if she had let go of a load. She closed into Cleo's ear, "Ride out fast to Indran before their reinforcement arrives. There are only fifty of them. Also, this." She handed over a note to Cleo. It was written with blood on a piece of cloth torn from her dress.

After telling her story, Madame passed out. Ethan and Elba tried to save her but it was too late. Madame passed away.

Cleo checked the note. It said, 'Signard, keys, second box.'