“How is the young woman doing?” Cid asked as Leonidas finished examining her face.

“Nothing needing immediate attention,” Leonidas said, rising to his feet and wiping some of the sweat from his brow. The doctor gestured his commander to follow him a short distance from where the halfling girl was.

“Something the matter?” Cid asked.

“Physically no,” Leonidas replied. “But the woman hasn’t said much outside of a few words since we found her.”

“Do you think this could be permanent?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve seen this type of thing before, a way to cope with what a person’s gone through. Locking themselves up, rarely glimpsing into these moments before they can come to terms with what happened.”

Cid crossed his arms, looking back at the young halfling girl. “She must’ve seen a lot then.”

“More than she should’ve.”

“What do you suggest we do?”

“Get her back with the others quickly. There’s no reason for her to be here any longer than needed.”

“Right,” Cid said, nodding.

“And, Cid …?” Leonidas said, with some hesitation.

Cid was silent as he looked back at the doctor.

“We have to do something about the bodies.”

“What do you mean?”

“You saw what some of them are starting to do, and we had a problem taking all of them out. You think a village of farmers and craftsmen are going to have a better time? This isn’t some half baked story where logic goes out the window for wishful thinking and pure indulgence.”

“I am aware, doctor,” Cid said. “But you don’t think family members aren’t going to be displeased at their loved ones being thrown into a pit and not given their final rites?”

“I’m not thrilled about it either, but I think doing this kindness is better than them finding out a relative butchered a whole town while we were waiting for a priest to come back and make sure they’re planted in the ground properly,” Leonidas said adamantly.

“I’d like to not remind you of our work situation, doctor,” Cid said calmly.

Leonidas took a deep breath. “Sorry, sorry. Just … this is bringing up bad memories. A lot of bad memories. And you get used to having to twist arms off just to get someone’s attention when it came to these things.”

Cid put his hand on the doctor’s shoulder and gave him a comforting smile. “Take a breath, two if you need it.”

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Leonidas pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’d rather have a drink in all honesty.”

“That is a sentiment I share entirely,” Cid said, handing the doctor a flask.

The doctor took a long swig. “Gods, that’s strong stuff.”

“It should, the brew was older than my father when I bottled it.”

“How old was he?”

“Oh, sixty I think.”

“That’s a good time to wait. How long have you had that then?” Leonidas asked, pointing to the bottle.

“I want to say twenty years at this point.”

Leonidas jerked his head back. “Little sips then?”

Cid shook his head. “No, there’s an enchantment that refreshes the contents.”

“Thank the gods,” Leonidas said, looking relieved. “I was starting to feel bad about drinking too much.”

“I don’t normally tell people that,” Cid said with a smile. “Sometimes I get a coin or two for ‘the misunderstanding.’”

“You clever dog,” Leonidas said before freezing and turning back to Cid.

“What?”

“I didn’t know if that was an insult or not.”

“Calling me a dog?”

Leonidas nodded.

“No one told me if it was.”

“Oh good, that’s the last thing I needed.”

Cid patted the doctor’s shoulder again. “I wouldn’t think you’d be like that anyway, doctor. But come, we should inform the others.”

“Agreed, though I think someone should keep an eye on the woman.”

“Might have Maeryn handle that before we’re ready to move out,” Cid said.

“Right,” the doctor said before they walked out to meet the others.

The rest of the Wolves were resting right outside of the home the halfling woman was found. Cid noted how most of them were already on edge, their weapons out, or their hands resting on the handles, expecting something to jump out and attack them. Cid lifted a hand and called everything to him. “Come, come, time to huddle up.”

The others moved in, letting out sighs as they came closer.

“So currently the main plan is to move the young woman over to there the goblins are and maybe see if she can tell anything more about what happened if she’s in a better frame of mind.”

“I think that might be a while, Cid,” Jeanne said.

“I know, but being here isn’t going to help her or us,” Cid replied.

“Do want anyone to stay behind and clear the rest of the town?” Hypatia asked.

“We’ll figure out the finer details, but yes, some of you will stay behind,” Cid said, taking a long inhale before letting out a rough exhale.

“That doesn’t seem like a good sign,” Silvius said.

“It’s not,” Cid followed, he turned to the doctor, “do you want the honors?”

“I’ve had to tell worse,” Leonidas said, stepping forward. “Unfortunately, given the circumstances of … what happened. We can’t leave the bodies here as is.”

“What does that mean?” Kveldulf asked as the others perked up their heads with confused expressions conveyed.

“It means we need to … ensure the deceased are not able to come back.”

“Oh no,” Gabriel said, shaking her head as it hung low.

“What exactly are you implying,” Benkin asked, seeing Gabriel’s reaction.

“We need to burn the bodies,” Leonidas said with a mournful expression.

Everyone looked at each other. “Burn the bodies?” Maeryn said in a low voice.

“It’s the only way to ensure whatever regenerative abilities they might have isn’t allowed to bring them back. And we saw what some of them can do with trained warriors, a nearby town won’t have a chance.”

Benkin ran his fingers through his hair, as Silvius patted his shoulder sympathetically. “This doesn’t feel right,” Benkin said in a low voice.

“I know this isn’t something any of us want to hear,” Cid said to them. “But the doctor is right, if any come back, we can’t guarantee there won’t be another similar massacre.”

Kveldulf ran his hand over his face before hefting his great sword over his shoulders. “Jeanne, Ben, Hy, Sil, come on, let’s get this over with.”

They followed Kveldulf to the dire task at hand was Cid watched them moving away. Their demeanor reminded him of prisoners who had come to accepted their oncoming execution. He turned to the rest and said somberly, “Come, we should get her out of here. I’d like to not leave them with this task alone before too long.”