We had pulled through somehow. None of the human warriors who had run had returned, or, in the case of those that had been wounded, even gotten far. We weren't entirely unscathed either though. Especially I had required Kaele's attention once we had been reasonable sure that there wouldn't be another attack. She had winced the moment she saw me and as she started pulling pieces of the sword that had been shattered in my hand from my face I understood why. The experience was painful, not fun and sobering. Only as she pulled shards of steel from various wounds I started to understand how close I had com to loosing an eye or possibly even both.
That would have been the end of us or the very least me for sure. She had cast Regeneration on me again once she was finished. I could only hope I wouldn't end up like Khuzan as she had run out of supplies to clean the wounds properly. Hopefully my body could sustain the spell that boosted my natural healing. I had been on the receiving end of it several times in the last days and I would eventually run out of energy. It was only a question of time despite the sugary treat we had had earlier. I needed a proper meal and some real rest. We all needed that or more. Sadly I didn't see any peace and quiet in our immediate future.
Some of the steel shards had gotten suck in the leather scales of my armor as well while others had scraped my horns. Thankfully none of those had cut too deep. If they had cut to the bone that lay at the core of our horns the pain would have been unbearable. It would have bled like crazy as well. Those horns were rather sensible after all. Well, they too would heal. Slower than the other cuts and scrapes but still. In the end we didn't have a lot of time to waste. We had gathered some more crossbow bolts from the corpses that littered the woods now. The only other things we picked up were two spears and some cloaks that weren't utterly drenched in blood. We used those to build a makeshift stretcher for Khuzan.
Kaele and I carried it. With him on that contraption we made better time and he could rest up a little as well, even if it probably wasn't a terribly comfortable ride that we were giving him. By the time the sun was starting to set we finally reached the forest's edge. Wary we peered out at the pastures and paddies of the farms beyond . No one was tending to the ashroot paddies and the sheep were left out in their pastures although it was already getting dark. Crows and other carrion birds circling a spot somewhere beyond the nearest farmhouses hinted at the fate of the farmers. Or at least some of them. I could feel a cold lump form in my guts. I still had hope that at least some of the people from here had gotten away.
Maybe they had reached the relative safety of the village and its walls. Things didn't look much better in the direction of the village though. A handful of thick columns of smoke were rising in that direction. This was grim. Only the fact that these raiders were still around gave me hope. If the village had fallen they probably would already have looted and run off with whatever riches they could carry. “They are probably besieging the village. We should be pretty safe up here. At least for the time being. If they hold out for a few more days these bastards will probably run back off wherever they have come from.” I paused to swallow. “Even if they made sure no refugees reached the next villages, the smoke will let anyone with eyes know that something is not right here.”
Eld'tide nodded but it was Kaele who spoke up. “But you have no intention to just wait this out, right?” Her gaze was fixed on the carrion birds as well. “You won't let them get away with all this bloodshed?” The grim look on the Gorgon's face let me know that my sister's words mirrored her thoughts. Khuzan would have agreed with them as well, if the fever hadn't had him firm in its clutches. They were right of course. I didn't want to let them get away with it. More to the point, I wanted to put an end to the misery they had brought upon us and that they kept heaping upon us with every hour, with every moment they were roaming about the hills, valleys, fields and forests we called home.
I swallowed hard. “We will put an end to this.” I paused, looking at our sick friend. “But we need some time to recover first. Some real food. Maybe a warm fire. Some real sleep.” I had to fight back some tears. “And whatever we can scrounge up to help Khuzan.” I pointed to one of the farmsteads a little distance away from our hiding spot. “What about that one? It looks intact. It is a good distance away from whatever attracts the carrion birds and we won't have to cross any of the pastures with sheep on them to reach it.” I licked my lips. “I say we observe it for a little while longer and once it has gotten a little darker we make our way over there.”
The others nodded and we crouched a little lower behind the bushes providing us with cover. We didn't wait long though. Eld'tide, who kept observing the farmsteads for any sign of humans or headhunters tapped my shoulder. I picked up my end of our makeshift stretcher and once I felt Kaele lift the other end I started moving. I remained ducked low, as we sprinted across the meadow for the dirt path that would lead us to our destination. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see our friend running alongside us. We only stopped briefly as we had to get across the dry stone wall separating the meadow from the dirt path. Usually I would have just jumped over it. With the stretcher and Khuzan on it we had to take a little more care though.
By the time we reached the farmhouse I was out of breath. It was a simple enough structure, a domed stone structure with thick walls, especially close to the ground, one entrance and very few arrow slit like windows. To someone not used to the local style it probably would look like a small castle or fortification and in a way it was. It certainly was built to be defensible. Mother's domain was one of those closest to the Ringwall Mountains after all. Ogres and wandering Trolls were rare but not entirely unheard of. Better to sleep under a very solid roof if one of those were to wander by, by chance. These homesteads, defensible as they might be, weren't terribly comfortable though. Especially not in winter.
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They hadn't done the people from around here any good either. At least not this time around. That much became obvious as we reached the door. It had been smashed open. Probably with a ram of some sort. Someone had tried to hole up in here though. There was some spilled blood as we entered, but thankfully no corpse. That was only a small relief though, especially as I had pretty good idea where I could find the corpses. The interior of the house was essentially a single domed room. Only a few walls separated parts of it from the rest and providing some more structural integrity to the building as they supported the arched ceiling as well.
The interior had been ransacked rather thoroughly as well. The smoking racks above the single fireplace in the room's center was empty. We wouldn't be feasting upon ham it seemed. Not that I had expected to actually find any. The same was true for any other food that could be usually found here. They had even emptied the storage bins for the ashroot, although it tended to upset the human's stomachs as far as I knew. Everything that was not of any worth in their eyes had been smashed. Not a single piece of furniture was whole. That was a bit of a blow, as I had really hoped that we would be able to sleep in beds for a change. These people truly were savages.
We would have to improvise. At least we would have enough wood and kindling for a fire, if nothing else. We put Khuzan down next to the fire place and wedged what remained of the door closed in the frame. I pointed at the windows. We stuffed them shut with torn carpets and whatever other pieces of fabric we could find and wedged these in place with some pieces of wood. We were left in almost complete darkness as a result. I set out to change that. While my sister and Eld'tide arranged whatever remained of the farmer's bedding into a bed for Khuzan to make him comfortable, I set about to start a fire. I threw pieces of broken furniture into the fire place, drew upon the ambient Mana and cast a spell to get the fire started. “Produce Flame.” The wood caught on almost immediately. Well, it was dry wood for a change.
I rearranged the wood a little to make sure it would burn for some time. Then I sat down to catch my breath and look around. I felt so incredible tired but I couldn't rest yet. Something above our heads caught my attention. A handful of lines were strung up there, well out of the way of anyone's horns. Bushels of various dried herbs were tied to them. The raiders hadn't gotten everything after all it seemed. I had no clue though if any of these would help Khuzan. I prodded Kaele who was looking after him and pointed upwards. “Think any of those might help?” She looked uncertain so I motioned for her to come over and climb on my back. Once she had climbed on I got up and gave her a lift, so she could reach the herbs.
I was a bit wobbly and in the end she decided to take the lines down whole, to examine the find on safe ground. “Do you think you could find a pot, a bowl or even an amphora? Anything I could use to boil some water for a broth or a tea?” She sounded hopeful. I didn't feel like dashing that hope so I nodded, although I had my doubts that anything had survived the sacking of the place in one piece. Anything made of metal, be it iron, bronze or even just copper had been taken. The pottery had been smashed as far as I could tell. I kept looking though. I was about to give up when I remembered something. These farmers almost always hid away some emergency supplies.
Those usually weren't to be found in freshly dug hole or anything like that. Hiding places like that were to easy to find. No, they tended to have a small hollow under one of the stones that made up the flooring. Those hiding places were rarely ever opened, to not give them away. I was sure that this house had such an emergency cache as well. I just had no clue how to find it. Near the door? I checked the floor there but the stones there were too large. If something was hidden under them I wouldn't get at it. Not without tearing the door down as a whole. Maybe near the hearth instead? No, not there either. I stopped. It couldn't be that simple.
I moved over to the spot where we had found the remains of the beds and checked the flooring there. I started to cackle as I managed to lift one of the stones out of places after scratching some of the dirt and mortar holding it in place away. What I found below wasn't much, but it was something. I pulled out two small amphora. They were still sealed with wax. Wine if the letters scratched into the wax were to be believed. Well if it had been in there it either was very, very sweet wine or vinegar. Never mind though. I handed them to my sister. Whatever they contained, she would make the best use of it.
Next I pulled up what was probably a small loaf of cheese. It was covered with wax as well. I handed it to Eld'tide. If it was still good she could cut it up. It wouldn't be a lavish meal, but it would be something at least. I could hear them work and kept rummaging in the small hidden compartment. Sadly there was no more food, except for a small pot of honey. I handed that to my companions as well. The only other things in there were two bronze knives and four small clay statuettes. I carefully I lifted those from their hiding spot, placing them at the edge of the fire place one next to the other.
Three of the statues were fashioned of white clay while the fourth one was made from a red variety. They depicted the Moon Maidens, or at least the four worshiped by anyone sane. The statues weren't anything special. They were just the kind one might find in a household shrine anywhere around here in the countryside. The Maiden, the Mother and the Crone. Those were the names often used for the three that were fashioned from the white clay in this case. The last one, the red one, was called the Lover. That didn't mean that she was a goddess of love though, although that certainly was an aspect attributed to her at times. No, she was the matron goddess of all who did whatever they did with passion or compassion.
I looked towards the others. They were helping Khuzan sip whatever concoction Kaele had brewed up. I ate some of the cheese and drank a little of the wine, it was indeed very sweet, which they had set aside for me. They did whatever was within their power to help our friend. What could I do? Had I done enough? I felt so incredibly useless then and there. I looked back at the clay statues and picked up one of the knives. Pricking the tip of a finger I let some drops of my blood fall upon the statue of the lover as a sacrifice. I wasn't a priestess but I sent a silent prayer her way anyway.