Two days had passed since they had left that corrupted village and Victoria still was not regularly leaving her basket. While they were engaged in battle with the sorcerer; Victoria and her familiars maintained a stalwart visage for all on lookers. However, this strength did not last, as they had almost immediately collapsed as soon as they had become victorious. Julianna had also promptly dissipated upon the sorcerer''s death, as the spiritual shackles across the village all faded away without any further assistance from Julianna. She too had sacrificed her body, or at least what one could call a body, with each divine incantation and rite. The few times she had seen Julianna since then, her hands were severely injured and were slowly healing.


    Before their group had even attempted to depart at the break of dawn, a group of villagers had already made their way across miles of wet grasslands. By torchlight they had assembled, guided by the will of the spirits, to quickly start to rebuild the fallen settlement. Greetings were given as the sorcerers from neighboring settlements had rushed to inspect the damage caused by their former colleague. Jaali had been in the middle of getting a debrief from his charge when the community leaders approached him, wanting to learn what had happened from the strangers who had saved them. The spirits had told them what they little they knew, but lacked much from their confined perspective.


    In spite of their contributions, most agreed that their group should leave quickly. Even if it was self-defense, many of the surviving villagers may not believe the truth and form violent grudges. Especially if they discovered that an Adze had contributed to killing their kin. Although most of the gathered villagers disliked that it was a group of foreigners that were the ones to save their families. However, the assembled relief still gave their thanks regardless. Only the sorcerers and their trusted circles all learned the full extent of the contributions made by the adze, particularly of the actions her familiar.


    For their contributions, the neighboring villagers replenished their depleted provisions, and many made small offerings of blood to aid in Victoria''s recovery. Although many of the accompanying warriors wanted to spar with the pale-skinned warrior who dared challenged a powerful spirit, they knew better than to hold them back any more than they had to. Instead, the warriors provided Arthur with cloaks of victory and valor, which were placed with care with his other belongings.


    Victoria''s semi-reclusive tenancies were well understood, but the lack of her familiar''s presence was noticeable. Between Julianna''s nurturing tendencies and Rose''s child-like energy, their absence dampened their collective mood. Occasionally Julianna would move about at night to attend to minor tasks, feeling confined with-in her mistresses'' soul. Many noticed the burned scarring on her hands, and to a lesser extent her arms. The damage appeared to be far more internal than her more outward facing image would suggest. Upon seeing the injuries and making sure the matronly figure was fine, Kahina asked about Rose and if the damage had affected her in anyway.


    “The damage I took when I channeled holy magic only affected me.” She commented reassuringly, embracing Kahina in her arms. “Her injuries are more-so in the head. Rose will not ready to come out for a little while. We are tending to her, so she might be ready to face the world in a few days.” There was little Kahina could do but worry for Rose, occasionally trying to tempt her with sweet things to minimal effect. The expression that she saw in the brief manifestations to placate Kahina''s attempts to coax her out, only served to dissuade her further. Rose''s face held a deep sensation of terror that she had only seen in the downtrodden villagers or slaves who had suffered abuse.


    Part of her wanted to pry, internally holding back her desire to know what had caused her to withdraw into the depths of Victoria''s soul. However, Kahina knew it was not her place to ask. While she had felt that she had grown close to both of them in the short few months they had travelled together, their shared bond through the supernatural far surpassed that. Leo did not get involved in his charge''s personal affairs, preferring to take on additional responsibilities in lieu of any emotional support. He knew what was troubling Rose, but would not disclose such private matters. Only when Rose was slowly starting to move around the camp did she allow Julianna to explain her situation in some level of detail. Kahina''s concern had reached her through the depressive state, having earned some level of trust through their travels.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    “Rose originally lived in a small farming community,” Julianna began, having ensured that only Kahina could hear and understand their conversation. “She was one of twelve children in a small group of farmers. Their lord had spread the local families thinly across his land, meaning that many lived with-in isolated clusters of land, far from other settlements. This is generally not much of a problem, unless there was something that they were not able to handle themselves. There had been a decline in the number of wolves and England had no other large predators, so there was little that threatened their safety. Save famine or illness.”


    “Unfortunately, there is currently a civil war in our homeland* and the soldiers do not always die in battle.” Her normally warming tone turning cold. “One group of soldiers, who were likely deserters, decided to inflict damage on the opposing house. Let me just say that it was not pretty.” At this point Victoria had partially joined them, passing the last remaining bottle of good alcohol to Julianna before returning to her previous tasks. Julianna did not hesitate in taking a generous swig from the bottle, before handing it to Kahina.


    “She has shared with me her worst memories... they are not in any way pleasant.” She said, the alcohol appearing to have some minor effect on her demeanor. “The men were instantly killed or were tortured in front of the women and children. The barbarians then violated the survivors, forcing themselves on them... often over the bodies of their loved ones. Rose and the other kids were not spared from this. It lasted a week... with each day those bas... cowards killing more and more of the innocent farmers. When they had enough, they burned the farm down to hide what they had done.”


    Before Julianna continued, she spat on the ground, anger filling her mind. “Rose and one of her younger sisters were left to die in the fire, bleeding out from the stab wounds they had been given as a ''parting gift.'' Fortunately, the Carpenter''s guild had been hired to supply some goods to aid in the war efforts and had seen the smoke rising from the burning home. Only Rose was still alive by then, having dragged herself away from the blaze. Victoria took her in while messengers were sent to the nearby lord.”


    “The scars never truly healed.” Julianna sighed, looking out at the sunset. “Rose has been making progress, but when that child grabbed her in the same places that those disgusting pigs did... it all came back to her. Those retched memories...” Kahina could only imagine what Julianna had seen, their intertwined souls being able to share much more than words could ever describe. Even with only the basic understanding of her situation, the translator could only give a sympathetic hand to the enraged Julianna. The needless cruelty that lacked any humanity, justified by some ancestral grudge that held little sway over their own lives.


    It now occurred to her that Leo''s actions had always been extremely respectful towards her, never initiating contact unless he gave her the choice. The nights Rose had spent running errands, she often chose to exclusively stuck with the women and rarely approached the men outside of her tasks. Anytime warriors were involved, she usually hid with-in the shadows or did the minimal contact. Only Arthur had made any in-roads with the familiar, managing to talk on her level. Although Leo probably gave him some friendly warnings ahead of time, so he did not upset his charge.


    “It''s... all too much.” Kahina sighed, taking a mouthful of the wine. “The cruelty of man, disguised as acts of war.” The weight of Rose''s past hung in the air, depressing both women by its presence. “At least they are now dead.” Stated Julianna, trying to bring some positivity into their sullen mood. “Although, they got off far too easily. My faith in Jehovah may be waning, but I hope that there is an afterlife where they are justly tortured for their immoral and senseless acts of violence.”


    “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the depraved, the murderers,” Julianna continued, adopting the tone she used when reciting Christian scripture. “The sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters and liars of every kind – they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. which is the second death. - Revelations, chapter twenty-one, verse eight. It might be hypocritical, with my prolonged existence violating many of the sins worthy of hellfire. But, in this instance I hope that the holy book proves true.”