Everything Burns
Taking a deep breath Sana swallowed all emotion and her face became a steely gaze of nothingness before she took a step and then another; heading back to the soon to be former prison. Moving from place to place, body to body; slowly dragging each one to the center of the bivouac below the body of the woman who still hung from the high branch above. Perhaps she was meant to be a warning to others to do what they were told or face the same fate; perhaps she had been one of the lucky ones the archer thought, never having to wake up in the middle of the night screaming and remembering the tragedy. Stopping and looking at the pile of bodies, Sana knew there would be many nights ahead that she have to face this scene again; she pitied those that had lived through it for she knew their evenings would be far more traumatic.
Picking up a large hammer she began to break down what remained as best she could, a desire to cleanse the place of the unholy things that had occurred pushing her ever forward. Wood splintered and steel bent under the force of each strike; her muscles burning and her breath ragged as sweat dripped from her body. In turn each piece of hell was tossed over onto the pile of bodies and around them. No tears fell though, there were none left after the moment she held her father as he passed away. There was no anger, no grimace in pain as she continued to push forward. The look on her face remained as empty as the cages that swung from above.
Turning she made her way to the closest tree and began to climb, hands gripping as feet scraped their way up the bark of the trunk. Losing her grip several times and sliding roughly down the face of the plant that seemed to climb towards the heavens; her hands and knees bleeding from the scratches and cuts. It was a long climb to the branch she was after but she eventually made it; straddling it and moving carefully out from the safety of the trunk with a blade clenched between her teeth until she could reach the rope that held the cage. Taking the hilt of the blade in her hand she began to saw the material until it snapped, sending the cage crashing to the ground below. She did this with each one that hung and after each one fell she would climb down, hammer away until it was unusable and toss it into the mountain of death and decay.
Walking to one of the fires she pulled a piece of wood that was burning out of the fire, gripping it like a makeshift torch and tossing it into the pile. It took a while for it to catch what would burn on fire but Sana waited, watching the flickering flames slowly grow from small embers to a roaring bonfire meant to cleanse the world of this sickness. Once it was steadily burning Sana made one last climb towards the light above; one last ascension to free one more soul, the woman who had been hung. The world seemed to move in slow motion as the rope snapped finally; the body falling like a rag doll, tossed aside by a child after outgrowing it, until it crashed into the flames below. The world sped up, returning to status quo and causing Sanas head to spin; nearly toppling out of the tree herself before she regained her mental grip and clung to the branch.
Taking a few moments to breath before climbing down and walking slowly through the encampment; checking to make sure that all was as it should be, at least as well as it could be for now. Rodger slowly coming into view as she spun around hearing a twig snap beneath the draft horses weight. Sana let out a sigh of relief to know he was okay as he wandered over to her and nuzzled her slightly before beginning to push her towards the outskirts of the camp. Sana wondered what he was doing since he was not pushing her towards the village; that was until her foot fell into some leaves and a hollow sound could be heard echoing underneath it. She pushed Rodger back as she knelt down and felt around, pushing the leaves away to reveal planks of wood covering something. Quickly she pushed them aside and gasped in horror and disbelief at what she saw what lay beneath; a hand coming to her lips to cover them.
The Town
Sister Agnes coughed a few times but she nodded that she was okay. It was truth, she was okay but she was tired. Turning as she heard the voice of the new comer she held her hand out to Wylsen to help her to her feet before walking slowly towards him. "Slavers," she said in a weary voice. "They've been plaguing the town for sometime, today they decided to take it a step further," she explained as best she could at that moment before swiftly turning her attention towards Hugh as he screamed out to the heavens. Sighing she wobbled over to him and knelt down with the help of the apothecary.
"Deep breaths, it's over now," the nun tried to say in a reassuring voice but she doubted with that outburst that anything could be reassuring at that moment in time. Looking over towards Wylsen and gestured towards the sword in Highs thigh.
"Hold on young'un," the old man said as he wrapped his hand around the hilt of the blade before yanking it out of flesh and bone and tossing it out to the side. Sister Agnes cringed at the suddenness of the movement but she could only hope it was better that way than for Wylsen to take it out slowly. Rubbing her palms together she reached out and laid them on the most recent wound as she prayed. Her ever soft light slowly reaching out from her and to Hugh, hands moving slowly from his thigh to the rest of his form to heal each cut and broken bone. Letting what good lay within her serve as a catalyst to pull his flesh and bones back together; leaving only the smallest of scars on his flesh. She wished she could heal blood loss and desperation but those were not weapons in her arsenal.
"Wylsen, go tell the inn keeper to prepare meals for these men and water. They need to regain their strength," Sister Agnes said in a soft voice as she cleaned her hands of the blood that was caked to them on the folds of her habit.
"Righto Agnes, anything else," he asked as he helped her back to her feet.
"Yes, see what you can do to calm the villagers once that is done, we seem to be safe for now," she said as she looked around; those that had come to harm the town either now dead in the streets or running for their lives out of the south end of the village.
