The Village
Sister Agnes let out a sigh of relief as Fiona grabbed ahold of Hugh and let him know that Sana was alright and that she would be back later on. The news was a large weight lifted off her shoulders for the thought of losing just one while helping the village and the former slaves made her queasy to her stomach. Taking a long calming breath she kept tending to those that needed her help. As Fiona asked about what had happened she pulled her aside, not wanting to worry the captives that already had been through enough. She explained about the battle that had occurred while she was gone, letting her know that a few had been taken captive and would be dealt with in the morning along with informing her that everyone was okay and either eating in the inn, helping around the village or asleep at this time recovering from the battle.
Going back over to the new additions to the village she did what she could until she felt a pull on her robes and looked down to see the little goblin that Sana had referred to as Drizzak. He looked slightly different to her in some ways. She could tell he had been injured in places but it wasn’t scars that made it look like he had but where wounds may have should been where now golden as if they had repaired themselves in some exotic fashion. Kneeling down at his words she looked into his eyes and gave him a soft and genial smile with a quick nod. Seeing his change in demeanor and his profession of wanting to be good she started to put two and two together and had a rough idea to why the change could be occurring. She dared not say anything because if she was wrong it could be heartbreaking and if she was right it could be overwhelming.
Instead she took his clawed hand in hers as she would a child and gave it a soft pat as she righted herself before leading him to the apothecary where they could talk alone. Wylsen was busy with the new villagers so she knew they would have some time. Walking into the shop she closed the door behind them and motioned over towards a stool that Drizzak could sit down on. With all the blood and death that surrounded the village that day it was wonderful for her to see some good come out of it. Not only the freeing the villagers of the horrible darkness that had been placed over the town by the slaver but the freedom of the captives and now one that wanted to be better than he felt he was.
“You wanting to prove you are a good goblin already tells me that you are,” she said in a kind voice to Drizzak as she stood before him. “To be a good guardian one must weigh if death is truly needed and only harm when needed. Even the great paladins of the past had to defend themselves and those they cared about, even killing. But death is a part of life; it comes to all in one form or another. It is measuring if death is truly needed and to what extent. Death, while sometimes needed does not always have to be brutal,” she said as she looked out the window. “Today some deaths were needed to save the greater good, though some deaths needed not be as vicious,” she said before looking back towards him.
“To walk a path towards the light, at first one must walk away from the darkness of the past,” she said in a gentle voice as she pulled out her prayer beads. She had not granted atonement in a very long time but it was not something she was unfamiliar with. Taking the beads she placed them in Drizzaks hand and gave him a soft smile, resting her hand over his and the beads before she began to pray. As she did a holy light came from her palm and slowly enveloped them, a cleansing light to bring his soul into the a righteous state that could perhaps eventually find a lawful existence of good at one point. As the light faced she closed his claws around the beads and nodded.
“What you do now is up to you, your soul has been purified. You have a clean start in life now to choose the path you wish to follow. Where it goes will depend on what decisions you make with the choices that are provided to you,” she said as she stepped back. She took some time to explain to him the difference between good and evil, that it wasn’t so much of the actions one took but the reason behind such actions. She told him this and much more in hopes that he would understand.
“Don’t worry if you falter, we all do at one point in our lives. The biggest challenge you will face in the future is admitting your faults and correcting them,” she said as she stepped back over to the door and opened it, motioning to him that he was free to leave then. “I wish you the best and I look forward to when you and your group return from your task to see how far you have traveled,” she said in a light hearted voice filled with confidence for him. “You already at least have one friend in this group, I am sure there will be many more. Now, go eat and rest. You have earned it little one.”
The Slaver Camp
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a cold voice echoed through the air and cut through the moment like ice, sending a chill through Sanas spine as the child whimpered in fear. Sana turned her head slowly, the smell of sulfur wafting into her senses as she swallowed hard; her eyes falling on the one that had spoken. A cruel looking man with a face that was scarred beyond recognition beheld the pair; a dark armored knight who felt as if he emanated an evil aura rode atop a beast that was not of this land. The beast was a hound of sorts but that was the size of the draft horse Sana sat upon, with fur the color of rust and blood. Its teeth and mouth the color of coal and its eyes shown in the late day sky like two balls of fire; drawing a large dark blade Sana had a flash of tales from so long ago, tales of the dark one that would roam the night steeling children from their bed and hunted down the purest of them all. Before Sana rode a man that was anything but a Holy Warrior on his mount of a Hell Hound.
Even at her best Sana knew she stood no hope of survival against the foe before her, it would take all that stood to have a chance but could she reach them in time? Could the old steed out run this beast and get them to safety? She had to try.
“Hold on tight,” Sana said in a commanding whisper to the little one and the girl clung harder to Sana.
“That child is mine,” the man growled.
“You can’t have her,” Sana spat before driving her heels into Rodgers flanks and the horse took off through the woods. Whoever this man was knew of the child and in the gypsys mind meant he was perhaps the sole cause for all the death and destruction that she was trying to escape from as the flames flickered into the air and the smell of roasted death became fainter. Sana wished she was on Epona, this was something her own horse was built for, speed and agility. Rodger was not but she had to try, it was their only chance. The Hell Hound bayed as Sana sped through the forest, the girl clinging to Sana; trying to remain on the horse. The howl ripped through Sanas ears, it was hollow and empty and the smell of sulfur grew with each step the horse took, the beast closing in quickly.
“Come on Rodger, faster!” Sana screamed as she pushed the horse harder and faster than she ever remembered him moving, then again they had never been together while trying to run for their lives. Sana almost lost the little one a few times but managed to keep her in the saddle with her as they drove towards the village at a breakneck pace. She could not slow down; she refused to lose one more soul to this evil. So many had already been lost; how many she may never know but in her arms clung an innocent and she would save this one from his clutches no matter the cost. A quick turn in a different direction and they were able to shake the monster that was nipping at Rodgers heels and make a break for it on the straight away towards the village; it coming into view quickly. Sana just hoped that once she reached the small town they would be ready to help. She did not know what had happened to those that had been with her on their way back to the village nor what had happened to Hugh and the rest that had stayed behind but there was nowhere else to go, no place else to turn. They would have to push forward to save this last one.
“To arms!” Sana screamed as she saw the village, screaming it over and over again. She didn’t pay attention to any that may have been in the streets, she just keep pushing Rodger further into the village until they reached the inn and she leapt off with the child in her arms; tucking and rolling into the dirt as she did and coming up to her feet. She didn’t stop and kept running, clinging to the child protectively as she ran towards the entrance of the Inn. “Run Rodger!” she screamed at the horse and he took off towards the other end of town as Sana ran inside. Pushing passed any that may have been in her way and weaving through the inn.
The foe was not far behind Sana but slowed his pace as he came to the edge of town and nearly trotted his beast into the village, a look of fury coming over his features. He was livid that he had been outrun by a woman and child on a mere horse. He was out for blood and he would have it. Sister Agnes and Wylsen came out as they head the cries of Sana echoing through the night, looking on in horror as their eyes fell onto the man that chased Sana into the village and the monster he rode.
“What in gods name is that?” Wylsen muttered as Sister Agnes gripped his shoulder, her fingers trembling.
“That is nothing of Gods making….” she managed to say as she looked on the pair that trotted into town. “You know that,” she added as she looked over to the apothecary, fear in her eyes. Wylsen nodded, he knew it wasn’t. In a distant past he had run across such beings and he just had hoped that his old eyes were playing tricks on him.
“Bring me the child!” the demonic voice demanded as he brought the beast to a stop near the inn. It would be evident to all what he was and what he rode. The man did not hide what he was in any sense of the word. Sana ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time and kicked a random door to a room open before darting inside and prying the child off her.
“Hide,” Sana said as she set the childs feet on the ground.
“Don’t go,” the little one pleaded as she tried to cling to Sana but Sana held her back.
“I have to, you have to hide,” Sana whispered as she brushed her hair out of the childs face and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back, I promise,” she said quickly. The child did not like it but stopped trying to cling to Sana as Sana pulled the lace of her cloak and handed it to her. “Hide, don’t come out no matter what until you hear me,” Sana said quickly as she ran back out the door and the child went to find a hiding spot. Sana unslung her bow from her back; leaping down from the second floor to the first. Her face was not angry or vengeful; it was the look of a mother protecting a child. Sana was no parent but she had found the child and was the closest thing she had to one right now.
“Bring me that child!” the man bellowed once more from outside of the inn. Sana nocked a silver arrow into place as she stepped slowly outside of the inn, back towards the street, and aimed towards the evil being trying to take the little one back into his custody.
“Over my dead body,” Sana hissed; she was in no condition to fight but so few were right then. Her clothing was singed, torn and tattered from the battles of the day. Her exposed skin had been burnt; blisters and raw flesh exposed to the night air as her arms trembled to just hold the bow string drawn back. Blood caked to her face from the gash in her cheek, it coating her shoulder where the dog had ripped into it and her legs marred from the same jaws. It didn’t matter, nothing else did in her mind right then. Sana stood there unwavering in her determination that he would not lay a finger on the child that was now hiding.
“So be it,” he retorted as he drove his heels into the beasts flanks he rode and charged Sana; a dark blade drawn to strike her down. His face looking as corrupted as his soul and looking as much as a demon as the very hell hound he rode. Sanas lips parted but she did not move even as he charged her like a bat out of hell; a slow calculated breath escaping her mouth as her fingers let loose the arrow and it shot forward, whistling through the air and cutting into the flesh of the hounds shoulder. It drove deep, the silver cutting into the meat and lodging into the bone but the beast kept charging.
Sana had held her ground until the last possible second, removing any chance of leaping out of the way but the arrow hitting had helped and thrown the man off balance as the hell hound stumbled in its attack. Instead of his sword tearing through her flesh his arm came pummeling across her chest and sent her flying through the air from the front of the inn, across the street and slamming back against the post of the apothecary on the other side of the wide road. Sanas bow soaring from her fingers and to the wooded porch in front of the general store as her body crumpled into a heap on the ground. The man pulling back on the reins and the beast coming up on its hind legs as is spun before its paws came back down and dug into the ground, ready to attack again.
Sister Agnes screaming out as she watched Sanas form take the hit and rushing to her side, pulling her into a seated position as she looked over to her. Wylsen kneeling down next to the two and trying to open the archers eyes that were now closed to see if she would respond; pulling her lids up carefully. Sanas eyes fluttered slightly signaling she was still alive but not by much, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. The blow and subsequent crash into the post had crushed her chest and shattered her bones.
“She’s alive… barely,” Wylsen said quickly and Sister Agnes nodded. The nun had used most of her healing earlier in the day trying to help the others after the previous fights and tending to those that had returned to the village. She was not sure she had enough left to save Sana but if ever divine grace was needed, it was needed now in their darkest hour as the moon peaked through the clouds from above. Wylsen looked over to his old friend as if to plead her to at least try and the sister understood, moving slightly as Wylsen pulled Sana over him to and rested her down on the ground fully; Sister Agnes resting down on her knees and leaning over the nearly lifeless body of Sana, saying a quick prayer for the strength that would be needed as she began to heal the injured archer. The nun just hoped she had enough in her left to so what was needed.
Carefully read through the OOC post before posting!!!