I dropped to my knees, still staring at the arrows protruding from the butcher's back. They had sunk in deep. I had a hard time wrapping my mind around what had just transpired. I was out of breath, everything hurt and I was oh so tired. The temptation was great to just close my eyes for a little while. It took every last bit of resolve I could muster to not give in to that temptation. I let my gaze wander and surveyed the battlefield, although everything was blurry and distorted by a reddish haze. It took me a moment to realize that it was due to blood staining my vision. I wiped it out of my eyes with the fingers of my still numb hand before prodding the shallow but long cut across my forehead.

When had that happened? I wasn't quite sure. It bled quite a bit, like head wounds tended to, but at least it wasn't terribly deep. I checked the rest of my body. There were numerous other cuts as well as some bruises. My armor had seen better days as well, but it probably saved my life half a dozen times during those last few hectic moments of fighting. I winced. So this is what death by a thousand cuts felt like. Kind of. I was certain that despite the number of minor injuries I was nowhere near the one thousand. I wasn't quite dead either. I imagined that I wouldn't have been in so much pain otherwise. Still, getting back on my feet was beyond me. I was simply too exhausted.

I looked around for something I might use as a crutch of sorts but I came up with nothing. In the end I crawled over to the nearby dry stone wall and pulled myself upright, using it and my ruined glaive for support. That was almost too much. A wave of dizziness and nausea washed over me. I sat down atop the wall and leaned heavily against the shaft of my trusty weapon. Without it I might have fallen over forward again. That wouldn't have been fun. I probably would have ended up with a mouthful of bloody mud at best. I took some time to get my breathing under control before resuming my survey of the battlefield. Where was Kaele? Was she safe? Was she hurt? Where there still enemies about?

Where had those arrows come from? Too many questions. Movement at the makeshift butcher shop caught my attention. It was Kaele. Relief flooded my mind. She had borrowed a cloak from one of our fallen foes as well as a knife and was busy cutting throats, just to make sure none of our enemies would get back up to stab us in the back. She made her way methodically from one to the next. She might still be a while. I turned as I heard someone approach along the dirt path from the other side of the valley. Whoever they were, they weren't in a hurry. Either that or they were still cautious. I certainly would be. They stopped a few steps from me and the carnage surrounding me. “You look like crap.”

That earned the young Darkelf man an elbow to the ribs from his female Gorgon companion. He wasn't wrong though. “What a coincidence. I feel like crap too.” That was the best I could come up with. I eyed them a bit more thoroughly. Both were clad in dirty wool and grimy leathers and carried hunting bows, very much like Eld'tide's, as they were common among the free people around here. Overall they looked like they had spent a day or two out in the wilds, very much like my friends and me. Except they probably hadn't gotten into one fight after the other. “Thank you for your timely aid. I pretty much thought I was done for, when your arrows brought that butcher down.” I wanted to sound grateful but in the end I only sounded tired.

They just nodded either way and got busy cutting throats as well. As they were working together it didn't take them all that long. I frowned as I realized that the two probably weren't much older than my companions and I. The young woman turned to me as Kaele finally approached us. “Is she your only companion … my lady? There are others, right?” Oh, so she had recognized me as my mother's daughter? And she sounded troubled. “Was the siege of the village lifted? Do you have a camp nearby? A war band?” It seemed she wasn't terribly well informed about the situation in general and the presence of only Kaele and I was undermining the foundations of the hopes she had been cultivating. Damn, that made me feel even worse. Something I hadn't thought possible.

I shook my head. “I have no clue what the situation is like at the village. We weren't there when these raiders made their appearance. We were on a little wilderness trip out in the southwest.” I had to pause to catch my breath. “And the rest of our group are holed up in one of the farmhouses. Even counting you two we wouldn't be even remotely close to half a war band though.” I paused again and allowed myself a grim smile. “But including these foragers here we might have killed the equivalent of a war band by now.” I nodded in the direction of the spot where they had started butchering the sheep. “Would you mind getting the sheep? We need something to eat. And maybe some rest if we can afford it.”

The latter was especially true for me. “Keza! Sis! Oh dear Maidens! You look awful!” Kaele almost bowled me off my perch as she crossed the last of the distance separating us with increasing speed and worry. She didn't throw herself at me. No, she just started checking my injuries one after the other. And that was almost enough to send me to the ground. She turned to the pair that had saved my sorry ass. “Get the sheep carcasses, yes? I'll take her to the others. We'll get a fire going. You'll find us easy enough. Yes?” That last question was spoken with enough force to not allow for any discussions or a no for an answer. Under any other circumstances I might have smiled. Right now I just leaned against her for support.

The duo didn't protest. Maybe they were hungry as well. I didn't know. I hardly had enough willpower left to care. I was just glad that they headed in the indicated direction to get the sheep carcasses. I leaned heavy on my sister's shoulder, making her wince. “Sorry.” I used the shaft of my weapon as a walking stick to shift some of my weight off her. Together we made our way back to the hideout of the others. Eld'tide received us at the door. She must have noticed that the fighting ceased. As she saw us, she paled. Damn, it had to be really bad then. She jumped over the makeshift barricade she had set up in the door frame and Kaele gladly passed me along to her.

I couldn't hold it against her. I was just too big for her to support me for any length of time and Eld'tide might not be taller than my sister but she was stronger for sure. A thought occurred to me. “If they missed the herbs here, we might get lucky and find some more in the other farm houses.” My sister nodded and set off towards the nearest one, leaving her borrowed cloak with me and going invisible again. I was a little envious of her and the fact that she could cast such complex spells with such ease. Should I have reminded her to look for hidden caches like the one we found here as well? Ah, never mind. Herbs were more important right now.

The barricaded doorway proved almost too much for me. Eld'tide pretty much had to lift me across it. Once I was inside the eyes of the children widened as well. “Don't worry you two. It isn't as bad as it looks.” A straight lie. I probably didn't blush only because I had lost too much blood to do so. I only now noticed that I was leaving a trail of small but noticeable droplets. Well, if they had any headhunters or other decent trackers left this hideout wouldn't remain safe for long. “We got a little help at the end. They should be here with the food any time.” Umar'za, the little girl, tore herself away from her friend and Khuzan, picking up two of our empty water skins and headed for the door. Her intention was clear. Maybe I should have stopped her but I just patted her head as she passed me and Eld'tide. “Be careful and don't get caught!”