Selene

I awoke with a start, finding myself laid down on the ground, men bustling all around me. I wasn't chained, or held, or even being guarded by a number of soldiers. For a few seconds I looked about in a brief panic. Was I dead? Was this what death was like? Then I saw the color of all the clothes of the soldiers rushing around, all were in darkest black.

As I broke down in tears a man rushed up, kneeling beside the blanket I found beneath me. "Sorry miss, bit of a rush. Are you hurt?" He asked.

"Am I safe?" I responded, looking at him.

"Yes miss, of course. Sorry that I don't know you, but one of the forward teams just brought you in. You're not from Ice's End are you?" I could see the knowledge dawning on me.

"No," I responded.

"You're Selene aren't you?" Understanding bloomed on his face.

"Yes." It was a bit scary that he knew my name.

"Well, Emperor Durin will be pleased. One of our main missions was to save you miss. To save you and liberate these people." He pointed and I looked at the city in the distance. There was fighting going on still, but fires burned near the center, what looked like a large castle.

I let loose then, weeping, and continuing to weep. Time flowed away like water as the tears fell. The medic stayed with me, letting me go as I would, letting me hold him when I needed, and let go when I wished. Eventually I could cry no more, and I saw that night had fallen, there were blessedly few in the same area as me, and they were all being attended to by men like the one sitting here.

When I was done I laid back down and slept peacefully for the first time in so long. The kind darkness showed me only swirling lights and light, kind voices.

Verren

After sending John back with the girl we continued on, cutting our way through paltry resistance. Room by room we cleared the castle, killing all who resisted. Many of the soldiers I met had no mana, or very little, and after the first push through the strongest they all threw down their weapons.

It was easy to forget that many men were pressed into service by the nobility in the past. They seemed to have continued here, forcing people to work for them in some capacity or the other. I too had been called to war against my will once, and so I knew, the look in their eyes that told me that they just wanted to go back to their homes and families. The ones I could let live, I did.

Eventually we'd made our way to the heart of the fortress, and as far as we could tell, had it surrounded on all sides. There was some form of barrier over the door, and a number of men working on it.

"Strong one general," one of them said as I approached. "We can bust it, but they'll know."

"Put up shields and be prepared for anything, once it's open and we're clear, we go in," I told him, and the mages nodded, forming up their spells.

Minute after minute passed as they pounded on the barrier, slowly, carefully cracking the turtle's shell. There was no secret here, just the assurance that they had enough firepower to at some point destroy it, and the willingness to wait for the spell to fall. This was no simple ward locked by the stone that held it, but rather some kind of emanation or some such. It went on for what seemed like hours until cracks like those on the shell of an egg began to form.

From there it didn't take much longer until the barrier fell, the door behind it exploding inwards. The wooden projectile was torn from its hinges and flunk like a toy across the room, landing near the center.

Men flooded in as soon as no trap became apparent, only to find an open room. Rich carpets lines the floor of the barren chamber at its center stood the one thing that I had hoped least to find here. A gate had been erected, standing alone, the exit that the rats had used to flee.

"Get some of our specialists here. If they're smart they've destroyed or disabled the other side, but we need to check regardless." It was likely that they'd want Alana to come and see this, but if it could be managed, I'd have Dras or one of his apprentices come instead. The young man needed to prove himself and this was a good chance for it.

There was nothing more I needed to do after setting down orders and sending my men to it. So I did the same thing I always did after taking a city. There would be reports, and interrogations, and prisoners to deal with, but for now I needed to secure the city, and try to minimize casualties from doing it.

I walked back through the empty streets. It was good to do so, to see, with his own eyes the way of things. The stone roads were mostly empty, scared faces peeking out of windows as the soldiers passed this way and that. Eyes glinted behind shutters as fearful citizens wondered what would become of them now that a new army had taken over. That was less than ideal, to know what the status of things were, I needed to see some of the people. So I kept walking, kept looking for someone out and about.

A pair of guards accompanied me, but i paid them no mind as I moved through the streets. The enemy was gone, and my men knew their duty, knew the plan that was in place. I moved deeper and deeper through the alleys, getting a feel for the place, something I'd done in so many other cities that they'd conquered, seeking the people. Soon enough I found some.

In a corner behind some storage buildings stood an old shack, at some point used for tools, but long since abandoned, or so it seemed. Outside the door were the clear markings of feet coming and going, and they were recent. The windows were broken out, and there was no chimney, but there were eyes looking at me from the darkness as he approached. With a hand signal my guards moved to cover the other directions.

"I know you're in there," I said loudly, stern, but not angry. "Come out."

The door cracked and a girl appeared in it. Her clothes were ragged and too small. Her face was pinched tight and eyes sunken, sad, broken, dying. It was a face he knew all too well, it was the face his son had described seeing on the people of their former village. Someone, a boy probably, was pulling at her from the side, trying to get her to come back to the safety of the little shack. She pushed him away and came into full view.

"Please." That was all she said as she faced me, her voice spoke of what she expected to come.

"I'm not here to hurt you girl. How many are with you in there?" I asked, at her hesitation I added. "I will have it searched shortly, don't lie."

I could see her teeth clench. She was probably the oldest here, and was perhaps fifteen or so. "Six," she finally said.

"How many have you lost since the others took this city?" I responded.

"Forty-seven," she said, and I could see how that pained her.

That number was high, way too high. There were probably around ten or so thousand people in this city total.

"Why so many?" I asked her next.

"If your parents fought against His Majesty," I could see her expression school itself, but her fists still clenched in hatred. "Then after they were killed your house was destroyed."

That tracked well with what I knew of the former Bergond nobility, and with what the informant had told us. There didn't appear to be any temple in this town for these kids to have fled to. We were out at the very edge of the world, and their reach was limited, one of the reasons that this place had been chosen in all likelihood.

"He's gone, get the kids and bring them." She hesitated and I clarified. "I'm getting you all food and somewhere warm to sleep."

There were no really small ones with her group, no way for them to make it. Each and every one looked scared as my men searched the house and then walked us down the street. She hadn't lied to me about how many she had, which was a good mark for her. I wouldn't have been too mad if she had, but I appreciated the honesty.

Eventually I found what looked like a tavern of sorts. There were no inns here, as they didn't get many visitors, but it would do. The proprietor looked like he was expecting death when I beat on his door, but upon having a few coins shoved in his hands and being told to get food and blankets he calmed considerably.

While most of the kids tore into the food the man had procured I pulled the girl to the side. "This isn't free, I've a job for you."

"Of course," she said, looking resigned. Perhaps she'd been expecting something, probably something terrible for what they were getting.

"You and those kids are gonna go make rounds to the people you know, and you're gonna tell them what happened here." She looked up in confusion. "Everyone is scared kid, and scared people do stupid things. I want you and those kids to go and tell them we're not here to pillage, or rape, or wreck things. That's the cost of this. We'll get an orphanage, or send you kids off to one somewhere else soon enough if you've got nowhere to go, but for now I need you to do that."

"But why..." she began.

"I could tell them, but they won't believe me. So I want you to tell them. Tell them what I did here, tell them what it cost you, tell them that we're not here to hurt them. That's tomorrow though, for tonight, go and eat." I waved her off to the place where the other kids were, and her own food.

Making arrangements with the tavern-keeper wasn't hard. Invasions killed his business, and my coin was still gold, even if he didn't recognize the minting. That and a few vague threats about how unhappy I would be if I should find the kids mistreated set things right for now. This had worked in city after city to calm panicking populaces many times, and I had confidence it would work here too.