Hours of brewing and mana manipulation slowly crawled by as the third and final batch of potions were finally ready. They were out of ingredients and the potion crew consisting of Freja, Helina and Unn, the owner of the home, were all exhausted. Making lesser health potions required constant monitoring and mana manipulation throughout various processes. The number of potions they were making at once meant they were always diligently working at one point of the process or the other.
Freja kept two of the lesser potions as a backup for herself and Bjorn. Her familiar had a healing factor, but she never wanted him to be hurt if she could help it. Freja hoped that the twenty potions would be enough. It would have to be as there wasn't any way they could brew anymore.
"Good job ladies." Helina said as Freja bottled the last potion. "I am going to check on things."
"I will come too." Freja said.
Freja placed the last of the potions carefully into a basket which Unn picked up. She had been the transporter every time a batch had been completed.
"I will take these and see if they will be needed." Unn said as she bowed deeply to Freja. "Thank you for everything you have done. You have saved lives today." She turned to Helina. "Thank you for risking your life in defense of our home. You could have taken your family and fled but you stayed, and I am eternally grateful."
Bjorn woke up, his body still sore but nothing seemed broken. He was lying on a pile of blankets on the floor of a dark room which didn't matter since he could see in the dark. He searched his familiar bond and felt Freja directly under him meaning he was on the second floor. He looked around, it was the living space of maybe a young man, but he didn't care to investigate further.
"Finally, you're awake." Failsafe said in Bjorn's head. "Can you pick a fight we can actually win without getting brutally ripped apart, bitten, clawed or gutted for once. Higher Planes above seriously."
"You are acting like I have a choice." Bjorn responded mentally. "And don't you say I could just run away and leave Freja to die. You know that is not going to happen. She is my only connection to this world, otherwise I am just a roaming monster someone will kill first and ask questions later."
"Well, it still sucks. Can't we for once fight something on our level." Failsafe said with a sigh.
"The fact we are alive means the druid is dead. Did we gain any levels?" Bjorn asked.
"No." Failsafe stated.
"Why is that?" Bjorn asked.
"It means Freja didn't kill them." Failsafe responded.
Bjorn stood up and stretched. "But all you do is steal the remaining magic and such, right? If she killed them or not, shouldn't you be able to?"
"All I can say is that magic is complicated and that is not how it works." Failsafe said.
"Meaning you don't know either." Bjorn pointed out.
"I-I just need more data." Failsafe responded.
"Well, that is good to know." Bjorn stated with some thought. "It means we can't just sit outside of a battlefield and take all of the experience of everyone that died in combat."
Bjorn found the door cracked open and opened it easily enough with a boop from his snout. He tasted the air with flicks of his tongues. The aroma of potion brewing mixed with the scents of Owen, Freja, Helina and some other people he didn't know. He also tasted blood and death, but it was faint, most likely from outside. He stepped into the hallway and an overturned plant and several downed paintings were all that was there to greet him.
"Wait a moment, let me check on Bjorn." Freja's voice called out from downstairs.
Bjorn followed the voice and soon found the staircase right as Freja stepped up the last step.
"Bjorn." She said as she sat down. "You shouldn't be up."
The young girl looked exhausted, but her emotions calmed a bit once she saw him. She patted her lap and Bjorn laid across. Freja took the time to look over his injuries; they were little more than scars by this point, but the scales hadn't fully grown back yet. Bjorn felt guilt flowing through the bond as Freja touched the largest scar on his stomach. The one that nearly gutted him when the bird familiar kicked him free.
"You did all the fighting again. You keep getting hurt for me. Because I am so weak, because I am not a good master, I can't even protect you." She hugged Bjorn. "You're only a few days old, barely over a week and you felt so much pain because of me. I swear this will never happen again, baby. You will never have to fight alone because I am weak." She had resolve in her voice.
"Are you ready, Sif?" Helina called.
"You wanna come, Bjorn?" Freja asked and Bjorn squawked affirmatively. "I am coming."
Darkness did little to hide the devastation in the town; most of the survivors had gathered in the square where pyres were constructed to send off those who died. One for each person with the exception of the druids who were all thrown into a pit, their bodies cut into pieces to prevent the possibility of them becoming undead.
Helina led them around the mass funeral to another house where a guard was posted outside. The man was a villager armed with a sword and in his prime, since Bjorn didn't know how long wendigo lived, he could have been in his thirties or seventies for all he knew. The man looked at the group and bowed slightly before opening the door.
Inside Sabec and Owen were sitting in the living room styled much the same as the house Bjorn just left. Joha was in the corner smoking his usual long metal pipe. There was an elder with a long white beard and decorative wooden cane alongside eight other men Bjorn had not yet seen before in the room. The druid was also tied up on the floor he looked to have been beaten to near death. Freja nearly stopped when all eyes shifted to the group as they entered.
"This is the young lady?" The elder asked.
"Yes, father." The man beside him said.
The man beside the elder had silver strands hanging from his long antlers. A fashion choice Bjorn hadn't seen although he thought it looked rather nice.
The elder made a dismissive gesture to the druid. "Please remove that filth from here. We have esteemed guests." Several men grabbed the druid that was too beaten to even resist and they roughly dragged him out. "Please ladies, enter."
Helina walked over to Owen where he had saved her a seat. The man beside the elder made one of the other men stand so Freja would have a place to sit down as well. The elder looked at Freja and Bjorn for a long moment as he stroked his beard. To Freja's surprise everyone bowed as she sat down and picked Bjorn up to sit in her lap.
"We have already given thanks to your comrades, young lady." The elder said still bowed. "We are thankful to all of you for defending our town and to you for the work you have done to save those injured in the attack. You saved not only my life but also that of my grandson and many others that would not have survived without your potions."
"I-I, there is no need to bow elder." Freja said in shock.
"There is need to do much than just bow." The elder said as he lifted his head. "My name is Kolbein, I am the Elder of this village. On behalf of everyone, I offer you this."
The man, his son with the silver strands, stood up, head still bowed and knelt in front of Freja; he held out his hand with a small red bag. Freja hesitantly took the bag and opened it. Inside were three gold coins and sixteen silver. Freja gasped even accounting for all of the potions she made; it would only equate to ten silver at most.
"This is too much elder Kolbein." Freja stated.
"Does anyone believe three gold sixteen silver to be too much for what this young lady has done?" The elder asked out loud.
"No." Everyone said in unison.
The man knelt in front of Freja lifted his head. "My name is Hrolf; your potion saved my father and my son. I would give more if I could." He stood and everyone lifted their heads.
Hrolf stood in front of everyone taking the floor where the Druid once laid.
"Now, it is time we decide." Hrolf stated as he looked over each of the men. "Our village is in ruin and if what the druid said is to be believed more of them will come. We need to warn the other villages and get our people to Lavi."
Another man, this one with a missing antler stood up. "And abandon our homes to these tree fuckers."
"What would you have us do? If not for our visitors, we would all be dead." Hrolf said. "I don't believe we should risk the lives of our families on pride or on brick and mortar that can be rebuilt."
"They caught us off guard, but we will be ready next time." The man with the missing antler said. "I refuse to let them have my home."
Hrolf pointed to the window and spoke a word of power which caused a wind to blow the blinds open.
Hrolf spoke with anger and loss. "Look at the pyres. Look. Those are who we lost. Do you want more? Was this not enough?" He walked over to the man with one antler he stared unblinkingly at the man. "Fight? How many of us fought? I remember the gnoll killed one and captured one, the goblins killed one and the tiger-man killed the others."
The elder stomped his cane. "That is enough. We are not going to tell any of you what to do. You all heard what the druid said. More are coming. Do what you believe best for your families but those that want to leave be ready at first light. Tonight, honor and grieve your lost."
There was grumbling amongst the crowd but one by one the men dispersed heading out to the pyres or to find their families. The elder was helped up to his feet by Hrolf the two of them bowed to Freja again before they too left leaving only the merchants inside. Freja walked over to one of the other couches to get closer to the group.
"Well, what do you all think?" Joha said as he walked over from his corner.
"Sabec will travel to Lavi then head east to the frontlines for Sabec's mate." The gnoll stated. "Sabec is here because of the war so this changes little, yes?"
"We are also going to Lavi." Owen said as he grabbed his wife's hand. "Then probably north, we need to get our boys out of this as soon as possible."
"Sif, you are free to come with us." Helina stated.
"I-I don't know." Freja said.
"You don't have to make a decision right away." Helina responded seeing the conflict on Freja's face. "We still have a few days before we make it to Lavi."
"Thank you, Helina." Freja stated. "But Joha what are you going to do?"
"I will leave the country after Lavi, head west." Joha said after a deep puff of his pipe. "I have no intention of being in a country at war when there are much more peaceful places out there."
Bjorn could feel Freja's conflicting emotion at the answer; it wasn't what she expected. There was a brief moment of fear, uncertainty then resolve. She stood up, placing Bjorn on the ground as she walked to Joha and bowed her head.
"Thank you for saving me." She started to cry. "If you hadn't showed up, I would be dead. Bjorn would be dead and there was nothing I would have been able to do. I am weak. I am scared, but every time I am in danger Bjorn is the one that is hurt. He is the one that fights."
"So, what do you want, Sif?" Joha asked, his voice calming.
"I want to fight like you did." Freja said with conviction. "I want someone that can teach me how to defend myself. So, the next time I can be the one that protects Bjorn."
Joha kneeled down. "Any student of mine can't also be lying to me. Who are you? You mentioned you killed a druid before. Your staff and knife are the same as theirs. Why?"
Freja looked up at the tiger demon, his eyes were locked onto her.
"My name is Freja Thundersky." Freja looked into the demon's eyes with equal resolve. "I was removed from the Salstar Noble House, stripped of nobility and left for dead..."