Chapter 18

I do not own Claymore

The first rays of sunlight woke the four warriors and one small abyssal from their slumber.

Pulling on their boots and donning their cloaks, the group waited while Sheila took a few minutes to extinguish the remnants of last nights fire.

Munching on some of the jerked meat, dried fruit and nuts they used for way rations, they prepared to set out for Rabona The Holy City and its massive temple.

Teresa and Riful stood gazing out over the land before them, Clare joined them and soon Teresa commented,

"I'm getting six warriors in two groups of three, four awakened beings and a dozen or so yoma."

She glanced at Riful and asked,

"What're you picking up?"

Riful smiled adorably and replied, "I'm getting thirteen yoma and about the same with the warriors and awakened beings."

Clare remarked,

"I get the same except, I'm getting a faint hint of an aura that is deeply hidden and a long ways off." Teresa and Riful both turned their eyes towards the land once more and after a few moments, Riful murmured,

"I feel it now, so faint I almost missed it. You're pretty good Clare, too bad I couldn't have enlisted you." she finished with a grin.

Teresa smiled at Clare and remarked,

"You can read very subtle yoma auras then. The organization would've liked you."

Clare shrugged and remarked cooly,

"I never let them know the full extent of my youki reading abilities just like I never mentioned Ilena's arm, I figured the less they knew about me, the better it was for me."

Teresa chuckled and said cheerfully to the others,

"She got that from me! I never told the organization about a lot of things I saw and did either."

With that, they set out for the village of Hanel, it being the closest place with an inn.

It lay about a day and a half's walk to the north and was an easy journey without a lot of clambering over any mountain ranges or fording rivers or large streams.

Teresa set up a pretty good pace and the group moved along in a brisk, mile-eating stride.

By nightfall, they were still out on the open lands of the southwest and had settled down for the night.

Cynthia and Sheila quickly made camp while Teresa, Clare and Riful conferred.

Clare said matter-of-factly, "Hanel is a town that does get warriors passing through it on their way to the west or south. We may encounter some there or even an organization member, so let's be careful and not have any incidents okay?"

When she finished, she looked meaningfully at Riful of the West.

Riful shrugged and remarked candidly, "I doubt if any of the younger generation warriors would know of me, I certainly don't plan on 'acting up' if that's what you're all afraid of, and what if we do run into a man in black? Couldn't we just kill him and be done with him?"

Teresa quietly replied,

"We do want to keep our existence a secret as long as possible, killing a man in black would alert the organization to us and could unleash a chain of events we couldn't handle."

She smiled slightly and chuckled before saying,

"Though it would be funny to see the look on Rubel's face when I say hello!"

Riful grinned and said almost scornfully, "Him, I don't care about, he was just a messenger boy. It's Dae and Rimuto I want."

"He did encourage Sheila and I to make our escape by implying that I could find Clare and the others hiding out in Rabona, and he asked me to kill Lord Dae on my way out." Remarked Teresa.

"Rubel told you I was in Rabona?"

Asked Clare with a hint of surprise in her voice.

Then she commented,

"That is, surprising, though I've long suspected him of being on an agenda that was a bit different than the organizations. The killing Lord Dae part I don't understand, he was taking quite a risk asking you to kill Lord Dae, how did he know you wouldn't just report him to Rimuto?"

"We'll make sure to ask him that if we bump into him."

Remarked Riful of the West.

Clare muttered, "we're gonna have to talk to Miria about this when we get back."

Cynthia who had sat quietly so far spoke up, "We all have to talk to Miria about many things, she has alluded to some awful things about the organization, things that we need to know about."

By midday, they approached one of the outlying farms near the village of Hanel.

Like many farms scratched out of the wilderness, it was fairly modest and had both an apple orchard and a good variety of crops and farm animals for both food and labor.

This small farm had only a couple of old horses for plowing and hauling to market.

They stopped at the split rail fence that struggled to keep both wildlife and livestock out of the growing crops.

In the field, a slight figure covered with raggedy clothing straightened up, leaned on a hoe handle took out a rag and mopped a sweaty brow, then turned and saw them.

The youthful face gaped at them briefly then the boy turned away and hollered,

"Maw! Paw! Come quickly! We've got visitors!"

Moments later, a weatherbeaten man came running up with a business like pitchfork in his gnarled hands and a grim look on his face.

"We don't want any more trouble! Where did you come from and where's the rest of you?" He growled, his knuckles turning white from the grip he had on his pitchfork.

"We've come a long ways and we're seeking the village of Hanel."

Replied Cynthia with a pleasant smile on her pretty face, "We didn't mean to trespass and we will leave as soon as we get directions to Hanel." She concluded.

A tired looking, red faced woman came up behind the farmer and peered at them for a moment before saying to her husband,

"I know you're getting a bit deaf, are you going blind too? Those are womenfolk, not the bandits that took our good horses last month."

The man squinted at them for a long moment, then opened his eyes real wide and he visibly relaxed before saying a bit sheepishly, "Sorry ladies, I couldn't see you good enough to tell you were all women."

Teresa glanced down at her cloak covered ample chest and remarked in surprise, "Well, that's a first! Usually when I talk to a man, he's looking at my chest instead of my eyes."

Riful muttered ruefully to herself, "Men just pat me on the head and tell me to run along."

The woman wiped her reddened hands off on her faded apron and asked them, "We don't have much to offer you, but would you like a cool drink?

"We have some good cider we just made and it's been chilling in the creek."

Teresa smiled at the farmer's wife and replied, "That would be very welcome, it was a long walk and it is warm out, a cup of cider would be wonderful!"

A few minutes later found the scouting party sitting in the farmhouse's kitchen sipping at freshly made cider chilled in the creek behind the house, their heavy swords and gear laid aside for the moment.

Sheila smacked her lips and said cheerfully,

"This is very good cider, do you make enough to sell? I wouldn't mind buying a skinful of it for the journey."

The farmer's wife smiled, her reddened face wrinkling up into many fine creases and she replied,

"We do sell some to the inn in Hanel and we can put some in a clay jug if you'd like to take some with you."

Sheila grinned and dug into her coin purse, pulling out a coppery colored coin, she held it up and asked,

"Is this enough?"

The farmer's wife frowned slightly, smiled at her and replied, "I don't have any way to make change for that tuppence."

Sheila grinned at her and remarked, "Consider it our payment for your hospitality and some cool drinks."

After the woman finished filling a large clay jug with fresh cider and corking it, she asked curiously, "Are you ladies claymores, you have their swords?"

Teresa said quietly, "We are no longer a part of the organization and would prefer they didn't know of our whereabouts.

"You understand?"

She smiled weakly at her guests and replied ruefully, "I gave birth to twin girls several years ago, the men in black came and took them, claiming they needed them more than I did."

She sighed and shook her weary head,

"I didn't even get to name them... I have no love for the organization and as far as I'm concerned, I never saw any of you."

Teresa remarked quietly, "The organization has taken several sets of twin girls over the years, why? I'm not sure, they were very strict about who came into contact with them and any attempts at talking to them was discouraged. I'm sorry, I can't tell you any more than that."

The woman smiled sadly and replied softly, "At least they're alive still, though I may never see them again, I can take comfort in knowing they are being cared for, even if they have names that someone else gave to them, instead of me."

Sheila quietly asked her, "Did you live in the city at one time? You don't talk like a country born and raised woman."

The woman chuckled and replied, "I was raised by a teacher and learned how to read and write and do figures. My husband always says he married me for my brains, not my looks!"

Riful stepped forward and she reached up and took the woman's sun reddened face in her hands, she kissed the woman gently on her reddened cheek and said gently,

"He loves you, you know, I was with my man for a long time and he died while defending me.

"He wasn't much on looks or brains, but like your man, he stood by me 'til the end."

A glistening tear trickled down Riful's soft cheek and the sturdy farmer's wife reached out and pulled her into a warm embrace.

She held her for a long moment, then said softly, "Thank you little miss, your kind words mean a lot to me."

The sounds of many hooves and men shouting interrupted them.

The farmer's wife's face blanched, even through her reddened skin and she whimpered, "The bandits, they're back! They took all of our best horses last time, now what do they want?"

Clare stepped to the side of the doorway and peered out.

After a moment she said,

"There's ten of them out there, they're all well armed."

Teresa smiled and said grimly, "That's hardly a fair fight, only ten of them?"

She paused a brief moment and said softly,

"Their leader is a yoma. Shall we intervene?"

The farmer's voice could be heard from outside pleading,

"You already took my best horses, what more do you want?"

Suddenly there was the sound of a blow being struck and the boy's voice shrilly screamed,

"Paw?! Paw! Please don't hurt my paw!"

There was harsh laughter and a man's voice mockingly repeated,

"Paw?! Paw! Please don't hurt my paw!"

Riful at this point stood up and looked at the farmer's wife, then she looked at Teresa and said firmly,"Let me handle this, keep her inside, away from any windows."

Teresa nodded and Riful stepped outside as Teresa took the woman's arm and gently guided her into another room.

Once outside, Riful took off her clothing, smiled at the milling bandits and declared firmly, "Please let them go, you're hurting them and I don't like it when my friends get hurt."

One of the bandits laughed and jeered, "What're you going to do about it little missy, beat us up?"

Riful stepped off the porch and was approaching the bandits with an enigmatic smile on her pretty face when their leader recognized her and he shouted in a panic, "Let's get out of here! Let 'em go, run for your lives!"

He turned his horse and began savagely kicking at its flanks to spur it into a gallop, his men abandoned their hostages and followed suit.

It did them no good, Riful was angry now and she followed close behind.

Her body began darkening to the color of her chestnut hair and dividing into a mass of dark, ribbonlike strands as Riful took on her awakened form, a great, basket shaped latticework with ribbonlike tendrils snaking out in all directions and carrying her after her prey.

She closed in on her quarry with frightening ease and with her razor sharp blades, deftly sliced her meal into bite sized gobbets of flesh without so much as spilling a drop of their red blood.

The horses, suddenly relieved of their burdens slowed as some of Riful's tendrils reached out and took hold of their dangling reins and eased them to a halt while she finished her meal, leaving behind only the finely minced corpse of the yoma who had led them.