Chapter 5

It just so happened that there was a priestess lodging in the local inn who was very experienced and wise, and she took the girl into her care. After she had tended and bandaged the wounds, she clothed the girl and laid her in the bed. When Benjamin came up and found her still unconscious and wrapped in the bandages he asked the priestess why.

"This girl has been harmed by a wicked spell, right now, any magic used on her would do her more bad than good. Do not worry, she just needs to regain her strength, she will be strong enough to be healed by magic soon. For now, just let nature run its course. What happened to her? She has been brutally treated to say the least."

"When we found her, 4 trolls and one forsaken were raping her. We were able to hunt them away before any of them actually entered her. At least, I think we were on time."

The priestess' face looked grave. The alliance between them and the Horde had been made long ago against the Burning Legion, out of pure necessity. But now, in times of peace, the memories of that time were waning, and both sides were thirsty for the blood of the other once more. There had only been slight quarrels in Stranglethorn Vale and the other cities where both factions were allowed to roam without fear for their life. This had been the first straightforward attack from the horde onto one of the lesser cities. If the ones responsible were acting to get a reaction or just to taunt the alliance, nobody knew, but actions had to be taken. The commander and the priestess talked about this for a while and then she bade for him to go and rest. But instead of doing so he went down to his men and sat down next to Creton with a grave look on his face.

"What ails you, Captain?"

"We're off duty here Creton; you can call me by my first name. Do we not know each other long enough for that?"

"Yes we do, but still, what ails you?"

"According to the priestess the girl was mind controlled during her assault. As a result of that she cannot be healed by magic till at least tomorrow. I just hope she will make it through the night."

"I'm sure the potion we gave her will keep her strength up until magic can help her. Were there any severe injuries besides her wrists?"

"She has a lot of deep wounds where the undead molested her, but the area under the navel is the worst. The horde and his filthy claws..."

"Was she...you know"

"I don't know, but I think we got there just in time."

"Good. Com...Benjamin, can I ask you another question?"

"What is it?"

"How did you know that the house had a secret chamber?"

"That is not a matter that I can discuss here. Too delicate. Now let us go and rest, I hope to reach Stormwind by noon tomorrow. We'll carry the girl with us if we must."

"She's coming with us? But sir, our duty is done, she is safe now. We need not take her with us as a burden."

The commanders' eyes filled with rage when Creton said that.

"You think of her as a burden? Were you not in a likewise position years ago? Your village destroyed by the Horde? You were too young to understand any of it then. If I had considered you a burden like you consider her now, you would still be in there. But I found you, took you to Stormwind with me, showed compassion and took you under my wings. All I ask of you now, is understanding for a girl that has gone through worse and is old enough to full well understand what happened to her and her village."

Creton went silent and bowed his head. Benjamin had been right. Many years ago his city had been ransacked by the Horde, and his mom had hid him in a cupboard to keep him safe. He had only been 4, so he had no idea why his mom had stuffed him in a cupboard and had ordered him to be silent. He realised that he could be able to relate to the girl, more than anyone else could.

"There's another thing you should know, Creton."

"What?"

"She's possibly a half-breed."

Without even noticing Creton's wide-eyed expression, Benjamin emptied his pint and went for bed. He would deal with the paladin in the morning, right now he needed sleep. He needed to get the images of the burned down village and the brutally killed villagers out of his head. But after all those years, he still hadn't learned how. The next morning the priestess was delighted to tell them that the girl had woken up, but that she was still very weak and knew nothing of what had happened in her village. When the paladin wished to take her to Stormwind however she refused.

"But sir, she is still much too weak for such a journey, before you reach the city she shall be unconscious again."

"Then you do not know what miracles food can do to a person's strength."

And then he entered the room where the young girl had been sleeping. She was now wide awake however, looking very pale and scared. When she heard him entering her head turned as fast as was humanly possible.

"Don't worry, I'm a friend, I shall not harm you, I promise. I thought you might be hungry and I brought you some stew."

Her expression turned a little more relaxed, but it was still cautious. Benjamin briefly wondered how it must be to have no recollection whatsoever of how you ended up in a place, bruised and battered. But maybe it was for the best that she had no memory at all of the previous day.

"What kind of stew is it?"

"Chefs secret, he calls it Mystery Meat stew, always refuses to tell us what's in it, but I suspect its cow with a little bit of chicken. But doesn't matter, it tastes wonderful, trust me."

Still eyeing the stew with caution she accepted the bowl and took a shallow first bite. She liked it, but it didn't taste at all like chicken and even less like cow. Seeing the paladin looking at her encouraging she didn't mention anything but just ate a few more bites. After half of the bowl she felt quite full and strangely a lot stronger than when she woke up.

"Did you like it?"

"It was ok, but it's the weirdest cow and chicken that I've ever tasted."

Benjamin laughed. She wasn't the only one who had that opinion. A lot of strange rumours went around one what kind of meat the cooks used for their Mystery Meat Stew. One of the most recent ones being that it was actually not really cow, but Tauren meat with some quilboar added to it. But that rumour every cook resolutely denied. Humanoid flesh was the only thing that they'd never cook. But that truth that was not very reassuring.

When Benjamin saw her put the bowl aside, she seemed to have a little colour was back on her cheeks. But her eyes were still scared. Then, looking at the commander with those violet eyes she asked him the one question he hoped not to answer.

"My parents are dead aren't they?"