Follow the girl to her farm

Horus and I comfort the girl as well as we can. Aleka, as she's named, lets herself convince to guide us to her farm. We continue climbing up the river till we hear the screams of a woman, which make Aleka gasp and hasten her pace as much as her pain and weariness permit it.

We emerge from the forest in a clearing surrounding a wooden cabin, with a hen-house and a goat-pen. Bushes still protect us and make us invisible from the farm - but, however, no one of its present occupants would pay much attention to us.

A woman in her late thirties lies in the yard in front of the house, entirely naked, two men holding her onto the ground by her arms while a third one mounts her wildly. A boy, a little younger than Aleka, his wrists tied to the door's lintel, watches his mother's rape and tries frantically to free himself from his bounds. A fourth barbarian, spear in hand, observes the scene impassively. Unable to endure this sight, Aleka hides her face in the grass and sobs.