To the campsite.

The promise of warmth is too tempting. The hand with the reins nudges slightly towards the direction of the now muffled crackling sounds and smokey smell. You affect a nonchalant air, hoping to avoid conflict if at all possible, and allow the grip on Saint Magdalena's sword to loosen - but not before loosing an inch of the blade from the sheath to enable a faster draw should it come to that.

Your senses are now clouded completely by the rain. It washes out the gloomy light that showed you the way and suppresses the sounds and smells which told you so much a few moments ago. You are now shivering, albeit gently, as your thoroughly soaked woolen gown clings to your body. It is all you can do to control the shivers, so you trust in Aegis to find the fire with his greater senses and own desire for warmth.

Several minutes go by, with the constant patter of the rain the only sound to break the silence. It is no longer possible to ignore the cruel churning in your belly. You halt Aegis despite your misgivings and dismount, seconds before throwing up violently into the undergrowth. It is little more than bile, as you have not eaten for many hours, but the vomiting is no less insistent and irresistible for the emptiness in your stomach.

Staggering weakly back towards the noble horse, you just about manage to remount and nudge him onward. He plods on, eagerness for the warmth that he can sense now dulled by the elements and your own low spirits. You grab a handful of sodden leaves and suck the rainwater from them, spitting to the side after each one to wash the foul taste from your mouth.

The flickering glow is all around you before you realise that you have reached your goal. You look up, and take in the sight of a healthy fire in the mouth of a cave. In front a small clearing with a butchered deer carcass, congealing blood pooled beneath it and mixing with the collecting rainwater.

A hooded figure steps out from behind the fire and loosens his belt to piss. The steaming liquid crackles against the leaves more loudly than the fire. It is hard not to stare at the thick black cock as he does so, as this man is the first whose genitals you have seen - your daemon **** and the others at the abbey notwithstanding.

He finishes and sheathes himself, and turns back towards the cave before stopping abruptly and looking in your direction. You can see eyes glinting beneath his hood in the half-light.

"Greetings, young lady. That is a fine looking horse you have there."

"M-my thanks, good sir." Your chattering teeth are making it difficult to speak clearly. "He an-and I are c-caught in this damned rain, and wonder t-that we might share your fire tonight."

He gives a sharp whistle and steps toward you. Another figure emerges from the cave, holding a felling axe in one hand. In the other a long dirk, which is quickly passed to the first man.

"That depends lady. From where do you travel, so ill-equipped and ill-prepared as you are."

You feel there is no merit in providing anything but the truth. You do not have the imagination to lie at this moment in any case.

"I t-travel from the abbey at W-white Rock. It has been attacked and despoiled by foul c-creatures, and I must reach the great abbey at G-gerlangen to bring news of the treachery to my Supreme War M-mother."

The second hooded figure leans in to the first and whispers something at the man. You cannot make out many words, but you do clearly hear "paladin" among them. He nods impatiently.

"You are the only survivor?" The first man enquires bluntly.

"I do n-not know. I believe I am the on-only one to have esc-caped the abbey grounds. As I left some of the si-sisters had barricaded themselves in the k-keep - with a number of our greatest warriors among them. They may yet stand a chance."

"My own sister is a novice at the abbey. Eliza is her name. Do you have any news of her?"

Sister Eliza. The quiet and humble novice works in the library. Her arrival caused something of a stir as her coal-black skin is a stark rarity among the sisters. You do not know her well but the two of you have shared tables in the refectory a number of times. She spoke well of her brother, saying that he was a skilled hunter and a good man, with a young wife and child.

"I kn-know your sister, sir. She works in the l-library with... with Sister C-constance." At this thought you falter. The last you saw, Constance was being ravished by the crocodile-headed daemon and you abandoned her in favour of your mission from the War Mother. You did not see Eliza in your fleeting glimpses of the library, but there were many of the novices being taken by lesser daemons in the sordid scene. The man notices your halting words and looks at you sharply.

With a gulp, you must decide on what to tell him.