Cornelia was outside tending to a small abrasion on the leg of one of the village’s youngest, which the boy suffered when he’d fallen out of a tree that the kids weren’t supposed to climb in.
It didn’t need tending as the wound was barely more than a scratch, but as a placebo it served very well to lighten the young child’s mood.
She had put a linen wrap around his leg where the wound sat, and gave the cloth a gentle kiss.
‘There,’ she said, ‘You’re as good as new now.
If you really want to climb so high in that tree you should be more careful.’ Wiping the tears from his eyes, the young boy thanked her and gave her a hug, after which he ran out in the field to play with his older sisters again.
One of his sisters named Hesje, which she guessed would be no older than 8 years, innocently stared at her like only a child could.
And that with big, youthful eyes that were too scared to ask a question they were not supposed to.
The small girl took a deep breath, as if to give herself more courage.
Cornelia warmly smiled at the child, hoping that it would strengthen her confidence.
‘You don’t seem evil,’ Hesje blurted out.
Taken aback by her comment, Cornelia laughed a bit and responded, confused, ‘Thank you sweetie, that’s very kind of you.
But why would you think I was evil?’ The little girl looked at the ground in silence.
‘It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me, but it might make you feel better.
I won’t tell anyone, I promise.’ After a short silence, the girl spoke again.
‘Because you killed papa.’
No longer smiling, Cornelia tried to process what she just heard.
‘Huh?
What do you mean?
How did I kill him?’ Hesje shook her head.
‘Not you.
But them,’ she pointed at two of Dieter’s men cracking jokes while leaning against a fence.
Cornelia started to understand.
‘Your father was a soldier, then?
Did he die in the war?’ Hesje nodded.
No wonder why the villagers were so cold to them, she thought.
‘I don’t think that they’re evil,’ Cornelia said.
‘But I don’t think they’re good either.
They saved me, but they have killed a lot of other people.
They do what they think is right.’ Hesje looked at the soldiers, not in anger, but out of curiosity.
‘Is it right?’ She asked.
The men noticed their blatant stares and they kindly waved at her and the small girl.
Cornelia waved back.
‘I hope so.’
The mood of the soldiers had darkened significantly ever since Dieter returned to camp.
She wasn’t privy to the exact details, but Lukk had told her that staying here for too long would greatly endanger the villagers, so they had all been busy with preparations to make leave.
To where, she did not know.
But for now she was able to enjoy the moment.
In the warm sun, she was sitting in the wet grass watching the children play, while they occasionally tried to get her to join in.
She was still too weak to do so unfortunately, so she had to gently reject them every time.
‘Pleasant, isn’t it?’ said a low, mature voice behind her.
She hadn’t heard Lukk approaching.
‘It really is,’ Cornelia responded, ‘I hadn’t thought to see peace like this again after I was forced to leave Vendaal behind.
I was sure to die alone in the mud of some distant battlefield.’ ‘There’s still time,’ Lukk joked.
Seeing her unamused expression, he quickly followed it up with something else.
‘Don’t worry.
I refuse to let something like that happen to you.
And you know I’m strong enough to keep my word on it.’
Cornelia smiled warmly.
He really did make her feel safe, even if he could be a little bit crude at times.
He was the polar opposite of her father, bearish and loud where his father was much more quiet and reserved.
But he was just as kind, in his own way.
Though she did not dare ask him if he had been a father himself, as she could see the hidden hurt behind his eyes every time he looked at her.
‘Is there any news on where we’ll be heading after this?’ She asked, wishing it to be anywhere but the front lines.
Lukk sighed, and with a troubled grunt he sat down next to her.
‘Dieter, I and the strategists are still contemplating about it.
We have some directions in mind though, all very remote.
Suggestions were even made to head to Noorland of all places.
With good reason, too.
There is, of course, the great beast chasing us down and the less people are around to suffer its wrath, the better.
We do not know how it keeps tracking us however, but reports have indicated that it has already entered the general area.
Although, if it had known our specific location we would not be here to talk about it.’
‘Is it really so terrifying a beast?’ she asked.
‘Surely a big enough army can stop it?’
‘No.’ Lukk said, so easily defeated.
‘Nothing can stop it, not really.
You don’t earn monikers like The Undefeatable and God Eater for nothing.
We have big armies, but they are best used elsewhere, against foes that know how to bleed.
Even Dieter, with a God-fearing army behind him and strong as he is, cannot hold the beast for long before being forced to retreat, or take heavy losses.
Trust me, we have tried that approach, and many of our brothers and sisters now sleep below the ground as proof of it.
No, when you have no way to protect yourself and a giant, mad beast seeks to bite out your throat, you don’t fight it.
You run from it, distract it, outwit it.
And luckily for us, the Grand Devourer is as stupid and slow as it is strong.’
Cornelia’s hand twitched as one of the children almost fell out of the tree again.
‘I should not have encouraged them to keep trying.’ Lukk stood up, ‘That reminds me, I came here to fetch you.
The old man needs your help, although for what I don’t know.’ Lukk offered his hand, and she grabbed it and let herself be pulled up.
She kept looking worriedly at the children, and apparently Lukk noticed.
‘I’ll tell them to get out of that damn tree.
You go see the old man now.’
While she slowly walked off using the fence as her support, she could hear Lukk’s deep, growling voice scare the children out of the tree.