Lucrece took a good look at the rising witch, trying her best not to freak out. That was a corpse, a corpse walking right towards her… wait, no, those unblinking eyes were not locked on her, they were staring straight at the Bog Walkers. Relief came to the blonde girl before realization hit her.

 

Oh, right, she almost forgot about those creatures. There was no time to cower in fear of the angered witch, for her life was still in danger and, for some whim of Destiny, the witch was on her side.

 

“Now we’re talking! Bring it on, bog bodies!”

 

The beasts were incapable of fear, barely understanding their surroundings. To them, the healing witch made no real difference: another fighty prey to subdue and devour. The creatures hissed, violently clicking and clacking their claws while swiping the air around them, their typical intimidation tactic.

 

Lucrece narrowed her eye, her hands trembling as the creatures approached them, trying to encircle them once again. How many had stayed? Six. Could she take all of them? If she was fast enough and her halberd was true in her stabs, maybe. Just maybe. Bog bodies were lethal but fragile in the soft, pale spots where their exoskeletons didn’t reach, so if they hit with enough precision…

 

“All right Witch, just follow my l—”

 

But Gabrielle was not listening in the slightest. Her eyes were burning with anger and pain, her wound was still healing and yet her feet were already kicking the dirt on her way towards the towering beasts with nothing but a longsword in her hands, her warcry so loud that it could have made the very trees around them shake. 

 

She was lightning striking, an arrow shot without aim or concern, her blade wasn’t even trying to reach any vital points as it swung, she only aimed to cause pain. And judging by the way pieces of carapace flew with each hit, she was certainly going the right way there. But the creatures didn’t simply stay still and take it: taken aback by such anger, the unlucky ones in the front had no other option but to raise their claws defensively, trying to back off while the rest of the group flanked her.

 

The taller woman simply observed as that little savage simply brute-forced her way. She could either leave the wild woman to her own devices, or…

 

“Bleeding saints, woman! Wait a blazing second!!”

 

Lucrece hated being in the center of attention, usually trying to be the one flanking around or looking for astute ways to approach a fight. And yet here she was, rushing right after the redheaded witch and spinning her halberd around like a mad woman, the sight of reinforcements being enough to make the abominations hesitate. But not to make them back off, at all.

 

“Back to back!” She yelled at the smaller girl, quickly turning around on her heel and slicing one of the beasts’ necks with the blade of her polearm, blood hissing as it sprayed in the rain.

 

“What does that mean?” Immediately asked Gabrielle, distracted in such a vital moment and feeling how one of the beasts’ claws dug deep into her shoulder. She had to turn around, taking the chance to stab deeply into the creature’s chest and push it away with a kick.

 

“What do you mean!?” Lucrece could not believe what she was hearing, was “back to back” really such a complicated concept to grasp. As the monstrosities fully surrounded them, the blonde girl had to take a second to explain the basics: “Push to my back, I’ll push to yours, and kill everything on your side.”

 

Gabrielle was trembling, reaching with her hand to throw the broken shoulder pad off her and sighing in relief, finally free of some of that weighty armour. She was bleeding again, red staining her clothes and leaving a little puddle on the floor. Ready to start again, Gabi clung to her blade and ignored the piercing pain on her right arm, when suddenly the other woman yelled.

 

“Stop just swinging around your sword! Go for the joints, the joints!”

 

“The joints?”

 

One of the creatures dared to rush to Lucrece, clacking claws ready to taste some more blood, only to feel the pike of that bloody halberd stab deeply into its neck. The beast gargled, blood hissing as it sprayed all around in the rain before the body fell down, immobile. 

 

“The joints!”

 

Gabrielle nodded, eyes narrowing as she had now gained a new piece of interesting information. The image of the remaining four creatures became clearer to her view, practically highlighting the armpits, the knees and that juicy, pale neck. She really wanted to just rush again, to try and get those creatures in front of her, but the blond woman had issued an order! And she seemed to know much better than Gabi, so…

 

Two bog walkers suddenly rushed, arms spread, claws hungry for blood, but Lucrece had seen that sort of maneuver before. Feeling a bit more confident she pushed, forcing Gabrielle and herself to face one of the monstrosities each. It was a blur of motion, steel sweeping through the air, a halberd skewering straight through a beast’s chest while the other creature’s head flew right off its shoulders.

 

The two survivors simply stared for a moment, something shifting in their attitude. Their little brains had been turning and turning as they simply saw their companions fall… even a starving beast will eventually realize they are in a losing battle. Both of them turned right around, ready to run.

“Oh no you wont…!” Lucrece frowned and turned to Gabrielle. “Give me a boost!”

“A boost?” The witch tilted her head.

 

“Oh saints above, just throw me upwards!”

 

The blond girl was getting ready to hop on the smaller woman’s hands, but she could have never expected Gabi to simply grab her by the waist and, without much effort, simply threw her straight into the skies without any warning. And as she flew through the air without any control of her own motions, Lucrece only thought to say one thing.

 

“Damn you, you daft knuckleheaded she-witch!!”

 

At least from that height she could perfectly see the two creatures running away, beasts escaping to live and kill another day, lucky bastards. Lucrece landed back on the muddy floor, managing to somehow keep on her feet while groaning and checking her knees to make sure everything was in place. She looked around and saw nothing. They were finally, blissfully alone.

 

The lancer sighed, setting her lance down and taking a very deep breath, trying to clean some of the blood off her brigandine. No dice, the blue stains would stay right where they were until scrubbing them good in a river or something, rainfall was useless.

“Ah, bleeding saints…” She mumbled, frowning and just giving up on her clothes for the moment. “Hey, witch. Are you alrig—”

 

Before the question was even finished, Gabrielle’s body hit the floor like a sack of hammers, splashing all around. Lucrece blinked, staring at the redhead laying facedown on the mud, very tempted to simply poke her with the blunt side of her polearm. 

 

“Oi… did you die finally…?”

 

“No.” Gabrielle finally answered, her body very slowly curling on the floor. “I am in pain.”

 

The blonde girl had to stop herself for a moment to think of that. Who goes around saying “I am in pain” in such a calm, monotone voice!? The witch just grew weirder with each moment that passed. Jarred, Lucrece simply couldn’t resist the urge to grab her weapon and slowly tap on the girl’s back.

 

How old was this witch? She couldn’t be older than Lucrece herself, at least not by looks. Being so short and stout, trembling under the rain, barely able to understand the most basic of orders… the blonde simply shook her head slowly, this had to be the most pathetic Witch in all of Normadia.

 

And yet, she felt bad for this creature. She had come right back from the dead to help in the fight, and after displaying such ferocity now she was looking like a wet calf, too weak to even get up.

 

Wait.

 

“Can you even get up?” Asked Lucrece.

 

“No.”

 

Too weak to get up, then.

 

The taller woman was thinking of simply walking away, leaving this witch to her fate and focus on getting to Caen as quickly as possible, but something deep inside stopped her. A memory hidden in the caverns of her mind, the image of a lonely little girl left to her own devices, blood still fresh on her left eye…

 

She knew she was going to regret it, maybe she was already regretting it even before asking, but finally Lucrece took a deep breath and said:

 

“Do you want me to pick you up? There may be somewhere close to hide from the rain.”

 

After a long moment of silence, the witch slowly looked up and stared deep into Lucrece’s eyes, as if trying to peer deep into her soul. At first she felt unnerved, but the tall girl could see the fear and paranoia in the witch’s eyes… she had been tricked before. She wasn’t sure if to trust someone again, after such bad luck. Now that was something Lucrece could empathize with.

 

But finally, after a long meditation, Gabrielle simply said.

 

“Yes, please.”