Madeline’s Point of View

 

I couldn’t believe what just happened. I was about to be stripped down in front of everyone. I struggled so hard, but I was powerless against that man. I thought it was over for me at that moment. But then, he– Steven…he saved me again. This is the second time he’s done so.

 

I feel slight tears come to my eyes as I watch the carriage that Steven had just went into pull away along with the rest of the Midnight Raiders and their horses. They were leaving us now, and Steven saved the rest of our miserable souls– the ones who did manage to survive the onslaught.

 

I never even got a chance to talk to him. After the night he murdered Mrs. Frost, I never spoke to him again. I was too speechless to say anything when he was making that horrendous deal with that evil woman as well. But that didn’t matter; there was nothing I could do. Those raiders are monstrous, and now Steven– he was one of them.

 

I hear the crowd behind me sobbing. Everyone was in pain. So many of these villagers lost people. Guards, adventurers, innocent men, women and children… It was just too much. O Heavenly Creator, if you can hear me, please have mercy on the many souls that Corrina Village has lost today, and reward them with your salvation. No one deserved any of this to happen.

 

I stood up from the blood-soaked cobblestone that I was sitting on. The village smelt rancid. There was blood and dead bodies and smoldering buildings everywhere. I couldn’t bear to look at the terrible sight. I just wanted to lock myself in my bedchamber and never leave again after this. 

 

My white robes were stained with blood, and none of it was mine. I felt disgusting wearing this. I  was so overwhelmed. I looked upon my staff on the ground, which was also now stained in red.

 

I don’t know what to do now. What are any of us going to do after this? The village that we once knew doesn’t exist anymore. 

 

I’m about to cry until I feel warm arms wrap around me. 

 

“Thank the Creator that you’re safe!” 

 

I look up and see my father, whose face is red with tears. I’ve never seen him this emotional; not for a long time.

 

I hug my father back. “It wasn’t just the Creator,” I say softly, my voice nearly breaking, “It was that man who saved me. You should be thanking him.” 

 

My father nods and holds me tighter. “You mean the murderer? Yes, he did save you, didn’t he? He– saved us all. In spite of his sin, I pray for the Creator to forgive him.” 

 

There was a feeling of dread in my being when my father uttered these words. I definitely agreed with him; Steven made a mistake, and he deserves to be forgiven. But knowing that he’s now a part of that horrible group– he will continue to do nothing but commit atrocious sins that he cannot refuse.

 

“Where is Mother and Thomas? Are they safe?” 

 

My father hugs me tighter when I ask him. He was completely speechless.

 

“Father… please, don’t tell me that–” 

I felt the tears starting to come. They were about to rush out of my eyes like a raging waterfall. 

 

“I’m sorry, Madeline… they’re… I couldn’t save them…” 

 

“No, no, no, no!” I cry, letting out a torrent of tears. My father holds me even tighter after doing so. 

 

“I’m so sorry, Madeline. I’m so sorry. If you need someone to blame, then blame me. I was too powerless to save them.” my father sobs.

 

“No, don’t say that! It’s anything but your fault! There was nothing you could do against them. If you had tried, you would have died too. I don’t think I’d be able to handle it if you did…” I say.

 

“I just– I just can’t believe something like this could have happened. I never expected our peaceful village to get attacked so viciously like this. It feels like that this was some type of punishment from the Creator themself. We’ve done nothing but be faithful to them, so why would they allow this?!” 

 

“I don’t know, Father… I really don’t know. I don’t think it can be explained. I… I don’t even want to talk about this anymore. I just–” 

 

“I’m sorry, Madeline. I’m sorry about your mother and your brother, and I’m sorry you had to experience what you did–” 

 

“Stop apologizing to me, Father. None of this is your fault. Please. Please, can we just go home? I cannot stand to be in the streets any longer.” 

 

My father sighs. “I don’t even know if there’s a home left to go back to, Madeline. Our house may have burnt down during the attack.” 

 

I look around, and I notice that many of the houses have indeed been burned down or destroyed completely. There were now so many families without family members and so many also without a roof over their heads. This was utter chaos. How were we supposed to bounce back from all that has happened?

 

“Everyone! May I please have your attention?” a voice booms throughout the crowd. 

 

We all turned our heads to the source of the voice. It was Captain Ignus. The captain of the village guards.

 

He was standing in front of the large water fountain, the center of our village. The pure white fountain, the very same fountain with the statue of the creator on it, was now soaked in the blood of both the raiders and the people from our village. I was completely disgusted upon seeing the site.

 

“Everyone,” he begins, “There’s no mistake that this is the worst thing that has happened to Corrina Village. We've all lived peacefully for years, and nothing like this has ever happened before. We lost a lot of people. Men, women, and children. Guards. Adventurers alike. Many tried their best to protect the village, resulting in the deaths of the enemy and unfortunately the deaths of themselves as well. That being said, it is time that we make a change. Right here, right now.” 

 

We all looked at him as he gave his speech. He was speaking as confidently and coherently as he could, even in the aftermath of a crisis where everyone was in low spirits. 

 

“Steven Bale. That man saved us all from a fate worse than death. He is the reason why we’re all still here. Those raiders will not be returning. However, we still need to make improvements to our village and keep it safer than it's ever been to prevent ANYTHING like this from happening again.” Captain Ignus continues.

 

“And what do you propose we do?! This place is a wreck! Those raiders have destroyed homes and businesses! Many of us are out of a job! To add insult to injury, they’re also stolen plenty of our supplies! How are we supposed to do anything in the state of destruction we’re in?!” one of the villagers yells.

 

“We’ll take it slowly. A little at a time. There’s no doubt that it will be difficult, and the rebuilding process will be arduous. But if we all work together, we can do this. I care about this village more than I care about my life itself. I would do anything to protect it. I know that I may not have been able to do anything during the attack, but I swear to all of you and the Creator themself that I will do my absolute best from here on out to keep this village safe and prosperous.” 

 

The crowd begins to murmur, clearly not convinced by the Captain’s words. I didn’t blame them. How was our village supposed to prosper again after all that’s happened?

 

“But in order to make that become a reality, I need help from you all. We’re all in this together, so we all have to work together! I know that many of you lost family. I know many of you lost friends. I know that many of you have lost homes as well. I’m well aware of all of that, and I’m also aware that because of this, most of you have lost hope and don’t even see any point in what I am telling you all. But please, I insist you to not give up. All of you before me; we are alive. As long as we’re still living, we can keep on going. Please, I am begging all of you from the bottom of my heart. Please help me in restoring Corrina Village to what it once was!” 

 

Mr. Frost stands up in the crowd and lets out a deep breath. “I’m with you.” 

 

Captain Ignus shifts his gaze toward him. “You are?” 

 

“Yes, I am. You’re right. I thought my life was over when that man Steven murdered my wife. I wanted nothing more than to see him dead. No, I wanted to kill him myself. But he saved this village. Well, what’s left of it, anyway. But now that we’ve been attacked, I’m not the only one who has lost someone near and dear to me anymore. We’re all feeling the same pain right now. It’s as you said; as long as we’re living, we can keep on going. Come on, people! He’s right! We can restore this village from the ground up! All we need to do is work together and pull through!” 

 

Mr. Frost spoke with a fiery passion in his voice as he turned to the crowd himself. The combination of both his encouraging words along with Captain Ignus’s was now starting to help them see some sort of hope. It was working on me and my father, as well.

 

“Come on, people! We can do this!” Mr. Frost roars as he raises his fist in the air. 

 

As soon as he does that, he starts letting out a cry. It was like a battle cry of some sort, but not exactly. It was inspiring. Soon enough, mostly everyone was on their feet doing the same. Somehow, some way, everyone was starting to see the silver lining despite how small that it seemed right now.

 

The crowd turns back to Captain Ignus, who was still standing before all of us. 

 

“What do we do first, Captain?” one of the villagers asks. 

 

“We must clean the village before anything else. All of this blood and all of these bodies. It was a massacre. We must cleanse our village of it all. After we do that, I will give you all further instructions. Now, everyone, go and do what you can. I suggest that half of us start on disposing of the bodies and the other half work on cleaning the blood. Our supplies may be limited, but please, do all that you can.” 

 

We nod as the crowd begins to disperse. It seemed like most of us now had the proper motivation to restore the village. I wanted to help too. In any way that I could.

 

“Father,” I say, “What shall we do first?” 

 

“I’ll get started on helping with the cleaning of the blood,” my father answers, “You should go and help with the bodies. There are many, and if enough people work on disposing of them, we may be able to get them all out of here by nightfall.” 

 

I nod. “Okay, Father. I will do exactly that. Shall we meet up here in a little while?” 

 

“Yes, of course, my dear. Now, let us make haste. There is no more time to waste.” 

 

I nod to my father as we part ways and go to the separate parts of the village. I figure that the cleaning wouldn’t be too difficult, as the majority of the villagers are capable of using magic. This would make the cleaning process a lot less tedious.

 

I start walking through the village streets. Bodies were scattered everywhere. There were more than I thought. It was extremely hard to keep my composure upon seeing them, but I had to be strong. I set aside my staff. I needed both of my hands for this work.

 

I spot one body. It was the body of a young boy. I utter a quick prayer to the creator before gently grabbing the body and lifting it up over my back. I figured we were going to be burying all of these bodies rather than burn them. Where I did not know.

 

I took the body and simply followed other villagers who were also carrying bodies.

 

“Hey,” a voice says as I hear sturdy footsteps alongside me.

 

I turn my head and I see a red-bearded man. He was short. Shorter than I was, I think. Wait, this wasn’t a man; he was a dwarf.

 

“Oh, hello there–” 

 

“That was a close one back there, huh? You were almost taken away.” 

 

“Uh, yeah..” I say nervously.

 

“Well, it’s good that you’re alive, missy. That man back there was a hero. I didn’t know him for too long, but he’s got a good heart.” 

 

“Huh? You knew him?” I inquire curiously.

 

“Aye. We were traveling for a very short time together before we came here. Registered him and another as adventurers. We were all working together. But now he's gone. The deal that was made-- I still can't believe it..."

“I see…well, I knew him too. We were– in a party. We went on an adventure before all of this happened.” 

 

“Ah. He never mentioned having someone accompany him on his adventure. Ah, well. Anyways, the name’s Leif.” 

 

“Madeline.” 

 

I hear more footsteps approaching, but they’re much lighter than the dwarf’s.

 

“Leif, we have to get him back.” It was the voice of a female.

 

Leif turns his head and lets out a grunt. “Eh? Whatcha talkin’ about?” 

 

“Steven. We have to get him back!” the female says.

 

“What are ya talkin’ about, missy? How do you propose we do that?!” 

 

“I don’t know. We just have to. I’m not going to just let him become one of those raiders!" 

 

Leif sighs. “It’s too late for that. They made a deal, so he technically already is one of em. But anyways, I know what you mean! Just– how would we even do that? And even if we do manage to find him, you know what’ll happen to this village! Weren’t you listenin’ back there? You gotta let him go!” 

 

“No, I won’t do that!” the female snarls. “I won’t let that happen, Leif. You don’t have to help me. I’ll go alone if I have to.”

 

“You are out of your mind. Just calm down!” the dwarf snaps.

 

I never thought I would see the day where a dwarf would ever tell someone to calm down. 

 

“Calm down?! How do you expect me to calm down?! They have my friend!” 

 

“Get a hold of yourself, missy! This is not the time to be worrying about that! We need to help out here before worrying about anything else!” 

 

The two of them go back and forth at each other before I enter the conversation.

 

“Um... excuse me?” I say softly. 

 

They both turn their heads to me.

 

“Please don’t argue. This isn’t the time for this…”

 

The girl looks at me and then sighs. “I’m sorry, but who are you? You’re that girl. Steven seemed pretty desperate to save you…” 

 

“Well, yeah, I suppose–” 

 

“What are you to him, then?” she questions me venomously.

 

“Nobody! I was just telling your friend here I was in his party…” 

 

The girl crosses his arms. “He never told me about that…” 

 

Leif shakes his head. “We don’t have time to waste. If you really want to go after the big man, then fine; be my guest! But you should at least help out here in the village first. These people need help.” 

 

The girl scoffs, chuckling a bit.  “I had no idea you were so soft, dwarf.” 

 

“Oh, hush now. Anyways, you just need to stop worrying about him, okay? I’m sure the big man is doing alright. We can worry about it later.” 

 

 “Fine! Anyways, what’s your name?” the girl says as she turns back to me.

 

“I’m– Madeline.” 

 

“Nice to meet you, Madeline. I’m Bella.” 

 

The girl was beautiful. She was around my height and had the prettiest amethyst hair. The hat that she wore on her head was rather unusual, but it would be rude to ask her about it.

 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you both. So, what you were saying earlier… you wish to find Steven?”  I ask. 

 

“Yes, I intend to. I won’t let him remain as one of those people.” 

 

“I don’t like it, either. But– it’s as your friend here says… there’s no doubt that those people will return here if he was taken away from their group. Our village would be put in jeopardy again. You know that.” 

 

“I don’t care. I’d find a way to prevent that from happening.” 

 

“What?” 

 

“I said I would find a way to prevent that. I can save both Steven and this village!” 

 

Leif scoffs. “Even I know that’s complete nonsense! You’re being the stubborn one now!” 

 

“You don’t understand how important that man is to me. He saved my life. He gave my life purpose. How can you expect me to just let him go like this?!” 

 

“I don’t expect you to,” Leif retorts, “But you have to consider the consequences! You know that things won’t go well if we attempt to save him. Even me of ALL people knows that!”

 

“I’m willing to take the risk, okay?” Bella says.

 

“I’m sure that Steven wouldn’t want you to do this. He wants nothing more than to keep everyone safe. That’s probably why he agreed to that horrendous deal in the first place! To know that you were risking life and limb in an attempt to save him… you know he wouldn’t want that!” 

 

I see Bella’s face flush with tears as she listens to Leif’s words. 

 

“I know! You’re right, okay? I know he wouldn’t want that…” she says softly. 

 

“Listen, I know it’s a lot to swallow, but we all have to move on here. I promise I will do whatever I can to get you home, alright? That hasn’t changed. We're still going to get a boat.”  says Leif.

 

“Okay– okay, fine. I give up.” she mutters quietly.

 

I felt really bad for her. I could tell how much she cared about Steven. Both of them did, and I cared about him.

 

“The Creator is with him,” I say, trying to reassure her. “They are watching over Steven right now and protecting him. He is in good hands. Do not worry about him. I’m sure that somehow, he will find a way out of the situation he is in.” 

 

Bella smiles slightly but doesn’t say a word. It looked like I was helping a little bit.

 

“Alright, let’s get back to these bodies, eh? We’ve got plenty o’ work to do to get this village back into ship-shape! We gotta focus on that!’ Leif says as he picks up a body.

 

Bella nods as she picks one up as well. 

 

I just met these two, but they seemed like an interesting couple of people. On top of that, they were both pretty close to Steven. I wonder if I’ll get the chance to get closer to them too. But I guess we’ll see about that. 

 

I strain as I carry the body on my back as I follow the two of them down the street.