Due to Solhaven’s small size, the Common Hall was not very difficult to find, especially from the air. The building, or what remained of it, was easily the largest that I could see. It also appeared to be in the best condition, since much of the structure, including the slate shingles on the roof, was made of stone and proved difficult for the Orcs to burn down.

Vesha continued to cradle me in her arms as she flew over the hamlet toward the building, and despite my assurances earlier, I kept an eye out for any Orcs moving down on the ground, but I was relieved to find none nor any traces that any of the war band had survived. The Common Hall faced the area that served as the village square, which was littered with debris but fairly open, save for a statue that stood in the center. My intended touched down near the statue, made of what appeared to be slightly worn bronze, and placed me gently on my feet as she lovingly kissed me.

The statue seemed to still be in fairly good condition, in spite of the Orcs’ attempts to damage it. At least it was still recognizable as Torr, the God of Fertility, the Harvest, and Mead. He was depicted as He usually was: a large, muscular man who was mostly human in appearance save for a whiplike tail and the large horns on his head, like those of a bull. He held a sickle in one hand, a wineskin in the other, and wore only a loincloth that did little to conceal the large member and massive, hairy balls hanging between his legs.

After a silent prayer to the Torr to watch over his people in their time of need, Vesha and I headed toward the Common Hall and inside. The building was reminiscent of a large tavern, and though the bar, tables, and chairs had mostly been destroyed, burned, or damaged beyond repair by the Orcs, much of the building seemed intact. The support beams and much of the building’s structure that were not made from stone appeared to be made from baris wood, a hardwood that was notoriously difficult to burn. Baris groves were not common in Haydin, though, which explained why it hadn’t been used in the hamlet’s other buildings.

Still, the fact that this building was mostly undamaged was good news. Hopefully, with a little bit of cleaning and repairs, the Common Hall would provide shelter for the hamlet’s people until they could rebuild their homes. It was a comforting thought as we looked through the structure for a place where a trapdoor could be concealed.

We found it behind the remains of the bar. There was a gap between one section of flagstones and the stones around it, wider than it should be and without mortar, and there was a groove just big enough for a large man to slip a hand inside at one side. At first glance, it could be mistaken for shoddy workmanship, and the Orcs were probably too stupid to spot it. The section of flagstones looked big enough that it would take several fairly strong people to even budge it, so Vesha reached into the groove to give it a try.

“Whoa, that’s lighter than I expected,” the Salamander said, looking surprised. When she pulled it upward, we found out why. The stones in that section might have looked thick and sturdy from above, but in reality, they were as thin as my baby finger and mounted on a wooden trap door, which swung upward easily as Vesha lifted and revealed an opening with a stone staircase leading downward.

The underside of the trapdoor had an iron ring with a pull rope attached to close the door once inside, and Vesha used it to close and hide the entrance as we made our way downward. The stairs ended at a large, hollowed-out cavern with support beams to keep it from caving in, and the cavern seemed almost as large as the building above it. Inside, there were many shelves and crates containing supplies and a plethora of earthenware jugs, and we found close to three dozen people, including some terrified children and the group I had saved.

Some of the people were startled as Vesha and I stepped into the dim light provided by a pair of oil lanterns. Oraine’s father, a woman who was likely his wife, and a younger girl who bore a resemblance to Oraine were all watching over her, and it looked like the poor young woman had managed to fall asleep somehow. Her father, along with the other men I had saved and an older man I did not recognize, approached as word spread among the nervous people of Solhaven that the Orcs had not come for them after all.

“Vesha? Is that you? It’s been a while since your caravan came by this way, and you’ve grown. Who’s your Faerie friend? Tibbin here tells me that she saved them and killed the Orcs holding them captive,” the man I did not recognize said plainly.

“Aye, she was so fast I could barely see ‘er move. Dispatched six o’ those bastard Orcs afore I could blink,” one of the men said as he eagerly nodded. It was a bit of exaggeration, but not by much, with me using Tamisun’s speed boost.

“Dorin, this is Kaelyn. Our troupe recently took her in, and she’s one of Mama’s apprentices, like me. Kaelyn, this is Dorin, he’s Solhaven’s mayor and bartender,” Vesha quickly explained as she introduced us. “We were on the road heading here when we saw the smoke, and since Kaelyn and I could get here the fastest, the troupe sent us to check on you. We’ve killed all the Orcs of this warband, so it should be safe for all of you to come out now. The rest of the troupe is travelling as quickly as they safely can and should be here soon.”

Dorin gave us both a dubious look. “You can’t seriously expect me to believe that you two kids killed an entire war band of Orcs. That’s a tall tale, even for you, Vesha.”

“You ain’t seen that Faerie fight, Dorin,” Tibbin countered.

“We’re not kids,” Vesha corrected. “We both recently became adults. I can control my fire much better now, and Kaelyn has been training as a warrior and learning magic. Besides, we had an aerial advantage.”

“Still, there are only two of you, and even small war bands of Orcs usually number several dozen,” the mayor huffed. “I fought a few in my days with the army. There is no way that two wet-behind-the-ears ‘adults’ could wipe one out, Vesha. Next, you’ll be telling me that you were the reason the earth shook.”

“Actually, that was probably me,” I admitted sheepishly. “I had Vesha get their attention and lead most of them to an empty pasture. She had killed a good number of them by the time I got there from killing any Orcs still within the hamlet, and since they were all gathered together, I flew above and used… a spell to finish them all off. I might have damaged the pasture a little too.”

“A little, she says,” Vesha muttered after letting slip a snort of amusement. “Dorin, you have my word that your Orc problem is taken care of. Our troupe should arrive soon, and then Wilden can heal any of your people who need it.”

“Fine, I will come to see for myself that the threat is gone. Until I have confirmed it with my own two eyes, though, my people are staying here, where they’ll be safe,” the mayor said in a tone that would allow no argument. “Your friend can stay here to keep them safe in case the threat isn’t as gone as you claim. I hope she can use that sword she’s wearing.”

Without waiting to hear if anyone agreed, he strode toward the stairs, going back up the Common Hall. Vesha sighed and gave me an apologetic look before following him, leaving me alone with the remaining people of Solhaven. I was not quite sure what to do with myself while I awaited their return, but as I was watching Vesha’s retreating back, a kind voice caught my attention.

“Don’t you let old Dorin get to you, Miss,” the voice offered, and I turned to see myself face-to-face with Oraine’s father. “That old grouch just wants to make sure we’re all safe; it’s nothing against you or Vesha. I owe you my thanks, if not for you…”

The man trailed off with a glance toward his Oraine and the rest of his family, and I nodded in understanding as I replied, “I only wish we could have arrived sooner. How is your daughter?”

He sighed as his gaze fell upon Oraine. “For now, she’s resting. My wife is our local hedgewitch and midwife, and she gave Oraine some tea to calm her and let her rest, a mix of mint, vervain, dreamblossom, and jhelp-root.”

That explained why she was unconscious. Ground dreamblossom petals were often used as a sleep aid since they, and the flower’s pollen, were extremely potent in that regard and were said to give pleasant dreams. Vervain and mint both had healing properties, and the mint would improve the taste and have a calming effect on her until the dreamblossom sent her to dreamland. I had never heard of jhelp-root before, though.

I was about to mention that when Sharai interjected, her voice in my mind sounded sympathetic. -Jhelp is the common name for a weed, Kaelyn, one that we Fae abhor. In our language, we call it Childbane because, while they do have some medicinal uses, ingesting the roots causes women with child to miscarry. I would imagine that the girl will be drinking such teas for several months, at least until they can be certain she has not conceived.-

“But that is…”

-Barbaric? Yes, it is,- my spirit guide sadly agreed with my unfinished protest. -I would never expect to see a midwife use it for such a purpose, but this is perhaps a case where the use of it might be a blessing. Orcs are a blight upon the natural world, and while it is rare for half-Orc children to be born, it can happen. That girl is still young, younger than you, and even if such a child did not kill her in labor, it would only bring her misery and serve as a constant reminder of what happened to her today.-

Excusing myself, I went to introduce myself to the other villagers, trying to see who might be injured or need help. It seemed that the hedgewitch had already provided what care she could for the injured, though, and they would be fine until the caravan arrived and Wilden could cast some healing spells on them. With that in mind, I spent the remainder of the time until Vesha and Dorin returned, attempting to lift the spirits of the people of Solhaven and wishing that I had my instruments with me. Fortunately, one of the shepherds had a shepherd’s pipe that I was able to borrow, and I played some music for them to pass the time.

When the pair finally returned, Vesha was looking smug, and Mayor Dorin was casting nervous looks in my direction. She probably showed him the various Orc corpses that we left around the hamlet and what was left of the northern pasture. Perhaps I went a little overboard there in my zeal to cleanse the area of the Orcs.

Regardless, it seemed that my intended was able to prove to him that the Orc threat was now over, and the mayor was now calling for people to leave the shelter so they could assess the damage to their hamlet, clean up, and decide where to start rebuilding. Unfortunately, most of the people of Solhaven were destined to be disappointed if they thought that they could just get right back to their lives. Not only were there Orc corpses to be cleaned up and disposed of, but there were friends and family to bury, and the only building that would not likely have to be completely or mostly rebuilt in the entire hamlet was the one they were now sheltering beneath.

They were fortunate in many ways, though. For one, their losses had been relatively light. They had only lost seven people, though in a hamlet of just under forty people, that was still a significant loss, and since they all knew one another, that meant that everyone had lost friends and loved ones. At least their crops, sheep, and various other livestock had come out of the incidents mostly unscathed since the Orcs had been focusing on finding the hamlet’s human residents.

Vesha and I were helping to gather the Orc bodies and body parts in one place for her to cremate when our troupe finally arrived. Vesha told me that they usually camped outside of the hamlet when passing through, but this time the wagons ventured away from the main road toward Derevik we had been traveling along to take the road into the hamlet itself, and parked our wagons in the main square. Once the kirgen had all been led to one of the free pastures to graze, the other members of our troupe began helping the residents of Solhaven wherever they could.

Wilden began caring for the injured with healing spells. The men, and Sten as the oldest of the boys, all began helping me and Vesha with the Orc bodies to be burned. The women of the troupe worked with some of the women of Solhaven, using the stoves and ovens in our wagons to put a midday meal together for the troupe and the people of Solhaven alike. They were hoping that a hot meal and some good company might help ease the burdens on the villagers’ minds.

As for our troupe’s children, they played with the children of the hamlet and helped to keep them out of the way. Between Shava and Korine, they were good at keeping the younger kids from getting in the way or seeing something they should not, like the pile of Orc corpses to be burned or the bodies of the deceased residents of the hamlet, who were being taken to the small graveyard to be given a decent burial. Even Kalara, Cylia, and the twins, the youngest of the troupe’s children, were all doing their best to keep the few children of the hamlet distracted and happy. I was so proud of them.

It was going to take the people of Solhaven a while to rebuild, but we were going to help them where we could. After sharing an evening meal with the villagers that night, and once the younglings were in bed, the adults of the troupe discussed it, and we decided unanimously to stay for a couple of days to help them get a start on the rebuilding process. It would delay our arrival in Derevik, but we all knew that it was the right thing to do.

I thought that would be the end of the impromptu meeting and was preparing to go change into my Tien’jin and dancing clothes for another lesson with Selice when my grandparents and just about everyone else in attendance looked pointedly at the spot where Vesha and I were sitting and holding hands. It was my grandfather who spoke first. “You both did well today and have done your troupe proud.”

“Aye,” Tanna agreed, “and it would seem that Hespira is pleased with you as well. The Goddess sent me a vision while you were all putting the wee ones abed. Vesha and Kaelyn, you may consider your Trial of Compassion complete.”