Step by step, Daciana walked away from everything she had known, everyone she had held dear.  They were gone.  It was a hard truth to face, but she had to.  The bandits had attacked in the night, and she couldn't figure out how they had slipped past the border guards.  Her family had lived on a small farm outside of one of the many villages, far enough away for quiet, but close enough in case something happened. 

Or so they had thought.

She had burned the faces of those men into her memory.  There had been a half dozen of them, armed and armored in hide.  They looked like men of the Highlands, which probably explained why they knew where to go.  And they had been about their bloody butcher's business and were gone before the village's warriors had come.  And she had the faces of her family burned in her mind too.  Her papa and mama.  Her older brother and his wife.  The boy she liked, and had been betrothed to.  They were all gone.  The tears started to fall again, and this time it wasn't the smoke of their pyres stinging her eyes. 

This time, it was the words of the men.

"Just a girl.  She ain't no harm to us.  Let's have a little fun," their leader had said with a leer.  Her parents were dying, her brother and his wife were gone already.  And Finn had died first, running towards the house with an arrow in his arm to warn them, then another had sprouted from his neck once he was in shouting distance.  At least he hadn't seen what happened to her.  Daciana grimaced.  A part of her wished she had died with them.  That she didn't feel the shame that came from the violation, and from not being able to save anyone. 

But step by step, she kept going.  She intended to travel to the south, so she could find a teacher.  She had some growing skill with a sword, but not the practice.  And Daciana would go back.  She would hunt each and every one of those men down.  And she would show them what just a girl could do.

High above in the sky the angel flew on white feathered wings, sailing smoothly along in the air as if she was just casually walking on the ground. While her home now was in Onnen, she did travel to Canelux from time to time to see what was going on. Sirona had decided to just fly around, with her new nearly unlimited stamina as a Goddess she could afford to stay in the air for hours and hours without tiring. She could fly up higher than she used to be able to as well thanks to her ability to just not take any kind of injury really, the cold air higher above the clouds just didn’t affect her anymore.

It was while Sirona was high above that as she look down as she broke through the clouds could see a single figure way down walking away from what looked like a farm house. Sirona’s instinct told her something was wrong here, Sin stained this area and she wanted to know why. Sin needed to be purged in the purity of Light and Sirona would attempt to stamp it out wherever it was.

Circling back around the angel dived down to lose altitude quickly before stopping short a few hundred feet up. Now she had a better look at what was going on, she had dropped down to the house first and gasped at what she saw. The dead family, the butchering of them all, but, perhaps aside from that one she had seen walking, or, there was a chance that that lone figure was responsible. No, Sirona could tell that this was more than one person who had attacked this family, it had to be.

Saying a prayer for the souls of the dead Sirona stepped back outside and took to the air again. Finding the lone figure once more the angel made her presence known by making sure her wings made noise while she flew. She moved ahead of the young girl and settled on her feet about forty feet in front of the girl. Sirona had her usual armour on with her sword and one of her shields on her hip, large white wings stretched out for a moment before she folded them.

Studying the young girl for a moment Sirona reached her hand out. ”My name is Sirona. I’m so sorry for what has happened, young one. If you’ll let me, I’d like to help you.” Sirona spoke, her voice calm and soothing, hoping the young girl would accept the offer for help.

She heard the rustle of the wings, and glanced up, expecting to see a bird. But Daciana ignored the sight of the winged being.  She wanted to be left alone.  But when the sound of feet hitting the ground in front of her made the girl realize that the being wasn't going to leave her along, she let out an irritated sigh.  She kept her distance and her silence for a few moments, ignoring the outstretched hand.  "And just what kinda help would you be offering?  The kind to bring my family back?  I don't think it exists.  And that's the only kind I really want right now.  You don' look like the type to help me hunt down the bastards down.  Not the kind of help I need," she said finally.  The words poured out more quickly than she had realized, and the hurt was deeper than she really wanted to let on.  Especially to a complete stranger.

Dropping a hand to the hand-axe hanging from her belt, Daciana added "Now unless you want to help me kill some men then figure out what to do with the rest of my life, then I'd suggest you get out of my way".  Maybe she would die here, depending on how the being in front of her reacted.  Perhaps it would be better that way.  There was a bitter desperation to her voice, and part of Daciana didn't particularly care if she lived or died here. 

The words from the young human didn’t surprised Sirona and she didn’t interrupt as Daciana continued. Sirona lowered her hand as Daciana finished speaking before making her own reply, still in the same calm voice. ”You are right, I cannot bring them back, unfortunately.” She started with a sad sigh. ”However, I do want to help you hunt them, to remove their evil and sin from this world. Burn away that which stains this land in the purity of the Light.” Sirona drew her sword and grabbed her shield, and used her sword to point at the axe that Daciana carried at her side. ”That axe, the fact you are willing to carry it means you have conviction to at least start down this path, but do you truly carry the Strength to carry this to its end?” Sirona questioned.

”Revenge without knowing what to do afterwards is hollow. So, I can offer you something to do for the rest of your life, or at least until you retire from it. As the Goddess of Light and Strength I can train you, body, mind and spirit, to help us, myself and my clergy, purge these lands of the evil and sin like what has befallen you, burn it away in the purity Light. Delay your lust for revenge for a time to properly prepare yourself, and together we can remove them from this world. Afterwards stay with us to continue your training and assist us.” Sirona explained. ”Or, take the path you are on now, track them down and maybe kill a few of them before they overwhelm you and possibly die, or worse, in the process. I am willing to assist you now as well if that is your wish, either way this evil cannot go unpunished. Afterwards you may continue as you please.”

Sirona sheathed her blade and hooked her shield at her side. ”The choice is yours, your options are before you.”

The calm in the angel's voice was infuriating on some level of her mind.  Didn't she know what Daciana had lost?  Her whole world was gone, her anchor to this place.  She was cast adrift in the world.  The most the village would do for her would be to find her a husband to take care of her, and that was the last thing she wanted.  But she managed to still her tongue while the woman spoke, her jaw dropping slightly as the person before her claimed to be one of the land's deities.  Was it true?  Her family had paid lip service to the gods, and look what had happened.  Her eyebrows furrowed in thought as she considered the words, and the paths that this Goddess laid before her.  There was a long moment of silence before she could answer.

"The axe, it was my brother's.  He didn't even get to it before he were killed, tryin' to save his wife.  They was in the barn, and they died right after Finn, my betrothed.  He got back jus' in time to warn us.  And my parents died in the house.  They didn' kill me.  Told me 'just a girl'," she finally said, the tears starting to well up in her eyes again.  She dashed them off her cheeks in anger.  She was tired of crying, tired of feeling helpless.  "So tell me, what good's it gonna do to kill them? Sure, it cleans that one stain.  But there's always more.  Never seems to end, not if the rumors are true.  I'd be stupid to turn down help.  But I'm just a dumb village girl.  What do I know 'bout the world?" she asked.  Daciana wondered if she had gone too far, if this Goddess would burn her on the spot for spitting out a bitter truth.  But it was the truth as she knew it, and Daciana had always been honest.

Sirona listened to everything the girl had to say in silence, letting her ask her questions and wipe the tears from her eyes. ”I am truly sorry for your loss, I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to lose your family.” She paused a moment to consider her words. ”But I am no stranger to personal strife, before I became a Goddess I was assaulted by another woman who was stronger than I.” She couldn’t help the shudder that visible crawled through her. ”It is why, now that I have become a Goddess, I dedicate myself to ridding this world of that kind of evil.” Sirona explained.

”The good it will do? It will prevent them from doing to others what they have done to you, it will send a message to any others out there like them that, they can’t get away with what they are doing for much longer.” Sirona replied. ”The rumours are sadly true, however, I and my clergy plan to change that. Until now as far as I am concerned the Deities of these lands have been passive in their duties to protect the people, this changes now. I am not one to sit in my temple and do nothing all day, we actively seek out these kinds of beings and purge them. One stain at a time is all we can do. These kinds of evil beings will always be around and keep cropping up so long as they know that there us no one out there actively trying to stop them. But once they know that we are out there hunting them down, purging them from these lands slowly they will disappear. It will be a mission that has no ending, sadly, I cannot make myself believe that we’ll ever totally destroy evil and sin, but if we do nothing then we have already lost.” Sirona explained, conviction in her voice.

”I don’t believe that you are dumb, you’re smarter than you know. Please, come with me to the Cathedral, even if you only wish to stay for a short time. If you don’t wish to stay I can bring you to any where in the lands you wish. But if you stay with us and train and learn I believe that you have a lot more potential than you realize.”

Her anger somewhat abated by being able to spit out the words to a listening ear, Daciana found herself a bit calmer, and more willing to listen.  Her head tilted to one side as the Goddess explained what had happened to her, and she started to relax, just a tiny bit.  Maybe she did understand, at least a little.  And she was realistic too, that helped.  Stamping out all evil was too big of a job, even for a deity it would seem.  All her life, the gods had been far off powers, and beings that were prayed to more often than not to not draw wrath.  But here was one offering help, and understanding.  The young woman felt torn.  But it wasn't as if she had anywhere else to go.  Well, almost nowhere.

"You've got a point.  Doin' nothing is just as bad as helping the bad guys.  That's what my dad said.  And I wouldn't want to disappoint him," she said, the hint of a smile crossing her face and her eyes lightening a little.  But there was still darkness smoldering in her heart, and Daciana wasn't sure what she would do with the rage and anger she kept buried.  She did know it would get her killed if she ran off and tried to kill the bandits.  But still she worried.  "There was six of them.  I think they're still somewhere close.  They was talking about a cave.  I think I know where it is.  An' I don't want them hurtin' anyone else before I get the training I need.  Help me make sure they won't hurt anyone else, and I'll come find your temple.  Fair?" Daciana said, holding a hand out.  It was a sign in the north of an oath being made and held.  And she didn't feel right leaving something undone before leaving home.

”Wise words from a wise man.” Sirona replied to Daciana with a small smile, in agreement with what her father’s words had been. Sirona watched the faint smile on Daciana’s lips form and listened as she explained herself, what she wanted to do and then put her hand out. Sirona nodded and shook Daciana’s hand firmly. ”If that is what you wish, then so be it.” Sirona replied, she was going to end up dealing with these vermin anyway, might as well do it now.

Releasing Daciana’s hand Sirona straightened and looked around for a moment thinking. ”Lead the way, once we get there you don’t have to kill any of them if you want to. I won’t make you take a life, even one such as theirs, if you don’t want to. If you wish to help fight I won’t stop you, but I will help and protect you, but if things start to go bad I’ll teleport you out of danger and finish the fight myself. Does that sound fair?” Sirona asked, her question serious, and she had no problem with just walking into and using her Divine powers to destroy these evil men quickly.

There was something comforting in her words, and Daciana took a deep breathe when the angelic figure took her hand in agreement.  "I don't feel right leavin' and knowin' at least some of those bastards still out there," she said with a nod.  There was a touch of venom in her voice, but she ignored it.  Who wouldn't have at least some hatred in their heart after what she had been through.  Slipping the axe back into the belt-loop, Daciana pointed to the south.  "The biggest cave's that way.  I know a way around that we can use ta spy on 'em first and make sure how many there are," she said, then stared at the Goddess for a moment before a mischievous look lit her eyes.  "I dunno if you can, but we might want to walk and go in sneaky like," Daciana finally said, finally lightening up just a little.

The cave wasn't far, only a half mile, and she led the way through the trees to a copse on a bluff overlooking the entrance.  There were two men outside, one roasting something over a fire and the other keeping watch with a crossbow.  She squinted, the one with the crossbow was familiar, but the other wasn't.  "I know one of 'em… but not the other.  Might be more people than I thought.  I dunno 'bout tactics, but I'm thinkin' we should watch a little," Daciana said quietly.  She wanted to make the one man suffer, but she also didn't want to rush in before knowing just what was waiting.

Sirona nodded as Daciana showed her the way, the angel followed the young woman through the trees heading South. Sirona was hoping she was having a positive influence on Daciana, and not accidentally leading her down a path of just pure vengeance. Sirona hadn’t been at this very long after all, being a Goddess and all, so she was still learning how to deal with people in way she hadn’t done before.

Coming up to the bluff Sirona stayed stealthy with Daciana, spotting the two men outside, one armed with a crossbow the other cooking over the fire. Sirona listened to Daciana’s idea and nodded. ”Normally I would agree, scouting is good. However, in this case, I think a more bold stance would be appropriate. I’ll give them one chance. Stay close to me, leave your axe sheathed.” Sirona stood and used some magic to make her wings invisible, she also kept her sword and shield at her hip for now, putting the hood from her armour down. That made it a bit easier to see the facial tattoos that she had, angelic markings.

Sirona made her way down the bluff easily enough, waiting for Daciana if she chose to come along. Sirona walked casually towards the cave entrance until the two men noticed her walking towards them. Sirona was by no means an imposing figure, she wasn’t that tall, didn’t have an overly muscular build to her. Her armour was impressive, as were her sword and shield, and her tattoos tended to get some stares as well.

Stopping about forty feet away Sirona called out to them. ”I want to speak with your leader, now.” She commanded.

The two men just saw a woman and a girl and both chuckled. ”He’s busy, what you want?”

”Go and tell him that I am here to get an apology from him for what was done to the farming family to the north of here. I will off one chance for all of you to repent your evil and sinful ways.” Sirona replied calmly.

The two men shrugged and glanced to each other and one went into the cave to get the boss, while the other, with the crossbow trained on Sirona, stood watch. Sirona only watched him in turn.