At the town's gate, the group of guards returned, marching slowly, carrying two knocked out men, and one corpse.
The moral of the survivors, shattered.
Shion understood the feeling of winning a battle and yet feeling like you lost, yet there was nothing she could do or say to those men that could make them feel better.
Grief is a curious thing. It is not death alone that wounds us, but the absence that follows.
Lacking the guidance, advice, laughter, shared memories, helping hand, brother, comrade, captain. That is what make us mortals grief.
They went straight to the church.
A small church just shy bigger of a chapel, small enough to not have statues of the gods, just stained glass windows, with simple representations of the gods on the church's dome.
The priest comes out at the sound of the gates opening, followed by several footsteps coming in. There was nothing scheduled for the day.
His questions are answered as soon as he sees them all laying the body right in front of the altar.
The two men are sit carefully on the frontal benches.
None of the men speak a word, yet the priest understand them all.
Shion watches silently from the entrance.
Eren is sitting just a couple benches in, weeping in silence, mourning.
The priest closes to the door he came in from, calls for his assistant, instructs him something in a whisper, and comes back.
He starts by saying a prayer, then imposing his hands on the head of the first unconscious man, asking for divine intervention to heal the man.
His hands briefly glow in a white with a faint gold taint, enough to wake the man.
Then proceeds with the second, in the same manner, prays and heals.
Turns out, the second in command Eren was looking for, was right there, knocked out. In the heat of the battle and the fear induced by the troll, she probably missed the instant where he landed under the first guard.
The assistant comes back with two more man carrying a coffin.
Carefully, four of the guards lift the body of their captain, and put him in the coffin.
The assistant nails the lid once he's inside.
"Is there a widow to inform to?" The assistant ask them, with a soft voice, barely braking the silence.
"She already knows" One of the guards replied almost as quietly.
"Is she not coming?" Shion frowned. She could not understand why a wife would refuse a final goodbye.
Then, she heard the sobbing. Not Eren's, it comes from outside.
Behind one of the corners, hiding behind a tree, there was a woman crying.
"Let her remember her husband as the man he was, not how he ended" Eren got close enough to whisper Shion, avoiding the woman hearing them.
She was right, allowing the widow to remember her husband, the man, not the bloody corpse was more merciful than forcing her to enter that church.
After a simple ceremony, and few prayers gathered together, the guards lifted the coffin, heading to the burial site.
Trivale was gathered outside, to pay respect to the man that led the guarding forces for their town for as long as he could.
He was at his final resting site, guards helped to put the earth above his coffin, not with magic out of respect, but using shovels, with the sweat of their heads.
And they left.
Shion headed to the inn after the burial was done, probably they didn't need a stranger around while they comforted each other.
She was gathering her belongings when someone knocked at her door.
"Eren, do you need anything?" Shion asked gently.
"How did this happen? How did we allow him to die?" Eren asked, clearly she had regrets for how the battle turned out.
For a small town like Trivale, this had likely been the fiercest battle they had faced in years—perhaps ever.
"Battles are messy the more people there is" Shion stated "One distraction can be life or death" She clearly faced it with the bandits, being over confident, forgetting to count.
"Why him of all of us?" Eren asked again, trying to hold her tears as much as she could.
"He was commanding" Shion replied, pausing a brief moment "For a single second, he looked to his men instead of the troll. That second cost him."
"He died protecting you. He died as a true leader. You should be proud of that."
"I know," Eren whispered.
The composure she had been holding shattered, and she began to cry openly.
Shion placed a single hand on her shoulder.
There was nothing more to give.
Eren headed home for the day, she needed to rest.
Shion did not stop her.
By the morning, Eren finally calmed down, they both were sitting at a table inside the dinning area.
The inn keeper understood the situation, no need to ask if anything was wrong.
"Miss Shion," Eren began carefully, "I have a request."
Shion looked up from her cup.
"Let me travel with you."
The words came directly, though sorrow still lingered in her voice. Beneath it, however, was something steadier. Resolve.
Wait, what? The same girl that was afraid of her just a couple of nights ago, is asking to join her on her travel?
"I don't know, Eren. It may not be—"
"Please," Eren interrupted "I need to get out of Trivale, I can't remain on guard duty, not after yesterday"
"What about your family? Won't you leave someone behind?" Shion asked.
"My mom and dad, they are local farmers, I told them last night and they agree that I could use some time away from here" Her eyes locked in the table.
"People will treat you differently," Shion warned quietly. "Traveling with me will not make things easier."
She did not need to explain further. Associating openly with an orc came with consequences.
"I will do as you tell me to, in towns, missions and battle, I can offer my discipline and dedication, just, let me get out of here" Eren plead again.
Silence stretched between them.
"Very well. Return your uniform and your issued weapons. Meet me here at dawn."
Eren stood immediately, relief flickering across her face. She nodded once and stepped outside to do as instructed.
Shion remained seated for a moment longer, staring into her cup.
The choice she just made, she still was weighting the possibilities, she appreciated the companionship, she was no longer going to travel alone.
She also considered the consequences for the young girl, every battle could turn out just like the troll's.
Not all enemies fell cleanly.
They had not seen the Spider.
The thought lingered.
She realized the guards never scanned the area properly, and probably won't want to go back to the scene.
She payed for the meals, and walked outside.
Closer to the watch towers, the ambient felt different than before, heavier. Quieter.
The guards were still morally broken, despite the new captain being appointed.
"Good afternoon, soldiers" Shion greeted.
A few men lifted their heads. Most did not. The replies came as faint nods rather than words.
"I need to see..." She doubted for a second on how to end her idea.
The men looked up, a bit annoyed.
"... Your second in command" Probably the safest choice to finish.
That earned a direction—one of them gestured without speaking.
Shion followed the direction the guard gave her.
When she found the new appointed captain, he was just as broken as his men.
"Captain, I just came to tell you a couple things" Shion said abruptly, no need for this man to answer excitedly for what she going to say.
"First, the troll was probably thrown from the mountain, it was not there when we arrived. If left outside you would need conceal and silence, both illusion spells, costly for a single wizard to maintain, even harder for anyone to know both, even more complex adding the time the 3 guards were standing outside without noticing anything. Easiest way was throwing it with earth magic"
The man did not react to the information, was there dully staring at Shion.
"Second, I'll be leaving Trivale tomorrow, Eren will be leaving town too. Just wanted to give you a heads up"
The man still unresponsive.
No protest. No question.
She inclined her head slightly, then turned and left him to his silence.
The town was healing—but not yet ready to listen.