Cypher stepped through the circle of men to see a woman kneeling in the mud. She'd been stripped of her clothes, beaten and bruised, probably starved. In a different time the sight would have been gut wrenching but in the world as it was now... there were far worse things to see and these things were already dead yet still a threat. The heap the woman had found herself in was a common a sight and on top of that, Cypher had little sympathy for thieves and killers.

[b]"Hm... I thought you said 'it'."[/b] He turned to look at the boy, the child's lips quivering as he tried to correct his mistake.

"It's not.... it's not just her." His eyes moved from the girl on the ground to the three standing behind her: Cliff, Brand and Shea. Triplets... most likely the last on Earth. Blonde with blue eyes and fit bodies to match. Together they would have been poster models back in the day, all beautiful creatures cursed with being born in the wrong time. While Shea was the easiest to pick out being female, Cliff and Brand had been nearly impossible to distinguish until Brand grew his hair out into a pony tail. Now, Cypher hadn't any problem at all calling the brothers by their proper name. He stared at each of them waiting for an answer. They each exchanged a few glances before Cliff opened his mouth.

"My King. On our way deeper into the state, we happened upon the woman and her group, the same ones that had came through ours a few weeks ago and left Crystal... dead." He choked and then quickly recovered. "The others... resisted our attempts to-"

"Lies!" The woman screamed to which she received solid blow to her teeth, knocking her straight into the dirt.

"Should learn to shut yer fucking mouth cunt."

[b]"Shea..."[/b] Cypher gave her a glare and she backed away with her head down.

"Apologies my King."

[b]"Continue."[/b]

Cliff nodded. "The others resisted and met with... unfortunate ends."

[b]"Right... and why bring this one back?"[/b]

"Said they seen it... the Land of Light. But that's all they were willing to say. Tried to bargain for their lives with that little bit of information. We figured you could get more from her."

Cypher looked down at the woman who was now lying face down in the mud. Her naked crumpled body shivered slightly with every breath, the simple task now a laboring chore as every gulp of air wracked her frame with pain. She was suffering... she was vulnerable. [b]"Find doc and get her into my tent."[/b]