Iseldis was pretty proud of her work. Roland's cut wouldn't even scar too much. "The night helps, the moon helps more." She smiled. "We're not powerless when there's cloud cover. We wouldn't be too threatening then." The region saw fairly frequent rains, and while some of her order found the absence of the moon's light more difficult than others, Iseldis has never been overly taxed by it. The night time was key, though. She'd exhaust herself far too quickly to be useful slinging spells and magic weapons in the daylight. At least until she could better hone her abilities.

She wasn't surprised to hear he'd been through battles before. Iseldis had healed soldiers returning from war before, and they shared a look that she saw in Roland. She got the sense that none of them were the same people that they were when the first battle started. Perhaps draugr were more frightening than the average man, but killing draugr didn't leave the same mark on a soul killing a man would.

Before long the townsfolk were swarming them, just as Roland was trying to leave. She would've been against it anyway, but now it seemed they had no choice but to stay. "It can't hurt to rest a while and eat," she said. "I need to see to some of the villagers, and we can see what they know about the source of the draugr. It'd be best to confront them after dark, anyway."

...

Evening came quicker than expected, but Iseldis was kept busy healing the villagers injured in the draugr attack. They told her wild tales about where the draugr came from, most repeating the names Rottengild and Therzun, but they sounded more like stories to Iseldis, things to keep the children from running away from the village. They did speak of a nearby cave, however, a place they called Blackglass, and a place they'd avoided for years. It was possible it was actually a crypt, once used by the ancestors of the land but long since forgotten. It seemed like the best place to start, so she acquired directions.

In the evening the villagers treated them to a feast in their main hall, one they'd been planning to have anyway. Iseldis ate lightly, knowing they'd be on the move later in the night, and spent most of the time conversing with the villagers. Clearly today was the most exciting day they'd had in perhaps years, and Iseldis found their excitement infectious.

"You're set on exploring Blackglass then?" asked a boy named Owen from across the table of Iseldis. He was eighteen at most, and after she'd healed his leg today he was plainly infatuated with her, which she dutifully ignored. "We never go there. Back to my grandparents' time, no one goes there."

"Well, Roland and I will go there," she answered. "If that's the source of the draugr, we'll clean them out, and I'll cleanse the source. Simple, really." She turned her head to Roland seated beside her. "Sounds like a plan, right?" She wasn't sure how much he was enjoying the attention, if at all. He seemed a bit awkward before, but Iseldis couldn't help but enjoy herself.

It felt [i]good[/i] to see all these people smiling because of something she'd helped to do.