They started walking early and reached the village there in the middle of the morning. As a precaution, they hid among the trees for a few minutes listening in case anyone was still in the village. Over time, as they listened to nothing, they dared to move forward. They approached cautiously.

As they were going there, the young man had told her that he wanted to look for his mother, as it might be that she was still alive. He had also said that he hoped to find someone who had survived the massacre, as the boy was unaware of these lands and would be of great help to him in order to be able to return home. He thought that going aimlessly through that immense plain made no sense, and so they were approaching that desolate place.

The first corpse which they found was near where they had left their mother. It was one of the soldiers. His pants were down to his ankles, and his genitals were mutilated, as they seemed bitten. The amount of dry blood on the ground indicated that he would have bled to death.

They passed by him to look for possible clues which could indicate where their mother had fled. The boy looked at his body, apprehensive and anguished, releasing a small grimace of pain as he stared at his crotch. Still, the little empathy he could feel for that man disappeared as he imagined that he was trying to make ends meet.

As the boy searched, Nayla noticed that a few meters away, there was a teddy bear. It was dirty with mud and blood. It was missing a leg too. The girl approached him and grabbed him; it made her nostalgic.

The young man put his hand on her shoulder, startling her a little.

"Don't separate from me, Nayla, since it can be dangerous," he warned. “Oh! You have found Mr. Bear…”, his voice was a little sad.

She stared at him curiously. How could he know what that toy was called? Was it yours? How did he know her name too? With these unanswered questions in her head she continued to follow him, undoing the path they followed as they fled. Before heading to the market square, however, they approached the part of the warehouse that had not been demolished by the explosion.

The young man made Nayla wait outside, and told her that if she saw or heard anyone, she should come in. According to the building’s state, he did not want to endanger the little one. She listened to him and stood at the door.

As she waited, she looked at the bear, turning it. Then she started dusting it off with her hand, patting him dry but soft. She managed to remove most of the mud it had embedded, but the blood that stained almost the entire side of its missing leg remained intact.

She hugged the bear and looked inside the warehouse to see if the boy was coming. It was quite dark, as part of the building collapsed and some windows were covered.

She heard faint noises that came muffled by the distance. Now a metallic sound, now a falling wood, a broken ceramic jar followed by a curse… As it was not funny for her to come in, she turned and sat on the floor, and, distracted, she began to play with the bear to pass the time.

The bear, who longed for nothing more than to have both legs again, agreed. The witch created an invisible leg for it. The bear was so happy! So much that it did not hesitate for a second to take the drink. When it drank it, however, it became a slave to the witch and sent it to fight the king who was her enemy.

After bloody fights, the bear was pierced by a sword and fell to the ground. At that moment it got rid of the effects of the potion, which apart from keeping him enslaved made him not feel the pain.

At that moment, while Nayla had her bear rolling on the floor in pain, the young man left the building.

"Apparently they did not take anything; it is full of food and tools", he said, dusting his hands on his pants. “Haven't you seen anyone?”, he asked. She shook her head. “Okay. Looks like they are gone”, he sighed in relief. “We better be careful, still”, he stood still thinking for a few seconds. “We will need clean clothes”, he said as he touched the edge of his shirt, carded with his fingers. “Let's see if our things are still in the inn”.

Visibly less worried, he lifted the girl and put her on her feet. She followed him curiously. What things should he have there?