The soldier found his immediate superior in consultation with Aoth. When the two comrades investigated, they discovered a griffon crouching outside the hut in question. No doubt its master had stationed it there to keep anyone from interfering with the mischief inside. Aoth brandished his spear at the beast and it screeched, lowered its white-feathered aquiline head, and slunk to the side. Bareris tried the door. It was latched, so he booted it open. The round dwelling was all one room, with a stove in the center, a loom to one side, and a bed on the far end. Their faces pulped and bloody, a man and a woman sprawled on the rush-strewn earthen floor. Two of the soldiers responsible were holding a sobbing, thrashing girl—Bareris put her age at twelve or thirteen—spread-eagled atop a table. The third was tearing off her clothes. The door banged against the wall and all three jerked around. Aorh could have simply snapped orders at the men, but he was too angry to settle for mere words. He lunged at one and struck with the butt of his spear.
