By the time the priests finished sealing the idol, Vlad had stopped thinking about bandits. The little statue now rested beneath several layers of blessed cloth, wrapped tightly enough that neither its horns nor its folded wings pressed against the leather pouch. The priest carrying it still held the thing away from his body.
Soldiers continued searching the ruined houses while the mercenaries examined the roads leading out of the village. Every few minutes, someone called for a mage or a priest to inspect something beneath the rubble. Nobody had found anything that made the situation easier to understand.
Vlad had brought enough men to hunt down a bandit company. Against ordinary criminals, six mounted knights, trained infantry, battlemages, and several priests would have been more than sufficient. Demon worshippers required different preparations, particularly if they had already sacrificed the inhabitants of more than one settlement.
