Astrid led the way through the forest, supporting the old woman on her arm, though she herself was tired and sore from her recent exertions on the hill. She smiled when the crone called her an angel, and she looked sideways toward her, "So, July...where do you live? Do you have family there?"<br/><br/>She was very curious about this strange old lady who seemed not to have any idea of the dangers of the forest, and yet must have been traveling for days in it to get where they were...How was that possible? Perhaps the woman was not alone after all? Perhaps she had just become separated from whoever was travelling with her? There was nothing else that made sense. The creatures that circled her every night surely couldn't be unique to her, so how had the woman survived until now?