scans_daily

(published sept. 2018)

Back cover blurb:
On a mission hunting bandits, Molly, Liam and their friends come across a monstrous creature: the Beast.
The village's council is worried: where does this monster born of dark magic come from? What threat does it pose for their village?
Hoping to get a clearer view of the problem, a delegation is sent to the Witches' Island. Molly and Liam will go with them, and get a chance to know Sarah, the young crow witch...

We left our young heroes at the end of vol. #1 facing a wiant monster wolf. We start vol. #2 with a light-hearted flashback, before headind back into action.

[Four years earlier] You all chose to join the Order...
But remember that before you become a Warrior Sherpherdess you have to be an apprentice.
And to be an apprentice you'll have to raise... a War Goat!
So cuuuute!!

I want him! / Remember, you' don't get the choice for your goat. The goats choose you, that's the rule. // Ma'am! / What do we do when it's the cake that he chose?
We'll say it's a match. / I'll call you Pudding! // Oh what are we getting into... / I'm calling you... Goat. / Nooo, leave me alone!
Don't choose me... you're scary! // Don't go to her, cute goatie, you can see she looks like a witch. / Come little goatie, you'll see, I'm nice.
Noooo! / He's mine.

My Precious! // There's only one shabby goat and he won't even pick me. I'll never be a Warrior Shepherdess... / Oh? What are you doing here, you? / (munch munch)
You're so tiny! // You ran away again, you runt? / I'll get you back to the stables with the other rejects!
Ooh!
He's perfect!

(Back to present day and action.)

Please wake up...
Molly! / Come and help us!
Everything's lost...
Liam, brin Molly around! We won't hold up much longer.

It can't be true...
I'm sorry, kids...

(They manage to drive the Beast away long enough to escape, with a few injuries, but not destroy it. Back to the village...)

They're back!
E-erin...

(The Elders discuss what to do not only about the immediate threat of the Beast, but also how they can help their injured and/or shaken up new recruits.)

And there's something more. Our new recruits need to acquire more experience as soon as possible because... our Order is dying. / There are fewer apprentices each year. Many girls went away to seek a husband / and the next generation won't be ready for several years.
So we'll have to sacrifice Molly's generation? / I'm against it. // Girls, calm down. / Anna, if your sister's logic displeases you, tell yourself that at least Molly will be safer with the Witches than here. // Nora...
Jane's idea seems sound but... it concerns my daughter too. / The apprentices will go with Jane. // But... Elder!? / Your mother and dister are right Anna.
This youngsters will get protection from the Witches' magic, and more than that, they showed real bravery. We need to encourage them to keep going rather than hold them back. / We won't be around forever... We need to think about the village's future. This is the Order's raison d'être.

This words must sound selfish to you, Anna... / No, I understand. // Then it's settled. / They'll go with Jane to the Witches' Island.
Say hello to Urty for me! / You'll say hello yourself, Maria. // You're going with them to the Witches'.
You're the one who knows them best. We'll need you to convince them to help us. As you know it, Gurro doesn't like us very much... / And your daughter will fel better... knowing that you're keeping Molly and her friends safe.
Maria, Jane, do as fast as you can. If this creatuer were to attack us now... I'm ashamed of it, but we'd be helpless.

(Liam pays a visit to Erin, who's been injured in the attack. He finds her little siblings despondents... and his own brothers knitting under her mother's supervision.)

Have you become an Order of Seamsters? / Don't bullshit me! They kept pestering me for capes. I didn't get a ch-
Stay focused on your work. You're far from being the best here. // Now that's very good, my boy. / Thank you Ma'am!
I bet you're here to see Erin. / She's upstairs but...
...I don't think she's awake.
(Erin's sickly father is here too, sitting with her and commiserating that her injury isn't getting any better and it's devolving into a weird sickness... one he doesn't know, and he's got more than his fair share of them in his life and he hates feeling so helpless.)

I'm sorry. I'm... glad you're unhurt. // I react like an imbecil because I'm mad at myself. I'm your older brother, I should have been the one facing this Beast and protectin our family...
You're already showing you're made of the same stuff than our elder, Adam. While I... still have everything to prove. // That's true.
You can't even prove you're a good seamster. // Bah. I deserved this one. / Oh, when I brought the cows back I saw Molly on the cliff above the village.
You should go talk to her, she looked all weird.

(There are pep talks, preparations, a trip, and they make it to the Witches' Island. Here, have a look at their marsh and their forest, isn't the place beautiful?)

I thought I saw a weird birdie in this tree... / Molly, look at this!

(Beautiful but creepy. Meet some Witch Children.)

By my goat's horns!
These witches are so weird...

(Meet Gurro, the Witches and Sorcerers's leader.)

A dangerous creature appeared in your valley. / Nature can be frightening at times.
Worse than that! We could barely hold the Beast back, it only retreated for a while and we have casualities. / We need you to heal our wounded and rid us of this beast.
We can help tend for your friends but nothing else. / We keep away from the world for our own peace / and you know it. / So why are you trying to bring chaos to us?
What do you think? That a wolf grew giant by just eating our sheep? / This monster was born of magic and magic comes from you!

This magic... there's only one person left here with a power linked to animals. // It's Sarah With the Birds and we're watching her. / Oh! Must be the girl I saw in the marsh! She's the one who told be about the beast.
Hm... she's not allowed to leave the village. Her father ignored orders again. / Isn't that so, Sarah? // Yes, that's her!
Sneaky and secretive, what a disappointment, Sarah... / I'm sorry, Gurro. I only wanted to learn more about the beast, then I sensed it presence without undestanding what it was...
Why are you treating the poor child this way? / Beacause her power is too dangereous for a child and makes her a target for the dark magic that guides the wolf.

And this dark magic isn't from around here but for the Dead Lands. If this evil came all the way here... / It means the men from your village failed fighting in for sure. We can't do anything.
What does that mean now? / I don't have Gurro's powers, I don't know what happened over there. // It's been over ten years we don't know anything about our men!
And this is the way you tell us their going away to war was a sacrifice all in vain?
Grandma... / Does that mean my father died?

(But nobody knows the answer to this question, not even Gurro. Let's follow to Sarah, her father who's a healer and someone much much nicer thant Gurro, and promises to help Erin and Blackbeard the goat.)

Oh! I didn't mean to frighten you. Tell me, what ails them? / They were bitten by a creature... or rather by little pests controlled by dark magic. / It's starting to rain... // Hm, your friends must be afflicted by an bad infection. I never had to heal that...
But on our island there's a plant with incredible propertis that should... Hey! // No! Another fit! / Dad...
It's sad and angry... it's too much... I can't control it... / Calm down Sarah, I'll help you! / Gurro's right, I... I'm not strong enough.

Another fit? / I managed to calm her down, Gurro... / But it was stronger than the first one, I could feel i. your duaghter must be quarantined!
Grandma, when I touched Sarah I saw the village and... / It's the warning bell! It rang thrice...
The village is under attack! // We need to go! / Gurro, come and help us, damnit!

(Of course Gurro denies them help, but Urty comes along with the Shepherdesses.)

It's... it's really a monster! / Let's hurry, they'll need help.
Bowmen!
Fire!
Hold on! We must protect the other villagers!

Pray that Maria and Jane heard the warning bell and come back with help...
Don't you touch my daughter, you damned Beast!

Am I seeing thing or... / ...is the beast made of rats? / But then the one controlling the wolf would be.. / That's impossible!
We're getting closer. The dark magic is stronger than ever. / I cna't control the birds anymore. We'll have to land.
Are you alright, Molly? / Yeah, it's just... / ...we're only children facing a beast in a bog... I hope we'll be up to the task.

Gu... Gurro. / I know this name.
A name that makes me angry. / A father who makes me feel ashamed.
This little red headed girl, this boy... / They're looking familiar.
Other faces are coming back to me. I remember being happy with them. With him...

Hey! Molly! You did it, Molly!

Dun dun dun, another cliffhanger ending. For some reason, I was getting Princess Mononoke vibes from this album, between the Witches' Forest and their children looking a bit like forest spirits, the giant magical animal attacking the village and contaminating people it touched... I hope it won't take too long to get the next album!