“How did it come to this?” I said as I was looking out into the distance.

“It was the only option we had left Sir Dumal” replied the Lieutenant next to me on the wall.

Before us was the consequence of single act, a single act so terrible that it was better to erase everything about it then let knowledge of it spread to the wider world.

An act… committed by my own son, caused by my own inaction and inability to see the darkness that brewed in his heart.  I was so focused on my own gain, my own prosperity, that I had become blinded to those around me. I neglected everything in my research, my family, my estate, my duty to my kingdom, so absorbed was I that I failed to answer my King’s pleas for aid in stopping the calamity that struck my home…

Many will never even know what happened, what caused our kingdom to fall. Some may guess close to the truth, but none will ever get the whole of the evil that was committed this day. Of the sin my son conducted. Of the monster he had become.

“Sir?” the Lieutenant asked.

“Hm? Oh, pardon me I was reflecting upon my own failings, what is it, Lieutenant?” I replied, already knowing the issue at hand.

“What do we tell the men? And what of those who already know?” answered the Lieutenant.

“We will tell them nothing. Nothing of what happened here can spread, for all our sakes” I said.

“What of those who know Sir?” the Lieutenant repeated.

“Silence them. If they refuse, use force, and if still they refuse, then silence them permanently” I replied with is a sigh.

“But Sir that is over half th-“the Lieutenant started.

“It must be done Lieutenant; we cannot afford to have any information get out” I interrupted.

“… Yes, Sir, it shall be done as you ask” the Lieutenant reluctantly replied as he moved to carry out the orders.

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Soon enough I was left alone on the wall, and I began to reflect once more on what had transpired…  It had started small, reports of decreased beast activity along the forest outskirts of the capital, soon enough local hunters returned with more concerning reports, the forest was devoid of fauna, and eerily silent, this was enough to make the hunters refuse to tread deeper into the wood.

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However soon after the hunters returned, the work animals of the city began to attempt to flee, as if they were trying to escape a predator. This befuddled the trainers, as all the animals permitted in the city were trained to remain calm in all types of situations, from ambushes to loud noises. But soon the city was flooded with the smell of blood and the commoners began reporting a faint red haze in the lower districts, as the day went on more and more reports of this same haze began coming in from the various districts of the city. It was not very long after the haze was reported that the first person died… a young weak peasant girl in the lowest district had simply fallen over dead in the middle of the street after stumbling out of a nearby alleyway.

 The guards investigated the reports of the death, but as they arrived, they found a more disturbing sight, dead bodies littered the lower district streets. They found men, women, and children of all ages laying in the streets as if they had all suddenly died a violent death, blood leaking from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and in some cases their skin. Reports of these deaths became more and more frequent as the haze grew deeper and deeper. Each death seemingly adding to the depth of the haze, this was when my king called upon for the final time, the call… that I failed to answer. Soon everywhere outside of the castle was covered in a deep red haze that seemingly swallowed the light, bodies littering the streets of every district. Soon everyone not inside the castle walls was dead, all dying a brutal death.

As the sun began to set, the haze seemed to withdraw, those within the castle let out a sigh of relief as they believed that the calamity was soon to be over. Oh how wrong they were, the haze suddenly rushed at the castle walls and a great thunder roared out as the haze charged like a mad beast and slammed into the castles walls cracking them, the haze reared back again, charging again. Over and Over the haze rammed the walls each blow cracking more and more of the walls, then like the breaking of glass, the walls shattered, leaving those within open to the red haze. Soon the castle was flooded, turning the sky into what looked like a rain of blood, the haze soon turned the inhabitants into bloodied corpses... those I once called friend... the man I called Brother... gone... all gone.

The Red Rain, is what the witnesses fortunate enough to be outside the city at the time called it, the news of the capital's destruction soon reached me, and that was when I had realized my error, my criminal mistake. I hurriedly set out for the capital, and as I walked the halls of my estate in my hurry, I saw the rot that had crept in, the decaying food, the rotted wood beams... my family was gone, I realized after my calls for them went unanswered. Soon however I exited my manor equipped and ready for what I believed to come. I found my horse, thankfully in his stable, though I noticed the other horses were gone, probably taken by the servants in their bid to leave, I couldn't care however as I rushed to leave, hoping that I still might fix my mistake, hoping that my King, and Sworn Brother was still alive. 

I would not be so fortunate.