"What are we going to do? We can't carry the carcass." Asked Nero after they recited their funeral prayer together.

"Yes, that could actually be a problem... Wait I have an idea. You go get the ropes."

Almost an hour later, the two children had managed to build a sled from three ropes and some loose branches, on which they lifted the carcass of the wolf. They covered it with leaves and branches, just in case.

In the meantime, it had become dark and it had started to snow again,

"With our today's hunt prey, we won't have to go to bed hungry for the next few days. We were really lucky."

"Yes, and luckily we finished before it started snowing, otherwise we would never have found the tracks. Let's go home. Mother will surely be incredibly proud of us. Oh yes, i almost forgot again. We also have to go to Mr. Herald first, and give him the letter."

"Yes Eliza. But let's get going, my legs are already freezing."

Laughing, Eliza went off, pulling the sled behind her.

As always, they also went the usual way home. First, they followed the arrows out of the forest. It was not easy to get the sled out of the forest, but the ever-increasing snow made it easier.

Eliza sighed with relief when they finally reached the road, and the pulling of the sledding eased several times. They were just walking down the long main street when Eliza suddenly stopped. Nero looked at her in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Did you hear that?"

"No, what was it? I just hear my legs freezing off if we don't go home right now"

"Wait, Wait. I clearly heard screams. I think they came from the town square."

"I don't hear anything..." But then they finally reached Nero's ears too. Screaming and yelling. It made Nero shiver, "Oh now I hear them too. I think we should go home quickly."

Eliza nodded and started running. They ran as fast as they could into the alley, past Herald's house.

They had long forgotten about the letter for Herald.

The two were good hunters, and talented in many ways, but they were still only children and knew many evil stories of monsters and demons. Of course, their imaginations gave rise to many gruesome reasons in their minds why the people there screamed in place.

When their house came into view, they suddenly stopped in fright, unable to move.

Their entire house was on fire, burning to the sky.

"Wha...what?" asked Eliza, distraught.

Nero was completely frozen and could no longer move. He understood nothing at all.

His childlike mind could not immediately absorb the events, and before he understood what was happening, the situation changed drastically.

Eliza ran and screamed for her mother, leaving the sled with the wolf behind.

Suddenly men appeared out of nowhere and yelled,

"There are the witch's children. Catch them!"

5 men intercepted Eliza on the way and rushed her. They grabbed the girl and dragged her behind them. Eliza screamed and fought back and hit one of the men in the face with her hand.

The latter snapped, grabbed her wrist, and just broke it. Eliza froze for a moment and then screamed.

Nero backed away and felt tears gathering in his eyes as he saw his sister getting caught.

Panicked, he tried to run away, but he was already spotted by other men.

He was still young and slow, so the men quickly caught up with him. They grabbed him from behind, pulling him along with them.

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He screamed and kicked wildly. He didn't understand what was going on, he just knew it wasn't good.

He felt panic go through his limbs and screamed desperately for his mother. Just as they passed Herald's house, Herald opened the door to see what the noise was about.

His eyes widened as he saw the two children in the arms of the men and being brutally dragged behind them.

He quickly walked out and stood in front of the men, "Let go of the children now! My name is Herald Erbgu, and I demand to know what is going on here!"

"Don't You recognize our uniform? We are the holy order of the church, and these children are the spawn of a witch. The priest must decide what to do with them! Now get out of the way, or there will be consequences."

But Herald did not move a bit and remained standing with a firm face, "I demand..." he began, but then one of the men just stepped forward and punched the old man firmly in the face.

Herald went down and remained lying motionless.

The men simply stepped over his body and continued dragging the children. Nero's throat was already burning from all the screaming, and slowly the men began to get angry,

"Kid, if you don't stop screaming right now, I'm going to rip your throat out!" one of the men threatened, but Nero didn't even think to stop.

His sister hung limply in the arms of one of the other men, which sent Nero into a furious rage, but now the guard had had enough and gave Nero a firm slap on the back of the head.

It briefly went black before his eyes and he could see stars. After a short while his vision finally cleared again, and he became aware of something new.

The first thing he noticed was screaming and yelling around him. He looked around and realized that they were in the center of the village, and an unpleasant feeling spread through him.

The smell of sulfur and smoke, an angry mob shouting insults, and he remembered the man's words addressed to Herald. 'These children are the spawn of a witch.'

He looked around for Eliza, and his eyes met hers. It almost tore him apart to see his sister's reddened eyes. His sister, who was always strong and brave, served as a role model for him and never lost her optimism. And now her face was full of fear, panic, and pain and tears were running from her eyes.

They turned the next corner, and finally, Nero saw the pack,

"Brood of witches!"

"Burn the witch!"

"She's to blame for this winter!"

"She's killing our livestock!"

"I've seen her mix strange herbs into a potion."

"She put a spell on my husband!"

All kinds of accusations and insults were shouted by the people, but Nero did not really understand them. He was forcibly dragged on, but he had already given up resisting anyway.

He was dragged through the crowd, which split under the mighty advance of the soldiers. They gave Nero a glimpse of the big funeral pyre that lay in the center of the square, and of the person hanging there. Nero froze and stopped, but was immediately dragged on again. He already had expected it and yet it frightened him.

"MAMA!" he heard Eliza yell. The woman at the post, Nero's mother, raised her head in fright.

"No no no..." she said, shaking her head as she caught sight of her children.

"MOMMY, HELP US!"

"MAMA, THEY'RE HURTING ME!" screamed Nero.

Now her mother started screaming, "LEAVE MY CHILDREN ALONE! THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT. "

The people around them also became louder, and even started throwing stones and rotten fruit.

"Silence!" a voice now sounded through the courtyard.

It was not loud, but everyone heard it. It had a natural authority in its undertone and made people obey it. Even Nero could not help but sit up and pause for a moment. He looked to the source of the voice and recognized the person. It was the local priest, standing on a wooden stand in front of the church,

"Bring the children to me!" he ordered the guards, who obeyed without hesitation.

The two children were placed in front of the priest, and he looked at them briefly then turned to the guard, "gag them, I do not want to be disturbed, but do not blindfold them. I want them to witness it."

The guards stuffed cloth into the children's mouths and then bandaged them. Their mother screamed and yelled at the priest, but he paid no attention to her.

"Why isn't the witch gagged yet? I don't want to have to talk over her stupid screaming."

Immediately the guards went to Nero's mother and gagged her tightly.

Nero heard Eliza yelling next to him under the gag, but he didn't look at her, he only looked into his mother's eyes.

The next part was very hazy in Nero's memories. Neither did he remember the priest's words nor what his sister was doing. He only looked into his mother's black eyes. Despite the terrible situation she was in, love and affection for Nero could be seen burning in her eyes. They seemed to want to tell Nero something, but he did not understand. A single tear flowed from her eye and rolled down her cheek.

Everything around him blurred, and it was just him and his mother. He didn't even notice how the pyre was lit, but only when his mother was ablaze. The sight of his mother being burned alive before his eyes traumatized him and a fear spread through him. But it was not normal fear, like fear of monsters or something, but terrible cruel cold panic that seized him when he saw his mother's skin burst open and turn black.

Tears welled up in his eyes and he felt himself having a panic attack. In desperation, he turned away from the sight of his burning mother and looked at his sister. She had also turned away and was looking at him. Her eyes were full of tears, but she looked at him firmly. Her eyes were shining and she was desperately trying not to let the pain show. She suppressed her fear, sadness, and pain looked lovingly at Nero, and shook her head. 'Don't look,' she seemed to say. Later, when Nero thought back to that moment, he couldn't help but admire his sister's strength of will. It seemed to run in the blood of his family, but back in that moment, he could see through her facade and could see his own feelings mirrored. This was the first stroke of fate that would determine his future and set him on his destructive path, and many more were to follow.