Liam awoke with a start. Something wasn’t right, he could feel it. The sun had nearly set now, with just the faint purples, oranges, and reds behind the growing clouds in the sky, threatening rain soon.

He sat up and extended his senses, listening for any sign of the sound that had just jarred him awake moments before.

Nothing.

As he reached out further, he noticed it. The smell of smoke and the sound of screaming. The acrid stench of burning pine wood and terror filled screams that seemed to be pulled straight out of his worst nightmare.

Liam was left sitting very still for a moment as the memory of the dream he had had the previous night played through his mind once more, causing his breath to hitch in his throat and sent a shiver of unease down his spine.

Then he was moving, rushing to the window to scan the streets below. Several guards were rushing towards the east side of town, the same direction his home was.

What had been the leftover panic from his nightmare last night, now became a very real, very visceral fear.

He turned and bolted for the door, ripping it open and flying down the stairs as fast as he could. Jumping the last eight steps, pushing mana to his feet to cushion the landing. He hit the ground in a roll and was on his feet again in an instant. As he ran through the mess hall, he noticed a few guards were lying on tables while a doctor and several of her assisting nurses rushed around trying to stop the bleeding from several deep lacerations to one man’s torso and more than a few arrow wounds to two of the other guardsmen.

Liam burst out of the guardhouse to a hoard of panicked villagers fleeing from the battle that seemed to be taking place somewhere near the town hall. It was getting dark quickly. He decided to stick to the shadows of the buildings to try and avoid getting too close to the fighting. He checked to make sure his dagger was still secured to his belt and then ran across the street, pushing his way through the crowd of people as he made for an alleyway between two buildings.

His heart sounded too loud in his ears for it to have been in his chest, it was making it hard to hear anything as he swung wide of the town hall. He navigated the back alleys, pausing whenever he needed to break cover to check for signs of movement.

It seemed that everyone had fled this area already. Some of the buildings had been set ablaze. The long shadows being thrown by the angry red-orange light of the fires seemed to dance and shift, creating unnatural shapes in Liam’s peripherals and setting his nerves on edge as the clatter of steel on steel drew closer.

He reached the point directly across from the ongoing conflict and stopped to glance around the corner of the building he was using for cover.

There were nearly two dozen men in dark leather armor with a crest that Liam had never seen before.

The town guard was severely outmanned, being almost three to one, but were managing to hold their own.

Liam watched as one of the guards nearly cleaved his foe in two at the waist with the massive longsword he was wielding.

Two more enemies took the place of their fallen comrade, overpowering the guard and putting him on the back foot.

The plaza in front of the town hall was a disaster. The building that had once stood so proudly at the center of their village was burning, the blaze so bright it lit up the entire square as brightly as if it were noon.

That’s when Liam noticed Alex, standing over the village chief while fending off two of the armored men with his short sword and buckler. The chief’s head was bleeding and he appeared to be unconscious.

Alex feinted a left backhanded swing with his sword and his foe went to block, he stopped mid-swing altering the path of the blade and changing to a jab aimed at the man’s throat. The finely honed steel of the sword carved a deep gash in the enemy soldier’s neck sending dark arterial spray across the vice-captain’s arm and face.

A young man with crimson red hair and a long sword stepped up to take his place. Liam could see that he was saying something but couldn’t hear what it was over the din of combat.

Suddenly and with lightning speed the younger man struck out in a stab aimed at Alex’s face. He had only a split second to react, bringing his buckler up to block while striking with a low jab towards his foe’s abdomen.

The fiery haired attacker spun to his right, dodging the blow coming towards his stomach and bringing his blade around in a right overhand swing that caught Alex in the left shoulder. Liam saw the older man wince in pain as a large gash was cut into his arm above his bicep. The cut, even though it didn’t seem to be that deep, must have severed something important. Alex couldn’t seem to lift his shield arm any longer, and seeing as how it was now just weighing him down, discarded the buckler. His left arm hanging limply as the two circled each other, testing one another’s defenses with small feints and jabs.

They had rotated so that the young man’s back was to Liam with his stepfather facing his direction. The raider made an overhead swing towards Alex’s left collarbone that was parried by the vice-captain, bringing the two of them closer together in a clinch, and removing the reach advantage his attacker had.

It was at this moment that Alex looked past the man’s shoulder and stared right into the eyes of his stepson, a look of fear in his own when he saw him.

“Run” mouthed Alex.

There was a burst of fire between the two men and Alex was forced several steps back.

Liam stared in horror at the ragged, bloody, and burnt wound in his stepfather’s abdomen from where the firebolt had hit him point blank.

Alex placed a trembling hand to where his stomach should have been, then looked down at the blood that covered his hand. As he looked back to where Liam was hiding, his eyes glazed over, and then he fell unceremoniously to the ground.

For an earthshattering moment Liam stood there staring at the body of the man he had called Father his entire life. It felt like someone had ripped his heart from his chest and he had to fight back the scream that was climbing his throat, begging to be released in the most primeval wail of agony and loss that he had ever felt.

He hid back around the corner of the building again as the red-haired man turned to look towards his location. Liam slumped against the rough stone of the wall behind him, sliding down until he was sitting on the cobbled stone.

He stayed like this for, what, thirty minutes? Or had it only been five? Liam wasn’t sure how long he had been there, listening to the screams of agony as both sides wounded and killed each other.

As time seemed to almost fly by and stand still at the same time, Liam wondered if there was anything he could have done.

“Of course there wasn’t, I’d only have gotten in the way and then we’d both be dead” he thought, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

Wiping his face to clear the haziness that the moisture had created, he glanced back around the corner again. The two forces were still engaged in a brutal battle, neither side seeming to give ground. There was no sign of the red-haired man anymore.

“He must’ve been injured as well in that blast” thought Liam as he scanned the battlefield.

He spared one last glance at the eerily still body of his stepfather. Then he turned to run to the remaining members of his family, praying to the gods that they were safe.

Liam swore then and there that he would seek vengeance against the man who had killed Alex.

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Several hours earlier, Kira was standing on a chair while kneading the dough for that night’s dinner.

“Father is at work and Liam is with him studying, mother has gone to see them” Kira muttered to herself as she folded and pressed the fresh dough over and again.

She stopped, and then pounded the dough with her small fist.

“Why couldn’t I go with her? I’m so bored right now!”

Kira was extremely bright for her age but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t act like the child that she was from time to time. Especially when she was bored.

She sighed and then sat down in the chair. She wasn’t quite tall enough yet to work at the table without something to stand on, and she was barely tall enough to sit at the table and not need a couple books to boost her up to be able to eat there.

With no one in the house she was incredibly bored. She placed the dough back in a bowl and covered it with parchment paper then placed it on the counter to rise. Once she was finished with that, she stood there in the middle of the kitchen with her hands on her hips trying to think of something to do until mother came home.

After a few minutes, she finally decided on going to feed the stray dogs that often roamed the streets near their house. She grabbed the sausages that her father told her she could give them and walked out the front door, pulling it closed behind her.

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Whenever a child turned six years old, their parents would take them to the temple to receive a blessing from one of the twelve gods and goddesses. Kira had received the Blessing of Yuna, the Goddess of Animals.

With her blessing, she was able to communicate her emotions to the animals that were within a short distance around her and be able to read their emotions in turn. This is how she was able to approach the trepidatious dogs with ease.

They had never growled at or bitten the young girl. They had even come to her aid once when one of the bigger children from down the road had been picking on her, being able to sense her distress and anxiety, and scaring away the would be bully.

As she made her way down the street towards the alleyway between the miller’s and baker’s shops, she noticed that there were significantly more grownups around than usual.

Kira turned the corner into an alleyway and a large black shepherd with matted fur turned to look at her, eagerly wagging its tail as it sniffed the air. She crouched down and waited for the shaggy dog to approach her before scratching its neck and feeding it one of the sausages.

It greedily ate the proffered meal as several other dogs appeared. Kira gave one to each of them and then sat back against the wall to watch them eat, the black shepherd coming up next to her and laying its head in her lap once it had finished.

She patted its head, leaning her own back against the wall and closing her eyes.

After a while she got up and said goodbye to her furry friends.

She left the alley and started back toward her house. As she passed under one of the windows of her neighbor’s house, she heard a young man speaking. His accent was strange, it was unlike any she’d heard before, being more nasal and drawn out than what was common to their area. Kira stopped to listen to what was being said.

“What time is the next changing of the guard?” the young man said. Kira noticed that the man seemed to talk a lot like some of the nobles she’d met in the past. Haughty and self-righteous, like they were owed more than what they have. She never particularly cared for those nobles.

“They change around lunch and then again right before sunset” that was Samuel, the general store owner. She thought it was odd that the man would be talking to Samuel about something like that instead asking one of the guards.

“Then that will be the time to strike, if we move quickly and hit them in several places at once we should be able to cause enough havoc to disorient the guards while they are busy.” the foreigner said.

Kira was trying to figure out what was going on when Evelyn called her name, startling the young girl. She turned around and saw her mother walking down the street waving to her. Kira moved away from Samuel’s house and headed to her mother, deciding that grownup stuff was not for her to understand.

“Kira, what are you doing out here? Have you already finished with the dough?” Evelyn said as her daughter approached.

“Yes Mama. I set it on the counter to rise. Then I went to feed the dogs with the sausages Papa gave me” Kira replied.

“I see, and what were you doing over there sneaking around Mr. Samuel’s house?”

“Oh! Well, I was passing by and heard a young man talking, and he didn’t sound like he was from the village. They were saying some strange things, they kept talking about guards and attacks. It didn’t really make much sense.”

“Maybe they were talking about guarding one of Mr. Samuels caravans” Evelyn said after a moment of thought.

Kira thought about it and then decided that adult matters were better left to the adults.

The two of them continued in silence for a while, enjoying the warm and increasingly cloudy day that was blocking out the sun casting the streets in tones of grey.

“Looks like it’s going to rain again today. I hope your brother and father make it home before it does.”

“Yeah, otherwise they’re going to track mud through the house like last time.”

“Yes, they certainly made a mess last time, didn’t they?” Evelyn laughed as they neared their house.

“Well since you’ve already finished your chores for the day, why don’t you go and study for a bit. I’ll let you know when dinner is ready.”

“Yes Mama” Kira said sighing. She had a feeling her day was about to get even more boring.

As the sun began to set that evening, Kira was starting to wonder when her brother was going to get back. She liked playing with Liam, he had even started to teach her how to circulate her mana. She was a quick learner and was able to meditate to replenish her core already but was a long way to being able to reach out with it to extend her senses or cast any spells.

She was about to go down the stairs to the kitchen and ask her mother when dinner would be ready and to see if her father had returned yet when she heard someone screaming outside.

Kira paused, not sure what to do and wondered if it was safe to go down there.

At that moment her mother ran around the corner, her panic filled eyes locking on Kira.

“Kira, come with me right now!” she said.

“Mama? What’s going on?”

“Not now! Come on!”

Kira went down the remaining stairs and followed her into the sitting room. Evelyn approached the wall opposite the kitchen door and opened a panel.

“Kira, I need you to listen carefully. You need to hide in here and don’t come out until either your father or I tell you it’s safe to do so. Do you understand?”

“Why do I need to hide?”

“Because I said so! Now hurry!”

Her mother was looking increasingly panicked, so she did as she was told and climbed into the hidden compartment. Evelyn replaced the panel and then started walking towards the door.

Kira could see her through a crack in the wood. It looked like she was going to lock the door when it suddenly burst open, sending Evelyn sprawling on the floor.

A large man in dark leather armor carrying an axe walked in and looked down at her, then he smiled. It wasn’t the kind of smile that Kira had ever seen before, and it made her skin crawl.

Evelyn made a move to get up and run, but the bigger man was on her in a second. Forcing her back down onto the sitting room floor with the bottom of his massive boot. She fought with the man, slapping and clawing at his face and arms as he tried to wrestle with her.

That’s when he started hitting her, striking her face and torso. The man used every opening she gave him to land a hit. He kept hitting her until she was left curled up and spluttering on the floor. Her dress torn in places during the struggle.

Kira watched in horror. She wanted to scream and cry out for help, but she knew that if she did it would only put her in danger too.

As she watched the man attacking her mother, she noticed something in the dark opening of the door. A familiar face, barely visible in the fading light and rain.

Her breath hitched, the man was crouched in front of Evelyn, that disgusting look still on his face. The figure in the door started moving. Slowly he crept forward, careful not to make any sound as he stalked toward his target.

The man was breathing hard and muttering something she couldn’t make out. He never heard Liam creeping up behind him.

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Liam was almost at the house. It had started to rain, picking up until thick droplets of water were coming in sheets. He hoped that it would help put out some of the fires.

As he neared the door, he realized that it was wide open. He could hear sounds coming from within, it sounded like a brawl, heavy breathing and cries of pain. He crept closer, peering around the edge of the door.

What he saw made lightning course through his veins. Frozen, he watched as his mother was attacked by some man. He felt his anger reach a boiling point.

Liam drew his dagger and stalked forward toward the man. Alex had taught his son to be ruthless and efficient, quick and clean kills. He had spent the last few years training with the guards, learning where the best places were to stick a blade.

As he drew closer to the filth crouched over Evelyn, he began to see red. His mother’s lip was split and there were already signs of a bruise forming on her cheek. She seemed to be unconscious, Liam couldn’t tell from where he was.

He was close now, close enough to smell the sweat that was running down the man’s neck and soaking into his shirt. As the man sat back on his haunches, Liam pounced, hooking his middle finger as hard as he could into the soft tissue of the man’s left eye. Feeling it sink into the socket up to the second knuckle, he ripped the off balance and surprised man’s head back and to the left. He rammed the tip of his dagger up through the bottom of the man’s chin, sinking all seven inches of the well-maintained blade up to the hilt in his brain.

Liam held his blade there until the man stopped twitching. Then he let the limp body fall to the ground, withdrawing the blade as it fell.

He stared at the man he had just killed for a moment, a pool of blood already forming under his head and seeping into the floorboards. Liam had never killed anybody before, small animals and a few deer while he was out hunting with Alex, but never an actual person.

He was startled by how little he felt at that moment.

Liam cleaned off the blood that coated his blade on the dead man’s shirt and re-sheathed the dagger at his hip.

He got up and ran to his mother’s side and checked for a pulse. She was still alive, just unconscious.

“Ma! You’ve gotta wake up Ma!” Liam cried while gently tapping her on the shoulder.

Tears were beginning to fall freely now as he began to grow more desperate.

“Mom please! Wake up!”

Evelyn’s eyes fluttered open slowly at the sound of her son’s voice. She reached her hand up and touched his face.

“Liam, you’re safe” she croaked, tears beginning to form in her own eyes.

“Yes, I’m fine. B-but Pa” he started to say but his voice was cracking too much to finish. The look of realization in her eyes told him he didn’t need to finish the sentence for her to understand.

“Where’s Kira? Is she safe?” he said, quickly changing the subject and looking around the room.

Evelyn nodded and looked toward the concealed hiding spot that his stepfather had created for just this kind of situation.

He stood up and walked over to the wall. Opening the panel, he found Kira crying quietly, curled into a ball.

“Kira, it’s me Liam. You can come out now” he spoke softly to her.

“Mama’s h-hurt” she sobbed into her knees.

“Ma is all right now. You’re safe”

At this she looked up at her brother, realizing for the first time who she had spoken to.

Her face was tear streaked and her hair was a wild mess. She crawled out and jumped into Liam’s arms. He hugged her for a moment, then held her at arm’s length.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” he said looking her over.

“N-no, but Mama” her words trailed off as she saw her mother, now sitting in an armchair.

“Mama!” She cried and ran over to her, throwing her arms around Evelyn, who winced from the pain but embraced her daughter.

“It’s alright now” she said quietly to Kira as she began to cry as well.

There was an explosion in the distance. Liam and Evelyn looked out the window as a plume of fire soared into the sky.

“We need to get out of the village as quickly as we can” she said to Liam.

“Grab what you can and be ready to leave in five minutes” and he nodded running off to his room to grab his spare knapsack that had been prepared with a few camping essentials and a few changes of clothes for himself and Kira.

When he came back downstairs, Evelyn had changed. She was now dressed in simple trousers, knee-high boots, and a tunic.

“Are you ready to go?” she asked Liam who nodded again.

“What about Papa?” Kira asked looking worriedly at their mother.

Liam and Evelyn exchanged glances.

“Your father is protecting the chief and the village. He will catch up to us later.” Evelyn said to her reassuringly.

The young girl sighed in relief and smiled at her mother. Liam felt a pang of guilt, but it wouldn’t serve them to tell her the truth just yet. That could wait until they were safely away from the village and had time to have a conversation.

The three of them turned right out of the kitchen door heading east out of the village and towards the forest.

“We need to make our way to Midwood Hollow. It’s the closest town to us. We can have the guard send word of the attack to Valenterra” Evelyn said as they ran.

As they neared the edge of the village, Kira began to tire from running. Taking off her pack and handing it to Liam, Evelyn picked up her daughter and they slowed their pace slightly. There didn’t seem to be anyone around this far out.

As they drew closer to the forest they began to hear a sound, like a steady drumbeat. They paused for only a second to listen.

A couple hundred meters behind them was a horse riding toward them.

“I can hear a horse, maybe it’s Papa” Kira said looking over her mother’s shoulder in the direction of the sound.

Evelyn and Liam looked at each other then picked up their pace.