The village of Bronn was located on the border of two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Egra and the Kingdom of Egria. It was built on a slope of a mountain and was predominantly a hunting community.
The two kingdoms used to be united. However, a hundred years ago, there was a succession crisis where the first and second princes battled over their father’s throne. The civil war lasted almost a decade without having a clear winner. Years of endless battles left the whole nation too exhausted to go on, and there was an external factor as well; notably a rumor that one of their neighboring kingdoms might launch an invasion.
In the end, a truce was declared, and the kingdom was split into two as a result.
The Eastern half would continue to call itself the kingdom of Egra, the original name because it was led by the first prince who had a more legitimate claim to the throne. The Western half named themselves Egria, led by the second prince.
All these meant that, politically, the two kingdoms did not enjoy a good relationship. However, for ordinary folks, it didn’t really matter. The folks of Egra didn’t hate the folks of Egria, and vice versa. After all, they used to belong to the same kingdom. Their culture was the same, and so was their language.
Therefore, in spite of the long war and its subsequent truce, for ordinary folks, it had been business as usual. The people of Egra would conduct their business with the people of Egria without any prejudice, and vice versa.
A hundred years had passed since.
The kingdom of Egra had regressed significantly due to a string of poor rulers whereas the kingdom of Egria had prospered due to having strong rulers. The current king of Egria, Karsten Egra was crowned just two years ago, but he had proven to be a genius military tactician who had repelled an invasion from a neighboring kingdom. Having the momentum as well as having his extraterritorial threat taken care of, his eyes quickly locked onto the ailing kingdom of Egra. Reunification was near.
The village of Bronn had a population of just two hundred fifty people. It was located in a hill of a mountain and was primarily a hunting community since their land wasn’t optimal for farming. Being one of the border communities, it did have a small trading outpost which also served as a market for the village.
Regardless, it was an insignificant village.
When gossip floated around that the kingdom of Egria was going to declare war on the kingdom of Egra, the people of Bronn didn’t pay too much attention because it was their belief that, regardless of war, their life would continue as normal. Their village wouldn’t probably be raided. In fact, they would simply surrender to whatever army might approach.
The reason was simple. They had no walls. A single watchtower was all they had. Therefore, they wouldn’t be able to put up any meaningful resistance. In addition, Egria was more or less one of their own. They had no reason to resist really. It ultimately did not matter to them who their king was. As long as they paid their taxes, they’d be left alone. That was all they wanted: Being left alone in peace.
Alas, their feelings had a swift turn when they were told that another border city was burnt to the ground.
“A massacre,” An elder spoke with a shaking voice. “Women and children weren’t spared.”
They were gathered in a dimly lit room. It wasn’t big enough for all these men to be gathered here, but that didn’t bother the villagers with those who couldn’t get in standing outside, trying to hear the elder’s words.
“But why?!” A young man cried. “Did they do something to deserve such fate?!”
The border city in question did put up a resistance and endured a seven-day siege before inevitably falling. But that certainly didn’t warrant the city being levelled in their opinions. They simply did not know why the city received such a punishment. It was borderline insanity indeed. The city in question had a population of over 15,000. Massacring all those people? It simply did not make any sense.
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The elder looked around the room where it was dimly lit with a few candles. He had gathered those who he considered important in the village at night although that didn’t stop others from joining the meeting.
“Is the report even real?” Another man spoke, doubts clear in his eyes. “It’s just hard to believe....”
The elder stroked his long, grey, beard. “John,” He gently called out. “You tell them.”
The man, John, cleared his throat. He was a man in his thirties and was clad in leather armor.
“I saw it with my own eyes,” He declared. “Barely any structure was standing. Charred corpses were everywhere. I could not approach closer in fear of being spotted by soldiers.”
He glanced around the room where he saw the men in shock. Then he threw shocking news. “And the army is heading here. At least, they were heading this way. I think they will be here in three days”
“What?” A confused utter sounded.
The village had nothing of significance. It was just a small, tiny, settlement.
“Why are they coming here? What do we have?” Another man uttered.
“Are you sure, John?” Another asked.
“They are coming here,” The elder declared aloud. “So, what do we do?”
There was a short moment of silence before an answer came.
“We surrender of course. I mean, what can we do anyway?”
True, a village of two hundred fifty people, what can they possibly do indeed.
“They wouldn’t kill us. They have no reason,” Another man said, and others seemed to agree.
“They have no reason to harm us,” The elder agreed. “That is what we think. But we don’t know what they are thinking. Given the situation, it is maybe not a bad idea to have a contingency plan.”
It was a roundabout way of telling them to flee if they had to. The meeting was soon adjourned, and the people left with worried faces with some dashing toward their homes.
Words quickly spread within the village. Some families were already heading out despite it being midnight.
“We should leave? Are you serious?” Tom blurted. He had just been informed by a man from the meeting.
“Yeah, the elder apparently sent John as a scout. The city was razed to the ground and the army is apparently heading this way. He indirectly told us to flee.”
Tom folded his arms, looking troubled. He was a 29 year-old hunter. He was married and had two young children.
“Leave, like right now?”
“The army is expected to arrive here in three days. We have time. You don’t have to make a decision right now.”
He glanced at a family that was departing in a rush and furrowed his eyebrows. Leaving was easier said than done. The village of Bronn was days away from any other settlements. The closest settlement was the border town, Lyatan, that was apparently razed to the ground. The next closest settlement would be the town of Vedo which was approximately seven days away by foot.
Distance wasn’t the only issue. Safety was also a concern. Leading a woman and two children through the wilderness was begging for monsters to prey on them. Leaving especially at night would impose extra risk which was why he frowned upon seeing a family flee at this hour. In his mind, they were walking toward their own doom.
“Alright, thanks. I will discuss it with my wife,” he said as he turned around. He walked toward his home which was just tens of seconds away. The village was pretty small. From one end to another, it would take only a minute of walking to cross. Houses in Bronn were mostly huts, built with wooden walls and a hay roof. The only exception was the village chief’s house which had a stone foundation with brick walls and baked clay roof tiles. His house stood out certainly and didn’t blend well with the rest of environment.
“Are you serious?” Tom’s wife, Fionara, raised her voice upon hearing what her husband had to say. She was slightly shorter than him and had very short hair for a woman.
“Yeah, Fio. The elder has told us to flee if possible.”
“To where? Lyatan is done for. So, Vedo? Isn’t that a week away? On foot even? We have two toddlers.”
He was silent. Indeed, it sounded ridiculous especially when told by another. He was a hunter, basically an archer. He could take on a wild boar, but that was about it. He was, by no means, a warrior.
“Why don’t we stay? Bronn is just a humble village. They wouldn’t raze it to the ground.”
“Yeah, I agree,” He agreed, nodding. “What spooked the others is that Lyatan was razed.”
“It’s a big city,” She quickly corrected herself. “Err, it was. I am sure there were reasons.”
She made sense, he thought. He couldn’t fathom as to why the city was razed to the ground, but there must have been reasons. It was a fairly large city. Something must have happened, he assumed.
“Why are they coming here though?” He wondered aloud. “This place is really insignificant.”
“Does it matter? We will be surrendering, no?”
“Yeah, we will. I mean, why should we even resist? The kingdom of Egria is one of our own.”
In the end, they decided to stay put. Tom couldn’t shake away this ominous feeling however.