Deep into the woods, a man with a torch stalked his prey, bow ready, an arrow out of his quiver. He touched a twisted branch of a tree, felt it between his fingers, threw it aside as he changed the direction. His silent footstep roused some small animals nearby, their sleep disturbed, he ignored them as he followed his trail. He almost continued, before he noticed something.

He took a knee, patted the earth, felt something wet.

He took a sample between his fingers and smelt it, the fresh coppery scent.

More blood was on the ground, on a tree a bloody handprint. He followed the new trail.

Not long after he found his prey stumbling on uneven grounds, trying to escape. He scoffed audibly at the pathetic sight, startling his prey. It looked behind and saw him, frightened it tried to run but tripped over a branch. Before it could get up, he nocked an arrow, drew the bowstring, aimed at the center and released.

A dull sound was heard, his prey hitting the ground hard. The hunter took out a dagger, polished metal reflecting the moonlight as he stepped carefully to his prey.

Arrived in front of a young female body, slowly bleeding through the wounds, she tried to crawl away, but to no avail, as he just grabbed the hair, dragging her face to his dagger. She whimpered, struggling against his hold. Her eyes widened, her fearful face reflected on the blade, but before she could beg, he plunged the dagger into her neck. Blood spurted out, painting his face red.

He let the body hit the ground, took out a fresh sewed rag, hesitating a little as the rag was made by his daughter before he wiped his face clean with it.

Next morning, villagers were seen meeting in the center. The village chief, an old man, walking with a crutch to the crowd and announced, "Yesterday, someone went missing, again!"

Some villagers hushed, whispering to their friends, scared and suspicious one of them spoke out, "It wasn't an animal! I found b-body parts in the forests, the cuts were too clean! It couldn't be an animal! W-we h-h-have -"

"Heavens! A murder!" A woman in bad sewed clothing screamed out, glancing every so often to others, her paranoia palpable. Her steps went backward. Others were doing the same.

"You are the murderer! I didn't see you yesterday at all!" Another accused a young girl in her teens, her blue eyes widen in shock, head shaking furious at the accusation.

"Oh, gods! Did someone see her yesterday at all?" A man in his mid ages asked the crowd while he glared at the girl darkly, his suspicion obvious. Some even pointed their finger at her.

The accused girl froze, her heart in her throat. The words she wanted to speak won't come out as much as she tried. Her silence didn't help her at all. Instead, it agitated the scared, but angry crowd.

Because she was suspicious, her friends distanced themselves from her, however, one of them held her down to the ground, her head hitting the ground so hard that she was knocked out.

At night, a young girl was bound on a wooden post by two strong male villagers, their hands cupped a feel at her body while they secured the bindings.

"Could you believe such a pretty girl being a murderer?" One of them whispered to other as they both took a break and waited for the chief.

"Ye -" He was interrupted by the chief, his crutch pounding the ground, catching the attention of all.

"We are all gathered here to rid ourselves from this murderer!" Here he took a short pause and pointed at the bound girl who slowly woke up, "She killed many from us! Man, woman and even children! A monster! Let the gods judge her!"

At the signal, a villager threw the torch at the stake. Bright flames engulfed the wooden post. The heat awoke the young girl from her stupor. She tried to plead, but her mouth was gagged. Her sobbing begun. Pain flowed through her as the fire caught a hold of her skinny body. Struggling against the bounds was useless, she soon realized.

The night was illuminated by the roaring flames, completely eating the person in it. The wailing was unbearable for some villagers, others cursed at her, hateful looks were her last sight.

A family fled the village. The wife weak and hungry was the first to fell. Her body couldn't possibly keep up anymore. Her daughter was carried by her husband, his starved body on the brink of unconsciousness. His tired footsteps echoed through the forest, startling nearby animals.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

However, in the end, he soon did take a break, placing his sleeping daughter down.

His sight wandered to his wife, conflicting thoughts emerged from his deep mind. He knew time was short, either they will find something to eat or they will starve. Fortunately, he brought his bow and some arrows with him. He didn't want to leave them here, but considering that time wasn't on his side and death very likely if he didn't hunt soon, he searched for animals.

It seemed the animals fled his sight, even if he tried to minimize his presence without much success. Not discouraged, he looked after fruits or something edible in the forest. Unfortunately, he didn't once found something to eat, everything was completely set against him. As if the world wanted him dead.

At last, he tracked back the way he left his family.

As he neared the presumed place, he heard unfamiliar voices. Unmistakenly, males. He hurried without paying attention at his loud footsteps at all. His heart pounded in his chest, trying to burst out. Even in his weakened state, he did have the necessary energy to power through.

Once he got to the clearing, he saw them. Three males in rusty mismatched armor. One of them held his wife down, the other trusted into her, grunting all the while. His wife sobbing, struggling at the hands of these men. The last one just held his daughter down letting her see the deed.

His rage gave him a boost. With a scream, he threw himself at the one who held his daughter, kicking the head, breaking the skull. Brain matter splashed everywhere, stopping the other two men.

"George!" His wife screamed in relief, but her eyes conveyed her shame.

They took out their weapon with practiced ease. Carefully they stepped to him. First, they circled each other, gauging the opponent. He didn't let them. He dashed. His opponent wasn't prepared, he tried to block the hit with his shield, but instead, it broke under one blow, breaking his arm. A delicious scream elicited out of him.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the other trying to sneakily skewer him with his spear. Instead of turning to him, he just took a step backward, dodging the spear aimed at him completely.

The spear found itself in the guts of the other guy. His broken arm no longer a concern as he gasped, hitting the ground with a clang.

Before his last opponent could recover, he quickly took the sword from the corpse and threw it at him. Distraction served as the opponent failed to pull out his sword, he dashed in a blink of an eye to him, taking hold of his neck, pressing with all his might, crushing it. His last opponent died without even a whimper.

He hurried to his wife, seeing her in this state, enraged him more than ever. He lamented that the bandits died too soon.

"M-mary, I-I'm s-so sorry!" He embraced her while muttering over and over again, until something touched him, snapping him out of it. Her face pale and her eyes distant, she spoke her last words, "I-I f-forgive y-you. P-please...our daughter-"

Her eyes glazed over. His mind numb. Impossible.

While his daughter shook her many times, her sobbing face betrayed anxiousness.

He couldn't hear anything. His thoughts were on her. She wasn't dead, he tried to convince himself, however futile as the corpse cooled. He felt himself becoming numb.

He didn't how long he held her. His body moved. He pulled the sword out from the scabbard of the corpse. He stabbed the corpse.

Once. Twice. And more. Many times. Time flew as the sun went down.

Meanwhile, his daughter tried to snap him out of it, hugging him, trying to drag him away from the corpses. But in the end, she gave up, her body weak with exhaustion.

After a period of time, he snapped himself out of it as he remembered what his wife told him in her last moment. His daughter.

He looked and saw her sleeping while grabbing his knees. It pained his heart seeing her so weak. They didn't have any food. Hunting is impossible. His strength isn't up for it. What should they do?

The only solution would be cannibalizing the corpses. They should be fresh enough. But first, he will bury her.