The three friends were standing at the edge of Palewood forest, weary from running. They were looking towards the village they called home. Several tall columns of black smoke were visible in the evening light. The sun's last rays coloring the sky in a blood red mixed with the black smoke. Something terrible was clearly happening. Aldric could hear the faint sound of screams and shouts coming from the village as well. What should we do? Run for help? Hide? Search for our families?

“We have to go help!” Stefan proclaimed, while gasping for air. “The village doesn't stand a chance against a band of bandits!”

“Stop there for a second, Stefan! What actually do you think we can do to help?” Lilian protested. “There are only three of us!”

“I don’t know, but we don’t have time to stand around thinking it through!” Stefan replied, raising his voice in disbelief, as if he couldn’t understand they needed to discuss this. “Our families need us! I’m going!”

“Lilian, Stef is right. What else can we do?” Aldric interjected, looking concerned. “Hide in the forest? Run to Ashgrove or Briarhollow for help?”

“I don’t know!” she shouted, sounding frustrated. “I don’t know! It will be dangerous. I’ll run to Ashgrove for help. My uncle lives there, they can help!”

Lilian started sprinting towards Ashgrove, “please stay safe! Both of you!”

“Stef? Do you have a plan?” Aldric asked, looking at his friend feeling a growing sense of concern for what they’re possibly about to do.

“No. No, Al I do not.” Stefan replied a bit too cooly for Aldric’s taste. “We could try to get to your father’s farm first, since it’s closer?”

“What about your father?” Aldric asked, not wanting to sound selfish and wanting to go and find his sister and father.

“My father will be fine, besides we live on the outskirts. No one will go there.” Stefan proudly stated. “Come on, let’s get going.”

“Let’s steer clear of any trouble. We get to my house as quickly as we can and grab my sister and father, and go to your hut. Deal?” Aldric threw out, as they started moving towards Palewood. Stefan nodded, while he was looking ahead towards the small village.

Aldric found himself grabbing the wooden short sword Stefan had carved for him. It felt good in his hand, way better than he would have thought possible. Not that the hilt Stefan had carved was especially well made. It was fine. But there was something about holding a blade that felt right, even if it was wooden. I can feel it, this is what I am supposed to do. Can it be useful now?

A short while later, the two young men passed the lumber mill on their way towards Aldric’s father's farm. A small pillar of smoke rose from behind the house, the mill was crushed on one side, like something big had stepped on it. Terrified of what this could be, Aldric looked around, certain he would be able to spot such a monster. Thank the gods, nothing that big!

As they got closer to the black smith’s house and workshop, Stefan stopped suddenly holding up his left hand.

“Hold on” he whispered. “I heard some laughter and screams around the corner. Give me a second to check what it could be.”

“Be careful.” Aldric almost hissed.

Stefan creeped closer to the corner, while looking around, being certain not to be spotted. Aldric started doing the same, but noticed the door to the black smith’s shop was right next to them. Slowly, Aldric opened the door and peeked in. It was dark inside, everything was covered in an orange glow from the smoldering fire in the open furnace. Nobody is in here and Edrik’s small collection of weapons is gone.

Edrik had insisted on having a guard patrol, since he served as black smith in Edward Giledorn’s Defenders’ army, he was selected as sergeant of the volunteer guard patrol. He had moved here some 10 summers ago, after he finished his service and ever since he had been leading the patrol of 10 men and women. They might be around here somewhere.

“Al! What are you doing?” Stefan hissed.

“I was checking if Edrik had taken all the patrol gear.” Aldric hissed back.

“Uh, good thinking!” Stefan whispered, calming down a bit. “Did he?”

Aldric nodded with a grim look on his face. “Yeah, everything is gone.”

“Damned ones!” Stefan spat. “Nothing for it then, we need to find another way. There are a group of bandits around the corner.”

“Which way? This is the only road through the village.” Aldric asked, still keeping his voice low. “We don’t have time to take another route.”

“How do you suppose we go about this, then?” Stefan hissed. “We are not soldiers, and we don’t have any weapons.”

“I don’t know. Can we distract them somehow?” Aldric suggested sheepishly. “You have a good throwing arm and good aim. If you go on the other side of Edrik’s house, and throw a stone at something on the other side of the bandits. Maybe they will go check?”

Stefan stared at Aldric for a long moment. “Al, that’s not how it works.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it will?” Aldric replied, his face turning red. “It was only an idea.”

Stefan suddenly turned his head to the corner. “Wait, listen.”

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Aldric and Stefan creeped closer to the corner, there was most definitely something happening. First a thud sound and the sound of a body hitting the ground.

“Hi, hold!” an angry male voice shouted, then a lot of footsteps leading away from the corner. Sounds of metal on wood and metal on metal. They are fighting! This is our chance!

“Stef, this is our chance!” Aldric whispered excitedly, pulling Stefan’s arm. “Come on!”

But Stefan was standing still, looking at the body on the ground. “That’s one of my father’s arrows. I can recognize them anywhere!”

“What?” Aldric confusingly replied.

“I’m sorry, Al. I have to go help him!” Stefan apologized, as he started towards the body on the ground, he picked up a small shield and a ragged looking hatchet. “You go ahead, I’ll find you as soon as I can.”

Aldric stopped in disbelief. Of course, he would help his father. He was only helping me because he thought his father was safe.

“Nothing for it, I suppose.” Aldric whispered out loud through a sigh and started trotting towards his father’s farm. At every turn, Aldric slowed down looking both ways, seeing bandits beating his neighbors, and a few times, some still bodies lying on roads. Oh my gods! It is too terrible! I can’t help anyone!

Shortly after, Aldric entered the front yard of his father’s farm. There is smoke coming from the house! The house was still intact, but with the setting sun as background, he could see through the window that someone was inside, four figures. Wait, other people? Aldric’s heart started racing again, throbbing against his throat. He sprinted inside, finding his father on the floor holding his stomach, looking completely terrified.

“Clyde, you promised!” His father spat in a trembling voice.

Aldric’s eyes turned to the other three people in the room. The man His father knew, Clyde, the tall broad man, the king. The werewolf! And a tall slender man wearing all black like the werewolf, all for one white strip running from the top of his head all the way down to the middle of his chest. No, four, the last man was holding his sister. She was not moving.

“Victor, I didn’t know it was your daughter.” Clyde replied with a shrug of his broad shoulders. “Besides, I only told you to get out of town. Had I known your daughter was who we were looking for? I would have forced you to take me to her.”

“Enough of this!” the tall stranger said with a mix of impatience and condescension. “Burn down the house, and kill this coward.”

His voice was a bit high pitched, and carried the harsh tone of someone who is used to being obeyed. Clyde looked over at the king, and back at Aldric’s father. The king nodded.

“Get it over with quickly, we need to get going.” the king said in a cold and detached tone. Both the tall stranger and the king turned to leave, only to almost stumble over Aldric still standing in the door. He pulled up his wooden short sword. The two taller men looked at him and then at each other, and started laughing. The king grabbed Aldric by the neck and threw him against the wall.

“Kill him too!” the werewolf snouted in laughter. “We’ll see you outside.”

“Yes, my king.” Clyde replied, looking directly at Aldric’s father, Aldric couldn’t see Clyde’s expression. But his father looked terrified.

“Clyde, don’t do this!” Aldric’s father said in an increasingly trembling voice. “We were friends back in the king’s army.”

“I have a new king now!” Clyde spat, chancing a look over his shoulder. When he noticed the king and the slender man had left the house, he visibly softened.

“Good, they are gone.” Clyde sighed with relief. “Victor, take your boy and get out of here. You can call this repayment for saving my life back then.”

“What? You’re not going to kill us?” Aldric’s father said in disbelief. Clyde shook his head.

“But I have to burn down the house.” Clyde apologized. “Sorry.”

Aldric and his father stared at Clyde.

“I’ll start the fire over here, and you two stay low and quiet for about five minutes. Then crawl out of here.” Clyde stated like it was the most normal thing. “White strip, Ashborn and I should be gone by then. Deal?”

Aldric’s father slowly nodded his head, seeming to understand. Aldric looked at his father, then up at Clyde. No, they have Claire! Aldric slowly sat up, and got to his knees. I have to do something! He went into a dead sprint, ran for the door. Clyde didn’t realize before it was too late. Aldric was already out the door. The two men. White Strip and Ashborn! Was across the front yard.

“GIVE ME MY SISTER BACK!” Aldric yelled from the top of his lungs, not thinking. He clogged the wooden short sword in both of his hands, trembling.

“Uh?” the two men echoed, as they turned around. The king, he must be Ashborn, went from a confused look to grinning hungrily at Aldric.

“Let me,” the slender man, white Strip, said in his high pitched voice. “It will be over soon. Besides, we don’t have time for you to clean the blood off your clothes.”

In a flash, Aldric started running at White Strip. Getting ready to swing the wooden sword at the slender man. For a faction of a second, Aldric blinked. When he opened his eyes again, White Strip was gone.

“Over here!” an almost bored voice sounded behind him. A quarter of a second later as Aldric turned his head to see the taller man, he felt a hand hit the back of his head, so hard he fell over. From the ground, he looked up at the black cladded man staring down at him, as he pulled a black hilted rapier with an almost translucent blade, out from behind him. Did he always have that blade?

“Valid effort, boy. But you have met your match. I’ll suggest you practice swordplay before trying it, next time.” White Strip said in the same mix of impatience and condescension. “Well, in the next life. Farewell now!”

“Wait!” the werewolf shouted, as White Strip was about to stab Aldric. He stopped for a moment, looking over at Ashborn.

“What?” White Strip hissed dripping with impatience.

“I want the kid!” Ashborn replied with a hungry smile. “He’s interesting. He has some guts.”

“You are kidding, right?” White Strip said in disbelief.

“No, I want that kid!” Ashborn spat. “And what I want, I take!”

“Fine, I don’t care.” White Strip replied, returning his blade, it disappeared!

Aldric didn’t really understand what the werewolf meant by this. But it gave him an opening, so he ran towards the barn. He was around the corner before White Strip could turn.

“Gods be damned, after him!” Ashborn shouted.

“We don’t have time for this, I need to return to my ship before someone starts believing it's theirs.” White Strip screamed in annoyance.

“Damned ones! Fine, let’s get going.” Ashborn sighed. “Clyde, get your ass out here!”

Aldric barely heard the end of their conversation. The blood was pumping in his ears so loud, he could only hear his own racing heart beat.