The Rondari Commonwealth: Record of Thaddeus Northwood

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Chapter 5: Death in the Air

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Thaddeus took longer than normal dismounting Ash, feeling dizzy from the scene in front of him. As his feet reached the ground, she gave an uneasy whinny - a sound giving voice to how everyone was feeling.

“Wait here, Ash,” he whispered, stroking her mane in an attempt to calm her.

His father had already begun walking into the remains of the caravan with heavy, purposeful steps.

“You don’t have to go, my Lord,” Captain Burke said.

Thaddeus took a deep breath and looked to the man. “Yes, Captain. I do.”

With that, he moved to catch up with his father, Captain Burke right beside him. As they walked, Thaddeus looked around at all the devastation. He didn’t want to - he’d much rather close his eyes and pretend to be somewhere else. Anywhere else.

But, he was the heir of Northwood. He couldn’t just hide away from something like this. Beyond that, he knew that once he completed his training and became a member of the Commonwealth’s military, he would be seeing things like this on a regular basis. There were two conflicts going on right now, after all. He had to be strong.

As they got closer to what looked like the center of the caravan, his eyes couldn’t look away from the carnage around him. They were drawn to the shattered carts and mangled corpses of people and horses alike. It was so surreal that he was having trouble even thinking. The further they walked, the heavier the air became, saturated with the smells of death.

Bile rose in his throat once again as he walked around some large crates that had been broken apart. Slumped against one of the crates was a woman, her eyes open, yet void of life. Her head barely attached to her shoulders. In her arms was a girl no older than his eldest sister, Emilia. Her eyes were also open, and the bloody hole in her chest told him how she had died.

Maybe it was because he was overwhelmed by everything, but he couldn’t stop himself from replacing the girl’s face with Emilia’s. He couldn’t stop himself from seeing his eleven-year-old sister clutched in their mother’s arms.

“My Lord…”

Thaddeus couldn’t stop staring into the eyes of the girl.

“Lord Thaddeus…”

The way her eyes were open, yet no life was there. No warmth. No emotion.

“Thaddeus!”

With a start, he looked up to see Captain Burke’s worried face. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, trying his hardest to erase the dark images of his mother and sister that had been playing in his mind.

Feeling something wet, he wiped at his chin. That’s when he smelt the acrid scent of his own vomit.

He hadn’t even realized he’d fallen to his knees until Captain Burke pulled him to his feet and handed him a piece of cloth.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, wiping the remaining vomit from his chin. The two stood in silence, Thaddeus sending a silent prayer to the only god he didn’t hate - Kara, goddess of the moon.

After a few moments, he took a deep breath to center himself and turned to the captain.

“What happened here?” Thaddeus almost whispered.

“A massacre,” Captain Burke stated with a hard tone as he placed a hand on Thaddeus’ shoulder and gently led him away from the bodies of the woman and young girl.

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Thaddeus’ eyes darted from corpse to corpse as the captain directed him to where his father had gone. There were so many of them. Horses, children, adults, dogs. It was as if he were walking through an endless sea of death. Some had died of a simple stab wound or an arrow, while others were so horribly mangled, he couldn’t tell if they were a man or a woman.

He lost count of how many he’d seen – his steps starting to feel unsteady. Captain Burke must have noticed, as he tightened his grasp on Thaddeus’ shoulder, steadying him.

Every face he saw he knew would be etched into his memory forever. They would haunt him in his dreams, just as the image of his brother’s final moments often did.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before they made it to Thaddeus’ father. He was standing atop an undamaged barrel, his eyes scanning over the remains of the caravan.

“Lord Northwood. Captain Burke,” one of the guards came toward them, his face pale even for a Northman. “We’ve searched the whole caravan. There are no survivors.”

“Not one?” Captain Burke uttered in a low, unbelieving tone.

“Every man, woman, child, and animal,” the guard explained with a shaky voice, “They’re all dead.”

“By Kara,” his father whispered.

Thaddeus couldn’t look at him, his eyes glued to the ground as he felt tears slide down his cheeks. His fists clenched so tight that his knuckles were turning white.

“Who would do something like this?” he asked, wiping at his eyes.

He heard his father jump down from the barrel and walk to him.

“Only true monsters could do something like this, Ted. Whether they be human or something else, they’re monsters all the same.”

There was silence for a few moments, as everyone gathered their thoughts. It was only broken when Captain Burke stepped forward.

“Your orders, my Lord,” he said in a tone unfamiliar to Thaddeus. Gone was the easygoing man. In his place stood the Guard Captain of Northwood, one of the finest swords in the Northern Territories – and he wanted blood.

“Send a pair of riders with word of this to the Regimental Outpost at Stonemare. We don’t have enough men for this, and the outpost will have those who can do a proper investigation. Ask for a detachment of twenty men as well as their head inspector.”

“At once, my Lord,” Captain Burke replied before moving to do as commanded.

Thaddeus’ father turned to a group of guards nearby and ushered them over.

“Spread the word, I don’t want anything moved. Not a crate, a body, or a piece of parchment. Leave everything as is until the Regimental Inspector says otherwise. If there’s even a scrap of evidence as to who did this, they’ll find it.”

“Yes, Lord Northwood!” the men said in unison as they ran to spread their Lord’s orders.

“We’ll be staying the night. It will take the detachment from Stonemare at least six hours to arrive and it will be nearly dark by then. Prepare camp beyond this slaughter, but not too far,” he said to the remaining nearby guards.

“My Lord!” they said with a nod before rushing off.

“Thaddeus, why don’t you go help them set up camp and get Ash settled. You don’t need to stay here with me.”

“I do, father. This will be my responsibility someday,” Thaddeus said in a quiet voice. “Besides, I’ve already seen too much. Leaving here won’t stop me from seeing their faces in my sleep.”

His father stared at him for a few moments before turning away. “Very well,” is all he said as he watched the riders mount up and race north-east, toward Stonemare.

After a few minutes, as the riders crested a hill and disappeared from sight, Thaddeus’ father knelt down and closed his eyes. A moment later, he began praying to Kara for all the lost souls.

Thaddeus knelt down beside him and began to do the same, praying for the dead to find their way.

As he prayed, he once again found himself replacing the girl from earlier with his sister. The thought of Emilia laying there with those lifeless eyes made his heart clench.

Try as he might, he just couldn’t get that image out of his head and found himself digging his nails into his leg. He needed to see her. To make sure she and their mother were okay.

He knew it was unreasonable. They were home in Northwood – one of the safest places not just in the Northern Territories, but in the entire Commonwealth. But, no matter what he tried, he just couldn’t stop thinking about that little girl.

Thankfully, the sound of his father standing was enough to break through the dark path his thoughts were taking.

“We’ll find out who did this, Thaddeus. And when we do, no one will stop us from serving justice. Not the Council or Chancellors. Not the Grand Duke. Not even the gods. I’ll send the entire regiment after these monsters if need be. These people will be avenged. I’ll make sure of it.”

The tone of his father’s voice, one dripping with malice, made Thaddues look up. What he saw was a face he could barely recognize. Gone was the warm and welcoming expression his father usually had. In its place was the most severe expression he’d ever seen – one of cold, unbridled fury.

Staring into his father’s eyes, Thaddeus had only one thought.

This was the Duke of the Northern Territories, Jonathan Northwood - one of the heroes of the war with the Pronktal Federation.

The one who almost singlehandedly halted the advance of Pronktal forces during the Northern Invasion.

This was the commander who led his men to victory over a force almost five times its size.

This was the ‘Northern Bulwark’.