The sound reverberated throughout the village, a familiar sound, yet one that people had heard of far too often of late. It was if time stood still for those in earshot of the almighty tone emanating from the distant bell tower, the denizens of Durnhold Keep quietly paused their life not sure of their next move. The courtyard was silent; the only noise to be heard was that of the shuffling of horses in the nearby stable and the clucking and pecking of chickens. Kastra stood perfectly still, it had not been the first time that week that the warning bell had sounded and she knew in her heart that I was unlikely to be the last. The bell struck its sound once again yet this time the villagers did not pause, they ran with fear in their eyes to seek shelter in their homes. She took a deep breath trying her hardest not to let the fear take her, casting her eyes down to her hand where she grasped the digits of a young blonde boy.
"Mummy, is it time?"
"Yes, Valeran it is. Now run, be brave for mummy."
Together the pair dashed through the courtyard toward their small house in the upper North East quadrant of Durnhold, countless other people ran and screamed with fear, their children barely clinging to the parent’s tattered clothes. These children had seen far too much dismay already in their brief existences yet they were hardened by it and seemed calmer than their terrified parents. As they turned the corner to face the stairs beyond the marketplace they saw two familiar figures running in their direction, it was clear that the tall human male with a rugged beard was shouting something but the din was so intense that Kastra could not hear a word. They continued forward until at last they were in earshot.
“Kastra you must go the other way! The Scourge are attacking the North wall, we must head to the South gate and pray to the light that the Soldier’s hold them back.”
She stood for a moment contemplating his words before flinging her free arm around his masculine shoulders, “I’m just glad to find you Lucas.” His beard tickled her face but she did not care, her one fear was being separated from her husband, being stranded and alone with no one to turn to. They had been married happily for seven long years, then the scourge came and their lives became turmoil. They had originally lived in Andorhal, a beautiful village north of Hillsbrad that had fallen to the Scourge a year or so back. Against their will the family had been forced to move south along with several hundred other refuges yet thanks to Lucas they had acquired a good home within the walls of Durnhold Keep. It has not been easy trying to find a decent home during the chaos that ensued after Andorhal fell, with hundreds of people attempting to all find shelter it was only a matter of days before fighting amongst themselves broke out. Thankfully Lucas was a fairly rich man, at least he was before his lands were ravaged by the un-dead filth that now roamed the lands where he used to fell trees, so he had managed to bribe his way into a good home. It was certainly not worth what he ended up paying for it but it didn’t matter he had to have somewhere to raise his family and at the time Durnhold offered the most protection.
“Daddy, daddy why are the bad men here again?” Valeran looked up at his father with such inquisitive eyes desperately trying to rationalise the events in his mind. At the age of only 5 the child was well advanced beyond his years, nothing slipped past him and Lucas had no doubt his son would go on to do great deeds.
“They are not men,” barked another young voice from behind the Lucas’ legs, “they are vile creatures of death nothing more.” The confident young man step from behind his father’s shadow and walked up to his baby brother, his face was already worn with constant struggle yet there was something about the boy that everybody could sense yet no one knew what it was. Valeran loved his elder brother dearly, they would spend countless hours together, fishing, hunting and riding, it was the perfect brotherly bond. Lancar reached deep into his hip sack and pulled from it a tatty woollen creature which seemed to of been sowed back together more times than it would of preferred. The elder brother gently handed it to Valeran, “hear I took him from the house before we left, I thought you would need him.”
Without the children’s knowledge the parents had been watching the brief but touching scene unfold even though in their hearts they knew that time was of the essence. “Come boys we must hurry,” Kastra said softly as she bent down and picked Valeran up to her hip. The boy clung hard to his mother but more so to his favourite toy brought to him by his brother, ‘Murlee’ as it was known had been in Valeran’s possession ever since his was a baby and even though it had seen its own fair share of war it had never left the boys side.
As the family began to move together through the cobbled streets their ears were assaulted by a deafening crash of stone and metal. The sound came from behind, with all her heart Kastra did not look back, she didn’t want to watch her fate confront her instead she increased her pace to get as far away as possible. Lucas however could not help but stop and turn to see the devastation that chased him, everything along the northern wall had collapsed, an almighty cloud of dust bowled its way towards them. It wasn’t the dust that scared Lucas; it was what he could just make out that followed in its wake, an unnatural green smog that seemed to permeate everything it touched and steal the very essence of life from anything living.
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