Chapter 4

Chanus could not believe his eyes.

The scene was of complete carnage. The village stood ransacked, bodies littering the streets.

His tiny band had left the village the week before for the annual hunt. The hunt had been wildly successful, and they were hoping that their rewards would be as well.

The village itself was nestled between Eastvind and Riminae, the border being ill defined by the ever chaning river and the mountain ranges. Neither of the kingdoms had bothered them for many years now. All the transaction and news their community had were the passing caravans and bands.

Several emotions ran through Chanus as he walked through the streets. While anxiety and misery were among them, anger was primal. As he approached his hut towards the center of the village, he could see burned out roofs, and bodies of neighbors, probably dragged from their homes and butchered in the streets. He realized that he hadn't seen his betrothed, Seline anywhere as he had walked to the center.

His worst fears were realized, as he saw his father and mother, his young brother splayed in the courtyard of his home. He saw his. He wasn't allowed a chance to grieve, as he heard shouts from his companions. He rushed outside to find them gathering at he center of the village. Several had collapsed surrounding a burnt out wood pyre. As he approached them he searched around to find why. He could see misshapen bodies, or what remained of them laying all around the center, and realization hit him hard.

It was a punishment pit, one he had heard from stories, and the bodies lying in the pit was of the young women of the village.

He couldn't quite understand both from the shock of discovery and the intensity of the act, who would do this to their village. He returned to his hut in a daze and started collecting material to bury his parents and brother. Lying near his father, he found a broken shield and stuck in it part of a sword.

The fragment had an irregular edge, a poorly made weapon and was probably the only clue to who had conducted this massacre. His anger flared, and then he felt a strange calm descending over him. He could not shed tears for his family or Seline as he collected them and dug a grave. His companions joined him and soon they dug graves for all the villagers and buried them.

His band stood next to Chanus, and raised voices to the dead as the final body was lowered. Chanus raised his bow and the companions followed him.

There was a silent acceptance of Chanus as their leader, and Chanus led them out of the village. They quickly decided to burn down what was left of the village and hunt for the perpetrators.

Chanus collected what was left of his belongings and the fragment he had recovered. As he walked out of the house, he saw a small bundle his father probably meant to present him with. He opened the bundle, and found a few coins and a vest. The other contents were mostly tools he could use.

He rolled open the vest, and wore it.

As the band left the village, Chanus picked up the red cloth which had survived unburnt from the punishment pit. He drew the insignia on his vest onto it, the color drawn from the burnt wood from the village - a dark wolf on a red banner.