The waterfall flowed gently into a small pool that fed an ice-cold creek deep in the forest. Kaija seated herself on a rock next to it and planted her face in her hands.
She wasn't sure what to think of the turmoil of her country. A new regime? She could support them, but they seemed so… fiery. The family- the Helians- were always a powerful family, but until now they had kept their ambitions strictly confined to the world of business. Conquest was not their area, until now.
How long had they been planning this? The new king, Crowley Helian, had murdered the steward and taken over the castle. It wasn't like this was the first uprising that the realm had faced- Helian was overthrowing a house that had destroyed the previous regime thousands of years ago and ruled since, but the city still remembered the violent years of war. The First Kings had put up a glorious fight.
Kaija toyed with a loose thread on her cloak. Her village- and the smallfolk that inhabited it with her- was in the territory of one of the Helians' bannermen. She frowned unhappily. Did this mean she had to support them now? But she didn't like them. She preferred the real kings and queens, they were so kind, if a little distant… and almost magical, with their birds…
Even if it were a bit silly, Kaija had always entertained the idea of traveling north to the upper part of the continent and serving the royal court, perhaps even catching the eye of one of the princes… there were many, and she was a comely girl, even she knew it.
Something rustled in the bushes. Kaija glanced over, but saw nothing. It was probably a wild animal- there were plenty of those, squirrels and birds and deer and even wolves around, though the wolves were a lot less welcome near the villages. They hunted the livestock sometimes.
If it were wolves now, Kaija could be in trouble. Wolves typically weren't aggressive, unless she had accidentally strayed onto their territory. She had visited this waterfall before, though.
No further sounds echoed out of the undergrowth. The peasant girl relaxed and laid back on the rocks, cushioned by the soft moss growing in the mist from the tiny waterfall.
At some point, she fell asleep in the dappled sunlight. She was escaping her chores for today, they were supposed to fall to her older brother anyway but he always made her do them for him. Even now, escaping would cost her later- he would beat her out of sight of her mother and father, but for now it was worth it. They would force him to work for once.
Thinking of her brother made her shiver slightly. She drew her worn and threadbare cloak around her more tightly. It wasn't even a real cloak, not really, it was just a sort of cloak-like sheet of roughspun fabric. But her mother had made it for her oldest sister, and it had been handed down. She knew that when she outgrew it she had to pass it to her next- younger sister, a time she dreaded, even though the cloak swung above her ankles when she walked now.
The sun passed overhead and shimmered on the water. The waterfall tumbled obliviously onwards, the light turning falling droplets to fine diamonds for a split second before they passed into shadow and splashed into the pool.
When Kaija awoke, it was much later than she had planned to be out for. The sun was hidden by the trees as it sank towards the west. Her eyes widened as she judged the time.
"Oh, oh no, oh," Kaija muttered, and gathered herself up sleepily. A rock caught her cloak, and she tugged it hard and was rewarded with a tiny ripping sound as a part tore off. She gasped unhappily and examined the hem- there was a section missing now. Her mother would not be pleased- but she'd be even less pleased that Kaija had disappeared. Yes, it wasn't her day to do the majority of the farm work, but she still had tasks that were unfulfilled while she was sleeping.
She hurried back through the trees in the direction of the farms around her village. The air was heavy and warm, heralding a storm in the near future. Kaija glanced upwards and bit her lip- the sun was quickly becoming hidden by clouds that were gathering, turning the sun-spattered sky to gloom.
Nearing her village, she smelled smoke- but not woodsmoke, it was acrid smoke from burning more than just wood. Something was very wrong. She slowed her pace and took the last turn in the path cautiously.
The sign marking the entrance to the town- "Falderton"- was gone, replaced by ash. The town was a ruin.
Houses were half-burned, black smoke rising from their husks. There were still some fires raging, but they were dying out with lack of material to consume. The ground was churned up, there were tools lying around…
And the townspeople were all around her. Some of them had been ripped into pieces; others were simply dead, butchered like cattle. There were many who had missing flesh- it seemed they had been attacked by a pack of animals, like wolves, but it couldn't be wolves, wolves weren't this strong and wolves also didn't light fires. Bandits? Bandits wouldn't mutilate the bodies, not like this… they would destroy them, yes, but not rip them apart with claws.
Kaija felt her stomach turn after seeing the first few and vomited on the side of the road. The air smelled only of smoke- the deaths were recent. Blood had soaked into the dusty dirt roads, making a thick dark brown mud. Kaija glanced down and saw that when the mud smeared on her feet, she could see that it was really reddish. It made her want to be sick again, but she made herself keep walking. Where are Mother and Father? What about Aaron? Where is he, I made him stay here, he would have been out of the village, where is he…?
She reached her house and was relieved to find it whole, but the momentary hope faded when she saw that the door was hanging off its hinges. She crept through the door and found the furniture scattered around the room, pottery shattered on the floor. There was no sign of her family members.
"Aaron?" She hesitated. "Mella? Chelly, where are you?" She looked further. "Mother? Father?"
No response. Kaija swallowed.
Her father was found soon enough. In the next room, he lay slumped in a chair, eyes staring up at the ceiling as his head dangled unnaturally far back. His throat was nothing but a red ruin, clawed and destroyed, and only his spine was keeping him together. Kaija backed away, shaking. Her father was so strong, surely he could have fought whatever had done this! Even bandits. Her father was a- used to be a smith, with enough power in his muscles to lift an anvil and throw it. Nothing could overpower him…!
She hurried out of the house, to the forge in front. It was a stone circle built out of the ground and filled with coals, with a makeshift bellows feeding into it, and a trough for cooling his creations. There were hammers on the wall, and various tools that he had made, plow blades and rakes and shovels. His tongs were lying on the ground. The coals looked strange, nearly dead, but…
Kaija leaned closer. There was a strange acrid scent rising from them, and against her better judgement she picked up a pair of long tongs and started to stir around in the chunks of burned wood. The tongs bumped against something, and she cleared the coals away and uncovered a hammer. Stirring around more revealed the curled and burnt form of her youngest sister.
Kaija stumbled backwards and tripped over something lying on the ground. She tumbled to the ground and gasped for breath, eyes stinging. Smoke clogged her airways and she coughed violently. When she swept her cloak out of the way, she saw that it was a pale, fleshy arm, slightly swollen and bloodless. There was a silver bracelet with blue stones around the wrist. Mother's bracelet, she thought in terror, and scrambled backwards away from it. Her foot grazed the flesh and found it still slightly warm.
Something shifted in the forge behind her. Kaija whipped her head around, panting in panic, and searched the shadows for a threat.
She should not have turned around.
Her head continued to think, fleeting thoughts of fear and pain, for a full ten seconds after it left her body. The creature that killed her snarled in pleasure, but did nothing more than sniff at the body as the blood seeped through the cloak and pooled on the floor.
Westeros was in turmoil from its clashing kings, but a far greater threat was arising.