2. Turning Point
The years passed by quickly. The Smoking Man continued to rule the land, keeping everyone in check by fright and lives remained quite bleak. Only the two Mulder children lived secluded from the sufferings of the kingdom in their little hut deep in the forest. Samantha learned to adapt quickly to her new life and took up her new role caring and was raising her younger brother Fox quite well. Although they had their arguments at time, the two became very, very close. Under his sister's watchful eye Fox Mulder became a kind, honest, and very charming boy, always full of spirit and searching for adventure. The latter always created a problem for Samantha, not wanting Fox to wander out to far from the hut where she couldn't keep an eye on him, the murders of her parents still fresh in her mind.
As the two grew and got older, Samantha tried to push away her memories of that awful night, but Fox became curious, wondering why Samantha was raising him and why they didn't have parents. He had very vague memories of what life was like before in dreams and his sister always told him stories about their family and history, but she never addressed the reason why they lived the way they lived. Finally, ten years later, Samantha gave in to his endless questions.
"It was a long time ago Fox, when everything changed," began Samantha, wondering why she was going through with telling the story.
"I was just nine and you were so little, almost still a baby. You were only two years old. Nobody knew anything was going to happen. We had just finished with the feast. Mother was saying goodnight to a few knights and ladies and father was talking about journeying out to the next kingdom. He didn't tell us what for.
We were just about to go upstairs to our private chambers when we heard shouting outside. We turned around and in the doorway were seven knights dressed all in black. I had heard stories about the black knights before. They belonged to the king, the dark lord. People told of how they destroyed villages and towns, killing and raiding as they went for the Smoking Man, the king. They were absolutely frightening. Panic took over the entire hall. Father, along with the rest of the good knights were in a mad rush to get to their armor but the hall was so crowded, no one could get very far. The black knights began killing anyone they came close to with their awful swords. Blood and people's entrails were splattered everywhere. Father told mother to leave the castle and told someone else to get you. It was utter chaos.
By then, the black knights had moved away from the entrance so mother decided to go out that way. We hadn't gone far when we heard father yell. We turned around and saw him, unarmed and bleeding, facing a black knight. Father called him Sir Krycek. Father was yelling at Sir Krycek, telling him to battle like an honorable knight and wait until he was armed. But Sir Krycek was not a virtuous knight. None of the black knights were. He stuck his sword right through Father's chest.
Mother began telling me to get out as fast as I could. I knew that she wouldn't be coming with me. She wouldn't leave when she knew that father was dead. I didn't know what to do, but she continued to push me towards the door. But all of a sudden an arm grabbed me out of thin air! I saw a cloak appear out of nowhere and it covered me. A man's voice told me to be quiet. Then I saw Sir Krycek turn to mother. It was strange though, he didn't seem to see me or the man. The man must have been a wizard of some sort and made us invisible. Anyway, mother just stood there and Sir Krycek reached out with his sword, already bloodied with father's blood, and... and he beheaded mother."
Samantha stopped. She furiously tried wiping away the tears that were streaming down her face. After taking a moment to attempt to compose herself, she continued,
"I don't remember much else after that. I was too shocked, I couldn't even think. What I do remember is being in the castle one minute and being in this forest the next. We did some walking until we came here to our hut. The man was already carrying you and brought us inside and told me to take care and watch you. So I did."
There was a long silence as Fox took it all in. He hadn't shown any emotion at all during Samantha's recount of her memories. Samantha had never actually seen Fox cry, since the two began living in the hut, even as a little boy.
"What happened to them man?" he asked when Samantha had composed herself, "and who was he?"
"I don't know who he was," said his sister answering the latter first. "And he just disappeared. Haven't seen him since."
"A wizard helped us out..." mused Fox.
After that neither spoke a word about the past though both thought about it. It turned over and over in Fox's mind never leaving him alone. He could see the scenes his sister described playing in his head and almost hear the screams of fright and pain as if someone were really screaming. Though he was not aware of it at the time, in his heart he had sworn to avenge the death of his parents.

Weeks passed. Samantha and Fox's simple lives went on. She continued the daily chores of cleaning, cooking and he hunting small game and gathering firewood. It was in the middle of these chores that it happened. Samantha was washing the dishes from the morning meal by the stream and Fox was out trying to get a rabbit for lunch when they came. Two black knights rode into the little clearing. The Smoking Man's black knights never rode out very deep into the forest, but times were changing. The kingdom, after years of paying high compensation to the dark lord and being subjected to the raids and pillaging by his knights had grown poorer and poorer. As people could not pay off what the Smoking Man called their "debt" to him, he became very angry. He ordered his knights to search further in the realm to find money and valuables to add to his treasury.
When she saw the knights, Samantha dropped the pot she had been scrubbing and began backing away.
"Halt!" the black knight on the right commanded.
Too frightened to do anything that might provoke them, Samantha obeyed.
"The Dark Lord is searching for willing subjects to assist in expanding his treasury," said the black knight on the left.
"He orders you to give him two-thirds of what money and treasures you have."
Speechless, Samantha just stood there.
"No one has refused yet," said the black knight on the right menacingly as he drew out his sword.
"I - I don't have anything," she stammered. "I don't own any money or keep anything of value."
Behind his helmet, the knights narrowed their eyes.
"You dare refuse the king and his knights?" they hissed.
"P - please, I - I don't have anything of use to him or to you."
The black knights looked at each other.

Fox had successfully captured two rabbits for lunch. He was feeling quite pleased with himself as he made his way back to the hut. He wasn't too far from home when he had am awful sense that something terribly wrong and began to quicken his pace. Then piercing screams sliced through the air, leaving him in shock. His stomach lurched. It could only be Samantha. He broke into a sprint leaving the rabbits and his tools behind.
When he came in sight of the humble little hut, no one could be seen. He noticed dishes scattered on the ground, some floating in the stream.
"Samantha?" called out Fox. "Samantha?!"
Nothing.
Fox rushed into the hut. Everything inside had been turned over and destroyed. But it didn't register in Fox's mind. He noticed only one thing: it was empty.
"Samantha!" called Fox again. "Samantha?!"
He ran outside again and searched the perimeter of the hut.
"SAM!" he cried. "SAMANTHA! WHERE ARE YOU?! SAMANTHA!"
Scared and crying for the first time he could remember he ran into the woods calling his sister's name.
It didn't take long for him to find the trail of blood towards the direction that Samantha had forbade Fox to go. It was towards the nearest town. Towards civilization and people. Towards the black knights, Samantha had explained.
Fox stumbled along the trail, tears streaming silently down his face. When the trail stopped, he couldn't make a sound. At first all he saw was a body lying in the leaves, chestnut brown hair sprawled out over the ground. When he got closer he saw the cuts and bruises that covered her body. Then he saw her head.
He dragged himself to the nearest bushes and lost his morning meal. When he had a hold of himself, he forced himself to go back to his sister's body, her corpse. As he looked at her he was reminded of the story of his parents' death, more particularly his mother's. Samantha had come to the same fate as she had.
After standing over his sister's body for what seemed like hours, Fox realized he had to do something. He decided he would bury Samantha. He didn't want wild animals getting at her, and as much as he loved his sister, he knew that she would begin to smell atrociously in a few days' time, if not sooner. This task took him the remainder of the day. He worked non-stop until he had dug out a space long enough to fit his sister, and deep enough so that wild animals couldn't dig her up. Before he put her in her grave, he cut off a lock of her hair and tied it up with a piece of the ribbon she always wore. Wiping away his tears, he shoved the lock of hair into his pocket while trying to calm himself. He felt sick to his stomach as he half carried half dragged his sister's body into the hole. He got sick as he put her head in along with her body.
By the time he was done burying her and had marked her grave, it was dark. Exhausted, he found his way to the stream and tried to clean the blood and dirt off himself. Completely drained of his energy, Fox collapsed next to the riverbed. As sleep descended on him, he told himself that he would avenge not only his parents' death, but also and most importantly, Samantha's. He didn't know who killed her, but he was going to find out one way or another, and he would do that by going to the nearest town. He surrendered to sleep knowing that his life had changed, for the second time in his life, forever.