Chapter 3
The bandits hit at dawn. The mill was destroyed and as Daine stepped carefully through the village, Cloud close behind her, she found the miller and his family along with many others. The bandits had taken the wheelwrights oldest daughter and the headman's wife. It seemed that some of the women had managed to gather some belongings and flee, leaving the men to protect their village.
She could see small groups of people going through the remains of houses that had been torched. She quietly trod through the village towards her home, where her grandda, ma, and herself had lived along with all their many animals. Daine hoped the raiders might face passed them but as she rounded the corner to face her home, she realised that the bandits must have known her ma was pretty too. The house had been torched, but the many enchantments and spells around the house had stopped too much damage occurring.
She opened the gate to her ma's herb garden to wind Mammoth, the family's oldest dog, lying across the path, waiting for her. He told her that her ma and grandda had died. They had tried to fight the bandits; even the ponies, horses, chicken and geese had helped fight the bandits and had even killed some of them. But there where too many bandits and they killed every single member of Daine's family, two leggers and four, and had left the village as quickly as they had arrived.
At this last statement, Mammoth died in her lap
Daine and Cloud buried every single last member of the family, even Clouds dam and sire. Cloud felt for Daine and Daine felt for Cloud and they comforted each other as they straightened the house up.
It was two whole days before anyone from the village came to see if anyone was alive in Daine's home. Daine was in a rage at their slowness. Her friends from the forest had checked the house the moment it happened. What made her even madder was that if her family where still alive they would all, Daine included, be in the village with bandages and ointment treated the wounded and sick.
As the villagers approached the house, Daine threw rocks and stones at them in anger.
If Daine's animal friends where the only ones who cared for her, she would go to them!