Ren stood still, her warm expression and widened eyes unmoving. Her knees dropped to the dirt before she fell into the pool of water that supplied the soil, the back end of an arrow poking out of her head and sticking out above the surface.
At that moment, while the rest of the village sprung into a frenzy, time froze for Oskulda. She stood paralyzed, her eyes fixed on where her mother once stood, all while the alarm was sounded and people scrambled for cover. In the distance, a rumbling horn echoed from the hills.
Meanwhile across town, the low, forboding chime of the alarm reached the ears of Sanni and the Village Guards, who had just begun their morning training routine. "The alarm!" Sanni exclaimed, boarding his horse. "No better training than this, men! Prepare yourselves!"
Adrenaline pumped through his body with each stride his horse made. Conflicting emotions of fear and excitement rushed his mind as he drew his iron blade, seeing a band of Pillagers charging towards the village*. He glanced back at the two guards accompanying him on horseback, with several others following on foot. Though he'd had no experience in real-world combat before, Sanni was confident enough in the training he'd been through so far - and, after all, what else had he been stationed here for if not to deal with the real threats that plagued the land of Minecraftia?
Meanwhile, Oskulda began to wake up from her daze; the sounds of panicked cries finally began to sink in, as well as a dull, thumping sound that grew closer and closer.
"Little girl!" she heard a woman cry. "Little girl!"
All of a sudden, Oskulda found herself able to move her head. She looked to her right, the place she heard that thumping coming from. The house beside her crumbled, the large head of a beast smashing through it. In just a few seconds, Oskulda found herself tackled to the floor by someone unknown as the blocks that once made up the house fell upon them.
The beast's arrival worsened the frantic state of the villagers; Testificates and Humans alike sprung into a deeper state of panic as the beast - a four-legged, hulking creature known as a Ravager - continued its destructive course through the ruins of the house. Across town, Lekgud sprinted out of his door, having worked up the courage to bring his wife and daughter to safety. He found himself ground to a halt when a pale-skinned, axe wielding Pillager grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. The scowling menace raised an axe in the air, and Lekgud wrestled with him before the weapon could be brought down upon him. Unpracticed punches were thrown before an arrow struck the Pillager in his chest. Looking in the direction it came from, Lekgud found one of the Village Guards, Adrian. The guard took Lekgud by the arm and dragged him to one side.
"You need to take cover!" Adrian advised sternly. "Leave the guards to handle this, Lekgud! Hide inside and stay quiet!"
"You don't understand! My wife - my daughter..!"
"...are likely safe, taking cover! Go inside, Lekgud - or die, and never see them again!"
Pushing Lekgud back in the direction of his house, Adrian turned and charged back into battle. From close nearby, Lekgud could hear an awful noise. Just seconds later, the source revealed itself; the Ravager and the golem Stalhjarta were engaged in brutal combat. The Ravager's rider had been discarded of, and now the two brutes fought destructively, tossing each other around as if they were toys. Helpless and feeling small, Lekgud sprinted back to his house, cursing under his breath with each step. He barged in through the door and slammed it shut behind him, before diving over his desk and lifting the trapdoor, taking refuge in the cellar.
Even from down below, the sounds of battle could be heard raging on for what seemed like hours, days even. Lekgud sat shuddering at the bottom of the ladder, fearing for his wife and daughter's safety. He swore to protect them, and in their time of need he had been reduced to a shivering, terrified mess. Lekgud could only pray that they were safe.
Soon though, the sounds of clashing blades, roaring monsters, and battle cries faded. Lekgud knew it could only mean that one side had won, although there was no telling who. The morning alarm rang out, indicating that the raid was over; Lekgud's heart beat quickened upon realising that anyone could be ringing it. Still, if it meant that he could return to the surface and find his Ren and Oskulda, then he wasn't about to back down.
With trembling hands, he climbed the ladder from the cellar into the library; while a few books had fallen from the shelves and an arrow lay in the path of a shattered glass window, the place seemed relatively undamaged. Lekgud peered through the broken window, cold air rushing through it. Already he could see the cost; Villagers and Pillagers lay dead on the gravel, their bodies bloodied. From this sight alone, there was no way of telling who had come out of this battle victorious, so Lekgud cautiously left the safety of his home, treading lightly on the ground so not to give himself away.
Turning a corner, he found a man slumped against the steps to the blacksmith; his helmet had been removed, placed on the ground beside him, revealing long locks of brown hair. His chest slowly raised itself with each laboured breath.
"Adrian!" Lekgud gasped, kneeling down beside him and noticing the arrow that had dug itself into the side of the guard's thigh. "Is the raid over? Is the village safe?"
"I haven't heard their horn..." Adrian fought for the words. "Which means either we succeeded... or they want to make sure every last one of us is dead. I'd like to think it's the former."
These words were of no reassurance to Lekgud. He took Adrian's hand. "Can you stand? Do you think you could walk?"
"If I walk, I fear it might kill me," Adrian winced. "Leave me here, and I'll be fine. The cleric will come, if she has survived."
"I'll see to it that someone comes for you, Adrian," Lekgud promised, squeezing his hand as if to emphasize this before carrying on towards the center of the town. When he arrived there, he found the Village Captain, out of breath, accompanied by a small gathering of Testificates. An expression flashed on Sanni's face that Lekgud recognised as a mix of relief and pity.
"Librarian," the word rushed from his mouth; the only title Sanni knew the man to be associated with. "I'm glad to see you unharmed."
"Ren, Oskulda," Lekgud panted, growing more distressed by the second by their absence although he managed to keep himself controlled. "My wife and daughter. Where are they?"
"The raid has only just concluded. We have not yet started-"
"My wife! My daughter!" Lekgud roared in a fierce but pointless display of anger. "Where are they? Are they safe?"
Lekgud clumsily carried one foot in front of the other, hopelessly looking at each unmoving body on the ground for any kind of semblance to his loved ones. As Lekgud was about to pass Sanni to go towards the farms, the Captain held him by the arm. The two locked eyes silently; Lekgud's mouth dropped as his eyes welled up.
"She... she..." Lekgud babbled, looking in the direction of the carrot farm and seeing the butt of an arrow protruding from the water; the only body in that area. What were the odds it was her, and not one of the other farmers stationed there that morning? "It's not her," Lekgud denied. "It could be anyone."
"Librarian," Sanni spoke softly, attemping to dissuade him.
Lekgud stumbled forward, his knees giving in on themselves as he neared the body and better recognised it as that of Ren's; bloody, soaked brown hair sprawled across the surface of the water. The widow could not bring himself to turn the body over and look Ren in the face; instead, he took her cold, wet, wrinkled hand into his own, clasping it tightly.
From behind him, Lekgud heard the dull, laboured sounds of heavy footsteps and in his peripheral vision he recognised the golem Stalhjarta. Sanni's hand rested itself on Lekgud's shoulder.
"Though I didn't know your names, I often saw you together in the village," Sanni remarked. "I'm truly sorry to see her depart this world in such a way."
"I don't believe you, Captain," offered Lekgud in response. Cold and blunt, Sanni felt the weight of the words in his throat, barely managing to swallow them down. Taking his cue to leave, Sanni nodded at Stalhjarta and left.
-X-
The rest of the day did not let up; Skördaby's surviving inhabitants all played part in the clean-up of debris and bodies. Fortunately, the village Cleric, Magida, managed to survive the onslaught; however, the number of injuries was so great that even with her immense knowledge of potion-craft and healing, a number of injured civilians died as a result of their wounds. Magida, and Skördaby at large, was not equipped to deal with the aftermath of an assault of this scale.
In the center of Skördaby, Sanni examined Stalhjarta's damaged exterior. "It seems that the Ravager took a few pieces of you with him," Sanni noted. "You fought courageously, not thinking twice about facing a beast of such brutality. I commend you."
The golem let out a pained, hissing sigh in response.
"I know. You won't be as capable as you once were," Sanni sympathised. "Still, I promise to repair you to peak condition. All we need is to find a new miner..."
There was no suitable candidate for the role, really. Many Humans had died in the raid, including much of the Village Guard. The Testificates were not suitable for conditions in the mines, and Sanni would have to stay here and fulfil his duty as Captain until relief arrived.
"To fulfil my duty..." Sanni thought aloud. He looked around the village, a depressing husk of its former self. His duty was to guide brave men into battle to defend their home and their loved ones, and he couldn't even do that. He was too cocksure of himself. Innocent people died, and Skördaby had lost many of its most valuable inhabitants.
The librarian's words echoed in Sanni's mind; in a way, he couldn't blame the man for his words. Even now, Sanni didn't really know the name of his farmer wife. He found some solace knowing that the daughter had been found, alive but unconscious.
Looking up, Sanni found Stalhjarta's eyes staring at him. It was impossible to say, but Sanni interpreted some sense of knowing. "I failed this village," Sanni vented. "But I might be able to redeem myself. I may never be forgiven for the loss of life on this day - I may never even forgive myself - but I can lead Skördaby to brighter days. I cannot abandon my role as Captain now. I must do my best to lead this village."
Though Stalhjarta made no noise, Sanni recognised some kind of acknowledgement in the golem's glowing red eyes; even if it was all in his head, it offered all the confirmation he needed that despite his failures today, he had responsibilities that he could not abandon.
A/N:
This chapter took longer to release than I had anticipated, even though it was more or less finished for a few weeks. Uni has kept me busy, and I've got a lot of work coming up, so unfortunately it might take a little while for the next chapter to come out. I appreciate the feedback left on the previous chapter!
*: Pillagers are Testificates that have defected from the rest of society, practicing darker forms of magic and raiding small settlements. Humans can also be susceptible to these twisted temptations, as has been proven in the past.