Rain falls hard, cracking against the ground and puddles. Ringing off thousands of helmets. Dead silence between the drops. The energy builds in the air.
A single voice breaks the silence.
"WE ARE SWORN. WE WILL FOLLOW. WE WILL SPILL THE BLOOD. WE WILL STOMP THEIR HEARTS." "A DAY HAS NOT PAST WITHOUT SARROW BUT TODAY OUR SADNESS WILL CEASE WHILE WE COLLECT THE HEARTS OF THE DAMNED."
The thousands chant and cheer.
Twenty five years earlier, the rain still falls. Covering the roofs of thousands of shanties. Built tall and leaning, Full of the poor and desperate.
A rain of arrows flies over the city walls tha stand higher than any building in sight. Roof tops not made from sheets of metal are set ablaze by the volly. Within moments hundreds of people begin to flee from their homes into the streets only to be struck down by a second volly of airs. Men cry out to save the lives of women and childen as they flee but the volly was timed perfectly and stuck down numerous. Back into burnin homes the people ran to secape the death from the sky but some of those buildings began to collapse. The screams could be heard for miles. In a frenzy the men gathered their shileds and guarded the doors to the uncollapsed homes. There was no invasion yet, only continuous vollys of arrows. Finally a break in the store, total silence besides the sound of crackling fire consuming entire blocks of the city. Suddenly a thunderous sound rocked the city and shook the feet of all who were standing till they nearly fell. Chunks from the city wall flew, rocks raining down in all directions. A cloud of dust covered the sight of the explosion. Within moment the sound of marching feet could be heard, weighted with the sound of gear. They appear through the smoke. Clad is armour covering from head to toe. Something massive shileds and long spears, others with love halbeards and swords. Horsemen road right behind them. They marches through the streets. The men guarding their homes rushed the right and left flank of the soliders. They were blocked with massive shileds and fired upon by bow carrying horsemen. The soliders gave no expression. No remorse. Dozens of med tried their might and were shot down. Once the guards of the homes were killed more lioghtly armoured men with swords rushed into the homes. The screams of women again echoed the city. Inside one home a woman rushed up the stairs into the next living space of the shanty stack one above the other. Another family was hiding there and shut the door before she could enter. A soldier ran her through with a sword that peireced the door. The family isnside screamed. The solider smiled and requested the bow from his fellow soliders which set the home ablaze like the rest. Their screams echoed through as they burned. The slaughter went on for hours, clearing home after home inside the city till there was nothing left.
Bodies were stacked in the streets next to bunring homes. A man in a long coat worked with the soliders to count the bodies, then they were thrown into the fires to burn. The rain had stopped, the clouds broke. The sun shined through to illuminate the ruined city. A distubing ironic beautiful morning. A young boy standing with other childen watched the smoke rise from the city. They stood of a hill some ways away from the choas. They had retreeted just in time. But what was left for them to escape to?
A small boy named Craven began to search for his father among the survivors. They kept safe int he woods away from the city. His father was no where to be seen. Nor was any man, only the women and children could be found. Another young boy came running calling Craven's name.
"Craven, Craven! Your father and the others have left! They are going back to the city!" 'What!?" He replied with shock. Craven pulled the knife from his belt his father had given him and handed it to his friend. "Domus I know where he has gone follow me." Domus shook his head worryingly and followed craven. They found a hole covered with brush. Following the passage that was dug earlier took them to the collapsed home of Craven's parents. The fire had cleared and the rubble covering the homes enterance to the passage way had been cleared.
"They have come this way, quikcly we have to stop them." Craven and Domus both whipped their heads around as they as they saw fresh tracks in the mud. They followed the tracks through the tiny ally ways of the city that were still tranversable and not covered with rubble from the buildings and explosion. Soon they caught sight of the mising men.
Ting, Ting, Clash, and gruntled sounds of pain. They found many men lying dead all around but few were fighting. Craven caught sight of his father, he was fighting a long coated man. His long was long a thin, his stance will still, he fought with one arm. Cravens father slashed with ferocity, missing, stumbling, loosing his strength. He was covered in cuts and loosing blood. His fellow men stood beside him. Injured but still standing, still fighting soldiers with swords and shileds. The soliders were also seemingly uneffected by their attacks.
"BY THE HONOR OF RA YOUR BLOOD WILL TAINT THE GROUND" Credo screamed as he lunged forward to stab through the coated mans stomach. He side steeped and slashed credos back. Credo falls to the ground. "Do you mean as I have stained the earth with the blood of your people?" The man set his blade next to Credos throat. "NO!" Craven rushed the coated man from behind with his knife, he jumps to the mans shoulder height ready to burry the knife into his neck. In a moments notice one the cloacked man spun around, slashing Credo across his chest. Falling to the ground in pain and bleeding. Domus took the moment and tried his arm but wasn't as lucky. When he lunged the cloacked man peirced his torso with his long thin blade. Domus expression turned to shock, he fell to his knees. His eyes rolled back and turned grey. The cloaked man withdrew his blade from the young boys chest. Credo screamed and rose to lunge again but was held back by the near by solider.
