Heir to the Empire

3. Darkness Falls

Loldirr's lungs were burning by the time she reached the outskirts of Greenhaven keeping a reasonable distance so no one could see her.

She had run the entire distance, as had a petrified Willis who was only a couple of minutes behind.

Regaining her breath, she hoped that Willis would take his time so not to see the levels of devastation and brutality awaiting him. All the huts were up in smoke, and in various states of collapse as rogues littered the village pillaging anything they could find. Some were there for wealth; some were there for sport.

Loldirr held back a whelp as she noticed her long time business partner, Mr Butcher, had been treated less than an animal in his last few moments on this Earth. As he lay lifeless on the butcher table, his arms were spread wide pierced by his equipment to ensure he could not move and as his trousers lay by his ankles, blood had gushed its way down between his thighs to his feet. He likely bled to death brutally and inefficiently.

As her eyes swelled up and tears streamed down her face, Loldirr couldn't quite understand the emotions she was feeling. Fear, sickness, anxiety, anger, each were trying to take hold, but she knew it would require a level head to get out of this alive.

Willis dropped down beside her, struggling to breathe or make sense of what had happened. His face was full of shock at the carnage they saw in front of them; he never knew fellow human beings could do this to one another.

There was a scream followed by shouting and laughter.

Drawn to the sound, Loldirr hoped that Willis would not see what was unfolding.

"Mum... Dad??"

The Billingsea's were being dragged out to the edge of the forest and placed on their knees in front of a large tree. They were made to watch as several rogues stood around them, throwing a rope over one of the stronger branches.

Willis tried to stand but was being dragged forcefully down by Loldirr. He was getting more anxious, more desperate as they started to take the other end of the rope and wrap it around Mrs Billingsea's neck.

As she screamed and cried, the rogues laughed with one slapping her hard to stop the screaming. All the effort Mr Billingslea could muster to protect his wife was to no avail as he was pushed down to the ground repeatedly, his last attempt met with a bolt from a crossbow in his arm. Despite the pain, he tried again. His other arm met the same fate.

Willis was starting to cry uncontrollably, and Loldirr was struggling to hold him. He was far too strong for her.

She had to quieten him quickly; otherwise, they would share the same fate his parents were about to receive.

Pulling him down one last time she turned his head away from the inevitable and looked him squarely in the eyes. Her hands were shaking, and her voice was breaking, but with all her might, she managed to muster one more instruction to him. "Willis look at me, you must go into the forest and head towards our spot by the Emerald River. Whatever you do, only look at the forest, nowhere else, be as quiet as a mouse and I will meet you there as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

Willis nodded briefly.

"Do you understand!" struggling to hold back the tears, Loldirr had to make sure he completely understood his instructions. It was made increasingly more challenging as she watched them lift Willis's mother into the air at the corner of her eye.

Willis nodded more confidently this time.

Loldirr mouthed the words 'go', but only air passed her lips as her mouth trembled at the sight of Willis's mother wriggling about trying to gasp for her life. The clawing at the rope, and her throat was shattering to watch as all she succeeded in doing was tightening the noose even more.

Tears ran down Loldirr's face like a waterfall as she watched Willis stood and run towards the forest following her exact instructions. She couldn't help but watch at the last few minutes of Willis' mother's life, as her energy faded and her attempts to live were futile. It seemed to take a painful amount of time for the body to stop twitching. As the screams from Mr Billingslea continued along with the cursing and laughter from the rogues, it wasn't long before he would be sharing his wife's fate.

Loldirr had to force herself to move to try and find her guardian, Edric. Without needing to worry about Willis, she would be able to move without anyone noticing her.

That's if she could keep her head straight

Carefully darting in between various obstacles around the village, she managed to avoid the disorganised 'sentries' that were supposed to be standing guard. It didn't take her long to locate her guardian at the centre of the village square.

She had to cover her mouth from screaming in despair.

He was lying on the floor, desperately trying to control the shock that was taking over his body. Rolling to his side, he held onto the stump that used to be his arm stifling the grunts of agony that was trying to escape from his lips.

In his eyes was not fear, though, but defiance. He looked up towards the towering bulky figure of the fully armoured black knight as he circled his prey like a lion.

A faint gasp of air escaped the helmet of the battle-hardened Death Wraith, "Aex-Igh?" He whispered.

Edric just looked at the knight and refused to respond, desperately trying to control his laboured breathing. As he looked at the stump that was once his arm, he saw Loldirr at the corner of his eye. Turning his head back to the knight, he grunted: "I'll take it to my grave."

In one quick swoop, the knight lifted his broadsword and sliced straight through Edric's thigh. The subsequent scream was piercing straight to the soul as he struggled to remain conscious.

Loldirr felt helpless and broken. Her guardian, who had tried to be a father figure for most of her life, was clinging to what was left of his. In her heart, she wanted to jump in and slay the knight and to say her goodbyes to her guardian. However, in her head, she knew there was no way she could defeat the beast of a man.

"Aex-Igh!" The Knight whispered once more.

Edric took deep breaths and looked up once more at the lifeless stare of the knight before grinning through gritted bloody teeth "See you and your master in hell Pykeston!"

The last act of defiance was met with the broadsword piercing cleanly through Edric's gut. With the amount of blood loss and shock his body had endured, it didn't take long for him to start his eternal slumber. As he breathed his last, his lifeless eyes fixed on Loldirr who was now struggling to keep a hold of her wits.

Why were her last words one of hatred, why could she never treat him like a real father, or him treat her like a daughter? Who was this man standing over him asking for 'Aex-Igh' commanding these rogues to ransack the village? Why did she have these questions when it was far too late? Why did Edric say about taking it to his grave?

His grave!

For years Edric had always said that if anything were to happen to him, she would know what to do when standing at his grave. It wasn't preparation; it was a direction.

Doing what she could to move away quietly, guilt weighed her down heavily as she watched Edric's lifeless eyes once more. With adrenaline coursing through her and anger and fear pumping through her body, her movements appeared more focused than usual. Taking one more look at the flames, death and devastation of her once home, Loldirr knew it was time to focus on her next task, to find the grave and complete the task her guardian, Edric, had set for her.