It was a cloudy day so far and the sky seemed to forecast heavy rain for the later half of the day. But in the little village River Hamlet noone really seemed to mind since rain was pretty normal for this time of the year. The Village was bustling with activity, children running around chasing each other while the mothers tried to bring some order into mess which ended up to be a futile endevor and instead encouraged the children to be even louder while chasing each other or one of the domisticated dogs in the village.

The men on the other hand were working out on the fields rushing to bring out the crop before the end of the day and the failing rain to not let all the hard work be for naught.

In the middle of the village at the entrance to the big mansion Caitlyn was seeing her husband off who wanted to try and help the few men out on the fields so to make sure everything went as it should without one having to do all the work all over again.

Eric was a good man with a gentle and friendly soul but Caitlyn knew that his rushing to the fields was not only to help the farmers but to escape the work that was piling in his office and needed to be done. But she couldn't blame him since it truly was a boring job to be done and his caring nature is what she loved about him so much. No matter his own mood, as soon as someone needed a helping hand he was there and supported as much as he could with every fibber of his being.

"Don't forget to come home earlier today. I'm sure it's going to be a real downpour later the day." Cait told him with a worried face.

"Hah, you worry too much woman. What can a bit of water falling on my head do to me? I'm not made of sugar, you know?" He said while grinning at his beautiful wife.

"Oh, and Cait could you stop by the bakery later? I heard the ol' man Harry has created another one of his sugar-coated little treasures. Maybe he'll be willing to part with like ten or so in exchange for some of my selfmade booze. I know he goes crazy for that stuff, bwahahahaha" Eric said with a mischievous grin before bursting into one of his heartly laughs that thundered over the plaza in the middle of the village and made some of the villagers turn their heads in wonder what got the chief so riled up.

"Okay, I will see what I can do. You take care of yourself please and leave the matters here to me."

Cait said to him while grinning from ear to ear like she always had to whenever he laughed like that.

"Ye, will do. Love you hun'." He gave her a quick kiss then turned around a walked along the streets in the direction of the fields.

"Love you too dear." Cait said than turned around and entered the house to get some cleaning done. After she accomplished her endevor she walked out of the house to visit the market to by some fish and meat and visit the bakery as Eric had requested of her.

As soon as she entered the bakery she was drowned in the smell of fresh bread and caramel which she thought smelled so good that she could taste it in the air.

"Ohh, misses Steadfast, what brings you into my humble bakery?" Harry, the stout baker asked of her while smiling with a knowing smile. Whenever he created his speciality Eric was the first to know and send Cait over to grab as many of them as possible.

"I would like some bread please and my husband asked me to deliever this alcohol to you in the hopes that you would be willing to exchange them for a few of your specialities." She said smilingly.

As soon as Harry heard the word alcohol which was clearly the good stuff Eric made himself he had to swallow his saliva down in order to hide his anticipation.

"Yes, Yes, of course. Do we exchange 10 again like the last few times?" he asked Caitlyn while being unable to keep his voice uncarring.

"Yes, lets do it like that. 10 in exchange for one bottle." As she finished her sentence Harry had already started to pack the specialities into a piece of paper and put it before Caitlyn with an impatient grin on his face.

Cait gave him the bottle and put the specialities into her brought basket alongside all the food she had brought so far. When she left the bakery the sky had started to darken and a slight drizzel had started falling on her head. She hurried home put her groceries down and went out again to visit the well outside of the village to replenish the dwindling water reserves of her home. As she went out the door she ran into Eric who was completely exhausted from the hard work on the field.

"Oh, you're back. Go in and make yourself comfortable. I've brought back your specialities. Help yourself to them. I need to go to the fountain real quick. I'll be back in 10-15 minutes. I'll prepare dinner than." Cait said to him while walking past him as he collapsed more or less on the comfortable couch in the living room near the entrance.

As she went out she knew she had to hurry since the rain got stronger and stronger.

On her way to the well she thought she heard some crying but because the rain had gotten quite strong already she thought to imagine things. As she reached the well she heard it yet again but this time it was louder than before. As she turned her head to look into the direction of the village she heard it yet again. This time she was certain that something was happening in the village and she began to run towards her home, worriing for her loved ones.

-in the village

"Commander, this is the reported village. What are your orders sir?"

The commander, a thin man with a face shaped like a rat and a head that was filled with dark hair took an arrogant glance around down from his huge brown horse while sulking in the disgust he felt for such a backwater village that had none of the elegance of the major cities that he resided in.

As he was thinking how to precede now he turned his head slightly to look in the direction of a middle aged man in his mid 40th that had already grey hair and was wearing a wide dark blue robe indicating of his position as a mage working under the king.

As the mage registered the questioning gaze of the commander he said leisurely: "We will have to stay here for quite some time and a leak of information is not an option. Capture the women for the mans pleasure while we stay here. Kill all the men!" his gaze turning hard and unforgiving of any mistakes.

"Yes sir!"

"Yes sir!"

"As you command sir!"

The soldiers surrounding the mage shouted in unison and took off in a formation of five men each to carry out the order given to them by their supperior.

As the soldiers started to clean the village of men and capture the women some men started to defend their families and loved ones but soon realised that they were powerless. This was not a fight, it was a slaughter.

Anguished wails filled the village as men were killed and women raped before their childrens eyes who cried in fear for their parents and siblings.

As Harry realised what was going on outside he pulled some of the fleeing villagers into his store and knocked a chasing soldier out with a poker which he had picked up as a means to defend himself. But the soldier was not alone and as soon as his companions realised that someone had knocked their comrade out they surrounded Harry in order to strike him down. One of them attacked Harry with an overhead swing from the front which he managed to block somehow, but in the meantime one of the others sneaked up behind him and impaled his heart without any resistence. Harry collapsed and in his last moments he saw the horrific things the soldiers did to his loved ones and the ones he wanted to protect. Than it become dark around him.