It had been a day not unlike any other. The Vilruhns had woken up, eaten a hearty morning meal at the break of dawn and headed out. It was almost summer and there was a lot to do at the farm they lived on, outside of the small Shaya village. The animals were fed one after another and Lilia brought fresh eggs to the house. The father and son duo had even gone to the nearby river for fresh water, while Lilia had gone to check on the small garden the family maintained. Normally the Vilruhns would use their water well, but it had been going dry over the past few weeks.

"Dad, the well is truly on its last legs. Should I go to the village and talk to my friends about helping us dig a new one?" the young lad asked Mavry, while they were busying themselves in the pigpen. The pigs were ready for slaughter, yet they were atypically small and covered with a coarse, black fur all over.

"I know, I know. I will head out to the village with your mother and talk to the village elder. His family helped us build the first one, so they will be of great help. That old man has a sixth sense when it comes to finding water." Mavry replied, as he scooped up manure with a shovel and piled it up, all the while trying to dodge the numerous pigs that were scurrying around his feet.

"You mean Grandfather? Didn't he say he'd never speak to us again a few winters back?" Dartelo asked with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Aye, that he did. But it seems that even somebody as stubborn as him can change his mind. Your mother and I shall go dine at his house and we shall be back by tomorrow afternoon. You'll be in charge of guarding the house while we are away."

Dartelo happily nodded as he confirmed, "Of course, father! I am almost of age, so guarding this old house will be as easy as riding a horse!"

Mavry looked at his son with a smirk on his face. "Dart, you've never ridden a horse..."

The young man harrumphed as he continued to clean out the pigpen alongside his father. "I've ridden Grandpa's hogs and even gran Tora's cow! Surely a horse is no different."

His father shook his head and laughed. He had stopped shoveling and had even leaned against the enclosure's wooden fence. "Such an impertinent boy. You take after your uncle too much, maybe I should consider letting you stay here next summer, instead of sending you to learn from him?"

Dartelo looked up anxiously, "I'll be good, Father, I promise! Please let me visit Uncle, you know I need to go learn how to read and write, or else I won't be a candidate for any academy..."

"Ah, academies is it now? And here I thought the point was to find you a good trade and if we're lucky - a good wife to boot. May the gods help us find a lady willing to put up with you." Mavry said as he faked a sigh.

Dartelo looked at his father in confusion. 'Maybe you're the one that I actually take after, Dad? Poor Uncle, always getting blamed for this and that.'

The two continued with their daily tasks until late in the afternoon when Mavry and Lilia set off towards the nearby Shaya village on foot. Dartelo stood by and watched their backs fade into the distance, before he continued with the daily chores.

'Fix this, fix that, make sure the cat doesn't eat the cabbage patch, blah blah blah. I can't wait for summer to come and rid myself of these farmhand annoyances at least for a bit,' the young man dreamed as he was finally nearing the end of his tasks.

Having nothing else left to do, the young man ate an early dinner in the company of the family cat and then went to bed at dusk. He was dead tired and tomorrow would be another long day filled with toil. Toil and nobody but him to work the family farm for half of the day.

As Dartelo was sleeping soundly in his bed, trouble was brewing a few kilometers to the south. The sun had already set and in the midst of a forest, a group of over a thousand soldiers had gathered in silence. The soft moonlight was barely able to penetrate through the trees' foliage, but wherever it fell a cold metal shine would appear. The soldiers were dispersed in small groups around the forest, their tensed bodies ready for battle. A horn sounded out and the army set off, their lithe movements reminiscent of packs upon packs of wolves. Their thirst for blood was palpable.

Dartelo woke up to the sound of a door being broken down. His heart racing, he quickly got out of bed and put on his clothes. He could hear the tabby cat hissing downstairs. There was an old dagger hidden underneath his bed - it had been a gift, from his father, for his fourteenth winter. He quickly took it out and quietly opened the door to his room, tiptoeing towards the staircase. He could hear a great number of people entering the house. His mind was still a bit hazy despite the adrenaline that was pumping through his veins.

"In the name of Viceroy Jemma, this land is now part of the Province of Antella. All who resist shall be put down!"

There were five men on the first floor and the Captain that had yelled out was cautiously gazing around, a torch in his hand. "Stay together lads, we'll check the cellar and this floor and then we'll move up . If you find anyone, try to bring them back in one piece. The Viceroy's offering a silver coin for each able-bodied barbarian we manage to bring back to the slave pens. Don't let me catch any of you fooling around or trying to hide supplies!"

"Yes, Sir, we know that the mines have been going through a lot of manpower lately," one of his men joked.

The four lackeys grinned and without a word they split up into two teams and started checking the first floor. Dartelo couldn't understand a word of what the soldiers had said beyond the initial warning. The rest had been in a language he had never heard before. Sweat began to drizzle down his brow as his heart began to beat faster and faster.

'There are what, at least a dozen men downstairs? And that clanking should be armor! I need to get out of here in one piece and go warn the village', he told himself. 'There's no way I can get to the roof, and even if I did they would find me eventually. Can't go up, that only leaves going down.'

Dartelo slowly went back into his room, closed the door and proceeded to jam it with the old dagger like his uncle had taught him a few years back. "You can't kill a pig with this old thing, instead of getting your head chopped off, you might as well use it to gain yourself a few more seconds to run away!" Beram had half-jokingly said at the time.

The shutters flung open silently with a slight push from the youngster. It had taken him precious time to do so, as the latch had grown rusty and he was afraid it would make a noise if he opened it too quickly.

He could hear the sound of more men at the front of the house, but nobody had bothered to circle around. There was a cold and biting wind that could chill one to the bones. Suddenly creak after creak could be heard, as two pairs of boots were now making their way up the old staircase.

'Well, here goes nothing.' he thought to himself, his hands gripping the woodwork. Dartelo slowly lowered himself as much as possible, before he jumped down into the little garden. He barely missed the cabbage patch.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

His heart rate rose even further as he clumsily made his way through the garden and jumped over the low wooden fence. He looked back and could see some light through his room's window.

'Gotta go west, river's my safest bet!' he kept reminding himself as he half-ran in a crouched manner. The grass was tall and the lower he stayed, the safer he'd be. A hundred meters away from his house, he could still hear men shouting unintelligibly in the distance. Their cries were growing fainter, replaced by the roaring of river.

Dartelo turned north upon reaching the river and in a few minutes he could faintly make out the outlines of Shaya village, atop a nearby hill. An unusual smoke billowed across the sky, wisps of fire starting up in the distance.

'Damn it, am I too late?' he though as he started running faster. His footing went askew and the last thing he saw was a large, glistening rock.