Start of a nightmare (2)
As if to answer her prayers, the shouts of a man was heard at their front door. "Whoever's inside open the door right now! We know you're in there!"
Benedict gestured for silence and pointed to the backdoor. The family moved quickly but the men at the door realized something was up. Brandishing their short swords, they began kicking and hacking their way in. The rickety old wooden door lasted a mere ten seconds before three fully armed soldiers waltzed in. Upon noticing the family running away, they immediately took chase. Roan gritted his teeth and shouted for his family to run as he held his splitting axe firmly. The first soldier crashed down with his short sword onto Roan's axe handle.
Elizabeth turned around to see the soldier's blade dancing around her father's guard like a snake. In a flash, the soldier slashed at her father's torso, sending a spurt of blood out. The girl screamed horrifically as her father grimaced. Her siblings were similarly terrified, but Victoria continued to usher them out with ashamed eyes. As they made it to the door, the other two soldiers caught up and hacked down at Victoria. Their short swords easily sank into the back of the poor woman, causing her to yell out and shove her children further forward in a last-ditch attempt. Elizabeth wanted to turn back, to kill them and save her mother, but Edward only held onto her harder. His grip was like iron, completely unrelenting as he sprinted on toward the cornfields.
"They ran into the cornfields! Cut them off!" a soldier shouted.
In the house, Roan fully roared in anger seeing his precious wife injured. His peaceful life was reaped by them! His children were chased by them! His wife was hurt by them! Even if it burnt out the last of his life, he resolved to ensure his family's survival at all costs. This was the duty of a man, a husband, and a father! He unleashed everything he had. His axe lashed out with ferocious strength and caught the first soldier off-guard. The man braced, but Roan was easily twice his size, or more. In a pure contest of strength, there was no competition. The man's arm, shoulder, and chest crumpled like paper as he was flung slamming into a nearby wall. Blood decorated the ground as he instantly died.
Roan panted heavily. His wounds were not for show and right now, his life blood was spewing out like an open faucet. Forget about escaping or even living, he thought. He had to kill the other two soldiers! Holding onto his bleeding torso, he lunged at the other two soldiers like a mad man. But the other two soldiers were more than prepared and easily dodged or deflected the predictable blows. They were professionally trained soldiers. Compared to a farmer, a little skill was all they needed to defend themselves. Swords rained down on him, cutting into every bit of flesh they could see. In the end, his axe handle was shattered and a soldier dove in for the kill.
Roan drudged up the last of his willpower and charged at the soldier, quickly grabbing the man by the neck while ignoring all his life-threatening injuries. With a decisive snap, the man went limp not long before Roan was stabbed straight through the chest by the third soldier. Roan fell to his knees and his vision turned blurry. He was resentful. His beautiful life with his family had to end like this. He remembered every single moment of it. From the day he fell in love with Victoria, to his clumsy proposal, to his struggle to name his firstborn, to his living with his three amazing children and wife… Everything was precious and unforgettable. But it was leaving him. He could still see the open door where his children escaped as he prayed for the best. In his final moments, he fixed his teary gaze on the cold Victoria as the soldier's sword swung down again.
Elizabeth entered the dark and damp cornfield as the rain showered her. Forget about seeing, even moving and hearing was becoming difficult. With her brother's hand in her left and her sister's hand in her right, they marched toward the forest with Benedict in the lead. Aisa was bawling her eyes out so hard that she was squirming with all her might to run back to her parents. Of course, Elizabeth felt the same way. Even now, she wanted to chase down her attackers and beat them to death. But she could not. She felt so powerless and so pathetic to run from her own family home with her tail between her legs. She held her bow so hard that she could have snapped it in half. To kill or be killed. This was a saying she never thought would come true on the peaceful New Havens.
When they crossed halfway, a soldier stumbled upon them and attacked Edward. Edward, who was wielding a pitchfork, narrowly dodged the blade as it slid past his face. The soldier casually recovered and whipped the short sword in a large arc to slash his opponent's throat. Edward ducked under the blade as he rotated the pitchfork in his hands like a makeshift lance. He thrusted forward fully intent to kill. But the combination of his poor footing and lack of experience made it easily trackable. The soldier sidestepped the clumsy weapon just as Benedict's shovel crashed into his skull and killed in one hit. Benedict looked emotionlessly at the dead corpse when his wounds flared up again. He was clearly in no fighting condition. If he was attacked first, then even fending off that soldier would have been hard. Thankfully, catching the soldier as he dodged left him wide open for a quick and lethal attack.
Benedict fetched the soldier's short sword and played with it a bit. After getting accustomed to the weight and feel of his new weapon, they rushed ahead. Elizabeth glanced at the fallen soldier as they passed, and she clenched her fists in anger. As soon as they left the cornfields and arrived on one of the town's dirt paths to the forest, a lone soldier saw and chased them. Elizabeth reflexively nocked her bow and aimed at the soldier with shaky hands. Much like her family, the pent-up frustration built up and she released. The arrow shot forward and missed by a large margin. That was to be expected though. She rarely practiced her archery and when she did, it was on still targets. Unsatisfied, she prepared to nock another when the soldier caught up. She was so absorbed in her revenge that she neglected it entirely.
Edward and Benedict rushed forward to intercept. Although Edward was an amateur when it came to combat, he was in top condition. Together with the skillful Benedict, they pincered the soldier and the skirmish ended quickly. The three of them briefly celebrated but when Elizabeth looked around to find Aisa, she was gone. A feeling of dread clawed at her as she frantically searched for her little sister. No! I already lost my parents. I can't lose my sister as well! She shouted for Aisa at the top of her lungs, completely disregarding her enemies. Her sister was only eight years old! She was still a child! There was no chance for survival if she were left by herself. Elizabeth was crushed by guilt. If she maintained her cool and kept holding Aisa, she would still be here. But now…
Edward was also prepared to search for his little sister, but the shouts of more soldiers dashed away his hopes. Benedict yelled and started rushing his way to the forest. Edward paused in his step and struggled internally with this choice. No matter what, he would sacrifice someone. There was no right choice. He cursed himself and pulled Elizabeth along with Benedict. Elizabeth frantically struggled, trying to worm her way out to chase Aisa down, but Edward only hardened his grip. Tears streamed down both of their faces. In a single night, their whole world came crumbling to ruin.