Heart of the Wilderness

The warriors fell one by one, their bodies littering the ground, forming a final desperate barrier around the survivors. The wagon, a symbol of hope for the travelers, was now a scene of desolation, its wheels broken, its contents plundered.

The bandits, drunk on violence, continued their work of destruction. A woman, her face twisted with fear, tried to flee into the forest, but an arrow caught her, embedding itself in her back. She collapsed, her breath cut short, her gaze fixed on the horizon she would never reach.

The dying cries of the travelers mingled with the jeers of the bandits. A man, who had taken refuge under the wagon with his child, was discovered by a female bandit who brutally dragged him out. He struggled, trying to protect his son, but the woman struck him violently. The child screamed as he watched his father fall into unconsciousness, before the bandit seized him as well.