Prologue Part 1: Flight into the Night

         Fleeing away from the chaos, only a few of us survived the destruction of Mell, our beloved village. I only took one quick look back. Everything was ablaze. What took generations upon generations to build was now a funeral pyre to our dreams. Some of us were braver and chose to stay, buying the rest of us much needed time against the marauders. The Lord of All blesses them.

         We ran south through the plains, the thunder masking our footsteps and breaths and the lightning providing us brief glimpses into the wilderness through the dark night. Men or perhaps demons dressed in all black riding horses covered in dark shrouds picked off those who could not run any further. They must have been demons from the abyss. We've dealt with common thieves and bandits before but these beings, whatever they were, were completely silent. They made no battle cries and said no words. Through the thunder, there was only the sound of metal upon skin followed by the screams of someone we once knew. I swear what I saw of our attackers is true and that I have never seen anything like this before.

         After running for what seemed like the entire night, the terrain began to become more and more hilly and treacherous. I hoped that my pursuers had given up but I didn't dare to stop. I noticed in the distance stone steps leading to the peak of a mountain and saw what appeared to be a shelter on top of it. With my last bursts of energy, I headed towards what I hoped to be sanctuary. Unfortunately, I could go no further. My legs became heavy while my vision began to cloud up. "One-Two One-Two", I thought in my head as I struggled with each step. Each count got me closer to the base of the mountain. I saw the stone steps right in front of me and then I felt my head hit the ground before everything went dark.