The blood-curdling scream ripped Ka’Tehmn from his dreams. Lingering memories crashed against his head as the pressure began to build behind his eyes. The pain was incomparable to that of earlier that morning.

  Unable to stop himself, he grabbed the side of the bed and pulled himself over the edge, bile and blood erupting from his mouth as fragments of dreams and ideas rampaged through his mind.

  Dozens of half-formed questions rose in his mind, each one quickly replaced by another before they could be finished - or understood. Another scream suddenly snapped his attention back to the present.

  Something’s wrong.

  He quickly pushed against the edge of the bed, ignoring the painful headache, as he jumped to his feet. His eyes darted between the knives hanging on hooks from the roof and the door. Did he need to arm himself, or should he focus on the outside first? He had to choose quickly.

  Protect!

  He quickly reached for the stone blade-

  A stone axe tore through the roof in front of him, knocking the knives to the ground along with a mess of straw, sticks, and grass as his hand snapped back.

  “Ta’m'n? ta ??aner nadas!”

  A brutish man tore a hole in the roof as his voice slithered out in a language Ka’ hadn’t heard before, smiling with savage glee at the discovery of fresh meat.

  Run!

  Barefoot and terrified, Ka’Tehmn sprinted for the door on his right, his body crashing into the wood so hard it burst open. He failed to notice the twigs cutting his cheek and tearing his clothes. His only focus was escaping whatever situation he was in.

  Once outside, he saw it:

  The village was surrounded.

  The outer wall was ablaze, the smoke rising into the sky like a black cage, trapping everyone inside. The smell of burnt wood filled the air, and the screams of people echoed from all directions.

  The night was illuminated by the crackling flames as aggressive men in bestial, patchwork armour ran around, setting the roofs on fire and breaking down doors. Even from several houses away, he could see the wild glee in their eyes as they chased and tackled the fleeing women. He also saw the fear in their eyes when they were caught.

  He spotted one of the attackers dragging someone out by their hair. His victim was screaming in an unknown language while the man laughed as if enjoying their desperate pleas. A few other attackers were laughing as they watched the man raise his weapon high up, bringing it down just so he could raise a freshly-severed head in the air instead.

  Ka’Tehmn instantly realised he was witnessing the cruelty of humanity in its rawest form.

  That realization was sobering.

  “?? ta’m'n? teh’ka ??aner, so’o’trro.”

  The brute’s voice jerked Ka’s attention back as he spun around to see his attacker confidently walking towards him, a large axe casually resting on one shoulder with his other arm hanging loose at his side.

  He was wearing the same bestial armour as the other men attacking the village. Thick, brown hair protected his neck like a king’s mane, while his savage grin exposed several sharp and crooked teeth.

  A mocking tone slithered from his tongue as he spoke.

  “Hen sm?’a tehm ??aner.”

  Ka’Tehmn could feel his heart pounding against his chest, the blood echoing in his ear as sweat started to stick his fingers together.

  Run.

  His body wouldn’t move.

  He watched the man get closer. Step by step, as all the sounds seemed to fade away into silence. His vision slowed down as he watched the man raise his arm, his fingers reaching out for his throat, growing larger and larger as it drew closer. Closer, until it was only a hair away from his throat.

  This was death.

  But it never reached him.

  Ka’Tehmn felt himself get thrown backwards. A huge shadow - barrelling past his left - collided with the brute in front. He barely heard the shout of pain before it was swallowed by the echoing screams and burning wood that filled the air.

  “HELP?”

  The voice of the large, angry man from the morning shouted at him.

  MOVE YOU IDIOT!

  His mind cut through the strange paralysis. Kneeling on the ground, he realised he could now move again and looked up to see the half-giant standing over the strange brute, a long knife buried in the now-dead attacker’s chest.

  “HELP EVERYONE. KUR SLEV MNOK TELK, POLNIK KYIV TREEK!”

  The large man pointed to the side, shouting some of the words Olthello had taught them during the day. Then he switched to his own language. Ka’ struggled to understand him, needing a few moments to try and guess what he was saying.

  He wants me to help the others?

  “Help everyone, yes.” He replied in their shared language. With a nod, he watched the larger man effortlessly heft the axe, surprised at his speed as the large man sprinted towards another house, no doubt to aid someone else—or kill another foe.

  He didn’t want to know which.

  He realised his right hand was held against his chest. Ka’Tehmn closed his eyes as he focused on the rise and fall of his chest, slowly withdrawing himself from the surrounding chaos. First, the light vanished, then the noise, then the smells and taste of the air. He only focused on his breathing - on fixing what he could control.

  After a few moments, he calmed down and rose to observe his surroundings.

  Counting the surrounding wall, over half of the village was ablaze. The walls were still burning, but the houses were far enough away that it wouldn’t spread to them. Ka’ observed that the few houses that were on fire were close to the village exit on his right, where the attackers were coming from.

  The attackers had already swarmed the closest homes. They left those houses ablaze, or with the doors shattered and broken. Ka’Tehmn saw a small group of villagers huddled by one of the first homes attacked, surrounded by a swarm of armed men.

  Weirdly, he noticed that each of the attackers was wielding a different weapon.

  Are they trying to capture us?

  Why? Who are they? What do they want?

  He shoved aside his curiosity as a more urgent question clawed its way to the front of his mind.

  Are they willing to kill us?

  As the question appeared in his head, a cold wind slithered up his spine.

  He noticed a few corpses sprawled on the ground. The sight of one attacker overpowering a villager by embedding his axe into their skull answered his question.

  Ignoring the grim sight and churn in his stomach, he continued scanning the village. The large man’s request appeared in his mind, but he quickly suppressed it, focusing on saving himself first. He saw several villagers running toward the largest house where the old man was staying.

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  Hazy memories resurfaced as the large house shifted in his mind—snow-covered, rain-soaked, shaking in the wind, under a clear sky, even half-built. The images appeared and disappeared, clawing for his attention.

  He had to close his eyes before the pain in his head subsided, and he could focus again.

  Through the haze, he spotted the old man shouting at a few people, trying to gather everyone toward the large house. A few people had the same thoughts as him, arming themselves with knives or sticks.

  Should I join them, or just leave?

  The question flickered through the back of his mind before he made his decision. He sprinted towards the large house.

  As he passed one house, he briefly glanced inside. A group of attackers crouched over the woman who had first tried speaking to him earlier. One looming over her, ripping at her clothes, while the other two held her arms and legs down.

  He didn’t stop running.

  Tearing his vision away from the woman, a strange guilt bubbled in his chest - but he didn’t slow down. The emotions flooded the many thoughts that came, pushed down by the severity of the situation. He was getting closer to the old man’s group.

  As he got further from the screams behind him, his heart pounded louder and faster until it roared in his ears.

  He heard the villagers’ shouts before he reached them. He didn’t slow down until he was about to crash into someone, his heart still loud in his ears.

  Despite the different languages, he realised they were trying to rally together for an attack. Most were armed with either pots or small knives. He saw a few individuals handing them out to those without any tools to defend themselves.

  His stomach started to grow heavy as he worried about what they were going to do with them.

  Then soft palms placed a blade in his hands. He didn’t have time to see who it was before they vanished into the ever-shifting crowd - likely to try arming even one more person with as much desperation as he had used to get here.

  Don’t think. Just move.

  He pushed toward the centre, trying to shout over everyone as soon as he got close enough to grab the old man for his attention.

  “What’s the plan?”

  “We’re escaping. Arm yourself, and don’t let them catch you!”

  He shouted rapidly, breaking contact and switching languages to rally someone else. The surging group pressed against Ka’Tehmn, trying to separate him from the old man.He pushed against them to stay close, competing with those around him.

  “Olthello!” The old man turned to him. “Can we escape?”

  The old man paused for a brief moment at the unexpected question. He stared into Ka’s dark eyes for a moment too long before turning his head to the burning village wall. Ka’ felt like he was looking at something beyond it, but he couldn’t see what, as people kept shoving against him, disrupting his focus.

  The old man turned back to him, his jaw clenched to the point of trembling. A strange look had settled into Olthello’s eyes, as if he had resigned himself and yet was still desperate for even the smallest possibility that he was wrong.

  “If it lets us.”

  Ka’ noticed the fear and trepidation in the old man’s voice. He stared at the man’s aged face, greying hair, and the creased wrinkles scrunched up across his forehead - as if in contemplation of something far beyond his means. That look sent a shiver up Ka’s back.

  Before he could understand what the old man meant, a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him off balance, letting the crowd surge around him and separate the two men. He barely heard Olthello shouting at someone else in another language before the roar of the panicked villagers swallowed the voice.

  Looking down, he felt the cold stone blade in his hands. Above, the sky was still dark, their surroundings lit only by the fire trapping them, casting light on the few burning homes beyond.

  Without having the time to think any further, he heard someone shout over the rest just before the large crowd began to push towards the exit. Surrounded on all sides, he was forced to run with the group.

  The group rushed for the exit. Ka’ was dragged along. The heat from the fire grew as they ran towards the now-ruined half of the village. His stomach churned again as he noticed the light from the fires was casting the attackers' shadows towards them.

  Several raiders emerged from the houses as the group ran past, either ignoring or pushing through them. They didn’t slow for those caught or who fell behind. Only the victims’ screams kept pace with them.

  Escape!

  That thought was the only thing on everyone’s mind.

  He tried to push himself closer to the centre, hoping to find the old polyglot. He managed to see him struggling to keep up towards the back of the crowd, hobbling as fast as his crutch would allow him.

  “Why are we under attack? Who are they?”

  Amidst heaving breaths, the old man tried to answer him.

  “I don’t…. Know… But I… Think they… Might be… Raiders!”

  “Raiders?” He called back in surprise.

  “Yes!” the old man wheezed, his face turning a shade paler as he started to drift closer to the back of the crowd, as the crowd continued its unrelenting charge.

  The village exit drew closer—and so did the raiders.

  A few people shouted at those who had been captured, perhaps urging them to resist or join the fight. He couldn’t understand the language—or see enough to know if it was working.

  All he could see was the people around him. He saw someone else talk to the man with the fear practically dripping from his voice, infecting the expressions of those around - even those who couldn't understand him. Even Olthello looked terrified.

  “What did he say?”

  The old man looked straight into Ka’s eyes.

  “He said… That this…”

  His eyes darted to something behind Ka’s head.

  “... Is because of the-”

  That’s when it happened.

  They met the true raiders - a far more merciless kind than the disorganised thugs that had broken down doors, started the fires.

  If the ones who first attacked were a group of wild animals, these people were far more monstrous.

  Ka’ realised this when the old man beside him had his head split open with a flying axe. Greyish brains and red juices splattered everywhere. The heat in the air, joined by the heavy smell of blood, threatened to overwhelm his senses. The taste of death and iron found its way into his mouth.

  “TA’M’N? TA ?AN A’ NADAS!”

  The roar of the savage raider deafened the charge as they began hacking into people to stop them from escaping. If they didn’t stop, they aimed for their heads. If they resisted, they aimed for their limbs. If they collapsed in fear, they were beaten to the ground.

  The smell was so intense that he struggled to prevent himself from vomiting.

  There was no mercy here - only capture or death.

  On one side, there was fear. On the other, conquest and rage.

  Ka’Tehmn tried to turn around, but the raiders from the homes they passed had already caught up, smiling as they now surrounded their prey.

  One of them charged towards him, their axe raised high and ready to swing as Ka’Tehmn quickly stepped to the side, narrowly missing the attack. He watched it strike the soft grass and sink into the ground, stuck.

  I’m saf-

  The charging brute didn’t stop at the loss of his weapon, crashing into him and knocking the air from his lungs as they collapsed to the ground. One atop the other.

  A pair of hands wrapped tightly around his neck. Tighter.

  Wild eyes and a savage grin glared down at him, like a demon relishing in violence.

  “A-Ack.”

  He couldn’t breathe.

  His heart drummed louder in his chest, building in his neck as if trying to aid in choking him. His hand squeezed harder around the blade still in his grip.

  Without thinking, he thrust the knife into the raider's neck as his legs thrashed about, desperate to scramble free.

  Pulling the blade back out, a crimson eruption painted half his vision red as it sprayed across his face.

  The raider lost his grip, his hands darting to his neck to try and stop the bleeding as he toppled over, allowing Ka’Tehmn to finally scramble away. Heavy breaths clawed their way down his throat as he felt the beating blood rush to his head, air filling his lungs.

  Slipping on the wet grass as he tried to stand up, Ka’Tehmn stared at his dying attacker. The few mumbled words were swallowed by the clash of battle around him. He looked into the man’s wide eyes, witnessing the last flicker of life slowly sink away.

  Dead.

  No different from any of the other corpses he had seen, yet he knew what made this one different.

  He did that.

  Memories surged back to his mind, overlapping with the image in front of him. He saw the grass green and filled with small flowers and the sound of chirping insects. He smelt the fresh aroma of a new year bloom, inviting him to sit and relax.

  Then the image swapped to a storm of snow and ice. The cold bit at his open wounds as he felt the chill permeate his whole body, gnawing through his skin and flesh to pierce the bones underneath. He began to shiver.

  Then he stopped. The image was now clear; a stark sky sprawled overhead in the middle of the day, as nothing existed around him. The village was fine, the people were missing, and all noise was absent. Only a peaceful stillness seemed to exist. It looked nice.

  Then he stared at the blood-soaked corpse in front of him.

  I need to run. I can’t be here!

  Stumbling backwards from the reality staring directly at him, he tried to distance himself from the kill, his kill. The bloodied blade slipped from his grasp and thoughts. His mind began to fill with a jumbled mess of emotions and panic. He felt the numerous memories and concepts pull together in his mind, overlapping his vision as they gathered into a singular tall structure.

  I need to escap-

  His thoughts were cut off as the blunt end of an axe buried itself into the side of his head. His body fell limp to the ground.

  His face hit the red-stained grass, too numb to feel the wet or the cold as it began to crawl over him. In his slowly changing blood-tainted vision, he saw the last few villagers stumble and fall to their knees. The raiders smiled as they loomed over them.

  And far beyond the village’s cage, the image of the white tower slowly emerged from behind the black cage. It floated high in the air as if gazing down on the carnage below.

  It looked exactly like the one in his mind—

  Only pristine white.