3/1 Assault on Helms Valley

That night, Iysedin and Touren and their children were sleeping soundly when the attack came. It was an unexpected attack. At first, fire arrows landed on their straw roof, causing it to come ablaze. Awoken by the sudden light, Baldarov, the human servant that served Touren grabbed his sword and dashed out onto the courtyard. What he saw was a scene he never forgets.

Men dressed in black from head to toe, wielding swords were attacking the house. Touren was fighting three of them at a time while Iysedin stood a distance further away, engaged in creating a magical shield that protects her from the incoming fire arrows. But it was obvious the couple was having a difficult time. Baldarov charged at the nearest enemy and blocked a strike from another before disposing of him with an upward slash. Touren thanked him and told him to get to the hut to protect the children. Baldarov obeyed and charges straight into the hut, with Iysedin creating an opening so he can enter. Just as he was about to enter, he saw Vinon and Carlem with wooden swords charging out.

“Baldarov, we’ll fight too.” Vinon and Carlem shouted a battle cry and knocked some enemies down.

Baldarov was amazed of the strength of the two kids but he was more concern of the safety of the third child, Tuster. He heard a cry from Iysedin and realized that she was shot by an arrow. Touren was at her side, caressing her while another sword went through the couple’s bodies. They looked towards him and he could make out what Touren was saying, even though he could not hear what he said.

“Protect Tuster….” Those were his last words.

Vinon and Carlem knocked some more enemies aside before realizing that their parents were dead. Vinon grabbed his father’s sword after throwing away his wooden sword aside. In a fit of anger, he chopped off the heads of three incoming enemies in one arc slash. Terrified by such ferocity, the enemies stopped to hesitate. This allowed Vinon to issue a shout to Baldarov.

“Take Tuster to the river end.” I will go after I deal with them.”

Baldarov wanted to help but he knew there was no one to protect Tuster. Without any more hesitation he dashed into the hut and leaped across a burning log to the room where Tuster laid. Tuster was still there but he was crying frantically. The fighting must have frightened him. Baldarov grabbed Tuster and put him on a sling before carrying the whole thing on his back. He stopped to grab some bread before leaving through the back door.

The trek through the dense forest was harsh and without any light to assist him, it was even harder. Baldarov hugged the sobbing Tuster as he went through a thicket of thorns. He got multiple cuts on his face and all over his body and by the time he was out of it. His body was bleeding from the multiple cuts and his tunic was in rags. He stopped to catch his breath once he heard the sound of a steam close by. He cannot see in this dense undergrowth and he can only make out where he was walking by listening to the splashes he made with his sandals.

He finally reached the river end and the moonlight allowed Baldarov to finally take stock of his surrounding. There were the sound of crickets and the flow of the water as the stream he followed runs into the river. It was still pretty dark so it will still be a few more hours before dawn. There was smoke coming from the direction he came from and then followed by a massive explosion. Baldarov knew that Vinon and Carlem could not have survived that explosion but still managed a prayer for them to be well.
He took a look at Tuster. Tuster was still crying and Baldarov calmed him down. Tuster was unhurt from the thorns but he was in very bad shape. There were numerous cuts on his face his arms and his back. Blood was slowly flowing down from his left shoulder and right thigh. He torn some clothing from his tunic and wrapped his wounds as best as he could. It was starting to get colder and colder and he realize he was almost naked. Nevertheless, he still managed to cover Tuster up as well as create a better sling using his remaining clothes. Just as he sat down to rest and think of a plan to get out of this forest, he heard a loud growl from behind him.