Jodou1

He awoke the morning after to cries of pain and the roaring of flames. Quickly he grabbed the weapons he had made himself and rushed to fight. When he arrived outside he witnessed a scene far worse than any of the attacks previous.

As he stood in shock he didn't notice the man charging at him, he took a club to the side of his head and fell to the ground.

Audear awoke not to the cries of pain or roaring of flames but to the absolute silence that had engulfed the village. He scanned his surroundings and found himself in the burnt out shell of a house. He reached for the spot on his head where he had taken the hit, and found a bandage. Observing the others in the room he saw only a few men, women, and children all tending the wounded and most themselves were wounded in some way.

No one said much to him, about how he survived or what happened after he fell unconcious. Most probably blamed him for the attack anyways. He came to the conclusion that lying on the ground covered in blood, the bandits presumed him already dead.

After gathering what strength remained to him he stood and walked from the building. He was prepared to see a beaten village but nothing like what his eyes took in. The scorched walls that he woke up in compromised the only building left that could even be considered a building.

His wife and son were not in the small house with everyone else, he had hoped that they ran into the forest to hide. Hope was all he had left to go on at that point. Looking at the city, bodies weren't just scattered along the ground, they were hung from the still standing walls, body parts missing from most.

Fearfully Audear walked through the remains of his life, until he reached what he feared most. A wall dedicated to him by the raiders. His mother, father, brother, wife, and son were all mounted onto one wall. Daggers and swords pinned through their bodies to hold them up. They were slit open so that their insides would spill out.

So many things ran through his mind, the day he started the defense force, his wedding, the night his son was born, and his trip to Lacelus to find help. The question that resonated through his mind the most though, was why he didn't have a place on that wall. If they thought he was dead too, then why didn't they pin him up there as well. He fell to his knees and started whispering through his sobs "how?" and "why?" he asked knelt before his family.

Her voice nervously reached Audear "Because they wanted you to see it." A woman stood behind him telling her story. "I heard them talking while I hid in the bushes, they were going to kill you. Then their leader decided to find out who your family was. Bryer told them everything about you, and they killed him anyways. Then they rounded up everyone who didn't escape."

"Was there much pain?"

The woman grew silent at his question, turned her head downward and began sobbing. "They were still alive when it happened. They were forced onto the wall and pinned there. Then like animals one by one he cut them."

At her words Audear cried uncontrollably. The entire night he wept, vomiting occasionally. He blamed himself more than anyone else ever could have.

When day broke Audear conferenced witht he other survivors. Most suggested rebuilding the city and bargaining with the raiders. Audear however knew that they would only destroy anything he built. So they concluded that their best option was to find a new home.

Most villages refused them for fear that the same thing would happen to them. It was nearly two weeks before the survivors of Vira came across a warrior clan settlement. The chieftain was exceptionally brave and embraced Audear because he had realized the same things Audear had.

The royals ignored them, the raiders took everything which they could carry, and nothing was changing. Audear's move to defend his home was what gained him the respect of the clan.

"The other villages fear change, they fear conflict. yet they suffer and die by doing nothing. Someone is needed to challenge the way things are. I know that you're hurting, that you've lost a great deal. What you stood for though should not be lost, especially after what it's cost you." The chieftain's words frightened Audear. He was cautious at the thought of repeating his mistakes, but more than fear or caution Audear felt a burning desire for revenge.

"I'll lead your men, but I have a request."

"You wish to take the men and kill those who destroyed your village." The chieftain knew what was in Audear's heart before he worded it. Audear nodded in affirmation.

The chieftain encouraged Audear to fight but warned him that revenge would not restore his lost heart. Regardless Audear only agreed to lead the men if he could seek it out. Reluctantly the chieftain granted the request, and Audear set out to track the raiders.

It was a few weeks before Audear returned to the village with the knowledge of where the raiders were. From there he led his army and marched towards them. One of the survivors of Vira marched along side Audear waving a flag with the symbol of Vira on it.

With fewer men and less equipment, Audear and his men attacked the raiders' camp. They slaughtered dozens before the others even reached their weapons. Audear ferociously tore through every man he came across. The fight didn't last long, many bandits fled the battle, and those that stayed were not prepared for the men of the warrior clan or Audear's rage.

At one point Audear found what he wanted most, the leader of the bandits. The memory of his family on that wall etched into his mind he quickly disarmed the man and flung him to the ground. He beat him with the hilt of his sword until he fell unconcious. Shortly after that the raiders were scattered and beaten completely.

Audear sent the rest of his men home, and promised to follow a few days behind them.

He took the bandit leader and chained him up. The bandit awoke in a cart drawn by horses, with Audear leading them. He could not discern where exactly they were from his place in the cart, only that never once did the cart stop until it reached Audear's destination.

Once they had stopped Audear walked to the back of the cart and ripped the man from it. The bandit knew well where they stood at that point, the burnt out village of Vira.

Audear grabbed the man and begun to drag him through the city until reaching a burnt wall with five gravestones nearby. "This should look familiar to you, it's where you took away my family."

The man knew now why he was brought there and he tried intensely to escape. He pulled on his chains, tried to attack Audear, but Audear simply struck him down. As he lay on the ground Audear knelt down and released his chains.

The bandit took this as a notion of his freedom and stood slowly. He looked at Audear who had his head turned towards the graves. Quickly Audear spun and grabbed the man by his throat and forced him back onto the wall.

Along Audear's belt he had many daggers and swords. He took a dagger from his belt and forced it throught he bandit's right palm into the wall.

"That was in my brother's hand. He was going to practice medicine next spring, be a healer when he came home."

Audear then had to restrain the man further as he swung and struggled to get free. He let out curses and cries for his life but Audear was unable to be stopped. Audear took a sword from his belt and drove it through the bandit's right shoulder.

"I took that from my father's shoulder. He fought in more than one war in his youth. He fought for Lacelus and they ignored us, he was a knight at heart, to die like this wasn't honorable."

Next Audear grabbed a dagger and forced it into the man's left palm.

"I had to pull that from my child's hand. He would cry if a bee stung him, or he fell onto rocks. I asked myself, what kind of monster could bear the kinds of cries he must have made that night, knowing they were causing them, and continue to cause them? He must've wondered why I wasn't there to save him."

At this point the man could only beg over and over to be released. Audear wouldn't pay attention though. He pulled a sword from his belt and drove it into the left shoulder.

"My mother's body held this one. She was so gentle, she would just garden most days... She hated seeing blood, it made her sick."

Lastly Audear pulled a blade from his belt that the bandit recognized well.

"This blade is yours, I imagine it is the one you used to cut them open with?"

The bandit clenched his eyes and nodded, he then begun begging Audear again.

"My wife, she was beautiful. I remember being afraid when she was around, that I'd say the wrong thing, or I'd bore her. You know, this was her favorite time of year. She would always mention how wonderful the trees looked when the leaves changed colors and covered the ground. It's why the graves are facing the woods, she'd want to see them."

A moment of silence came before Audear placed the blade at the man's throat. He dug it in and slid down through his torso. Audear spent that night in Vira at the graves his family lay in. The next day he rode to meet his men back home.

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Okay I am cutting it off there, it is the strongest point in that chapter and I am tired of typing atm lol. The rest of the chapter is just about how Vira came to be rebuilt, warred with and eventually became Lacelus' rival in power.

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“Infidelity does not consist in believing or in disbelieving: it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe.”-Thomas Paine