“Hurry,” barked Ludwig.? “We need to go now!”
Ludwig’s tension was worn on his face. His son Erhardt wasn’t back yet, but it was only a matter of time. The story of Masden had reached all the way out into the countryside. The stories said that they were impaling the people outside its own demolished walls. They also said that the women and children were being enslaved.
The most terrifying story was the one that said the mercenaries were spreading out through the countryside, burning and plundering as they went. If that was happening, there was only one thing to do, and that was to flee.
“Ludwig, I don’t like the idea of leaving,” came his VERY pregnant wife Inga.? “The children, our sheep…there’s too much.”
“Do you think I like leaving, woman,” he quipped.? “I don’t want to go, especially when you’re so close to giving birth. But if those mercenaries get to you…”
He left the sentence unfinished. Mercenaries had no sense of decency or honor. Erhardt was old enough that they might kill him. His two daughters…the thought of what they’d do to a 12 and 14 year old girl made him shudder internally.
He remembered back when his grandfather would tell stories of the wars between the cities. It didn’t matter whose side you were on. You learned to fear the soldiers and mercenaries that came to your house. They’d simply take what you had “for the cause” and run you through if you gave them trouble. They’d even take a daughter or a sister for a job as a “camp follower”, which of course was simply another way of saying “whore”.
No…he was no soldier, but he wasn’t going to let his family fall victim to that kind of stuff. It was a stretch, but the forest around them could provide. He was a fair shot with a crossbow, and he knew how to hunt. The girls could help their mother gather the rest of what they needed.
It was a shorter trip Klausburg, but they’d run a greater risk of running into mercenary forces. All the roads they could take would pass too close to Masden. No, their best option would be to try and make a crossing at the Susswasser River. There were villages near the city of Bahn they might settle into, and rumor had it that Rayna, Queen of the Sword was near. He heard good things about her and her army. Maybe—
He was distracted by a bright flash of light roughly east of them. It was sun bright…but it was almost noon, and the sun was already up.
“Ludwig, what is that?”
He had no answer for his wife. Nothing he had ever experienced before gave him any reference as to why that was happening. Maybe it was sorcery? Or the Gods? Perhaps…
“PAPA! PAPA!”
The high pitch yelling of his son jarred him from his train of thought. He jerked around and saw Erhardt riding his pony hard. The poor thing…but if Erhardt was riding that hard, it could only mean one thing.
“The mercenaries, papa,” he said breathlessly.? “They’re…at old man Heinrich’s house…”
And that was when he made up his mind.? “Alright, that’s it. We leave now. Love, get in the wagon. Elsa, Sara, join your mother. Son, you take the point.”
Ludwig of course would lead his prize bull that was pulling the wagon.
“Which way, Papa?”
“West road.”
He just hoped whatever caused that light wouldn’t cause them any worry.
Until the day he met his maker, Ludwig would ponder the bright flash that happened that day, and the incredible changes that happened afterward. Back then, he didn't know it—how could he—but on what was one of the worst days of his life, the world of Aertelle had just changed, and changed forever.
