As days and weeks passed by quickly, the leaves fell on the ground. This was an indicator that the next season, would be soon upon them.
During this period, Otto continued his training together with Iarra. In the morning, the archery training continued. As for the noon, it was aimed on improving his control with magic. Not wanting to lack behind, Otto also continued using the axe and occasionally swung his axe around.
Within the first 10 days of his training, Otto was already able to conjure a fireball with the help of the candle. Because of this, Iarra changed his training around. The focus this time was to conjuring a fireball without the help of anything.
As a celebration for his quick improvements, Iarra showed a method which would combine both trainings that they had. As it is possible to implement infuse magic into objects, Iarra shot a few arrows which were infused with her wind affiliation magic. Explaining the basics on how to infuse magic into arrows, Iarra told that their next training would focus on that aspect. The only obstacle was that Otto was not able to conjure a fireball without the help of anything.
During this time process, the wounds of Jordan gradually improved. A few days ago, he was even able to stand up again. With that, he gradually went back to work.
Because the colder winds started to pick up, there was a high necessity for firewood for the village. For this, the coming few days, Otto had agreed to help his father with the cutting of wood, so that they could prepare for the upcoming season.
…
"What is your opinion on your mentor? Do you like her? That wood elf?" Jordan asked, while they were walking towards the woods with Otto.
"Of course, she is really helpful. She thought me how to use a bow and also helps me with magic. I did not expect that there were such wonders out there." Otto was forthright. He did not hide anything, he sincerely loved to train with Iarra.
"I see. I owe my life to her, so I cannot complain. However, for some reason I feel that her stay might bring problems with them. I can only hope that nothing bad happens." Jordan said with a low voice. There was a certain hint of worry in his voice as he spoke.
Leaving those words behind, they continued their journey towards the woods. Occasionally a cold breeze accompanied them as they walked forward.
Their work in the woods was swiftly over. Before the sun was even at its peak, they had finished gathering sufficient wood. This would last them for the rest of the snow season. Glad with their progress, the two slowly made their way towards the village.
'Time is up…' the mysterious voice called out, out of the blue. Otto did not know what was going on.
There was a foul stench in the area as they were slowly tracking back. Out of the blue, Jordan stopped to inspect a tree. The cuts and marks on the tree did not look normal. It seemed as if a small battle took place in the area. Even small blood traces could be seen on the tree. Fearing that something bad will happen, Jordan quickly stood up and decided to make haste.
"What is going on father? Otto asked with a nervous voice. However without waiting for an answer, he spoke up again. However, this time the his voice changed from worry to fear. Pointing into the skies he spoke up, "Father, what is that?"
There was a thick black smoke plume rising from the direction that they were heading towards. The blackness was filling the skies in a rapid pace.
Looking at the direction that Otto was pointing at, fear struck Jordan. The direction that the smoke was coming from was the village. To be more specific, it looked as if it was coming from their cabin. Replying in an urgent voice, Jordan spoke up, "I don't like the looks of this. Those smoke plumes are from a fire. We have to hurry, your mother is alone in the cabin." After saying those words, they quickened their movement and left the sled at the spot and started to rush towards the cabin.
Having arrived at the vicinity of the cabin, they finally got a view of what was happening. The fire came from the workshop. Around the burning workshop a group of people were standing there. But there was no motion in them as if they were trying to extinguish the ongoing fire.
Looking around, Otto also noticed that there was a group of people lying on the ground motionless. Even the cabin door was broken, as if it was kicked in. The whole area resembled a small battlefield.
"Listen kid. You will have to r un towards the village chief's house and call for help. In the mean time, I will approach them and ask what is happening. We have to make sure that nothing has happened to your mother."
Nodding in fear, Otto decided to hide behind a small bush. Even though wanted to leave as his father told him, he decided to look at the situation before acting.
Jordan slowly approached the group of men that were surrounding the workshop. There was a brief conversation before the group started to burst into laughter. At that moment, two of them started to flank Jordan, as one slowly was unsheathing his sword. Before Jordan even could react, he got hit with the hilt of the sword and fell to the ground.
Having witnessed this, Otto turned around. He decided to do what his father told him to and started running towards the village chief's house. Having not even set one step, he was blocked by a large body. Hitting his head onto the person that was blocking him, he fell on the ground. Looking up, he saw a man who resembled a tower.
Before Otto was able to react, the huge man stretched his arm and picked Otto up from the ground. Trying to resist, he was slowly brought towards the cabin.
Entering inside of the cabin, the large man spoke up, "Boss, I found this one hiding behind a bush." With that he tossed Otto onto the ground. As he landed onto the ground, he noticed the unconscious body of his father next to him.
"Otto, no! You monster!" Anna screamed out.
Having a look into the room, Otto saw that his mother was restrained by two bandits. She tried to struggle, however she was being overpowered. Continuing his look around, he saw that Iarra was also in the room. She looked badly wounded and was tied up and gagged. The one that the large man called 'boss' was stooped in front of Iarra.
After taking a quick glance at the two newcomers, the boss turned back to look at Iarra and started to speak, "Where were we before we got interrupted? Oh I remember. Your ears." Saying that, he took out a knife and started to cutting on her ear.
"Mhph... Mhphh!" Only some muffled noise came out of her mouth, as it was gagged. Blood started to drip from her ear.
The boss was enjoying the situation. Bending down, he started lick the blood trail which was flowing through Iarra's cheek.
"You monster! Stop that!" Anna cried out, trying to break free from her captors.
"Enough already!" One of the bandits said as he slapped Anna. With the force of the hit, Anna fell on the ground. Looking back at the boss the bandit asked, "Boss, can we already have our fun with her?"
"Do what you want, just leave me alone with this thing." The boss replied.
Hearing the reply, a dangerous smirk formed on the lips of the bandits. Looking down on Anna, the two bandits started to forceful tear down the cloths on her. While one pinned her down to the ground, the other started to remove his trousers.
"No! No!!" Anna started to scream as her eyes were filled with tears. However not being able to resist, one of the bandits worked his way into her.
"Leave my mother alone!" Otto screamed out, as he tried to get on his feet. However, before he had the ability to do so, he was kicked in the back by another bandit.
Screams echoed in the room, as Anna was trying to struggle her way out. However she was powerless. The bandits on the other hand, were enjoying her body. Even a third bandit joined them, as he also slowly started to creep up on her and also started to work his way on her.
As anger filled his watery eyes, Otto lost control over his body. The strong anger like feeling started to build up in his abdomen. Heat started to enter his palms. Before he had realized, a small burning object was placed in his hands. Without realizing he had conjured a small fireball.
Consumed by the anger, he threw the fireball at the direction of the bandits that were enjoying the violated body of Anna. His only hope was that he would at least hit one of them. However to his disappointment, he missed his target. Instead, the fireball made a small explosion as it hit the wall behind one of the bandits that was thrusting himself into Anna.
"Ballsy one." The bandit behind him said as he kicked him again.
In the rage, Otto tried to conjure another fireball. As the fireball slowly formed in his hand, he had no target this time. Closing his eyes from the pain, he randomly threw the fireball at any direction.
The fireball missed again the group of bandits that were on top of the defeated Anna. However, to everyone's surprise the ball hit and exploded on the face of the boss. As a burn mark formed up on his face, the boss shouted out in anger. "Argh!" Holding his wound he continued, "Look what this little bastard has done!" Removing his hand a Scar could be seen around the left eye of the boss.
With anger the boss made his way over to Otto, and started kicking him in the stomach.
Feeling his breath escape, Otto looked over the direction of his father. Tears filling his eyes, he tried to reach out as he faintly called him out, "Father! Wake up! You have to help mother! You have to help Iarra!"
The boss stopped his kicks as he was watching the desperate situation that Otto was in. A smiled formed on his face as he turned around to pick up his sword. Sheathing the sword, he walked over to the body of Jordan. Looked over at Otto, he spoke up with a dangerous voice, "Do you mean this corpse?" With that he lunged his sword into Jordan.
Drawing his sword back, blood spattered everywhere. However the anger of the boss was not faded as he stabbed the body again and again, to make sure that he would stay dead.
In a desperate struggle, Otto tried to reach out to his mother, who was now being beaten and violated by the group of bandits.
"Mother…." Otto called out with a faint voice as his eyes shut down.
…
As power slowly was entering his body again, Otto could hear rumbling and shouts, "Boss, we are about to get surrounded! We need to get out here as fast as possible!" Trying to open up his eyes, he saw that the bandits were trying to gather things up.
"That stupid elf. Because of the fire she created, the patrols are upon us earlier than I wanted. We have to leave before they arrive." Picking up his pants, he continued to order, "Take the body of the elf with you. Her corpse will get us a hefty reward."
"What about the woman? I have not yet had my fun with her."
"Leave her be. She will slow us down. And you can always have your fun with the elf anyway."
"What about the kid? His magical essence has also activated, we can sell him too."
"Forget about it, it will slow us down, we have to leave now!"
With that, the bandits rushed out of the house dragging the lifeless body of Iarra with them.
Hazily, Otto tried to look around a bit. He noticed that he was covered in a pool of some thick liquid. Taking a closer look, he noticed that it was the blood of his father. Shocked by this, he struggled to get on his feet. However, because his body felt heavy, this did not work out.
Continuing looking around, the whole house was in a mess. Quickly looking at the direction of his mother, he noticed her naked body having deep cuts in it. She was lying there unresponsive. The lights in her eyes faded.
Trying to crawl to her side, Otto made his way slowly to her side. Arriving at her side, he saw that there was no light left in her eyes. She had not died, however her spirit was crushed, as she had been violated countless times by the bandits.
Hugging his mother, Otto could not help himself from crying uncontrollably.
Moments passed when a group of militia rushed into the cabin together with the village chief. One of the militia could not help himself from throwing up after seeing the situation.
…
Days passed by slowly. The reason behind the sudden attack was still a mystery. The best explanation the militia could come up with was that someone had ratted out the location of the elf, Iarra, to the bandits, who came there to hunt her down. Elves were a highly sought after ingredient, because of their high magical acceptance.
As things started to wrap up slowly, Jordan was put into the ground. Otto and Anna were lifeless after witnessing that shock.
As the snow started to fall, Otto was the first one who pulled himself together. Feeling guilty that he was not able to protect anyone, he decided to train again.
Another month passed by, as Otto finally could do things properly again. There was still a fear and trauma of the event that unfolded, however it did not affect him as much as before.
Going down to the village center to buy some supplies, Otto made his way to the cabin in a quick pace. As his mother was still in a state of shock, he was the one that did the majority of the chores.
"Mother, how are you doing?" Otto asked as he entered the cabin. Yet the scene that welcomed him was rather dark. A few citizens of the village were standing in the room in silent. They all had a depressing look once they saw Otto enter.
Feeling something amiss, he rushed over to the room of his mother. He rapidly opened the door and rushed into the room. What he saw next, made him drop to his knees. His mother's lifeless body, dangling from the ceiling.
"AAARRRRGGHHHH!!!!! Motherrrr!!!" Otto screamed out of his lungs as he got back on his feet and rushed over to the body of his mother. Hugging her feet he tried to pull her out of that situation, just to be stopped by the village chief.
"I am sorry child. I truly am."
...