Lenja woke from a gentle pat on the cheek. Sirid, the innkeeper's older sister, looked at her sadly, smiling. Lenja got up and felt how heavy her hands were and heard clinking noises. She rubbed her eyes and her head ached badly. She was chained up. Heavy cast-iron chains lay around both hands, and her legs were also connected with chains. Sirid looked at her as she struggled to keep her frame. "Little Lenja, they caught us. Your father was killed by the robbers and your mother too because she did not want to surrender. Almost all men are dead. The few guards are dead. The bailiff is dead. They have killed your old master after he burned some of the scum with fire spells. By the gods, nobody knew the old fool was capable of that. They ... they'll take us to Kenzobaran and sell us as slaves." With these words, Sirid lost her composure and turned away from Lenja, sobbing. Lenja's head hurt so much that she could hardly believe it. She only remembered that she had stormed out of the closet. She shook her chains and noticed Sirid watching her with tears in her eyes. Lenja's chain was connected to Sirid's and Sirid's to Olshafa´s. They were all sitting in the large square where the party was still in full swing the day before. Some of the houses were still on fire and the black smoke wafted the air with soot, leaving hardly any air to breathe. The slave hunters had neatly lined up horse-drawn carriages on the side of the square and loaded them with their prey. There were certainly around 60 carriages that were loaded with household items, food, fabrics and valuables. Lenja slowly became aware of the situation she was in and began to pull her hand vigorously through the iron rings to escape the bonds. But the ring was too tight. No matter how hard she tried, and her hands scrubbed bloody, she couldn't get any further. The slave hunters were probably very sure of their cause because nobody took any notice of her or tried to prevent her. Only Sirid watched Lenja and rubbed her own bloody wrists. "Lenja listen, you are not yet 12 years old and therefore it would be a goddamn curse if the slave hunters touched you. So you are pretty safe from them. Look around, our city is destroyed and everyone we love is dead. You have to live on! The mighty ones in Kenzobaran pay a high price for pretty pristine women from the Empire. If your new owner pays a lot for you, he will take good care of you. So don't let yourself go. Don't hurt yourself and take care of your hair." While Sirid was talking to Lenja, a slave hunter came up and hit Sirid in the face with his backhand. With a strong dialect and evil sparkling eyes, he growled: "Quiet old shag or you get it again!" Then he straightened up, pulled a whip out of his belt and popped it over his head. "Listen slaves, we are leaving now. You will do what I say and when I say it. If you try to escape, I will whip 5 of the others. If you attack us, we will cut off your toes. You will help yourself better each other and make sure that everyone adheres to the rules. We stop when I say it. If your feet hurt you keep walking, if you are thirsty you keep walking and now get up you dirty imperial pack!" The overseer let the whip slam over his head again and went through the women and children, who wailed and wailed. The horse-drawn carriages became tense and a semicircle of slave hunters armed with spears formed around the bound citizens, driving the crowd eastwards from the square. Lenja stumbled to her feet, sobbing, and saw her parents' house. The roof had collapsed and the thick bars it had carried were black with soot and burned down. They stretched like rotten teeth in the slowly lightening morning sky. Everything was lost. She was caught and would be sold. All of them. Those who had a soft bed and nice clothes yesterday. Her green dress was covered in soot and dust, and her hair was disheveled and sticky with blood and dirt. Then she was suddenly pulled forward, looked up and saw Sirid pulling on her chain. "Come Lenja you have to walk. Otherwise they will whip you right away. Stay with me"
Lenja's other hand was connected to Wahnild. But she made no sound. The 17-year-old woman doubled over in pain and staggered after Lenja with dead eyes. All around her the women were hurt, crying quietly and finally Lenja realized that her happy life was over. Tears ran down her eyes as she stumbled after Sirid. She brushed her hair from her face, rubbed the stones off her feet. She wore no shoes. The godless monsters had also taken these from her. And so the train of the desperate slowly went east. Behind them a group of horsemen who were drunken by the captured wine and in front of them the carriages on which they saw their belongings traveling abroad. Everything was lost. No Imperial Knight Guard would save them. None of their husbands would free them. They would have to do low jobs in slave service among foreign masters under the whip and be at their masters' will.
Rovan was woken up by a loud crack and roar. Wood had broken and an animal, perhaps a deer or a wild boar, had been injured, very close. Rovan got up and took a moment to understand where he was. His home had been attacked and defeated! He had to go to Uhlheim. Rovan jumped to his feet and stared into the forest. What was going on there? If a deer died there, he might be able to take the meat and eat or sell it. Otherwise, how would he survive the next few days? His stomach was already growling very threateningly. Bent over, Rovan crept in the direction from which the noises came and soon heard a rustle that did not stop. When he looked around a tree, he saw that a deer had broken into the ground with its back and hind legs. He tried to pull his body out in panic with his front hooves. As Rovan came closer, the deer picked up the smell and intensified his efforts in panic. But he did not come out and he was already tired. His eyes looked wide at Rovan and he turned his mighty antlers towards him. Rovan looked at the deer and suddenly got the wish to help the poor, injured animal. But how? He would hardly let himself get touched and if Rovan came close to the antlers, he would be impaled. He looked around and saw an old stump that was completely overgrown just a few meters from the head of the deer. The deer had apparently broken in a pit with its hind hooves. The pit was only slightly overgrown . Rovan walked around the deer at a reasonable distance. The deers efforts were already becoming weaker. When he looked town he saw to his regret, that the deer had stuck a root in his abdomen and blood was already pouring out of it. Rovan sadly realized that the deer could not be saved..
His father had always told him that animals should be given an peaceful death, because they are the only beings who were not able to commit evil. But how should he redeem the deer? He had an axe, but his strength would never be enough to kill the stag. He decided to look for a long branch that was thick enough to ram into the stag's throat. This would surely save the deer a few hours of suffering and keep himself out of reach of the antlers. Rovan went on looking for a thick branch at least half a span thick. It should be as straight as possible. Then all he had to do was sharpen it. Finally he found it and cut it to a step and a half. With the branch in tow, we went back to the pit where the deer fought for his freedom.
He had already stopped fighting with the front hooves. His eyes were exhausted and strangely sad. Rovan sat down on a tree near the pit and started carving. But when he was about halfway through, the stag's head fell to one side. Rovan got up and nudged the deer with the half-finished spear, but the deer did not react. He was already dead. Rovan looked sadly at the deer and was not entirely unhappy that he was spared trying to kill the deer. What now? He could try to get the deer's fur and meat. He had seen this often with his father and helped him with it. But this was usually done with a sharp knife, not an axe that had chopped wood for many days. And how should he do this at all? Half of the deer was above and half in the pit. Either he pulled him out, which was hardly possible for Rovan, or he pushed him down and disassembled him there. Rovan looked at the hole and saw that several roots reached deep into the hole. He could see the floor, at most two and a half steps down. If the roots were strong enough, he could climb down and up again on them. So he decided to push the deer down into the pit. He carefully placed the spear below the stag's neck and pushed against it with all his might. Slowly the body slipped back and finally fell backwards into the pit with a clap. Rovan took a sip from the water chisel and then went to the nearby tree with the exposed roots. He slowly let himself down into the pit. When his head was below the surface of the earth and he looked around, he was quite astonished, because this was not just a pit. The walls were overgrown, but they were once brick. He had found a collapsed tunnel. He looked excitedly in both directions, but it was dark in one direction. In the other direction, however, he saw a bluish glow in the distance that lighted the passage slightly. Rovan jumped the last half step next to the deer. What should he do first? See where the passage went or take the deer apart? Curiosity finally got the upper hand. Rovan walked cautiously down the aisle toward the bluish glow. The closer he got, the brighter the passage was lit, and he saw that the stones used to build the passage were hewn and smooth. They were made of white stone and gently reflected the blue light. Rovan saw a lattice door a few steps away that closed an archway. Through the door he saw a pedestal on which stood an elongated stone block of about 2 steps. As he walked closer to the door, it suddenly crunched under his feet and Rovan jumped back in surprise. He bent down and saw human skulls in the shadowy light that lay on the floor in front of the door. An anxious cry escaped his lips and he crouched against the wall. His eyes flicked up and he saw signs written in the old language above the arch.
"Nurit Akash Mehentor"
Rovan could neither read nor understand this language. What kind of place was this? However, since there seemed to be no immediate danger, he slowly ventured closer to the door again, trying not to step on bones. He looked through the bars and recognized. that the room was built like a cross. The door was one top of the cross. In the other three peaks large incense bowls stood, in which a bluish fire blazed. This was the source of light in the room. Rovan flinched. Blue fire. He had never seen that before. It could only be magic. How long had it been burning? Obviously, no one had come here for many years if there were bones on the door. And how had the person who was lying here died? Then his eyes fell on the pedestal in the middle of the room. There was something on it, but he couldn't see it from his position. Rovan reached for the grille door and pushed against it. The door was heavy and only moved involuntarily. He had to lean against it with his young body to open it. The hinges screeched as iron turned on iron. The first thing he noticed was that the blue flames started to flicker. But Rovan didn't felt a breeze. Where should this come from? Great discomfort rose in him. He had changed something through his intrusion. And yet he had to look it up. He was drawn to this room. He just wanted to look and then quickly run off. He felt that something was approaching, someone was approaching, from far, far away. He ran to the pedestal. He saw that the stone block was finely worked and decorated on all sides with elaborate carvings. On the block lay a plate about half a step thick, the surface was covered with terrible reliefs. They showed bones, dead people and painful faces. On the plate laid a staff, the rod of which was made of a shiny black material. It tapered to the top and there were a large ring made of silvery shiny metal that was divided by 8 struts. Each of these struts had a T-shaped end, which was formed by a finely polished red stone. In the middle of the ring all struts hit a ball of mother of pearl coloured material. Rovan's eyes widened in wonder as he looked at the staff. He had never seen anything of comparable beauty, craftsmanship, and value. Next to the staff was a small leather pouch and a metal cassette. Rovan didn't think long. He put the leather pouch in his little pouch on his belt and picked up the metal case first. It wasn't too heavy, so he clamped it under his left arm and grabbed the staff with his right hand. When he put his hand around him and raised him, he felt that it was surprisingly light. But what surprised him even more was that he could have sworn that the red stones at the tips of the staff had flashed briefly when he picked it up. But his surprise quickly gave way to a feeling of growing discomfort and the blue flames began to flicker more. He urgently needed to get out of here. With the staff in one hand and the cassette under his arm, he ran out of the room, back to the cave-in. Once there, Rovan stuck the staff on his back through his belt and unwrapped the leather straps from his hands. He tied these around the cassette and tied it to his belt. Then he reached for the roots on which he had let himself down and climbed frantically up. He was scared. He didn't know why. Does anyone was angry that he had taken the items? Or had he caught the attention with his intrusion? He definitely had to get out of here. Once at the top he took his hand axe and started running. After a short time he decided to carry the cassette, because it always bumped against his legs while running. After he had followed the path towards Uhlheim for about half an hour at the edge of the forest, he noticed that fear had left him, that he could breathe calmly again and that the cold grip on his heart had eased. Sighing and with a growling stomach, he let himself sink to the ground at a tree, took the stick off and put the cassette next to him. He took a sip from his water bag and noticed that it also was almost empty. He urgently needed to reach Uhlheim. He leaned against the tree, spread his legs a little, and put the cassette in between. He opened the lid curiously.