What starts the conflicts of kingdoms like a deadly flame?
The desire for self-defence of one's homeland?
Helping people escape from the tyrant's rule?
Religious feelings that heated up countries to fight for their causes?
No... the only correct answer is greed.
Greedy and bitter like a disease possessing everyone, from the common people to kings and emperors, overwhelming Everyman with its effects. Bringing with a blood-rotten stench like a gale an omnipresent death across fields, forests, villages and cities, inevitable for ordinary mortals....
Is all this necessary for a piece of land? All this bloodshed? On how many spears and swords pierced, dying in agony and human lives burned alive does the conquest of land and wealth become no longer profitable?
Profitable? In such terms are the intentions of rulers, leading an unaware and innocent people, judged? Converting human souls and liters of blood like goods into acres of barren land and burned villages.
Something that for some is history, for others was a brutal and precarious daily life....
It all started with a fire.
A glowering flame that appeared from nowhere in the forest distant dark void. It is immediately followed by other flames blowing in the wind of flared torches brighten up the scenery of a dense forest of thin young trees with spring leaves slowly igniting from the flames emanating from the torches.
From a village near the forest, located on the border with the Leronia Empire, worried villagers about an unfamiliar source of light coming from the side of the border, began to go out in front of their homes to see what was behind it. Just after spending a while staring at a closer encounter with the light coming from the living flames of numerous torches, the villagers managed to behold something they never wanted to see in their lifetime...
Fluttering in the spring wind were bright blue like a summer sky and made of shining gold Leronian banners along with numerous armed soldiers heading their way. Terrified villagers, after realizing what they were facing, began to run to their homes to find their families and most precious belongings, but it was too late for that.... The Leronian Archers in the distance had already ignited arrows burning with fire and released the first salvo towards the village, spreading fiery arrows in the night sky like stars raining down on the homes of the families and their residents bringing them annihilation.
Instantly, forests and houses caught fire, and all that could be heard throughout the village were cries of pain, suffering and panic caused by the first losses of loved ones and Imperial soldiers coming their way. Complete chaos prevailed. One of the villagers who was hit with an arrow in his leg, howled in pain, pulled an arrow from his body and with his last strength did his duty and set fire to the coal baskets giving a signal to the Kingdom soldiers stationed nearby about the attack.
The Imperial forces managed to reach the village before the arrival of the Kingdom's soldiers, they instantly began a mass slaughter of innocent lives, slaughtering with their iron swords and spears the villagers along with their children soaking the dry soil with a stream of dark-red blood, burning houses, forests and looting the villagers' homes of their food supplies and secretly stored valuables. Any younger men and women who managed to survive the first salvo of arrows were dragged off like cattle as future slaves.
The few people who escaped from the village and ran towards the allied forces were under constant fire from the salvos of archers, at each whistle of arrows crossing the sky everyone's heartbeat further increased to the limit, and they begged the gods to survive.... Again and again with each swish more and more people died in agony from arrows.
During the fourth deadly salvo, Nerie, the mother of 6-year-old Kane, was hit in the back by an arrow, she fell to the ground screaming in pain. Knowing that she would share the fate of others, before dying, with the last of her strength, she controlled her scream and, with tears in her eyes, forced out of her mouth to her son only
"Run Kane! Run with all your might!"
Little Kane only began to cry even harder and hugged the corpse of his dead mother, one of the villagers quickly grabbed Kane's hand and pulled the screaming child to escape to the approaching Kingdom troops.
In the background could still be heard only the screams and shrieks of the unfortunate villagers who were experiencing a real slaughter, with each swing of the sword and swish of arrows, more souls of human beings began to die out like flames, leaving only bleeding corpses behind.
Due to accumulation of emotions and suffering from trauma, Kane lost consciousness and was taken away with the soldiers of his Forsteck Kingdom.
The Kingdom's army, after reaching the survivors and seeing from far away the slowly ending slaughter and burning houses, only prayed with bitter sorrow for peace for the souls of the dead and retreated to a nearby town, escorting with them the survivors who were exhausted from the constant running and crying.
News of the Leronia Empire's attack on the Kingdom of Forsteck quickly spread across the continent, letting everyone know of the coming war that could also affect their countries.