It was a normal night in Deerdew village and just as custom dictated, people were shaving away the late hours of the evening at the local tavern. Some where there because they had a long day of working the fields behind them and needed the type of respite only the taste of cool mead or ale could provide. Others were there to celebrate a birthday or a coming of age.

Others were just there to hang out with friends after being thrown out by their wives for coming home smelling of some other woman. And others...well, others were like the stains of wine on old wood. You could never really be rid of them and they lived their lives in that tavern like they were somehow afraid it would one day lift up its wooden skirt and skip town leaving them with no place to drink their days away...the horror.

In essence, it wasn't too dissimilar from any other tavern this side of the Razor Peaks.

As the muffled cheers and laughter of the patrons continued to pepper the otherwise silent and peaceful night air, a squeaky, yet extremely loud voice shattered the harmony of man and booze.

"Geraaaaaaaan! Get out here! Geraaaaaaan!" 

If this were any other situation, one would think the village is being attacked by beasts, bandits or some manner of monstrosity and someone was trying to raise the alarm. This, however, was just Bella Ager, a gorgeous and almost curvy woman with shoulder long black hair, exercising her talent of shattering her husband's enjoyment. A talent she honed over the years to the point of grand mastery.

As if on queue, the entire tavern started laughing and whistling, stamping their feet or smashing their mugs on the beaten down tables, all the while mockingly imitating Bella, to the embarrassment and dismay of her beloved "Geraaaan!".

From one of the corner tables, a decently built man stood up, with eyes a bit glazed and trying his best to not wobble too much. He looked almost like a tent, poorly erected, doing its best to not collapse on itself at the slightest breeze. His hair was short and messy and his clothes were that of a typical hunter, with mostly darker shades of green and brown...or maybe those were manure stains, one couldn't really tell with him.

"Ya *hig*, ya...have your fun, you lousy mongrels...that's love right there...true love *hig*...she can't stand to be without me and is calling me to her side *hig*. That...my friends is the mating call of woman in heat. *hig*"

No sooner had this overly romantic outpour finished in the poetic hiccup that it so much deserved, that all the voices in the tavern ceased, as if snuffed away like the flame of a candle. All eyes turned to the tavern door as it slammed opened like some god willed it so he could march in and enact righteous retribution on the sinners within. 

Only it wasn't a god, but the enraged, distorted expression of Bella, knuckles on waist, glistening in the lamp light and eviscerating her wobbly husband with her very gaze.

"Darling...there you are...*hig* I was just telling these fine people *hig* how much you love me and would never *hig* even consider going to sleep without me. *hig* Fear not! For I, in turn love you too and will be by your side shortly...wait for me in our love nest. * hig*

While some might have found Geran's whimsical monolog endearing, maybe even comical, Bella did not. Not even a little bit. She advanced like a mist, barely touching the ground as she did, while simultaneously grabbing a rather long wooden spoon from a nearby patron's hand, who I might add, did not react in the slightest, and was now right in front of Geran who was eying her like a beloved muse, oblivious to the gravity of his situation. 

"My sweet, my love...do you want to sit with me and..." wham! wham!

Blow after blow and spoon after spoon came crashing down on poor Geran's head and body. No areas were off limits, no place was there to hide, not even under the table as Bella held on to him like a shadow, wasting no time and taking every opportunity to inflict as much damage as possible at the now overjoyed and laughing crowd's delight.

Drinks were raised, cheers and whistles were had and everyone savored the show like they were watching the performance of the rare traveling circuses that visited those parts on their way to more wealth filled cities.

"Bella...auuu, my sweet Bella...aaaa, please...aghh...you don't have to be soo rough...aaahmmmmm, stop woman, or you're going to kill me...aaaaaaaaa!"

The show was impeccable and Bella was ruthless. While Geran did all he could to shield himself from the blows, he couldn't keep up with the whirlwind threatening to dismantle him.

They danced around each other, blow, block, blow, hit until they finally reached the doorway and both of them were too tired to move anymore. All they could do was breathe heavily and stare each other down. Bella with rage in her eyes and Geran with sheepish lovestruck surprise in his.

"Bella...darling, what did I do to make you soo angry? I mean, it's been a while since you entered the tavern after me...so I must have screwed up big time, but still...isn't this a bit much?"

It's true, Bella yelled and embarrassed Geran whenever he was drinking too late or made an error of some kind, but she very rarely entered the tavern after him. Normally she would dispense justice in the confines of their home, across the street. 

"What? You're asking me...WHAT?" The rage was building back up and fueling the warmachine in preparation for another attack. "What day is it, you lousy, rancid, flaccid excuse for a man?" 

This would have played out as it normally would, if not for the fact that Geran saw tears starting to pour down her lobster red face. Despite his alcohol riddled brain, he immediately picked up that this was not your normal squabble, as he'd only seen Bella tear up a few time in their life together. 

He slowly approached her, step after skittish step, like you would a wounded beast not knowing if it would accept your comfort or lash out and rip your arm off.

"Bella...I'm sorry...please don't cry...I'm just too drunk to remember what I did" His voice was sincere, although his speech was still a bit unarticulated.

"It's our anniversary...our anniversary, you pig! And you spent the entire day out in the woods and then instead of coming home to me, you decided to drink yourself away in this...in this..." and with that she let the water works out accompanied by the absolutely violent and overexaggerated gasps of the previously cheerful patrons.

To be fair to Geran and Bella, they should have been paid by all those in attendance for giving them the theatre performance of a lifetime complete with comedy and drama.

Geran's mind and heart were shattered in a million pieces as he stood there motionless not knowing how to react. From all sides he saw the plethora of faces staring at him. Some with disgust, some with anger and some with mouths wide open in shock at the careless and inconsiderate disregard he had for his own wife on their anniversary of all days.

Before he could even say a word and maybe because he didn't, Bella raised her head up, straightened her back like a soldier would in front of a commanding officer and shook the tears from her face like a dog shakes water from it's fur.

"And I wanted to tell you that I'm pregnant...and...and...I'm done with you!"

Gasps, murmurs and reactions of all kinds exploded in unison around them as Geran stood there like a stump, as if he had just been turned to stone by some magic spell. "I'm going to be...a father?"

Bella sharply made her way out around him and out the tavern, without as much as a side eyed look in his direction and that was it. The only one reasonably sober person there, was Geran's friend Alber, who ran towards him and grabbed him by his shoulders sharply shaking him back to reality. 

"Go after her you idiot, go, go!"

"Y...ya...ya, I'm going, thank you!" 

And as Geran wiped spit out of the corner of his mouth, he followed Bella in the street, shouting for her to wait for him, to stop and talk things out.

Before either of them could come up with more to say to each other, a whizzing sound crested over their heads and something hit the hay covered roof of their house. Then another...and another and before long Geran and Bella were watching as their roof was being engulfed in ever hungry flames. 

"Fire!..Fire!...we are being attacked!" Shouted Alber who was watching things unfold from the tavern door.

People started to rush outside both from the tavern and from some of the nearby houses and they could hear and see more and more flaming arrows begin to rain over their heads and onto the roofs of both nearby and faraway buildings. 

Geran realized immediately that their house was lost. Since this was clearly some sort of attack, they would not have the opportunity to try to save it, as they would need to either fight off whoever was attacking or run for their lives.

Bella was still standing in the street, some 2 or so meters from Geran when the alarm bells started sounding and the villagers started swarming in all direction, some mobilizing to save their homes, some forming up to mount a defense, but Geran knew that it would be all in vain. They were mostly farmers, not soldiers and they had no idea what level of arms the enemy was boasting.

"Run! Run for your lives! Leave everything behind and run for the woods! It's our only chance!"

Geran's voice traveled far and many villagers stopped whatever doomed plan they were previously following and decided to follow his orders instead. As for Geran, his duty to his fellow neighbors was done as far as he was concerned and all that was left was to take Bella and run. 

"Come, we have to run!" He didn't wait for her to comply, or for the rest of them to follow him, he just grabbed her by the arm and started running towards the woods with Bella barely keeping pace without falling.

They managed to turn the first corner of the street they were on before the first clashes of metal began spicing the already discordant sounds of panicked villagers and roaring fires. Geran knew what those sounds meant and had no intention to look back. All he could do was try to save Bella, that's all that mattered. 

Seconds later and with the alcohol still being in the process of clearing out of his body, Geran reached the final stretch of street before they could make a run for the stream and out the other side into the woods. He stopped for a brief second only to make sure no one would intercept them and to allow Bella a moment to catch her breath. 

"What is happening?" inhale - exhale "Who is attacking us?" inhale - exhale "And why?"

"I don't know, but we don't have time to..." gasp! And before he could even start running again he was catapulted back several meters by the trampling mass of warhorse in heavy armor. Saddled on the beast was a massive heavily clad and armored tower of a man. His plate was black and he wielded a mighty spear. The spear was ornate and adorned with a sort of red cloth dangling from where the spearhead meets the shaft. 

He had appeared from the shadows, around the corner of a house and charged straight into Geran who was now almost unconscious on the ground trying desperately to regain the wind that was knocked out of him.

Sadly, before his lungs started listening to him again, Bella's screams shook the air and Geran's soul in equal measure, as she was lassoed by the black rider who began dragging her back in the direction they had originally come from. 

Her screams were a mess of Geran's name and pleas for salvation and they faded slowly as Geran was finally able to pick himself back up and start moving back towards the tavern.

"Bellaaaaa! Bellaaaa! Give her back to me you bastard! Give her back!" His yells were spiced with the occasional cough as his lungs hadn't yet recovered and his throat was still irritated by some of the dirt and sand he swallowed when he hit the ground.

Fiery arrows continued to rain down as if no second would be allowed to pass without their sickeningly hissing presence. Close and distant screams of both terrified villagers and victorious attackers echoed from all directions. It was a massacre.

Geran continued to recover and accelerated after his wife's abductor, his intent unswayed by the blood and suffering around him. None of it mattered, only Bella.

"Belaaaaa! I'm coming! Gods, please....I beg you, don't do this to me...don't you dare take my Bella from me!"

Enraged and terrified in equal measure he finally reached their street and when he turned...there she was.

The world stood still and his heart stopped as he was greeted by the sight of tens of people dead and scattered all over, with blood covering almost every inch of the dirt street and casting orange reflections from the fires looming all around. 

In front of the tavern were 3 riders atop their horses and many others on foot, all clad in black armor with red patterns. They were all arranged in a semicircle facing him, with the riders in the middle and the other flanking both sides of the street.

Bella had a noose around her neck which was roped around the lowest heavy branch of their decades old oak. The oak grew in their yard and came almost all the way across the street to the tavern. 

He face was a mixture of terror and concern for Geran which resulted in no small amount of suffering for Geran seeing her like that.

She stood on top of the rider's horse, up right with the dark rider's face close to her waist and her noose was held by him.

"Is this your woman, hmmm?" called out the only rider without a helmet. He was a fairly young man, at around 30 years old, had jet black hair and was clean shaven. He appeared to be either noble of birth or some robber baron wannabe. 

"Yes...Yes...please let her go, we're just poor peasants! Please let her go! I beg you!" Geran fell to his knees begging and pleading looking at his dear Bella with tears in his eyes and his soul crushed.

What can a man do when outnumbered, outmatched and outmaneuvered in such a way? When the only one he loves in this entire world is held hostage in front of him and he is powerless to stop it? He did the only thing he could do. Beg.

"I'll do anything, please! Anything, just please let her go! She is with child!"

"Ha, hahaha!" The rider started laughing and with him the rest followed suit creating a chorus of soul-stabbing jests launched straight at Geran's heart and dignity. But none of that mattered, as he cared nothing for his dignity or his pride if Bella was in danger. He would take any slight, any jest, and any affront or abuse as long as it meant salvation for her.

"What could youuuuu, a lowly peasant, ever...ever do for someone like me? hahaha"

Despite the laughter and insults thrown at him by this madman or his thugs, Geran was instinctually focused on the horse supporting Bella. Every time that horse reared even an inch or shook it's head, Geran's heart would skip a beat. 

"Actually, you know what? Haha, maybe you can actually be of some use to me." Everyone stopped.

"What? What? I'll do anything?" Geran was desperate and in that moment the rider gave him that slim slither of hope, that small light at the end of the tunnel and he would seize it no matter what.

"You know...it occurred to me that the only thing you filth peasants are good for is...entertainment! So we'll play a game! How does that sound?" The chorus of laughter started back up when the thugs realized what their leader intended.

"A...game?" Geran could not believe what he was hearing.

"Yes indeed! You see, my friend here..." and he gestured towards the black rider holding Bella atop his horse "...will start moving back at my signal..."

"..No...please...no!" The last slither of hope was fading for Geran.

"Aaa, aaa, aaa, no interrupting while I'm speaking" and the laughing mob sprung into action again as if on command. "If you manage to jump and touch your woman as she's being lifted up, then he will let go of the rope and you'll be reunited again."

"Nooo...please!" Bella started pleading.

"I'll even throw in 100 gold pieces and let you both live if you manage it...mmmhmmmm, yes I will!" The sadistic intent and pleasure at what his mind concocted was evident in his tone and expression.

"This is not a game...this is murder! I won't play a game with my wife's life...there must be some other way?"

"Silence! If you refuse, I shall simply have my men take her one after the other while making you watch and then end you both...how does that sound?"

"You monster...you deranged psychopath...no...even monsters kill swiftly, you are evil, beyond evil!"

"Bla, bla, bla...choose or I will choose for you!" he said as he dismissively waved his hand about.

Geran could not believe his ears. This had to be some nightmare that he was failing to wake up from. No man could be this evil...what reason would the gods have to punish him so. And even if he deserve it for some unknown reason, how could the gods make Bella suffer like this?

"Tic, toc, peasant!"

"Fine...I'll...play your game..." At which point Bella started crying and sobbing more intensely "Run Geran...run my love...save yourself, don't trust this madman."

"Silence wench! Don't you see your man is ready to save youuuuu? he said in an overexaggerated mocking fashion.

Geran stood up and took a stance as if he was ready to start running which the leader interpreted as him being ready and whispered to the black rider something no one else could hear.

"Begin!"

Geran sprinted like an athlete into action, red dust lifting up in his wake, calculating the distance at which he would have to jump...meantime the dark rider turned around leaving Bella dangling as he began accelerating in the same direction as Geran. 

"No...you'll kill...her!"

Before Geran even had time to make it half way to where he would have to jump, Bella's neck was being squeezed against the branch that held her. 

Geran finally jumpsed with all his might and to everyone's surprise he barely managed to scrape the toe of one of Bella's feet before plummeting forward into the dirt. 

"What?" "he did it" "Amazing" "Talk about dedication" The thugs were murmuring at the display.

"CONGRATULATIONS! You woooon! Ventril, let the wench go!" 

The black rider let loose the rope and Bella's limp body came crashing down a few feet behind Geran who was just getting back up. The thud sent shivers down his spine and his heart was racing as he turned to see her motionless with her tongue out and eyes flushed with red.

If the rider would have moved slowly backwards, she would have had a chance of surviving the ordeal, but as the rider instead turned and sprinted, Bella was sharply strangled, tugged and launched into the air. 

"No...Noooooo! Noooooooo!" Shattered, he fell to his knees and crawled towards her, taking her head in his hands, cradling it gently and brushing her hair aside. "Bella...Bella...please, say something, anything. Chastise me...tell me how much of a good-for-nothing I am...tell me!"

And then he remembered she was pregnant...and the gods themselves shifted in fear as something deep and dark began to awakened in him.

The air grew silent as even the thugs were disturbed by the sight of this poor, broken man cradling the head of his beloved.

With a cheery, almost giddy tone, the leader broke the silence.

"Well, I always keep my promises, so here you go..." splash! a coin purse hit a pool of blood next to Geran and splashed a bit of blood on both his and Bella's face. "You really deserve it! As for us, at think it's time to get out of this rain...ta ta!" As he gave the order, the men started to silently move and follow him, some still watching Geran with pity in their eyes.

"What is your name?" Geran asked in a barely perceptible tone.

"Hmmm? My name?" The rider stopped right as he was about to pass Geran. "I am lord Evell Teriak. Ge grateful that you have been blessed by my presence! Move out!" and with that they marched.

The rain continued to fall, faster and faster eventually putting out most of the fires and Geran was in the middle of the blood and corpse filled street, protected from the rain by the heavy branches of the oak that Bella was just hanged from. 

Her blood soaked hair, weaved between Geran's fingers, was being washed by the rain and Geran simply stared at her face, expressionless, tearless. 

"Why? What has she ever done to deserve this? Gods...tell me..." But there was to be no reply. 

"Was she not deserving enough of your mercy and protection?"

"Are our lives soo meaningless that they can be snuffed away so violently and nothing in this world would feel the need to intervene?" it kept raining and not a single voice could be heard...godly or of the mortal realm.

"What good are the gods if they are powerless to intervene, or worse, indifferent?"

"Very well...if you will not answer me, then I shall take justice into my own hands."

"Bella...don't worry, I swear I will avenge you. But justice will not be enough...no. Since mercy is meaningless and the gods care not for us, I will inflict such imaginable pain and suffering on the ones who did this to you that the gods themselves will quake in fear at the very mention of my name. So brutal and so merciless I will be that I will force them to come down from their heavenly halls to try and calm my fire. And when they do, I will have them stand on trial before me and have them justify their lack of action. And if they fail...then I will take vengeance on them too."

And in that moment another monster was born.