Ch 0 : Prologue

Fire.

It was all crumbling down.

People screamed in agony behind her as the outer sections of the old manor were burned and razed to the ground.

Those found within were slaughtered with no mercy. Men, women and children alike. Any valuables found along the way were taken, and all those that would make for useful manpower were taken from the injured and the dead with no consideration for their mental state whatsoever.

In the midst of the chaos she crawled from the rubble of what once was the stables of her home. The horses had noticed the strange presence of the soldiers that infiltrated the state before the attack started, and she had come out to see what was getting them all so panicked.

Little did she know, this mere act of sympathy for these animals had possibly saved her life.

As she crawled out of the rubble, her clothes dirty and covered in mud, her hands scraped and already bleeding from splinter wounds and grazes that cut open her soft skin. Luckily she had worn something more or less comfortable to get out there in the middle of night, so she wasn't caught on any corners, under any weights or pierced by any particularly sharp rupture of wood or cobblestone.

Once she was on her feet, and the weight of the situation was starting to truly hit her, she turned around and looked at her old home. She could see stains of blood covering the ground, the windows, and the gate at the entrance. The screams of the people around her confused her young mind, but they made the situation much clearer.

She had to run. If she didn't get a head start while nobody was looking for her, then maybe she could save herself.

But what of her family?

Her younger siblings still remained within the manor, as did her mother and father. She couldn't just turn around and leave them right? Since she was the oldest of the children, it was her duty and responsibility to take care of them. Or at least so did her parents taught her ever since her two brothers came into this world.

With innocent intent in her chest, the girl ran towards the manor. As she ran, the screams became even louder. They started to hurt her ears, but she really didn't have the time to help anyone else right now. As she rushed into the main entrance, she found herself lucky since the assaulting knights had yet to fully cover the hallways of the house.

Remembering the direction of her brothers's room, she rushed the stairs. Crawling almost on all-fours as she sprinted upstairs, she ran towards the left wing of the manor. There, she could hear the sounds of footsteps, the familiar sound of clashing metal, and pleads for mercy. Maybe she was too late.

With her breath running ragged, she finally reached the room she was so determined to reach. There she saw the worst scene she could've possibly witnessed. In the ground, laying dead in the middle of the chamber were the corpses of her mother and two brothers. On the far end of the room laid her father, sword still in hand, clenching his stomach due to what seemed to be a disturbingly large wound.

She froze. Several other knights laid dead all around. Those belonging to her family, de Lyonne, and those belonging to another banner. A black crow carrying a set of keys on their beak. It was the coat of arms of someone she knew, but the thought didn't cross her mind. Instead only tears covered her eyes as she rushed her father, the only member of her family that seemed to remain breathing and somewhat conscious.

"Father! What happened?!" She almost screeched out in pain, as her lungs started to burn due to the lack of air. She knelt in front of her father, and pressed her hands on top of his, maintaining pressure on his wound, as useless as it was.

"Eliza....You must....run....It's not....safe...-cough-" The man coughed up blood, the mixture of saliva and blood landed straight on the girl's lap, but she paid it no mind. Instead she merely started crying, this was all too much for her.

"I can't leave you!! Mom....Edward and Daniel are also....I don't know what to do! What's going on?!" Despite her usually mature attitude towards situations of stress, seeing your family's corpses does mix up one's mind.

"Take my....sword....And run....You remember...The forest road, yes?....Eliza, my dearest daughter...You must....survive....I can't....stay awake much longer. Dad is getting sleepy already...."

"No...no no no no! Please, Dad! Just stand up, we can go together! We-we can-" The sounds of footsteps caught the girl's attention. The knights were getting closer, it wouldn't take long for them to find the bloodstains nearby.

The man noticed as well. As tired as he was. As injured as she was....Raphael remained a determined soul at heart. He used up all his strength to put his sword on his daughter's hands, freeing his wound from the pressure, and feeling life being drained from him.

During his last moments of clear conscience, he spoke his final words.

"Eliza. Take my sword. Run and do not look back, understood?.....Ugh.....Do not trust....Carnhalt....Go North...To Duke Richstein....He will know what to do. I'm sorry I can't....See this done....Please....These are my final moments....Can I get....a smile before....I....Go?...."

The girl froze for a moment. She realized what his words meant, and what she had to do. With a nod and a long deep breath, she offered her father a little smile. The kind she often showed the few moments of the day she allowed others to notice how she truly felt. The same smile she had the day her brothers came into this world. The same smile she had when her father praised her every now and then.

"I love you, Eliza....Please remember that..."

"I will, Dad...Dad?"

He no longer responded. The girl tightened her grip on the sword's blade, her hands threatening to cut open as she pressed her already injured skin on the still sharp blade.

The sounds of increasing footsteps took her back into reality, and Eliza stood up.

"I love you."

Were the girl's last words before she fell silent and turned on her feet, sprinting outside into the hallways once more. Heading for the main stairs would only get her killed, she knew as much. The fall from a second floor would be too large for her to bear at the moment, but the left wing did have a special set of stairs located within the servant's rooms. That would be her escape route.

Rushing through the hallways she knew like the palm of her hand, Eliza quickly made her way into the secondary set of stairs, her feet catching onto each other and forcing her to tumble half of the way down. Luckily, she was lucky enough not to be injured by the fall. Instead she merely received a few more bruises on her arms and legs.

She crawled into her feet again, but something called her attention.

"I heard someone this way!"

"You two, follow him! The rest, clean the right wing and make sure nobody escapes!"

""Yes, sir!""

The knights were right on top of her. She didn't have time.

With not a single to moment to spare in order to take any supplies, Eliza turned towards the backdoor of the first floor. It lead into the backyard garden, one which had a dirt road that subsequently lead into the forest. It was, approximately, one-hundred meters of open plains before she could reach the edge of the forest.

The outside was illuminated, a patrol or two of knights seemed to be very aware of this location, and they seemed to be changing turns watching the area. Eliza may be deeply confused and dazed right now, but her survival instincts remained pretty much active and awake. She knew she had to run, and there was no way back from there.

With the knights approaching from behind, she took a heavy breath to get as much air into her lungs as possible before she gets ready. And once she notices the patrol in the middle of switching positions, she runs.

Five meters.

Seven.

Ten.

Fifteen.

She managed a whole fifteen meters before she was noticed, a Knight looked over in her direction and yelled.

"We got a runner!"

"On it!"

""Don't let her escape!""

Two knights responded to her attempt at a escape. One taking out an arrow and notching it into his bow, and the other charging against her with a sword in hand.

Eliza believed there was no way out of such a situation, but with his partner running in a straight line before him, the archer was having trouble aiming. All it took was a stroke of luck, quick notice, and a little push.

The girl had stopped in place, allowing the knight behind her to also slow down aggressively, before the released arrow of the archer hit him in the back of the neck. The wooden shaft crossing halfway through his throat, splitting his neck in half and effectively killing him in the act.

As the corpse fell on its knees, the girl kept running. The archer called for help, but the other knights had already switched positions, and now just another one remained. She took an arrow and notched, pulled and released.

Eliza was lucky these soldiers weren't very good, probably the reason why they weren't trusted to clear the insides of the manor maybe. The arrows kept wheezing past her or grazing against her skin, but never actually hitting her. There was no telling if the fact she was still a kid was a factor, and these soldiers were actively trying not to kill her, but she paid it no mind.

Instead, she kept on running, and running, and running.

Until she could run no more. And then, and just then, did she realize she had made it all the way to the middle of the forest.