The hounds tracked their prey relentlessly with their noses close to the ground, the scent of the fugitives compelling them forward. The half dozen guards flanking them focused their attention on the trail of broken limbs and trampled leaves that showed the path their quarry had chosen through the dark forest. There were occasional shouts, as other, unrelated physical signs were spotted, but the sombre Captain Kaellin told his men to keep focused on the task at hand, before becoming silent again.
    After nearly half an hour of following the hounds, the trees finally ended, and the guards were left standing atop a hill overlooking a long field. They stopped to orientate themselves, and their panting hounds sat down to rest. One of the guards spotted their quarry moving across the open field, and pointed them out to his companions, and then he allowed himself to be pulled forward by the slavering hounds once more. Another guard pulled a bow from his back before making his way down the hill.

    As he rushed across the open expanse of the field, the running man turned and yelled to his wife, "We have to keep going! The hounds won't stop until they've found us, and I'm sure High Consul Anstrom will have convinced Baldaur to hunt us down."
    "I hope we find shelter soon, Marlis. I'm getting tired, and Cristanos needs to be fed before he starts crying again," said the man's wife.
    Marlis gestured towards the lights of a village off in the distance and said, "Once we get to that village we can find food and shelter. I'm certain of it, Rose."
    "What village is it?"
    "Almes... I think."
    The howls of the hounds pierced the night behind them, and the pace of the fugitives quickened dramatically. After they had covered a distance of about fifty yards, a whistling sound, followed by a thumping noise, made them halt. A second whistling sound was heard, and then Marlis hissed in pain as an arrow pierced his arm. He yelled for his wife to keep running, and with strong hands he broke the shaft of the arrow in half, before pulling it out through the hole it had made. Then he started to run again, with a trickle of blood oozing from the wound.
    By the time he got to the first building in the village, a sharp pain shot through his spine, and he dropped to one knee. He touched the wound on his back, and felt that it was warm and moist. He looked at his hand, as he brought it forward and saw a crimson smear upon his fingers. His wife stopped and looked at him with fear in her eyes, but he slowly stood back up and told her he would be fine, and then he said that she should keep going until she found shelter. She nodded quickly and ran farther into the village. After watching his wife's retreating form for a few seconds, the barking of the hounds reached his ears, and he realised just how close they were.
    Marlis saw an axe sticking out of a wooden post a few metres to his right, and then he saw four of the most muscular hounds from the king's kennels being let free from their leashes. He instantly recognised the hound at the front by its colouration, and he knew that he would not reach the axe in time. So he braced himself, and grabbed the hound the moment it reached him. Then wrapping his arms around its neck, he lifted it off its feet and snapped its neck.
    He tossed the corpse aside, and knowing his chances of survival were extremely slim, he ripped the axe from the post. The slow trickles of blood going down his back helped him focus, and he tightened his grip on the axe. He let loose a cry of rage, and began running towards his pursuers.
    A hound jumped at him, and he split its skull with a single swing, as he focused his attention towards the men sent after his family. His mad rush carried him to the first of the guards, and he struck the man in the right side of his head with the axe blade. Blood spurted from the wound, as the guard fell to the ground with a cleft skull. Just then, another hound jumped up and sank its teeth into the shaft protruding from Marlis' back. He screamed in agony and dropped to one knee, as the growling hound pulled downward on the shaft, nearly tearing it loose from his flesh. Then other hound sunk its teeth into his wrist, and the axe dropped to the ground.
    Marlis looked at the guards standing over him and recognised a few of them despite the feeble light coming from their torches. With contempt in his voice, he shouted, "How can you do this to me after all we've been through together? How can you do this to my family? Do you have any idea what the high consul is planning on doing tonight?"
    Captain Baldaur Kaellin slowly stepped forward, and pulling free his sword from the scabbard at his hip, said in a solemn voice, "Marlis Ganon, you have been found guilty of plotting against High Consul Anstrom, and the only punishment in this kingdom for such a crime is death. Given your long service to King Mallif, however, I shall give you an honourable death, befitting a soldier of your calibre."
    Captain Kaellin closed his eyes, as he brought the blade of his sword down upon Marlis' neck. Blood sprayed from the wound and Marlis collapsed to the ground. Goaded by their handlers, the hounds began to tear him apart. Captain Kaellin watched the horrendous display with disgust, as he whispered, "May God have mercy upon your soul." The captain then ordered his men to pull the hounds away, and they followed his orders immediately. Turning towards the nearest guard, he said, "Give me your cloak." He saw the guard hesitate so he repeated himself. "I said, give me your cloak." The intense look in his eyes kept the guard from questioning him. "Thank you," he quietly said, as the cloak was placed in his hands. "Now I want all of you to head into that village and await my arrival before proceeding further."
    "Yes, sir," the guards said in unison, before turning to follow their leader's orders.
    As soon as the guards were out of sight, Captain Kaellin covered up the body of his friend with the cloak. Then he pulled a flask of oil from beneath his own cloak and poured it onto the shrouded body. Once that was done, he grabbed the closest torch he could find and carried it over to where his friend lay. With a prayer of forgiveness for his actions, and a prayer for Marlis' soul, he lowered the torch until it touched the edge of the cloak. He said a final prayer as he watched it ignite. Then as the flames began to consume the body of Marlis Ganon, the captain raised his sword above his head to salute his fallen friend. Once the flames began to die, he turned and headed into the village to finish what he had set out to do.

    Rose went from house to house, begging for someone to give her shelter, but no one would open their door because they could hear the hounds‘ baying. She finally located a barn with a partially opened door and quickly slipped inside. With a quick glance around, she saw assorted tools that she guessed belonged to a blacksmith along with a few piles of straw. She was looking for a place to hide herself when she heard the yelling of guards coming closer to the barn. Rushing over to the nearest pile of straw, she hollowed out a small space close to the wall, and gently placed the child into the hollowed space, a few seconds before the guards threw the door open with a loud creak.
    As quickly as she could, she ran towards a ladder on the other side of the barn and attempted to reach the loft. However, before she had climbed more than a few rungs, a hound grabbed the bottom of her dress and pulled until she fell from the ladder and landed in a pile of straw. The hound was then called away and one of the guards walked over to the pile of straw where she lay with eyes wide open and full of terror.
    The guard looked her over and flashed her a disgusting smile. He told the other guards to close the door and they hesitantly complied. Then he grabbed Rose, pulled her to her feet, and then forced her up against the wall. "Don't even think about screaming for help, wench." The guard said, as he tried to push her dress past her hips with one hand. He licked his lips and said, "She is a nice one, and I haven't had me one this nice for a long while." Then as he began to unbuckle his belt with his free hand, the woman grabbed a poker and thrust it through his boot and into his foot.
    "Don't touch me!" Rose screamed, as she twisted the poker with all her strength.
    The guard slapped her across the mouth and knocked her onto the floor. "You'll pay for that, wench," he shouted, as he pulled the bloody poker out of his foot-a grimace of pain on his angry face. Angrily, he threw the poker onto the floor and jumped onto the woman. "I always thought you were too pretty for Marlis," he whispered lasciviously in her ear, as he tried to subdue her flailing limbs.
    "Get off me, pig!" she shouted angrily, and accentuated her words by digging her fingernails into the side of her attacker's face. Her efforts were rewarded with another slap from the guard, as blood freely flowed from the deep furrows her fingernails left on his face.
    "I'll teach you not to resist me," the guard growled, as drool began to run from the corner of his mouth. He wrapped his large hands around her neck and began to squeeze, when he heard the sounds of the door being thrown open and one of his fellow guards gasping. "What's going on back there?" he asked, as he heard the approaching sounds of heavy boots.
    "I am ending your abuse of this prisoner," an angry voice replied.
    Recognising the voice, the guard said, "I'll be finished with her in a moment, Captain. As soon as she stops moving I'll let her go."
    Captain Kaellin shook his head. "You are finished now," he said in a voice brimming with anger, the sword in his hand still wet with the blood of his friend.
    The guard glanced over his shoulder. "She's just a prisoner. I've a right to do this."
    Captain Kaellin glanced at the bloody poker and the blood around the guard's foot. His eyes flashed to the gouges on the guard's face, and then he looked at the blood at the corner of the woman's mouth. "You will release her now." He tightened his grip on the sword until his knuckles turned white. "Do you understand me, Vareb?"
    "What are you going to do to me? I'm just trying to teach her a lesson." Vareb returned his attention to the prisoner, whose eyes were beginning to roll back in her head.
    Captain Kaellin took a step forward with his sword raised and he moved his arm until the blade of his sword was pointing at the insubordinate guard's back. He noisily cleared his throat, as he placed one hand on Vareb's shoulder, and said with a voice full of hate, "Disobedience is punishable by death." He then brought his arm forward and shoved the blade of his sword through Vareb's midsection with a quick thrust. Blood exploded from the wound, splattering on the woman's body, and then began to run down Vareb's chest and back. Captain Kaellin twisted the sword as he pulled it out, and watched as Vareb fell over onto his side to bleed on the floor. Then he cleaned the blade of his sword on Vareb's tunic before sheathing it. With a hard tone, he quickly instructed the two remaining guards to get their prisoner on her feet, and to bind her wrists securely.
    Breathing heavily, Rose shook uncontrollably, as she was brought to her feet. On her face, as she looked at Captain Kaellin, was an expression somewhere between gratitude and fear. Her eyes travelled downward towards Vareb's body, and she spat on the corpse while a rope was being tied around her wrists.
    Once she was restrained, Captain Kaellin fixed her dress and said, "Your husband is dead. I am truly very sorry, but he was already slowly dying from his wounds." He turned his head so he didn't have to face her, and said in a quiet voice, "I had no real choice in this matter. You must believe me on that." Turning to the guards, he hesitated briefly before giving the command, "Find the child if you can."
    "Where should we start looking?" asked one of the guards.
    Captain Kaellin glanced over at a pile of straw that showed signs of disturbance. "You two look over that way, and I'll look over in this corner," he replied, as he headed towards the pile of straw. He found the child easily, but he pretended to search for a few minutes. Then he pulled out his sword and stabbed into the pile a few times.
    "What's going on?" asked one of the guards, as he heard the captain‘s sword slicing through the straw.
    "I am completing Anstrom's orders," he replied, as he wiped off his sword.
    "What orders, captain?" asked the other guard.
    "He wished their child destroyed," Captain Kaellin replied simply. He returned his sword to its sheath, and walked towards their prisoner, who now had an expression of horror and disgust on her face.
    Before anything else could be said, a giant of a man with bulging cords of muscle entered through the open door carrying something in his right hand. He declared loudly in a deep, rumbling voice, "You're not welcome in this village. Return to your castle and never show yourselves here again."
    Captain Kaellin looked at the man. "Who might you be to give orders to the captain of the king's guards?"
    The man leaned against the massive double-edged axe he had been carrying when he entered, and replied, "I'm Harwin Vahrin, and this is my barn you‘re trespassing in."
    Making a guess that the man could effectively wield the massive weapon with one hand, Captain Kaellin slowly said, "I am Captain Baldaur Kaellin of King Mallif's Royal Guard, and I apologize for any trouble we may have caused you, but we were sent to retrieve this woman. However, given the mess that was made before my arrival in this village, I'll see to it that you are compensated for any damage we may have accidentally caused during our search." He paused to see if Harwin would say anything, but the large man simply stared at him. "We will now take this prisoner and leave your village peacefully." At a nod of agreement from Harwin, Captain Kaellin immediately led his men out of the village. The guards carried Vareb‘s body, and he led their silent prisoner.
    After Kaellin and his guards were gone, Harwin Vahrin heard a rustling in the straw and lifted his axe to his shoulder with one hand. He cautiously followed the noise, and found a small child surrounded by enough straw to hide it. Shocked at the sight, he leaned his axe against the edge of his forge, and with surprising gentleness for a person his size, he picked the child up and took it into his house.
    Upon entering his home he called for his wife and told her, "Essie, I just found a child in the barn. I think this is what those guards were looking for."
    Harwin's wife looked at the child. "We can't keep it. We should take it to the castle as soon as morning comes."
    "If someone has to send hounds to retrieve a child, it is safer with us."
    Harwin looked his wife in the eyes and said, "We have wanted a child, and this may be our only chance to have one of our own. You must admit that it's better off with us than it would be if we gave it to those guards."
    His wife looked the child over and slowly nodded. "There is truth to what you say, and he doesn't look like he has seen more than two winters-if even that many."
    "Then that matter is settled," Harwin said, ending the discussion.