Valkyrie

Chapter 1: Orientation

400 years ago

A small village on a countryside was lit ablaze, the men were armed with torches, pitchforks and scythes trying to defend their village, but it was clearly a losing battle. An army of Kolbolds, dog-like men, marched the group of farmers. Over half the village had been destroyed, most of the young, the old and the women, were either eaten alive, chopped down or tied up and held captive.

The army of Kolbolds opened up in the middle of their formation and a grey-furred Kolbold with a scar over his eye and an armor made of bones came forward. He was mounted on a huge boar and armed with a sword the size of a man. He stopped in front of the group of men and got off his boar, then stood within arms reach of the men.

Dharr: "I am Dharr the ruler of Kolbolds! Most men don't have the privilege to so much as be graced by my presence before they are slain by the hands of my people, you should be honored."

Farmer: "Honored for what?! Getting our village burned down and our people slain by the hands of you mutts!"

Dharr: "You humans are so unruly, so uncivilized! You insult beings who are clearly superior yet wonder why you are always at war with one another! I came forward because I respect that you all would raise arms against us even though none of you are warriors. So I decided that if one of you can land a single blow on me I'll take my warriors and leave, I'll even free the captives we took from here. Now, have at me."

In an instant, Dharr swung his sword cleaving through roughly twenty of the hundred men. The farmers stepped back in fear as the grey kolbold slowly approached them. A young farmer threw his pitchfork at the kolbold in hopes of landing a hit but Dharr dodged it at the last second and caught the pitchfork in his hand. Dharr launched the pitchfork back at the farmer with a force so powerful it brandished through him and five other men.

The rest of the farmers let out a loud roar and charged the grey kolbold desperately hoping one of them would land a hit. In a nearby barn, a little girl with blonde hair was watching the whole thing through a crack in the barn door. She was terrified at the sight, with every swing of Dharr's sword fifteen to twenty were slain, and in a matter of seconds, the entire army of men were decimated by the hand of one kolbold.

The little girl puked from fear and disgust at the sight she laid her eyes upon. She wiped her mouth and looked back out the crack to see Dharr staring right back at her. The one eye of hers that was visible through the crack was met by the kolbold's good eye. The girl was paralyzed with fear until Dharr took a step towards her and she ran and hid behind her mother.

Girl: "Th...the....they're all dead, th...that thing killed him and he's coming this way!"

Woman:" We have to be brave, we can't go down without a fight we must protect our children!"

The barn was filled with the last of the children and women of the village. All of the children were hugging the back wall of the barn while the women and the older of the boys grabbed whatever they could find to defend themselves. The girl's mom ran up to her and kissed her on the forehead then said her final goodbyes.

Mother: "Listen Illya you're thirteen now okay? You're a big girl, this world is a tough hard place, especially for a woman, but I know you can make it. You are my daughter, you're strong, brave, and smart just like your mother, and have your father's attitude. Everything's gonna be alright, I believe in you, and no matter what I'll always love you."

Illya's mom kissed her on the forehead one last time and ran off in front of the door with the rest of the women and young men. They waited for the kolbolds to come but everything was quiet. About a half hour went by and still no noise, then one of the women decided to check it out. She slowly walked up to the crack in the barn door, the woman placed her face on the crack and as soon as she did a giant claw burst through the door and grabbed her head while tearing the door down.