Black Crusade

Chapter One - Knights on the road

The caravan traveled a path not often travelled. A simple merchant shipment to a far off town in the north, Brimberg. The caravan had few guards due to the harsh weather, ravenous blizzards were common place; this made it very difficult to get willing guards, least bandits would have a hard time out here too.

Besides the several guards solemnly on horse back, enduring the concurrent blizzard. There are four carriages , one in particular housing a small family of three; a mother, father and a daughter. They flee from their old home in the west, from the rising hostilities. 

The daughter clinging to her father like a warm blanket  on a snowy day. " Father, will we ever go home?" she asks looking at her father with watered eyes.

"One day, my little sapphire" he says with a loving smile before kissing her on the cheek. Her parents called her Sapphire due to her brilliant blue eyes, a rare occurrence among the western people.. " Until then we will have to make a home in Brimberg" her mother says wrapping her in homely blankets that they brought with them.

The carriage comes to a sudden stop as the family is about to huddle together.

Curiously, the father untangles himself from Sapphires grasp and silently goes forward and pulls up the curtain in the front of the carriage to see what has happened. Everything is eerily silent. One of the guard's horses rear, causing Sapphire's father to quickly run back to his wife and daughter,  Sapphire was about to talk, "Shh Honey the caravan is under attack. " putting his arms around them both of them, like a blanket.

Outside the guard drew their swords, expecting a imminent attack. In a instant of terror: a arrow flies forward piercing  a guards helmet, with a sound like a fleshy pop. He slumps off the horse with a thud. His horse bucks wildly- the guard's body dangling like a marionette on strings, sprinting off into the blizzard dragging the body with it. The other guards gather together, as they do, There the assailants charge.

The air fills with maniacal screeches from the bandits, the guards reply with valiant war cries, charging into battle. But they are few and they are many, one by one the guards fall from high atop their horses; into the many bandits. Bound by leather and steel, axes and hammers, they beat them to death. The family in their carriage cower behind cargo; odd bits and bobs and furniture. " This one's mines lads!" they hear, seeing a scrawny, dirty man through the curtain. Holding up one of the helmets of the guards. The head dangling by a few hairs. Sapphire squeals but her father forcefully muffles her.

They did not hear her.

They begin to hear ruffling and rowdy cheers as they loot their ill gotten gain from the other carriages. it's only a matter of time.. till one comes into the same carriage as the family. Silently, they pray to themselves that someone- something will come save them, but the road is long and untraveled. 

"Right, one left!" they hear as the carriage shakes from the bandits pushing the carriage. 

"Come one, come all! Pick yer loot an' squander the gains!" one says climbing onto the step, pushing the curtain back. Revealing a horde of bandits. The family hiding behind a bed thats been turned sideways hope that they will leave the junk, the junk they are hiding behind. 

"What is this garbage? there nothin' here but bloody garbage!" one says grabbing a candle stand and throwing it out the carriage. Followed by a shout. " Oi! that bloody hurt!" and a crowd of laughs from the bandits as they rummage around outside. Sapphire could hold it in no longer and yips. The bandit turning around to the bed, grins. " Looks like we got ourselves some little gems" kicking some junk away, approaching the bed.

Her father grabs the nearest sharp object, a dull letter opener and jumps from hiding and stabbs it deep into the bandits neck. " Urgk" the bandit gurgles out. His throat filling with rotten blood. Pushing the struggling bandit away falling out the carriage and into the snow. The snow turns from white to a fetid red. Bandits stop what they were doing and ran into the carriage, Three grab Sapphires father, struggling as much he could. Two came for her mother and her a few moments after he was thrown from the carriage.

They all lied on the snowy ground. Bandits in all directions. " Leave us alone!" Sapphire shouts but they laugh and boot her. " Shut up you little mutt." one of the more burly ones say. Her father gets picked up from his knees and skewered into the stomach by a sword. " That's for our own" the attacker says, gutteral and savage. 

Sapphire crawls forward crying to her old man. Tears running down his face too as he lied on the ground, his blood turning the snow into a bright red. " Good bye my sweet, I'm so sorry I faile--" his eyes closed but the tears kept running. " FATHER!" she screamed grabbing onto him, burying herself into his chest.

Her mother goes to comfort her but is stopped by them. " Oi were to you think your going?" they say grabbing her but she launches at them in a fit of rage, screaming and swinging. She lands on top of a bandit and starts thrashing into him. They all laughed and one came up them with a sword in hand. He drove it through both of them, her and the bandit. 

Sapphire kept her face in her fathers chest, to scared to look up. One of the bandit grab her, she grabs her father tighter. Just as he was about to stab her in the back. A gust of wind makes a swath through the air. The blizzards stops. Then without notice, his head parts from his shoulders. A man on a black horse, his horse rearing kicking at the bandits. She looked and saw him.

A knight- no not a knight, a hunter, a demon hunter. She could tell by the insignia he bore; a black cloak with a white cross. The bandits sneer then attacked, he swung at them cutting any down that approaches him. With out warning they were ambushed by six other hunters, startling the bandits into fleeing, the battle was quick...

'Like how dogs hunt and claim their prey, hunters claim the dog as their prey- they are the wolves; we the sheep'. - Excerpt from "Hunters and the order"