Carne Village was a small frontier village located at the border between the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire.
With a population of 120 villagers divided into 25 families, Carne was an unremarkable village in the Re-Estize Kingdom, where hundreds of similar villages existed.
Enri Emmot, therefore, did not think of herself as anything more than a normal villager girl, living her days with her family of four.
At 16, she knew the time for her to start worrying about finding a husband would soon come, but it still felt like a distant reality for her.
"You are still a child," her father would say. He was a man in his forties. Strong from farm work, but also full of a fragility that came from having his body destroyed by this same work through the decades. Her father would often complain about chronic back pain that only her friend's medical ointments could relieve.
"And we want you to stay in the house for a while longer." Her mother would also try to comfort her in her own way. Her mother was a charming woman that continued to be a beauty even as the lines on her face got deeper with every year that passed.
"Yes, sis, you have to stay here." Nemu, her 10 year old sister, would act spoiled every time the subject of her getting married and leaving the house came up.
Enri felt fortunate for having such a loving family. She knew of other girls who weren't so lucky and had to move to other villages to marry people who they barely knew.
This, she knew, was the reality of a villager girl. The lucky ones were the ones who found good loving husbands who treated them well, just like her mother.
As a girl who would soon be a woman, her job was to hurdle water from the nearby river to fill their family's reservoir everyday.
It was hard work, but she prided herself on her ability to do it without complaint.
On this day, Enri was returning with a bucket full of water when she heard a commotion coming from the village.
There were screams full of pain, mixed with curses and the sound of horses galloping nearby.
Enri felt a weight pressing on her heart.
Without thinking, she dropped the bucket and ran towards her house.
On the way, she saw what had become of her village.
Dozens of knights, fully armored, were moving through the village and slaughtering her neighbors, who couldn't even put up a fight.
She closed her eyes to the horrible sight and rushed to her home, not noticing that one of the knights was looking at her with a lecherous smile on his face.
Getting in, she found her family alive but scared.
Dad had a somber look in his eyes, and he saw blood on his shirt. Mom had tears in her eyes, glad to see her alive, while she held Nemu, who was trembling in her embrace.
"We have to move now." Her father spoke in a hushed tone and beckoned for her to come to him.
"Not so fast." Enri winced in pain as she felt a strong grip on her wrist.
She looked up to see that a knight had entered her home. He didn't have his helmet on, so she saw his face.
The man seemed to be in his late 20's, sporting a thick blonde mustache that did little to hide his ugly face.
The man looked at her from head to toe and gave her a lecherous smile.
"You're quite pretty for a village girl," he said in a petulant tone, "Be grateful that you'll experience something good before dying."
Enri recoiled under his gaze, but the man only tightened his grip on her, hurting her wrists.
She felt tears forming and falling from her eyes.
"ARGHHHHH," then she heard her father roaring, and suddenly they were on the ground.
Her father had tackled the man to the ground and was now holding his hands in place.
"Take the kids and run!" He looked back and yelled.
Then her mother pulled her and Nemu out of the house and back to the massacre.
She wanted to look at her father, but her mother blocked her sight.
"Don't look, honey," her mother was crying, but her face was resolute.
"Please, don't look."
And Enri did not look. She grabbed her sister's hand, and they continued to move towards the Forest of Tob.
The forest was a dangerous place, full of monsters and demi-humans, but today, for this family, humans were the biggest threat.
"Go and bring her to me!" A scream came from the village just as the three of them got into the forest.
They moved through the trees as silently as their bodies would allow. Enri felt her heart beating faster than it ever had, and she struggled to continue moving. Even if she wanted to stop, her mother would continue pulling her forward.
Nemu was worst off, she noticed. Her sister could barely breathe, but continued to run with determination.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Nemu tripped over an exposed root and fell to the ground, making some noise.
Enri looked at her mother and saw the fear in her eyes, still red from crying.
They looked at each other as they waited, praying that they were unheard.
"Hey, did you hear that?" A male voice echoed in the forest, followed by footsteps. The worst had happened.
She panicked; they would find them, they would kill all three of them, and in her case, something even worse would happen.
What to do?
As she was panicking, a small hand was placed on her palm.
Enri looked up to see that her mother had placed Nemu's hand on hers, and then, for a long second, her mother looked at her, before smiling and running toward the knights.
Enri took her sister and ran.
Tears fell freely from her eyes, she felt the urge to cry, to scream and let her pain be heard, but she held it in, the warm hand of her sister wouldn't allow her to be so careless, nor could she ignore her mother's last wish.
Take care of your sister, those eyes had begged her, so take care of Nemu she would. Even if they were to die, she would die first.
With this conviction, Enri pulled her sister deeper into the forest, even as the footsteps returned, even as she caught a glimpse of the two knights approaching.
Swoosh!i hugged her a
Enri heard a sharp sound and reflexively hugged Nemu, putting her in front of herself.
She felt a sharp pain on her back, as the blade sliced through her flesh, it only took a second for the attack to end, and it was followed by the burning sensation of air entering her flesh.
Enri gritted her teeth and turned to see one of the knights complaining, something about how his captain would not like this.
Then the knight extended his hand to grab her, but then his hand froze in mid-movement.
She felt the temperature dropping quickly, as if winter had come early.
The knight in front of her was staring at something behind her, so she turned.
At some point a dark portal had opened behind her.
Thud
Thud
Thud
She first heard the sound of metal hitting the ground, then a golden staff appeared from the portal.
It must be expensive, was the first thing she thought. The staff was impossibly luxurious for her, seemingly made out of pure gold, and with the sculptures of 7 serpent heads holding colorful gems at the crown.
"So pretty." She said involuntarily, forgetting her situation for a moment.
"Hoh. You have good taste, little lady." Following the golden staff came a man wearing expensive robes.
He moved with grace, and as he did, the world seemed to respond to his presence. Light seemed to dim when coming closer to him, the temperature dropped, and time itself seemed to stop.
This man, she thought, was impossibly strong.
He was covered head to toe in expensive robes. His hand holding the staff was covered by a gauntlet, and his face was hidden by a strange mask with an evil design.
This man looked towards the knight who had hurt her and grasped at the air
"[Grasp Heart]." His cold voice echoed through the forest.