Chapter 29: Slaughter
They reached the tavern’s heavy oak door just as another wave of screams erupted from behind them.
Taeryn threw the door open and ushered the others inside, then slammed it shut and dropped the heavy iron bar into place. The thick walls muffled the sounds of the massacre but could not silence them entirely.
"The cellar," Taeryn panted, guiding them toward a narrow staircase that led down into darkness. "We’ll wait there."
Meanwhile, across the village square, Jaenor fought his own battle against panic.
His training had finally kicked in, but his first thought was not of victory or valor—it was of his family.
"Mother!" he shouted, his voice hoarse from the smoke that now filled the air. "Father! Where are you?"
He pushed through the fleeing crowd, his eyes scanning frantically for any sign of his mother and father.
The chaos was absolute—villagers ran in every direction, some carrying wounded loved ones, others simply running blindly into the night. The fiends moved among them like wolves among sheep, their multiple arms allowing them to strike at several targets simultaneously.
Then he saw them—Rosa, her blonde hair streaming behind her as she helped his aging father toward what she hoped was safety. But they were moving too slowly, and one of the fiends had noticed them.
"No!" Jaenor roared. In that moment, he ignored everything. Seeing his mother and father in danger made him snap; he ran and ran, adrenaline kicking in, and a faint hum of red-colored haze glinted around his hands.