Song of Seven

Song 4: The Priest, The Warriors, The Ravens

Smoke billowed into the air from the distant burning settlement. The three companions sprinted down into the valley. desperately trying to reach it and find out what had happened. Wind in the valley was gusting hard and picking up speed as they dashed through brush and snow, but Axel and his party pressed on faster. The wide-brimmed hat that Axel always wore caught the wind and almost flew off into a nearby bush, but the old warrior placed a hand firmly on his head to hold it in place as they ran. 

Their leader Bruth was panting hard, the gusts of wind and smoke heading in their direction made it difficult to keep up this pace. "When we arrive, we split up and search each house... make sure everybody is safe!" he puffed through staggered breaths. His two companions Kellard and Axel both grunted in agreement. 

After what felt like a full day of running they arrived at the site. Kellard dropped his backpack into the snow and took in the destruction. The cabins and lodges here were very similar to the ones back in the sanctuary; a collection of sod roofs and lumber. Unlike the sanctuary, however, Kellard immediately saw the closest building, a storage house, had one of its thick lumber walls completely caved in as if a large boulder has struck it from the side. The young man circled the house at a frantic pace and could find no evidence of siege weaponry or any large projectile that could have caused the damage. Out of one of the shattered windows, smoke poured out in thick clouds of ash. Kellard covered his nose and mouth with the crook of his elbow and tried his best to look inside. The smoke was too thick to make anything out, but it didn't look like there was anybody inside it. 

The other two men were also quickly searching the houses and buildings, each one seemed to be more damaged than the last, and there were no signs of anyone alive or dead. Axel crouched low near one of the largest cabins and surveyed the ground for signs of footprints, there were some signs of a struggle, but what concerned him is there weren't nearly enough footprints in the snow that would indicate a group of people large enough to inflict this kind of damage. The warrior followed a set of tracks and came to a stop when he discovered something strange. "Bruth! Kellard! Get over here!" He called out over the harsh wind and crackling sounds of the few fires that still burned within the houses. 

The other two jogged over to where Axel was crouched down near the edge of the settlement, following his finger to where he was pointing. "Wheel marks in the snow, it's gotta be wagons right?" Kellard asked, immediately recognizing the spacing of the tracks, his sightline following them to a trail that led out of the settlement.

Bruth nodded, also recognizing the tracks and following them with his eyes to where Axel pointed. "Normally I'd agree kid, but what's pulling them? I don't see tracks from a horse...". The leader crouched down beside Axel, both still catching their breath from their run. "Axel, what're you thinking?"

The old warrior removed his hat and scratched at his tangle of thick hair, still looking around for signs of a horse. "Not sure yet, they're pretty fresh... could have been pulled by a set of strong men I suppose but... look!". Again, he pointed at the sets of wagon tracks. "If people were pulling them, shouldn't their footprints be in front of the wagons and not beside them?". He was right, the series of tracks leading out of the village didn't make sense, two side-by-side wheel tracks and only a few footprints in between them, not in front as if they were being pulled.

Bruth looked down into the valley, trying to follow where the tracks might lead to make some sense of things. "Something pulled those carts, if it wasn't by horse then they couldn't have gotten far. You two see anything out there?".

The three men stood, trying to get a vantage point to see down into the valley to spot moving wagons or groups of people. Axel was the first to notice something and pointed to a small silhouette amongst a grouping of trees. "Someone is coming!" he spoke in a low and cautious tone.