"Mam! We're surrounded!"
"Excellent! We can attack in any d-direction!"
It was true, they are completely surrounded from all directions.
It had happened all at once, the village was just waking up, while the hunters were just returning from their daily hunt. That was when it all went to hell, it started with one of the younger hunters hearing a snap of a twig in the bushes. The young hunter had gone to check on the sound, whitout alerting the others first, when a loud bang echoed through the forest. All manner of birds and creatures had fled at that, when given the option of fight or flight, they chose flight. This had caused the village to go defensive and collect the children in the center, the farthest from harms grasp. That's when they all started to appear, surrounding the village. There was no escape. Everyone ready to fight.
The children are hidden in the middle, protected by a larger circle of adults. The outsiders carrying weapons unseen by the village before, they looked blunt and weak. The bright morning sun reflects off of the material the weapons seamed to be made of. Where ever the group have come from their technology was alien and bazaar.
"W-we need to st-stand together!" The woman steps forward leaning down slightly preparing to attack. Her long black hair shrouds her face in darkness, effectively it gave her an aura of darkness and made her look terrifying.
Smirks can be seen from some of the invaders, her stutter shows weakness in their eyes. Others looked uneasy, they doubted the strength of their own army, which is the first mistake anyone can make. They point their weapons towards the villagers, "boss wants some alive!" One of the attackers shouts to the others, that single phrase sent chills down the spines of the villagers. If only some were wanted the others would be killed and the survivors... well who knows what would have happened to them.
There was a tense silence that shortly followed. The two groups staring each other down. Waiting for the other to make the first move. The birds had stopped singing. The deer herd bolted. Every breath lasted a lifetime. Time slowed.
"Get the leader!" They charged towards the group. The woman dashed towards them, she jumped on them and started clawing and biting. Loud bangs echoed through the dense forest as the two groups collided, natural materials against alien metals. The outsiders weapons were ferocious. They were silent as they sent thin metal rods towards victims. Anyone in the line of fire fell. The villagers were outnumbered. The mechanisms picking them off. One by one. They fell.
They were surrounded. There was no way out.
"Perry look out!"
The woman, Perry, looked up from her defeated foe. The base of the weapon hit her head. Her vision started to fill with black spots as she tried to lunge for the attacker. Being hit again stopped her. She fell limp. The assailant ran to the others. He continued to attack.
Liz quickly rushed to Perry. He slung her over his shoulder and tried to get out. They were losing. He darted behind a hut as the outsiders rushed past. Hurriedly he stumbled into the forest. Shouting could be heard behind them. He was losing stamina. His head was pounding from the fight. Blood racing, adrenaline high. The muscles in his legs gave way as he fell. He collided with the ground with a tremendous crash as Perry landed on top of him. Seeing a ditch under a tree Liz quickly dragged his unconscious ally into the ditch.
The screaming didn't stop, he covered his ears trying to drown out what was happening. The incessant need to discover this was a dream, drumming in his skull.
Hours pasted.
Slowly the noise died.
The dead increasing in number.
Everything was silent.
Too silent...
Perry growled up at her teacher as she finished the race, the growling came from the fact her teacher wasn't paying attention to the race. Obviously he underestimated the class. No matter the teacher looked down and raised an eyebrow.
"Wow, you guys are getting faster," he lent down, "you never know Perry, you could become one of the best hunters if you keeps this up. No-one could ever defeat you." He chuckled mockingly.
Shooting up, Perry grabs Liz and slams him to the floor, "T-this is our vill- Liz?" Clearly still thinking the fight was here. She backs off and looks around. The sun was just peaking through the small gaps in the trunks of the tree.
"They knocked you out, I needed to get you out of there," Liz made a slow attempt forward in order to check Perry's head.
Perry's eyes widened as she realized what she had done. She had abandoned a fight. Before Liz had the time to react Perry had jumped out of the ditch and started heading for the village. Liz scrambled to keep up with her.
The forest noises had gone back to normal. The birds were chirping, trying to protect their territory, much more aggressive than common belief. The deer herd was grazing peacefully around the village, while the sun shone down through the leaves of the trees.
Perry was by the outskirts of the village with in minutes, her determination drove her forward. Upon entering the village everything seemed surreal. Everyone was lay unnaturally still, the flies and scavengers already making a claim. The snapping of twigs under Perry's knees startled the scavengers as they ran off. Shaking she looked around, unsure of what to do. She had failed. She was meant to protect the village. She was meant to save them or be the first to lose.
Liz ran up next to her, his hand covered his mouth, "no..." There were bodies lay everywhere, most were adults, villagers - friends - some where those of the young. The cruelty of the event was clear to anyone. In among the vast amount of villagers were a few fallen invaders. The hunters and adults had put up a fight. That much was clear.
As Perry clenched her fists Liz rushed around trying to find any sign of this not being real. Of any survivors. He spoted his class, all the children in the village. They were huddled together, all limp on the floor. "no... This... This..."
A small bundle of ginger hair stuck out from the pile of bodies, Leo... He was the class clown, always brought a smile to everyone's day. Sometimes it would be making fun of the others. Sometimes it was making a fool of himself. Sometimes he made comments to the class as Liz was teaching. No matter how he did it he always made the school fill with laughter. Liz had always enjoyed Leo's antics even if they disrupted his learning. 6 winters was far too short of a life. He had only just got his name. He wanted to be a teacher - like Liz.
A rod was sticking out of Gerry's forehead. Her position in front of the group clearly showed she was trying to protect them. She had the potential to become one of the greatest hunters, even rival Perry. She was strong, determined, and courageous. Now... She had nothing. She was nothing. Even her memory would eventually fade.
Liz's head fell as he let the tears roll down his cheeks, they were all gone. All of them.
A hand gently rested on Liz's shoulder.
"W-we need to leave," Perry helped him up.
"But... What about the village? The children? Your parents?" His voice was broken and void of any joy.
"It...It is not s-safe here," Perry looked around for a safe place to go. She refused to let herself be caught off guard again, Liz needed her to stay strong.
"Can we at least-"
He was interrupted by a branch snapping.
"Shh," Perry slowly made her way towards the noise on silent feet. They approached a hut and snuck along the side. The wind was picking up, this helped to drag the creature's sent towards Perry. It was a singular being, luckily. Carefully she gestured for Liz to stay silent. Her heart rate sped up as her adrenaline kicked in.
Silence.
Perry leapt round the corner and jumped on the unsuspecting creature.
"Argh!" The being's yelp was familiar.
Liz darted around the corner, "Rex! Thank the gods."
Perry let go and stood back, "s-sorry. I... I didn't know it was you."
This gave room for Liz to barge past and engulf Rex in a humongous hug, Rex barely had any time to recover from her previous assault.
After a moment Liz stood straight, signifying the end of the embrace, "You're alive," she screeched as she hugged Perry. Despite her cheery tone her face was wet from tears. Perry gestured for Liz to join in trying to comfort Rex.
At first Rex was calm but as she felt Liz's embrace she started to tremble, "this can't be happening." She clung to Perry's shirt and berried her head, "they're gone! They're all gone! T, Dawson, even Canis!" Her screams of pain were agony to hear.
Perry had to clench her jaw in order to keep it together. A low throb ebbed through her head as she held back tears. Her time for grieving was not yet. She needed to focus on the living and not the dead.
After what seamed like hours the three pulled apart and looked around. Everything seamed so tranquil and calm, but they all knew what was on the other side of the hut held a nightmarish scene.
Perry broke the silence, "they'll come back, w-we need to leave. Get what you can carry, I'll meet you by t-the old oak. Don't be long." She headed off to get the things she needed, the others shortly followed suit. Rex stopped on her way past her old hut.
Rex's mother smiled down at Rex as she handed her an old book. Books weren't a common sight in the village, but her mother had snuck one in after a trip out to investigate the expanding human territory. The book was cased by what smelt like old cow skin, inside was everything 7 winter old Rex could have wanted to know about the human body and how they function.
"Now don't go reading that all at once, you'll need to save some for a rainy day."
Perry was by the oak knelt down when Liz and Rex finally approached. She was messing with something on the ground, occasionally blowing on it.
"Perry? We're... We're ready," Liz slowly stated.
"W-we don't have time to bury them..." She took a long deep breath, "but... We can s-send them off." A spark lit in front of Perry as she held up a branch. The flames became as clear as her intentions. Leaving the bodies would have done them no good.
Liz walked with Perry towards the centre of the village, where Perry had already gathered the bodies into a pile and collected dried sticks and logs. She stopped just before the pile and handed the branch to Liz. A careful look was exchanged between the two before Liz dropped the branch on the pile. "Goodbye," his whispered as his eyes started to water again.
Perry looked over to Rex as she comforted her friend. She frowned as Rex avoided her eye contact.
Perry encased Liz in a hug and let him grieve, he needed this as much as Perry needed him to be able to focus. They stayed like that for a while before Perry finally got them all moving, staying in the village wasn't safe for anyone.
Centuries of peace, undiscovered tranquillity, and a state of equilibrium all turned meaningless in one night.
~=~=~=~=~=~
People in a sort of soldier's uniform rushed about trying to get samples of what was left and remove the evidence. No-one could find out what happened and due to the fire the nearby guards would have surely spotted them. This gave them no time at all as they gathered up their dead soldiers and tried to peace together how the fire was caused.
The peacefulness of the forest was once again disturbed.
A tall lanky brunette walked up to a man, whose posture screamed authority figure. "Boss, there were no survivors. The fire took everything."
He looked around, took in a deep breath and sighed, "and that Johnson, is why you never got the promotion. There were survivors. Look around, the wolves didn't put the bodies in a pile. The deer didn't set a fire." He turned to Johnson, "get our best tracker out here, before the trail disappear. No matter how human like they think they are, they can still be hunted like the beasts they are."