The day had been busy for Maxillion Vale, training at the barracks for hours before reporting for duty at The Fountain Court. His armoured uniform giving him the respect he deserved as well as keeping the young boys out of trouble so that one day they might be worthy of joining Gondor's Elite.
It was uneventful, until Maxillion was making his way back to the lands owned by his prestigious father, Lord Vale. The once peaceful skies had twisted to something nightmarish, and the black clouds started to assault Maxillion with a forceful wave of rain. The wind, thankfully, was still reasonably passive, allowing the Citadel Guardsman to believe he could simply bare with the rain until he got home. Oh what a terrible sense of foreshadowing the weather was providing.
There was a large hill that the road to Max's home had to go over and until you reached the hills summit you could not even catch a glimpse of the lands beyond it. On a clear day, the fields would draw your eyes towards the grand Vale Manor with the row of cherry trees making the perfect runway towards the front door. That evening however, it held a sight that would haunt Maxillion's dreams for weeks to come. The barn and granary were ablaze and the once calming fields around the manor had become a blur of frantic torches of those running about in the darkness. Immediately, Maxillion started to sprint down the slope towards his home, only to stop as soon as he heard the sounds of metal clashing against metal. This was no simple barn fire, this was a battle! A battle in his house!
As soon as the guardsman had made it to the fields around his home, he draw his sword from it's scabbard and his eyes scanned his surroundings. A loud scream made him spin around, just in time to react against the armed man charging him. The swords made contact, however Max's opponent was clearly untrained as his attack for parried and opened a window which he had been trained to exploit. Following his parry up with a counter attack, Max slammed his elbow into the attackers face, not allowing him any time to recover as he brought the blade back across the man's neck. A spray of blood flicked onto the floor leaving a red trail along the edge of Max's sword.
Upon inspection of his attacker, Max quickly learnt about their more thuggish attire. Cheap leather armour covered their chest and legs and he quickly came to the conclusion that these were bandits, outlaws and brigands. Criminal scum! How dare they attack him family!
With a new haste, Max bolted towards the manor arriving just in time to see the right wing windows throw out flames and plumes of black smoke from the inside. His will to get inside and help whoever was still inside was halted as three more men came piling out of the tall grass beside him. With an intimidating roar, Max threw himself at the new threat, his skills quickly forcing two men back as he ducked, blocked and barged them backwards. With a couple of seconds worth of a one on one fight, Max swung his blade down, forcing the man to block and allowing Max to place a kick into the man's groin. As he lowered his sword, the guardsman brought his down, digging it into the shoulder of his victim and sliding it out leaving him to howl in pain and eventually bleed out onto the floor. Just as Max was about to turn into the next attacker, and arrow flew past his ear and embedded itself into the brigand in front of him. A quick glance over his shoulder allowed Max to catch sight of his sister, shaking as she tried to notch another arrow on the hunting bow.
Although he was glad for the help, Max didn't want to risk her firing with the chance to miss and hit himself, so he quickly descended onto the last man. Overpowering him with a flurry of blows, Max took a grip onto his sword with both hands and knocked the brigand's blade upwards. He stepped into his attacker and thrust the blade through the leather armour and into the poor man's gut.
After quickly sending his sister off towards the neighbouring farmsteads for aid, Max rushed into the now quickly burning manor. As he broke through the large double doors, forcing him to roll on the floor after using his entire body to break them down, he bolted towards the burning wing. What he saw made him freeze. A Large group of men were viciously beating his father, leaving his terrified mother cowering in the corner with his little four year old brother hidden in her arms. He roared with anger, catching the group's attention as he flew down the corridor between then. Max, although outnumbered, had the advantage. Only two men at a time could attack him whilst he stayed in the corridor also removing any threat from ranged weaponry. Bandit after Bandit fell to his superior training and the men at the back started getting nervous. They quickly grabbed Max's mother and her child, dragging them kicking and screaming into the back room. Just as max drove his sword through the last man between himself and his father, he witnessed a spear pierce his father's chest. The world suddenly slipped into slow motion as Max watched his father fall back onto the wooden floor.
"No!" he screamed as he twisted the sword in the bandit, drew it out and then threw it at his father's killer. Is whistled through the air and stuck the man with so much force that he was lifted off his feet and thrown back into the corner. Rushing to his dieing father, Max fell to his knees beside the great man. "Father!" He spluttered, quickly trying to asses the wound, though his father knew his time had come. "Max... You must rescue your mother."
Suddenly realising they had been dragged away, Max looked up in an instant, only to have something passed into his hand. Looking down, his fingers curled around the hilt of the Vale family sword. With a weak nod from his father, he took flight towards the back room. The door was left open, and nothing but the cracking of fire could be heard within. There were no screams or cries of fear... No, they can't have...
Stepping into the room, the sight of his mother and four year old brother almost made him sick. Their throats had been slit, leaving a dark puddle of blood between them. Max was so distracted, he failed to notice the sword strike down at him from the shadows. There was a sudden sharp pain and Max stumbled back, clutching his right eye with his free hand as his vision slipped away. Only the shout of the man that had struck him allowed Max to defend himself, and with one hand over his badly bleeding eye, he managed to drive the bastard back. He drove him all the way to the burning window and with a mighty push, forced the man out and into the burning shack wood storage shed below. He smashed through, running out seconds later completely ablaze.
Max scurried over to the lifeless bodies of his family, despair on his face. He would have given up there and then had a handful of farmhands not found him, dragging him out of the burning manor.
The Vale Manor had burnt to the ground when morning came, the fire still going in the morning light. There was nothing here for Maxillion now, and he had failed to keep his family safe... He would hand in his resignation and travel west towards Bree. Maybe he could make a new life here, far away from the reminders of his failure.
