My stomach churned at the sight of a child almost mauled in half. My grip tightened repeatedly on my sword as I slowly made my way down the long line of wagons stretched out on the plain.
These people hadn't stood a chance against whatever had set upon them. It didn't look like they had even made an attempt at self-defense. What could so overwhelm people as to not even fight?
The hair lifted on the back of my neck as my mind ran wild with possibilities. I had slain monsters for over a year, but those bulky counterparts didn't match this scene of horror. Saber Cats were something to be defended against by even the weakest of individuals and yet these people had fled in abject terror.
The carnage about me had the imprint of evil all over it. I drew the mare to a halt as she began to balk. She had no love for the sights and burning smoke of the scene from the pits of Sheol and I didn't blame her.
I heard a moan and my head whipped in the direction of the cries. I wanted to know the story of this place and at least bring myself some closure as to the horror that I had seen. I dismounted and hurried over, sword in hand, towards a small hummock of raised grass nearby.
There, on the sheltering side of the small rise, lay a man who was near death. He was awash with blood and I could barely fathom what willpower the man had managed to exert to even survive to this point.
I knelt down beside him and his eyes flared wide in alarm. Sucking in a deep and painful sounding breath he grabbed hold of me and rasped out in a whisper, as if in fear of being overheard, "Run you fool!"
"What happened here?" I asked in return.
"Happened? All Sheol broke loose is what happened! They're not still here are they? You need to get away now before they get you!" he finished with renewed urgency.
"Who is they? Who gets me?" I asked, but just then there was a husky, somewhat off key, roar that I identified as belonging to a lion.
The man's face twisted into a caricature of extreme fear as he whispered out brokenly, "You're too late! They're back, the Lion Men of Itarga!"
"Lion Men?" I whispered back hoarsely in alarm, but the man was dead, his face frozen over with a mask of fear.
Trembling slightly, I lifted my head up over the small rise to take in the long stretched out line of idle wagons. I saw nothing but the buzzards that had started to congregate overhead in large numbers.