The winter night was full of screams and the sounds of mayhem. A burning wreckage that was once a carriage filled the night with dancing orange light in which shadows danced and hacked at the wood of the carriage with swords and spears and weapons until they struck up a vicious deadly drum beat.

The winter night, so bitterly cold just moments before, was now scorching with fires that rose to the sky. A scream echoed, suddenly, from within the burning wreckage. The sound was dullened by the roaring flames, but was loud enough to ring through the night.

"Please save my child"

The cry echoed far through the forest, but only the forest heard it.

At the sound, the shadows fell upon the noise like ravenous jackals; spears and blades attacked the charred wood, exploding into a series of crashes as the wood exploded and the shadows quickly ended another life. The shapes rejoiced, dancing among the flames. The loot had been collected and the last living member of the carriage had been killed.

Or so it appeared.