Eleven men had gathered in an unassuming hut in the capital city of Caelanthor. Together, they had received a sinister mission from the Queen of the Melandor Empire: to plot against the kingdom of Kaelon, a plot that would reach all the way to the king himself.
Four of the men were from Kaelon itself, traitors to their own people, while the remaining seven came from the neighboring kingdom of Melandor. Their plan was as simple as it was cruel: to turn the king against his own subjects until the people, weary of their ruler, would finally overthrow him. Now they were ready to put their malevolent plan for the gradual destruction of Kaelon into action.
Caelanthor was suddenly in an uproar. Elandor was out in the city with his family; they were strolling happily and carefree through the streets when a townsman rushed up and frantically addressed the king. "Elandor! My king, please come quickly…" the man gasped, completely out of breath. Elandor placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, boy. What happened?" The man took a deep breath and blurted out, "There's been a violent altercation at the market. A resident has been seriously injured; he's already lying lifeless on the ground. His head is covered in blood." Elandor's expression darkened instantly. He turned to his wife. "My beloved, please go home with Elenya and Lyrielle first. They mustn't see the blood." Lysandra nodded silently and led her two young daughters away from the scene.
Elandor hurried with the messenger to the market. There he saw the injured man, lying motionless on the ground, covered in blood. "What happened here?" Elandor demanded sharply at the crowd, his malevolent gaze fixed on the obvious assailant. The attacker, a muscle-bound, bald giant named Marven, stepped forward. "This foreigner and his men are ruining our businesses... They had to be punished for that!" "Punished by you?!" thundered Elandor. "You are neither the executive nor the judiciary! You have no right to judge anyone, and certainly not to use force!" His voice was harsh with anger. Marven merely laughed derisively and advised Elandor to worry less about him and more about his wife and daughters. "You dare to lecture me?" Elandor snapped. Marven just grinned and remained silent. "Fine, if you have nothing more to say!" shouted Elandor. "Guards! Lock this man in the dungeon until he is brought to trial. And if the victim dies, you will pay with your life!"
Sunspeakers rushed forward and desperately tried to save the injured man, but he had already lost too much blood. Discontent arose in the crowd over the king's decision. Quiet voices were heard: "Marven may have acted too harshly, but he certainly didn't want the stranger to die." "He's right, the foreigners are ruining our businesses." "His livelihood! Those foreigners certainly deserved it."
Almost simultaneously with the commotion at the market, Lysandra and her two young daughters, nine-year-old Elenya and six-year-old Lyrielle, were ambushed by ten men in a deserted alley. Since the townspeople had gathered at the market, the streets were empty. The men gagged Lysandra and threatened her: "If you resist, your children will pay with their lives!" They threatened the children in turn: "If you resist, we will have to hurt your mother very badly!" said one of the men with a broad, repulsive grin. Thus, the men expected no resistance. They dragged Lysandra and the girls into a nearby hut to assault the queen. They tore her clothes off without even the decency to cover the children's eyes.
"Children, do you remember the game Papa used to play with us?" Lysandra asked hastily, her voice trembling. The girls nodded fearfully. "Then we'll play this game now. Yes?! Until I touch your arm," Lysandra said, trying to smile even though tears welled in her eyes. The little girls obediently closed their eyes, pressed their hands over their ears, and began to hum a song loudly.
The men didn't wait. They brutally assaulted Lysandra. They tore her dress completely off until she lay naked on the table. One at a time, they lay on top of her while the others held her down. Against ten men, she had no chance, especially since her daughters were still in the clutches of these criminals. They touched them with their filthy hands and licked them like mangy dogs.
But that wasn't all. After the brutal attack, the men planned to behead Lysandra and her daughters. "Who should we behead first?" one asked, laughing. "Let's start with the children," another suggested. "They'll have their eyes closed anyway and won't even notice if we kill their mother. That wouldn't be any fun." He laughed shamelessly.
Lysandra begged for her children's lives. "Please, spare my two little rays of sunshine! They haven't done anything to anyone! You can do whatever you want to me, but let my daughters live!" The men just laughed derisively. "We've already done all sorts of things to you... Or can't you get enough of us, sweet little doll? Hahaha... Say goodbye to your little sparks, you filthy whore! Oh, they can't even hear you." Laughter filled the room. "Pleeease!" Lysandra cried, sobbing. "What did my husband do to you? You come from the kingdom of Melandor?" "That information won't do you any good now!" one of the men replied coldly. "You're just whining for your life and the lives of your children. Back then, our families whined. And your husband and his soldiers slaughtered them like cattle. Did he have any mercy? Keep begging, maybe we'll spare you!" He paused for effect. "Hahaha, that was just a lie! We'll never spare you and your children!"
Before Lysandra's eyes, they slit the throats of the two little girls with their swords. Then they approached Lysandra. "A few last words, you filthy whore?!" Lysandra no longer begged for her life. She was powerless, broken by the death of her children. "Just do it already!" she cried, filled with pain and hatred. "Kill me if it makes you feel better. But this won't be the end! I swear!" The hatred within her grew immeasurably. "My husband will haunt you for eternity, hunt you down, and slaughter you like cattle!" The men grinned, unmoved. "We certainly hope so! This was all planned, you stupid whore!" Lysandra stared in horror, but it was too late. She closed her eyes and prayed to the sun one last time. Then the sword swung down.
The men impaled the heads of Lysandra, Elenya, and Lyrielle on spears and drove them into the ground beside the well—a message to King Elandor. Townspeople discovered the gruesome scene and, shocked, alerted the king. Elandor rushed, but he was too late. He fell to his knees and cried out in anguish to the heavens, louder than he had ever cried in his life. "Why?! Why, God?! What did I do wrong?! What did I do to incur your wrath? Why did you take my family from me?! Take me for my sins! Haven't I always served you faithfully?!"
Eyewitnesses reported that men from the city had left the hut. Elandor immediately dispatched his guards. They quickly located the suspects and arrested three men from the capital. But instead of showing remorse, these men laughed shamelessly. "She smelled so wonderful," one sneered. "I've never fucked such a beautiful whore. Her flesh was so tender and..." "Stop it!" Elandor roared in fury and plunged his sword into the man's thigh. The man continued to laugh despite the pain. "Your wife was fucked by dozens of men, in front of your daughters. And then we beheaded the little ones in front of your whore! Hahaha..." Elandor twisted the sword in the wound to silence him. "Who are these pigs?! Tell me!! I want names!" His gaze was murderous. "If you don't tell me, I'll slaughter your family like cattle!" "I will never tell you," the wounded man gasped. "Just kill me! You've already killed my family. You can't take anything more from me. You want names? Find them out yourself!" Elandor pulled his sword from his leg and thrust it straight into the man's heart.
He turned to the second prisoner. "Then we'll play the same game with you. You know the rules." The prisoner interrupted him: "Yes, I know the game. We've already played it with your wife and daughters…" Before he could finish, Elandor pierced his heart as well.
He strode toward the third prisoner. "Now for you, you Noralem!" Elandor spat out—which meant "Dishonorable." "You get only one chance! Just one! Make a wise choice!" The man, Torlin, trembled. "I will say nothing! Did you make a wise decision when you executed my family? You won't get a word out of me. Torture me, kill me, but I will remain silent!" "Fine, then I will execute you on the spot!" Elandor shouted, raising his sword.
"No, my king!" cried Kaeldrim, the king's right hand and once his father's advisor. "I know how you feel. But we need him alive! Otherwise, we can never bring the other criminals to justice. We must give him a fair trial. What would the people think of us otherwise?" Reluctantly, Elandor lowered his sword. He knew Kaeldrim was right.
Then a guard called out, "My king, one of the prisoners wishes to speak with you." Elandor went to the dungeon. It was Marven, the man from the marketplace. "I only distracted you so the others would have time to rape your wife and execute her along with your daughters," Marven laughed. "Even the one who called you at the market was one of us… Hahaha…" It was an obvious lie, but Elandor was blinded by rage. "Tell me who else belongs to us, and you'll get a reduced sentence," Elandor offered. He gestured for the arrest of the man who had brought him to the market. Marven burst into devilish laughter. "You won't get any more information from me. I'll take it to my grave." "Then you'll be put on trial," Elandor said coldly. "And you'll hang from the gallows!"
Shortly afterward, a guard brought in the man who had fetched Elandor. Elandor confronted him and pierced his thigh. "Who else is behind this?" he demanded furiously. "This is your last chance!" "But my king, I have nothing to do with this! I swear!" the man begged for mercy in agony. Elandor didn't believe him and beheaded him on the spot. Only when his head rolled did he come to his senses – but it was too late. "Ha... ha... ha…," Marven's laughter echoed from the cell. "I lied to you. He wasn't even there. I'll never tell you the names of the real perpetrators!"
The townspeople, who witnessed the events, were stunned by their king's vigilante justice. Elandor had to restrain himself from killing Marven immediately. He wanted the remaining criminals. He placed a bounty: 10 kael—gold ducats—for each head, dead or alive. When no leads came in, he increased it to 20, 30, 40, and finally 50 kael. The people's greed was awakened. Countless false tips poured in, implicating their own neighbors. Dozens of innocent people were executed. A climate of fear gripped Kaelon. Many fled to neighboring kingdoms.
Meanwhile, the true culprits, the Melandorians, had long since escaped. Infiltrators from Melandor now freed Torlin and Marven. Elandor sent an unmistakable message to all neighboring kingdoms: "Hand over the criminals! If you protect them, your kingdom will burn!" Most kingdoms refused to comply with Elandor's insane demands, as they could no longer bear to witness this madness, let alone condone it. Three kingdoms—Baiteng, Aelorienne, and Serenwynn—allied themselves and declared war on Kaelon should Elandor attack.
Only the queen of the neighboring kingdom of Melandor sent Elandor the heads of the criminals, including those of Torlin and Marven, who had fled to her kingdom. She called it "an act of goodwill toward her peaceful coexistence with the kingdom of Kaelon." She, of all people, the mastermind behind the murders of Lysandra, Elenya, and Lyrielle, pretended to be a friend of Kaelon.