The visions of my own past sprang up in front of my eyes as I riffled through the scattered debris of the old broken storefront. The windows shattered and the ancient structure destroyed, I saw evidence of the Baaman lack of regard for anything which had survived from the old world. My home had been ransacked and burned before we moved in and drove the invaders back, reclaiming what remained of the city.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked around to meet the eyes of my friend. “We should have stayed and fought them,” I said, regretting our decision to retreat and meet up with the advancing Pitt army.

“We didn’t think they would choose the city as their battlefield,” Daniel replied. The remnants from the battle lay around us and the gutters ran red with blood, telling of the magnitude of the slaughter we inflicted on the enemy. Baaman soldiers were numerous, but they lacked skill in fighting ever since they had been driven back from the fort and put on retreat for the last few months. They were getting desperate.

“We could have held them back,” I said, “and kept them from entering the city until Pitt arrived.”

“They say hindsight has no flaws.”

But we lost so much. The entire city was neatly razed to the ground and scorched beyond recognition. Those who had stayed behind when evacuation started met cruel ends at the hands of the Baaman soldiers as they pillaged the city.

My home was gone. We pushed the invaders back from the area, but at what cost? I picked up a piece from the rubble, turning it over in my hand to examine the Knick-knack that had stood on a shelf in my ancestral home. All that remained was this stupid little gnome.

I clutched the ridiculous idol in my hand and cried out in anger and remorse before I fell to my knees, crying furious tears. I needed revenge.

The Baamans fled to the south. I picked up my spear and began to walk that way.

I do not intend to return.