[quote=@thewizardguy]
...
The building was burning. Mithias slowly walked through the rain, the mud dragging at his heels, the sword he bore resting heavily in his hand. As he reached the crest of the hill, he simply stared out mournfully, watching the flames as they devoured everything. Blood dripped from his side, his left hand clenched onto a wound. His shield lay discarded, far behind him, among the bodies of slain men, felled by the very blade he carried. Blood had stained his once clean armor, and had seeped between every crack, and as he dropped to his knees, he faintly realized that he might never be able to clean it.

A firm hand grabbed his shoulder, shaking him, as if to awaken him from a nightmare. Unfortunately, this was real. 'They'll still be alive, I'm sure of it. There's no way those sons of bitches would be satisfied just killing them, they'll be on tomorrow's pyres.' His oddly named companion said those words to relax him, but in reality, nothing terrified the knight more. A death by the blade was swift, but he had seen enough burnings to know that it wasn't quick, and it was far from painless. And it would be guarded by the armies of Inquisitor Stein, no mortal being could survive an all-out assault.

Of course, as a Templar Knight, he was aware of an alternative.
[/quote]

The shake stirred Mithias back to alertness, pain pulsing through his side and his veins like the fire of life, and he realized that he had almost let himself zone out. But no, no, this wasn't a dream. The same reality he had almost left behind in unconsciousness was still there as he blinked his eyes. Their home was destroyed, burning in the rain right before him, and she was gone. "Evelyn..." Mithias winced as he could not hold back the tears. She had his child, his greatest joy, and now, the thought of them burning alone and apart from his protection was more than he could bear. It was a suffering unto death that was beyond all known cruel torture. "Evelyn!" He shouted as loudly as he could, as if he could reach her with his voice. Blood gushed briefly from his side, stifeling his cry. Wearily he stabbed his sword into the ground and leaned forward on it."I can't let it happen. I can't let them die..." The world was turned upside down. The once beloved and glorified Templars were now demonized and hunted down like a secret society of Satan-worshipping cultists. They were being slaughtered left and right, their homes destroyed, their lands taken. It was all coming back to him now...

"Bug, my friend. I beg of you, please. Help me, help them. I would give my soul to save my family."