text: [Themes: grimdark fantasy, fantasy, grimdark, war]
  
  You decide to head to the shrine, the wound isn't THAT bad, and besides, the village isn't that far, you'll get yourself a healer soon enough. Just to be sure, you find some healing grass and use it to soothe your wound a bit.
  
  You make the trek up the hill, to where Prabog's shrine is. As you do every day, you kneel before it, and pray, pray, pray. Pray for the village, pray for yourself, pray for your sister, for both your parents, for anybody that is important in your life.
  
  You get...silence. You're getting increasingly pissed off, but you continue praying, and that's when something finally happens. You hear a booming voice.
  
  "Oh you pitiful mortal. You come here every day, pray for the same damn thing, get nothing in return, yet still come back the next.
  I see you've gotten yourself an injury along the way, yet still came to see me. I guess you do deserve something from me.
  I am not a merciful god, but I WILL give you...advice. Go to the big oak in the forest, and head directly east towards the Morava river.
  Do not stray north or south, even a little bit. When you reach the river, you should see two big rocks.
  There you will find something to protect you from your enemies...hehehe..."
  
  The voice disappears, and you are left thinking about what you heard. Who did you talk to anyway? Is it some sorcerer or a warlock fucking with your head? Surely you did not just talk to the real Prabog, whom you pray to every day, and even bring an occasional offering when you're able to, and he essentially told you to fuck off and play around in a river?
  
  > go back to the village.
  You return to the village, having picked up the wolf you slain along the way. You can put it to good use.
  
  "Oh no Velimir, you're injured!" screams out your little sister who has been awaiting your return at the village gates. There could not be more of a difference between the two of you. You are extremely tall, she is rather short. You are wide as the broad side of a barn, she is very petite and tiny (except in the two areas that her brother should never be looking at, yet sometimes glances anyway, then shamefully looks away). You have very short cropped hair, being almost bald, and a beard that fits a man twice your age. She has insanely long auburn hair that reaches her waist, and obviously no beard. While your eyes are brown and quite small and serious looking, hers are two enormous blue sapphires. Your lips are small, tiny and often cracked, while hers are full and ruby red.
  
  She is 14, and you sometimes wonder whether your mother has been unfaithful, due to the many differences in your physiques and behavior. She always liked spending time with you ever since she was little, but can get annoying sometimes with how much she cares about you.
  
  "Bah, it's nothing Mirna. Some of the shamans will fix me up right away," you reply.
  
  "None of them are here right now though, they've all gone with Zlatko to commune with the spirits, and come up with the best defensive tactic against the Byzantines. The only one here is Klem," Mirna, your sister replies as she starts looking at your wound.
  
  "Klem huh, that idiot has no control over his powers. He'll fry me as much as he'll heal me," you say annoyedly, as you walk further into the village. Villagers greet you, some concerned over your wound. You dump the wolf inside the butcher's hut, and then start getting worried. If you don't get treatment soon, you very well could be infected with a disease of some kind.
  
  That being said, Klem is not your only choice. There is a witch of the wilds called Enya that sometimes comes up to the village to trade for some stuff. People avoid her and with good reason, she is very creepy and sinister looking. Klem is sounding like a better choice the more you think about it.
  
  > Klem it is.
  You walk up to one of the shaman huts, to find their latest apprentice.
  
  "Hey Klem, do you mind taking a look at me for a second?"
  
  Klem, a skinny blonde boy of about 17, with a bowl haircut and zero visible muscle, has always been bullied for his lack of hunting, fighting or fishing prowess. That all changed a year ago when he managed to discover shamanic powers within him. He's still the laughing stock of the village, just not quite so much. You also know he's been in love with your sister since he was like 5. And he's also in love with Senka, the village hottie. And with pretty much any girl in the village. You feel kinda bad for him, you doubt he's even kissed a girl yet. That is all irrelevant now though.
  
  "Y...yes Velimir? What is it you need? OHMYGOD!" he screams as he sees your wound. You forgot that he is also weak in the knees when he sees blood. Just the kind of reliable guy you need at a time like this.
  
  "It's just blood Klem, get over yourself and start healing me already," you bark at him. He jumps up in fear, but does as you say anyway.
  
  Surprisingly, he actually does the job well. You're quite shocked.
  
  "Huh, would you look at that, I was quite sure I was going to lose an arm there. I guess you won't be the laughing stock of the village forever. You're now going to be our official nurse. Hahahaha!" you laugh condescendingly. He doesn't look happy.
  
  > Back to the village center.
  Returning to the village center, you're stuck wondering just what to do now. The Slavic gods sure as hell aren't helping you. If you follow the " wise leader Rom's " battle tactics, you are sure to lose. You cannot convince them to change their minds, you tried too many times. It all seems hopeless.
  
  > escape the village before the Byzantines come.
  A true hero you are. Fuck them all, you think, they do not understand the gravity of the situation. You're not going to die in vain because of their stupidity.
  
  You consider telling your parents about it, and asking them to come with you, but they are on the side of the village leader, and would probably shoo you out of the village for even suggesting such a thing to them.
  
  You want to bring your sister, but she would never understand. She loves you, but does not want to leave the village. Besides, going out into the world is dangerous, there are many evil people and creatures out there. You don't want to think about it, but she would be a big detriment, and you'd constantly worry about losing her. No, she may be safer in the village. The Byzantines will probably kill all the men, but if she's lucky, she'd end up being taken into Byzantium by some great warrior, to birth and raise his children. You know that she is hot no matter how much you deny it, and they all have a Slav fetish anyway, the bastards. She'll live a good life there.
  
  If she's unlucky, she'll probably be tossed around like a piece of meat, and left alone with a bastard. You don't want to think about it, and so you don't.
  
  You gather up some supplies, all your equipment such as a bow, your sword, arrows, waterskin, yada yada yada and set out into the world. Nobody even sees you leave, they're all busy doing their own jobs.
  
  636 AD
  
  The lone survivor ending.
  
  It's been 10 years since you left the village. It happened as you expected. All the men were slaughtered, the women were used and abused, the ugly and the old ones killed, and the pretty and the young ones taken back home to carry children. You don't even feel like gloating the fact you were correct, not that you have anybody to gloat to.
  
  You've gotten pretty good at surviving off the land, and taking care of the occasional Psoglav (man with a dog's head) and Sakal (a kind of a wolf). You have a hidden home in a cave, and are a survivalist. You kill the occasional Byzantine soldier that happens to be unlucky enough to come near your territory. Which is more and more recently as they started resettling the area. You may have to move soon.
  
  It's a tough life, but you somehow survived, yet it all seems useless. You feel empty every single day. Like you should have done more. Your thoughts linger on your sister. You assume your father died in the battle, and hope mother died quickly before much humiliation...but they definitely wanted to take your sister home. You wonder if she is happy, wherever she is.
  
  You sigh and go out of your cave for yet another empty day of merely surviving.
  
  Are you feeling like a hero yet?