At this, the terrified shriekings and screamings of the women and other children suddenly filled the compound's surrounding buildings.
As the war party entered, their men marched quickly past the boy's crumpled figure. A huge half-breed giant fully seven feet tall thrust him through with a spear point and casually levered the honed steel blade out of the boy's body again as he marched past without even so much as breaking his stride.
They broke into all buildings and searched for any males of noble birth. There were none such, of course, except in the House proper.
These they brought out kicking and screaming, one by one, to the top of the front steps.
They were immediately confronted by a tall, fearsome-looking man who appeared to be the leader of the invaders and summarily thrust through with the sword and their lifeless bodies cast down the stone steps.
The more the dead were piled up, the more terrified the living became as they were dragged to the fore and arrived at the stark sight of the growing pile of bodies.
None were of fighting quality. Either too old or too young, they were nonetheless potential claimants or heirs to the Deed of the House of Rababull, and systematically eliminated.
The killing process only stopped when the executioners finally ran out of heirs.
Then, the final prize, virile young Puffat was dragged out between two bedraggled but powerful-looking swordsmen, his gangrenous leg causing him much agony, making pathetic attempts to free himself and loudly protesting his innocence to whatever gods there be.
The snaggle-toothed, smiling executioner listened to him a moment, and then, still smiling, thrust him through with a sword and stepped back, jerking his weapon out of the victim as his body was released by his captors to plummet lifelessly down the blood-spattered steps where it eventually came to rest at the top of the heap of other victims.