 His new life of peace is shattered by the unbearable taxes assessed on the peasants by "Baron" Erik Ventris, the man who had betrayed Brattle.Pressured by his fellow villagers, Brattle leads a raid on the Baron's tax collector, which provokes Ventris' revenge killing of all the women and children in Brattle's village, and the burning of that village.Brattle's raiders battle with the Baron, ending in Ventris' death and the massacre of his troops.