Ok, here's the one I'm working on, this being the first three sentances of the prologue of my novel WIP:
The night had erupted in fire.
What had started as an average peaceful night plagued only by the symphony of crickets and frogs as families went about their nightly business within the calm mountain village had become nothing so much as a wasteland of death and destruction when the emperor's forces moved in.
Everything was burning and everyone was dying as men in dark armor flowed savagely around them, screaming bloody murder as they swung, hacking and stabbing, anyone who stood before them.
I like the concept, but is there a way to make it less passive? Can you show us the action rather than remember it?
"The night erupted in fire" is a stronger opening, and then your story can take off right in the midst of the slaughter!
A few other picks: "flowed savagely" and "swung" should be cut. Savage is implied in the next sentence. "Screaming bloody murder" is cliche and should also be replaced.