1 Chapter 1: The End of Fields

The sun found itself beating down harshly upon a clearing of farmland below in a clearing of trees that seemed to shelter it from the world. The lone house that stood near the trees sat there under the comfort of the shade of the trees. It was nothing fancy a small timber house that looked like it was well maintained but had been sitting there for more than a handful of years now. With the wind whistling by rustling the leaves and the sound of birds chirping musically all around, it was a genuinely serene area that seemed untouched by the world around it. The lone road that went past it off towards other areas was quiet and looked like it had been some time since more than a few people had needed to travel upon it.

The door to the house creaked open as two figures came walking out of it; obviously, farmers by the looks of there dress in rough wool grey pants and tunics that had certainly seen better days with leather shoes on their feet. One of the farmers was a young man who looked to be in the apex of life no more eighteen; With light hazel eyes, short black hair, an almost chestnut skin color from the sun, and standing at five-ten, he was undoubtedly handsome in his own right. The other was an older man who looked almost like the younger man beside him though his eyes were brown, and he was just a bit shorter. Both seemed in good shape, their hands rough from the physical toll of working the farm day in and day out.

With a carefree grin, the younger one headed towards the wheat field that stood proudly against the sun, which seemed as impervious to the heat as he did. "Hurry up da' we got a lot more work to get done today if we wanna stay on schedule." His voice was a deep bass, and the tone lighthearted. The older man spits on the ground as he walked and laughed. "We would have been back at it already if ya hadn't of kept your ma' busy with telling ya stories of the Great King Milwulf. I swear Nefre ya could recite her stories by now." Nefre just laughed as they got to the fields picking up their scythes beads of sweat already forming only from the intense heat. "Aight we have enough water, so don't overwork yourself, and let's get to it," his Dad said, and off they began.

The sun continued to beat down overhead with no cloud coverage in sight as the two men worked in the wheat field using their scythes to collect the grain deftly, practiced hands, and sharp movements a testament to the years both had put into this field. As the day wore on the sun began to move across the sky, birds that had been singing around the area had gone quiet, fluttering out of the trees to the north and began flying south. Nefre's Father was the one to notice this and stopped looking around with a frown. "Boy might be something prowling around in the woods; lets head inside just in case, birds are spooked." Nefre let out an exasperated side but nodded his head, walking over to his Father. "Alright, alright, don't worry so much, probably just something small that spooked em, but let's go on."

As the pair began to walk down from the field towards the house, a low rumble could be felt coming down the road. Both men stopped and turned to look northwards, watching the tree line the older man looking worried. "Get inside boy and get ya mother could be bandits, or worse hurry up!" Nefre looked at his Father frozen for a moment though as he moved to turn away, the cause of the noise came through the trees. What seemed to be a group of warhorses came out from the trees massive beasts fitted with metal helmets, all with armored knights sitting on top of them in polished silver plate armor. Except for one rider dressed in a black doublet and white tights with an emblem emblazoned on the front of the doublet of a red snake. "Men of King Decus...they must be heading to Laskin." Nefre's Father seemed relieved but still weary at the same time as he continued to watch the ten or so men head down the road.

As the group grew closer Nefre, and his Father had moved off to the side of the road, and towards their house, even his mother had come out to look a middle-aged woman with long blonde hair and hazel eyes shorter than both men and dressed in a long brown dress like tunic that covered her slender frame. The riders themselves did not pass by the house; in fact, they came to a stop the noble-looking man, not in armor slid off his horse heading towards the three shrewd blue eyes looked them over. "I did not realize there was a farm between here and Laskin." His voice seemed to carry an edge as if perpetually aggravated by something. "My name is Servius, an emissary of your King Decus. A war has broken out between our Kingdom of Lenwall and the Northern Kingdom of Ducomor, the alliance breakers."

He stopped letting the news settle in among the three as they all looked to each other then back to the man Nefre's Father, finally speaking up. "What would our King have us do, milord?" The man seemed to grin, though if there was anything but maliciousness there, it was hard to see. "I'm glad you asked. We are conscripting all men of able-bodied age to the militia..." At that, Nefre's mother gasped eyes going wide as she realized instantly what that meant though Servius carried on. "Now, what are your names." "I'm Rol m' lord, and this is my son Nefre and my wife Rosalyn" he got out calmly enough though there was apprehension in his voice. "No other children?" Servius asked, which caused Rosalyn to shake her head tears forming at the edge of her eyes. "No m' lord tha winter claimed my youngest."

The man nodded before looking between all three of them again, "I see. Then I will only be conscripting your son Nefre's as farms will be necessary for the war to come." Rosalyn bit back from crying even as the tears flowed down her cheek, Rol looked at the man pleading. "Please m' lord I'll go in his place he's just a boy and..." Servius cut him off with a glare before speaking once again Nefre's was silent, looking shell shocked. "This isn't a negotiation, now say your goodbyes and then let me verify his mark." Nefre's looked to his parents both with tears in their eyes, knowing that this was it, the end of their idyllic life. They both quickly moved on him, wrapping him hugs as Rosalyn finally broke down and began to cry while Rol stayed somewhat more stoic. "Now ya, don't get yourself killed, boy, and you make it back home to me and ya mom alright." He said, giving his son a clap on the back as in a moment, their entire world was changed.

After a few minutes of quick goodbyes, Nefre's turned to Servius his own eyes red even as he finished wiping any lingering tears away, that easy-going grin a far distant memory now. He grabbed the sleeve of his right arm and pulled it up to his shoulder, a black zero prominent on his skin like a tattoo. Servius leaned in to inspect it before nodding satisfied leaning back. "Good, now you will come with us to Laskin to finish conscripting then back to the Capital. You'll ride with one of the knights as we don't have time to waste with your walking." With that, he moved back to his horse, swinging up onto it as one of the knights reached down, offering a hand for Nefre's who took it and was easily hauled up and onto the horse. His mother had run to the house and came running back, pushing a waterskin into his hand and a small bundle of food before they left. "You come back home, love...don't you leave me alone with your father for too long," she said, trying to joke, which did earn a smile from all three of them for one last time.

The company began off down the massive warhorses causing the road to rumble even as they headed off at a slow trot, Nefre's could only wave to his parents before finally turning back to look into the shiny metal of the knight in front of him. Waves of emotions crashed over him to many to make sense of though fear and sadness seemed to pierce through all of them to make themselves known front and center. He tried not to focus on them, tried to push it to the side, decided to focus on just getting through this, and getting back home. Yet in the pit of his stomach, he could feel that this would be the last time he would ever see home or the fields he grew up in again. As they entered back into the tree line heading south and the light shimmered down through the canopy of trees, as his fate finally settled in, he let out a deep breath of acceptance and just focused on the path ahead.