the briars

After being orphaned at birth, Verik is not given a childhood - only a uniform. Raised within the Laurentian Protectorate's war machine, trained to obey before he could read, he is forged into a weapon against the Meridian League. But wars are not fought by bullets alone. As the conflict drags into its next generation, propaganda, espionage, and political betrayals begin to shape the battlefield as much as gunfire. Verik must navigate a world where loyalty is manufactured, truth is classified, and survival often demands becoming the very thing he was trained to destroy. In a war that has outlived its original cause, the question is no longer who wins - but what remains of those forced to fight it.