2026-10-09 05:56:54The first man to refuse conscription was dragged into the village square before sunrise. John arrived just as two soldiers forced the young farmer to his knees.
“My son is all I have left!” the farmer's mother cried. “Please, he cannot go!” The officer holding the recruitment list did not even look at her.
“Every household must provide one able-bodied man. Refusal is punishable by execution.”
The words spread through Blackstone faster than fire. Doors slammed. Children were pulled inside.
Young men disappeared into barns, storage sheds, and abandoned houses. Within an hour, the village that had celebrated its first green field had become a place of fear.
John stood near the square, watching soldiers search houses.
The kingdom had come with barely enough food to feed its own men, yet it had arrived expecting Blackstone to surrender more.
Marcus walked toward him. “They're going to search our house next.” John looked at his father.
“Then we won't hide.” Marcus frowned. “What are you planning?”
“I'm not sure yet.” A soldier shouted from across the square. “Marcus!” John turned. The officer checked the list.
“Marcus Vale. Able-bodied. Former hunter.” Marcus's expression hardened. “That is me.”
“You are required for service.” John stepped forward.
“No.” The officer slowly raised his eyes. “What did you say?”
John moved between him and Marcus. “I said no.” The square became completely still. The officer laughed. “Young man, this isn't a negotiation.”
John glanced at the soldiers surrounding them. “How many men are you taking?”
“Every eligible man.”
“And if a family refuses?”The officer's smile vanished. They will learn the cost of disobedience.”
John's hands tightened. The memory of Lily asking whether there would be food tomorrow flashed through his mind.
He had promised her that one day she would never have to ask that question again.
He could not keep that promise if the kingdom continued taking every person capable of protecting the village.
The officer pointed at Marcus. “Move aside.” John didn't move. The officer stepped closer. “Young fool, your village owes soldiers to the kingdom.”
John's voice remained calm. “The kingdom has taken our grain.”
“That is tax.”
“It took our horses.”
“Military requisition.” John looked at his father. “And now you want our sons.” The officer smiled.
“That is service.” John's eyes hardened. “Funny. Everything the kingdom takes seems to have a different name.”
Several villagers lowered their heads to hide their reactions. The officer's face darkened. “You are dangerously arrogant for a man standing in front of twenty armed soldiers.”
John studied the soldiers. Then he noticed something. Their armour was filthy. Several shields were cracked.
The leather straps holding their weapons together were worn nearly through. One soldier was secretly rubbing his stomach.
Another had wrapped cloth around the sole of his boot. John's eyes narrowed. These men were supposed to represent the kingdom's strength.
Yet they looked exhausted. Hungry. Poorly supplied. He noticed the sacks being unloaded from their wagon.
Most contained grain. But there was surprisingly little of it. The army wasn't taking food because Blackstone had too much.
They were taking food because the army itself did not have enough. John suddenly understood.
The kingdom's military machine was beginning to crack. The soldiers searched houses throughout the morning.
Several young men were discovered hiding. One attempted to escape through the eastern fields.
He was caught. His mother screamed until her voice broke. John watched without speaking.
Anger burned inside him, but he knew anger alone would accomplish nothing. He needed information. So he began watching the soldiers.
Their supply wagon had only enough food for perhaps three days. Their horses were thin. Their weapons had not been properly maintained.
The officer's boots were new, but the soldiers beneath him looked as though they had been marching for weeks.
Their formation was also poor. They had no dedicated scouts. Their rear guard was almost nonexistent.
John noticed something else. The officer repeatedly looked toward the mountains. Not toward Blackstone.
Toward the mountains. That detail stayed in John's mind. By sunset, Marcus had been spared only because the officer changed the number of recruits at the last moment.
Blackstone still lost eleven men. Eleven families were broken. The village watched the soldiers leave with the young men chained together.
John stood beside the road. He did not wave. He did not speak. He simply watched. Something inside him had changed.
Until now, he had believed that survival meant building quietly. Grow food. Repair homes. Store grain. Protect the village.
Avoid attention. But that strategy was already failing. The kingdom had found them. And the kingdom would return.
That night, John gathered several men behind the old grain storehouse. Marcus was there. So were Tomas, three hunters, two blacksmiths, and six farmers.
John placed a wooden spear on the ground. “We're not building an army.” Tomas frowned. “Then what are we doing?”
“Learning to defend ourselves.” John demonstrated how to hold the spear. He showed them how to move together.
How to protect the person beside them. How to retreat without turning their backs on an enemy. The villagers struggled.
Their first formation collapsed within seconds. John corrected them. Again. And again.
Nobody complained. They had watched eleven men taken from their families that day.
They understood now. This was no longer a game. After several hours, John dismissed them. “We continue tomorrow.”
As the men dispersed, Marcus remained behind. “You think this can protect us?” John looked toward the dark road.
“Not yet.” Marcus nodded. “But someday?” John's gaze hardened. Someday, nobody will walk into this village and decide who gets to leave.”
Neither man noticed the shadow moving beyond the wall. Hours later, John was checking the irrigation channels when he heard footsteps.
He turned immediately. A figure stumbled from the darkness. John caught him before he fell.
The man was wearing a kingdom soldier's uniform. Blood soaked his side. John lowered him carefully.
“Who are you?” The soldier looked around desperately. “You shouldn't have helped me.”
“Why?” The soldier's eyes were filled with fear. “They'll kill me if they find me.”
“Who?”
“The army.” John froze. The wounded soldier gripped his arm. “You think the conscription is about soldiers?”
John frowned. “What else could it be?” The soldier swallowed. “They're preparing for war.” John stared at him.
“Against whom?” The soldier looked toward the mountains. His face became pale. “Not whom.”
He coughed violently. John tightened his grip. “What are you talking about?” The soldier's eyes remained fixed on the distant peaks.
“They aren't preparing to fight a kingdom.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “They're preparing to fight something that came down from those mountains.”
John slowly turned toward the darkness beyond the village. For the first time, he noticed a faint red glow above the peaks. It had not been there yesterday.
The wounded soldier whispered one final sentence. “And whatever it is...” His eyes widened. “...the army is losing.”
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CHAPTER 8 — THE WOMAN FROM THE RUINED KINGDOM
The pressure outside the house became so heavy that the wooden walls groaned.John could barely breathe. Mira was already on her feet despite her injuries. They're here.”John looked toward the window.“Who?”“A hunter.”Her expression was grim. “Not an ordinary one.”A deep voice suddenly echoed across Blackstone Village.“Give me Mira Vale.”Every candle in the village had already gone out, leaving the settlement buried beneath darkness.The voice came again.“Hand her over, and nobody needs to die.”John's jaw tightened. Around him, the village guards were gathering weapons.Marcus was already outside organising them. John knew the truth. If the man outside was as powerful as Mira claimed, sending the militia against him would be suicide.But fighting openly would be just as dangerous. The stranger might sense John's cultivation. John turned toward Mira. Can you walk?”“Yes.”“Then you're going to hide.”Mira stared at him. You intend to fight him?”“No.”John looked toward the darkness. I
CHAPTER 7 — THE NIGHT THE SKY CHANGED
The crimson star pulsed again, and every person in Blackstone Village felt the ground tremble beneath their feet.Children began crying. Dogs howled from every corner of the settlement. Several villagers dropped to their knees and started praying.“What is happening?” Tomas shouted. Nobody answered. Above them, the night sky had become something unnatural.A massive red formation stretched across the heavens, its intricate lines connecting star to star until they formed a perfect circle around Blackstone Village.John stared upward. His heart was pounding. He could still feel the energy flowing through his body from his first attempt at cultivation.The formation was feeding it. No. John's expression changed. It was not feeding him. It was searching. The realisation sent a chill through him.The strange creature he had killed earlier had arrived shortly before the celestial formation appeared.That could not be a coincidence. “Everyone get inside!” John shouted. The villagers hesitate
CHAPTER 6 — THE FIRST STEP INTO CULTIVATION
The wounded soldier had barely finished speaking when a scream tore through Blackstone Village.John spun toward the eastern wall. A second scream followed, this one cut short by a terrible growl.Marcus came running from the direction of the barracks. “John! Something is inside the village!” The alarm bell began ringing.Villagers poured from their homes, some carrying farm tools, others clutching spears that John had helped them practice with.Then something crashed through a wooden fence. A creature emerged from the darkness. It looked like a wolf, but John knew immediately that it was not one.Its body was nearly twice the size of an ordinary wolf. Thick black fur covered its limbs, and two pale ridges ran along its spine. Its eyes reflected the moonlight with an unnatural red glow.More frightening was the faint distortion surrounding its body. The air itself seemed to tremble around it.“Hold the line!” Marcus shouted. Four villagers raised their spears. The creature disappeared
CHAPTER 5 — THE SECOND CONSCRIPTION
The first man to refuse conscription was dragged into the village square before sunrise. John arrived just as two soldiers forced the young farmer to his knees.“My son is all I have left!” the farmer's mother cried. “Please, he cannot go!” The officer holding the recruitment list did not even look at her.“Every household must provide one able-bodied man. Refusal is punishable by execution.”The words spread through Blackstone faster than fire. Doors slammed. Children were pulled inside.Young men disappeared into barns, storage sheds, and abandoned houses. Within an hour, the village that had celebrated its first green field had become a place of fear.John stood near the square, watching soldiers search houses.The kingdom had come with barely enough food to feed its own men, yet it had arrived expecting Blackstone to surrender more.Marcus walked toward him. “They're going to search our house next.” John looked at his father.“Then we won't hide.” Marcus frowned. “What are you pla
CHAPTER 4 — THE FIRST HARVEST
The river was less than a day's walk from Blackstone Village, but Harlan had decided that no one from Blackstone would touch it.John stood at the edge of the village when the messenger delivered the answer.“Half your remaining grain,” the man said. “That is the price for access to the river.”John's eyes narrowed. “And if we refuse?” The messenger shrugged. “Harlan says you can watch your people starve.” The words settled heavily over the gathered villagers.They had barely survived the military raid. Their grain stores were limited, their fields were dry, and the next harvest was still months away. Giving away half their food would be dangerous.Giving away half their food simply to obtain water was worse. John looked toward the dry fields.Then he looked back at the messenger. “Tell Harlan he gets nothing.” The messenger's expression hardened.“You should reconsider.”“No.”“Harlan has fifty armed men.” John glanced toward Blackstone's newly organised guards. “We have more than th
Chapter 3 — The Grain Beneath the Floor
The first stone struck the storehouse wall hard enough to make John flinch. “Thief!” Another stone followed.Then another. Within seconds, angry voices erupted outside the building. “You hid the grain!”“He found it before us!”“He's taking it for himself!” John turned toward the doorway. Dozens of villagers had gathered outside.Their faces were gaunt, their clothes covered in soot, and their eyes were fixed on the sacks of grain behind him with an almost frightening desperation.John understood immediately. Hunger had changed them. These people were not thinking about tomorrow.They were thinking about the next mouthful. A man pushed through the crowd.“Open the door!” Someone struck the wooden frame with a piece of timber. “We're starving!”John looked at the grain. Then at the crowd. He had expected relief when he found it. Instead, he had discovered another problem.There wasn't enough food for everyone to take whatever they wanted. If he opened the storehouse without a plan, the
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