Young Writers Society

His stomach yearned for more food as he and Krieves exited the inn and back onto the dark and dingy roads. Still, with a bit in his stomach he could think a bit clearer and withstand the pelting of the rain far better than before. If there was one thing that good, hot food could do, it was warm the belly amidst a night as cold as this one.

As he walked behind the older man he called his father, he could feel his back knotting against the harsh wind and harsher wetness that soaked through his overshirt and undershirt. The tensing caused the muscles in between his shoulders and the ones in his lower back to groan and complain about their current surroundings.

Pain was one of those sensations that was a double-edged sword. While it caused the immediate sensation of discomfort or just the general feeling of "please make it stop.", Leigh couldn't disregard the positive effects it had on him, ones that he had come to understand over the years.

Pain kept you awake. Well, to a point. If you needed to stay awake longer than your body felt comfortable, you could cause pain to yourself to keep yourself awake. It didn't have to be anything huge. A fingernail in the palm, a thorn against the inside of the wrist, a small prick or a slight cut. Sometimes, even just biting the inside of his mouth could keep him up longer than normal. This was helpful more times than Leigh wanted to admit, especially when he was younger and found himself in some more... precarious situations.

Now, there was a balance to this. If you put yourself into too much pain, your body would automatically just pass out to keep you from feeling the brunt of the pain. He learned this one from some of those precarious situations. There are certain people, those who walk the darker paths of life, who know this information intimately, either by use on themselves or usage on others. There are few benefits to cause a person just enough pain to keep them awake -- barely. Leigh found himself to be one of the few people to know of this balance and to have put it into practice before.

The second usage of pain is to clear the mind. When your body is screaming for attention, it leaves little room for your mind to do much wondering or worrying. It was this latter one that Leigh was grateful to be taking advantage of as he paced behind Krieves. There was a certain point where his mind could ignore the pain while it still battered at his mind's defensives, leaving him in a kind of mentally numb state.

Now that there was a small source of comfort in the stew settling into his stomach, his mind and body had both woken up just enough to make him consciously aware of the pain and the haunting thoughts bordering at the edge of his mindspace.

Leigh sucked in a deep breath and focused on his steps. The uneven pebbled ground and the sticky mud were two minor things that added onto the major list of the things that pained him. It took that much more energy to step carefully and not fall, and if his body was sore, he felt every ounce of energy he had left being spent slowly but surely. However, if he focused on his steps, he could spend less energy trying to keep his footing. And so he did that, keeping his sight on the path right ahead of him, predicting where he needed to place his next foot to maximize the stability of his composure. It was menial, laborious, but it was one of the thing Leigh had found that calmed the constant pains he had gathered from his childhood, little medals of trauma and memories he wished he could forget and scatter to the wind. Physical reminders were the absolute worst, and that pain in the small of his back was the one that made itself known the most often.

Slowly, inch by inch, the muscles in his back and shoulders untensed, and he let out an excruciatingly slow breath alongside them. Unbunching his muscled released a hold on both his body and mind, like a fog lifting in the early morning. In that vacancy, he could hear the telltale commotion of a large amount of people gathered together. A crowd. Oh, joy.

Leigh dragged the anchor that was his head up to force himself to face the impending task. His father had already reached the start of the crowd, and Leigh himself had found he lagged behind his father quite a bit in his concentration. That didn't stop Krieves, though. Crowds were a place he thrived in. As Leigh crawled closer, the sounds of the rain were drowned out by the blend of voices, sounds both distinct and muddled, like the giggling of ghosts. Leigh felt the unbearable sensation that every single voice in there was talking about him.

He pushed forward. With only the lights of the lamps circling the town center and the moon overhead providing sight, Leigh blended in like one of everyone else. He dodged and ducked through the crowd, and ducked his head each time someone glanced in his direction or each time he bumped into someone too hard. If he was careful, he wouldn't become the talk of this town gathering.

He got close enough to the center to see what was going on. Thankfully, he was about as tall, if not taller, than most of the town people there. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Krieves had caught up to him. He didn't think the old man had kept an eye on where he went. Still holding tricks up his sleeve, even at his old age. Leigh would keep that in mind. Perhaps Krieves caught onto more things than he let on. He had the aura around him of being this delightful but distracted old man, someone so caught up in his ideas that he didn't have the time or energy to keep track of the simple things around him. Leigh enjoyed that aspect of Krieves. It allowed him to keep to himself more. Krieves didn't ask much about Leigh, and Leigh didn't ask much about Krieves.

Maybe that had been a mistake all this time.

The people in front of them cleared, revealing a regiment of troops on horseback, with one wearing significantly more regalia. That must be the important person from Vildavel. He was busy talking to the town elder. Leigh didn't know her name, nor did he particularly care to.

However, the person that did interest Leigh was the commander. It must have been quite a serious matter if someone came to the absolute middle of nowhere. The last time that happened... well, Leigh didn't want to drudge up those memories. They were buried deep, and for a reason.

The commander stopped talking to the elder and turned his attention to the crowd. Instantly, the people around Leigh grew silent. For the first time since he walked into the midst of everyone, he could hear the droplets of rain pitter-pattering on the thatch and shingles of the rooftops around them. The sound was normally quite pleasing, but now it was eerie.

First, he pulled out a scroll from within his vest and unraveled it. "Citizens of Alverdion, hear this decree!" Oh, great, Leigh thought grimly, some official statement about how they're raising taxes or something. Leigh wanted to turn his hearing off or just walk away, but something kept him listening.

“By order of the High Reach, all male leaders of households must conscript into the imperial forces. You have the rest of the night to prepare. We ride back to the High Kingdom at first light.” Without taking a second glance at the crowd, the commander continued. He raised his voice to travel over the rising dissent among the crowd. Leigh himself had to take a moment to register what exactly had just been said, but there was no time for that.

"In accordance to the country population records, we have compiled a list of all members to be drafted. It is up to you to come to me if there has been any change of Head of Household since the last population notice. If you have not arrived for the march at dawn, you will be considered acting against the law, and will be treated as such." He rolled the scroll back up.

A few townspeople walked up to the commander, but most started to disperse. Leigh tuned to find Krieves, his mind spinning. He had prepared himself for war, of course. He had to, after what had happened. But this quaint town and large family had been all he had known for awhile. War was something completely different, foreign to him. It was going to be a new life, and maybe the ending of that, and any, life for him.

He found Krieves straggling at the edge of the quickly dissolving crowd, talking in a hurried expression to the same town elder that the commander had spoken with before his decree. Krieves had a look on his face that Leigh had only seen one time before, back when he had first met him. It was one of dire concern.

Krieves noticed Leigh out the corner of his eye, and his demeanor changed, as he plastered on a smile, but it didn't feel genuine. Krieves thanked the elder and turned his attention to Leigh. "Let's go home," he said.

"Are we going to stop at the tavern?" Leigh asked, yearning to finish that stew before getting back on the road.

"No, no. We must get home to prepare before tomorrow." Krieves looked distant, like he was busy thinking about something too broad to grasp if anyone else tried. It was somewhat like how he planned his larger projects, but in those cases he seemed more sure of himself at those points. Now, though, it was a look of feeling lost. A look of hopelessness.

Leigh knew better to question Krieves. He did not want an entire discussion on why he was wrong. So, he followed Krieves out of town.

As they made their way further out of town, the rain lessened, and they saw more people. The mood was dour. He saw a couple crying and holding each other with their toddler son in between their embrace. A few others were packing supplies with solemn looks on their faces. Leigh removed his hood and nobody noticed. For the first time. there were more pressing matters then just idle gossip.

the people in the town lowered his emotions, so Leigh drew inward and focused on his own problems. Like the others, his world was going to change tomorrow. He had no weapon, as he didn't really need them, but he had trained with a one-handed sword and shield, and he had a bit of experience • with archery. He assumed they would give him armor and weapons before sending him to his death.

Who were they at war with? He supposed it didn't matter. These types of conflicts never mattered or made any sense or involved the smaller forces. These towns and their people were just victims of the larger picture. The last time Leigh we had gotten caught up in a war, he never found out the sides of the fight, nor which side he was supposed to be on before he had been swallowed whole in the conflict at large.

How would Vera react to the news? How would he break the news to the kids. The older ones looked up to him and the younger ones basically thought of him as another parent. How would that strain Vera and Krieves lives, both as people and's parents. Would they have to move closer to tour? Would Krieves be able to continue his development of Diajaveer?

They reached the end of the town. Leigh cleared his throat. He had managed to maintain the speed of Krieves, so he wasn't far behind the o der man. "Apa, how are we going to tell Vera? Or the kids?"

"You just leave that to me, Leigh." Krieves said solemnly.

"What do you think I should pack and prepare? I don't have a lot of things-"

"Leigh."

"I shall need clothes for both warm and cooler climates-"

Leigh! Listen to me, son.'' Krieves said. That was the first time Leigh had ever heard him raise his voice, and it was startling, even though he still wasn't that loud. Leigh shut his mouth "Leigh, you're not joining the army."

“But," Leigh said, "you heard the officer."

“They want me to join the army."

Leigh furrowed his eyebrows. "I know you are technically the head of household, but I've trained for this."

"I know, and I wish this wasn't the case. This is how it must be."

"But—"

"Leigh. Son." Krieves stopped in his tracks, and grasped Leigh's shoulders. "You are my son, in every way that matters. But, we are not related by blood. The country doesn't recognize you as being a part of my household. We never thought this would be a problem." He heaved a heavy sigh. "So, it must be me."

The rest of the trip home was made in silence.