'Something is coming'
John woke with his heart pounding, in the grips of a night terror. The details of his dream escaped him the moment he sat up, leaving him with only this phrase and a cold sweat. Dull warm light bled through his paper window, it was time to get up anyway.
John's morning proceeded like many farmers, milking cows, collecting eggs and whipping together a simple breakfast. Normally his parents would have done these early morning chores but he figured why not if he was already awake. Combined with some flour and a bit of sugar he made some simple griddle cakes and tea for everyone.
His father, Damian, was the second awake. "Cultivators are coming to town today," he said with a frown.
Goosebumps spread across John's body, "Again?"
"Again. We received word late last night."
Cultivators had already been here last year. John himself had been tested, recently of age, but had been rejected. Shattered spiritual roots.
"Why would they come back so quickly? Is there anything we should do?" John was worried. Cultivators coming around off-schedule was NOT good news for mortals.
Damian hummed a sigh. "Keep your head down, I'm going to meet with the chief to get more detail. Stay here and protect your mom and sister." He quickly gulped down a cake and a cup of tea before leaving out the front door.
Damn, John thought. His sister Violet had just barely reached the age of cultivation and it was possible the cultivators would take her away. Normally she would have a few more years to prepare before the regular induction.
Violet and his mom Charlotte woke up an hour later, John told them the bad news. They waited in heavy silence for Damian to return and tell them what was happening.
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When Damian finally returned his frown had only deepened. "The cultivators are coming to do a special recruitment." His father didn't mince words.
"A special recruitment? What's that supposed to mean?!" Charlotte pulled Violet into her chest, who had tears budding in her eyes.
John felt sick, awash with sensation. Chills crept up his arms and back. Deja vu welled in his stomach like too much bile. His ears screamed at him in a pitched whine.
'SOMETHING IS COMING'
It took all his strength to catch himself on the table and not collapse to the floor.
"John!" his father rushed to his side. "What's wrong?!"
"I.. don't feel so good." he croaked, before passing out.
---
An indeterminate time later, John awoke. He was in the town center, as was everyone else in the entire town, from the oldest grandmas to the youngest of newborns. An extremely handsome man stood in the air at the very center, wearing gleaming white and gold robes. His long black hair flowed in the breeze.
If he had something to say, he had either already said it or he simply wasn't speaking. The cultivator pulled a crystal orb from nowhere and raised it above his head, as if in offering. The orb flashed a bright white before being overtaken by a roiling grey smoke which filled the crystal and then spilled out into the real world, quickly engulfing the town center.
John felt he must still be in a terrible nightmare. Images flashed by his eyes with incredible speed, too fast to register beyond a gaping horror. The moment passed and the smoke dissipated into nothingness once more. Everyone in the village lay on the ground unconscious except for John, who looked around in shocked silence. The cultivator stared at him wordlessly before waving a wide sleeve. John fell asleep from the qi technique, was caught by the cultivator, and taken away.