“Hold!”

Kal’s eyes flew open. The soldiers all stood at attention.

“General Kagle,” the soldier—the one that had been about to kill him—said.

The man who approached was young and handsome and clearly held a position of higher authority. He wore a similar suit of black and red armor, though thinner and with more decorations on his chest plate. A leader, then, standing back and giving the orders. A long red cape flowed behind him, cementing his status as someone of importance.

General Kagle looked at Kal sternly. “Swear allegiance to Lord Malphor and the Order of the Holy Ascension.”

“What?” Kal muttered, blood spitting out of his mouth with the word.

“Swear allegiance to Lord Malphor and the Order of the Holy Ascension,” General Kagle repeated patiently. Kal looked at the soldiers gathered around them. They shared glances of confusion with each other, as if what was happening was not an ordinary occurrence.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Kal yelled. “Who the hell are you people?”

General Kagle closed his eyes for a moment, then took a knee next to Kal. He ducked his head close to Kal’s ear, keeping his words hidden from his soldiers.

“Just do it, kid,” he said. “I’m giving you a chance here. A chance I’m not supposed to be giving. Swear allegiance—now—or die beside your mother.”

The general stood back up and folded his arms. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows expectantly. His words and his tone had seemed sympathetic to Kal, but he apparently had to maintain appearances for his troops.

Kal knew he had no time to think this through. The idea of swearing allegiance to whoever these people worshipped disgusted him. What he really wanted to do was kill them. Every single last one of them.

But he couldn’t do that if he was dead. The question came down to one thing: Did he want to live, or did he want to die?

Dying here, alongside his mother, didn’t seem like the worst way to go. And joining these murdering monsters might be a fate worse than death.

“Very well,” General Kagle said. He waved his hand in the air and began walking away. The soldier with the blade took a step forward.

“Wait!” Kal called. The general stopped and held up his hand to the soldier, who stopped as well.

“I’ll do it,” Kal said between gritted teeth.

The general smiled. “Splendid.” He waved towards someone outside of Kal’s view. A small, grizzled woman in black robes scurried forward. She vaguely reminded Kal of one of the witches from Crescent Hollow.

She carried a pack on her shoulder and dropped it to the ground in front of her. She pulled out a circular object, grasping it by a handle on the back. It was constructed of some type of heavy metal and bore a strange symbol.

“Do you swear allegiance to Lord Malphor?” she asked in a high-pitched tone, her words coming out so fast Kal had trouble keeping up.

“What?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes impatiently. “The proper response is ‘Yes, I swear allegiance to Lord Malphor.’ Do you swear allegiance to Lord Malphor?”

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“Yes,” Kal said without conviction. “I swear allegiance to Lord… Malphor?”

She ignored the question. He must have gotten it right. “Do you swear allegiance to the Order of the Holy Ascension?”

“Sure,” Kal said.

The soldiers still holding him by the arms yanked sharply. The general was watching the proceedings. And seemed to be losing patience as well.

“I swear allegiance to the Order of the…”

“Holy Ascension,” the woman said.

“Holy Ascension.”

“Raise your left hand,” she ordered. Despite his confusion, Kal obliged. The woman made some kind of incantation and waved her hand over the object she held. It sparked a blue spark, then erupted in blue flame.

“Wait!” Kal started. She moved it towards his outstretched hand. He pulled it back. The soldiers grabbed his arm and held it out towards the woman.

“Stop,” General Kagle said. To Kal, he said, “You have to do it willingly. We cannot force you.”

This all seemed like one horrible nightmare. But Kal could think of no other options. He held out his left hand.

The woman grabbed it roughly and turned it so his palm was facing out. Then she pushed the glowing blue object into his palm. Kal screamed, the pain searing through him. It was a burning sensation, but unlike any he’d ever felt before. Was this magic? If it was, it was magic beyond what he’d been led to believe existed.

“Very good,” General Kagle said. “Soldier,” he said to the man that had tackled Kal, “take him to the rearguard. Bring him to Lieutenant Durrur. Tell him to use him however he sees fit, but that he’s not prepared for battle.”

“Yes, sir,” the soldier replied.

“Everyone else, back in formation.”

“Wait!” Kal called. The general stopped. “My mother. Can I at least… Can I bury my mother?”

The general shook his head. “Sorry, son. We’re on a tight schedule.”

The general turned sharply away, this time for good, and disappeared into the throng of troops and beasts. The soldier assigned to Kal seized his arm with an iron grip, dragging him to his feet.

“You are one lucky son of a bitch,” he barked at Kal.

Kal didn’t feel lucky. He didn’t say another word though, and just allowed himself to be guided through the moving soldiers. He glanced back over his shoulder to where his mother had just died. But he couldn’t see her, the soldiers already blocking his line of sight. He could only hope they had enough respect not to trample her.

But he doubted that.

He felt sick to his stomach. Ashamed and disgusted with himself for pledging loyalty to the people who had murdered his mother. Unsure of what the future held. Only hoping somehow, some way, he’d be able to get out of this mess.

They passed by what was left of the barn and stables, a small fire smoldering in the middle of them. He spotted a large animal, black and white, lying dead on its side in the dirt beside it. An old friend.

He looked away. He just couldn’t bear any more.

As they continued towards the rearguard, Kal came to a sudden realization. This “Holy Ascension” was traveling east, which meant they had come from the west. And the only thing west of the farm was the Roaring Mother River. The uncrossable Roaring Mother. Which meant, somehow, these people had found a way to traverse her waters.

It made him think again of the hills beyond the river. The place he had spent so much time gazing over, and the source of so many of his hopes and dreams. He had been sure there was “more” beyond them. A chance for a better life, just over those hills.

But the Godknight and Elders had taught the people of Brightholme there was nothing out there but death and despair.

They had been right. And he had been wrong.

And his heart was broken because of it.

********

In Godknight Tower, the Godknight screamed in his sleep. The city shook with the sound.