A punch flew forward, aiming to hit Sinon.

A punch from a novice, easily seen through, but Sinon planned on receiving it to blow some steam.

The fist landed on his cheek and Sinon’s head tilted slightly.

At first, the novice felt a rush of adrenaline, success! He had hit the general, with a punch to the face at that!

But that excited emotion he felt soon died down and was replaced by fear. Sinon stood in front of the novice, unharmed.

A grin emerged on Sinon’s face when he saw the novice cower. His teeth were showing, making him appear almost as if a shark had possessed him, and it was ready to bite the poor man in front of him.

There was no time to respond, for the novice’s left kneecap suddenly cracked and the fresh recruit tumbled backwards. He did not even realize that Sinon had kicked him. He fell on his bum and rolled on the dirt screaming in pain. He squealed like a pig, and the other trainees stared in horror as Sinon walked closer to the already severely injured man.

Sinon was furious, but not because of the punch.

‘How dare that damned woman die before I caught her!?’ He thought.

He had tried to keep his frustration inside him, but as he was practicing with his subordinates, he lost his cool. He lived for battle, and the temptation to see the face of a broken man was calling him.

The novice stopped screaming and stared upwards at Sinon. He was ready to meet his maker but refused to give Sinon the pleasure he sought.

Realizing this, Sinon’s grin got even wider. ‘This poor kid is putting up a fight’ he thought.

He raised his legs, ready to stomp.

The other soldiers stared, confused and afraid. They did not want to see whatever was about to happen. Some covered their eyes, others looked away.

Suddenly, Sinon felt something off. He felt as if someone was watching him.

‘Who dare spy on me!?’ He thought, as wrath surged through his veins.

Then, as sudden as the feeling of being watched had appeared, it vanished with any trace of ever existing being erased with it.

“Sinon, enough is enough. These men are not here to be your punching bags. When I told you to train them, this is not what I meant. Do you wish to go down the hole!?” Arkin yelled with a dominating voice.

Sinon stopped, lowered his leg to a standing position.

He was confused and furious over the sudden intruder that he felt.

He tried to stabilize himself and figured that he must have been mistaken.

Still, as emotional as he was, he directed his anger towards his commanding general.

“I was showing them what to expect in the battlefield, surely the hole is not an appropriate reward for that?” He answered, with saliva splattering the ground beneath him.

Arkin put his face in a palm. “Sinon, we both know why you are doing this. Control your anger, show me that potential I saw in you back when you were in their position” He muttered.

A couple of novice soldiers picked up the beaten man.

“Great job there Colin, If I was in your position, I’d have shit my pants!” One of them said.

Colin jumped on his right leg, being supported by his comrades eased the pain he felt in his left kneecap. He held his head up high, showing the world how proud he was.

Sinon frowned, he knew he had a hot temper, but Arkin was not a man he dared bark at.

He kneeled before Arkin.

“Forgive me” He begged.

Arkin tapped Sinon’s shoulder.

“You have work to do, no need to show me that pathetic look” Arkin said.

Arkin knew that Sinon needed to hear these harsh words from him. It had proven to be beneficial to Sinon during his training before he became one of the generals.

Sinon stood up, towering almost two heads over Arkin. He straightened his back and put his right hand towards his left shoulder awaiting orders.

“First and foremost, go wake Charles up. It is time to gather the people of Poz. As you know, any man with basic military training is to join our ranks and their children are to be sent to the capital. The meeting with the villagers will be held at dusk.” Arkin said.

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One could tell by his tone how tired he was.

Sinon nodded. “Yes Sir!” he said, almost shouting.

Sinon regarded Arkin like a father, with such respect that if Arkin were to ask him to take his life, he would not hesitate. That is why Rosalee’s betrayal had struck him so hard.

If she betrayed only him, it would not be this serious. But since she also betrayed Arkin, Sinon was fuming with rage.

“And hey, don’t let it get to you. Hang in there, buddy!” Arkin said.

The sincerity of his words was also one of the reasons Sinon respected him so much.

He demanded discipline where discipline was due and showed sincerity when it was earned. Before Sinon met Arkin, he had never been treated this way.

Sinon strode towards Charles tent with a gentle smile, one that truly did not fit him. The other soldiers that saw this smile were almost more scared of this smile, than his shark-like grin. Whatever that sadist was happy about surely must be worse than the training he put them through.

As Sinon reached for the drapes hanging above the entrance to Charles’ tent, another hand met his through the fabric.

Sinon retreated, as Charles removed the drapes from the inside.

“I’m already up, I overheard some loudspeakers. Couldn’t sleep with all that’s happened anyway.” Charles sighed.

Sinon nodded, still feeling happy from Arkin’s words.

“You know Sinon, that smile really doesn’t fit your ugly mug.” Charles joked.

Sinon laughed. “Hahaha, I know that. Not everyone can be a prince charming.” He said.

Charles, having known Sinon for many years knew damn well what others thought of him. However, once one got to know him, he was sure that they would somehow like him. He felt that Sinon reminded him of a wolf. Loyal to the pack, vicious to prey. The problem with him was that he seldom saw people as part of his pack.

“Somehow I’m glad the Canis kingdom threw you away. Corvus needs someone like you.” Charles complimented Sinon.

Then, they parted ways to gather their subordinates.

A couple of hours later, they gathered at the centre of the village.

“Charles, Sinon, if they refuse to fight for their king in the upcoming war, you both know what to do” Arkin said.

Sinon nodded.

“Threaten them, no bloodshed. To show them that we are serious, I got it” Charles said.

Arkin agreed, “No bloodshed. I trust you two to handle it, it is highly likely that they will test the waters. I doubt that they are aiming for a full-on riot. If we stand our ground, they will fall flat like paper cards.” He said.

Wind blew fresh air through the village of Poz, the first couple of orange leaves rustled on the tree branches. The villagers of Poz had gathered at the centre of the village. They were worried, because usually when soldiers gathered in a village this far from the capital, they had one out of two reasons. Either they were here to recruit the men and their children, or they were there to collect taxes that had not been paid for a long time despite warnings.

It was obvious that the first was the reason, as they always paid on time.

The women held their children’s hands. The men stood in a protective manner in front of them.

At the centre, three generals stood tall.

“Thank you for gathering here this fine summer evening” Arkin said with a powerful voice. Not frightening but requesting their fullest attention.

“I know how you all feel, and to avoid prolonging this, I will get straight to the point” He continued.

Mike, who was standing together with Pete, Cury and Sun at the very front of the crowd gulped.

Cury stared at the blue banners that the soldiers had set up on poles around the village. They were not there yesterday, so they must have set them up today.

The banners were coloured blue. In the centre of the banners, a diamond with a slightly darker hue was drawn. Covering these diamonds was a dark blue crow with wings stretched out as if sailing through the sky. The crow was crossed by a quill, as if to prove how wise and wondrous it was.

“Those banners almost look like the golden crows we saw yesterday!” He said as he pulled at Pete’s arm.

“Hush Cury, this is serious!” Pete scolded him with a stern face.

Then Pete realized that he might have been too hard on Cury.

“It’s the shield of our kingdom” He added quietly.

Arkin, annoyed by the conversation happening in front of him tried to ignore it, and spoke slightly louder. “We are here to recruit soldiers for the upcoming war. You all know the drill; we have the documents; we know who of you have gone through military training so don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

Mike clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

“Why do we have to fight for a kingdom that does us no favours? Why does my daughter have to go through that hell you call training?” He spoke up.

Some other villagers yelled in agreements.

“When has the king ever fought for us!?” One man yelled.

And a woman’s voice followed “If you take our children with you there is no future for us!”

More voices yelled.

Arkin took a step forward. “The kingdom keeps raiders away from you, the kingdom protects all villages, this is why you can all enjoy this prosperity!” He raised his voice even louder.

An apple crashed against his forehead. No soldier saw who threw it, and few from the crowd knew.

But Cury knew. He saw Sun, fuming with anger and how her face had turned red. Her brown hair was pointing towards every direction, and her green eyes were enhanced by the emerald light of wrath growing.

The crowd turned so quiet one could hear a needle hit the ground.

“Enough is enough” Arkin said, as Sinon stomped the ground.

“We don’t want you here, to Hosgrund’s hell with the king!” Sun shouted, and Cury wanted to melt through the ground. This man that stomped, it was the figure he reached out to, the one that felt like the embodiment of green, and Sun was unknowingly taunting him.

He wanted to hide behind the notice board they were standing in front of.

Cury looked at Sun, and saw that her eyes were radiating green light, almost as much as the man had done yesterday.

“Calm that bull-headed girl” Pete told Stella, so quiet that Cury could hardly hear him.

Sinon barged towards them like an ox and stopped right in front of Cury.

Charles walked with a steady, serious pace until he stood next to Arkin.

While Sinon was merely a step away from Cury and Pete, Arkin and Charles were at least twenty steps away. A couple of soldiers drew their swords and surrounded them in a half circle.

The other villagers held their breath.

Pete put himself between Sinon and Cury, while both Mike and Stella were frozen stiff. They did not know how to react and their bodies were shaking.

“Girl you must know what’s best for you. Take those words back and we will pretend as if we didn’t hear anything” Arkin said with a domineering, yet cold tone.

Sinon huffed more air through his nose, and with one glance Pete knew. Without a spear, or at least a pole, he did not stand a chance against this moustached beast.

“Never, I will never take it back!” Sun screamed.

The blonde general flicked his wrist and threw a hidden knife.