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Sickle
Conscription

Conscription

Wheat is to be harvested as men are to die on the battlefield; it is the way of life in the kingdom of the greatest tyrant. The sound of wheat being cut down by the handful is present, while the farmhands work themselves down to their precious bone. Alongside the edges of the wheatfields run dirt and gravel roads, paved by the tracks of horses and carriages, that have passed the settlement. Within the fields stands out a particular fellow, strong and tall, with an odd hair color, black. He works three times as his fellow farmers, yet is in considerably better shape than the rest; and his pay yields more. Along the roadside a carriage can be heard, and the black haired farmer looks over to see the carriage marking the symbols of the lord of his domain. Out of the carriage steps the town crier as well as two knights covered from head to toe in shiny armor which reflects off the sun making it hard to see.

"I, David of Themble, Town Crier, will announce farmers participating in the war between the kingdom of Zeral and Dalwin, once your name has been called please follow the carriage back into town"

Every farmer within hearing distance froze, this early in the battle? They were being sent to the battlefield, most possibly to meet their demise. Yet no farmer dare speak up against the tyrant king's men, for execution would be the price of a costly word. The names farmers kept getting bigger and the line of people behind the carriage grew to a giant size; finally it was his turn,

"Carter, please step forward"

The farmer with the jet black hair got up and stood in line; he looked at the others with a saddened smile. This would be the end for them all.

After a few more names were called they marched back into town where they grabbed their belongings and bid farewell to their families; although Carter had nothing to his name, except for a few things. A sickle, a bag of coins, the clothes on his back, and a determination to survive.

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A convoy of the farmers form a line to the capital, with what gear they have in satchels and bags slung across their shoulders. At least 200 farmers were in this band of doom, all worrying about the future that awaits them; for 7 days and 6 nights this journey took, bread rations had been distributed daily for their survival but not for their pleasure. Upon arriving in the capital, Carter looks around. He has never been anywhere quite as busy as a city. The area smelled of rot and feces, as expected of a highly concentrated area, the buildings lined every street, and on the edge of the paved roads citizens would gawk at the incoming band of misfits. Carter shrugged this off as normal behavior, as he too would be interested in a line of men marching through his town. After walking for several more minutes they reached the cavalry center, a shoddy stone building with the intents of training soldiers. As they entered they found the building was emptier than normal, a farmer from Carter's town named Jacquise asked

"Where the hell are all the soldiers"

This elicited a negative response from the group, staring him down. After settling in, a wooden door slams open and out marches a soldier sporting a commanders cloak. He stands powerfully before every farmer in the room, sending a chill into their bones.

"I am Davin, Commander of the new brigade, that you all will be taking part in. As for an explanation to why your here... Many of our troops are already dead"

The crowd squirmed at this notion; the enemy must be stronger than we originally thought.

Davin continued "You all will be a soldier in the 1st Conscript Division, over the next several days we will work you to the bone, training you for battle. That being said, we have barely enough resources for armor and weapons, therefor you will be using your own personal belongings and whatever you collect on the battlefield, as a determined by our king"

And with that the commander bided farewell for the day, training will start tomorrow morning at dawn. Carter feels like his insides are burning, he doesn't understand why they even fought a war that they couldn't win, but Carter kept his cool.

"No matter the cost, I will do what it takes for me to survive, even if I am just a farmer"

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