What choice has one got in this life?

The Empire is gobbling up every last town and city, from sea to sea. Join the few still resisting, if you'd like, but dying on a battlefield is all it'll get you. West, leads to the Sea of Storms, and opposite that, even a [Sailor] will swear: there are so many fucking leviathans, you'd be better off just drowning to be done with it. And, while it's fair, I suppose, you could get passage up to the floating Citadel. Or, hells: you could hook yourself a ship to the far lands, or go way up North, where the air's turned to frost... but hell, if you're that rich, I imagine you've probably already just taken the bloody knee. Sworn fealty for titles, or what have you. All told, for the rest of us, the Free Lands and that so-called Kingdom, sound like a best deal of the bunch.

...Or, at least they did. Right up until I managed to stowaway on a boat down here, to find out about their surplus of hungry, man-slaying, monsters.

Labeled: "Testimonial of a Refugee"

Recorded by Luther, Scribe of the Kingdom

....

We set out at first light.

From my dark and dingy cell, I was dragged outside with little care for pleasantries, to be tossed up the stairs and onto the cobblestones. With barely my wits about me, half blind from the morning sun, I soon found myself pushed along down the streets without food, or water, or much in the way of dignity. Just a few kicks to my aching ribs, and the march was begun.

I'd be lying, if I said I wasn't furious.

Obviously, I had a lot of things to be unhappy about. The full sum of my last half a year or so, up until that very moment, if I'm being perfectly honest. But, the thought of leaving so abruptly, had gotten under my skin in a way the rest of my troubles, hadn't.

Leaving this place behind felt, surprisingly, personal. In a way I'd not been expecting, I found leaving so abruptly was was hardly fitting for closure for what my life here had meant to me. As I stumbled along, through the small town, guided by my ever-so-friendly escorts, I remember that thought, above all else. And, it came with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Not that I was truly accustomed to getting to say goodbye. Reality being what it was: I hadn't had many opportunities, since first coming to this world.

But, my emotions fell to the wayside of necessity, soon enough. Though I was still half-blind, it was barely a moment until I found we were already headed for the archway that lead out of town. Blinking away the blur, I saw carefully stacked stone, built upon itself: providing a visible threshold that showed the way to a path alongside the cliffs. Even from a distance, as we grew closer, I could see the widened trail which carried on beside the edge. Where oceans stretched out to the left, and grasslands were visible for miles down the coast. Rolling hills of tall grass, mixed with the occasional grove of larger trees.

"Keep moving."

Perhaps, I'd slowed pace during my observation, because, without ceremony, I was roughly shoved forward.

Before I stepped beyond those final bricks of cobblestone, though: a shout rose up.

"What's all this?"

A cry... a shout... no, it was truly more of a squawk. The loud, perhaps unmistakable sound, of an angry, elderly, woman.

"Baron's little pets running off with Gregory's nephew?" From the window of a nearby building, a withered fist shook in rage. "Were the youngin' your lot scooped up for war not enough for that bloody, ax-grinding, fiend?"

I squinted, just close enough for [Identify] to pick out details.

> Herbalist

>

> Healer

>

> ???

"Piss off, Edna!" Bruiser wasted no time in his retort. "He ain't the fisherman's nephew, and that war was twenty summers ago!"

"Twenty years it but a blink, you fiends! My son never came back from that! Patty's daughter lost her leg!"

"Forget the lunatic." Karen pushed me along, towards the archway. "Keep moving."

"I ought to scorch the lot of you. I ought to smite the living daylights from your bones! We tell you lot about a monster attacking people in the woods, and now you're tying up a young lad, who ain't done a lick of harm!"

"No harm? Have you gone blind, you crazy old bird?" Bruiser, it seemed, was having none of this. "This bastard's a fucking Imperial! Now, close the damn shutters, before you wake the whole town!"

"Gregory cared for that boy!" It seemed that Edna was far from done, though. "Was going to make a fine Sailor out of him! Told all of us, every time he visited!"

"Aye? Well, look where that got him!" Bruiser spit, turning shoulder to follow Karen and I, through the arch. "Dead and buried!"

"Call yourselves Keepers, but you're nothing but scoundrels!" Edna howled, as we continued. "Take, and take! Come for the taxes, leave for the monsters! At least the Guild's willing to fight for people! The Guildmaster is the only one we can trust!"

"And who pays the fucking Guild? Eh?" Bruiser turned around to shout back, once more. "Get your head on straight, you old crone! They'll be here, soon enough. You'll have your bloody hunters."

"Cowards!"

Pushing me along at brisk pace, I found that soon, the shouts behind us grew distant.

Eventually, all that was left over the sound of our own feet, was the crashing of waves against the cliffs, and grass swaying in the wind.

"Right fucking mess." Bruiser muttered, after we had marched a good ways down the road.

"Aye." The sentiment earned a word of agreement from Karen. "But at least she didn't cast something at you, like she did to Dodson, last summer."

"Fair."

For better or worse, that was about the extent of the conversation to be had until nightfall.

And nightfall was a long ways off.

.....

It was a brutal day of marching, but against the odds, my body handled it. Cliffs to one side, tall grass to the rest, I found that any distraction that pulled me from reality was acceptable. Boredom was bad enough, without the sun, the hunger, and the thirst.

Thirst was the worst of it, honestly.

Unfortunately, I found that it was only on the rare occasions, that there was much in the way of distactions, or even a view of the surrounding terrain that wasn't half ocean, half grass. But, that wasn't to say there was nothing else.

Inland, to our right: twice, we passed what seemed to be much larger towns.

Though taking my eyes off the road and looking in any one direction long enough, prompted my captors to correct my behavior, I caught some glimpses of walls. Tall, and likely made from stone: far as they were from the coastal road, I could make out the forms of chimney smoke, rising towards the clouds.

As we passed alongside these, other people could be seen. Some, working cleared fields among the grass. Others, walking parallel paths, which cut out from the main road, and made way towards wooden homes, or further inland. The semblance of basic society, reclaiming the wilderness.

Though conversation was out of the question, I did my best to [Identify] whoever crossed our path.

> Peddler

>

> Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

>

> Merchant

>

> ???

No real suprises there.

With large packs, I saw several men walking in a group. From the way they stooped, I had to imagine each massive bag they carried was equal to- or more than, their own weight.

> Serf

>

> Worker

>

> ???

Much more common, many people worked the fields. Swinging and picking at the dirt, to cut straight rows for crops, they barely noticed us as we passed them by.

> Serf

>

> Farmer

>

> ???

I found this last Class, as a concept, to be rather interesting.

[Farmer] huh?

I had to wonder how that all worked.

[Merchant] almost seemed a given, [Worker] almost seemed some form of transitionary Class (if that was such a thing) but [Farmer] seemed... just a little more abstract? Just how many Classes were out there, if [Farmer] was an option?

Which, gave me something of value, to take my thoughts off the endless monotony.

What kind of perks came with that? Were there actually skills to grow crops faster? Did they apply by area of effect, or some type of selection? Or, was it about ownership? Was the focus more on the person, themselves? Maybe their Endurance and Strength were higher, or they didn't need to sleep as much, but if that happened to be the case, wouldn't [Farmer] be a class with high value across the board? There had to be additional applications that would lend itself to more than just farming for substance...

All of that, in combination with the socio-economic ramifications of the "Serf" title, had my mind wandering quite a bit. As we passed the second town, the presence of those out in the fields seemed to indicate that the practice was well established.

Even in a place that claimed to be "The Free Lands" I supposed there would always be some who were a little less "free" than others.

Human-nature was what it was.

The hours stretched on.

> Endurance +1

Another little reward, and walking got ever-so-slightly less difficult.

Eventually, the sun began to set.

Additional Endurance or no, I was barely holding together.

Hunger, thirst... the combination of these was too much to properly think through, towards the end of the day. The primal side of my brain was screaming at me to remedy the situation, but there was nothing I could do. My "mrrrf" noises with the gag they had refastened about my face, was so tight it hurt.

At long last, when my Stamina looked as though it might truly bottom out, the two Peace Keepers decided to make camp beside the road.

Roughly, I was tied to a tree.

There was no water provided. There was no food.

For me, at least.

I had the pleasure of watching as my captors ate and drank by the fire. Water skins, bread, cheese, dried meats...

I hadn't quite hated them, up until that point.

I'd disliked them, strongly, but acknowledged that the Keepers were just people. They had a job to do, and they were intent on doing the job they were assigned. Their job was to protect the people who lived here, and I was a potential threat to those people. In their eyes, I was an invader from a country that clearly, was no friend of theirs.

But, uncomfortably propped up against a tree, hungry and thirsty to no end? With a mouth that felt as though it were filled with sand, and a twisting pain in my stomach?

No.

I hated them.

In that moment, I truly wished them to come across a demise, most terrible. Anything would do, I felt. Anything at all.

Instead, though, they went to sleep. None the wiser, with nothing bad happening to them. Laying down for the evening, they closed their eyes to find peace. Full, content, and completely unharmed by any wrathful act of God, or demon, or monster, I wished upon them. All, while night came in true, and the final vestige of sun left the sky.

But, there was still some light.

From where I sat, I watched the flames dwindle until I had spots in my eyes. Until the soft glow had burned down to nothing but ashes, and embers, and all that was left came as tiny sparks. Rising up towards the night sky, with every dying burst of kindle.

Rising up...

Those fragments drew me in, deeper and deeper, as I watched them soar about the currents. Drawing me up with them, back to the memories of what brought me here.

For they were just fragments, weren't they?

Tiny specks, of the flames falling down above the camp. Raining like meteors, to destroy and consume. Pieces, of pieces, of splinters, of the power I had seen. That burning death, which came for me in the final instant of the scroll's influence. Seeking my life, with the scent of magma, and brimstone.

In that moment, as the last embers died, I stared at the empty coals and I realized:

I had never wanted anything so badly in my life.