The Broken Land (Book 1 of The Kicasia Chronicles)

Chapter 1

Harrison woke up feeling awful, his pillow wet with tears. The photo of him with his arms around Jayce, both of them smiling real smiles, the frame having memories and flowers stuck around the edge was still on his mantlepiece. Harrison scrolled through the pictures they had together before he died, the messages of the past few days.

When he read the last message, he erupted into a fresh wave of tears. That was when he got the notification from Kicasia Mail. The last line of the article made Harrison happier than he'd been in years. Also, at precisely 4:18am today, the king of Cotui declared war on the country of Kicasia.

Finally, an end to his father's tyranny.

The queen ran into his room and flung open the door. 'Harrison, pack a bag!' the queen looked more flustered than ever before, her hair wild, panting and crying.

'Mum, why?'

'You're the first targets of Cotui's king. He said a child for a child, and he wants to kill all of you. You have to get out of here and escape through western Cotui, to get to Theso. You have thirty minutes to get out of here before the king arrives.'

Seeing the look of terror on his mother's face, Harrison didn't question her further. He grabbed the backpack reserved for these sorts of emergencies from under his bed and began to wildly throw clothing in the bag. He packed a sleeping bag and many sets of clothes in the huge bag. He put in some pairs of shoes and looked guiltily at the photo on his mantlepiece.

If he didn't take the photo now it'd most likely be burned or seen by Cotui soldiers. Neither of which he really wanted. So, he took the photo and removed the frame, shoving it into a side pocket. He put his phone into his blazer pocket and walked downstairs. The queen gave him 2 army grade 5L water bottles and a tattered map. She explained that both Jude and Cole had food and were waiting outside for him.

Harrison put his bag down and went to the toilet before giving his mother one last hug, knowing she wasn't leaving the palace and wouldn't go down without a fight. Cole wanted to stay and fight, but his mother was adamant that they'd go now.

Harrison got his bag back on and looked at the crumpled map including all of Kicasia, Cotui and Theso. There was a vivid red line pointing out where to sleep, where to get more food, where to fill the bottles of water and where they'd go in Theso. The journey was about 800 miles and Harrison predicted it'd take them about three, maybe four, weeks without any problems.

But of course, there would be problems, and that was why the queen made sure to hand all three boys an army knife, a compact knife and a small gun each, plus extra weapons that went in Cole's bag. The trio checked the map before saying one last goodbye to their mother.

The capital of Kicasia where the palace is located is right on the border of Cotui, but so is a huge army of Cotui soldiers, so the map was leading them through the countryside of Kicasia and the desert in Cotui, straight to the abandoned mineshafts in Theso and to an odd point between the Theso capital and the mines.

Before they could leave, though, the queen stopped them. She took all three of their watches and their phones, before throwing them to the floor and stamping on them until all that was left were shards of the devices. 'Fly high, my boys.'

They finally set off, leaving their proud mother watching after the brothers. The boys didn't get how serious the entire thing was, their walk to the forest taking an hour, laughing as they wandered through desolate streets, the houses' residents preparing for the biggest war there'd ever been.

Every curtain was closed, all the open windows hastily slammed shut as people saw the boys walking through the village. The sun still hadn't come up and it was only 6am, everyone waking up for the early shifts as work hadn't yet been cancelled. The usual atmosphere of optimism and happiness in Kicasia's working class had completely faded and people wandered the streets like machinery, walking lonelily on a fixed path, each person staring at their feet.