The Land: Anarchy

Chapter 1: Zuno

It was a usual war-tense morning, the people of the land without borders now knew nothing but war. The decades-long war had forced them to fight and choose a side in the war. It was the sad truth for them. They had to constantly live in fear of the armies especially Ravenrock army.

For Zuno, something was different today, it was his birthday, he is now 19, old enough to join the war. Yet, for him, it was nothing special. Like previous birthdays, nobody celebrated. Instead, Zuno was hid inside the basement, while his parents prayed that the Ravenrock knights don't search the house and take away their only son left. Zuno's family lived at the edge of the land without borders, near the Ravenrock kingdom. At the beginning of every year, the knights would raid the houses and take away teenagers who are old enough and capable of battling. If the teenagers refused, their parents would be killed.

What Zuno's parents had feared most had come true. A loud noise could be heard from afar, it was the stomps of the knights' horses. They entered the village. They began searching through the houses, one by one. One knight approached Zuno's house. The knight slammed the door open and immediately asked Zuno's parents whether they have a child who is capable of fighting. The knight wore black armor and black clothes with a white raven symbol on the chest, a longsword can be seen hanging on the back of the knight.

"You took our last son months ago! He is now probably already dead!" cried Zuno's mother.

Nonetheless, the knight searched the house not believing a single word she has said. In the basement, Zuno was prepared, wielding a sword, ready to kill.

"I know you have a son, where is he?!" Shouted the knight with a very deep voice.

Zuno's parents were terrified as they went down on their knees begging not to search the house. The knight still insisted on searching the house.

Footsteps can be heard coming downstairs closer to where Zuno was. Zuno's heartbeat was beating like he had run for miles, his body drenched in sweat, his breath was long and heavy and his hands were shaking vigorously while holding the sword. Zuno was hiding behind the stacks of wood which his family kept during cold season. He heard footsteps and armor clinging very near to where he was. He saw a shadow of the knight wandering the basement searching around.

"Should I kill him? No, then when the knights round up, they will realize that he is missing and probably end up burning the whole village, but if I don't kill him, he will find me and take me to the kingdom and force me to fight" Zuno thought to himself.

He was in a dillema. Desperately deciding whether to fight, flee or freeze. But there was no time, he had to make the decision immediately

"I can hear you breathing you little bastard" said the knight. "Come out or I'll come to you"

For Zuno, the decision was clear.

His parents were waiting upstairs, praying that Zuno is not found. Footsteps can be heard coming back up, but it was not just the knight, Zuno also came out. He wasn't dragged by the knight, he came out willingly.

"NO, NOO, don't take my other son PLEASEE! Take everything, but don't take my baby!" Zuno's Mother screamed while begging on her knees. His father was lost with words, he just stood like a rock not knowing what to do or say.

"It's ok mom, dad, its better this way. At least this will keep you safe from further raid from the knights. I promise you, I WILL return home." Zuno replied as he left the house.

The knights gather up in the village square and put the teens in carriages. Zuno sees his childhood friend, Gwendaline, also in the carriages. He immediately sits next to her.

"They took you too? I can't believe they were so desperate to take even girls to fight for them." said Zuno. "Damn those heartless bastards."

With a slight smile, Gwen replied "Perhaps it is fate for me to be taken and die in the battlefield."

"I won't let you die, not on my watch and I don't believe that it is anyone's fate to be taken to fight for a war that they don't even know how it started in the first place and to even fight for a side in this equally-matched war. We will get out of this, I promise you." Zuno talked as if he was the wisest man at that moment and with full of promises.

With a faint voice, Gwen said "Okay"

Some dwellers were outraged and took out their pitchforks or anything they could use to fight and started attacking the knights.  They were no match, with a single swing from the knight's longsword, the dwellers' lives vanished in a blink of an eye.

"Anybody else wants to die?" The knight commander shouted.

There was dead silence. They could even hear the blood that was still pouring out of the dead dwellers body. Ravens flew by, signalling the knights to return. Slowly, the carriages were driven out of the village. The village dwellers were static.

"We should bury the bodies" A dweller said in a faint voice.

The others agreed. They proceed to bury the bodies and clean the blood from the square and went back into their houses. There was nothing they could've done, even if their village was in the land without borders, the land of anarchy, they were not free at all.

---------------------

After a long march, the mighty Ravenrock kingdom could be seen from far away as the carriages move closer to the gates. The castles were gigantic as if the roofs had touched the clouds and the walls was so widely stretched even the eyes can't see where it ends. Metal-smashing sounds and explosions could be heard, which proofs that they are always making new weapons. Everyone there was either a knight or a weapons crafter.

The huge metal gate opened and the teens were taken to the academy, where for the next 3 months, they will be trained, brain-washed, tortured until they are fit for battle.

If hell existed in Enndorscia, this is the closest resemblance to it.

---------------

Hello folks! How was the opening to my story? Does it leave you wanting more? How did I describe the characters? Please give comments and feedbacks.

Thank you for taking your time reading this story. Don't forget to vote and share my story to other readers!

Cheers!
Author