Nyrin

Chapter 1

Skaulten was a land of conflict. Conflict ran in the waters of its rivers, grew in the cells of its wheat, and dwelled in the minds of its people. Its history was muddied by the blood shed between its two ethnicities: the Skaul and the Aulien. Originally, the Skaul were the people of the plains, while the Aulien were of the mountains. Over time, the Skaul grew stronger due to the bountiful nature of their land as the Aulien continued to struggle in their unforgiving landscape. The two peoples remained separate from each other, until the growing Skaulish population demanded more lands from their leaders. The Skaulish army invaded the mountains and overpowered the Aulien forces.

For years the Aulien were oppressed and enslaved in their homelands. A bitter enmity developed between the two tribes. However, the Aulien’s rebellious spirit was not to be quelled, and deep in the mountains, an Aulien militia was formed. It took decades of planning and gathering; the Aulien developed a force to last through the ages. The Skaul were heavily underprepared when the Aulien force invaded, like a thunderstorm coming down the river. They travelled up the River Stiks and took the capital city of Yelkat within 10 days. Skaulten became Aulten.

Nyrin didn’t remember any of this, as she was too young at the time. She did remember the aftermath of the war. She was living through the oppression the Aulien had brutally inflicted upon the Skaul as revenge for centuries of oppression. The girl wasn’t thinking about this in the fields though, lying half-hidden in the tall wild grass. It shone golden-brown, playing with the light of the rising sun as it swayed with the wind.

In an earlier time Nyrin would have been frolicking in the grass. Instead, she remembered how her grandmother had tenderly raised her after her parents death in the invasion, and yet how bitterly they had fought over her grandmother’s protective nature. The problem was that Nyrin was never allowed to go anywhere, and had lived her whole life on the farm. She wanted to go out into the world, even if it was to the closest town. She felt oppressed as she pulled out the grass from the soil and ripped it in two.

Nyrin was shaken out of her brooding thoughts by a rising noise, a repeated thump, coming from the dirt path. The continuous rhythm implied only one thing.

Half paralyzed with fear, she whispered to herself: “The army marches.”

She jolted to action and got on her bicycle, heart racing, pedalling faster than she ever had, her auburn hair flowing with the wind. Both her cycle and her heart dropped when she saw her grandmother climbing Biscuit Knoll.

Nyrin ran to catch up to her grandmother, who continued to briskly walk up the knoll. She reached her grandmother just as they reached the summit of knoll. What they saw staggered them; the field beyond was overrun the army.

“Grandma its the… its the army.” Nyrin managed to utter. “We need to go” Nyrin pointedly whispered as she started to leave. Instinctively she backed away, and started to wake away, but she couldn’t go alone though and have her grandmother captured. She went back and forcibly tugged at her unresponsive grandmother’s arm.

“Nyrin, their colours…” her grandmother murmured, “…Skaul”. Blue and Purple, the subdued yet elegant colours that the Skaul proudly wore. Once the colours represented the royal family, but now they stood for the nationalist sentiment, considered rebellious and treasonous.

They were found by guards and were taken to an area that was for the non-soldier volunteers. Here they were briefed by an atypical soldier, one who was still a teenager.

“Alright you two, I’m in charge of managing this part of the camp, so you’re gonna follow me.” Even for his age, the soldier spoke with authority and conviction.

“We’re moving tomorrow, going towards the mountains. The Aulien army is currently occupied in the North of Skaulten, so we’re safe. We will then make our base in the mountains and do to the Aulten what they have done to us.” he informed the duo. “We will fight for freedom. For Skaulten” he dictated. His name was Metrn. After assigning them a tent, he left to attend to other duties.