The Reaper

It was a cold morning, the sun just began to peak over the horizon as I sat up in bed. I felt a bit sluggish as I stood up and walked over to the window. I wiped away the built up condensation, as I looked across the cornfields behind our house. My eyes out of focus, as I stared at nothing in particular. "Blaze come downstairs!!!" My mother yelled from the kitchen. I made my way downstairs, the smell of freshly cooked bacon intensifying with each step. I walked into the kitchen, and my drowsiness instantly washed away as I sat down at the table. "Mom the food smells great" I exclaimed with a large smile on my face. She looked at me with a smile accompanied with slight disappointment. "I know I've told you enough times to wash your hands before you sit down". I looked at her with a hint of regret and shame as I stood up and walked over to the sink, and said "Yes ma'am, I'm sorry I just got a little excited to eat and start the day". As I finished washing my hands, I looked around confused as I asked "Mom, where is dad?.....He sleeping in too?". "No he left a little while ago, he wanted to make sure the fence y'all put up yesterday is holding up well" She said as she began washing dishes. I finished my breakfast and went upstairs to get dressed, I was excited. I wanted to go look for him so I could figure out what his plan for the day was. As I finished getting dressed, I went back downstairs and walked outside. The brisk winter air met my face, my eyes and nose instantly began to burn from the cold. However this didn't bother me much, as I was determined to find my father. I rubbed my hands together and placed them on my face, successfully warming it up as I walked around toward the back of the house. As I followed the new fence that bordered our property, something strange in the distance caught my eye. The fresh wooden fence had a weird reddish shine to it, almost as if someone had just applied fresh red paint. As I walked closer, my mind was trying to make sense of what I was looking at. The first thing my brain could make sense of was the smell of iron..... or coins? But I still couldn't wrap my head around the splattered paint. Maybe at the time, It was my naive point of view that blinded me. But before I was able to figure it out for myself, I heard a scream that sent chills down my spine. Which was then followed by a weird slashing sound ending in, abrupt silence. Before my body could figure out what to do, two men in imperial uniforms walked out of the corn field. One carrying a headless body, the other a bloody sword. I instantly threw up. The sight was horrifying, the body seemed to twitch with each step the soldier took. "Hey kid, I'm only gonna say this once......" The soldier with the sword said to me as he walked closer. But my mind had gone numb. I couldn't hear him, or anything for that matter. The corn stocks swaying in the wind, as everything around me ceased to make noise. But out of the corner of my eye, something near the corn roots moved. I don't remember why exactly, out of everything moving gently and profoundly this small movement caught my attention. But it did, as it happened to be my fathers severed head. His eye lids twitching ever so slightly.

The pain was unbearable. I still to this day...... cannot express just how much it hurt. I wasn't able to move.....I couldn't talk........I was in shock. My knees buckled under the weight of my unsure body. My mind began playing through all of the moments I had with my father up till now. I couldn't believe it, there was no way he was dead. One of the imperial soldiers slapped me back to reality. He looked disgusted at the sight of me as he grabbed the back of my collar. They decided to just drag my non cooperative body back to the house. The soldier carrying my father’s headless body dumped it by the fence. And that's where I would last see it, in a heap, by the fence him and I created together. As we came up on the house, two more imperial soldiers opened the back door. Them, as well as what I could see in the house, was caked in blood. They decided to tie me up outside, but I still heard every word of their conversation. "Damn Captain that one gave you a lot of trouble didn't she". " Anyway, we tried to talk to the pig out in the field by the fence like you asked. But he kept giving us a hard time, so we just ended up killing the guy". "Man.... I swear, we've tried to talk to these......vermin, nicely every house we've been to, but they just can't seem to act civilized". "Lieutenant, it honestly doesn't matter if they agree or not. Our job is simple. Round up all the pigs between the ages of 5 and 20, and torch the rest". "And besides, it’s more fun letting them believe they have a choice...Is it not?". Then I heard them say something that I wish I hadn't. "Damn Captain, I mean come on, did you have to hang her up by her feet to do all that?". "Well lieutenant, where do all pigs go eventually?"....."The slaughter house". The sound of their laughter filled the air outside. I felt sick. My mind began to slowly fade in and out of reality, as the colors around me faded into bland shades of what they once were. Just like that, the people I loved .......were gone. One of the soldiers came out of the house and with a distorted smile, threw me in the back of a passing transport truck. As the truck drove on, each stop was greeted with screams, crying and the occasional sound of a gunshot. As each stop had a different turn of events, one thing rarely ever changed. That was the facial expression of each new kid. Later that night, me and the other kids from my town were transported into a make shift camp outside the capital's walls.

The camp was crude yet slightly sophisticated. The camp consisted mostly of tents and a few small structures. As we rode through the camp, I caught glimpses of imperial soldiers fully geared up as if prepared for war. The truck came to a stop next to what seemed like a large lookout tower. As we filed out of the back of the transport truck, I could see a long line of other transport vehicles. Most of the vehicles were trucks and a few were helicopters. We were corralled toward a large crowd of kids who mostly looked around my age. The group was situated at the base of a make shift stage. On the stage there was a tall man in uniform, he had short red hair and a crude beard. He looked around with a large smile before he spoke in a commanding yet soft tone. "Good evening pigs, now I know your all wondering why your here......and well its simple". "You have all been chosen to represent this beautiful empire". As the man continued on, he began to talk about how we were all given a once in a lifetime opportunity. And how we should be grateful for the chance to represent this wonderful empire. It began as barely a whisper, but the crowd started to murmur. Then one brave soul decided to speak up and asked, "Sir, why us?". The man stopped speaking instantly, his face melted from a smile to utter disgust. His tone changed drastically, almost as if he had been insulted. "WHY?!? What do you mean why?!?". "Th-This should be a damn.....HONOR!!!". "A once in a lifetime opportunity drops in your lap, and you have the gall to ask WHY?!?". The man started to lose his temper. But before he let himself escalate things any further he paused, and took a deep breath. "Look I know your all.....confused, but trust me there is no greater joy than that of serving your empire". "Now before I carry on let me introduce myself. I am General Damian, I will be in charge of you during your time here...". General Damian went on to talk about the state of the world, and how it had split into 3 main factions. This came about due to the fact that most nations couldn't supply the basic necessities that their people required. So after a considerable amount of people died, the survivors decided it was best to pool their resources and remaining government officials together. Thus creating The Federal Democracy of Azeroth and The West Republic of the Sea. General Damian then said, The empire wanted to help, however both factions presented hostility toward them. So the empire decided it was best to remain clear and create their own faction. But the other factions weren't happy with this development, due to the fact that the empire had more resources than what they needed to sustain themselves. And as a result The Federal Democracy of Azeroth declared war on the empire, with The West Republic of the Sea housing all noncombatants of the republic and backing their military might. As the general spoke I couldn't believe it, my family died over something so idiotic. My 10 year old brain wasn't able to see past lies the general was feeding it. I don't even think I remembered the fact that imperial soldiers were the ones who actually killed my family. The only thing I could think about, was the fact that Azeroth declaring war......got my parents killed.