📖 POV – Daniel (the boy)
For the first time in my life, my boots stepped outside the borders of the Blackwood Union.
The convoy stretched endlessly behind me — steel beasts of war, crates stacked with weapons, ammunition, and food rations. Thousand of items. A thousand responsibilities. And all of them placed under me.
My chest tightened as I glanced at the sealed documents bearing the crest of Blackwood — the same crest that once felt like a distant dream. Now it was branded into my orders.
We weren't here to parade. We weren't here to show the flag. We were here for war.
The name of the land whispered through my mind like a curse: Kalvoria. A fractured land, one that had rejected Blackwood rule, daring to spit on the Union's order.
The air smelled different. The roads weren't clean-cut like in the Union — they were rough, wild, untamed. The people along the border watched our passage in silence, their faces unreadable. Some with fear. Some with hate.
My men rode close, eyes sharp, waiting for the slightest sign of ambush.
"Commander 347," one of my lieutenants muttered, "what are your orders if we're engaged?"
My voice came steady, though my heart raced. "Same as Soren drilled into us. No mercy. We clear the path, protect the cargo, and deliver Blackwood's iron hand to Kalvoria's doorstep."
The men nodded, firm.
Inside, I wasn't so steady. This wasn't just another patrol. This was my first command beyond home soil. If I faltered, not only would I die — I'd stain the Blackwood name entrusted to me.
Hours into the march, the horizon turned dark with smoke.
Scouts returned, breathless. "Enemy outpost ahead. Barricades. Armed. They know we're coming."
I inhaled deeply, gripping the hilt of my blade.
This was it. No more drills. No more training. This was war.
"Form ranks!" I shouted, my voice cutting across the column. "We carry the Union in our blood, and today, Kalvoria will taste it!"
The men roared, a sound that thundered through the valley.
For the first time, I wasn't just a boy under his father's shadow.
I was Daniel — leading the fire of Blackwood into a land that thought itself free.
And when the first shots rang out, I didn't flinch.