[8th September, 1939, Hamildan, Barancia HQ, Avenriot]
Inside the Barancia Headquarters, cries of mercy echoes, only to be silenced a moment later.
“Please don’t kill my children! They have nothing to do with this, they are kind souls!” a man cries, clinging to his master of fate. His two children stand still, too naïve to understand, yet they too could feel the tension. His supposed master of fate, dressed in the army uniform, badges adorned his shoulders, gave him a sinister grin.
“Kind you say. Perhaps, they deserve a good place.” the master said.
“Yes, you can give me any punishment you want. Please, let my children go.” the man stuttered.
“Oh, of course, I will. These are kind souls…” the master said in a reassuring voice.
“I shall guide them personally.” said the master as his hand went in his pocket.
“Oh, thank you. How could I ever pay this debt of yours?” cried the man.
“Don’t worry, you don’t need to,or more correctly, you wouldn’t be able to.” said the master.
“Pardon! My lord?” asked the man, his face reflecting his confusion.
The master held out his hand holding an Astra 600.
“Kind souls? I might as well guide you to heaven then.” said the master nonchalantly, as he drilled holes of bullets through the three.
Their lifeless bodies fall, making a feeble thud, in their pool of crimson.
“Long live, Lord Natria!” shouted a man(soldier) as he entered the room.
His eyes saw the four bodies, lying lifeless, their bodies no longer bearing the warmth of living, nothing new. The soldier bowed in front of his Lord.
“Oh, General Caft, what a lovely coincidence. What brings you here?” asked Natria.
“Lord Natria! The Germans have been reduced to cinder in Chemnitz, the land is ours!” announced Caft as he bowed.
“Kill any survivors, be it children or women. Prepare the forces on the South of Karsen, let’s take our land back from the Narchasians, we are ready.” ordered Natria.
The General obliged.
Good people? Innocents? These concepts held no longer meaning for the man, for whom stood before him was the one, the cruelest, the most brutal man in all of Europe, the first dictator of Avenriot, Natria the Tyrant!
[17th August, 1917, Annarack, Nao, Avenriot]
“Oh, blessing from the Roh, himself, it’s a boy!” the midwife cried.
“A boy!” Natria cried. She couldn’t have been any happier, she always wanted a boy.
“A boy!” cried Flohelm. The man danced about the tiny room in joy. He hugged and kissed Natria. The couple sang in joy.
“What would be his name?” the midwife asked.
Natria motioned the midwife to hand her the child, she kissed his forehead. With a smile on her face, she said, “Barchen, the son of Roh himself, the one who engulfed the darkness, conquered fear, itself.”
“Such a lovely name, yes, Barchen de’Manor!” cried Flohelm, tears of joy coming from his eyes.
“Vahana, you truly are a lucky woman, your presence blessed us with a boy. Demand what you want!” announced Flohelm to the midwife.
The midwife clapped her hands in joy, it truly was a wonderful day for everyone.
“If it isn’t too much to ask, I would like 50kgs of rice and wheat each.” said Vahana in a feeble voice unsure if this was the correct thing to ask.
“50kgs of rice and wheat!” exclaimed Flohelm in shock.
Vahana was right, it was too much to ask. She was about to ask for forgiveness, but Flohelm interrupted her.
“That’s too low, you’ll have 100kgs of each and one of our four horses and 50,000 swertz at the very minimum.” Flohelm announced.
Vahana couldn’t believe her ears, tears of joy came rolling down her cheeks later.
“Also, the whole family is invited for the feast tomorrow, bring anyone you’d like. We will welcome them with open arms.” said Natria as she cuddled with Barchen.
“Thank you, ma’am!” cried Vahana. It truly was the happiest day in the lives of de’Manor.
[18th August, 1917, Annarack, Nao, Avenriot]
“Cheers!” announced Flohelm.
The guest followed.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I feel proud to announce to you, that our blessings have brought us the fruit, after 12 years without a child, Roh, has blessed us with a son.” announced Flohelm.
“My wife; Natria and I couldn’t be any happier, she has given me the world’s greatest gift, I shall forever be indebted to her.” continued Flohelm, tears filling his eyes. Natria comforted her husband.
“Oh, I’m sorry. What am I doing? Crying on my son’s birth. Such a fool I am. Ladies and Gentlemen, don’t hold back today, eat whatever you wish to. This is the Harabel Feast of de’Manor’s, but today it isn’t just that, it is the feast celebrating my child’s birth! Let us begin!” announced Flohelm with joy. The guest dived into the feast. Vahana had come with her two children and husband, Nocus. The families talked, laughed, and joked. Everyone was having the best time of their life.
The Great War was on, the country wasn’t doing good, times were grim, but even in those times they were laughing and enjoying.
Suddenly, the radio buzzed.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, CLEKNCH!
“Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, Happy Independence Day! This is your host…” said the voice in radio.
“Oh, it reminds me, today, General Chancellor shall address us for the first time after the War.” said Nocus while stuffing his face with the steak.
“Oh, really? Yeah, I remember it too. It has been two years since he talked to us. It was his foolishness that got us involved in the war.” said Flohelm.
“We should have never angered the Germans, but our foolish Chancellor was too indulged in his self to ever consider his step. Now, we don’t even have Barancia.” added Vahana.
“Such fertile land lost to those German bastards.” said Flohelm, his brow came together showing his distaste.
“Honey, please don’t rot your mood for him. Cheer up! It’s your son’s birth celebration.” cheered Natria.
“… and that brings us to our final and grand segment of the day.” buzzed the radio.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is our brave General Chancellor, Artmin Vou Thorian.” the radio continued.
“Hello, my beloved citizens of Avenriot. It is I, General Chancellor Artmin Vou Thorian, the head of the nation. Happy Independence Day to all of you, I hope you all are enjoying the Harabel. It has been two years since we entered the war. The situation is grim, to be very honest, our treasury is almost exhausted. The debt of Allied Forces is way past our production output, but we can’t give up. If we give up now, the Central Powers will infiltrate, the might of Irgunjungha (national symbol) would fall. Our children, our sisters and wives, all will become a prey to those Central scoundrels. I as the General Chancellor cannot allow us, we will continue to fight till our last breath….” the Chancellor spoke through the radio. His voice gritty because of the weak signal.
“What does he mean? On one hand, we are falling apart yet he wants to fight?” questioned Nocus.
Flohelm motioned Nocus to silence.
“…The Brits have been our allies since the war began, as it stands now, only they can support us but that support comes with a price, I don’t want my country to be ravaged by those Central bastards, therefore I shall make a compromise, our should I say, we shall make a compromise. The land of Balaxia, Rouchetta, Natherburg and Vasabaria shall be given to the United Kingdom. From 19th of August, 1917, all land to the west of the state of Nao will be the part of United Kingdom. The Queen of England knows about this and has promised us that she shall take the best care of the citizen of these states. Once we are stable enough to pay the-” Flohelm’s anger interrupted the Chancellor.
“The fuck is this man talking about? He gave our land to the fucking colonist just so we can continue the war, this is bullshit!” Flohelm raged.
“Dear! calm down.” Natria tried to calm her husband.
Nocus and Vahana stood still in shock. There was the noise of glass breaking. Barchen started crying. Natria tried to sooth him, singing him a lullaby. Nocus and Vahana could just watch, the glass breaking spontaneously; it is a bad omen. Something catastrophic was about to happen.
The Souls of Black Folk
Completed