Mary and I made it to the town center where it seemed like most of the townsfolk had already gathered. The village elder didn’t take too much longer to get back after going by a few more houses to round everyone up. In the center of the crowd was a man in armor on horseback. Once he got a sign from the elder that everyone that needed to be gathered was here, he unrolled a scroll and read from it.

“It is with regret that your King, Reginald Luxandria IV, must inform you that a sudden attack from the Demon King and his army has been spotted marching towards our borders. The vile fiends are expected to arrive before the armies of our neighboring nations can rush to our aid so it is up to us to defend the border, as is our duty as the Aurora Kingdom, the Light that defends against the Darkness on the Western Edge of the continent! The first bastion of the world against the hordes of Demons that seek to rob us of everything we hold dear! As such, we must draft every capable man to hold the line until we can turn the tides of battle, but fear not! The Hero Eric shall be alongside you on the battlefield to meet the Demon King in combat! Once he takes that scoundrel down the demon army will flee, as they always do, in defeat as they will be leaderless and our country will be saved!”

It was just what me and Mary were afraid of. Our little town barely got any attention from the government as long as we kept producing enough food to export and we paid our taxes. It could be hard with the occasional group of bandits, or small band of demons making their way across the border to raid the village, but we always seemed to manage. An impending attack from a full army of demons on the other hand was much more than any of the surrounding villages could handle. It seemed to be more than the Royal Army could handle on their own either.

There were a few complaints being raised but Elder Nick spoke up to settle the crowd down. “Now, now… I’ve been assured that this is only being ordered out of necessity. In times of emergency, it is our duty to hold the line. A draft like this is only sent out when the state of not just our land, but the entire realm is at stake. This is far from the first time this has happened. The demons have always tried to strike when they think they have an opening. It has not happened since I was a wee lad. Oh, I still recall the day my father was shipped off to the front line. It was a day just like this…” He began to ramble off on a story and it was sure to be a while before he pulled himself out of it, but he did a good enough job settling the crowd back down into grumbling acceptance of the Royal Decree.

The man in armor spoke back up again as he realized that the elder was deep enough in his reminiscing that he had stopped really focusing on the issue at hand. “All those that qualify for the draft are to report here at noon to set out. Spend the rest of your time wisely.” With that, he turned his horse and galloped off to the end of town.

The reality of the situation was finally sinking in to me. Mary pulled on the arm of my shirt before grabbing onto my arm. In a way she seemed more distraught than even I was. The meaning in her action was clear. She wanted us to head back instead of standing around wallowing in our sadness. I nodded back knowingly and the two of us turned and returned to my home as quietly as we had arrived, our dread having been vindicated.

I stepped back into my house as Mary followed me. Despite how she had been acting earlier this morning, I couldn’t blame her wanting to at least spend the next bit of time with me. Her and her parents were the closest thing I had to a family still so having someone to spend what time I had before wisely with was a small comfort.

Before I could really say or do anything to get ready, she spoke up behind me. “You… You should run away.”

“What?” I asked, turning around to face her.

“You’re on your own… If you…” She paused for a moment, searching for what to say. “If you don’t come back, then, who is going to care for this farm? Certainly they will understand that you’re more useful here than out there where you could… you know…” She didn’t even want to say it. As if putting what was on her mind into works would make it come true.

I took a deep breath in order to try to compose myself. This was the most serious I had seen her acting in a long time. Not since my parents died. She stood there at the doorway as the light shined in from the outside behind her. It was almost as if time stopped as I looked upon her looking so ephemeral. Gone was the normal air of harshness that she put up when talking to me and at it’s core was something genuine and sincere. The vulnerable woman underneath her tough exterior.

The deep breath that I had taken seemed to be taken away.

After a moment that seemed to last forever, time started to move forward again. I looked away from her, afraid that the longer I kept gazing at her the more I would want to give in to her pleas. “I… I can’t. I-“ My voice was cut off.

“Is it that talk of it being your duty!?” Mary raised her voice. At her side her fists were clenched as it seemed like she was holding back tears. Just the small amount of push back to what she was asking for was already prompting her to push back harder. “That you have to march yourself off to the front line to go die, just because some King said you have to!? Where was he and his knights and this Hero when we were attacked by bandits and even demons!? Where were they when your parents died!? What do we owe them!?”

I clenched my fists as well, looking further back away from her as I held back my own emotions. Those questions had already been going through my head but having them confront me like this, through her, just made them that much harder to ignore. “I… how could I face my parents if I ran away from this? They died to protect me… to protect us and this village… I couldn’t live with myself if I left you and all of the others here to die. I have to protect you, and your parents, and everyone else. My parents didn’t sacrifice themselves just so I could turn tail and run away and make their deaths meaningless… I-“ I was cut off again, but this time by feeling something from behind me.

Mary’s body pressed against mine from behind. It was the closest the two of us had ever been physically as I felt her body push against mine. The seriousness of the situation clashed with my body trying to enjoy the sensation of her chest pressed against my back. This wasn’t the time to be thinking about that, but my body was hard to argue against in times like this.

I was pulled back to it’s senses by the feeling of her tears begin to wet the back of my shirt. “What about me! I-! I can’t lose you! You said that you have to protect me, but what’s the point if you’re not here afterwards! Promise me! Promise me that you’ll survive, please! I…” Her grip on my shirt tightened. “I have something I have to tell you when you get back so you can’t die!”

I tensed up as she clung to me and pleaded for my survival. Could I even make that promise? I had no idea what was going to happen. Was it as bad as the order made it sound or was this just the King being overly cautious? Still, I could tell that what she needed the most was to hear me say it. I took another deep breath and said, “I promise. I won’t die and then you can tell me whatever it is that you want to tell me.”

At this point I had a pretty good idea what she meant.

Mary tried to say something in response but it was muffled by her tears and my shirt. The two of us stood there for a while longer with the only sounds being of her sorrow.

Little did I know that my words would be more of a curse of what was to come than it would be a promise that I would return home safely.