The Kingdom

I cleared the last rise before I reached the home place. As a home it wasn't much, but it was all I had. There wasn't much to be proud of, but the land was suitable enough for farming and most years we didn't starve in the winters.

That was more than could be said for many within the Kingdom of Smirnaz. Like my home, the kingdom I lived in wasn't much to speak of either. In a way, it was only hanging on by a thread. Without the outside intervention from the other six kingdoms of the Kingdomer faith, Smirnaz would have long since fallen prey to the Nicationer Nations, of which there were many.

While the faith of the seven Kingdomer Nations was unified in the belief of the one God, El Elyon, the beliefs of the Nicationer Nations were as wide-ranging as the stars in the celestial heavens. Some worshiped gods of stone and wood, while others practiced the dark arts of the fallen Malachim.

The Nicationer Nations hated those of the seven kingdoms down to the last woman, man, and child. Most of all they hated us for our belief in El Elyon. Their name for Him was the Awful Judge and their hatred spanned back to the time before, when El Elyon had destroyed the world the first time because of unrighteousness and corruption.

I found it hard to relate to it all as I was just a simple farm boy. I wished things would get better, but wishes had never really gotten me far in life. After all, I was still here on this miserable patch of land that gave birth to more rocks than potatoes.

I crested the rise that overlooked the farmhouse and stopped abruptly. White-hot, seething anger coursed through me to the point that my vision became blurred.

There was a horse tied up outside the house. I knew the horse and I knew what its rider was up to.

The pails full of berries dropped to the ground as I took off down the slope in a pace eating run fueled by my anger. I reached the barnyard and noticed the man, who called himself my father, wiping at a bloody lip as he stood in an aura of shame just within the boundaries of the barn.

He saw me and quickly moved away into the darker recesses of the barn. I felt my level of anger burn hotter at the visible evidence of his cowardice.

I did then what I had done many times before. I rushed headlong into the house and grabbed hold of the man who was busy raping my mother on the floor.