The morning started like any other. I woke in the barn, stretched, walked outside. Sun was warm. Chickens pecked near the door. The air smelled of hay and wood smoke.
Marta was already at the henhouse. "Morning," she said.
"Morning."
I helped with the eggs. Reached under a fat brown hen. Found an egg. Put it in the basket. Broke one. Yolk on my fingers. Marta laughed. "You're getting better."
Then we heard hoofbeats. Fast.
A rider appeared at the edge of the village. Grey cloak. Symbol I didn't know – a gear over a crown. His horse was tired, sweating.
He stopped at the well. Unrolled a scroll. Read aloud.
"By order of the false hero Kaelen, ruler of Ironhold, the village of Oakhaven is required to pay double the usual tax. Payment due in three days. Additionally, three young men are to be conscripted for labor in the mines. Failure to comply will result in seizure of property and imprisonment."
His voice was flat. Bored. Like he'd done this a hundred times.
Then he rode off.
---
For a moment, no one moved.
Then an old woman collapsed. Elara. Fell to her knees in the dirt. Clutching her chest. Her grandson was sixteen. I'd seen him in the fields, cutting hay, carrying water.
"Not my boy," she whispered. "Please, not my boy."
Her daughter-in-law ran to her. Other women started crying. A man threw down his hoe. Children hid behind their mothers.
Marta's face was white. "Three days," she said. "We don't have that kind of gold. And my Rik – he's on the list. I know it."
"We'll figure something out," I said.
"Figure what out?" She laughed, bitter. "We can't fight soldiers. We can't pay. What's to figure?"
I didn't answer. I was thinking.
---
I found Elias in his workshop. He was already packing a bag – rope, a knife, dried meat, a small crystal.
"You heard," I said.
"Yeah." He didn't look up.
"I'm not paying. Not yet. We have three days. I want to scout the valley near the shaft. The one from the map."
He stopped. Looked at me. "Leave Oakhaven?"
"We need somewhere to go. Paying just delays it. They always come back."
He was quiet for a moment. Looked out the window. People were still crying, packing.
"Fifteen years I've been here," he said. "Since the temple burned. Thought I'd die here."
"Maybe you will. Not yet."
He grabbed his bag. "Let's go."
---
I found Lora at the well. She was watching the crying women. Her hands were shaking. She was holding a basket of mushrooms.
"Lora. Elias and me are going to scout a place. A valley. Somewhere to hide."
Her eyes widened. "Hide? All of us?"
"Maybe. I don't know yet. But I need to see if it's possible."
She looked toward her grandmother's cottage. The old woman was sitting outside, staring.
"What about her?" Lora said. "She can't walk a day."
"We'll carry her. But first I need to find the right spot."
She nodded. Took my hand. "I'll talk to the villagers. Calm them down."
"You can do that?"
"I'll try." She touched my sleeve. "Be careful, Ash."
---
I also told Marta and Rik's family. Marta was still shaking, but she agreed to keep the plan quiet. Rik's father said, "If there's a safe place, we go. I won't let them take my son."
Rik just nodded. Didn't say anything.
Lora went to Elara. Knelt beside her. Said something I couldn't hear. Elara stopped crying. Not completely, but enough.
---
Elias and I left within the hour. Walked fast. Sun was high. Forest quiet. Just our footsteps and birds. A squirrel ran across the path.
After a few hours, we reached the area near the shaft. The first valley was small, hidden between hills. A stream ran through it. Flat ground. Dark soil.
Elias knelt. Touched the dirt. "Good land. Could plant here. Build."
But then we saw claw marks on the rocks near the shaft. Fresh. Deep. And we heard skittering from inside the hole. Small, fast movements.
I stopped. Elias stopped.
"Monsters," he whispered.
We stood still. The skittering faded.
Elias shook his head. "Not safe. Not for villagers. One gets out at night, people die."
"You're right."
"We need to go farther. Away from the hole."
I looked at the valley one more time. Good land. Good water. But dangerous. Maybe later, when I was stronger, I could clear the shaft. Not now.
"Let's go," I said.
---
We walked another hour. Terrain got rougher – steep slopes, loose rocks, thick bushes. My legs ached. Elias was breathing hard. I thought about my cell. The cracked ceiling. The bird on the windowsill. That felt like another life.
Then the hills opened into a second valley. Smaller than the first. Still hidden. A gentle stream. A grove of trees near the far wall. Grass soft, dotted with white flowers.
No claw marks. No strange sounds.
Elias knelt again. Touched the soil. "Good enough for a garden. Hills block the wind."
We walked the perimeter. Maybe a hundred paces wide. Room for a few shelters, a fire pit, a storage shed.
"We can build here," Elias said. "Far from the shaft. Far from Oakhaven. Soldiers won't find us."
I marked a few trees with my blade. Found a hollow log near the stream. Hid a small stash inside – twenty gold, a healing potion, a knife, a piece of flint.
"If something goes wrong, we meet here."
Elias nodded. "What about the first valley? Near the shaft?"
"I'll use it later. For training. For gathering crystals. Villagers stay away."
"Good. One for living. One for fighting."
As we turned to leave, I saw something. Old stones half-buried in the grass. Ruins. Not big – just a foundation, maybe a wall. Elias knelt and brushed away dirt.
"Old cult outpost," he said. "Abandoned long ago. Nothing here now."
We left it alone.
---
We got back after dark. Village was quiet. Lanterns in a few windows. People packing, whispering.
Lora met us at the well. Holding a lantern. Tired.
"How bad?" she asked.
"Not bad. Found a place. Safe. Hidden. A day's walk."
She relaxed. "Thank the Unspoken."
---
I called the inner circle to Elias's workshop. Marta. Rik's parents. Lora. We gathered around the candlelit table.
"We have a valley," I said. "Good soil, water, shelter. Tomorrow and the next day, we build basic huts. On the third day, I'll pay the tax. Then we leave at night."
Rik's father asked, "What about the soldiers? They'll come looking."
"They won't find us. Valley's hidden between hills. Even if they do, we'll be ready."
Marta was still worried. "And the gold? We have enough to pay?"
"I have enough. Don't worry."
Lora spoke up. "What about the old ones? My grandmother can't walk a day."
"We'll use carts. I'll pull one myself. Elias will pull another. The young men can help."
She looked at me. Soft eyes. "You thought of everything."
"Not everything. But enough."
---
That night, I lay in the barn. Stars through the crack in the roof.
Two valleys. One for them. One for me.
The soldiers would come back. Kaelen would send more. But we'd be gone. And I'd be getting stronger.
I thought about Lora's hand on mine. Elara's tears. The old ruins in the valley.
Closed my eyes.
Tomorrow, we start building.