introducing Gen

Gen starts awake to a furious pounding on his front door. Groaning he stumbles from his bed, searching for something to wear. Realising that he is fully dressed he navigates the short passage towards the door. The insistent pounding reverberates in his skull, turning the dull ache into a raging storm of pain behind his eyes. Opening the door he glares at the officious militia constable through bleary eyes.

“What, has the world ended?” Gen rubs the grit from his eyes.

Confused the militia man begins, “Sir I…”

“I asked you a question soldier.” The note of authority in Gen’s voice gave the officer a moment’s pause before answering.

“No Sir.” The officer replies, trying to keep his irritation in check.

“Then piss off.”Gen turns, closing the door behind him, only to find that it was caught on something. Without looking he tries to slam the door shut, it rebound violently as the constable strong-arms the door open.

“Gen Isihiro, you are here by ordered to appear before the Lord Marshal at once. If you do not comply we are ordered to forcibly move your person to said location, sir.” The anger in the man’s voice was clear, Gen stopped, as the implication of the officer’s statement filtered through the quite storm in his mind.

“We, forcibly move…” Turning around Gen finally notices a full squad of militia standing in front of his house.

“Fine let me just get some coffee.”

“Apologies sir, we have coffee for you, please come with us, Constable Ridley here will secure your house.”

Staring at the constable Gen sighs, “Lead the way officer, and I guess my day will only get worse, right?”

The constable gave Gen a knowing look, this was going to be a very long day. Gen and the constable wound there way through his garden towards the road, the squad forming up behind at a discreet distance. City life was starting to awake to the new dawn, street vendors were unpacking carts, shopkeepers assistants were sweeping the storefronts and young children were slowly gathering at the skyline.

As they neared the centre of town, Gen could feel a chill creep up the back of his neck. Looking to the constable, Rob, he said. “Let me guess, Plaza of the Kings?”

“That would be correct, sir. If I didn’t know better I would have called that a very lucky guess, but the Lord Marshall did inform me that you had a sense about you.”
Rob gave him a side long glance. The stories of the war were still fresh in the minds of the local people, even if most of it was hearsay. Giant flying machines, un-dead soldiers, men and women tearing soldiers and beast apart with their minds, enough to make any god fearing man think twice.

“The Lord Marshall would be correct in his observation. Magic makes my skin crawl.” Gen rubbed his arms as the thought of having to enter the chaos again. “There are a few of us left after the war, mostly we try and keep out of trouble. As always trouble has a way of finding us.”

The cordon of soldiers blocking the road into the plaza moved aside to let Gen and Officer Rob through. The squad that were escorting them peeled away to some other part of the city, their duty complete. Rob took the lead across the plaza heading straight towards the statue of the Ancient First King. As they neared the statue Rob noticed the look on Gen’s face.

“I guess your morning just got a lot worse, didn’t it.”