Rowlan's Journal: Entry #2 "Determination"

Mairlynn's hand shuddered for a moment. She never knew much about her father, he hadn't really raised her. And here, in this book, were the innermost workings of his mind. His hows and whys. It felt as if it might be getting too close, but she couldn't let that stop her. She had spent so much time and effort to get to this point; she had no other choice to go on.

"To this point in my life I have grown up through the teachings of
my mother, and with the words left behind in my father's
journal. I have done everything that I can to prove to myself
that I am my father's son. Sometimes it makes my mother
cry, but I know that she is only sad that my father is no longer
here.

Now is the biggest step that I will undertake in my life.
The war is well into it's second generation, and I am to come
of age in just a few days. I have grown up with a spear in my
hand, learning to fish. I can hit a fish in water from ten paces,
and a jumping fish from twenty. My father's sketches on
proper spear techniques have done me well. I do not fear
entering battle, though I am not excited for it either. Almost every
male who has come of age in the last year will leave in two
weeks time. I will be one of the youngest leaving. We are the
sons of Burbah. And we will keep the Empire from taking what
does not belong to them."