Slumber in the Scythe's Shadow

The Grevka Commune in 1978 is a paranoid, grueling meat grinder. At her father’s rain-soaked funeral, Velsia Drenka makes a cheeky, shameless announcement: she is officially retiring at nineteen. Refusing to earn a single work point in the muddy fields, she marries Bramen Vost, the commune's feared gravedigger, simply because his isolated cabin is quiet. While her reborn sister Miksa exhausts herself scheming to marry the region's future oligarch, Velsia buys a barren, toxic-looking plot on Slagfall Hill solely to string up her hammock. As Velsia naps through the oppressive days, Bramen meticulously cooks and cleans, harboring a bittersweet, unspoken love while silently disposing of the regime's spies to keep her safe. When Slagfall Hill unexpectedly cracks open to reveal a massive vein of luminescent ignis-quartz - a literal goldmine - Velsia's lazy days draw dangerous attention. Told in alternating third-person perspectives between Velsia and Bramen, the dark truth slowly surfaces: Velsia’s past self orchestrated this entire scenario, erasing her own memories to ensure her survival. Will Velsia uncover the bloody lengths she went to, or will Bramen's devotion keep her safely in the dark?