Hakimi lunged at Ru Meng. He pulled something out of his clothes and pressed it against Ru Meng’s neck. Ru Meng felt the cool edge of something sharp. His heart pounded in his chest. He couldn’t react in time at all. After everything that had just happened with Lan, he didn’t have the energy to even try and understand what was happening.

Hakimi looked at Vardan and said in Malay, “Explain.”

“Relax. Like I said, he knows everything,” said Vardan.

“How?”

“He figured out I planned the whole thing with Lan, somehow deduced that I know who dug the tunnel and deliberately ran away to get himself here.” He added after a brief pause, “Then I told him everything.”

Hakimi was quiet for a moment as he processed everything.

“And he won’t tell?” he finally asked.

“He’s on the same boat as us now. Why would he?”

“He’s on the same shitty boat. What if he tries to cut a deal with Rayyan to get himself off the hook?”

“Then consider me an idiot. Only someone smart enough and desperate enough would have done all that. He has his reasons for wanting to escape. That’s good enough, isn’t it?”

Hakimi paused to think again.

“Better than trying to explain to Rayyan why you killed the new kid you were supposed to take care of. You do that and all our chances of escaping are gone,” said Vardan, “At least we have another ally now.”

Finally, the short but ferocious boy lowered his weapon and tucked it away. Ru Meng only barely caught a glance of it. Whatever it was, it was small enough that the boy could hide it completely from Rayyan and his henchmen. He still didn’t understand what was happening. He didn’t speak Malay. It wasn’t nice to be excluded from the conversation like this, but Ru Meng couldn’t be bothered. His heart ached with guilt, much more than his hand was hurting.

“ So what happened back there? What did Rayyan do? Why’s he like this?” asked Vardan.

Hakimi said nothing. Finally, after some hesitation, he explained everything.

“He did what to Lan?! That goddamned son of a bitch!”

Vardan leaped to his feet furiously, his chains rattling as they kept him bound to the wall. He clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.

Hakimi looked him in the eye and looked down to the ground.

“I’m sorry. I wish I could have done something.”

Vardan sighed and said, “No, it’s not your fault. Or Ru Meng’s.”

He patted the boy on the head.

“It’s nobody’s fault but Rayyan’s. He’s a menace and we don’t have much time left. Is Lan okay?”

“We used some of Liao Hua’s alcohol and bandaged the wound really tight. He should be fine, except for the pain and the missing fingers. I’ll keep an eye out for him.

I should go now. They’ll be wondering what took me so long.”

“When’s the next time we can talk?” asked Vardan.

“Soon. I’m supposed to watch over that kid, make sure he doesn’t die or try something stupid again,” said Hakimi with a nod.

With that, the boy assumed his usual cold and indifferent demeanor and returned to the main cave, leaving Ru Meng alone with Vardan again.

“Are you okay, Ru Meng?” said Vardan in Mandarin.

Ru Meng heard him, but only barely. He didn’t know what to say to Vardan. His mind was consumed with feelings of guilt and inadequacy. Wherever he went, he brought only trouble to those close to him. It was because of him that his uncle died, then because of him again that his father had fallen sick and now, because of him, his friends had to suffer. He knew how it felt like to work on an empty stomach; how painful and agonizing it was to wake up in the middle of the night feeling as if your insides wanted to crawl outside. He ran away and now Han Yang and all the boys would have to face three days of excruciating torture.

More importantly, he ran away and Lan lost two fingers for it. Lan, the same person who had tried his best to help him, even when he hadn’t done anything for him in return. Lan, who would put himself on the line, even when he was so weak and skinny himself.

Why? Why did it come to this?

Only one answer burned in Ru Meng’s mind, burned clearly without smoke or soot— because of him. Because he tried to run.

Everything was his fault.

Somebody grabbed Ru Meng by the shoulders and shook him. A handsome face appeared in front of his eyes.

Vardan's gentle but unyielding voice rang by his ears, “Listen, do you remember what I told you before this? Don’t break. Don’t give in to Rayyan. This is what he does. He knows how to lure people, how to hurt people, how to make them move where he wants. Pull yourself together!”

“B-but this is all my fault…”

Almost as if a dam had burst inside him, Ru Meng felt his emotions overrun his entire being. Tears welled up in his eyes.

Vardan grabbed his cheeks with both hands and looked deep into his eyes.

“If that’s the case, then I’m equally at fault for putting Lan in that position. You did what you had to do for a chance to escape. I would have done the same thing.

Stop putting everything on your shoulders. You have friends now. You have allies to count on. We have a plan and we need you to help us with it. So quit blaming yourself and start thinking about how you can change things instead.

What’s done is done. We can only move forward now.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

If you break here, all of your efforts and all of our friends’ suffering will be in vain.”

Ru Meng knew he was right. This was what he had always done. He had to keep moving forward. Bury his feelings and move on. He could not stop. He could never stop, or all those things he hid deep inside would catch him and drown him alive.

He held back sobs as he clumsily wiped away the tears with his hands.

Ru Meng looked up and saw tears rolling down Vardan’s cheeks as well.

The chains clinked as Vardan pulled him into a hug. The older boy was much larger than him and his shoulders were wider than they looked.

“I’m sorry, Ru Meng. I’m so sorry.”

For some reason, even though they were both crying, Ru Meng felt something lift from his shoulders, like a backpack he had forgotten he had been carrying around with him.

——————————————————————————————

Ru Meng knew the new day had rolled around when Liao Hua kicked him in the stomach hard enough he started retching.

New day, new shift. It was the aggressive, bird-brain of a man’s turn to watch over them.

He sneered at Ru Meng and said, “I knew you were a bad one the moment I laid eyes on you. Thank the heavens you were stupid enough to try something like that. I was getting bored of the same old toy.”

He delivered a well-aimed kick to Vardan’s head. Vardan barely managed to shield himself with his arm.

Liao Hua clicked his tongue and turned back to Ru Meng.

“I was supposed to see to it that you two get to working, but I think we have time for a little lesson,” said Liao Hua.

He unlocked Ru Meng’s chains and pulled him away by the scruff of his neck.

Vardan locked eyes with Ru Meng and nodded. Ru Meng nodded back.

The beating was long and painful, but Liao Hua stopped soon after he realized Ru Meng had no strength to even respond anymore.

There was no time to rest either.

Liao Hua brought him back to the original spot and immediately made both him and Vardan dig out an especially rocky tunnel.

Their horrid warden would throw kicks and punches every so often, fully basking in his sadistic delight. The only respite they found was whenever he became too bored or distracted to keep up the onslaught. Unfortunately, in a cave full of nothing but rocks and limestone, torturing people was the best entertainment the muscle-brained idiot could think of.

Ru Meng struggled to get any work done, partly because he was the main target of Liao Hua’s abuse, but also because of all the injuries he had already sustained. At this point, he was more bruise than person. He could not move any part of his body without feeling pain everywhere else. Somehow, he found the strength to keep going, swinging the pickaxe over and over no matter how it hurt.

There was almost a calming quality to the repetitive work. It kept his mind off of things, steadied his uneasy heart and albeit slowly, it burned the time away. That was a good thing.

Vardan had told him that Hakimi would be back to discuss their plan soon. Tonight, most likely. All he had to do was wait. The monotonous and laborious work of digging was much more bearable when there was a goal in mind.

Ru Meng took a few glances at Vardan while he was working, trying to see how he was doing. The tall teenager’s muscles quivered with every swing of the pickaxe. His breathing was heavy and laden with fatigue. When Liao Hua tripped him up or delivered a kick to the knees, he would remain crumpled on the ground for a good minute, only hastily scrambling back on his feet when Liao Hua was winding up another blow.

Ru Meng couldn’t help but be worried for Vardan, until the teenager finally caught him glancing one time and gave him a subtle but spirited wink. All the cheekiness on his face was immediately replaced by fear and lethargy when Liao Hua approached. It was impossible to tell he was acting.

The revelation made the whole affair quite comical and even Liao Hua’s punches didn’t seem to hurt as much after that.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Liao Hua let them sit down and rest. He secured their chains and tossed a few bone-dry pieces of jerky at Vardan, while giving nothing to Ru Meng. He sat down right in front of them and smiled at Ru Meng. He made sure Vardan ate every single last piece of jerky before he walked away satisfied.

When he was finally gone, Vardan opened his mouth and pulled out a small piece of saliva-lathered jerky he had been hiding under his tongue. He offered it to Ru Meng, who crinkled his nose and politely rejected the kind gesture. His stomach, on the other hand, made a note to growl very loudly.

Vardan looked at the soggy meat, shrugged and swallowed it in a bite.

Finally, a short figure stepped out of the darkness into the dim light of the lantern. It was Hakimi. He had a bowl of water and fresh bandages in his hands.

He quickly sat down in front of the two other boys.

“Drink,” he said as he thrust the water at Ru Meng.

Ru Meng took the bowl with his right hand drank the water greedily until there was only half left and passed it to Vardan. Liao Hua hadn’t given them anything to drink the whole day.

Hakimi covertly took out a few small pieces of potatoes that didn’t seem like they had been in anyone’s mouth and put them in Ru Meng’s hand. He then quietly replaced his bandages with fresh ones. It hurt slightly when he peeled the old bandages away.

Ru Meng looked at him gratefully. Perhaps he was actually a lot nicer than he seemed. A question appeared in his mind and he asked, “Why did you report me to Rayyan that time?”

Hakimi didn’t even bother replying. Instead, he tied the bandages a little harder and made Ru Meng wince.

“He’s playing a role. You don’t get to be Rayyan’s favorite kid without making yourself useful,” Vardan said with a grin.

Now that he was finally thinking clearly, there were a hundred more questions Ru Meng wanted to ask Hakimi, but Hakimi stopped him before he could open his mouth.

“We don’t have much time to talk. Liao Hua’s supposed to be here, but the meathead likes to slack off. He’s talking with Chen Jin, so the both of them won’t be paying too much attention. We have twenty minutes until sleep time and he’s going to notice I’ve been gone for a lot longer than I should have been,” he said.

“Can’t we just escape now? No one’s watching us,” Ru Meng piped in.

Hakimi looked at him then at Vardan, with a quizzical expression on his face.

“You said this guy’s smart?” he said in Malay.

Vardan rolled his eyes at Hakimi and explained to Ru Meng, “He doesn’t have the keys. Even if he did, this passageway is a dead end. The only exit leads to the main cave, where Chen Jin and Liao Hua are waiting for us. Also, we can’t escape with just the three of us. Everyone has to come with us.”

Ru Meng knew he was right. He couldn’t escape while leaving the others behind. Just the thought of what Rayyan might do the Lan and Han Yang and the others if he found that three of the children had escaped made Ru Meng’s heart skip a beat.

Ru Meng thought for a moment.

“I might have a way to get us out of the chains,” he said.

Vardan and Hakimi’s eyes immediately snapped toward him.

“How?”

Ru Meng grabbed hold of one of Vardan’s chains and focused on a single metal link.

“Lan.Leng.Dok.Sum, Yüt.Gan.Din.Mun.”

Nothing happened for the first few seconds as everyone watched with bated breath. Then, the metal link started to glow, first a dull red, then brighter and brighter.

“You know magic,” whispered Hakimi under his breath.

Ru Meng reached out to pull the heated link apart and break the chain but Vardan pulled his hands away.

“No. Not now. We can’t leave any evidence of this. They cannot know that you know magic,” said Vardan.

He turned to look at Hakimi in amazement and said, “There it is. I told you. He’s the opportunity we’ve been waiting for.”

Hakimi looked Ru Meng in the eyes.

“What other spells do you know?”

“Including this one, I only know three spells. I can control metal, make metal sharp and heat metal.”

“That should be enough,” Hakimi muttered, mostly to himself, “There’s still four months to go until the Darktide. Two more months of preparation and we could…”

“Two months?” Ru Meng exclaimed, “I can’t wait that long! I need to leave as soon as possible. My dad is sick and he needs me.”

Hakimi stared at Ru Meng and said, “Two months is the bare minimum if we want to make sure everybody survives out there. It’s not just a question of beating our captors. There’s a lot more that we have to—”

Vardan interrupted the conversation to address Ru Meng, “How badly do you need to go save your dad?”

“Very, very badly.”

“Well then, we will escape at the next possible opportunity.”

Hakimi objected to the idea, “You can’t be serious? That’s all you need to hear?”

Vardan looked into Hakimi’s sharp eyes and said, “What would you do if the Darktide was in four days and every one of the kids was in danger? How would you feel if you let those kids die?”

Hakimi said nothing. He understood.

Ru Meng hung his head in embarrassment.

Vardan took a good look at the two younger kids and threw one arm over each of the shoulders.

“So, shall we talk about the plan?”