Walking down the corridor they met other groups of children. Each was led by one man, with heavy cloak and lowered hood, their heads were shaved with strange tattoos on the sides above ears. The patterns warred from simple lines to more intrigued lines with other shapes mixed in.

Some kind of ranking system?

While some of the boys talked causing echo in the seemingly endless tunnels, none of the adults sad a word since they took them out of the rooms. All of them navigated the corridors without so much as a word. Raijens perception of the time was still messed up. With no natural light between the stones, only the torches carried by the men lightened the way ahead.

When the wind started to pick up and slight breeze caressed Raijens hair and clothes he had jerked up from staring at the gravel under his feet. Looking ahead he saw the exit, not daring to blink, afraid he would lose the sight of it from his eyes, afraid he might not see it in the next moment. Rays of the light lightened the entrance and he could feel they were much warmer than the surrounding darkness. Raijens heart started to beat faster and faster, facing the moment he dreamed about in recent days.

What would the outside world look like when I’m finally free to walk it with my own feet?

A small smile crept on his lips as he felt the first rays on his skin.

With the first step beyond the exit, his blood turned cold, his feet stopped moving and only when others pushed his back to move again, did he enter the sand of the arena from the previous day. Looking around everyone was shaking, the all too recent memories of blood and violence still lingering in their mind.

Were they going to force us to fight again? Were we to kill each other again? Why the hell is this happening.

All of the boys were forced to line up in the middle of the arena, in columns of five with the smallest at the front and biggest in the back of the line. Raijen was one of the smallest, so he was standing in the very front. There might have been around twenty columns and yet, the arena wasn’t getting packed at all. His feet were bare, feeling the cold seeping in. Not daring to look down on what he was standing in, as the squishy feeling of damp sand prompted morbid ideas in his mind, which he didn’t want to confirm.

Expecting some old men to come and tell them what to expect and what was going to happen with them, they all stood as still as they could, slowly glancing around on each other. The air was heavy with tension, forcing his shoulders to the front, hands wrapped around the waist clenching on the rough fabric with a middle finger slipping into one of the numerous holes in it.

Raijens heart was beating fast and his stomach felt like turning over and knotting in his guts. Not hearing anything he felt someone push him to move. Opening his eyes he realized the kids started to move again. Not understanding what transpired in his minds absence he moved one leg in front of the other one over and over until his fingers touched the grass.

They were led outside of the arena, eventually exiting out of the mountain complex into the forest. His small chest swelled at the familiar feeling of damp greenery, with excited shouts of others his shoulders relaxed. The fingers started to turn purple from tight grip on his own skin, now hang loosely at his sides.

Staring at the massive trees slowly losing their leaves Raijen imagined it was the beginning of autumn.

They might turn colorful soon.

Walking for an hour they neared a shallow river covered in grass and reeds which spammed as far as he could see and were higher than the tallest boy.

“You will make this trip once every day. It is expected you remember the road soon, otherwise, you become bothersome. Pull out as many as you can carry before someone comes for you. You have an hour.”

Turning around the guard left them alone.

Bothersome? What does he mean by that?

Some of the kids went into the river and started pulling on the reeds which proved much harder then it seemed. The reeds cut into the flesh and left bloody marks which stung when Raijen tried to pull more.

By the time he pulled out six of them his hands were a mess, the reeds were broken, one snapped, another's leaves were torn apart, but all of them covered in blood. Most of the others gave up after a few and were sitting or lying around.

I can’t be bothersome, these people kill others if they become bothersome, or leave them behind, or send them into the mountains.

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Raijens mind was doing loops around all the foggy recollections of typical scenarios he had from the old life.

Trying to grab another reed his hands were so sore he couldn’t even properly wrap his fingers around it. His hands pumped with dull pain when he put them under the water. As the skin went numb he noticed for the first time his new face, staring at it with mouth open he didn’t move. It was so different from what he was used to he was just staring at the stranger in the water, not wanting to scare him.

Dark brown hair, long enough to touch shoulders. Black, wild eyes of a scared child, with just a hint of going narrow, but it could be because of how underslept he was. Narrow cheekbones on a mostly oval-shaped face with thin cracked lips. Big ears, almost too big for his head which was kind of huge compared to the rest of his body.

Then again I’m five, so maybe it is normal.

“Grab what you pulled out and follow.”

Snapping out of his trans Raijen looked behind his back. The same men from before were standing near the tree line, watching.

Was he there the whole time, or did he actually leave?

Morning breeze brought some pain to his hands as he pulled them out of the water.

Going back while dragging the reeds was way more difficult due to their size cut up hands.

Don’t they fear to be discovered? We must have left quite desolated path behind us by dragging all the material.

When they come back, they were all led into a different part of the complex. The new place was way bigger than the first one. Raijen was wondering if they have control over the whole mountain. Exiting the tunnel once more, they were staring at the first thing, that actually looked like a city in the middle of the mountain.

Looking up he could see the sky, ridges and the peaks of mountains creating space of hundreds of meters in diameter which seemingly provided light for the city.

Strolling through cobbled road no one could tear their eyes from the stone buildings with heavy wooden doors and windows. The roofs were made with some sort of black shingles. Slopes of stone decorated with carved likenesses of animals, trees, and flowers supported roofs covering the entrances.

Drainage systems built on the side of the road. Some kind of aqueducts built between the buildings bringing the water from the top of the mountain into the houses and wells were sprinkled around the city. As they neared first of the people, the locals parted way for the men leading the children and then continued whatever they were doing. No one spared them a second look, other than children living here, which were hushed away by parents.

Raijens group was led to the first crossroad and turned left, leaving all the street life behind and entering an area that was much narrower and devoid of people. In a few minutes, they were encountered by another large wooden gate with black iron hammered into it for more strength. The small door near the middle opened and Raijen went inside. The slopes around them supported roofs spamming on both sides from the gate, covering walls, separating the complex from the rest of the city.

Clearing the gate, they were confronted with open space encircled by another set of a stone building with a similar style as before. Standing in the middle of the plaza one of the men stood before them.

“My name is Arasto, you will call me master, or master Arasto. I want four groups of five on the left and four on the right.”

Watching them move to create the respective groups Arasto continued.

“You will be divided into three groups of twenty, each living in the separate building. Inside are waiting for your caretakers, these men will be your fathers, your mentors, and guides in this new life. You will do what they say, or you will be punished. Every time you are given a task your answer is yes master, or you will be punished. Every time you can’t finish the task, you will be punished.”

His eyes gleamed as he looked at each of us in the eye, his face was neutral as if he had said it hundreds of times.

“No one can survive too many punishments.”

Pointing one of his fingers on our group he said.

“You are Anatol.”

Switching to the middle group.

“You are Mesimé.”

Lastly, his gaze fell on the third group.

“You are Iliovasi. From today on, your loyalty would belong to the clan. If he sees you worthy, you will be part of the vultures. If not, vultures will pick you apart.”

A chill run over Raijens back as the men's gaze lingered on them for few more seconds before turning and going into what looked like a main building.