‘Eight days...’ Yue-Liang thought to himself as he looked at the small window on the left, at the end of the dimly lit corridor. The feeble light that managed to filter through offered little solace.

‘It's about the crystal,’ his thoughts continued, anxiety gnawing at him. ‘Definitely about the crystal. They know that I know where it is. That's why they keep feeding me well, while they starve the other prisoners. That’s why they send a guard to treat my wounds.’

He glanced briefly at one of the men lying on the floor. He wasn't moving. The boy was unsure if he was even breathing, which caused fear to creep into Yue-Liang's heart. Perhaps, the man was already dead. There was another one, sitting in the corner, whose eyes were fixed on the boy, although due to the surrounding darkness, it was too hard to spot.

‘They gave me a hard time for a few days when they saw that I was being fed, but they didn't deserve to be starved. If not for the guard waiting until I ate everything, I would share some with them,’ he thought, his heart heavy with guilt. The memories from his childhood, when his mother’s body began showing weakness flashed through his mind. Back then, there were days when they couldn’t eat. ‘Whatever they did, they don’t deserve this fate.’

The sight of the lifeless body reminded him too much of his mother. She could as well be dead by now. The last hope lay with Yura's family, the only people who were willing to help. He couldn't count on anybody else, assuming Yura herself survived the reckless confrontation with the guards.

An image of the woman, bleeding from her mouth, flashed through his mind. He clenched his jaw from anger, the sound of his own teeth grinding against each other echoing in his ears.

‘Why didn't they interrogate me? I would tell them everything. Why don't those stupid soldiers listen when I'm telling them? Fuck them. Fuck them all!’ he screamed silently in his own head, frustration and desperation boiling inside him.

His agitation quickly subsided, as his keen ears caught the sound of multiple shod, heavy shoes approaching. It was too early for a meal, and the number of footsteps indicated that something different was about to happen.

‘Maybe they will finally interrogate me. I'll tell them everything, so I can go check on my mother!’ he desperately hoped getting up to approach the metal bars.

Soon, four figures emerged from the shadows, clad in the standard black and red lamellar armors, representing the colors of the Nakagawa family. Short swords hung by their belts, but their hands also gripped something else. Though the dim light obscured his view, Yue-Liang could hear the distinct clanging of keys and the jingling of armor parts, enabling him to discern the difference in the noises.

They unlocked the door, and two soldiers went inside to take him. Despite Yue-Liang's cooperation, they were quite rough. Each man grabbed one of his hands, immobilizing him, before leading him out. The other two soldiers split up, one positioning himself behind Yue-Liang, and the other guiding the group from the front.

Silence enveloped them. The boy kept quiet as well, knowing that soon he would spill everything to someone in charge, perhaps even Lady Shy-ren herself.

The prisoner in the corner saw it all but didn’t budge. He waited patiently until the guards and the boy were gone, and then he stood up, quietly feeling the wall of the prison. He soon found what he was looking for, a stone that could be removed. He pulled it out, revealing a pocket, a hiding space. From inside he pulled out three short tubes. In a matter of moments he assembled them into a blowing pipe, then he also pulled out a small scroll and a little piece of charcoal. With this he quickly wrote a message, put the scroll into the blow hole, and after checking if the surrounding area was clear, he shot the scroll through the small window. Then he quickly moved everything as it previously was, sitting back in the corner, as if nothing ever happened.

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Meanwhile, Yue-Liang was moved through the labyrinth of corridors. Occasional small windows near the ceiling provided just enough light to discern the outlines of their surroundings. Finally, they reached a heavy wooden door, which the soldier with the key unlocked. Beyond it lay a staircase leading to the surface, but before the boy could take it all in, a wave of intense light blinded him. He squinted and fought through the pain to adjust his eyes, only to be hauled up the stairs by the soldiers.

As his eyes adapted to the brightness, his suspicion was confirmed. He was being held in the military fort within the territory of the Nakagawa family. The walls were a dull yellow with red tiles on top, enclosing the entire compound. Wooden platforms were scattered inside for soldiers to keep guard, while the center was left empty, likely used for military training under an instructor's supervision. However, now it held nothing but a covered wagon, surrounded by few horses, fully equipped to travel. This one was different from what Yue-Liang was used to, it had a sturdy wooden construction on top, obscuring what could possibly be hidden inside.

More soldiers surrounded the wagon, a few tending to the horses. It looked as if they intended to escort it somewhere. Along the walls surrounding the mostly empty space, Yue-Liang spotted several brick buildings, ready for a siege, all with the same red tiles on their roofs. Though their purposes remained a mystery to him.

In the midst of this scene, Yue-Liang caught sight of Yura, also dragged to the center like him. Her pupils were fixed on his face, and though her mouth remained open, she refrained from speaking. Her eyes conveyed her longing to communicate, to speak about each other's plight as prisoners, but the watchful soldiers thwarted any chance of conversation.

The boy was dragged towards the waiting wagon, and the man with the keys opened its door. Inside the sturdy wooden construction was a metal cage with a separate entrance. They pushed him inside, and soon Yura joined him before the door closed with a resounding thud. In the dimness of the wagon, their hushed voices intertwined.

"Are you fine? Did they hurt you?" Yura whispered with concern.

"No. What are you doing here? Did they take you away, like me?" he asked quietly.

"I tried to stop them, so they took me with you," she explained.

His voice almost broke, "So you don't know..." His emotions threatened to overwhelm him, but he held back the tears despite the poor visibility, providing some privacy.

"No," she shook her head. "I was here throughout this whole time. Don't worry. My mother wouldn't leave your mother alone."

Her hand on his shoulder offered comfort, and he nodded in response.

Outside the wagon, horses neighed, and the sounds of soldiers filled the air, causing the two prisoners to strain their ears, trying to make sense of the commotion.

"They are taking us somewhere," Yura concluded. Her theory was confirmed soon when the wagon began to move, the clanging of hooves on the plates covering the middle of the fort indicating their departure.

"I don't understand. I thought it was all about that stone," he said, his voice tinged with confusion.

"The stone?" she asked, perplexed. "I thought it was about the thing in the palm of your hand."

"It is because I touched a stone. A star fell from the sky, and I found it. I touched it, but it hurt my hand, and then I lost the stone. I thought they wanted me to tell them where it is, but they didn't ask me about anything," he explained.

"Maybe they don't know what it is?" Yura suggested.

"If they didn't know, they wouldn't take me," Yue-Liang countered.

"I don't understand anything anymore," Yura sighed in bewilderment.

The wagon shook violently as it left the sturdy surface of the fort and ventured onto a dirt road. The driver chose the left path away from the village. Following behind were twelve riders, each well-equipped with swords by their belts, and some also carrying short, twisted sticks.