Not long after soldiers were dispatched, some came back, bringing in an elderly man and a middle-aged woman. The two soldiers had to carry the man as he was visibly shaken and sobbed. After bringing him before the commander, the man fell to his feet.

"My... sss..on. My daughter...in...law. The grandchildren... Is there no one left?" the man stuttered as he tried to grasp what was happening.

"Gah... this is truly horrible. I doubt that we will find anyone who'll shed some light on what has occurred," he said and then turned to the soldiers who brought the man, asking one of them, "What is the situation in the area?"

"We have found mass graves of charred corpses. Also, some traces indicate forceful captivity. I think they've taken some of the villagers away."

"We can assume that they'll end up enslaved or serve as donors in the black market. Either way, they would have been better off dead by the looks of things."

"Please, give me hope... There might... I wanna hope they are still alive." the man interjected.

The commander looked at him with a saddened expression.

"We've dispatched additional units to hunt them down, but I hope for your sake that we'll find their bodies in ruins. Though I promise you, these savages won't have an easy death; we'll tear them limb by limb and feed their parts to the livestock."

"Take him to the truck." said the commander after a brief pause.

And so the two soldiers took the elderly man to the steam truck that was parked on the dirt road. The commander now turned his attention to the woman.

"And what about you? Can you shine any light on the events?"

"I'm ever so sorry, my lord, but the moment I heard the screams and saw the fire starting to burn the buildings in front of the village, I ran through the fields and hid in the nearby forest. All I can say is that whoever attacked us must have had quite a few people at their command. The fire was spreading so rapidly. By the time I got to the forest, the flames were so large I'm sure the entire village was burning. Either it was flame magic, or they had many men who could shoot flaming arrows."

"That doesn't help us at all. We would need to have a witness who can account for the number of assailants or any physical traits." he grumbled and then continued, "Take her to the truck as well."

Meanwhile, horns sounded off in the fields, and soldiers were yelling, hoping someone would respond. Heron started hearing them but feared they were the same men who attacked the village. Then footsteps were heard on top of him.

"If there is anyone in here, please don't be alarmed. In the name of gods and our kingdom of Divinium, I give you my word I come with no ill intent," the soldier said firmly.

"What should I do? Should I wait for my father? Or take this chance?" Heron thought as he tried to remain silent.

Then the soldier left the mill, and Heron figured that it was a good chance to sneak out and scout the situation. And so he slowly opened the trapdoor and walked as quietly as he could towards the door. But as he reached the door to look outside, another soldier appeared in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" the soldier asked, but Heron just froze, and it took him a second to lose consciousness.

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"Sir, I have found another survivor, " a soldier yelled as he brought Heron in his arms. Soldiers were already getting reading to go, so Heron was saved at the last minute.

"Put him with the rest of the survivors," the commander said as he entered his truck.

***

Everything was blurry as Heron tried to open his eyes. He was resting on the bench inside the steam truck. As he stood up, he could see the man and the woman rescued before him. But unfortunately, only three of them were found. Having no idea what was going on, he looked around and saw a door with speakeasy grilles at the end of the space. He took a minute and then decided to knock on the door, but as he was preparing to do so, the grill opened, and a voice was heard.

"Everyone, get ready. We will be taking a break to eat dinner."

And so, after the trucks stopped, soldiers started preparing impromptu benches and placing a cauldron to make a stew. They sat on some old oaks found near the road. After roughly an hour, everything was set, and survivors and soldiers were sitting around the fire being poured hot stew.

The commander had finished first and was writing a report on a parchment near the only other light source: his oil lamp.

Heron sat alone on one of the benches, slowly eating the soup, trying to contain himself from crying. He promised Haran he would be strong. The man and the woman sat on the next bench, looking Heron's way and whispering.

As he was eating, a shadow eclipsed Heron, and when he looked up, he could see the man standing above him with rage in his eyes.

"I wish we never let your family stay in our village. Who will bring back my son?" the man shouted and then proceeded to grab Heron by the neck.

He raised him with his hands, trying to strangle him. Heron was trying to put on a fight, but he was too weak.

Moments later, a dull sound resonated as something hit the bench Heron sat on. It was a hook. The man got scared and immediately dropped Heron and looked behind him. The commander's face was hidden from the light, but the way he spoke sent shivers down both man's and Heron's spines. He was speaking to the man.

"Out of all of you, you are the least of value, so I’ll have no problem slicing you into pieces if you even think of harming that child again."

The man quickly retrieved back to the woman, and Heron was trying to get hold of his breath. Signs of strangulation were visible on his neck as two red handprints. He'll probably have bruises for several days, but at least he was still alive.

After that, everyone sat in silence until the commander ordered the soldiers to start packing. After they packed, the commander decided that it would be wise to separate Heron from the man, so he instructed Heron to come with him into the driver's cabin. The cabin had one long seat similar to the ones carriages have, and there was a steering wheel and a lever for controlling steam which made the vehicle move.

In the cabin, Heron was sitting next to the commander who was looking at the road. Next to the commander was the soldier who was driving the truck.

Heron was still traumatized and struggled to close his eyes and sleep. But in the end, the exhaustion caught up with him, and he fell asleep. As the truck drove in the night above them, stars shone brightly, reflecting their glow on the barrier.

After several hours it was daytime.

"Wake up! We have arrived," said the commander, nudging Heron to wake him up. Heron fell asleep so soundly he didn't notice that he used the commander's arm to rest his head. Once awake, he jumped back and started to apologize to the commander.

"Just forget about it. There are other things you need to start worrying about." said the commander pointing in front of them. As Heron turned his head in that direction, he saw a wall at least ten floors tall. They drove along the wall until they've reached the gate. Gate had two outposts, and from each, a banner was spread down the wall. The first banner had the symbol of the Riana federation, and the other one had the symbol of the Divinium kingdom. To Heron, these symbols were familiar as he saw soldiers and adventurers having them impressed onto their armors and clothes.

Once trucks were in front of the door, the commander took his horn and blew it loud. It seemed that gate doors were quite heavy, as it took them a good minute to be opened. After that, the trucks drove inside.

There weren't many roads on which trucks could travel within this place. After a few hundred meters, there were parking spots where trucks could stop. From there, soldiers escorted Heron and others to a small square. There were some other people there too. Heron did not know if they were from the village.

They all stood in front of a small podium, and after a few minutes, a man appeared on the stage. He had a read military suit with an engraved golden symbol of the Riana federation. He had orange hair and a beard with a braid on the left side of his face.

He looked at the crowd with an expression on his face showing he didn't want to be doing this.

"Let's just get this over with," he mumbled.