The runaways rested for the whole day. Ashwin slept all this time without even waking up once. When someone shook his shoulder, it was already sunset. The boy sat up. Never before had he thought that it could be so difficult to open his eyes after a full day's sleep, and he still felt like it wasn't enough. Several long minutes passed before he realized where he was. His throat was dry, his feet felt heavy and sore. Ashwin looked around. A strip of felled trees remained behind. The troop found cover in a meadow surrounded by high upside-down trees on one side and thick bushes on all others. Muslin cloth was dry, but, to Ashwin's displeasure, he noticed a few spots of grass on the fabric. He shook off a bug that crawled onto the cloth while he was sleeping and wore it like a cloak. A few apes were still sleeping, but most were awake and eating. It seemed like someone had gone hunting while others were resting. The boy gathered his strength and stood up. Slowly, he headed towards the group of apes that were eating.

He was lucky - he didn't even need to plead. One of the beasts handed him a folded leaf with water. Ashwin thanked him in a hoarse voice and drank the water. It wasn't enough and he was still thirsty, but it helped to restore his voice. Ashwin wasn't expecting any food from apes, but he looked at them anyway. The sight puzzled him and made him worried. Apes had gathered around a pile of dead birds. Their colorful feathers were disheveled, and their necks hung limply.

"You can't eat them," he said. "Birds are poisonous."

Even though it was obvious that man-eating apes were familiar with the species inhabiting the surroundings, Ashwin still found it impossible to remain silent without attempting to warn them of danger. Hegat, an ape with a long scar on his left shoulder, gave the boy a lenient look.

"You just don't know how to eat it."

After saying such words, the ape bit the bird's legs. With a crunching sound, Hegat chomped on the legs, then threw the almost untouched carcass into the shrubs. Ashwin's gaze followed the bird's corpse. It seemed too wasteful to kill a living creature just for a bite, but the boy could not protest or rebuke Hegat. First of all, apes are animals with cruel ways of life, and humans sometimes behaved in the same manner.

Apes didn't share their dinner with the boy, and he wasn't even tempted to ask them for it. Instead, he counted them. Ashwin spent a year with these beasts, not paying them much attention most of the time, but when they got used to each other, they returned to the time when they first met human-eating apes. He had to obey them during their escape from Vardana's capital and the South territory. There were forty-two apes in the dungeon. They were incredibly lucky to escape the capital with so few casualties, including several injured and one dead. Another one died from infected wounds. Now, only twenty-three apes are resting at the camp. Almost half were killed during their crossing of the wall, including Wez, who was cured by the boy and sent by Scarface to create a diversion. On the other hand, more than half survived, which was far more than Ashwin expected. Everything was thanks to Scarface's plan and the sacrifice of the two apes he left behind.

Once again, the boy slowly looked around at the improvised camp. At first, he was too tired to question Scarface's firm belief that soldiers wouldn't follow them into foreign territory. After a long sleep, he couldn't help but agree with the leader of the troop. Humans sent surveillance parties and groups to gather resources, but they weren't willing to leave the defensive line for a dangerous adventure. Usually, such missions took time to be carefully organized and received permission or direct orders from the capital. For now, the apes could relax - if humans sent a chase, it would take time for it to happen. Scarface knew this better than anyone else. The beast had finished eating and was now staring at the bushes. As usual, beside the sitting leader, his closest aides were waiting for orders.

Ashwin walked towards the head of the group. His legs were still hurting, and he was limping. Despite finding some sandals, he had spent the past year in the pit and could not move much. Suddenly, being forced to cross the whole territory without proper rest, swimming and even running under gunfire, the boy was bone tired. Ashwin dreamed about a soft bed and a warm dinner, but all of these sounded like a mirage. In order to make such an illusion come true, he had to first face Scarface.

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He thought about what he would face when, finally, for the first time since his execution, he would be left alone. The hypothetical dangers of the outside world were outshone by the more familiar threats of the human world. Returning to the capital was certainly a high risk, but on the other hand, everyone he knew and anyone he thought of as someone who could offer a helping hand lived there. His father's loyal subordinates and the family of his fiancée, Binita, and even the girl who had given him sweet bread - everyone lived in the capital. Ashwin tried to think of anyone who could help him and wasn't under the rajah's watchful eye, but to no avail. He berated himself for not having asked his father what to do in this predicament, but he couldn't even imagine being in the midst of a troop of man-eating apes or being thrown into a pit. The boy slowed his pace. Partly, because he wasn't really eager to face Scarface, and also because he remembered something. The girl, Kean, who had injured a few animals, and then opened the door for them. 'Why did she do this? Was it out of pity? Or did she count on the apes to sow more panic and chaos in the city?' He didn't have the chance to ask her, and he probably never would.

With a heavy heart, he approached the ape. Putting aside unsettling thoughts, Ashwin mustered up all the courage he had to say just a few words: "Let me leave."

"And what will you do? What can you do?" asked the leader of the troop without even glancing at the boy. This level of neglect hurt Ashwin's pride, but he said nothing. Everything for the sake of leaving this place and reuniting with civilization. "You are a helpless, almost useless cub."

"Still, this isn't my place. I am not one of you. I need to return to humans."

"So, are you one of humans? Then, why were you thrown into a pit, sewn into the hide of my kind?"

Scarface's words cut the boy's heart like a dull knife. Boiling emotions burst out in the form of mumbling: "I thought that for a long time, but you are certainly not Hanuman..."

"Of course I'm not," the beast snorted.

For him, being able to hear the boy was only one of the reasons Ashwin was surprised.

"Wait… Do you know who I'm talking about?"

His innocent question resulted in unexpected rage. Scarface jumped to his feet, baring teeth and clenching the sword's handle. In the blink of an eye, the calm, almost human-like leader of the troop turned into a rabid animal. This change was so sudden and unexpected that Ashwin unconsciously stepped back. Even the aides, who had ignored their conversation for the whole time, nervously backed away from Scarface.

The ape barked at the frightened boy: "Out! Get out of my sight!!!"

'Why? Nothing could faze him before' lowering his head, Ashwin hurried away from the beast. Scarface's exaggerated reaction was both frightening and confusing. It was even more terrifying not knowing what caused his rage and what future words or actions could lead to this. Thinking how he had to walk on the edge, carefully choosing his words around Scarface, the boy felt stifling despair.

The boy cautiously approached Hegat, who was chewing on the last portion of a bird's leg. Ashwin seized this opportunity and asked in a quiet voice: "Do you know who Hanuman is?"

Hegat stared at Ashwin with long, thin fingers sticking out of his mouth, giving him an intimidating appearance, but to Ashwin's relief, he wasn't angry, only curious.

"Is it a humans' Main One?" asked Hegat.

"No. Never mind. It's fine if you don't know."

'If anything, it's expected and feels more mollifying.' There was no way these beasts could have known the human's culture. Ashwin looked at the leader of the troop. The irritated ape stabbed grass and ground with a stolen sword before him. It didn't even occur to him that such actions might dull the blade. "That's the difference between us and them. We can think rationally; we can be above emotions." The boy didn't need confirmation of his statement; he was adamant about this belief. If he wanted to keep his sanity, the line between humans and animals had to be drawn clearly.