His arms were sore from being raised up for a prolonged period of time but they were not yet given the permission to lower them. With a few of their captors right behind them and a couple more archers following from a small distance, running would have been suicidal.

They walked through the forest without being urged and without complaining. Layne's breathing was getting heavy, both from fear and exhaustion but Coden looked even worse. His normally already pale face looked like that of a corpse and his lips were shivering.

The fear, however, was overpowered by astonishment when slate roofs emerged through the forest's foliage. As they got closer, a village grew before them. Actual houses, made out of bricks, some even had windows, although most of them were barricaded.

Layne made a short stop to take a better look at the view around him, which the old captor reacted to with a laugh. "Keep moving," he said.

As they walked deeper into the village, it became apparent that far from every house was occupied – or even suitable for that. Some of them had huge holes where doors and windows used to be, some stood partly demolished or burned down. Bony dogs wandered around the old streets, filled with potholes. Time from time, a curious face would peep out from some of the houses.

They were pushed into a small building that would likely have been a kennel before. There wasn't much space for anything and a small hole in the wall lead to an outside enclosure. Not quite big enough for a human to squeeze through, although it did provide with a minimal amount of light.

The doors closed behind them and the latch dropped down with a loud bang. Layne lowered his arms and let out an extended "fuck."

Just a few minutes later, he rammed his body into the door. It didn't look sturdy enough to hold him down if he really tried. Unfortunately, a voice from the outside replied to his efforts, "yes, there is a guard. Stop trying."

"You darned morons!" Layne yelled. Without a response, he leant against a wall and stared into the darkness that was supposed to be a ceiling. Not too long and he felt himself sliding down until he reached the floor.

The contour of Coden moved around in the corner right across the room. He, as well, sat on the dirty floor and rocked back and forth. Watching that made Layne nervous – but he couldn't take his eyes off.

"Will you stop?" he finally spat out.

"Of course, Layne." Coden's tone surprised him. He was expecting something fearful, instead, it sounded hostile. "You got us into this and now we'll probably die but go ahead, tell me what to do."

Layne shook his head. "Excuse me? How did I get you into this? You did what you did by choice, following Alana's plan."

"Don't pin this on me or Alana. You kept talking about investigating that damn stranger. You told us that we had to question things more. You were the one who defied everything Victor said."

"So you're on Victor's side, now."

"Well, Victor told us that those people were dangerous. He wasn't lying now, was he? When was the last time you saw anyone of our people walking around the forest armed with fucking bows."

"They might have been hunting for food or something, you know," Layne retorted. Not because he believed in it himself – he just hated the thought of him being wrong all along. "I can see it looking like we attacked that woman."

"Yeah, you tell yourself what you want."

Layne staggered something out but those weren't even words. Those were just his hopeless attempts to end the confrontation. Coden snorted and turned his head away.

They stopped talking to each other. Layne didn't want to hear all the things Coden would say about him, so, he avoided any conversation. Didn't look like the guy cared. Of course.

"Layne?" Coden started the conversation himself, eventually.

"Mhm?"

"Sorry. I just really needed to blame someone."

Layne raised his eyebrows, although he knew Coden couldn't see that. "So, you must blame me because let's blame everything on Layne, right? I mean everything is always Layne's fault already, so why not."

"I was just trying to apologise, gee."

"Ok, ok. Whatever."

They stayed silent for a while, out of words. As time passed, Layne's heartbeat accelerated. Whatever was going to happen to them was getting closer – and he didn't know whether to be happy about that or not. In either case, fear was always going to be his first companion.

"Tell me something," Coden spoke up, his voice soft and quiet.

"Why? What do you want to tell me?"

"I need a distraction or I'll pass out. Ugh, tell me about your scars. How'd you get them?"

Layne pressed his hand onto his neck. He couldn't feel the scars - they weren't large enough for that, but knowing they were there was all he needed. A silver handle of a pocket-knife flashed in front of his eyes again, glowing in the dark. He wished to forget about those times.

"I fought a lion and killed it with my bare hands," he said.

"Was it a lion or a cat?"

"A lioness."

"Ugh, okay." It wasn't an 'ok, I believe you'. It was more of a  'fine, don't tell me.' Of course – there were no lions in Eumain, except perhaps in a zoo. Neither did the thin, clean scars match the description.

It wasn't until the light coming out the hole in the wall started turning red and Layne's lips became bloody and painful, that he gave in. "Ok, fine, I'll tell you."

Coden tilted his head. Layne hasn't even thought of the fact that hours had passed since the last time they talked and Coden likely didn't even remember how their conversation ended.

"I'll tell you. About the scars."

Coden scooted closer and hugged his knees.

"So, this one." Layne touched the mark closest to his jaw. "My mother gave it to me when I purposely broke my brother's nose. 'You hurt others, you get hurt yourself,' she said. That's how it started."

His fingers slid down to the one next below. "This one's for running away from home. I broke some of their stuff and yelled at them I would never come back. Then I slammed the door and left. Returned the same night, of course. I had no idea where to even go, after all. They were up, waiting for me. 'You put yourself in needless danger. Something much worse could have happened.'"

Even with the lack of light, Layne saw Coden's expression shifting to more and more uncomfortable one. He didn't stop. He traced the next two scars – the shortest of the four – and the longest one.

"This one," he said, "was when they caught me with a girl. We were both sixteen. I'm a slow learner, of course, so I got the last time when they caught me with a guy."

After Layne had stopped talking, Coden stayed frozen, staring at him. Eventually, his lips started moving as if he was trying to say something, but nothing came out.

"I know, I know," said Layne. "You're gonna tell me that it's 'messed up' or something. I've heard that before and I'm not an idiot. I know."

Coden shook his head. "How did they even get away with that?"

"Everyone saw my parents as respectable people. While I had a reputation. It wasn't all that hard to pin everything on my being a messed up teenager who harms himself from some fucked up reason. Not that I would have tried to rant them out."

"But why?"

"They were my parents, Coden."

Coden bowed his head down and Layne turned away. He was beginning to wonder for how long would they be kept there. He kept moving his tongue around his mouth, trying to get it moist – but that didn't work. He didn't have a drop of water ever since morning and his throat felt like it was going to close up and stick together. Talking didn't help, either.

As if he wouldn't have had enough problems, as soon as he tried to stand up and stretch out his sore leg muscles, something hit inside him. He didn't even feel it before, but getting to think of his own physical condition, Layne got dizzy, his legs barely held down his weight.

Perhaps, that was the goal of their captors. To keep them in a dog kennel long enough for them to die out of dehydration and starvation. No more problems.

Layne fell back on the floor and watched the hole. The light disappeared, eventually. Soon after, the first howls of the animals cut through the air. They were even louder and more frightening than back in their cabin.

Where there were no holes in the walls.

* * *

It was way into the night when someone undid the door latch. Layne moved away from it and stared as the door opened. It was the same elderly man they've met in the forest. He held a lantern and its light cast upon his face, bringing out his deep wrinkles. A few other people stood in the distance.

Coden likely guessed what Layne was about to do, cause he grabbed his shoulder and whispered "stop. Not smart."

Layne's tense muscles relaxed. He did need a reminder that sometimes the things he did on impulse weren't the best decisions. He realised that every time he thought about the night his parents passed away, he got more likely to do something without overthinking it. Can't keep overthinking. Not taking action gets people killed.

The man held out the lantern as if trying to take a better look at his captives. "So, my name's Adan. And yours?"

"Coden. And Layne."

"With a 'y' in the middle, in case you wanna spell it or something," Layne added. Speaking of unrelated nonsense lowered the tension in his body.

Adan's face brightened. For a split second, he looked almost like a second Victor. "Okay, well, Rose told me some things about you. Tell me, how long have you been in the land?"

"Since around early- early spring," answered Coden. His voice stuttered.

"Hmm." Adan stopped to think for a little. "Well, I guess that's reasonable. We're taking you out for a walk."

"Where?"

"To the forest."

Layne felt Coden's grip tighten on his shoulder. "It's not safe, it's night-time."

The old man shook his head, although, from his expression, it was hard to tell whether he was malicious or entertained. Never before Layne had it difficult to recognise the two – that man was quite something.

"It's never safe in the forest, Pal," he said. "Come on, we gotta get going now."

When they were marched outside, Layne forgot about all of his discomforts. Out of a sudden, not only he wasn't hungry or thirsty anymore – it felt like he would have thrown up if he had anything in his mouth. With pride, he blew out his chest and raised his chin. Adan better not see how much he really struggled.

Coden was doing worse. Two men had to drag him forward as he squirmed and pulled backwards, crying and whimpering something about the animals and not wanting to die. Layne gave him a glance and turned away. It wasn't his business. He couldn't help him. He walked in front of everyone, with Adan so close he almost touched him time from time. There was no point in running.

In the forest, the howls intensified. Even though it wasn't his first time hearing them so close, it was by far the most terrifying one. Maybe it's because it was the first time when Troy wasn't there to face it with him.

It wasn't long before Coden fell on his knees. The men leading him scattered to the sides and looked at each other and Adan as if asking what to do. Coden only cried. Layne couldn't stand it. Coden was the youngest Reject he knew. Basically still a child – as if eighteen-year-olds could be considered full-grown adult. He stepped towards him and almost waited for someone to stop him – but no one did.

"Coden." Layne squatted in front of him. "Pull yourself together. This won't help you."

Coden shook his head. "I can't."

"Not the first time you're outside at night. Nothing happened to us last time, right?"

"It was different."

"Yeah, it was." Layne pressed on his shoulder. "Back then there weren't a bunch of armed guys there with us."

Coden coughed. It sounded almost like he tried to laugh, only to choke. With Layne's help, he stood up. They continued the journey together. Trying to help someone else, Layne himself stood braver. More confident.

"Well, they really ain't faking it," one of the men commented. "They've got no idea."

Layne glared at him over his shoulder but didn't question it.

They walked even deeper into the forest. Time from time, Adan stopped to listen. Instead of turning away from the animal noises, however, he turned right towards the source of them. The thought of it alone made Layne swallow hard but he gathered himself up and didn't show the fear. For Coden's sake. And his own pride.

One howl after another rang right through his ears. Deafening, almost. So close, that Layne expected to see the animal right in front of him – but none were around, at least, not visible. Adan and the other men stopped and looked around. The old man raised his head and examined the trees. Of course, the trees. Layne followed his eyes, expecting to see a huge beast creeping from one of the branches.

He didn't see anything, tho.

Adan smiled and came closer to one of the larger trees. To Layne's surprise, he slipped his arm into a small hole in its bark. That couldn't have been a good idea. A few seconds later, the man pulled it out victoriously. He was holding something. A dark box.

It was a speaker.

Adan threw it on the ground and stepped on it. With a thud, the howl distorted. Then, it grew silent. Only the others further away still disrupted the dead silence.

The man's smile grew when his eyes stumbled upon his prisoners' frozen faces. "Your animals sure are scary," he chuckled. "Almost bit my leg off."

The others laughed. Their voices faded away along with everything else as Layne stared at the broken pieces of the speaker. The reality seemed to have shattered together with the device. Everything had been a lie. Pieces started coming together in his mind. He should have known.

But he didn't.