"Hard to believe we go through all the fish that we've caught in one night, eh?" One of the things below said to the other.

"Well you know Aimos, he loves his festivals. The fish we're after are delicacies and not to be touched until the Festival of Champions, by the way. Who ya think is going to win this year?"

Luka remained hidden in the branches above, blending himself into the bark. He couldn't get a look of the beings' faces through the thick vegetation, but he suspected they were a hideous mixtures of man and whale. To his surprise, their speech sounded just like his.

"Got money on Julien. How do you bet against a guy like that? I'm even betting against my own son."

The men below laughed, as they cast lines into the river, catching giant river fish seemingly with each cast and effortlessly bringing the beasts ashore, storing them in a nearby cooled case, which they left unguarded for dozens of minutes at a time it seemed.

An hour or so passed of casting, catching, casting, catching, and the men began walking back towards Orconia City with their gigantic cases of catches. Luka watched as the front gate rose for the two men, disappearing into the city, still unable to see their hideous faces.

And that's when the idea popped in his mind like the sun he had seen for the first time.

He no longer cared about his cover with his comrades. After he told them his idea, he would be a hero of the Chosen.

He swiftly and silently climbed the tree of General Trent's ahead, and sprung up onto his branch overlooking the river with an excited grin.

Trent, startled by the sound, swung around with a knife and gun, the knife nicking Luka's face which had mostly dodged the swift swing of the blade.

Luka placed his weapons on his branch and held his hands up to show he was no threat. The men looked at Luka, eyes widening, and mouths gaped. They seemed more mortified than they should have been.

"Okay I know Lleyton's going to be mad at me, but hear me out," he said to his comrades, whose hands were on their pistols. The nerves that the sharp blade had sliced in his cheek took two full seconds to send their signals of pain to his cortex, an area seldom stimulated.

Luka grew uneasy. Hands on their pistols seemed extreme. Trent continued to hold his pistol aimed squarely at Luka. Luka in an attempt to calm them said, "The people, they're having a festival soon. They're stockpiling fish. You can smuggle your guns and armor in them, they're so large. The guards wouldn't check them. You could retrieve them once inside."

The men looked at one another, eyes wide like full moons, especially Trent. Luka grew even more uneasy.

"Trent, it'll work, trust me, you would only need a handful of soldiers..."

Luka's train of thought was interrupted when he saw a group of people walking along the shore of the river below.

At the front of the group was a golden young woman. The most beautiful person he had ever seen. Behind her, children, playing and splashing in the water that licked the edges of the river as she held their hands making sure they didn't venture too far.

Her smile and laugh were utterly infectious, instilling a happiness and joy in Luka that he hadn't ever experienced in his life in the underground. The children, innocent and pure, unlike him, who was raised on guns and knives and fighting and competition, their hands grabbing mud in the riverbank and their feet in the lush green grass.

Luka fell silent. Defeated. Disheartened. Dejected. A terrible realization washed over him like a freezing wave.

These were no monsters. His life was a lie. His father, everyone, had lied to him. He turned back to face his comrades, who all unsheathed their pistols and aimed at Luka.

These were the monsters. He was a monster. Luka kept his arms raised as he perched on the branch, pistols aimed at him.

Trent whispered into his radio piece, "Lleyton, wake up. We have an issue."

"What is it?" a half asleep Lleyton said back after several uncomfortable moments.

"Your little orphan boy. He's not one of us. He's a freak, the Gifted. He snuck out and is here with us. He's seen them."

"What?" Lleyton replied sharply and unbelievingly. Luka thought he could hear both the acting in his voice blended with genuine incredulity.

Luka felt the cut on his face. But there was no cut. It was only dried blood. The small gash which once was, was smoothed over. Most notable was the paucity of pain.

"You know what has to be done. He's a spy for them," Trent whispered back in the radio piece.

"No... no... this can't be happening..." Lleyton was not an emotional man, but Luka could hear it in his voice. Deep pain.

After several moments, and deep breaths over the radio, with Luka unsure what was going to happen, his hands in the air, Lleyton said in the radio, "Do it quick and don't let him suffer. Two in the head for good measure."

As the last words left the radio piece, Luka turned to jump in the river. Trent's first bullet clipped the back of his skull as Luka's head moved slightly. The next one penetrated deep into his brain, turning his world black.

**

"Children, stand back and do not come any closer, go back to the front gate and call for Dr. Fyanzyan, right now. Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

His eyes opened for only a moment.

It was the golden girl.