Part Two

"…te! Daunte!"

Daunte slowly opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by darkness. After a moment he remembered what had happened—that he'd tumbled into the hidden room—and quickly sat up. His vision spun slightly, but he checked himself over for injuries. His right wrist ached and he felt a large lump on the side of his head, but he felt no broken bones and he saw no blood.

I'm all right. He breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Daunte!" the shout came again. "Thank Nagar you're all right!"

Daunte looked above him. He saw a hole in the wall high above him. It looked to be about 3 meters above his head, so he was certain he wouldn't be able to reach the hole without help.

Luckily for him, he saw help in the two relieved faces at the mouth of the hole. "Is this it?" Felicity asked him. "Is this what you were talking about, Daunte?"

"Hang on, we'll throw you down some rope!" Roen added. He briefly disappeared out of sight.

"H…" Daunte cleared his throat slightly. "What are you two doing here? Isn't it almost time for curfew?"

"We overhead one of the guard's say that they were going to work you all night as punishment for what happened yesterday," Felicity said grimly. "Roen and I volunteered to assist in your punishment, and so here we are."

Daunte was moved that his two friends would stick their necks out for him like this, but he was still concerned. "D-Did my fall get anyone's attention?"

To his relief, Felicity shook her head. "The guard on this Tier decided to leave and play some sort of dice game with the other guards. The only guards on duty in the general area are on the Upper Tier. So we should be okay to explore this room and find the True Rune."

"It's unbelievable," Roen said, coming back into view. "Gambling is against the law, and yet the guards are gambling in a prison camp."

"There's many things about this place that is breaking the law," Felicity muttered bitterly.

"In any case, here!" Roen tossed a shaggy rope through the hole. It hit the stone floor of the room with a slight 'thump'. "Give us a second, we'll be right down!"

"Did you see the True Rune yet?" Felicity asked.

Daunte shook his head. "I just woke up after my fall."

"Well, we'll find it in no time!" Felicity started down the rope first, holding the broken lantern Daunte had left up there earlier. The light quickly filled the chamber and Daunte was able to see his surroundings.

And Daunte saw that he was surrounded by glistening brick walls of blue-purple...but an otherwise empty room.

Oh no. Don't tell me I was mistaken!

As Felicity reached the floor, Daunte then saw a quick shadow across the wall. He turned around and breathed out a sigh of relief as he saw an open corridor in front of him. So there was more than this mysterious room down here.

"Daunte, look out!" Felicity suddenly shouted.

The shadow resurfaced and a large object flew at Daunte. He darted out of the way and caught sight of both his pick axe and his shovel. He quickly grabbed the pick axe as Felicity shrieked again. He heard scratching noises across the floor and spun around. He saw the red eyes first before large claws swung at him. Daunte jumped out of the way, but he couldn't avoid those claws raking across his arm. They tore through the sleeve and came very close to breaking his skin, but he was able to dodge that blow. He felt the pick axe slipping through his fingers, but he squeezed his palms around it as he surveyed his assailant.

It was a brown rat. A very large rat, easily the size of a full-grown sheep. It was blinking its red eyes rapidly and sizing Daunte up.

"Roen, throw down my tools!" Felicity shouted up at the hole. "We've encountered a monster!"

The rat quickly turned towards Felicity, and Daunte took his chance. He swung the pick axe and struck the rat down with a single blow, but he couldn't maintain his grip and the pick axe remained buried inside the rat's body as it dropped dead to the floor.

There were two quick 'thumps' as Roen tossed down his bad and Felicity's bag, and Roen himself quickly climbed down the rope. "What is it? Are you both all right?!"

"It was a giant rat," Felicity said as Daunte struggled to pull his pick axe out of the rat in question. "I-It attacked us. It probably won't be the last one."

"T-There are monsters in such close proximity to us?!" Roen exclaimed, aghast. He shuddered violently. "That's crazy! What if they come clawing through the walls at us?!"

"Calm down, I don't think that they've been stuck down here all this time," Felicity said. She dug through her workbag and pulled out her pick axe. "There must be some kind of exit they've been going in and out of."

An exit! That thought alone elevated Daunte's already heightened mood. "It would be incredible if we found an exit. But I want to look for the True Rune first and foremost."

"We'll need to be on our guard." Felicity sighed as she looked down at her tool. "I wished I had some rocks or knives. My father taught me some throwing techniques and I feel more comfortable with long-distance tactics."

"Well, I-I only know some freestyle techniques," Roen said. He looked between his pick axe and his shovel and ultimately chose his shovel. "But I've only ever practiced with a bolo knife. Daunte, did your parents teach you any techniques?"

Daunte shrugged stiffly. "I remember my father always used a large weapon, but I can't remember what it was. It was too big to be a sword, but it was smaller than a pole weapon. I think he taught me some techniques, but…" he held up his free hand and flexed his fingers. "They won't do me any good now."

"Well, we're already down here," Roen said. He looked down the dark corridor with trepidation. "We might as well have a look around, right? I don't see anything like a True Rune in here."

"Nothing but writing on the walls," Felicity said, holding up the lantern. Etched into the blue-purple bricks close to the ceiling looked like cursive letters, but Daunte didn't recognize the language.

"All right," Daunte said, looking at them. "Let's stay close together. We have some items from our bags, so if we come to a crossroads or have different turns, let's leave items on the floor so that we know the way back."

"Good idea," Roen said. He sighed as he hoisted his workbag over his shoulder. "I can't believe this remained undiscovered for so long."

"If they'd left this mine open, then it would've been discovered eventually," Felicity said. "And then none of us would even be here."

Not for much longer. Daunte gingerly held his pick axe as the trio crept towards the open corridor.


As exciting as it was to be exploring this hidden tomb—Daunte didn't exactly know what this place was—he couldn't help but feel a little claustrophobic down there. Even with the lantern to give them light, they could barely see a meter in front of them. They came to certain twists and turns, but the corridors seemed endless. Every so often they found a room, and in the room there was a treasure chest or two. But the chests were old and the locks on them were rusted, and so they ended up smashing the boxes to pieces when they found them. Mostly they found healing herbs, but Daunte also found some sort of scroll in one treasure chest. He unrolled it but couldn't read the handwriting with their dim light. But he saw illustrations on the scroll that portrayed very vibrant bursts of fire in elaborate shapes. This might be useful to me. He tucked the scroll into his workbag.

But for the most part the treasure chest only had healing items, which they had initially decided to give to Dr. Yulin when they got out.

However, the monsters inhabiting this secret place made this impossible. They ran into more large rats, but they also ran into rather large bats, and barely escaped them without being poisoned. Even more baffling were the ant armies they encountered. Full units of three to four fully armored and armed ants, charging them like a battalion. It would've been laughable if these same ants didn't pack quite a punch…and had better weapons than they did.

But they were still small creatures and were defeated quickly, even though they were forced to use their healing herbs to heal their wounds.

"I'm going to take these," Felicity said after one battle. She gathered up the small spears the soldier ants had dropped. "They might be more useful to me for throwing."

"Felicity, please give me the lantern," Daunte said, shoving his pick axe into his workbag. "I'm going to try fighting with my fists from now on."

"Daunte, you want to go unarmed?!" Roen exclaimed. His shout echoed down the corridor and they heard an ominous rumble in reply. "Is that a good idea?!" he asked more quietly.

"In almost every fight we've been in I've not been able to hang onto my axe." Daunte looked at him grimly. "I can't keep a grip on it. If I have to keep wasting my time running after it after each swing I'm going to get myself killed. At least with my fists I know that my hands won't go flying off my arms."

"…Daunte," Felicity said quietly. She had a look of sorrow on your face. "The platform yesterday. We all know that you didn't do it on purpose. But your hands…did they—"

"There's no way Daunte would've been able to lift that platform all by himself anyway," Roen interjected. He looked at his friend. "I don't think this is a good idea, but we've got your back Daunte."

Daunte nodded and held out his hand for the lantern. "Thank you."

The lantern's loop wasn't as thick as the handle of his axe, so Daunte didn't have as much trouble carrying it. They didn't run into as many monsters as they continued on, and Daunte found the combat to be much easier with his fists. But his knuckles rapidly became bruised, and he ultimately wasn't able to finish off a single monster by himself. Felicity however fared much better at throwing the soldier ants' spears at enemies than using the pick axe, and Roen wielded the shovel fairly well too. They didn't know how long they were down there, but they didn't stop looking. They couldn't stop looking.

Finally though…they rounded a corner and came to a dead end.

"We made the wrong turn!" Felicity said with dismay. She quickly turned around. "Quick, we need to get out of this dead end before we're cornered!"

But Daunte was suspicious about the dead end. For one thing, it wasn't like they came smack into a wall. He held the lantern up and examined the walls closely. The walls of the corridor seemed to…look different than this wall in front of them. It almost looked like the walls on either side of them continued past the wall in front.

He held the lantern up higher, and that was when he saw the same unknown language they'd seen all over the walls.

"Daunte?" Roen said, tugging on his arm. "We have to turn back before we're cornered!"

Daunte heard the patter of footsteps further down the way they came. It did sound like they were being approached. Maybe the wall in front of him really was a dead end, but…

"Let me try something," he said aloud. With his free hand he tapped the blue-purple brick in front of him. Nothing happened. Frowning, he tapped several other bricks in the wall. It remained undisturbed.

"Daunte!" Roen snapped. Felicity and him drew their weapons as the footsteps grew closer.

Daunte tapped one more brick in the wall, and jumped back as the brick suddenly sank deep into the wall. The wall suddenly shook, and dust filled the air as it sank into the floor with a violent rumble. Roen and Felicity shouted with alarm, and gaped as the passage open in front of them, revealing a large room.

A large room with a bright light coming from the center.

In the corridor behind them, it was silent. They no longer heard any footsteps approaching. This noise most likely scared whatever was advancing on us, Daunte decided.

"Whoa…" Roen breathed. He was the first to step into the room. The room was so bright, such a contrast from the rest of the place. Daunte and Felicity followed Roen in, gaping at their surroundings. There was more handwriting high on the walls of the room, and the room itself seemed empty. But in the very center of the room was a dais that was as high as Daunte's chest. Despite being surprised at their discovery, they couldn't help by gravitate towards the light in the center of the room.

The trio stood on either side of the small dais, transfixed on the glow in the center. Daunte swallowed thickly as gazed upon it. Within the golden-green glow, he thought he saw a golden-green symbol. A half-circle around a single vertical line, like a halo. Above the halo was two dots. The symbol blinked in time with the glow surrounding it, almost like a heartbeat.

"…Is this it?" Felicity asked quietly. "Is this the True Rune they've been looking for?"

"I wonder what sort of power it has," Roen said to himself. He looked at Daunte. "A-Are you sure you don't want to take this to the Matron? S-She really might let all of us go if we give this to her!"

"I don't trust her to do that," Felicity said.

Daunte almost reached for the True Rune, but he held his hand back. "I…I don't know how I'm supposed to grab hold of this. It almost seems shapeless, doesn't it?"

"But you want to give it to Arin to cure his sickness, right?" Felicity said. "S-So you'll need to somehow grab it in order to get it out of here."

"I-If you insist on giving it to Arin, we'll definitely need to carry it out of here," Roen said. He looked over his shoulder. "There's no way we can bring Arin down here. It's too dangerous."

Daunte gathered up his nerve and used his hands to surround the True Rune. They trembled in the light. "I-I…" he suddenly withdrew his hands and turned to his friends. "Guys. I agree that it's too dangerous, but…" he shook his head. "We might have no choice but to bring Arin down here. I don't know how I'm supposed to pick this up without it accidentally attaching to me."

"Daunte, this place is full of monsters!" Felicity told him harshly. "Not to mention the air quality down here is very poor! Arin's health might worsen if we bring him down here!"

"But if the True Rune chooses him," Daunte said. "Then his condition will immediately clear. I-I certainly don't want to risk his health and safety, but I don't think I have any other choice! I know I'm being selfish, but I don't want to lose my little brother! If I don't get this True Rune to choose him, then I can't think of any way he'll get better without us making an escape, and thus far we've found no escape down here!"

"Okay, we understand." Felicity's tone turned gentler. "We know the way to this room at least. S-So we just have to go back out and into the Chasm and hope the guard on Tier Seven hasn't come back yet. T-Then Roen or I can sneak off to the infirmary and grab Arin and then we can bring him back here!"

"That sounds like a crazy plan," Roen said, looking between the two of them. "B…But we probably have no other choice, do we?"

Daunte managed a smile at his friends. "Thank you for doing this for me. I know you guys are taking a huge risk for me, and there's no reward for it for you. It really means a lot to me."

"Of course there's a reward for us," Felicity told him, grabbing his hand. "Arin will get better and he'll have a real True Rune! So let's hurry and go and get him!"

"I agree," Roen said. "This is very risky, but you guys are the only family I have left. I've already lost so much, and I don't want to lose Arin too. Let's go and get him and bring him to the True Rune."

"Thanks again, guys." Daunte turned away from the True Rune and readied the lantern. "Let's get out of here and get this done quickly."

They began to leave the chamber when there was a sudden explosion of light. They cried out and quickly turned around. From the dais, the light from the True Rune had increased in strength and size. It grew larger and larger until it enveloped the entire room. The trio raised their hands to shield themselves from the light.

There was sudden movement from the dais and the light shot up high into the air. They gaped in shock at this spectacle. The light hovered there for several moments, unmoving.

Then, thin tendrils of light came out of the ball of light and swirled through the air. They circled around each other before they found their intended target.

Daunte gaped, and held out his right hand as though to ward off a blow. The tendrils of light spilled through his fingertips and circled around his wrist and arm. The tendrils increased in frequency, circling around his body in faster and faster motions.

"Daunte!" Felicity shrieked.

The remaining light shot down, and Daunte squeezed his eyes shut as his right hand exploded in light right in front of his face. He dropped the lantern, but didn't hear it break. He felt a surge of power fill his body, and his right hand grew hotter and hotter. He felt every ache and pain disappear from his body. His wrist no longer felt strained, the bruises on his knuckles faded away, and the lump on his head shrunk and smoothed over. The loose teeth on the left side of his mouth straightened and were firmly reset. He was being healed.

At the same time, a feeling of dread settled over his being. No! Please NO!

Then the light was gone, and the chamber became dark, save for the sparse amount of light emitting from the broken lantern on the floor. Daunte's right hand felt ungodly hot, and his squeezed his right wrist. His breathing was ragged and he hunched over, shaking his head violently in denial.

"Daunte!" Roen and Felicity grabbed his arms to keep him steady on his feet. "Daunte, are you all right?!"

"Daunte!" Roen shouted. He snatched the lantern from the floor and held it up high. "Daunte, look at your hand!"

Daunte didn't want to open his eyes. He didn't want to believe it was true. But he couldn't help himself. Unable to catch his breath, Daunte cracked his eyes open to look at the back of his trembling right hand.

The symbol he had seen in the light, on the dais, was branded into his skin.


Her right hand twitched violently, but even without it she had felt it. She opened her eyes and straightened in her seat. That's it. The True Rune.

"Guard!" she shouted.

The door to her office slammed open and the guard posted outside hurried in. "Yes, Lady Matron?"

"The True Rune has been found," she told him.

"I-It has?!" the guard exclaimed.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Do you doubt me?"

"N-No! Of course not, Lady Matron!" he bowed deeply.

"In any case, the True Rune has been found," she continued. "And judging from the power I just felt, the True Rune has chosen a master. We need to act quickly to find who now possesses the Rune. Send out the order for everyone to wake up. I'll need to have all the heathens and the guards checked."

"T-The guards too?!"

"Yes," she said firmly. "We have to know if the True Rune chose a guard, or if the High Clerics miscalculated and the Rune chose a child."

"I-It couldn't have possibly chosen a child! The heathens here are too sickly and malnourished for the True Rune to pay them any attention!"

"That doesn't matter. Somebody was chosen and we need to find them."

"Yes, Lady Ma—"

"Lady Matron!" another guard burst into the room. He bowed to her. "Lady Matron, forgive my intrusion but we've just received an emergency report from the Grand Citadel!"

"The Grand Citadel?!" the first guard cried out. "The High Clerics sent us a direct report?!"

She slowly rose from her seat, regarding the new guard with cold eyes. "What's the report?"


Outside the infirmary, Daunte regarded the True Rune affixed to his hand. Their timing couldn't have been any better. They had climbed out of the hole and had covered up the hole with a crate when the guard returned and ordered them to bed. Daunte had been shocked because they had wanted him to work all night, but he caught broken fragments of conversation from the guards. Something about an "emergency from the capital".

It didn't matter to Daunte. He gnashed his lower lip with his teeth as he continued to stare at the Rune on his hand. Roen and Felicity had been shuffled off to bed, but he still remembered their excitement that the True Rune chose Daunte.

"It chose you! You, Daunte! That's incredible!"

"I'm not familiar with runes, though. What exactly is that Rune's power?"

Daunte shook his head. It doesn't matter what its power is. It needs to get off my hand and attach to Arin.

He entered the infirmary. Because the hour of the night the children resting inside were fast asleep, including Arin. Daunte hurried over to his brother's bedside. The dark bags were gone from around the boy's eyes, but his complexion wasn't getting any better. Daunte gave him a quick kiss on the head and reached under his blanket. He pulled out Arin's right hand and rested it on top of the blanket.

"Don't worry, Arin," he said softly. "I'm going to make you better." He pressed his right hand over Arin's. "True Rune, whatever you are. Please leave me and go to Arin."

Nothing happened. The symbol on Daunte's hand didn't react to his verbal command. Daunte glared at the Rune. "True Rune, get off my hand and go to Arin's hand! He needs you far more than I do!"

The True Rune still did not react. Daunte snarled, and let Arin go. "I don't know why you chose me, but I don't need you! Arin needs you! Please, just let me go and go to Arin!" he shook his hand violently, but the symbol didn't budge. "Come on, don't do this to me! My brother is going to die unless you attach to him! I don't know what you are or how I'm supposed to use you, but you can't help my brother while being attached to me! Just get off me!"

"Daunte?"

Daunte slapped his left hand over his right one and looked up. "D-Dr. Yulin?!"

"What's the matter? Who are you talking to?" Dr. Yulin appeared from his room and was shrugging on his white doctor's coat. "It's very close to curfew, Daunte. You should hurry and get to bed."

"Dr. Yulin, you have to help me!" Daunte walked over to the man and showed him the Rune on his hand. "I can't get this off my hand! It needs to go on Arin!"

Dr. Yulin suddenly grasped his hand, and looked at it closely. After a moment, he gave Daunte a look of disbelief. "Daunte, what is this? Who put this rune on you?"

"Nobody did," Daunte said miserably. He leaned in close to whisper to Dr. Yulin, "I-I think this is the True Rune you were talking about yesterday."

Dr. Yulin's eyes went wide. "T-The True Rune?! You found it, Daunte?!"

"I wanted to bring it to Arin so it would attach to him. But it attached to me instead. I don't know how to get it off me, it's not obeying my comm—"

Dr. Yulin suddenly pushed Daunte towards the door of the infirmary. "Daunte, you need to leave right this minute! If the Matron or the guards see the True Rune on you, they will kill you! Hurry back to your room and hide the Rune!"

"H-How can I hide the Rune?" Daunte asked him. He looked towards Arin's bed, feeling his heartbeat in my throat. I don't doubt that they'll kill me when they realize I have the True Rune. But what will happen to Arin?

"Wear your work gloves at all times unless you're alone," Dr. Yulin implored him. "Don't bring any more attention to yourself, either. T…There must be some way to get you out of here before you're discovered. I-I don't know what I can do, but there must be some way!"

"Doctor, I ruined my work gloves yesterday. When the platform collapsed the rope tore my gloves to pieces."

"Here, I've got a spare pair." Dr. Yulin fished around in a nearby drawer before pulling out a tan-colored pair of gloves. They were larger than Daunte's hands, but they were in better shape than the ones he'd had before. "There's going to be some confusion over the next few days, so you might need to make a quick escape during this time."

"Is the confusion about the emergency the guards were talking about?"

"I'm not sure. I was actually just summoned to perform a physical examination on someone. I'll be a bit late for it, but I really don't care." Dr. Yulin grabbed Daunte by his shoulders. "But guard your life, Daunte. Things happen for a reason. The True Rune chose you for a reason."

"But it wasn't supposed to choose me," Daunte said.

"Nevertheless it still chose you." He looked down at Daunte's hands again. He sighed quietly. "It seems to have healed your injuries, but it doesn't look like your hands are any better. So you must be very careful."

It felt like too many things were happening at once. Daunte couldn't process all of it. The Rune's presence on his hand felt like a giant weight that he couldn't get rid of. He stormed back to his room, his anger rising with each step. The corridors looked empty—there didn't seem to be any guards nearby. But he was certain that it had to do with the aforementioned emergency.

It didn't really matter, though. The guards would return to their posts per usual and nothing would change.

Daunte slammed the door shut to his room. He sat down on his bed, looking at the True Rune on his hand. He didn't know how long he sat there glaring at his hand. He lost track of the passage of time. Clenching his teeth he grabbed his right hand with his fingernails and dug in deep. He squeezed as tightly as he could, and tears sprung to his eyes from the pain. He scratched the skin deep, as though he wanted to rip the Rune off with his fingernails.

But it didn't budge or react to his efforts.

Daunte dropped his hand away. The back of his hand was deeply scratched and he'd almost drawn blood. But the True Rune was untouched. Why did you do this to me? You weren't supposed to choose me! You were supposed to choose Arin! Didn't you see how sickly he was?! I wanted to save him, but you ruined it! Now I'm stuck with you, and I don't even know what I can do with you!

He swallowed thickly and looked up at the ceiling. "What am I supposed to do?" he mumbled aloud, unable to hide the distress from his voice. "Mom…what can I do?"

The door to his room abruptly slammed open. Daunte shoved his hand under his blanket and flinched as three guards came in. He shrank a little into himself, unable to control his breathing. Oh no, they found me!

"Stay where you are, heathen," the first guard barked at him. "Your new roommate has arrived."

Daunte shifted slightly. Roommate?

The other two guards were carrying in an unconscious teenage boy. Daunte couldn't see the boy's face from his angle, but the boy's head flopped carelessly around on his neck as the guard carried him like a sack of potatoes. The boy was carried to Kass's old bed, where he was unceremoniously dumped onto the mattress.

"Tell the heathen exactly what he's supposed to do," the first guard told Daunte. "As you know, we expect him to get it right on the first try. If he doesn't, we'll beat the correct methods into both of you heathens."

The guards quickly left after that, locking the door behind them. Daunte let out a short breath, slowly withdrawing his hand from underneath the blanket. He gazed at the boy as he slowly rose to his feet. The boy didn't stir at all.

This is strange. There was an emergency from the capital, and then suddenly this one boy shows up in the middle of the night? This can't be a coincidence.

Daunte stared down at the boy who lay unconscious in what had been Kass's bed. Daunte guessed that the boy could be about his own age. The boy was dressed in the Dark Chasm's prison attire, but he looked different from the other children. His black hair was cut short, but it wasn't a haphazard cut job that the rest of them had. He had a…unique look to him and Daunte could tell that he was different from the rest of them. The boy certainly looked healthier than the rest of them, but there was more to it than that. He couldn't really understand why it was so, but…he somehow knew this boy was different.

The boy stirred on the cot, and he slowly woke up. Daunte jumped back slightly, startled. "A-Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

The boy's pale blue eyes abruptly opened as he snapped awake. Before Daunte could react, the boy launched himself from the cot and tackled Daunte to the floor. The boy's fist connected with Daunte's cheek, and the intense pain made Daunte angry. The anger gave him an adrenaline rush and he started grappling with the boy.

"Where am I?!" the boy demanded, struggling with Daunte. "Where are they?! What did you do with them?!"

Daunte didn't understand what he was talking about. He swung his own fist back and punched the boy in the face. The boy flew backwards off him and landed hard on his backside on the floor. Instead of furthering the attacks though, the boy simply sat there and nursed his cheek, his breathing ragged. Daunte sat up, glaring at him while wiping a trickle of blood off his own chin.

The boy glared at Daunte. "I'm not going to ask you again. Where are they?"

Daunte was angry enough by the unprovoked attack that he suddenly felt the urge to be sarcastic with the boy. But he also knew that if he acted on this impulse then the fight would just continue. So Daunte just shook his head and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to me!" the boy shouted, scrambling to his feet. Daunte stood up as well. "You took them, didn't you?! You took all of them! So you'd better tell me where they are, or you'll be sorry!"

"I don't know!" Daunte snapped. "I don't have any clue about what you're talking about! I haven't left the Dark Chasm in three years, so how could I have taken anyone?!"

"Dark Chasm?" the anger left the boy's face and he looked confused. "W-Wait. Where am I?"

"The Dark Chasm," Daunte repeated himself. He trudged over to his own bed. "It's a prison mine for children in Nagarea."

"N-NAGAREA?!" the boy shouted. The sound startled Daunte and he looked at the other boy. "I-I-I-I'm in Nagarea?!"

"Yes," Daunte said, sitting down on his bed. "Where else would you be?"

"B-But this…this isn't…" the boy gestured with his hand wildly. "W-We haven't had formal diplomatic relations with Nagarea in over a hundred years! And w-we've certainly never ventured into Nagarea! I—" the boy abruptly sat back down. "So it was true. If I'm in Nagarea, then it was true. They were behind it all."

Daunte stared at him in silence for a long moment. Everything that came out of the other boy's mouth confused him. It was easy to tell by what he was saying though that he was a foreigner. "…I don't understand," he mumbled quietly.

The boy looked up, and quickly stood. Daunte sprung up as well, expecting another attack, but the other boy raised his hands. "I-I'm sorry I attacked you," he said calmly. "It's just that so much has happened in the last 24 hours that my emotions are a bit out of control. What's your name?"

"…Daunte," Daunte answered after a moment of silence. "Who are you?"

The boy straightened suddenly, and saluted in an unfamiliar manner, his right arm horizontal to his chest. "My name is Surya Falenas, a member of the Queen's Knights in the Queendom of Falena. My family has gone missing, and I need to find them."