Release

Roenan opened his eyes and saw only blackness, as he expected to. He had no sense of time, just like he hadn't at the hospital. The only difference was the hospital had light, and daily food, and Saive and Drakke. He would give anything to be back in that hospital with that routine for the rest of his life if it meant he could get out of here.

Roenan guessed that he had been down here around a month and a half, give or take. He tried to keep track of time when he was really bored and too awake to sleep. He remember that Drakke's guard duty at the hospital lasted about three hours. Sometimes he would try to re-enact some of their study sessions, word for word, in his head to keep track of those three hours that had passed.

Every two days or so, Roenan guessed, the hatch above him would open and the men would pull him out and shout questions at him.

"Where is he?!" One of the Jaedan military men had yelled at him the day before. "I don't know where he is. I told you want happened already after we got out of the maze." Roenan responded in monotone.

The man grabbed the back of his neck and ducked his head into a troth of water they had him kneeling in front off. They only pulled him back when his throat began gagging as he fought against a breath for air.

He's gasped loudly as they yanked his head back by his overgrown hair and he panted in deep breaths, water spilling down his face onto soaking his shoulders and his knees.

"Who are you working for?!" The man screamed at him. Roenan didn't even humor him with an answer. The man ducked Roenan's head back into the water.

Now, Roenan was lying on his back on the muddy ground, twisting a curl of his hair that was by his temple. His shaggy hair was still damp from his interrogation the day before and it was filled with gritty mud. The interrogation had lasted for what seemed like hours. It wasn't the worst form of torture they had put him through, though.

He recalled the moment the men had found out that he was keeping himself in shape by doing exercises in the dark room. Exercising helped to pass the boredom and he wanted to be fit enough for whatever followed. But the men had dropped about a dozen snakes down into his den, and he lay stock still for hours as he felt them slither against or over him. He'd watched in entertainment as one of the men came down with a bag and had to collect the snakes with a long pole and what looked like a hook at the end. The snakes snapped at the man and squirmed our of the hook a few times. The job had taken longer than the man had imagine, Reonan wagered.

Roenan was also rarely fed. He would even eat the peels off of fruit if he was lucky enough to be provided some. A small loaf of bread was his normal cuisine.

He thought of Saive as he twirled at his curl. Where had he gone? And why were they questioning him of his whereabouts? Was it because he had been the last person with Saive before he'd disappeared? He hoped that Saive had somehow managed to escape and made it back to Jaeda. If he had been captured again, the men above him would have surely been informed and would have quit with the interrogations... but they were still asking.

Roenan took a deep breath and rolled over onto his stomach and pressing his cheek into the cold mud. His arm ached a little still, from when the dog had attacked him. He'd gotten an infection since it was left untreated and the Jaeden men used it as a prop to their torture. Whacking his arm when he didn't respond quick enough. Luckily the infection faded and he'd began to heal.

Roenan was cold and he assumed he would probably have frozen to death if there wasn't a strange warm mugginess to his den. They hadn't provided him with any pillow or blankets. He was still in his tattered dark blue sweatpants and his filthy white t-shirt. They had forced him to use the bathroom at a hole in one of the corners.

Roenan had lied a few times about Saive's whereabouts to see where those answers would get him. He thought maybe they'd think he told the truth and would stop the torture. He also thought that maybe he'd make a lucky guess that would prove to be true when they ran their check and that Saive would be saved and would go back to Jaeda with them.

But nothing has changed.

He couldn't understand why they were here and how they were hiding from the Vernajjians on their own soil. Maybe they were specially trained too. Ops of some sort and experts in hiding. He was convinced they were Jaeden by their grey eyes, accents, and unrelenting determination to find Saive.

Roenan ran his hand behind him and up under his shirt to lightly drag his fingers over his new and long scars. On one of his first days, they had actually flayed him in-between questioning until he passed out. He thought he only made it through about six whips, when the seventh zipped down over his bullet exit wounds with a loud snap before his eyes went black.

He has also endure medical and dental-type treatments with no pain medication, and with tools he never wanted to see again. He had a feeling they were really just running tests on him.

Roenan flinched as he heard the hatch to the door begin to clatter and he weakly climbed to his knees.

He assumed one of the Jaedan men would come down to escort him out as they always did, dragging him roughly by his arm and throwing him into the floor before introducing him their new torture technique.

But Roenan gasped when he saw a Vernajjian soldier, urgently beckoning at him to be quiet and to climb up and follow him. Roenan's heartbeat was loud in his ears as he rose to his feet and quickly jogged up the steps and out into the room. The man was speaking to him in Vernajjian, his eyes wide with concern. He was ushering him toward a door at the far end of the room. Right when they reached the door, another one opened across the room and Jaedan military men filed in running toward them, bringing up their guns. Roenan could even recognize some of the uniforms as belonging to countries who were allied with Jaeda. The Vernajjian man threw open the door and shoved at Roenan.

"Run!" He yelled in Vernajjian, shoving Roenan again.

The Jaedan's and their men opened fire and Roenan took off as he felt the Vernajjian drop to the floor beside him.

Roenan took off into the open. He was heading straight through an opening and toward a wooded area. To his left and right, men in the same muddy sweats that he wore were tearing out of doors and running toward the woods. Everyone was looking around confused as to what was happening. Roenan kept running, not wanting to risk trying to figure out what was going on. He just wanted to get as deep into the woods as he could.

He finally broke into the woods and sprinted. All around he heard guns popping and shouts, and the he spotted a Jaedan military man to his left. The man aimed a gun toward him and began to shoot. Roenan ducked and twisted, still keeping momentum to move forward, but trying to make sure he wasn't an easy target. He ran for what felt like years before he was tackled toward the ground from behind, smacking his chin painfully against the mossy terrain. He was flipped over as he tried to clear his head from blow.

The person on top of him let out a relieved breath.

"It is you." He gasped.

Roenan shook his head so the fog in his eyes would clear and he could look at the man above him.

"Drakke... What are you-" But Roenan's words cut off by the look in Drakke's eyes. He'd never seen it before. His pupils were larger than normal and his eyes looked hungry, but they seemed to return to normal when he blinked a couple of times and said, "You don't look as bad as I thought you would at this stage."

Roenan stared at him silently before looking down his body. He was wearing a Jaedan military uniform.

"Are you real?" Roenan whispered.

There was more gunfire and shouting. One of the shouts sounded like Drakke's name and he looked up toward where it came from. Without looking back down, Drakke pushed off Roenan and disappeared into the woods.

Roenan lay in stunned silence for a brief moment before getting to his feet. He hesitated for a moment before he turned and continuing to run deeper into the woods. He broke out to the edge of an opening and saw the same huge protective wall that looked similar to the one he'd seen on the walk from the hospital to the university many weeks ago. There were trucks with tented backs lined up along the edge of the wall and Vernajjian soldiers were beckoning those who were in sweats forward. There was no urgency, and Roenan even saw one Vernajjian soldier socializing with a man in a Jaedan uniform. He felt a wave of confusion fall over him.

Roenan slowly started backing away until he was partially in the woods but he stopped when he felt a solid body against his back. A hand slid over his shoulder and slowly crossed his collarbone to grip his other shoulder. "You've survived the psychological boot camp." Drakke whispered into his right ear from behind. He could feel his warm breath as he spoke. "You promised me six months. Don't you forget it."

"How long was I gone." Roenan asked quietly. He leaned his head back against Drakke's shoulder, and noticed the weight of Drakke's strong forearm resting on his collar bone. His eyes fell heavy with exhaustion and he focused on how Drakke's body was pressed firmly into his.

"Two months." Drakke whispered brushing his lips against Roenan's temple. He shivered.

"The soldiers... from the room back there. They weren't Jaeden, were they?" Roenan asked.

"At one time. But they've sworn themselves to Vernajja at one point or another. The rest of us are students made to play the part for show at the end of psychological training for the incomers. It's part of some of our jobs. Which is why I'm wearing this." Drakke answered. Roenan was silent and Drakke removed his arm from around him after a few moments, but he stayed pressed against him.

"Physical and linguistic training are next. It's not as bad. Can you do it in four months?" Drakke asked.

Roenan dropped his head forward and stepped away from Drakke. He stood like that for a moment before he lifted his head back up in confidence and began to walk toward the trucks. He heard Drakke laugh quietly behind him. "See you in four!" He called after him.