Only in such a chaotic situation could a group of innocents be saved. While the Black Rats fled in panic, Samson and the akajsi girl managed to evacuate Ruelle and the rest of the prisoners from the camp. As Ronan had planned, most of the bandits' horses fled to a place on the outskirts of the camp, where he had his own shelter and will use part of them to set these people free.

In the middle of the plain, where a grove of trees grew solitary, Ronan made his refuge and now shared it with perhaps a dozen or more people. There were not only the imprisoned farmers but also the blacksmiths and enslaved people that those bandits used. All tired but free.

Samson sent some of his workers home to warn his wife that they would not return perhaps until the next day. He would have sent his children as a sign of survival, but Ruelle was still wounded and frightened.

Even though many had been rescued by the marked ones, their distrust was significant, more so after what had happened to the dark-skinned boy.

"W-Why didn't you kill Refer?" spat one of the blacksmiths. "You could have dealt him a punch, thrown a sword at him like you did with the executioner, or, I don't know, other things. Do you realize what you did?"

"Do you want to finish harassing the boy?" replied Ronan curtly. Then, shaking his head, he sighed, "ungrateful farmers..."

"Oh, excuse me, great savior," ironized a farmer, "thank you for now letting a bunch of thieves roam free out there. Now they will attack any farm to steal what they need; they will burn down every house and do anything to our children and wives."

"It's not his fault you guys were desperate enough to accept help from a couple of kids or cowardly enough not to strike back," Ronan's words were slurred.

The blacksmith got up angrily. Suddenly his tiredness had vanished, "Listen to me, you devil ...!!!"

"Enough! You two, enough!" shouted Samson forcefully. The man was holding his son, wounded from having spent all day tied up.

Ronan and the blacksmith remained silent. Then the man tossed his waterskin to him.

"Go over there, down that hill, and you will find a small river; go and bring water for them," Ronan ordered, seeing how what had been their small, hidden refuge was now home to at least a dozen people.

Both marked guys remained silent since they had arrived at the camp. The boy was very distressed by what he had done. It was very noticeable on his face; since they had come, most of the former prisoners and farmers now saw him with different eyes.

Ronan approached the marked ones.

"Think fast," the man shouted, tossing a small vial to the boy.

Distracted with his grief, he was about to be unable to catch it,

The boy looked at the man, confused, then explained, "It's for your wounds. Pour a couple of drops because this is concentrated.”

Ronan pulled a second vial from his back bag and treated the boy's wounds.

"What's that?" asked the akajsi girl.

"Salyr root, good for healing."

Carefully, Ronan poured a couple of drops into the boy's right arm, and soon a howl could be heard from the boy. Then, it started to boil on his wound.

"I didn't say it was a pleasant thing to do," the man said with a smirk.

The girl helped their rescuer treat the boy's wounds, who seemed to accept that pain after a while.

"What a way to run into this world for two marked newbies," exclaimed the man, "How long have you been around?"

"Two days," said the boy, gritting his teeth and wincing. After that, the pain would be fleeting but much stronger than the pain of his wounds. Soon, however, all of that would disappear.

"And you?" asked Ronan to the girl.

"Seven days."

"Wow, you both are too innocent. Although you were lucky to survive and not get lynched," Ronan turned his look to people, "they must have been desperate to just accept help from you like that..."

"I-I just wanted to help them," the marked boy argued regretfully, pointing for an instant at Samson. However, the girl's drop on his arm made him hide it again out of pain, "Ugh, H-He gave us a place to hide. He also fed us and helped her when she got poisoned from eating meat."

"Wait," he stopped the boy's words, turning to the girl, "You ate meat being an akajsi?"

Ronan held back a booming laugh, which he tried to stop even faster as the girl, still weak and with pain, watched him with a daggered look.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh," Ronan apologized, still with a sneer on his face. Then he turned his gaze to the boy, who kept his watch on the ground, "I guess you're someone very noble, kid."

"But I didn't help enough... that man died..."

"You didn't know he would be killed," the akajsi girl replied.

"And because of that, I killed a lot of people..."

"It was you or them, boy," the man said calmly. Then he sighed and brought his hand to the boy's curly hair, "As far as I'm concerned, you did what you could. So don't make a big deal, or it will only bring you more trouble."

The elven girl said, "You saved Ruelle,"

The boy then saw Samson with his son, Ruelle, who was not detached from his father. On the contrary, that big boy looked for comfort from his giant father.

"I think it was worth what you did," exclaimed Ronan.

The boy smiled briefly at that.

"Well, once we're done with this, you guys are coming with me."

"What are you talking about?" asked the girl.

Ronan said confidently, "You'll be going with the rest of our kind."

"A-Are there many more like us?" asked the boy, surprised, "I thought we were a strange thing to meet."

"Yes, there are. Though not as much as people think," replied Ronan, kneeling in front of them both, "Whenever any of us find newcomers like you around, we must lead them home."

"Home?" asked the girl.

"Adhaz, our city, is the only place we live freely. But, well, that's debatable..." the man explained as he searched in his bag for something.

"Where is that city?" the boy asked.

Ronan found his pipe, and it didn't take him long to light it. The day had been too emotionally charged for him. He needed to regain his composure.

"Well, far away, I assure you. If you get to Lastrel, it'll be a boat ride off like, I don't know, a month or more," the man calculated, taking his first puffs on his pipe.

"Doesn't look like it'll be an easy trip," the girl hesitated.

"No, of course, it doesn't. But it's either that or crossing the continent on foot. These frightened people are nothing compared to those who actively hunt us."

"We've had trouble like that before," she replied.

"Really?" asked Ronan.

The boy nodded, "Some lumberjacks far from here attacked us."

The man looked at the boy with intrigue, "Where was your entry point?"

"Entry point?"

The man mumbled for a moment, "Sorry, terminology. I meant, where was the place you showed up?"

The boy hesitated for a moment; so many things in so little time clouded his mind. But then said, "It was a cave on a hill."

Ronan's face changed, and the akajsi girl was the first to notice.

"Did you have a difficult path out? Was there any structure?"

"Y-Yes, some pillars and--"

"You seem to know about it..." the girl accused the blonde man.

"Sure, I was over there more than a week ago. Wow, Unbelievable..."

Ronan soon took a strong puff on his pipe and was lost for a few moments in thought. His loss was noticeable, for when they wanted to get more information out of him, he seemed absorbed in his thoughts.

"And you?" asked Ronan to the girl.

She hesitated for a few moments, but in the end, she answered him, "I just appeared in a hole in the ground, inside the forest."

"Another classic entry point..."

"What do you mean by that?" the boy asked.

The man watched them for a moment, then proceeded to sit in front of them, "I am studying our people. I'm an archaeologist."

"What’s an archaeologist?" asked the boy.

"Basically, I'm studying civilizations. I recover objects from tombs, lost cities--"

"You sound like a thief to me, with a title or something," interrupted the girl.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," the boy added.

In annoyance, the man clicked his tongue, "What do you ungrateful children know..."

"So you study why we're here?"

"Yeah, and I don't sell what I find on a black market or anything. ‘Thief with a title,’ please..."

"What did you find out?" the boy asked, curious.

Ronan soon smiled, prompted by those words. If he were to start talking about that subject he was passionate about, he wouldn't stop for days.

"I can tell you about it on our trip. It will be long, and I can tell you many things so we won't get bored on this one."

"Can we say goodbye to them?" asked the girl, "The farm.”

The marked boy looked at her, intrigued by it.

"Yes, I suppose so. If we're quick tomorrow, we'll get to Sunhold before dark. Then we'll go to Eastfront and then south to Lastrel."

"I guess this is our start, isn't it?" exclaimed the boy, less crestfallen.

"You bet it is," Ronan nodded. But then, he noticed something as he cleaned his pipe, "As far as I know, you both need a name, don't you?"

Both kids looked at Ronan in amazement, for he was absolutely right. In all that time, neither of them had had a name.

"Want one?" asked Ronan with a smirk.

The pair of marked young men looked at each other.

"I can't think of a name," exclaimed the boy.

"Neither can I."

"I can do it myself if you wish," said the marked man. Then he explained, "It's common for a marked one who's been around longer to name a newcomer. It's almost a tradition. I sense it's because most of the time, when we first arrive, we spend more time running and hiding than thinking of a name."

"I guess, sounds good to me," stated the boy, who turned to his companion.

She watched him, then turned back to the man, "I don't have much choice."

"Very well..."

Ronan squatted down and watched the two of them for a few moments. The man then pointed to the marked boy.

"You boy, your name will be Fynn," he exclaimed, pointing the end of his pipe at the boy, "And you, elf girl, yours will be Yue."

"Yue?" she asked, "What kind of name is that?"

"It is a common name among the elves, a derivation of the names of their gods."

"Why would my name be Fynn?" the boy asked.

"You have a face to call yourself Fynn. It's an uncommon name around here, but you have a face to call yourself that. Don't you like it, boy?"

"I didn't say that. I like it. It feels good to have a name, don't you think?" he asked his elven companion.

"I think so..."

"In that case," the boy extended his hand to his akajsi friend, "I'm Fynn. Nice to meet you."

The girl looked at the boy, then at his hand, and back at him incredulously. Then, after a few moments, she smiled softly and shook his hand.

"I'm Yue, I guess. Nice to meet you too."

Ronan smiled as he watched the pair of kids introduce themselves. Finally, they had an identity that would give their life more meaning.