"I promise to you all, you'll never see that darkness ever again…I swear The Sun will always shine over you from here on out"
Rah looked up showing his face which looked serious
"If I fail at that…I'll take my own life"
.
.
.
"RAHH!!" A girl's voice yelled making Rah glance over and see a girl running toward him
When Rah saw who it was his face softened and he pushed himself off the Ground just in time to catch the girl in his arms
"Brother" The girl whispered hugging him with tears in her eyes
The girl was his sister Iah, A girl with Brown skin, long unkept white hair, and Red eyes, She stood around 4'11 and was skinny
"Iah, I'm glad you're safe," Rah says patting her head as she hugs him tight
"Glad I'm safe? I thought you died, you've been unconscious for 6 hours Rah!" Iah says wiping her tears giving him a stern look
"6 hours? That's not even a good night's sleep" Rah says as Iah jumped flicked his nose
His head flew back a little
"That's because you and Akannis have freakish bodies, especially Akanni…How are you not dead!!?" Iah says directly to Akanni who just acted nonchalant crossing his arms
"A true warrior would never die from such superficial wounds," He says as Rah also crossed his arms nodding
Iah without saying a word walked over and kicked his leg
"Ow!!" Iah says tearing up hopping holding her foot as the kick seemed to hurt her more
Rah laughed at how silly his sister was being and just patted her head
"Whose been organizing stuff for the last 6 hours making sure everything has been going smoothly" Rah asked his sister who was now sitting on the ground holding her foot
"They gave me the job because I was your sister, but I had help from Morgan and this Guard guy we have captured," Iah says standing up slowly
"Captured Guard?" Rah questioned confused
"Yeah, we've been waiting for you two to wake up to confirm something"
"And that is?"
"He said he helped us by giving us weapons, but only you two can confirm that," Iah says as Rah nods
"You guys have him locked up? Well we should set him free right away" Rah says nodding at Akanni who nods back
Akanni picks Iah up "Whoa," Iah says surprised as she's placed on the falls tiger's shoulder
"Morgan" Rah says motioning for the man to follow them
The scarred man immediately stands up to follow him and the others stand up and watch the Four walk off
.
.
The Four now stand in front of a cell where the Guard who helped them sat in a cell by himself while the others were packed
The cell door groaned open as Rah stepped inside, dust and smoke still lingering in the air after the revolt.
Caden sat against the wall, wrists resting on his knees, chains still dangling. His eyes lifted slowly, locking onto Rah's face—no smugness this time — just quiet respect.
"You actually pllppulled it off," he said.
Rah didn't smile. He walked in with calm, steady energy, cloak shifting slightly behind him.
"It's not over yet," he said.
Akanni stood just outside the cell door, arms crossed, red eyes flickering with tired menace. Iah sat on his shoulder like always, quiet, watching.
"We took this mountain," Rah continued, "but when they find out it's fallen, they won't ignore it."
Caden leaned his head back against the stone. "Yeah. I'd say you've got two, maybe three days before they send a scouting force. A week at most before a full purge team rolls through."
Morgan stepped in from the hall. "Then we need to move."
Rah nodded. "We already have a plan."
He turned toward the others, speaking evenly, but with a quiet fire behind every word.
"There's a place northeast of here. Untouched. Hidden."
"A forest valley at the base of a mountain, surrounded by a lake and a wide river. Fertile ground. Natural barriers. Hard to reach. Easy to defend."
Akanni finally spoke. "A good place to dig in if things go bad."
"More than that," Rah said. "It's real estate the Church overlooked. Not because it's useless — because it's been scarred by so much blood shed it's been left alone."
Caden raised an eyebrow. "You're talking about The Scarred Land?"
Rah nodded once. "The Scarred Land. Where one of the most gruesome slaughters in history happened. We move the freed slaves there. We regroup. We build. We disappear from their maps and prepare for the next strike."
Iah leaned forward from Akanni's shoulder. "What about supplies? The wounded? Some of them can't travel that far."
"We'll move in waves," Rah replied. "Split into three groups. First wave preps the land. Second brings the wounded. Third wipes the trail clean."
Morgan grunted. "And if we're followed?"
"Then we remind them what we just did here," Akanni said flatly.
Rah stepped back out of the cell, unlocking Caden's chains with a soft click.
"You're coming with us," he said.
Caden rubbed his wrists, testing their freedom. "And if I say no?"
Akanni tilted his head slightly. "Then you walk out of here alone. And die by the next patrol."
Caden smirked faintly. "Well, when you put it that way…"
He stepped forward.
Rah turned to the others. "Pack what you can. We move by morning."
"From now on, no more cages. No more chains. Just the sky, trees, and the fire in our hearts."
.
.
.
Hours Later
Rah is standing with a clip board over looking everyone work when his little sister skipped over and that made him smile
He held the clip board with one hand and patted her head which made groan
"Heyy, I'm not a kid anymoree" She says annoyed as Rah looked at the clipboard nodded before looking at people working
"Sure Iah, If that helps you feel better" He says with a smirk before writing something on the clipboard
Iah glared at him before saying "Hey I'm serious, but Morgan told me he gathered former farmers and architects for the first group"
"He also chose these 5 big muscular dude" Iah says opening her arms wide to show how big the dudes were before continuing "He also said that they are ready to go and for you to give the word"
Rah nodded and ruffled his sister's hair again before handing her the clip board "Go run that to Akanni for me, Im going with the first group"
"You and Morgan go with the second group because you have some basic medical knowledge while Akanni goes with the last group"
"But they should already know this" Rah says before he begins walking off but stops half way and speaks "Oh…Iah"
"Yes brother?" She says tilting her head confused
"I love you" He says before walking off
Iah grew a bright smile "I love you too brother!" She says before running off with the clipboard
'I'll do my best brother'