[Spring, Year 312]
*BANG BANG BANG!
"Hey, come out! No funny business." One of the knights yelled, banging on the cell door before unlocking it.
Yuki jolted awake from the scare, her heart thumping.
"Hurry up!" The knight said, aggressively pushing Yuki towards the line of prisoners ahead.
Yuki speed walked and caught up to Kai and Kaitlyn, with Kaitlyn in the front.
As she walked, Yuki tapped Kai's shoulder. "Where are they bringing us?" She asked, glancing at the long line of prisoners and evenly spaced knights.
"Oh, morning Elaine. They're bringing us to the Altar. It's where they first take our blood then feed us." Kai explained in a whispered tone.
The two remained in a line, and the sounds of armor clanking and walking could be heard.
"Our blood?? For what?"
"The power hungry King of course. I heard he thinks drinking the blood of those with large amounts of camay will let him live longer." Kai whispered even quieter.
Yuki paused for a brief second and made a disgusted face, questioning the intelligence of the current King. She judged hard before continuing her conversation with Kai.
"Camay?" Yuki furrowed her brows, confused yet again at the unfamiliar term.
"You don't know? Everything has a fixed amount of camay. For us humans, without camay, we cannot live or use ivrent. The King probably put you here because you're born with a lot of camay, just like Elaine and I."
'Vander A. Ivrent never mentioned anything about camay.' Yuki realized.
"But wh—"
"We're here! You guys know the drill. Roll up your sleeves and wait your turn." The knight holding a small fruitknife interrupted.
The room had a very high ceiling, walls with some kind of writing on it, and lighting from the glowing blue lanterns. In the center was what looked like a sophisticated drawing of a circle embedded with unrecognizable letters and words with a pillar at the very center of the circle.
One by one, the wrist of the prisoners were cut, blood flowing out steadily. Kaitlyn, despite being younger than Kai, did not seem frightened. She and Kai completed the process smoothly, as if they were used to it. Just how long had they been here?
Now, it was Yuki's turn. She let the knight slit her wrist, feeling a sharp pain as blood flowed out. When she was done, she walked to Kai and Kailyn standing far away from the knights. Looking closer, she could see Kai's blue eyes and Kaitlyn's unique violet eyes.
"Right now's the perfect time to discuss our escape plan." Kai whispered as the three stood close together.
"In a month, we're going to carry out our escape plan. Kai and I know the layout of this place pretty well. I recently stole the key to free us from these neck collars, so we'll try and figure out a way to break through the security and secretly use ivrent to prepare and hide any tools, items, and weapons in advance." Kaitlyn whispered.
"It's worth a try." Yuki agreed.
"Perfect!" Kai smiled.
"Oh yeah. When they give you pills, do not swallow them. Those things mess with your head. Just pretend you took them." Kaitlyn warned.
"Alright everyone, get back in line and take these before you leave!" One of the knights yelled, handing two pills to each prisoner.
Yuki did as she was told, hiding the pills underneath her tongue.
Although Yuki did not completely trust the two yet, she is grateful they brought her into their escape plan. There was so much Yuki did not know about. She wanted to learn from them. There is Kai, who seemed open on answering Yuki's questions while there is Kaitlyn, who seemed very knowledgeable with the technology, but is very hard to get close to.
A long month ahead awaits.