Alvina was sitting on the ground with chains tying her hands and ankles. Just like some barn animals, she and the rest of the criminals who were brought with her were kept inside the cage. And surrounding the cage stood three soldiers. They were wearing roman metallic hats through which only their eyes were visible. They held a spear in one of their hands and a shield on the other. A long sword was attached to their belt on their hip. It was funny to see them standing so prepared and guarding these farm animals who were so scared to even breathe aloud.
Just then it started raining heavily. The soldiers that were guarding them shifted from their position and went father from the cage to take shelter against the rain.
The cage was kept in the open and the heavy rain was pouring directly on everyone.
The cage was of maybe six feet on both sides and sixteen people were hurled inside it including Alvina.
Soon, water started accumulating, making a small puddle in the middle of the cage and everyone inside it leaned against the cage walls as if the straight metal walls will save them from the downpour.
"Move away." One of the soldiers came and poked at their backs with the blunt ends of their spear.
Everybody under his threat and glare moved away from the wall.
"Bas*ards, they made me wet." He muttered under his breath and poked one or two more people harshly just for fun and resentment, even when they were away from the cage wall.
The days were cold. It was the month of October, just before the arrival of winter. Drenching in the rain for hours was making everybody's teeth clatter.
Alvina was shivering. Her lips were pale and her face was pale too. She rubbed both of her palms in order to get some warmth but it was useless. Her palms were stone cold. To get some warmth, she lied down on the wet cold ground and started muttering some prayer.
**************
"Get up! Get up!"
"Move!!!"
Alvina woke from the noise around her. For the first time in days, she had had a happy dream. It was of her parents and her. They were all smiling and laughing with each other.
So, when Alvina woke she was dazed for a second. Reality came crashing down to her.
Her beautiful eyes were filled with tears facing the reality and thus she was a bit late to obey their command.
A hard blow landed on her back making Alvina groan in pain.
"Get up!" the owner of the voice commanded.
Alvina raised herself from the ground to get one more swift and heavy blow on her legs.
This blow made her tumble and once again she fell on the ground.
"Keep moving!" the voice once again commanded.
She gritted her teeth to suppress her pain and hurriedly stood up from the ground.
They were made to stand in a line inside their cage.
Suddenly they heard the drum rolls and at the end of it, they heard the uniform stride of soldiers entering the Castel.
The vibrations that they were making while walking on the ground were giving a hard blow to Alvina. Her heart hurts listening to it and her eyes sting with the unshed tears.
She recognized these men.
They were five of them and they were wearing black clothes. They were the masked men.
But this time except one, none of them were wearing any mask.
One of them was a dark-colored man. He had a bulky body and black curly hair. He looked handsome and there was a symbol of flames drawn on his left chest.
The other man was fair and had golden locks. He was slim. There were two thin swords dangling from his waist and a symbol of a drop in blue color was drawn on the left side of his chest.
The third one was an olive-skinned man with straight glossy black hair. His eyes were a bit slanted upwards and his hair was long and braided. He looked the fiercest of them all. He had a metal rope tied on his waist and a brown colored symbol, in the shape of a diamond was drawn on the left side of his chest. His element was the 'Earth'.
The fourth one was the most handsome man among the three. He had hazel eyes and red locks. But there was something in his gaze that rubbed Alvina in the wrong way.
A tornado-like symbol was drawn on the left side of his chest. His element was 'Wind'.
He was looking at every prisoner in the cage with intensity. There was a small harmless smile playing on his lips. Suddenly his eyes landed on a girl who was somewhat of the same age that of Alvina. He smiled at her and winked, making the girl blush a little and she lowered her head.
The girl was indeed beautiful. Even though she was covered in dirt now, the dirt still can't hide her beauty.
Alvina ignored their interaction and her eyes fixed on the fifth person among the 'Masked Men'.
Even though he was not covering his face with a black cloth and there was no hood on his head, Alvina still couldn't see his face because of the mask he was wearing.
The mask was of black color and was covering the left side of his face completely. From forehead to the chin. On the right side the mask reached towards his upper lips and then it forms an arc hiding his jaw lines completely.
All Alvina can see was half of his thin red lips.
He was walking straight without glancing at anyone, hence Alvina couldn't see the color of his eyes.
Even if she could see, she would soon forget about it.
Alvina looked at the left side of his chest and found that it was completely plain. There was no symbol drawn on it.
The element of the fifth member of the 'Masked Men' was a mystery to her.