Laesh's tragic death had shaken everyone to their core. The unexpected cruelty of the guards, who had broken their unspoken promise and killed the boy so close to reaching freedom, left a bitter scar on their hearts. It wasn't just Laesh who had fallen that day; with the sickening sound of his small body hitting the ground, their fragile dreams had been crushed as well.
That faint glimmer of hope—the one they had all clung to so desperately—was now completely gone.
The ropes that once symbolized freedom now dangled emptily above their heads. No one touched them anymore, and no one dared to look up. The will to fight had been extinguished in all of them.
All but one.
