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room that was closed in on all sides with no windows.  The walls and ceiling were made of hardened clay and dirt.  He turned around to see one wall was made of vertical bars going from the ceiling to the floor, with a metal door hinged on them.  A man in armor closed the door and turned a key.  Then he sat down in a chair across the hall from the prison cell.
    “You’ve got to be kidding me!” thought Noir.  “I’m in prison?!”  He looked around the room again and noticed another young man who was sitting in the corner leaning against the wall.  He looked to be a couple years older than Noir and had light blond hair with dark, tan skin.  The shade of his hair was actually lighter than his skin and gave the boy an odd, foreign look.  He was looking at Noir with a questioning look.
    “Uh, hi,” said Noir.  The young man looked even more confused.  “Where am I?”
    “In a prison, dummy.”
    Noir shook his head in frustration.  “I can see that.”  He sighed.  “What town is this?  Who are you?”
    “My name?  I’m Ratt,” the other boy said very cautiously.  “You must be from Chiron with those clothes.”
    Noir replied, “I don’t even know what Chiron is.”
    Ratt stuck his head out from his shoulders, furrowing his brow looking even more confused than before.  “You have got to be kidding me.  Where are you from?  How do you not know about one of the two kingdoms in the entire world?”
    Noir thought, “What does that even mean?  Only two kingdoms?  What have I gotten myself into?  And even more, what have I gotten Aimee and Steven into?”
    Noir said, “So you never said where this is.”
    Ratt said mockingly, “Do you know anything , bud?”
    Noir replied, “Hey, you’re in a prison cell too you know.  You can’t be that well off either.”
    Ratt let out a laugh at that.  He finally looked like he was loosening up.  “It is a long story.”  Ratt stood up from where he was sitting and walked over to Noir.  He held out his hand and said, “Ratt Delloview.”
    Odd name, but Noir took his hand and shook it.  Ratt smiled warmly.  Noir smiled back, but it felt forced.  He was too scared of what would become of him and his family.
     

 
    Chapter 6
    The captain
     
                  As they shook hands, the cell door creaked and swung open.  “Hey new kid.”  A man in armor pointed at Noir.  “Come with me.”
    Noir looked at Ratt and said, “Well, that didn’t last long.  Nice meeting you.”
    Ratt brushed his hand through the air and said, “Don’t sweat it, kid.  They’re just going to see if you are attuned to one of the three vigors.  They do it to everyone.  They’ll have you back in our wonderful jail cell in no time.”
    That stuff about three vigors made no sense to Noir, but the man beckoned him sharply so he followed.  Another armored warrior followed up behind Noir.
    They led Noir down a short hall to which a couple other rooms connected, then out the door of the structure.  He saw the town for the first time.  The small structure with the prison cells seemed to be on the edge of the town.  Behind the prison was a small stone wall and a dense forest.  Looking the other way, Noir saw a village made mostly of very small clay structures stretched before him.  The road was dirt and it dodged between tree stumps.
    The soldiers led him across the dirt road to a larger structure built of roughly made bricks.  The front door had a glowing sphere on either side like the ones he had seen at the structure that was outside of the cave.  He stared at them as he walked past, wondering how they worked.  The men led him inside and down a short hall to a door.  The man who led opened the door and motioned Noir inside.
    Noir walked to the center of the room and the door closed behind him.  Captain Grandel and the soldier who had had the glowing white device earlier were sitting at a wooden table to one side.  The device that he had from