Gan Chono had noticed a change in the usual schedule of the camp. He had learned to listen to the outside world. Deprivation had given him some advantages. His hearing had sharpened. It wasn't much but anything, no matter how small, was welcome. He knew, that a small contingent was being readied and that his captor would soon be leaving. He came sporadically recently. He had matter-of-factly told him, as he came to gloat over his defeated prisoner, that things were going well. That his precious Emerald trusted him completely now, and he would make sure to finish things properly this time. 

"Little Brother. There is no hope. You are alive as long as your Anshi lives, Davaajav lives, Chinua lives. When they are dead, then you have no more value. You are no longer a chip I need to hold. It will be a pity. Our sessions have brought me great joy. Do you know how much you remind me of your Mother? Of them all, you look like her the most. That is why I hold you in the palm of my hand. In a way, I cherish you and hate you the most. I must return, but before I go, punishment will be meted out. Rest up. You will need your strength."

 It had become part of the routine. 

As his tormentor paused at one point to wipe specks of blood and sweat from his face, something snapped and Gan Chono looked right at him and whispered, "Halfling."

He paid dearly.  He saw complete madness overcome the man, spittle flew as he exacted revenge on the suspended Gan Chono and punishment did not stop for a long time. Vaguely, he heard his half-brother leave, and he was cut down. He lay there and began to laugh. The guards retreated, feeling a chill down their spines. 

All he could think about, this time, was his brothers. The realization that he was the only one who knew this monster's identity; that he was around them and knew their every move. He had to find a way to get free.

With each departure of his brother, the attention paid to him became slightly more lax. The men spent time forcing women, drinking, and playing dice. The thing in the dark, dank yurt was no threat to them, so they lightened up after their master left them, and he was beginning to be ignored

Feedings became less monitored. There were even times they forgot about meals entirely, and he noticed that every time it happened his lethargy was less pervasive, his mind less disordered. The poisons had a weakened effect. At first, with each remembered feeding, he did as he was conditioned but lately, he had also begun to halve his rations. He ate part, then dumped the other half into a hole he had scraped under the pile of books in the corner. He placed the dirt into the stove. For weeks, he saw no major difference in himself, but slowly, in increments, his mind became less foggy.

 He began light exercises to rebuild some strength. And one day, one very bright day, when he was able to face recalling the horror of waking to his confinement and finding he had trusted the wrong man, and he no longer led his own tribe, he remembered something precious that he had shut away as he was ground into nothing; a small thing he had saved and hidden, left forgotten in his drugged despair. It was a pouch he had found in a box salvaged in the wreckage of the attack when all his father had built, had been destroyed. He waited quietly that night, pretending to be deeply sleeping. When he felt it was safe, he moved silently in the dark, freezing like a terrified animal at each sound, until he reached the stove. He felt around, counting each hearthstone until he found the right one. Underneath was his prize.

 Gan Chono loosened the strings and reached in as he sat under the thin rays of moonlight that shone from the vent in the ceiling. Seven stones rolled out into his trembling hand. He spotted the little red carnelian pyramid first. The stone his mother said represented him. The Kyanite that was Chinua. The sapphire for Davaajav and the Emerald for Anshi. Tears filled his eyes.  They began to fall as he stroked the peridot pyramid that had been Tarkhan's and the polished brown agate that had been his closest brother, Batbayan's. Sux pyramids that had been commissioned after the births of each of his mother's boys. For the first time since the massacre and their separation, he wept, harshly, silently. As he calmed, the small stones began to vibrate, soothing and serenely. He held them in his palm and cradled them, rocking back and forth as he allowed grief to fill the numbness that had engulfed him for nearly two decades.

************

Davaajav woke with a start as his sapphire sphere began to respond. Anshi, sleeping close by, bolted upright in response to his emerald sphere calling to him. And in the temple, Chinua rolled over to calm his ball of kyanite. Within minutes, a butterfly arrived from the Temple. 

"It is Gan Chono. is it not? He lives."

Davaajav turned to Anshi. "He does, but his core is weak and thready. I sense immense confusion and pain. He is not in good condition."

He closed his eyes and began to meditate as Anshi responded to Chinua, relaying Davaajav's assessment. 

And the lone prisoner felt the spark of warmth as the stone began to chime softly.

Anshi closed his eyes and began to sing a wordless caress, filled with love and encouragement, into his sphere, and immediately Gan Chono heard the whispered words from Davaajav.  "Fear not Brother. We will find you. You are not alone."  His heart swelled, and he felt a pinprick of hope. 

He tried to speak, but the silencing spell would not allow it. He wanted to scream in frustration and desperation. Then the weak connection broke and all became silent once more.

His first reaction was to sink back into the fog again, but he fought it with all of his reserves. Hearing them brought the first light to his spirit in ages, and he settled down and closed his eyes. Then, something overcame him. He felt embraces wrapping around him, as their cores reached out to him. And he fell into a deep and dreamless state, sheltered in their hearts.