"If anyone has any information on the creators of the denouncing slogans that are scattered over the Capital, come forward and you will be given a small reward of money. If we find that you have withheld information from the Squids on this matter, you will be convicted as an aider of the creators of the slogans. As you all know, the Sky Army is a dangerous Army that had tried to hurt the people of this land and the Squids will do everything in their power to keep the people of the Capital safe."

The message is sent out over the entire Capital the next day. Every single person hears it, no matter whether they are part of the wealthy or of the homeless. Andy even has a Squid warrior come into his shop to repeat the message when the men had gotten back from the forest. On the outside, Andy keeps a suitably blank face, but inside he is cheering. The Squids wouldn't be so pedantic about this message getting to everyone if they aren't afraid of the Sky Army.

Either that or they want to keep the lies that they had spun looking as real as possible, which is also a very big possibility. That lie has been working perfectly for the past 12 years, they don't want it to break now. But is the Sky Army going to go with the Squid's program? Ohhh no.

The Squids are effective. In just one day, they had managed to scrub off every single one of the slogans that the Sky Army had painted. And so, two nights later, the Sky Army paints twice as many rebellious claims in the poorer parts of the Capital. Andy feels a shiver of excitement run down his back every time he hears a mention of the Sky Army and the graffiti that the Squids are scrambling to scrub away.

From the snippets of conversations that he overhears, people are starting to question why there is all this fuss about the Sky Army. Everyone knows the name of course, but the details about the army are hidden and hard to find. It is like the Squids want the Army to be forgotten, and they had almost succeeded on that. Andy feels that it is time to step things up a notch.

"Alright, we're going to paint slogans in the centre of the Capital tonight," he says to his crew of men that night.

"Are you nuts?" David asks. "There will be dozens of squid patrols around."

"Only in the poorer parts," Adam corrects. "We just have to be more careful. If we paint slogans in the centre, everyone will see it. We can get some momentum going, cause chaos so that we can sneak out as many recruits as we can and warn any other recruits hiding in the Capital."

David shakes his head slowly. "It's a super risky plan Adam, but let's do it."

They suit up in black clothes and grab a spray can each. They are starting to run low on supplies as David can only smuggle so many out. They start splitting up into their pairs and creep out of the Sky Army caverns and up onto the streets of the Capital. Adam and Bluey slide from shadow to shadow, holding their cans close to their legs to hide the distinctive yellow colour of the metal. They reach the pristine streets of the centre of the Capital and duck into the cover of a house, surveying the streets laid out before them.

"I've never been here before," Bluey breathes, inching closer a little.

"It's not all that special," Adam replies. "Just stick close to me and don't get carried away."

The two sneak out onto the streets and pick out a wall of a building. The area is dark, but that suits them well as no one will see their work until the sun rises. They write the usual SKY ARMY LIVES and SQUIDS ARE LIARS on the walls of the houses. While Bluey picks out a spot for more graffiti, Adam looks for a spot that will be clearly visible to everyone. He finds it and writes SKY ARMY UNITE in large letters, being careful to underline the 'K', 'A' and 'NITE'.

"Kay's Anchor at night," a voice whispers from behind him.

Adam jumps and whips around and the black figure behind him puts its fingers to its lips.

"The Army will know what that means," David says. "But the Squids won't."

"That's the idea," Adam whispers back. "We're almost done here, start heading back to the caverns."

"Yes, sir."

Adam creeps back to where Bluey is, putting the finishing touches on a massive piece of artwork smack bang in the middle of the street. He puts his hand on Bluey's shoulder, startling him.

"What are you doing?" he hisses, his voice angry.

"I'm doing graffiti," Bluey says, his voice defensive.

"Is that what you call this?" Adam asks, pointing to the artwork. Right at the base of the steps to the Capital's castle, in the centre courtyard, Bluey has drawn a massive butter ingot. And it is instantly recognisable as belonging to the Sky Army.

"I uhhhh.... I got carried away," he admits in a downcast voice.

Adam sighs. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. Let's get out of here."

They sneak back down to the caverns, disappearing from the streets. Several minutes later, in ones, people drift out of secret hatches and walk calmly to their homes, wearing their worn clothes of various drab colours. Completely ordinary working folk.

The next morning, Andy and his crew of lumbermen are stopped as they try to leave the Capital to fell a tree. The horses snort nervously at the guards that stand blocking the gates of the Capital.

"Eh? Wha' all this then?" one of the men driving the carts asks.

"The Squid General wishes to address the Capital," one of the guards says crisply. "Leave the horses here and go to the centre courtyard. You will be able to collect them when the address is finished."

The men have no choice but to obey. They leave the horses and walk with the rest of the crowd into the centre courtyard. Many people have to stand in the side streets and those who own the buildings on either side stand on their roofs. Guards line the sides of the streets, glowering at anyone who stares at the yellow words spray painted on the sides of the buildings for all to see. Andy keeps his head down, not drawing attention to himself. This is better than he could have hoped. Everyone is seeing the words of resistance written by the Sky Army, but there is a reason that they all have been called here. And that reason has Andy worried.

Everyone jostles for a position and a hush comes over them. Andy raises his head, part of his long hair coming out of his ponytail to hang in his eyes, which widen as he sees the scene. At the top of the steps leading from the centre courtyard to the doors of the castle stand the Squid General and two guards holding a man who is on his knees, his head hanging low. Andy instantly recognises his bright red hair. It's Bluey. Liam.

"As you can see, the supporters of the Sky Army have once again defaced our beautiful Capital," the Squid General declares, his voice raised to be heard by all those gathered. "They have written hateful messages, begging for war. It is important for the safety of those living in the Capital that the writers of these messages be apprehended and brought to justice. And we have captured one such writer."

At this, the Squid General gestures to Bluey, who still has his head down.

"This writer of the scandalous messages defaced the centre courtyard itself by drawing a disgraceful picture and signing it, thus leading to his capture."

Andy silently swears in his head. Why did Bluey sign his name?

"He has been tried in a fair trial and has been found guilty of rebelling against the Squids for the purpose of aiding the Sky Army to overthrow the Capital. His sentence has been decided on. Do you have any last words, Liam Stephen Harsworth?"

Bluey finally raises his head and stares at the Squid General with a hard expression on his face. Andy feels his heart fill with pride as he sees his recruit glower at the Squid.

"The Sky Army lives," Bluey says, clearly and loud enough for everyone to head. "You cannot stand against us forever Squid."

The Squid General smirks. "Carry out his sentence," he orders.

Instantly, one of the guards draws his sword and thrusts it straight into Bluey's chest and into his heart, killing him instantly. His body flops to the ground, blood pooling out of his chest and staining the ground.

"Let that be a warning to any other Sky Army supporters standing here," the Squid General says. "You are all dismissed to return back to your jobs." The General turns and walks back inside the castle, flanked by his guards, leaving the body of Liam 'Bluey' Harsworth at the top of the stairs.

Andy keeps his expression blank as he turns with everyone else and shuffles back to the carts. A sick feeling is in his churning stomach and his last glimpse of Bluey is caught in his mind. They had to get out. Tonight.

RIP Bluey. Chapter 2-2 to Chapter 2-3. He will be sorely missed.

There's something very interesting about the word 'Captial' and its use in this book. I'd suggest checking out the description if I were you...