The Sky Army are marched one group at a time into the castle that dominates the Capital. The General and the Commanders are the leading group and their recruits train behind, Squid warriors separating them and at least one warrior holding every recruit. As Adam is half pushed-half dragged towards the castle, he notices the slight yellow stain on the courtyard at the base of the steps leading up to the castle. He smirks to himself. It would seem that the Squids weren't totally successful at removing all the graffiti.

It takes quite some time for all of the recruits to be manhandled into the castle due to the sheer amounts of them and the Squid warriors escorting them but they did it eventually. As General Azubi leaves for another part of the castle, the warriors drag the recruits to the back of the building and then down a wide staircase that leads underground to the dungeons.

The staircase ends in a large room with several branching corridors, each with a large iron door on the front with a padlock that is currently unlocked and open. The sides of the corridors are metal bars that go from floor to ceiling and from side to side, the ends of each buried in a concrete wall separating each cell. Adam twists to look over his shoulder as the Squids lead him and his Commanders down one corridor and the group behind them goes down another. With the number of possible corridors here, it would be impossible for them to get out without becoming hopelessly lost.

After several minutes of walking down stone corridors, averting their eyes from the empty cells, the Commanders are each unceremoniously shoved into a cell and the door is securely locked behind them. Adam and his two Squid guards walk the furthest until Adam is finally given a cell of his own, separated by a few empty cells from the nearest Commander, Kali.

He stumbles as he is shoved in and the door is locked behind him but he recovers in time to give the two Squid warriors a hard glare before they leave. His hands are still cuffed behind his back, as are the rest of the Commanders'. The position isn't overly uncomfortable now, but he imagines that it will become quite irritating before long. After all, it is never comfortable to sleep with your hands behind you and eating is virtually impossible.

"Pleasant accommodations," Adam hears one of his Commanders say, the middle-aged voice marking him as one of the original Commanders, Jack, who was reaching 45 years old when the Army scattered 12 years. "I'm willing to bet that dinner is covered under room service."

"But it's probably not gonna be a five-star meal," Jordan says.

Adam scans the two metre square cell, noting the wooden panel producing from the wall that presumably serves as a bed judging from the thin blanket on it, the crude toilet in one corner and an old sink with a rusty tap. The lighting isn't brilliant, which makes Adam glad that his sunglasses had been removed, even if he hates the fact that the Squid General had done it. He looks up. A grey box in the corner of the wall clings there, the front a black screen that stares at Adam.

"Security seems pretty tight too," he says, loud enough for his Commanders to hear him. He hears someone stretch a bit and sigh.

"This is going to be great," the female voice says sarcastically.

"At least it's not winter, Cassandra," Jack says. "It could be worse."

The Sky Army Commanders are silent for the following minutes that stretch into hours, although it could have just been time messing with them. After what feels like an age, several heavy footsteps echo in the corridors, far off at first but coming closer and closer with each passing minute. Adam, having finally worked his way into a semi-comfortable seated position against the wall, keeps an uninterested expression on his face as the steps come to a halt in front of his cell. The Squid General, flanked by two of his warriors, crosses his arms and grins at Adam. Adam raises an eyebrow back, hiding a smile as the skin around the General's eyes tightens slightly.

"Where is the Piece?" he asks, his voice harsh and commanding.

"You know where it is," Adam says. "You're just asking the wrong question."

General Azubi rolls his eyes and huffs as he has to play Adam's game. "Fine. Where is the Amulet?"

"Safe."

"Your entire army is under my control, General Sky," General Azubi hisses. "And so are you."

Adam pushes himself up from the ground to stand, no doubt looking very silly with his hands cuffed behind his back. "Do your worst," he spits. "I'll never tell you the location of the Piece, and I'll never let it fall into your hands again."

"Will you think that way when your army suffers for it?" The Squid General smiles sweetly. "Are you willing to protect the Piece at the cost of the lives of your recruits? Your friends?" Adam doesn't answer. The General's smile widens. "Not all of them need to live, and not all of them can survive the wrath of my warriors. Many of them have been wanting revenge on your army for years since you killed their friends."

"And you killed ours," Adam retorts. "I'd say we're even."

"If you do not tell us where that Amulet is," General Azubi growls, "then my warriors will leech out the life from your recruits one cut at a time until they can stand it no more. And I will make sure that you are able to hear the process. Are we clear?"

Adam turns away, not letting the enemy see the fear in his eyes. "Can I have three days to think about it?"

"I'll expect your answer tomorrow, midday."

The Squid General and his two warriors leave, their footsteps echoing down the corridors again. Adam lets out a deep breath and slides back down the wall, not sure what to think. There is no way he can tell the Squids where the Amulet is, but he also can't let his recruits get hurt while he has a chance to stop it. Mitch has the whole of the Pack with him and they outnumber the Squids at least 4 to one, so they would be able to hold off any possible attack.

And yet... Adam knows that the Squids have ways of getting what they want and besides, Mitch doesn't know what he is protecting. Adam rests his head back on the cold stone, closing his eyes. He hates being a leader for this very reason.

None of the recruits receive a meal that night and all of them are quite hungry by the time that the Squids come to collect them the next morning. The warriors take the recruits section by section to a different part of the underground complex, placing roughly 50 of them into a large caged room with a long table in the middle of it, not large enough for everyone in the group to sit. Each of the recruits have their handcuffs removed but the walls lined with Squid warriors armed with bows discourage any form of rebellion.

The Sky Army General and Commanders are, of course, placed in a cage all to themselves. Adam scans it quickly. There are two thin panels of iron bars that could be doors on both sides of the room, joining it to the rooms on either side, but it is clearly locked shut. The room on their left is empty but the one on their right has people moving about in it. From the glimpse he gets, several of the recruits have taken a serve of the bread that lies on the table and now stand near the edges of the room. He and the Commanders, however, sit at the table. Adam tosses up a bread roll up and down in his hands a bit, not very hungry but knowing that he really should eat.

"You were wrong Jack," Cassandra says, taking a roll. "Dinner didn't happen and breakfast isn't included in room service." Jack gives her a tired grin.

"You okay?" Jordan mutters from beside Adam.

"How much of my conversation with the Squid General did you hear?" Adam asks, his question directed at everyone.

"Barely any," Joseph says. "I was all the way up at the other end though."

"Pretty much, if I don't tell him where the Piece is, he'll hurt or even kill the recruits," Adam mumbles, only just able to stop himself from glancing over his shoulder. "I honestly don't know what to do about it."

"Why don't we ask them?" Kali suggests. She is sitting just in front of Adam and her eyes are fixed on a point just over his shoulder, staring at where the thin bar door is. "I can see several rooms down there and there seem to be recruits in each one. We might be able to get a message all the way down and back about this... threat, would you call it?"

"It'll have to be casual though," Daniel warns. "Otherwise the Squids will figure something's up and will intercede before the message can get through."

"Relax Dan, it'll be casual," Kali says, grinning slightly. "Wanna walk Cass?"

Cassandra shrugs. "Sure." The two girls stand up and begin a slow pace around the room, talking about fairly traditional girl-stuff that neither of them are really interested in but it fills the silence.

After a few laps, they come to a stop near the bar door, Kali standing right in front of it. A recruit is sitting on the other side, slowly eating. Kali relays to him the message with Cassandra nodding every now and then as if Kali is talking to her. The recruit yawns and stretches, then makes his way back to the table, muttering words to the people who sit at the table as he pours himself a drink of water from the jug on the table.

And so it goes. One by one, the Squid's threat makes it way through the entire army, being heard by every person. The minutes stretch by as a choice is made and the answer slowly makes its way back to Kali and Cassandra who are still standing at the door, Jack having joined them a few minutes before. Cassandra remains with them for a few minutes and then walks back to the table and sits down.

"It's unanimous," she whispers to Adam. "Protect the location of the Amulet, no matter what it takes."

Adam sighs softly, the half-eaten bread roll in his hand. "Alright then," he mumbles.

You know what would suck right now? If I had to stop writing for three weeks because my exams are coming up.

I am so freaking sorry that it had to happen now, but I kinda gotta concentrate on these ones. The next chapter isn't doesn't focus on the Sky Army anyway, it goes back to Mitch. WhAt cOUld iT Be aBoUT???

I'll also be off wattpad for the three weeks after the update of Quick Stories tomorrow.

BAI!