Zen found a seat and sat down. He did not want to draw too much attention to himself. He looked at the stage at the man who was speaking.

“The nobles think they have won!” The man said. “They have appointed their City Lords and their guards and allied Guilds such as the Red Dragon Guild. They think we are dogs and the civil war has placed us in our place but we need to show them that this dog… this dog still has teeth. And we do that by taking down all their government structures.”

“You-You mean the City Lord?” someone from the crowd said.

“Yes! Exactly!” the man on stage said. “Bur first, we need to weaken the City Lord and put some fear in him. We destroy the noble prominent noble families and then go after the City Lord.”

Zen clasped his hand over his mouth in shock at hearing this.

“How though?” another from the crowd shouted. “The Civil War has taken most of our greatest warriors. How can we possibly defeat or challenge the nobles and City Lord.”

“With our help, of course.” He said. “The Black Mark is a group of powerful and talented Commoners who want to help our fellow brothers and sisters. If you are weak, we will be strong for you. But I do not wish for this to be a lecture. I want to also hear from you what you all want.”

The man stepped off stage.

There was a moment where nothing happened. Then someone came onto the stage, spoke about their fear for retaliation against him and his family if they should align with the Black Mark as he had already lost 2 sons to what he called “the mindless war.”

Another rose still, speaking on how they support the cause of the Black Mark and how it was time for commoners to be the equals of nobles. More and more people stood up and spoke. Zen noticed that most people wanted to take the nobles down but more still were afraid of the power the nobles had even with the assistance of the Black Mark.

Zen was feeling uneasy, as more and more people seemed to lose their fears as the Black Mark representatives assured them that they had powerful members. Soon enough most people were willing to support and join the Black Mark for revenge and equality. People were cheering for the deaths of not only the nobles but of the City Lord, his mother.

Zen found some courage and walked to the stage amongst the cheering crowd. Everyone quietened down when they saw him.

“I’m sure some of you recognise me,” Zen said. “And those who don’t, probably know my parents. These ‘heroes’ you speak of, who died in the Civil War, my father was one of them. His name was Wang Ton. My father worked his way the ladder, even being able to get his family name, Wang, to be recognised as a noble name. And even then, he supplied the commoners of this town and other towns with weapons during the civil war.

“He supported you all but make no mistake, my father did his best to minimize the risks he was taking. He3 did that by keeping secrets and I will tell you his biggest secret.”

Zen looked at the crowd as they became quiet, waiting to hear the secret.

“The secret is, my father loved me.” Zen said, tears shining in his eyes. “He knew the work he was doing for commoners was dangerous. He knew if the commoners lost the Civil War they would not only come for everything he had, they would also make sure his family suffer. So he had to distance himself from me, to protect me. He had to make it look like we did not get along.” He looked around the room. “What about you? What about all of you? Are you ready not only to risk your loves but your loved ones? Because if The Black Mark fails you along with your families will suffer the pri…”

A black bag was placed over Zen’s head. There was a flurry of movement. Zen tried to struggle in his confusion. he could tell that he was being moved somewhere. The bag was moved from his head and he was dropped on the floor onto his belly.

He groaned as he got up to his hands and knees. Shibi rushed to his side, looking at him with concern shining in his eyes.

“Hey… what’s the big idea?” Zen said, rising to his feet, Shibi hopping onto his shoulder.

“Wang Zen?”

Zen’s head snapped towards the voice. He looked at the boy standing in front of him. He wore black pants and tunic. He looked at Zen with anger

Zen’s mouth widened, “Yin Zheng?”