General Hugo marched with the battalions walking behind him in a military gait, the artillery machines clattering and striking the ground with their feet, their engines roaring, emitting an annoying buzz throughout the area.

General Hugo stopped before the village and ordered the battalions to surround it from all sides and for a company of one hundred soldiers to advance into the village.

The company advanced. They had only taken a few steps when a mine exploded in their midst. Some stepped on traps from which barbed wire sprang, piercing their feet. Others fell into nets that swallowed them and enveloped them from all sides.

General Hugo watched from his position, fiddling with his mustache. "Who set these traps here? The Ghlizan don't possess this technology! Advance with caution. Those bastards in the Franx Republic sent us little equipment and technology, only a lot of soldiers, for fear of the nearby Zurix empires. And here we are, walking on foot and meeting our fate."

The soldiers advanced cautiously. Many of them fell into various traps and were seriously injured, until panic and despair struck the soldiers, and they begged the General to return. But he urged them to advance. A wretched, lowly village was not going to stop the legend of General Hugo.

They managed to reach the village with great difficulty. Several mines exploded among a number of them at the entrance. The children and the men and women in the village were alerted and began to gather their belongings in preparation to flee.

Hugo entered the village victoriously, having lost one hundred soldiers. His soldiers marched through the streets, alleys, and lanes, breaking into the charred houses and searching for any sign of the resistance.

One of them noticed the one intact house amidst the burnt ones. He kicked the door open and entered, pointing his rifle left and right. He found the children hugging each other in fear and ordered them to come out. They obeyed his order in fear, their small bodies trembling.

The children came out and found General Hugo in their faces, looking at them with interest. Meanwhile, the soldiers spread out among the houses, kicked down the wooden doors, and stormed into the homes amidst the screams of women and the shouts of men.

Small battles broke out between them and the men who were defending their homes, but they beat them or killed them, dragged the women out by their hair, and stole their food and drink. Some of them ate ravenously from severe hunger. They burned some of the houses with incendiary grenades, which they threw inside, setting them ablaze. The fire spread throughout the entire house, burning it to the ground.

General Hugo looked at Mshdal, the Ghlizan boy with a face as green as tree leaves, and stared at his strange mask. "Where did you get this strange mask, boy? Who gave it to you?"

Mshdal said, his lips trembling, "The Miracles Maker gave it to me."

Hugo frowned. "Miracles Maker, you say? There are no miracle makers, boy. The only miracle maker is the artist; he brings the world of imagination into the material world and depicts the strangest things in ways that all beings can see and savor their beauty. Now, tell me, where is this person who gave you this mask?"

General Hugo approached the boy, pressed the button on his forehead, and the mask disappeared. Then he noticed the earpiece that translated languages and pulled it out of his ear. "This is something the Ghlizan don't have either. Perhaps he's one of the spies from the Zurix empires hostile to us. Maybe they are supporting the resistance to weaken our grip on this planet because they fear our return and the resumption of what Emperor Darleon started."

Hugo cast his gaze on the ground and noticed the wooden dolls that Noor had made for the children. The doll that looked like Tulkas caught his eye. He picked it up and examined it closely. "This is interesting. Admiral Claudy might know something about this."

Mshdal remembered that Noor had given him this mask to protect his siblings, but fear paralyzed him in front of these many battalions and vast numbers. But he was confident that if he was brave, the Miracles Maker would appear and save him and his siblings immediately. He pressed the mask to cover his face again, then shouted as he punched the General in the stomach with his small hand, "I won't let you harm them!"

General Hugo grabbed his hand, smiling a wide smile. "A brave boy. You must truly believe in miracles to dare to attack me like this. I will prove to you, then, that there is no Miracles Maker."

Hugo set up the tripod, placed his canvas, and ordered the soldiers to line up. He smiled. "Let's see if the heavens will save you from a soldier's bullets or not."

General Hugo kicked him and told him to run as fast as he could. He began to run in fear, calling for Noor, tears streaming from his eyes. The soldiers aimed their rifles, laughing, and began to fire. The blue bullets shot out, penetrating the houses and passing by the boy, until one of them hit him and knocked him to the ground. He crawled on the ground, blood pouring from him, as he looked to the horizon, waiting for the Miracles Maker, but no one came. He closed his eyes, his tears mixing with the dirt beneath him.

Noor heard the sound of gunshots as he was filling the water from the wells. He turned around anxiously, his eyes widening. "The children! They're in danger!"

He dropped the water and ran back to the village at full speed. Tulkas scolded him, "You fool! Don't go! We don't want the Franx to know we're here. Don't drag your emotions into our mission and leave the children to their fate. I doubt they'd kill unarmed children, except maybe in the random shelling."

Noor looked back as he ran, unleashing his legs to the wind. "To hell with the mission! I'm not leaving these children!"

Malha screamed and charged at General Hugo, beating him randomly with her hands. "The Miracles Maker will get revenge on you! You evil, hateful man! You killed my brother!"

Lala cried from the depths of her heart, her hands, feet, and her entire body trembling, overcome and consumed by terror.

Hugo pushed Malha away as he dabbed his brush on the canvas, painting his masterpiece. "Run, girl. Maybe the Miracles Maker will appear for you. Perhaps your faith is stronger than your brother's."

Malha grabbed her sister's hand, and they ran together amidst the soldiers' laughter. Malha screamed for help.

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