The White Plaza trembled beneath the storm of noise.
Snow drifted through the freezing air in slow spirals while hundreds of eyes remained locked on the kneeling figure at the center of the platform.
Shuan could barely breathe.
The chain around his neck pressed tightly against his throat as he struggled to stay upright on trembling arms.
His tears had not stopped.
They continued falling silently onto the snow beneath him, disappearing into the thin layer of water that had begun forming below his body.
But no one noticed.
Or perhaps no one wanted to.
The rifles surrounding him remained raised.
Cold metal.
Steady hands.
The soldiers stood in a perfect half-circle, fingers ready near their triggers while the entire settlement waited for a single command.
Shuan slowly lifted his head.
His vision blurred.
Faces melted together into pale shapes beneath the gray sky.
Fear.
Hatred.
Confusion.
He could no longer separate them.
His chest hurt.
Not only from the heat burning inside him— but from something else.
Something heavier.
The realization that nobody here truly saw him anymore.
Not as a starving survivor.
Not as a frightened boy dragged into the plaza in chains.
Only as a threat.
A monster waiting to reveal itself.
The cold wind struck his face again.
He shivered violently.
Then he heard footsteps.
Hol moved forward.
Slowly.
Calmly.
The old man’s boots crushed against the snow as he stepped toward the center of the platform, his long staff scraping faintly across the ice-covered wood.
The crowd immediately fell quieter.
Even the whispers died.
Hol stopped several meters away from Shuan.
For a few seconds, he simply stared down at him.
Expression unreadable.
The old man who had once offered him warmth and water now looked at him like a disease.
Shuan’s lips trembled.
He wanted to ask why.
Wanted to scream.
Wanted someone to explain what was happening.
But every word remained trapped inside him.
Hol suddenly raised one arm.
The movement was sharp enough to freeze the entire plaza.
Every soldier straightened immediately.
Weapons locked firmly into position.
The sound of metal shifting echoed through the air.
Shuan’s eyes widened slowly.
A terrible feeling spread through his chest.
Instinct.
Raw and screaming.
His body understood what was coming before his mind could accept it.
He tried pulling backward weakly.
The chain tightened instantly around his throat.
Pain shot through his neck.
“No…” The word escaped him like a broken breath.
Hol’s face hardened completely.
Then— he shouted.
“Fire!” The scream tore across the plaza like thunder.
And in the next instant— the world exploded.
Gunfire erupted from every direction.
The deafening roar of frost rifles shattered the frozen silence all at once.
Bright flashes burst from the barrels surrounding the platform.
Shuan’s body jerked violently.
The first bullet tore through his shoulder.
Pain exploded inside him.
A scream ripped from his throat before another shot struck his side.
Then another.
His leg collapsed beneath him instantly.
Blood sprayed across the white snow in harsh streaks of crimson.
The crowd recoiled slightly at the violence— but only for a moment.
Shuan crashed onto the frozen platform hard enough to knock the air from his lungs.
The chain rattled loudly beside him.
Another wave of gunfire erupted overhead.
Bullets slammed into the ice around him, splintering snow into the air.
He cried out again.
Not words anymore.
Only pain.
Pure pain.
Instinctively, he curled inward and raised his arms over his head, desperately trying to protect himself while shots continued crashing around him.
His body shook uncontrollably.
Blood spread beneath him.
Warm against the frozen ground.
His breathing became ragged and broken.
Every wound burned violently.
The world around him blurred into noise— gunfire screaming metal echoes pain cold And through all of it— he still did not understand why they hated him so much.