Who was the Masked man?

Brandon

" Well, this khaki uniform you're wearing, that says it all. " He smiled weakly.
" Huh? "
" This is a prison for spirits that used to live on Zark389, " he said, " I've met here many of them, soldiers, from that planet, but none of them wore a Khaki like you, that's the uniform on Earth, ain't it? "
I peeped at my own uniform, confused what I should say.
" Yes, nice observation. "
He smirked.
" What's your name? " I asked, staring into his unusually deep purple eyeballs.
" They call me Brandon. " He pursed his lips.
" You're from Earth too? "
" I'm not from Earth, " said Brandon.
" Not from Earth? Where are you from, then? " I asked. He turned around, staring across the bars of the cellar.
" No time to tell, my shift will start any moment now, and - " he disappeared from my sight. A shrill cry escaped my mouth as I staggered back. Brandon had just vanished into thin air!

' No time to tell, my shift will start any moment now, ' I recalled. Maybe he was at his shift.
I lifted myself uncomfortably to sit up straight. I didn't want to look at the orangish sky across the bars, so I just closed my eyes and waited.

When my shift started, I automatically appeared on the foothills of a large, stony mountain. The Sorrowbender got tighter around my neck and my waist, but my hands were free. I saw some other humanly spirits picking up some shovels and axes kept in front of a Burnthound, who seemed to be in charge of our shift. I picked up an axe, the handle was made of iron, wrapped in brown leather. The front of the axe was shiny and sharp as a sword.

" For the new ones, " boomed the Burnthound from behind his silver mask, " Break the volcano from where you stand, you'll find molten lava in there. Collect it in the container behind me for the next twenty-four hours. "
My eyes were bewildered. We were standing on a volcanic mountain, and we needed to collect its lava.
But why?
Some of the old prisoners immediately set to work, they began hitting the mountain with their axes. I copied them and brought down my axe hard on the stony surface. A faint crack appeared there, and I understood how difficult it would be to extract the lava.
We kept throwing our axes against the surface for some hours, sweating hard. I was gasping for breath, but I didn't seem to reach anywhere near the lava. Some of the others had already found handfuls of it. They picked the lava up in their bare hands and dropped it in the silver container behind the Burnthound, who was watching us evilly. A whip rested calmly in his grasp and a sheathed sword on his side. I sat on the stony surface, breathing heavily. I could see nothing at my digging spot, except for a darker shade of the stone and numerous cracks around it.
The Sorrowbender around my neck started to tighten its grip. I tugged at it with my dusty fingers and I pulled my neck forward.
" What the heck! " A prisoner yelled from behind. I turned around to see that my Sorrowbender had mingled with his black chain. He looked furious, he had strong arms and a scar running down his left eye.
" Why don't you pull yours' away? " he growled at me. I couldn't stand him talking to me that way. I was a respectable army man on my planet, and my ego took over me.
I pulled the Sorrowbender using both my arms and all my strength. He staggered forward, holding himself in place just at the last moment.
" So you're one of those psychos, aren't you? " He said, pulling himself up.
" I guess I am. " I shot back.
He groaned and threw himself upon me. A hard punch on my nose knocked the air out of me.
" Scoundrels! " the Burnthound roared and slashed the whip on the ground.
" He started it, " the prisoner with the scar claimed.
" I didn't! " I gasped, both hands on my nose.
" He hasn't even extracted any lava yet! " he complained again.
" On your feet. Now! " The Burnthound growled. I pulled myself up and stood facing him. As soon as I put my hands away from my nose, he kicked me hard in the stomach. I felt a devastating lurch that threw me several feet behind.
" That's for not doing your job properly. " He said.
I held my stomach and howled in pain, while the other prisoners got back to their work. I couldn't stand again, the pain was too much to bear. Tears formed at the corners of my eyes and little droplets of blood in my mouth.
The Sorrowbender wasn't glowing yet. I prayed for it to heal me, I couldn't withstand the agony. Some of the prisoners set to work immediately after they saw my condition. I don't know for how many hours I lay there, holding onto my guts.
I was back in my cellar after a few hours. Brandon was already there, he rushed to my aid noticing that I was clutching my stomach.
" What happened? " he urged, kneeling beside me.
" A Burnthound kicked me, " I murmured weakly.
" Kicked you? But why? " he lowered his voice and bent over me slightly.
" Because I hadn't extracted any lava, " I coughed.
Brandon sighed, looking sideways.
" Why do they need the lava? " I asked.
" They feed upon it, those Burnthounds. " He said with utmost loathing.
I coughed again.
" Does it still hurt? "
" Yes. "
The Sorrowbender began shining instantly and a soothing warmth ran through my body.
" Tell me, Brandon, " I said, " how long have you been here? "
" I don't know how time works here or on Earth. " He said, " I have had ninety-seven meals here, and all I can say is that I won't be here for long. "
" Is your sentenced term ending? "
" No. "
" Then how will you go from here? " I raised my eyebrows slightly.
" With the strongest weapon I have, " he smiled and looked at his navel area.
" I have an assault rifle, but that's a toy gun before these Burnthounds. " I sighed, " what's your weapon against them? "
" Hope, " he looked in my eyes with regret, " and a little stealth! " I sensed wickedness in his low voice. Maybe he was keeping a secret. Those purple eyes revealed that, for sure. He might have figured a way out of this prison.
" Why are you here, Brandon? What was your crime?" I asked him, as my interest grew in him, and the pain in my stomach started to vanish slowly.
" I don't even remember what they accused me of. I just know that I am innocent, and that's why the hope hasn't died away. "
I didn't reply.