Who was the Masked man?

War of authorities

My gaze followed the voice and I saw another prisoner there.
Brandon didn't say anything, he raised his bowl of food. The other prisoner rolled his eyes. We heard footsteps ahead of us, and some angry voices. Some people were quarreling amongst themselves.
" We must get a little closer, " the other prisoner insisted. Brandon nodded. We slowly moved to our right side, hiding behind the shiny tree trunks.
" Where's Nicole? " Brandon whispered to the other prisoner.
" He's probably ahead of us by now, " the other prisoner whispered. He had a dark complexion and a skinny built. His teeth seemed to shine due to the light from the trees. He had a flat nose and wide lips that covered most of his face.
We reached close enough to hear the voices now. Two figures were standing amidst a small clearing. One of them wore a glowing white cloak. He had a black staff in his hand that stuck to the ground. A golden crown lay firmly on his head. He had a short white beard and fair skin.
The other one was a Burnthound, and he seemed familiar to me, yet different from the others.
" We will not tolerate the trespassing of YOUR people into our world! " said the man in white cloak.
" Lord Mesihall, I have been trying to bring it to the notice of my seniors, " said the Burnthound, " but they don't want to listen. "
" Why don't they pay attention to this, Homenof? " Lord Mesihall asked irritably.
" Unfortunately, all the senior Burnthounds seem to focus only on the amount of lava they need," Homenof answered.
" They cannot put everyone behind the bars like a prisoner, just because they need more men to get the lava! " Lord Mesihall angered.
" I know, I've tried to convince them to at least have some investigations before sentencing someone to thousands of years in the prison but - "
" The Council of Titans has sent me here only to inform you people, " he pointed a finger at Homenof, " that if they sense a single tinge of unworthy rebellion or unfair judgment in the court of Afterlife, the Titans would not hesitate to take control of this place by force. Is that clear? "
" I understand, Lord Mesihall, " said Homenof politely.
" I shall return on the next full moon with other members of the council, " Lord Mesihall said, turning around, " Same place, remember to call your seniors this time. " He walked a few steps, smoke rose from the ground and wrapped around Lord Mesihall's feet first and then his upper body. When the smoke cleared, Lord Mesihall was gone, vanished into the silvery darkness. Homenof sighed and walked out of the woods, too.
" This is some real interesting shit here! " The other prisoner said, I noticed his mischievous grin, which meant he was definitely planning to interfere in the matter of the authorities. Brandon hungrily feasted on his bread and potatoes. I sat down and had my first bite too. When the bread touched my tongue, it felt as if I had never eaten anything. It was dry, yet it tasted heavenly. We ate our food, while the other prisoner watched us.
" What? " Brandon asked finally.
" Who's he? " The other prisoner asked in return.
" His name is Chris. Chris, this is Yormen, " Brandon introduced us with a mouthful of beans, " and you will meet Nicole and Stank shortly. "
Nicole and Stank were hiding deeper into the forest. We found them fifty yards ahead of us. They looked strong and cruel. Yormen had a nice dark complexion, while Nicole and Stank were fair, they would've had handsome traits if they hadn't had battle scars on their faces. They did not stop at the arena to get food, so we shared whatever Brandon and I had brought with us. We crouched between two trees and waited for someone to speak when Nicole broke the silence.

" Friends, " said Nicole, " did you all hear that? "
" The quarrel between Lord Mesihall and Homenof? " asked Brandon, stuffing a potato in his mouth.
" Yes, we did, " replied Yormen.
" Looks like there's gonna be a turn of tables in the authorities here," Nicole chuckled, bits of bread fell out of his mouth.
" Then this could be our best chance, " Brandon said, looking at all of us seriously. His eyes had a different spark now that emitted hope, and freedom. Everyone nodded except me, " The council of Titans is upset with the Burnthounds, they might break out war against them. "
" We would never have such a huge distraction, " Nichole shook his head.
" But the question remains, how would we get to the doorway? "asked Yormen.
" What's the problem with that? " asked Nichole.
" It is guarded heavily by Burnthounds, I noticed when I was on my shift near the doorway. How will we get past them? " Yormen said irritably.
" Yes, that is a problem, " Brandon said in a low tone.
Everyone was silent, they didn't want to miss this golden chance to escape from the Afterlife, yet the Burnthounds at the doorway were a serious threat to the plan!

" The Sorrowbender will guide us, " Stank murmured, who was quiet all this time. His ruffled brown hair covered half his face. They all agreed with his statement. I was only listening to them.
" Lord Mesihall said that he would return on the next full moon, " said Brandon, " along with some senior members of the council. We will have to wait until then."
" They're going to have a get-together in here, but we'll join them too," Nicole smirked.
" Yes, but we would be hiding in the shadows, away from their sight, and we'll dash to the doorway as soon as they start fighting," Brandon concluded.
" But hey - " Yormen urged, " Do you people think we should really do it? "
" That's why we come here on every full moon, don't we? " said Brandon. 
" Yes, but what if we get caught? " Yormen said nervously.
" We're already in a prison! What else could they do to us? " Nicole said irritably.
" Besides, if the Titans take control of this place, we will never be able to run away! " Brandon warned.
" We need a good exit plan, " Stank murmured, looking at his feet.
" And that is exactly where this man comes in," Brandon smiled, putting a hand on my shoulder.
" What about him? " asked Nicole, eyeing my khaki uniform.
" He was a soldier of a high rank back at Earth, " Brandon told them, " he will make an exit plan for us. "

After several minutes of discussion, Yormen, Nicole, and Stank half-heartedly agreed to follow my orders during the escape, but nobody asked me if I wanted to lead or not. We had been in there for almost an hour, and it had been decided that we would meet again on the next full moon during our dinner break, then as soon as the fight breaks out between the Titans and the Burnthounds, we would use the distraction to run away.
A loud noise filled our ears like a hammer hit a huge bell. We all turned our heads towards the source of it, the cellars, precisely.

" Run, " Nicole whispered, and there was no telling us twice. We threw our bowls and dashed madly past the shining silver trees. The light emitted by their trunks gave us a clear vision of the thick roots and saved us from tripping over them. Our Sorrowbenders clanked loudly as we ran back to the cellars. Nicole, Stank, and Yormen split up. I entered my cellar quickly with Brandon, while the other prisoners were getting in.
We sat on the sandy floor, breathing heavily