Damn it! Zane thought angrily. He was really in a pickle now. He was lying on the ground with a bloody lip and his hands and feet were tied with rope. The plan had worked perfectly, up until the point where he was taken to the meeting spot. As Tristen had guessed, it was outside the boundaries of the spell for Nulla Pugna. Only problem was, Zane hadn't anticipated that they would tie him up. He had assumed that they would do the same thing they did to Pug and rely on their numbers to keep him in check. But apparently they weren't taking any chances. Luckily, they still had not removed his helmet, and he hadn't been forced to speak yet, otherwise they would have known it was him.
Tim was pacing around with his group of cronies trying to figure out how to torture him first. There were a lot of very unpleasant suggestions, such as breaking his fingers, seeing who could hit him from the farthest away with the biggest rock, and Zane's least favorite, tying him to a tree upside down and using him as a piñata. Pug and Aaron better get their butts out of hiding and save him soon, because when they found out who he really was, he had a feeling that the torture methods would become even more unpleasant. Then he heard a rustle form a nearby bush.
"What was that?" asked one of Tim's men.
"I'm not sure," Tim said. He turned to another of his men who was smaller than the rest. "You did make sure that no one followed us correct?"
"Positive sir," he replied shakily.
"Good, John, you better go check it out just in case little Evan here screwed up." A big burly guy with a spear walked over to the bush. The entire group was watching him, including Zane. He was watching the big guy prod around in the bush with his spear when a gleam of light caught his eye. He looked toward it and saw a small dagger laying only inches away from him. Ha! He thought triumphantly, the rustle in the bush must have been a diversion created by Aaron and Pug to distract the group while they slipped him the dagger. He shifted his position so that his was sitting facing the group with the knife behind his back so they wouldn't spot it. He fumbled around on the ground behind him with his tied hands trying to find the weapon.
Ouch! He bit back his already swollen and bloody lip to stop from crying out as he cut his hand on the blade. He moved his hands down the flat side of the knife until he found the handle. He took up the dagger in his hand and began awkwardly cutting through his bonds. By this time the group was no longer distracted by the rustle and was turning their attention back to Zane. Right when he thought that they noticed something was up another rustle, a little louder than the last, issued form a different bush.
They were buying him time, he needed to hurry. He redoubled his efforts and soon his hands were free. He kept his hands behind his back to prevent Tim and the others from noticing that he was free. Now it would only take him seconds to cut through the rope holding his feet. He didn't immediately do this, he decided to what until Pug and Aaron gave him another signal. His hands were still numb from being tied, and he didn't feel like taking on six heavily equipped angry guys unarmed.
Now his group of captors were arguing heatedly with each other, trying to decide what to do about the noises. Then an arrow flew above their heads and sunk into a tree with a twang. The all turned in the direction that the arrow was fired, except for Tim. He turned toward the guy that was supposed to have made sure that no one followed them.
"You said that no one followed us!" he shrieked grabbing the kid's collar and shaking him back and forth.
"I . . . Didn't . . . . Know!" he said between shakes. While the group was distracted, Zane was cutting the ropes that held his feet. He didn't try to conceal what he was doing, but instead tried to do it as quickly as possible. In no time he was free from his bonds and standing. Pug emerged from behind a nearby tree wielding an extra sword for him. Nice thinking Pug, he thought. He took the sword and they moved in on the chaos that the group had become as more arrows sailed about them and embedded themselves in the trees.
"Remember Pug. We are outside of the spells range, so don't go for a killing hit. Just try to knock them out," he whispered. Pug nodded and they threw themselves into the chaos. They had three out of the six knocked out before they even knew they were being attacked. Zane easily knocked out one of the soldiers with the flat of his sword and he and Pug advanced on the last two together. Tim and the small scout were the only two left, but they both had their weapons drawn and were ready to fight. Pug and Zane slowly approached weapons at the ready. As they approached, Aaron appeared out of the trees behind Tim and the other guy. He had his sword drawn and was creeping slowly toward them.
Aaron reached them before Zane and Pug and easily knocked out the small guy from behind with the hilt of his sword. Tim turned around in surprise at the fall of his comrade and found Aaron grinning behind him.
"I suggest you surrender," Zane announced taking off his helmet. Tim whipped around at the sound of his voice.
"You!" He snarled. He tried to throw himself at Zane, but Aaron put his foot out and tripped him. When he plummeted face first into the grass Pug jumped onto his back and disarmed him. Zane walked over and scooped up the broken ropes that had bound him, and they tied him up with what was left of the rope.
When they finished tying him up, Zane stood back and dusted off his hands. "Now what?" he asked Pug and Aaron. They looked at him and shrugged.
"The question is," Aaron said. "What do we do with him?" Pug was glaring viciously at Tim.
"I know what I would like to do with him," he announced spitting at him. Zane shook his head.
"No, we don't want to sink down to his level." He stood back and thought for a moment watching Tim struggle against his bonds. "We should bring him to Oran. Make him explain what he has been up to and admit to everything that he's done." Zane now felt comfortable going to Oran for two reasons. One, he felt like it was his responsibility to tell Oran about it after what he had told him several days ago. Two, he had taken care of the problem himself, like he should have. Now that Tim was taken care of, they had to turn him in to make sure it didn't happen again.
"I'll never tell them anything! And you can't make me!" Tim shouted at them.
"Shut up!" Pug yelled and kicked him in the stomach. Pug and Aaron agreed and they carried him back between them. They didn't really know what to do with the unconscious bodies of the other guys that were with Tim. They couldn't carry them all back, so they decided to just leave them there. They would wake up eventually and make their way back to camp.
When they reached camp the Nulla was Pugna winding down, Zane couldn't tell who was winning. It didn't matter; they carried Tim's wriggling form through the empty camp until they came to the command tent. He led them behind the command tent to where Oran's meager tent stood. He knocked on the post and received a surprised come in. Oran probably didn't expect anyone to visit during the fight.