After running for hours, the three heroes collapsed under a tree, exhausted. They had managed to escape from the mansion the day before without being noticed by almost anyone. They were safe, but they knew that they were not out of danger yet.
As the three heroes slept, Zachary, who had his hands tied to his legs, began to wake up. The sunlight was hitting his face directly, and he tried to turn away from it.
Zachary opened his eyes slowly, his head throbbing. He tried to put his hands to his head to massage it, but he couldn't move them. He was confused at first.
"What is happening?" Zachary asked, his voice filled with fear. He tried to stand up, but he couldn't move his body at all.
Zachary looked back at his hands, which were tied up to his legs from behind. He started shouting, realizing that he was in big trouble.
"SOMEONE HELP ME!" Zachary shouted as loud as he could. Jasem and Adam woke up immediately, startled by his cries. They started to shut him down, hoping to silence him before anyone else heard him.
Jasem clamped his hand over Zachary's mouth to silence him, while Adam went to check that the knots were still tight. They didn't want Zachary to run away.
Zachary, who was still unaware of the other two heroes, bit Jasem's hand so hard that he screamed in pain and released him. Zachary then resumed shouting for help.
"Aaaagh, he bit me" Jasem said while holding his hand
"I'M A SOLDIER IN THE ROYAL ARMY YOU BASTARDS, I WILL MAKE SURE... " Zachary couldn't complete what he was saying, Adam took off his shirt and shoced it inside Zachary's mouth, shutting him up completely making him unable to speak anylonger
Zachary struggled and writhed on the ground, trying to free himself from the ropes that bound him. The two other heroes sat behind him, watching him.
Jasem rubbed his injured hand and sighed. "What do we do now?" he asked Adam.
Adam looked back at Jasem for a few moments, his eyes narrowed in thought. Then, he stood up and walked back to Dean, who was still sleeping.
"Dean, wake up! We need you!" Dean opened his eyes slightly, just enough to see Adam standing over him. He groaned and closed his eyes again, turning away. He didn't want to wake up yet.
"Wake me up after a few hours, I'm really tired," Dean said, his voice muffled by his arm that was under his face. Adam was about to wake him up again, but he didn't have to, as Jasem yelled at him from across the clearing. "Wake your lazy ass up before I drag you here myself!"
Dean opened his eyes, knowing that his sleeping time was over. He sat up and glared at the two heroes who had woken him up. "What do you want?" he asked
Dean rubbed his eyes and looked at Jasem and Adam, who were pointing at Zachary, who was struggling on the ground in front of them. "What's going on?" he asked, still groggy from sleep.
"Come and do your magic thingy on him again," Adam said. Dean looked confused for a few moments, his brain still not fully functioning after waking up. But then he understood what Adam meant, and he shook his head aggressively.
"Hell nooo!, what if he dies for real this time?!" Jasem and Adam sighed as they looked at Dean, who was hesitant to use his magic for fear of killing an innocent man.
The two knew the risk, but they had no choice. They needed to carry Zachary with them if they wanted to leave and continue running. If Zachary was still awake, they would not be able to do that.
Jasem stood up and was about to ask Dean one more time, but he stopped when he saw Zachary stop moving completely. He looked at Adam, who was also looking at Zachary with a puzzled expression.
They didn't say a word as they started communicating with their eyes. Jasem was looking at Zachary and look at Adam next like he was saying 'Is he dead?'. Adam Shrugging back at him as he didn't know and Popping his head forward and back to tell Jasem to go and check on him.
Jasem nodded, then started walking slowly toward Zachary. He looked down at him and saw that his eyes were closed. Jasem was afraid that something had happened to him.
Jasem immediately removed the shirt from Zachary's mouth and was about to start performing CPR on him when Zachary suddenly opened his eyes and looked up at him.
"I knew it was you guys after hearing your voices!. Why are you doing this to me, Heroes?" Zachary said to Jasem, who stood before him.
Jasem who was close to Zachary's face screamed loudly as soon as he saw him open his eyes and speak.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
As he screamed, Jasem reflexively punched Zachary in the face making him lose his consciousness immediately, his nose started bleeding.
Adam and Dean went to him immediately after they saw what he just did. They looked to see if everything was alright, they found Zachary unconscious while Jasem standing over him, breathing heavily.
"Good job big guy!" Dean said
"I didn't expect anything less from you" Adam said
Adam and Dean placed their hands on his shoulder as they complimented him for job well done, before they turned around and started walking away as Adam grabbed his shirt back from the ground.
Jasem looked at Zachary for a few moments, before he untied him and picked him up to carry him on his back. He followed the other two who was in front of him silently
*****
The guard who had come from the Heroes mansion was kneeling before the king, delivering the news of their kidnapping. The king stared at Halland, who was standing beside him, for a few moments before looking back at the guard.
"Are you sure that this man who is called Zachary kidnapped them?" The king asked the guard one more time to make sure. The guard nodded in response answered him immediately.
"Yes, according to the head butler of the mansion, he said when he woke up he couldn't find the three Heroes anywhere in the mansion, no matter where he looked. He also checked on Zachary to find his room empty as well. We believe that Zachary is working with the demon army as he couldn't do something like this by himself."
The king stayed silent for a few moments, thinking before he waved away the guard that was in front of him to leave.
After the guard left the hall, King Adham looked back at Halland who knelt down immediately as soon as the king's gaze fell upon him. He knew how grave his mistake was.
"Please let me fix this mistake by myself, I'll bring the head of this traitor and bring back the Heroes who will kneel before you."
King Adham didn't say anything for a while, he only looked at Halland who was lowering his head as he was kneeling. He placed his hands under Haland's chin and raised his head as he looked directly into his eyes as he spoke his next few words to him.
"If I don't see the three of them standing before me tomorrow, make sure to not come back here. Because I'll hang your head in the middle of the city for everyone to see."
Halland bowed again, before he stood up and left the Hall immediately heading to the stable to take his horse out and start looking for the Heroes.
He knew how bad this situation was for him as this ruthless king won't stop by just killing him, he knew his entire family was in danger as the king would kill them all. Like he did with his older brother who was supposed to be king before him.
*****
After walking for a few more hours, the three heroes saw a village in the distance. They stopped and looked at it from afar, unsure of what to expect.
They looked at Zachary who Jasem was carrying, they knew they wouldn't be able to bring him there with them.
The three agreed that two need to be here to guard Zachary, while one go and bring them supplies like food and clothes. They didn't brought any with them before they left the mansion.
"So who's going to be the one who would bring us the supplies from there." Said Dean who tried to look calm. He looked at the two with excited eyes that he couldn't hide as he wanted to go. But he didn't want to say it, he knew they wouldn't allow him to go.
Jasem looked at them and was the first to be out, he needed to stay here and control Zachary in case he escape as he was the most physically powerful among them
"It has to be one of you two, I need to stay here and watch this man" Adam looked at Jasem and agreed with his decision. He was about to stand up to go to the Village before Dean who stood up immediately as he heard what Jasem said.
He started heading toward the village before Adam could stand up, he grabbed the money that Zachary had in his pocket immediately as he ran
"Don't worry guys I will be back with a lot of things for you" Dean said as he ran
"Wait!" Adam shouted at him but Dean didn't respond. He started running even faster and acted like he didn't hear him at all.
Adam was about to sit down as he sighed before Jasem spoke to him, "Please go with him before he do something stupid"
Adam looked at Dean for a few moments. He was about to follow him before he remembered what he told him back at the mansion.
"Don't worry. He know what he's doing, have some trust in him." Adam said that with a smile on his face. He knew Dean can act properly when he need to. He trusted him as he had known him for a long time.
Even though Adam had a little doubt about Dean, he couldn't imagine his face right now. Dean, who was running toward the village was drooling. H ran like a maniac while blood was flying from his nose while holding the bag of coins he had tightly in his hand