He stepped out of the water reluctantly after washing the cloth he removed. He wanted a place to sleep and he was determined to find that place that will be conducive enough for a peaceful night's rest.
*******
His stomach must have mocked him for having such hope after eating so much raw fish.
When his stomach began hurting, he ignored its mockery and continued forward. When the pain intensified and he began sweating furiously, he bent forward with his hands wrapped around his stomach.
"You must go forward," he murmured with his hand gripping his abdomen as he hoped that would ease the pain despite how ridiculous that thought was.
Has he got camping or hiking? Yes, a lot of times. Hiking was one of his favorite sports and he could remember a few times he went camping with his friends.
"This is just a little pain," he told himself as he continued forward using the trees he approached to support his body.
They followed the water downward and continued down the rough part. With his trail continuing beside the water part, he was not scared that he would lose his way.
His legs gave way many times and they finally gave way totally when he lost his consciousness with his forehead blanketed in droplets of sweat.
*******
The mad sorcerer stood up and looked at the man dressed in apparel that spoke of the high position he held in the kingdom.
"I have killed the prince, I will bury him myself," the sorcerer told the man with bloodshot eyes fearlessly looking into the man's eyes.
"No," the proud man with a straight posture replied with his hands raised. He gestured to the bulky man behind him who immediately went to the lifeless-looking prince on the bed.
"You are not allowed to mutilate the body of a royal even if he offended you," the mad man hurried to stop the bulky man.
The bulky man wasted no time before he flung the mad sorcerer away. "The prince was killed by you. Unless you want to get executed most brutally, you must take a step back," the man warned him dangerously.
The sorcerer paused at that threat because he knew this man was more than capable and the royal's family must brutal execution sentence would kill both his body and his soul.
He will have to spend the rest of his eternity in the world of death. He had nothing to justify because they will believe a man like a man before him.
His status was the lowest after he had pursued outside the capital because of the ridiculousness of his experiment which was a taboo.
There was no way he would be able to justify his actions towards the prince and they will not believe him because even the contract the prince signed with him would not be good evidence to prove to the royal family that the prince had shown up at the door of his house willingly.
If the prince had magic, he would have been able to prove it through the contract as he would have left his signature spell on the contract but the prince had no magic.
The bulky man pulled out a knife and leaned forward before slitting the throat of the body on the bed.
The mad sorcerer who did not expect such brutality although he did not expect anything nice from them, opened his eyes wide as his legs lost their power and he slumped down to the ground with tears running down his cheeks.
"He was my friend. You killed my friend," the mad sorcerer cried with so much madness that befits his crazy reputation.
He stood up and launched forward intending to grip the man's collar but the man took a step back and snapped.
The sorcerer fell to the ground with his face and he never stood up as the men wrapped the prince's body into a bag.
They were long gone when he stood up. He looked at the empty bed stained with blood that the prince once laid on. In the past, he used himself for his experiments and when his secret was leaked to the authorities of the wizarding school, he was sent out in a disgraceful manner.
He felt betrayed because they were unwilling to take into account the fact that he had been with them for more than a century.
He concluded that they must be jealous that he was able to live for so long while still looking young. No one was willing to support him as the parents were scared that he will begin to use their children for his experiments.
The truth no one saw was the good man beneath that mad appearance. Even with the prince making him promise to kill him if the experiment failed, he was unwilling to kill him.
He raised his head and looked at the corpse that walked into the room. He stood up with tears still streaming from his eyes, staining his cheeks as he did not bother to clean his face.
"I still have you, right?" he asked the corpse as he approached the expressionless corpse. "He was not even much of a friend, to begin with. I must keep it secret.
"No one will know that I have ever had contact with the prince. It is a secret between you and me and those men. Do you understand?"
The corpse nodded as he wanted and he did not hesitate to throw his hands around the corpse's neck and hugged him.
"You are the only friend I have now," he told the corpse sincerely.
"Mhh" the corpse hummed just as he expected and he pulled away with his heart now at ease.
"We will leave and go as far as we can be from this place. We will find another place to do what we love doing," he began making plans for his future without the friend that had disrupted his life plans a little while the companionship lasted.
**********
Liam opened his eyes to the straw and wooden ceiling and he turned around to look at his environment. He could hear distant laughter and chatter of children. He was in a hut. He has never been to one in the past and has only seen it in pictures of Africa.