King's Orders

The man awoke to see that his hands and neck were bound together with rope. His eyes wandered everywhere to make sense of the situation. The pain in his legs didn't give him any room to think, making it hard to focus. Looking up, he saw Galen and Zac chatting as they waited for him to wake up. A wave of fear washed over him, and he tried to move his arms, but the ropes held him tight. As silently as he could, he reached for a small blade out of his back pocket, hoping to escape while they were distracted. It was hard to reach with how far the distance between his fingers and his pocket was. He attempts it anyway, stretching out his fingers like never before, and he finally is able to grab it. He firmly holds onto the blade as to no chance of dropping it and starts cutting as fast as possible. The dull knife isn't able to cut through quickly, but at least it was cutting. Then he heard footsteps, knowing he's been caught. He cuts faster with little to no hope of actually getting through. "Shit!" he cried.

Galen is close, watching the guy struggle for his life. The knife finally got through the rope, and feeling Galen near him shook his spine. Once his arms were free, ignoring the rope around his neck, he started swinging, almost reaching Galen's ankles and choking himself to get close, trying to scream. He kept swinging, hoping to hit Galen. Galen started chuckling while watching him. "What are you doing?" Zac spoke up. With a disappointed look, Galen grabbed onto the guy's wrist, which kept wiggling around to swing. Galen ripped open his hands, took the knife, and threw it away.

"You better stop struggling, or I'm going to pluck your eye out," Galen threatened. Being kept alive and knowing they wanted information, and not wanting to endure torture. The guy with no hope of escaping tried biting his tongue to kill himself, but Galen clamped his jaw open with his hand before he could dig deep with his teeth. Getting annoyed, Zac slaps him on the side of the head to get his attention. "Anytime you move or do something we don't want you to do. I will stomp on your legs." Galen said. With fear in his eyes, the guy behaved and waited for the interrogations to start.

Zac walked up from behind Galen and started asking questions. "So, first, let's start with your name; then, why were you waiting for us?"

The guy looked down, thinking about lying to be let go instead of tortured more than necessary. But if he lied, then more problems would come later when he gets captured again. So, he decided to tell them the truth. "My name is Jorgen; I'm just a nobody who was following orders."

"Okay, now what kind of orders?" Jorgen stayed quiet to the question.

Annoyed at his silence, Galen stayed true to his promise and stomped on his already broken leg. This made Jorgen cry out in agony. "I know this hurts, but please answer my question," Zac said with no emotions.

Jorgen nodded and continued speaking. "We were waiting for a rival gang when we heard the rumors about them entering this forest." Zac didn't show that he knew what he was talking about and kept questioning.

"Why were you waiting for them?" Zac asked.

"It was the best opportunity to get the drop on them. If they didn't die in the forest, we were expecting them to be injured or something, and we would use that to our advantage."

Zac and Galen completely understood their goal. They were just a bunch of idiots who wanted more power and were willing to kill for it. "Why bother us if you were waiting for a Group?"

"I'm sorry, we were waiting here for a few days without anything to do, then we saw you and wanted to have fun." With tears running down his bruised face, he responded.

With no misunderstandings, Zac asked his last question. "And who told you there would be a gang going into this forest?"

"A man wearing a mask told us. He even paid us for giving us the info. We were initially suspicious, but there was no reason to deny the opportunity. Can you let me go, please!" Jorgen pleaded.

"I think I understand now," Zac said in a whisper.

Zac cut the rope around his neck with the hope of survival. He thanked Zac and Galen and crawled away. "Are you really just going to let him go?"

"He answered our questions... Make it quick." Zac ordered. With a broad smile on his face, "And here I thought you were soft." Galen chased after Jorgen. In the distance, Zac heard the sound of the guy begging for his life, asking why they backed down on their promise to Galen without an answer. Galen broke his neck, giving him a quick death. Zac left behind the forest and all the past feelings he had. It was no longer a question that scum should die in despair, just like their victims had. He was no longer going to be a victim of his memories, and he would wash away the pain that he experienced to ground himself in being able to make the hard decisions, decisions only someone with a mind and heart of stone could do. Zac would still mourn his mother, but it was time that it stopped torturing him.

There's no justice in the court system, and his justice only seemed natural to him. From now on, the only 'correct' justice he believed in was 'an eye for an eye.' There was nothing wrong with taking revenge because people deserved it. Justice wasn't blind. Vengeance was his new religion. And vengeance came in many forms: murder and torture. When the world went mad, he'd bring the madness right back by becoming the monster everyone feared. First will be Katrina, her father, the Knights that murdered his mother, the Nobles, and finally, Ray. Noticing the change in the atmosphere from Zac, Galen felt thrilled for the future ahead and what Zac could show him. Grabbing the SilverLeaf out of his pocket, he inspected it more closely now that he had the time, hoping to do something with it.

...

With Zac experiencing the worst of humanity, Jayton knelt in front of a statue of their God, praying. The church doors opened, and behind him, a girl spoke, "Jayton! Let's set off; we still have a long search ahead of us." With a bright smile, he turned towards the girl, and with her were two others. She wore a white robe with gold trim. The others wore gear that looked very expensive, something that only nobles could get a hold of. "Comming," He yelled while he threw a coin into a bowl where there were other coins. He got up and ran towards his group as they all happily left.

...

Katrina watched as the sun dropped in the sky, its warmth depleting across the land. She sat expressing anger, waiting for someone. Was it her father? No. It was Zac; the lingering feelings of being with Zac for two years made her worried for him even after all the things she's done to him. She waited even though it had already passed the time for him to have arrived back.

...

In a jail cell, a man with ragged clothes lurked in the dark corner, muttering something "My K-King, why?"

...

Ray meditated on a hill keeping his eyes closed as if he were sleeping. In his coat pocket, something poked out that looked like a bottle.

...

The Princess paced around her room with worry.

...

"There's no more time. Ray must be captured NOW! If we do not find him, my goals and everything I've built will be for nothing. This is no longer just a simple order, no matter how many people die, if we have to invade lands, and if we have to go to war. Ray must be captured, or everyone here will meet the end of my sword. Do you understand?" Knights filled the throne room, and the beautiful red carpet was covered with the scene of Knights kneeling to the King. In the back, a man grinning at the King's order with a pleased look. The same man that killed Zac's mother will finally let his true nature run wild at his majesty's order.

"YES, MY KING!" all the Knights said simultaneously. Their voices echoed throughout the halls and rooms leading outside to where the castle was surrounded. All the men stood ready to capture Ray once they found him. To the nobles who knew of Ray's existence, only one thing mattered to them besides capturing him alive. That was killing him so they could take his powers away from him and betray their King. Everyone wanted to become powerful, and Ray was their way of achieving such.

As night fell, an army of soldiers headed outside of the city, searching for Ray. On horseback, galloping through the darkness of the night, they searched throughout the country; they took the most reliable rumors and headed to their destinations. At each place they visited, they questioned anyone they could find who might know of Ray. The soldiers that got the wrong information from someone burnt down their entire towns, slaughtering and mowing down anyone who resisted. Children, elders, parents, and sexually assaulting women were fun to them. It showed that not only Nobles were corrupt, but everyone.

It was no longer simply following orders; they never hesitated to do it. Some were sadistic, some were greedy, and some were just plain stupid. Those that weren't smart enough to stay hidden died painfully, and those that ran were run over with horses and a spear to their backs. The people who resisted by fighting back were tied to horses, and their limbs were torn from four different directions. The screams of pain and terror reached the ears of nearby villages, making them feel pity for these poor souls, yet none dared help. Even if they tried to resist, they would have been slaughtered by the knights surrounding them. The Knights who were against the genocide were considered traitors and died along with everyone else.

All while this is happening, Zac ventures closer to the towns with Galen, unaware of what is going on.