Deric's Rescue

Kaden darted out of the room in a hurry. His friend was waiting for him. He bit the insides of his cheeks and strode through the hallway of the castle.

His squadron had the guard duty last night, so most of them were in their rooms right now. He rushed over and knocked on his lieutenant's door.

A groggy looking man walked out. "Captain, what is it?" he said with a yawn.

"I need to assemble all the golden squadron right now. To the borders," he said and bolted towards the weapons room.

Collecting his trusted long sword, he strode out of the castle.

Outside his men had assembled, with just their inner wear, shirt and pants.

All quieted down as he entered their sights.

"All squadron, our goal is to safely escort the hostage prince. Let's go," he ordered and marched away.

Along the way, his heart kept pounding irregularly. 'Deric hold on, I am coming,' he thought, clenching his sword hilt.

Darting through the forest, they soon reached the border in just twenty minutes.

"Captain, the enemy is not in sight," His lieutenant said with a confused look.

"They might be nearby, separate into three groups. Scout the area and report back," Kaden ordered.

His men rushed into the forest in teams of three, their steps quick and silent as they maundered thorough the trees.

Soon some men reported back that the enemy had set up camp west of their border.

"Let's go, we do not want to engage the enemy. I will do the talking, but always be on ready with your weapons." Kaden said.

The teams soon darted through the forest.

Just ten minutes to the west they found the enemy camp, but Kaden saw something even more heartbreaking.

His friend Deric tied up in a cage like an animal. His hunched naked back was covered in multitudes of scares.

Kaden held his gasp as he saw this. 'Deric, what have they done to you?' he thought as he gripped the sword hilt firmly. 'These monsters, they deserve to be punished in hell,'

The captain of the Lafta escort team noticed their arrival and greeted them with their swords drawn.

Kaden glared at him with undistinguished hatred. "Your team has done a 'good job' escorting. We can take up the job from now," he said with a dark look.

"We are in charge until the prince reaches your kingdom," the Lafta guard said to them.

Kaden humped. "This is what you call your 'duty', che. Enough is enough. No one here can afford to take responsibility if the hostage prince dies in our charge," Kaden said.

The Lafta's warrior started to sweat. "We..... We were doing what we were ordered to. But... but We can give up his charge. On one condition,"

Kaden lost his patience at this. "What more do you want?"

"The prince has to be escorted in his cage, that is what our king ordered," he said.

Kaden felt his blood boil. "How dare you order our Miriafa kingdom? Your king's orders do not apply here,"

Lafta lieutenant scoffed. "Sorry, but this is our orders, if we don't follow it the king will have our head,"

"I DONT CARE," Kaden shouted.

Arrogant Lafta lieutenant smirked, "Either the prince comes in his cage or we do let him into your kingdom." He whispered.

Kaden unshethered his sword and charged ahead, but one of his warriors held him back. "Kaden, if we attack now the peace treaty will fall through," he whispered into his ears.

Kaden glanced at the steel cage and gritted his teeth. "We will not forgive your humiliation today," he said.

Lafta's warriors snickered. "Hump, Men pull the cage here. Let Miriafa have our prince,"

Kaden watched as his friend being dragged around inside a huge cage. He rushed to the cage and tried opening the gates. But it was secured with a huge golden lock on it.

"Give me the keys," he threatened.

The Lafta warriors sneered. "The keys will only be submitted to Miriafa King," he said.

Rage, that's what Kaden felt at this moment. But his rational mind stopped his irrational behavior.

Taking a deep breath, he calmed his irregular breath. 'At least Deric is safe now,' he thought, consoling his aching heart.

He glanced at his dilapidated friend's back and frowned. 'If only I had to been here earlier, this would not have happened.'

Kaden shook his head and cleared his thoughts. It was not the time to be distracted. He needed to safely escort Deric to Miriafa, and for that his mind needs to be focused on the road.

The two Kingdoms warriors marched together. Lafta to the left and Miriafa to the right with the Hostage prince Deric's cage in the middle.

The delicate cooperation between them still brewed hostility.

When a Lafta proposed a peace treaty with Miriafa, they agreed to sentence its royal bloodline to death and that the last of the survivors is to be sentenced as the hostage prince.