Zack jumped backward, sweat dripping from his brow. Both sides of his chest ached, and his left eye was swollen shut. The lower part of his right shin ached from when he had accidentally kicked Dorn in the same place. The bones hitting each other had left them both momentarily stunned.

Across from him, Dorn was still cradling his injured hand. There was swelling around his broken nose, and he was forced to breathe heavily through his mouth. He was favoring his right leg while standing in place, seemingly content to wait the other boy out.

They had been fighting if it could even be called that for only a scant few minutes. Zack was exhausted and hurting, his stamina still lacking despite his training and constant running. Injuries of any kind made you burn through your stamina reserves faster than normal.

Dorn, on the other hand, had taken a few hits, but was largely undamaged. “Is that the best you can do?” He asked in a nasally voice, because of his broken nose. “I was expecting better from you after that sneak attack.” He touched his crooked nose with a wince.

Zack backed further away from him. “I doubt you were expecting anything at all. Why else would you have told them to let me go at all?” He pointed at the four leaning against the wall, enjoying the show. “You realize this is the second time, right? That you have attacked me with a group on your side.”

He coughed, a hint of copper touching the back of his tongue and throat. “I’m beginning to understand something about you. That underneath all the training your family put you through, the high-priced clothes and expensive haircut. You are nothing more than a coward, someone who is afraid of even facing a lowly orphan like me alone!” He wanted to groan, as he realized a second late, that his mouth was running away from him again.

Dorn’s face went red, his eyes flicking to their audience. He couldn’t let that kind of disrespect stand his pride alone, not to mention any other factors wouldn’t allow him to. Growling, he surged forward and swept the legs from beneath the impudent boy.

Zack toppled to the ground and rolled, desperate to get away from the stomping foot headed his way. The pinch of skin underneath a booted toe being ripped from his upper arm along with the sound of ripping fabric told everyone there he had only been mostly successful. Gritting his teeth against the flare of pain, he continued to roll away. Pain was nothing new to him, that alone would never be enough to break him.

“You honestly think I need a group of people to deal with the likes of you!” Dorn screamed, kicking a glancing blow against the ribs of the boy on the floor.

Zack felt his lungs temporarily seize up and gasped for air. “Now sure, but they had to do all of your dirty work first. They are the ones that brought me here, and then made sure I was sufficiently injured before taking up their spots on the wall.”

The noble hesitated, a flicker of unrealized doubt creeping in before being ruthlessly squashed by his pride.

Not one to let the chance go to waste, Zack regained his feet and stood. One of his arms was bloody and twinging constantly from the torn skin. His ribs had progressed from simply aching to painfully inhibiting his movements. Just because he could mentally ignore the pain his body was in didn’t mean anything physically. Ignoring a problem didn’t make it go away.

His vision swam, and dots of bright light burst across the space. He was getting close to the end of his ability to struggle and put up a fight. He was sure they all knew it too. Not that he was going to let that stop him. Zack had to make sure that Dorn was either too injured or tired to even think about going after Zara.

Only then could he think about stopping. Nothing else mattered.

Dorn snorted and shook his head. “I think I’ll enjoy breaking you during our time together from now on. Only once I’m done with you, will I move onto your little sister. Making you watch, in a broken state as I torture her repeatedly.”

“Why?” Zack gasped out, his blood running cold as he imagined the larger boy touching his sister. “What did we ever do to you, that would make you want to do something so despicable?”

Even the four on the wall were looking on with disgusted expressions behind their faceless masks.

“You annoyed me, ignored my warning, and then dared to attack me.” The boy grinned, showing off the flecks of blood on his teeth. “Besides, that first time and now this… I have discovered how incredibly satisfying it is to repeatedly beat down the same person.”

Dorn was willing to torture another person, simply because he had found the experience intoxicating in its own way.

It was a reason that Zack couldn’t abide. Such a person was worse than scum and couldn’t be allowed to live. He was on the same level as those researchers that had tortured him and his sister under the guise of experiments.

For the second time that he could remember, Zack lost control. Only this time, he wasn’t sitting on a couch beside a person who he wanted to protect.

His vision narrowed until Dorn alone could be seen through his one good eye. Nothing else mattered at that moment. Not the pain in his ribs, arm, or leg. Not his inability to breathe properly. All that mattered was hurting the boy in front of him and preventing him from ever hurting another person.

Anger alone was not enough to keep his damaged body going for long. The lights in the room flickered as Zack struggled with all he had. Unconsciously reaching for the magic that had kept him alive in the past.

His legs gave out first from a lack of oxygen, the weak, limp noodles refusing to support his weight any longer. Despite that, he struggled on with a single-minded focus that scared everyone in the room.

Nothing Dorn tried kept the boy down for long. Until finally the toe of his boot hit him in the temple, knocking him out.

“What was that?” He wheezed, backing away from the unconscious figure. The fingers on his injured hand were bent in ghastly directions. A lucky swipe from Zack had broken them even more than before. A few lucky hits with a surprising amount of power had hit him in the stomach and kidneys.

“If I had to guess, I would say that you finally made him angry enough to forget about everything else. All that mattered to him after that was hurting you as much as possible.”

Another of the four-spoke up then. “You shouldn’t have made this boy your enemy. People like him who are unstable are the worst opponents you could have.”

“Should I just kill him then?” Dorn asked, the adrenaline high beginning to fade.

“That is not up for us to decide. All we can say is that you will not be doing it here. We are thieves and kidnappers, occasionally even killers, when a job goes wrong. However, we are not murderers. If you intend to kill him, you will be doing it on your own and outside of our facilities.” The speaker was someone new to the scene who had just walked into the room. It was a distinguished, older-looking gentleman in a fine suit and a walking cane in one hand.

“Sir!” The four along the wall snapped to attention.

“Bring him back to the room with the others.”

“Wait,” Dorn protested.

“No, the contract our leader foolishly agreed to, has been completed.” The man looked disappointedly at the four. “Nowhere did we agree to feed your sick and degenerate tendencies. That is not how we do business. Is that clear?”

The four nodded, hanging their heads.

Dorn flushed in anger. “I’ll make sure my father hears about this.”

“Please do. He and your grandfather know how we operate. I’ll be interested in learning what they have to say concerning your proclivities.” He stepped to the side of the door, clearing the way for Zack to be carried through. “I must say, I am rather disappointed in not only my people but also in you.”

“Who are you?” Dorn watched Zack’s unconscious body be carried away before looking at the unmasked man. “I don’t recognize you.”

“Nor would you. I run in circles far more exclusive than you will even glimpse for years to come.” The cane clunked with every step he took and leaned on the extra support. “All you need to know is that I am not someone you can easily afford to offend. Something that you have already done with this little display of uncultured brutality.”

Dorn swallowed and shook his head. “Don’t get in my way, old man. This is between me and that boy.”

The tip of a cane poked at a drying puddle of blood. “And now you have disappointed and offended me for a second time. I look forward to what is coming. Your family poked a hornet’s nest they should have stayed clear of.” He wiped the cane on Dorn’s leg with a gentle smirk. “Something that from what I understand, they have done before. I’m afraid a bill your family won’t be able to afford is about to come due.”