The three were quickly surrounded and tossed into a vehicle. Zack and Zara refused to let go of the bears and kicked the men away when they tried to pry them from their fingers. It only took one well-placed kick for each of them to decide they didn’t care if the siblings held onto the harmless stuffed animals.

Instead, they chose to focus their attention on tying Jean’s hands and feet. All the while keeping their weapons trained on her should she choose to kick them.

They had been ordered to deliver the kids alive. Her, they were merely keeping as insurance, nothing more. Shooting her meant little to them if the trouble she caused outweighed the potential benefits she brought in their minds.

Any chance she had of protecting them meant she needed to stay alive. She was lucky they hadn’t just killed her for shooting one of their own a minute earlier. So, she complied and let them tie her hands and feet before getting roughly tossed into the back of the vehicle.

“We should hurry. I want to be well away from this place when the Major and whoever those other two are, find out about this.” A twitchy man sitting next to Zack told the two sitting upfront.

“Don’t worry, we will be,” The driver said, backing the vehicle up. The front wheels bounced up into the air as they ran over the man’s legs from before. The three laughed and made a couple of crude jokes as they heard bones break and crunch from outside.

There was a muttered, “Disgusting,” from Jean in the back.

Zack did his best to ignore them all and cleaned the remaining blood Zara had missed from her face. Aisha and Zelda, however, were lost causes. He had planned on giving all three bears a nice thorough, deep cleaning once they got back to the dorm. Hopefully, before they were permanently stained. There was little chance of that happening now.

“She is not going to be happy if all that blood stains,” Zara whispered to him, apparently thinking the same thing.

“No, she won’t,” Zack agreed.

The idiot at his side elbowed him and told them both to shut up. There was nothing more for them to do but look out the windows and listen to the rather crude topics that were bandied back and forth between the three men.

The dark, starry night sky had barely begun to lighten on the distant horizon, depriving the two of any interesting scenery. The driver kept the vehicle to roads that were seemingly less traveled. Avoiding the nearby capital city entirely and heading out towards the farming region that surrounded every city. Distant lights from a few early risers or those late to bed could be seen as they neared a farming settlement.

Occasionally they would hear Jean shifting around in the back, and would take turns looking back to make sure she was alright.

“Where are you taking us?” Zack finally asked after they had been sitting and listening to them for some time.

“I told you, we’re taking you to see that Dorn brat.” The driver answered impatiently.

“Yes, I understand that.” Zack drawled. “I was speaking more location and time or distance-wise. Information that would be valuable if, say, I wanted to perhaps pee. Would it be faster to just water this fellow next to me like a tree, or hold it because we are almost there?”

Zara lightly jabbed him in the side, but still giggled. It would be a miracle if his mouth didn’t get him killed one of these days. He really needed to work harder at controlling it. Still, feeling the goon squirm away from him at the childish threat was entertaining in its own right.

“Don’t you dare. We’ll be there in just a minute.” The driver looked back in disgust, causing the vehicle to swerve all over the road.

Zack shrugged and winked at Zara.

True to his word, the driver pulled off the main road a minute later and took them down a long, dark driveway. At the end of it was a single, extensive building with an attached warehouse. He drove the vehicle through the open doors of the warehouse and stopped at the very back. A set of closed, wide double doors were illuminated by the headlights.

“Alright, now get out and find a corner to water, and don’t think of running. We still have your sister!” The driver turned around and said with a growl.

Zack did his best to keep a smirk from his face as he replied. “I’m good. I don’t actually need to go. I just wanted to let her know how much longer she has to prepare, is all.” He tilted his head towards the open back.

Jean popped into view behind the man sitting next to him and plunged her knife into the man’s back from behind. The sharp blade slid through the thin padding of the military seat and skewered his heart. Killing him instantly.

Working free of the ropes had taken some time, which they had generously given her with the long trip. Then she simply had to wait for the right time and use the knife she always had hidden in the small of her back. The one in her boot had been taken earlier.

Just like that, their captors were down to two.

Which they didn’t like, naturally.

The goon sitting upfront with the driver pulled out one of the confiscated military model Majair pistols and pointed it at her. “If it wasn’t for our shares of the money, just having jumped in size a rather sizeable amount, I’d be thinking you’re far more trouble than you’re worth right about now. Like I said, though, what you just did is worth a whole lot. So, I’m going to let you live, retie your hands and legs, and instead let that walking piggy bank named Dorn decide what to do with you. Now everybody out.”

He kept the weapon trained on her the entire time, not giving her another chance to act up.

Jean carefully raised her hands and waited for the driver to get out and run around to the back. Her hands were tied even more securely this time, while her legs were merely hobbled so she couldn’t run or kick.

Zara yawned as she opened the door and climbed out, Aisha hanging limply in her arms. She couldn’t remember when she had last slept, and it was getting to her. The thinly padded seats had been uncomfortable, and a light doze was the best she had managed.

Zack shuffled out behind her, Zelda clutched tightly in his arms. Something the two goons made sure to mock them about.

“What is with you two and teddy bears? Aren’t you too old to be carrying around things like that?”

Zack moved Zara behind before answering in a tired tone. “You’re just the Albright corporation’s goons and our captors. What does it even matter to you? Let’s just get this taken care of.”

“You’re that eager to die and have your sister taken from you?” The driver, who now had his own weapon out and trained on Jean, asked in surprise.

“No, I am just curious as to which of you will be the next to die, is all.” He debated with a smirk.

The two-armed men shared a look, knowing the truth behind his words. There was too much money on the line for them to not at least try and take it all. It was their way as greedy travelers who worked for the highest bidder. Money topped all allegiances.

“Whatever, go through the doors. We have a little surprise waiting for you on the other side.” The one who had been driving told them with a malicious smirk of his own.

Zara moved around to his side as the second kidnapper opened the door for them. He ushered them in with a wave of the sleek Majair.

“Who was it that told me before about nobles and corporations hiding the existence of more portals from the crown?” Zack asked Jean somewhat rhetorically as they walked through the doors.

Hovering ever so slightly above the floor was a portal the Albrights had never reported the existence of. Zara nudged him softly and pointed at the markings around its edge. The power marking bands were almost completely black, with only the thinnest of light areas separating them. The inside of this portal would contain very strong monsters, as well as some dense mana crystals.

“Not me, but they were definitely right. They do, do that.” Jean was looking at the portal in growing horror and resignation. She had also noticed the strength indicators of the portal.

“Now let’s get you three to go through first, the bank, I mean Dorn is waiting on the other side. It was stupid of him if you ask me to enter before we got here, but what do I know?”

“Not much apparently.” Jean pointed to the glowing remains of some pipe ash and pushed the children forward. “They just barely entered as well. I wonder why they didn’t wait?” She looked down at her uniform and then smirked. “Maybe they got the wrong idea about you two.”

Zack rolled his eyes, but played along. “True, I wonder if I was wrong. Maybe neither of you will be getting away with the money.”

The two Majair pistols began to whine as they charged. “We’ll see about that!”