Zane groaned. Waking up with a bad case of a headache. He felt like his skull was split open as the pain throbbed and showed no sign of leaving him. His barely open eyes were still hazy, but he still tried to make sense of his surrounding. He attempted to move. But he couldn’t. Zane was tied down on a chair with ropes spiraling around him, binding him to the flimsy-looking wooden chair. Then his eyes adjusted. Seeing the shadows that stood before him turning to a clearer image of two people that he recognized.

Zane frowned. Boiling from the inside as he stared at the beastkin girl that he saved. There were no more manacles binding her down, yet judging from how she stood with her hands on her hip, the backstabbing blow he received was no mere accident.

“So much for swearing on the Ancient Pride,” Zane scoffed. “And I’m starting to believe that it doesn’t even exist, am I right?”

His question was met with silence. Neither of the two spoke a word as they just stood there and stared at him like he was an art piece in Louvre Museum.

“Huh,” he sighed. Staring at the ceiling for a brief moment before looking back to Fethea. “So this is how it is . . . I guess you beast isn’t that much different from us human after all.”

Fethea narrowed her eyes. “Mind your words, human,” she warned. “Or else I’ll cut that tongue of yours.”

“Wow, just wow . . . It’s like what better way of treating your savior like threatening them by cutting their tongue off,” he chuckled. Dumbfounded by what was happening. He still couldn’t believe he was tied on a chair by someone that he saved. Deep inside him, his blood was boiling even hotter than magma. If he could he would slap the shit out of that smug look on Fethea.

“Didn’t I say—”

“I guess that’s how you animals are, huh,” Zane cut her off. Shoving his own petty revenge at the ungrateful bitch. “Just a fucking backstabbing cunt that’s too stupid to know what morality is. Pui.” He spat on the floor right in front of the girl he saved. Zane went pretty overboard there as he watched way too many movies.

Fethea blew up. She lunged forward and smacked a good hook right on Zane’s face. Bones cracked and his whole head turned to the other side. “Fuck!” he cursed. Then he cursed again. And again. And now with his feet stomping the wooden floor as the pain didn’t seem it would go away. If he saw his health points he would have seen it drop by twenty percent. Enough to show that her fist meant business.

Zane glared at her with eyes full of hate. From this act alone his impression of the beastkin went into a steep dive, crossing the untrustworthy line. Never again he would trust a beastkin that easily. And although it was quite shallow of him to do so, yet who could blame him? He saved the bitch from getting raped and being sent back to her slave master, and now here he was, strapped on a chair, getting punched on the face by the one he just saved.

Fethea grabbed Zane by the collar of his tee, pulling it up as the force slowly tear his shirt apart. Her claws made her appearance. Coming closer to Zane’s face as she said these words, “enough pretending, human. Tell me who sent you.”

He chuckled. Staring at Fethea not knowing what to say about all of this. He could only shake his head. “This is ridiculous,” Zane said in English.

“What did you just say?” she demanded. Fuming from the inside. She brought her face closer to Zane’s face. And usually, Zane would have loved being this close to a pretty woman, but after that betrayal, he felt nothing but disgust.

Zane just stared and said nothing. To think paranoia was enough for someone to turn their back on their savior was a big wake-up call for him. And again, another discovery with the dark side of the fantasy world.

The silence irked Fethea. She was about to deliver another bout of pain, but a big hand held her by the shoulder. Fethea and the Mountain-like man conversed in their Latin-like language. The man was calm while Fethea was seething in anger.

Then the guy took over as Fethea sat near the wall, leaning with her arms crossed over.

The Mountain-like man bent over and his deep calming voice asked him in gibberish.

“Sorry, man, but I don’t understand you,” Zane said. “And I see you’re going with the good cop, bad cop routine, and not gonna lie, I didn’t expect that . . . I guess where ever humans are we’re pretty much the same.”

The Mountain-like man repeated his words, putting more effort in each syllable he spoke. Yet it wasn’t going through. Judging by the shaking of the Mountain-like man’s head, it seemed he was wrong about Zane. He and Fethea conversed and then she shouted from afar. “He’s asking, do you work for the clergy?”

Zane looked straight into the Mountain-like man’s eyes. “No,” he shook his head.

“The Black Knife?”

“No.”

“The Golden Hands?”

“No.”

“Slaver’s Bay?”

“No.”

“The Kingdom?”

“No.”

“The Liberty?”

“No.”

The room went silent. The big guy sat back where his seat was as he and Fethea shared a conversation only to their ears.

Not like Zane would understand any of it. But his mouth had an itch in wanting to say something. By chance, his line of sight met with Fethea.

“You sure have a lot of enemies, and I can see why . . . Who wouldn’t want to kill a backstabbing bitch, right?” he mocked.

Fethea drew closer. And without saying a word, she smacked a hard one right on Zane’s face.

He felt something broke and the pain kept throbbing. “Fuck!” he shouted. Cursing as it was the only way of releasing this stress of his. Then he felt something flow down. Blood draining through his nose like an open tap.

“You know nothing about me,” Fethea said in her cold voice.

“But I do know one thing,” he smirked. “You’re a fucking ungrateful piece of shit.”

Fethea was shaking from top to bottom. She was on the verge of losing it and that mockery was the last straw. She yelled and pummeled her fist down at Zane in a maddening rage.

The Mountain-like man rushed over and stopped her from going overboard. He restrained her as she struggled to let loose and sent down her wrath at the man that kept edging her.

Zane chuckled as his face was bloody as hell. Blood and saliva mingled, dripping from the corner of his lips. His face was reddish, swelling. Yet the pain started to turn numb.

[Cooldown in progress]

[3:57:52]

Four hours left on the clock, and yet it was far too long for someone in Zane’s situation. He should have played along and wasted more time with these two rather than aggravating them with his piercing words. But who could blame him? He saved someone, and that someone fucked him back. That kind of thing wasn’t something Zane would let go that easily. And at the moment, blind hatred controlled him, letting his anger dictate every move and every word that he said.

The Mountain-like man had something in his hand. He came closer and poured it gently through Zane’s mouth. Slowly, his health was rejuvenating and within a minute, he was perfectly healed. His eyes opened back. Staring at the giant who just fed him some sort of recovery potion that was different from the Small Red Potion. Yet the glare from the bitch was hard not to notice.

“If you want to live, tell me who sent you,” Fethea said.

“Do I look like someone would send me?” he threw it back at her.

“Don’t lie to me, human. I’m not an idiot and I know a spy when I see one,” she said.

“Well, I guess you are an idiot then,” he fired back.

She grimaced. “Say it! Who do you work for!” she yelled to the top of her lung. The anger she repressed was slowly surfacing back again.

“Like I said I don’t work for anyone,” Zane said, calmly.

“Lies! No human in their right mind would learn the language of Tigris! Not without bad intention,” she said.

“Says the person who’s doing the bad thing,” Zane said.

“Tell me,” she drew closer, grabbing Zane by the shoulders. “What’s your plan? Are you here hoping to find the Tigris clan and end that Hundred-Year War? Or are you here to fool me into bringing you to the pride as you sow your rotten words into my brethren and cause discord?”

“I’ll tell you this,” Zane said. “I’m just a normal guy . . . And right now, you’re making one hell of a mistake.”

Fethea’s face twitched. She slapped him hard just because she wanted an outlet for her stress.

“Or are you here because you know I’m the princess of the Lionel Kingdom?” A piece of surprising news, yet Zane wasn’t bothered. “You help me, trying to gain my trust then as I bring you back to the kingdom, you’ll spy on me, spy on family, then spy on the whole kingdom. Is that it?” There was a look of pain in her eyes as if she shouldn’t divulge that information.

“I. Don’t. Give. A. Fuck,” Zane mocked. Making sure she heard it loud and clear.

“Tell me, damn it! Tell me why a human like you save a beastkin like me, and so insistent in accompanying me along?” she asked.

“Because I want to," he answered, looking dead serious in his eyes. "And I regret it,” he continued, letting that thought sunk in Fethea's mind.

“And what about the big guy?" Zane asked. "He’s human, and you’re quite chummy with him. Double standard much?”

“He’s different,” she said meekly.

Zane didn’t bother to reply to that nonsensical logic. He just kept himself silent and bid his time. The man had enough cursing for the day as he felt drained over what had happened.

Yet things were about to get ugly.

The big man took the front stage. And in his hand drew Zane’s attention. The wooden mallet rose high as the Mountain-like man slammed it against his hand. Bones broke and Zane screamed in pain. The giant man went on with the task, leaving no time for Zane to even recover. Breaking the other hand as Zane could only scream with tears trailing down his cheeks. And the pain of a hammer was much worse than a punch. After a while, Fethea asked him. “Who sent you?”

Zane felt like crying his heart out. No one sent him as all of this was just a misunderstanding. His bravado was now leaving him as he realized that he might die here in a cabin in the middle of the wood. The urge to survive took over and Zane pleaded.

“Please, this is all a misunderstanding, I’m—”

“Do it,” she cut him off. Then the big guy dropped the mallet at Zane’s head. He felt his skull crack. His brain shook from the impact as he felt hazy afterward. It hurt too much to breathe, to move, or even think. It felt like all hope had left his body, along with his lungs, and it made him want nothing but death. But without notice, his throat felt the motion of liquid flowing down. Within a minute he regained clarity and he was healed. Then he looked up, and he saw an iron hammer. And his heart shook.

Screams of pain echoed in the middle of the woods. A normal man was being tortured for something he didn’t know, and the pain continued until the hours passed.

Fethea and the Mountain-like man came out from the cabin, leaving the bloody Zane all on his own. His hands and feet were smashed. And even the slightest movement would jolt his nerves into excruciating pain. His eyes were barely opened, swelling reddish in the size of a golf ball. As that calm-looking man really made a mess out of him.

Yet Zane clung to life. He was still breathing and his mind was still thinking. Glancing to the side he saw his salvation.

[Cooldown in progress]

[00:00:20]

He had half a bloody smile. As the time grew near. Yet he couldn’t go home like this, not in this state. His eyes glanced at the table not far from where he was. The potion that was used on him was there along with the rest of his stuff, out from his bag. His spare clothes, his toiletries, his dagger, his pepper spray, and everything else sprawled on the wooden table. Now it was time to leave.

His lips mumbled and after three seconds, Force Beat pushed him off the wooden floor as his whole body along with the chair fell forward. Pain wrecked his body. But he endured. One of the chair legs broke, but that wasn’t why he did it. The hand that aimed was loosened a bit and with a bit of leeway, he wriggled his hand out from the restraint and cast his spell once more, aiming at the chair seat. Force Beat smashed everything into splinters and Zane escaped from his restraint.

He dragged his painful body across the floor, fighting against the pain. And with much effort, he snatched the potion and took a quick swig. His body gradually recovered and the pain started to lessen. Quickly he moved, stashing his stuff back in the bag. But then he heard it.

The door fell down as two people stood in the doorway. Zane found Fethea’s eyes and he said, “I am not going to forget this.”

He grabbed the bag then he uttered.

“Warp to Apartment 9116”

Then he vanished.