Silver waited as his companion sawed surreptitiously through the ropes of his hands. Holding the knife between his legs, Ethyn rubbed his hands up against it as fiber after fiber was cut away.

The Guardian couldn't help but notice the growing merriment around the fire. The criminals were toasting each other and all the adventures they would have once they were done with Silver. The cloaked man knew that sooner or later, they would act on those compulsions. Anxiously he counted as precious seconds passed. After what seemed like an eternity, he heard a small rustling sound: Ethyn's wrist bindings giving way.

"Keep going. Get us free of this blasted tree before they notice," Silver hissed.

"I am trying," Ethyn said as he turned the knife on the rope around his chest. With his hands free, he could actually get the blade into a position to free them both from the larger coil.

The soft ripping sound made Silver cringe. To him, it might as well have been an ax chopping wood; it was so loud. However, the men at the fire did not seem to notice. Berk, having dulled his pain even further with the strong drink, was asleep sprawled on the cold ground.

"Never could drink very much, that one." Jarek announced loudly.

The others laughed as Berk snored noisily.

"What'll we do when we get to Lakyle, boss?" Curtenus asked after the laughter died down.

"I don't know about you, but I'll be back to cheating, stealing and killing anyone that gets in my way." Jarek's speech was slightly slurred. "That is, once we deal with that Guardian over there." The leader motioned with the bottle toward the tree, but did not give it a glance.

"You really going to drop him off a cliff?" Axel asked. He'd seen his boss do terrible things, so he wasn't surprised by the response.

"Of course. It doesn't have to be a high cliff to be effective. Shouldn't take us too far out of our way. We'll dump them both tomorrow morning and be happily on our way before noon." Jarek was sure of himself.

'I knew it! He's not going to let Ethyn go.' Silver, who had been flexing his hands and wrists constantly to loosen his bonds, felt his bindings give slightly. He redoubled his effort.

Jarek couldn't resist the chance to anger his captive, "You hear that, Silver? We are throwing both of you off a cliff in the morning. That way you can be roommates in the next life too." Jarek laughed at his own morbid joke.

Silver didn't like attention being thrown his way. Ideally he would have helped Ethyn escape while the men were unaware and then come back to deal with them himself. With the uncertain firelight and the tree mostly blocking their view of the boy, they would likely not immediately see what was happening. However nothing was guaranteed. 'I have got to distract them. I just hope Ethyn is nearly done.'

"Roommates in the afterlife, you say? How about you join us, Jarek?" Silver responded coolly. "I am sure we could find a special place for you. Or better yet, how about you take the boy's place? After all, you said you'd free him."

Jarek's eyes narrowed. He got up and stumbled his way toward his captives. "Are you threatening me?"

"Sure sounded like it ta me, boss. He ain't got a leg ta stand on, neither." Ruadh laughed.

"Perhaps I should teach him a lesson, boys." Jarek laid his bottle to one side as if it were a precious gem. Then he took a few menacing steps toward the captives.

Silver scoffed at his intimidation, "Torture me all you want. In the end, you will pay the price."

Jarek smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. "Oh it's not you I aim to harm. That boy of yours will take the pain on your behalf."

Angered, Silver struggled against the ropes to get to the bandit. Out of the corner of his eye the Guardian saw a blur move off in the forest. Silver jerked his head toward the threat and squinted his eyes. He had been so preoccupied with monitoring the bandits that he had not been vigilant keeping an eye on the forest. He could now sense the presence among the trees.

Jarek noticed the sudden change. "Eh? What are you looking at?" He turned his head but could not make out anything in the shadows.

"Nothing." Silver said defiantly. "I just did not feel like staring at your ugly face anymore."

"No, I saw him boss. He was looking at something for sure." Curtenus chimed in nervously. All the men except Berk began to search the darkness in earnest.

Jarek rounded on the Guardian, "What did you see? Tell me." The boss kicked Ethyn in the side to emphasize his point. The boy cried out in pain from the blow, nearly dropping the blade. Thankfully, the shadow of the tree hid this from the leader. The Guardian worked hard to control his anger. When someone hurt a person he cared about, he felt like a beast about to go savage. He needed to keep his head.

"Fine," Silver muttered, an idea growing in his mind. "There is definitely something out there. It could be a pack of wolves. If so, they would be ravenous after a cold winter like we have had. But that would be the least of your worries." His voice was sinister.

"Wha da ya mean?" Ruadh asked, fearing the worst.

Silver's eyes flashed. "You know what I mean, Ruahd. It is probably my little pet come looking for me. He will not be too pleased to find me tied to a tree."

"You mean the Demon Beast?!" Ruadh was visibly shaken. He knew he had seen something evil. Now it would consume them all. The man with the scar whimpered.

"Shut up, you coward. There is no such thing." Jarek yelled. His anger betrayed his doubt.

"If there's not, then you have nothing to worry about." Silver said, stalling. He took a deep breath and felt the rope around his chest give. They were unbound from the tree at last, but Jarek, in his drunken haze, hadn't noticed. "But what if the demon beast is just biding his time… circling… waiting to strike. Why any moment, you could hear his howl, right before he attacks." Silver's voice trailed off into a whisper.

There was a pause while everything was silent, and then Silver loosed his own howl into the night. To his surprise, many other howls joined him. Silver did not have time to focus on this fact. When Jarek glanced toward the forest. Silver kicked out his leg and knocked the big man to the ground. He pulled free of the tree.

"Run!" he told Ethyn, shoving the boy toward the forest.

The Guardian somersaulted across the ground, pushing his foot against the rope around his own hands until it flew clear. His motions landed him at the base of the pile of weapons before any of the men could react. He scrambled to find the bow and quiver to sling on his back as his pulled one of his remaining daggers from his cloak.

Axel was the first to recover. In a fit of rage and fear, he took his club and lunged at the hooded figure. It was unfortunate that Berk chose this exact moment to roll over and begin to rouse. Axel tripped over his companion and landed in a heap.

Silver was quickly surrounded. Even in a compromised state, five men were not to be taken lightly. He spun in a circle, but did not see Jarek flick his knife free of his belt. Ethyn saw it, though. Instead of fleeing as instructed, the boy charged. He struck the larger man just as Jarek released his throw. The knife went just wide of Silver's head.

"Why you little brat!" Jarek pinned the boy to the ground and raised his fist to give him a crushing blow to the head. Ethyn turned his head and closed his eyes tightly. He hoped it would all be over quickly.

"Stop!" The sound echoed through the clearing. Everyone froze, trying to discern who had spoken. "Drop your weapons," the mysterious voice continued.

Jarek released the child and stood. In a flash, Ethyn rolled away from the leader's grasp and crawled toward the trees. The boss stood and stared at Silver, sure this was another trick.

Silver shrugged, "You heard him. Tell your men to drop their weapons."

Jarek cursed and took a step toward the Guardian. "Even with whoever is out there, there's still only two of you and the boy. We have got you out numbered."

"Do you? Are you sure?"

The certainty in Silver's voice caused Jarek to pause. Then he saw three men come from the shadows, weapons drawn. The odds suddenly tilted in the hero's favor, the Jarek's inebriated men had no choice but to raise their hands in surrender. They were quickly disarmed by the newcomers. Even Berk, who had finally seemed to comprehend what was going on, hung his head in shame as he threw Ethyn's small sword—along with his own—into the shrubs.

Only Jarek stood facing Silver. The Guardian gave one final warning, "Surrender yourself. You have no weapon and this dagger would love nothing more than to find its home in your chest." Silver indicated the blade in his hand.

Without warning, Jarek turned and ran. 'Coward,' Silver sighed. The Guardian sheathed the dagger in his belt and drew out a set of balls connected by cables. The balls whizzed through the air and wound round the legs of the fleeing criminal. Jarek's arm's flailed as he tried to keep his balance and failed. Like a spill of water, he splashed onto the ground.

Before Jarek knew what had happened, the Guardian was neatly tying his hands behind his back. "I am pretty sure I said to surrender, not bolt. I really should have killed you."