Chapter 22: A Little Tied Up

"I thought it was you." Jarek said smoothly. "Ruadh's talk of silver eyes was a give-away."

"Then you know I won't miss," Silver's voice was even and sure. His emotions were less so. 'This is my fault. I will fix this.'

Jarek continued casually, "Heard a rumor you had a boy with you lately. Is this him? He's got a lot to learn. Maybe I should teach him. He did say he wanted to become a bandit. I could teach him how to slit a throat."

The bandit leader ran his flat end of his blade across the boy's neck before pushing the sharp edge against it once more. Ethyn tried not to shiver.

Silver shot an arrow over the leader's head. Like rabbits, the men around him dove into the wet snow, but Jarek remained unmoved. The leader's confidence was unsettling.

"This is your final warning." Silver called, another arrow already in place.

Jarek's face contorted to reveal a wicked smile. "We seem to have a problem, but I have a solution. I will let the boy go, and you take his place. You know you are the one I have come to see. I went to a lot of trouble to get to you, Silver."

"I'm flattered…"

"So, what will it be?" the leader queried.

"Let him go, and I'll surrender."

"Surrender and I'll let him go."

Silver gritted his teeth. If it had been just him, there would be no issue with taking these men down, but he did not want to see Ethyn hurt. "Fine," he answered throwing his bow to one side. "Let him go."

Jarek nodded approvingly. "All in due time. Now no funny business. Raise those hands up. I would be a fool to believe that's your only weapon." He motioned to Curtenus and Ruadh. "Bring him here and search him."

The men brushed the snow off themselves and cautiously walked to the hooded figure. When it seemed he would give no trouble, they grabbed him roughly and dragged him in front of their boss. They bound his hands and began searching him.

They pulled out multiple knives, a sword, a whip, arrows, balls attached and made of metal, an ax-like blade, and a number of other armaments. The pile between Silver and Jarek kept growing. The guardian smirked beneath his hood. 'They'll never find them all, poor fools'. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Ethyn's foot stepping on one of the knives and dragging it toward him. He pretended not to notice as at last the men finally gave up their search.

"That's all o' 'em," Ruadh announced.

"Are you sure?" Jarek wasn't convinced.

"I don't know. That infernal cloak is magic. Holds more than it should." Curtenus responded with frustration.

"Maybe we should take the cloak too." Axel suggested.

"I wouldn't do that," a small voice piped in.

The men started to laugh, but Jarek silenced them. "Why not, boy?"

Ethyn pushed Jarek's arm a little to give him room to speak. "No one sees his face for a reason. One look will kill you. I have never seen his face, and I've been living with him. Take his cloak if you like, but let me hide first, please!" Ethyn's plea was genuine. He was not sure why no one saw his friend's face, but the village children had told him many tales. The boy wanted the men gone, but not at the expense of his life.

Jarek regarded him for a moment. The boy's fear was palpable. The leader yielded. "Fine. Tie them both to a tree."

"You said you would let the boy go." Silver growled in frustration. He used his inhuman strength to pull against the ropes, but the cords were too thick for him.

"I will…when I'm finished with you. Until then, he's useful to keep you in line." Jarek smirked. He released Ethyn. The boy quickly dropped to the ground feigning exhaustion, but Silver could see determination in his eyes. Before Ruadh could hoist him back up, Ethyn retrieved the knife from under his foot with his tied hands and slipped it quickly in his boot. The captives were forced to the closest tree and tied seated on the ground.

"What did you do to make them so mad?" Ethyn whispered.

Ruadh heard his question and couldn't help but respond. "Da hooded hero caught our boss unawares when he was robbin' da village a few years back. Didn't take too kindly to being told to move along. Boss decided it'd be better to take out Silver and was met with a nasty bump on his noggin. Da rest of us didn't fair no better. We woke up outside da jail wrapped up like a sausage-in-a-roll with a note pinned to us listin' our crimes."

In spite of the discomfort Ethyn felt from being tied to the tree, he couldn't help but giggle at the image. Ruadh hit Ethyn on the top of the head, "Ya think it's funny? Just wait till da boss gets his revenge. Jarek is clever. It took years, but we broke out. Now we gotta settle the score 'fore we head along to Lakyle."

"Quit your yapping, and come help get the blasted arrow out of Berk," Jarek called. Ruadh jumped and scurried away.

While the men were distracted, Silver wiggled his way around the side of the large tree to look at Ethyn. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" The Guardian asked earnestly.

"Which question do you want me to answer?" Ethyn asked with a half-smile.

Silver let out a sigh of relief and replied, "You are fine." The boy's calmness made Silver wonder if he had been in this sort of situation before. Most children, the man thought, would be crying and hysterical. Ethyn at most looked uncomfortable.

"I do have a little rope burn going on around my wrists," the boy whined softly. "It's terribly painful."

Seeing through his plea for sympathy, Silver's eyes narrowed. "It won't compare to the punishment you'll get when we get home. You will long for the days when you were just tied to a tree." The Guardian grunted as he tugged at the ropes around his chest. Ruadh had done a decent job, Silver was sad to find. "What were you thinking, following me into the night? I told you to stay put!"

"I tried, but when I saw the prints outside the window, I thought you were in trouble. I'm sorry." Ethyn's face was dejected. Silver's heart softened.

"I forgive you." The Gaurdian sighed. 'I can't blame him too much. I would have done the same.'

"Thanks." Ethyn paused. "What did he mean when he said you rolled them up like sausages?"

The hooded figure chuckled. "I would say they looked more like babies. I swaddled them up tight in blankets and laid them on the front of the prison steps. Not one of my finest moments, but with the damage they were doing to farms and people, I'd say my actions were justified. And it was funny."

Ethyn hadn't realized Silver had such a mischievous sense of humor. He wanted to know more, but Jarek had overheard them. "I hope you find it just as comical when I drop you wrapped up in exactly the same way over a cliff. I hope you laugh the whole way down." Jarek smiled cruelly, the humor never reaching his eyes. A shiver went down Ethyn's spine. When the leader turned back to his crew, the boy craned his neck to see Silver.

"We have got to get out of here."

"I know," Silver nodded as he struggled against the ropes.

"There's something I need to tell you," the boy said seriously.

Silver cut him off, "There will be time for all that later."

"But..." Ethyn tried again.

"We can talk about it when we are free. Now, I saw that little gift in you stashed in your boot. Can you get to it?" Knowing they could be overheard, the Guardian kept his voice as low as possible.

The boy cocked his head to one side. "I'm not sure. I'll try." Ethyn wriggled around to bend his knees. With great effort, he managed to pull his feet up beside him. His arms pinned to the tree and his wrist tied together, he stretched his smallest finger into the upper cuff of his sturdy brown boot. Leveraging his finger against his calf, he inched the knife out of his shoe little by little. "Ugh, it's stuck," he announced, frustrated.

"Stay calm. Take a deep breath. What do you mean by stuck?"

"The hilt is caught inside my shoe. It won't budge."

Silver glanced warily at the men around the fire. They had tended to Berk's injury and given him strong medicine. Now they were passing around a flask of something and toasting their success. 'Before long they'll be drunk. That means they'll either sleep it off or do something stupid. And it will probably be the latter,' the man thought as his could feel things become more urgent.

Silver struggled again to shift his cloak around to gain access, but it was caught on the rough tree bark. He would eventually get to it, but by then it might be too late. Silver sighed, "Look, they stripped me of most of my weapons, and I can't get to the ones they missed. Can you take off your boot?"

Ethyn looked at him, confused. "I will cut my foot."

"So?" The Guardian huffed impatiently.

"You're ok with me injuring myself?"

"Would you rather die?" The man in the hood hissed quietly. "Be careful and you probably won't get hurt. That is as long as you do it right…"

Ethyn was indignant, but he pushed his foot up until it was underneath him. Bracing his body over his boot, the boy slowly pulled his leg out from under him. It worked! Ethyn could feel the knife shifting as he pulled his leg loose. Just one more pull and his foot, along with the blade, would be released.

The boy, however, misjudged the final tug and felt a sharp sting across the top of his foot. He could feel hot liquid across his skin. Ethyn sucked in his breath and tried not to cry out. It hurt terribly, but his foot was free. After a moment of wriggling, the boy clasped his hand firmly around the knife.

"I got it." Ethyn whispered.

Silver gave an almost imperceptible nod, "Then get to cutting. We don't have much time."

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