When the sun was finally no loner visible, the two of them started to move. Aldryn was instructed to head to the Western side of the building. There was an old tree peeking out of the forest and if he used the powers of the Thrae, the blonde could easily leap to the mansion’s roof. While the Kenman himself would approach the building in one of its blind spots located in the Eastern side.

There was another small semi-detached building that was most likely used as a storage for something by its old owners. There were no windows from that side and only a single door, making it the perfect target. Once in position, Aldryn was supposed glance in the windows of the second floor while the Kenman in those on the first one. They planned to glance in every window and see if they could spot Klyran. After that, the two of them were supposed to meet at the Northern wing and share their findings.

The blonde went all over the floor and would freeze whenever he heard something. Often, he would look down at his cloak, to make sure that it was covering his whole body, since his usual clothes were not meant for stealth. Despite looking all around it, he never managed to find Klyran, nor anyone on the second floor. He sat down on the tiles and waited for the Kenman at their meeting spot.

'Let's just hope that he is simply downstairs' the blonde silently prayed, fearing of what might happen if Klyran was not at this location.

"We'll find him" the fox reassured him.

"Yeah..." Aldryn huffed back, "Let's just hope that he'll be alive when we do."

When the other man arrived and heard the information from the blonde, he gave a relieved sigh.

“The little Ryan is on the first floor. I saw him” he said and then scolded the blonde when he wanted to jump down.

“I will go through the front door and distract them” he explained, “You go through that window” he said pointing behind the apostle, “It’s right near the stairs. While their attention is on me, you free little Klyran.”

With a nod, Aldryn went inside and sneaked his was around to the stairs. He stood patiently and would glance every so often to make sure that nobody would notice him. Luckily, the Scavengers set Klyran right under the stair rails. It made his task easier. Once the Kenman distracted them, all the blonde had to do was jump down and free the Ryan. He took out his dagger and waited for his chance.

Meanwhile, after Aldryn left through the window, the Kenman took a deep breath and stretched his arms.

“This is going to be either fun or annoying” he said to himself, while rolling his shoulders. They popped and his bones creaked from the sudden movement, having not been actively used for combat in the past few years.

Then, he went toward the door, no longer caring if he was noticed. He boldly strode toward the main entrance and grabbed its handle before slamming the door open. It made everyone inside jump to their feet. Both shock and surprise visible on their faces. It was the first time that someone dared to attack them. And the Scavengers were sure that it was an attack, since no simple human could possibly bypass their guards in the forest.

“You guys are really annoying” the Kenman then drawled, looking around the room.

Noticing just who it was, one of the men shouted out.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“It’s the Kenman” he announced and caused the others to tense.

Noticing the new arrival, Klyran tried to shout out as well. He wasn’t sure if the other man was here to save him or it was a coincidence. Either way, the Ryan didn’t want to take any risks and tried to draw his attention, to make him notice him and hopefully not leave him behind. Klyran tried to struggle, but the bonds were too tight. He even tried to summon is wings, only to shout in pain when the chains around him forcefully restricted them.

Despite the many people rushing at him, the Kenman didn’t even blink. He would dodge whenever someone would approach him and slam them with his elbow, causing the other to fall with a gasp. After such an attack, if the target didn't have their neck broken from the brute force, they would feel like fish out of the water, opening and closing their mouth wide in an attempt to breath.

Then, more people rushed to him. But every time, they would fall. The Kenman dodged them with ease and hit them in the body’s weak points to make sure they would not get back up. Those who were lucky enough to be able to grab him would either be slammed into the ground, or thrown off into another Scavengers. Some, who were hit by his fist or leg would even fly back into the wall. Sometimes causing a sickening crunch to be heard and for the person to fall limply to the ground. The most horrifying fact was that the Kenman never once even bothered to take out his weapon, despite dozens Scavengers rushing at him with their own drawn.

In that moment, all those rushing at him realized something. That they would most likely die that day. If the Kenman didn’t kill them, than one of their own would, for being a coward or a traitor. Then, when they all fell, another man rose.

“I guess you do deserve your reputation” he spoke with an arrogant smirk.

“Give him to me and nobody else has to get hurt” he said in a calm voice.

“That’s right” the other man spoke with a sinister laugh, “Go back to your mines and nobody has to get hurt.”

“You are a thousand years too young to even dream of landing a hit on me” the Kenman scoffed, causing the other man to grow angry.

“Don’t cross me” he growled and took out his weapons.

The new opponent was obviously someone more high ranked. The new Scavengers has obviously consumed quite a few creatures during his lifetime. Scales begun to grow all over his skin, a sign that he once ate a serpent of the North. While the new fangs and claws pointed to a wolf from the South. Then, he rushed to attack. His speed was faster than that of Aldryn and Klyran, which made the Ryan shout out again, trying to warn the Kenman.

This time, the older man took the fight more seriously. He took out his weapon and it clashed with his opponent's claws. Were his sword made out of the same steel that was normally used, the Kenman’s weapon would have snapped in half. The Scavenger used his new claws to try and rip his opponent to pieces. The two of them fought for some time. They both dodged and attacked. The fight was not easy for neither of them. Despite this, the Kenman remained calm. There was a scratch on his cheek, but it was nothing compared to the Scavenger. Seeing that their commander was slowly pushed back and was gaining more and more injuries by the second, the other men rushed to help him.

Then, when all the Scavengers from the mansion were finally dealing with the Kenman, Klyran felt a presence behind him. He turned his head around and noticed Aldryn gesturing him to be quiet. He quickly understood what was happening and nodded his head. In that moment, despite the horrible situation, the Ryan felt happy. Since those two risked their lives coming here to save him and he doubted that many people would do that for him.

'My life is kind of sad isn't is?' Klyran shook his head and then laid it on the ground with a deep exhale, 'Not the best time to feel sorry for yourself' he scolded himself.

With more people attacking, the Kenman could no longer move with his previous ease. A frown appeared on his face. Dodging became more difficult and he had to parry the attacks that he couldn’t avoid. At some point, one of the Scavengers even managed to throw a chain over his neck. Luckily, the Kenman quickly put up his metal arm and could make sure that he wouldn't choke. Then, with all his force, he pushed the chain and freed himself. Still, there was a red mark that remained and could be seen on either side of his neck following that.

While he was fighting, Aldryn was doing his best to free Klyran. He expected the Scavengers to use ropes or simple chains, but the ones around the Ryan were enforced by magic. He tried to break them, ro at least give Klyran enough space to wriggle out of them. Even the Thrae taking over didn’t help.

"What sort of magic is this?" the fox raged, feeling Aldryn's hands burning from the strong grip that he had over the restrains, yet without result.

When the Kenman finally managed to take care of the other Scavengers, save for the leader of this group. The other man shouted enraged. He couldn’t believe that his team was taken down, by a single person no less. It was only then that he noticed the blonde oracle helping their prisoner, making him realize that all this time the Kenman was a distraction.

“Well you guys turned out to be a disappointment” told the Scavenger with a smirk, despite obviously being tired.

“This is not the end of it. More of us will come after him” the man shouted enraged.

At this, the Kenman only hummed.

“Should I let you go as a warning to the others?” he wondered out-loud and then coldly looked at his opponent, “But then again…. I believe that a message is understood best when it doesn’t require a messenger”

With a cold smile, the Kenman used what was left of his powers and rushed at the man, slicing his head off before the latter could even understand what was happening. He then stabbed his sword into the ground and leaned on it, looking at Aldryn.

“One thing” he said exasperated, “I told you to do one thing” he said again as if not believing what he was seeing.

“The chains are not coming off. There is magic on them” Aldryn said in his defence, not sure if he was supposed to feel insulted or not.