As I crashed into the ground, pain slammed into my right side hard enough to take my breath away. A throbbing ache overtook my senses as I laid there and gasped for breath. The vivid greens that had almost blinded me in their beauty became muted and the savage nature of the world displayed itself as I took in the figures that surrounded us. 

Three men enclosed us, armed with savage blades that looked eager for blood. Each of them were dressed in dark leather clothing, streaked and stained with old blood. The stood as wide and as solid as walls, muscles bunching in an intimidating display. Each had dirty, mousy blond hair that stuck out in tufts. Their long faces mimicked the same sharp and angular characteristics, identifying them as siblings. As I studied their features, I slowly began to recognise them from my years of torture.

The Rodent Brothers, or at least that's what I internally called them. Thy took great pleasure in causing misery and agony, regularly taking part in Victor's 'sessions' with prisoners, particularly the larger brother. It wasn't uncommon for me to find them sporting bruised knuckles and sprayed blood, which I had no doubt wasn't theirs. They were cruel, vile beings and now they stod in the way of freedom.

Three sets of deep inset beedy eyes stared at me, their thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion as they saw my curled up body gasping for air and covered in blood. It made me internal wince at them seeing me so vunerable, until I realised I was covered in the blood of their master. I couldn't restrain myself from letting my lips stretch into a wide grin of glee.

"You." The larger brother bit out, taking a small step towards me as he started to come back to his senses.

Taking advantage of the distraction I presented, Prince Ashton leapt over my body towards the closest guard, the youngest brother. Sprinting towards him, he used his momentum to slide across the grass. With an impressive speed he slipped between the brothers braced legs, and whirled his body around to slash across his Achilles heel. The dagger sliced through his skin like butter and the youngest Rodent brother screamed in agony as he crumpled to the ground, collapsing to his knees. 

Lunging upwards onto his feet whilst the brother continued to wail in agony, the Prince towered over him and yanked his head back by the dirty tuft. He stared into the youngest Rodent's face, his own features eerily blank as he lifted him armed hand high and stabbed the knife into his eye, straight into his brain. 

The scream abruptly ended, chocked off by the shocked violence of his death. A deafening silence surrounded us as the body slowly slumped to the side.

I looked on in a silent blood thirsty glee, the horrors that was done to me and many others replaying in my head as I watch justice being served. I lifted my gaze to the other brother to find them frozen shock.

Not wasting any time, Prince Ashton yanked the knife back out of the Rodents head, swiftly wiping away the blood and ooze of the brother's eye, slipped the knife into the waist of his trousers and grabbed the dead man's sword. 

The sibling's continued to stare in astonishment of the quick extermination of their kin. Slowly, they dragged their gaze up to his killer, their sickly white skin now flushing with a scarlet hue of rage.

"You're going to fucking regret that." The larger bother seethed as they rushed him, letting out a blood thirsty roar.

The Prince stood there, braced with his new found sword, no expression on his face as he awaited the battle that was charging towards him, calm in the midst of their rage.

The brothers struck at the same time, their swords slashed down towards the Prince's body. My heart raced as the world seemed to slow down around me. My sole attention focused on the blades as they descended and the pounding of my blood filled my ears. The Prince gracefully darted backward, nimbly moving his body away from danger whilst he slashed his blade forward. 

He caught the tip of their weapons with his own, stopping their strike. With a twist of the wrists, he flung their blades back, countering their attack and taking an offensive strike whilst they left themselves open for attack. Lunging forward, he delivered small cuts to each man, deflecting each strike coming towards him with impressive sword manship.

With each step he pressed his advantage, maneuvering them until they were at a disadvantage before he bounded forward.

He smashed his foot into the smaller brother's abdomen and the man flew back, tumbling into a thick bush of thorns and nettles. The brother yelped in pain and became entangled within the thicket, allowing the Prince to spun towards the larger Rodent and gave him is full attention.

The new opponent stabbed at him, his sword glistening as it sliced through the air towards the Prince's body. With a quick flick of his wrist, the Prince parried with the sword and yanked the knife from his waist, swiftly slamming it down into the man's wrist, just as he brother lunged forward. The Rodent brother yelled an inhuman squeal of pain, almost dropping his sword before stabbing a clumsy hit at Prince Ashton. The Prince cleanly avoided the hit and they all slashed at each other, dancing and weaving between strikes until the pace picked up. 

The swords flew through the air, the clinging of hits sounded like charms in the breeze. Until the prince saw another opening. He dove forwards in a swift lunge. Stabbing the knife from his left hand, he caught larger guard's other wrist. Blood spurted from the wound and the man roared again in pain, dropping his sword. Prince Ashton whirled his blade outward from his chest. The swords sailed through the air in a clean line, decapitating the guard in one swoop. 

The body collapsed in a spray of gore, a red fountain running from the body's corpse. I studied the body as it slowly fell to the side. Satisfaction yet again filled me as haunting memories of the guard's taunting voice echoed in my thoughts. 

"Nooooo!" The final brother howled with rage as he also watched his sibling's death.

His face tightened in fury and his teeth bared in aggression as he untangled himself from the nettles and flew forwards in a flurry of attacks.

But the prince was calm, parrying the blows with practised movements whilst studying his opponent. Anger blinded the man, his strikes come fast and furious. But as time passed they become sloppy and uncoordinated in his desperation. 

Sensing this, the prince moved with stealth as he saw another opening.

As the guard struck low, the prince quickly deflected. Quick as a snake, he then grabbed onto the man's wrist. Holding the sworded hand immobile, the prince squeezed until I practically heard the bones grind together. Whilst the man was held within his grasp, he pierced him through with his blade. The sword slid through the enemy like butter, sliding out the other side until he was impaled on the blade. The man stared at the prince in shock, blood trickling out of his mouth as his eyes clouded over in death. 

Prince Ashton push the body off the sword, panting after the brutal battle. An eery silence was left in the aftermath, but I could hear the echos of the battle ringing in my ears. I let out a small blessing to the gods that it was this man I managed to save. If I had managed to escape the prison on my own, I certainly would have been killed by the Rodent brothers.

Adrenaline still pumped through my body and I struggled to lift myself to sit. I took in the dead bodies laying on the floor and slowly turned to the Prince, spurting out the question before I could think, "If you could do that, then how the hell did you manage to get yourself caught?"

His lips twisted before he smoothed out his expression, "I was betrayed."

I opened to reply but he interrupted me with a slash of his wrist, "Now is not the time to talk. We need to go."

I shut my mouth and nodded, struggling to stand, pulling at what little energy I had left from the adrenaline rush.

Seeing me struggle the Prince removed a belt and sheath from one of the bodies, tied it around his waist, slid in his new weapon and strode over to me. Wrapping an arm under my legs and behind my back, he lifted me without even uttering a grunt of discomfort.

I let out a little gasp of surprise before wrapping my arms around his neck, "Oh, er. Thanks."

"Which way?" he uttered, ignoring my thanks as he looked around us.

I looked around with him, trying to dig up any memory of where we were being held. "Sorry, I can't help you. I wasn't conscious when I was brought here and I've been here for... Too long." I was ashamed of my lack of knowledge. How did I ever expect to escape on my own?

He grunted and slowly spun in a circle, studying the area. It seemed our prison was located within a thick woodland. Trees stood high and proud, spreading their limbs until sunlight had to fight its way through the thick green shrubbery. Vines, nettles and dense underbush lay thick on the forest floor, making it hard to see any way out, exception for two clear pathways which nature had tried to reclaim.

I supposed it wasn't surprising that the area was secluded, but I was surprised that we were held in a area so beautiful compared to the horror that was found within the compound.

I had expected the Prince to start walking on one of the paths, thinking surely it would lead to some kind of civilisations. However, he turn completely away from them and strode towards the thickest part of nature, agilely avoiding stinging nettles and thorns as he made our way away from the place of torture.

"Why haven't you taken one of the paths?" I decided to question quietly.

"The people who take those paths clearly know about the prison we were taken to. They would either be a part of that organisation or would have known about it and not thought to help any of us. Either way that path does not lead to friends." He gruffly replied, all the while his eyes searching our surroundings.

"Ah, makes sense."

"That being said, you're also not in the best of conditions right now. I can't afford to look out for you and take on enemies as well. It's best if we hide, take caution and wait until you are better before taking the riskier paths." He further explained.

I gave him a faint nod before resting my head upon his shoulder. The weight of what had happened finally dawned upon me, and the weakness after exhausting my powers started to drain my senses, calling me to the land of slumber to reengerise. But I fought off the sensation, aware that even though we had escaped the building, we were not out of the woods yet. Literally.