Still in the clearing they'd found, Keiro and Attia sat together as they shared a piece of meat taken from the deer Keiro and Ronan had managed to trap. Claudia and Finn were to their left, while Ronan was to their right. Karen was slowly picking at the cooked meat with a contorted look on her face, but nobody even bothered to speak to her. Keiro had made it perfectly clear how little he cared for the annoying complaining woman.

"It's so dry," Claudia commented and Keiro rolled his eyes before he took another bite.

"Yeah, the store was out of sauce. We'll try again tomorrow," he commented sarcastically, earning a hit from Attia. She didn't verbally reprimand him, but he got the point when Claudia and Finn glared at him.

"Just don't cook it for so long," Claudia commented.

"Don't build the fire so hot," Keiro replied.

"Do you know where the nearest town is?" Karen asked before Claudia could respond. She peered up at Keiro and watched him for a moment before her gaze shifted to Finn. Her eyes had skipped right over Claudia.

"Yes," Keiro answered eventually then turned away from the woman to focus on finishing up the meat. Karen stared at him, obvious expecting him to say more on the subject.

"Where?" she finally asked and he peered up at her slowly. With a sigh and shrug, his lift his free hand and pointed in any random direction before he returned his attention to his food. "That's the direction we came in from where they were holding us."

"Oh," Keiro replied as he narrowed his eyes and turned his hand to motion in the other direction. "That way, then." Finn, Claudia, and Ronan had collectively laughed, but Karen stared at him with narrowed eyes. Of course, Keiro had hardly noticed anyway.

"I can't believe we're just wandering through the forest and we don't even know where we are!" Karen ranted as she redirected her glare from Keiro to Finn every so often. "Did you even have a plan at all?"

"Yeah, to get away from your friends," Keiro replied before he turned back to Attia and took the large piece of meat from her hand. As he started to bite into the piece to tear a piece off, Karen glared at him.

"I can't believe we ran off without even knowing where we were going. How can you just run into the forest and not know where you're going. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever-"

"Shut up," Keiro snapped at her as he shoved the slab of meat into Attia's hand. Eyes wide, he stared around at the tree line of the clearing until his eyes focused on Finn.

"I heard it too," Finn said quickly as he rose to his feet and pulled Claudia to the center of the clearing. Keiro had reached into his boot to retrieve a knife and handed it off to Attia. Ronan produced his own weapon as he pulled Karen towards Claudia while Finn grabbed a knife for himself and handed one to Attia.

"I count three," Keiro said in a breath as he continued to look around for any sign of who or what essentially had them surrounded.

"I counted four," Attia replied as she tightened her grip on the handle of her knife.

"I don't know," Finn admitted, his own eyes scanning the tree line for any movement. Before the first figure passed the tree line and stepped into the clearing, the agonizing seconds of waiting seemed to last forever to the six.

The man was closest to Attia, but Keiro had quickly pulled on her arm to place himself between them. Though he'd removed Attia from immediate danger, two more figures quickly emerged from the trees. Ronan and Finn had approached the two as the first man had swung forward at Keiro, a knife in hand. Keiro blocked the man's arm before he tried to strike at him with his own weapon.

Claudia and Karen watched helplessly, neither quite sure of what else to do. Finn had surprisingly disarmed the man nearest to him rather quickly. He stepped over the man's knife and kicked it behind him without lowering his weapon or breaking eye contact. Ronan, who was significantly older than his five companions as well as their attackers, was only slightly slower. That lag in his reaction, however, opened the left side of his body to his attacker. It was Attia who'd thrown her knife at the man's shoulder before he'd been able to stab forward at her father.

When the man fell to the ground, Attia had stepped forward while Ronan took a step back. It seemed a year away from Incarceron had affected him more than he expected. Attia, now unarmed, was taken by surprise when a fourth figure had stepped into the clearing beside her. Before she'd been able to retrieve her weapon, the man's arm wrapped around her and pulled her back to him. She recognized him as Bryce right away. When Ronan had stepped towards the man who'd attacked him, Bryce pulled his small gun from the small of his back and pointed it at Ronan.

When Keiro had glanced over his should, he saw the development, and it had been enough to distract him for a second. In that small amount of time, the man in front of him had swung his knife and left a long but shallow gash across Keiro's arm and shoulder. The knife fell from his hand when his arm twitched from the wound. In a matter of seconds, the attacker had Keiro weaponless and at his mercy. One hand clasped over his wound in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. The distraction spread to Finn who had just as quickly lost power as he'd gained it.

Claudia avoided Finn and Keiro's faces, opting to stare at Bryce as he turned the gun to her and Karen. She knew herself well enough to know that seeing defeat on Finn and Keiro's face would shatter what little was left of her confidence as well.

"Move over there," Bryce directed as he waved the gun to one end of the clearing. At the same time, the two other men were binding Keiro and Finn's hands. The one with Finn had forced him to his feet before dragging him closer to Keiro and his captor. After leaving Finn there, the man went to the two women and Ronan to bind their hands as well. "Thought you could play me?" he questioned as he turned his face to Attia, his mouth centimeters from her face.

Attia tried to pull away from him but stop pulling against him when he forcefully grabbed her face to point his gun into the bottom of her chin. Keiro watched the interaction closely, not really sure how much he could stand to watch. He was vaguely aware of Finn fidgeting beside him but didn't care enough to turn to him. Finn might have very well been formulating his own escape plan, and Keiro wouldn't even have known.

Bryce grinned down at Attia until he pulled the gun from her and returned it to the small of his back. Keeping his grip on her, he turned to his two companions. "Check them for weapons," he ordered, his eyes scanning over Ronan and the women. When his eyes skipped to Finn and Keiro on the other side of the clearing, he began to grin, his eyes locking with Keiro. There was a slim chance she would succeed, but Attia took the opportunity anyway just like Keiro had predicted. She would never be the woman to give up. Keiro had blind faith Attia would fight back until she couldn't move and then some.

With one arm, she pushed Bryce's away from her, momentarily freeing herself from his grasp. He turned back to her immediately, his arm swinging, but she'd blocked the attack with her right arm. Keiro knew the spot would bruise. She'd quickly countered with an attack of her own, but she was significantly smaller and lighter than Bryce. He'd taken hold of her outstretched arm before striking her across the face with the back of his other hand. The momentum had pushed Attia away from me, but he kept hold of her arm, violently pulling her back to him.

Finn visibly saw Keiro's entire body go rigid as he swallowed hard. The King had no idea what it would be like to watch anybody treat Claudia so violently, but Finn knew the dynamic of Keiro and Attia's relationship was dramatically different from his and Claudia's. Keiro knew Attia could protect herself for the most part, but had to assume he was conflicted in letting her do so. Of course, he certainly had no choice in the matter currently.

When Bryce's hand wrapped around Attia's neck and pressed her against the largest rock formation, Keiro turned away to stare across the clearing at Ronan and the women. Finn noticed Keiro's chest rose and fell dramatically faster than it probably should have. When Finn looked across the clearing, he met Claudia's gaze for only a moment before he turned to Ronan. Unlike Keiro, Ronan's eyes remained glued to Attia and Bryce.

After Keiro seemed to get control of his emotions, he began to look around. When he met the stare of the man standing behind him and Finn, the man had attempted to strike him. Keiro quickly dodged the attack, but the man had stumbled over and fell onto Finn, the two men stumbling as Keiro looked to Ronan and the women.

"Get the gun, Attia," Keiro called out without looking back to her. He had kicked the man off of Finn before realizing Finn had cut his ropes with the man's knife. Turning his back to Finn, Keiro let him cut the ropes around his wrist. When he looked to Attia, he found Bryce had replaced his hand to Attia' throat, her hands pulling at the man's large hand, desperate for breath. Keiro glanced around quickly for any weapon until Finn handed him a knife. Keiro, however, couldn't go to Attia's aid when the second man had come charging at him. Finn had quickly scrambled away to until Claudia, Karen, and Ronan while Keiro was engaged in another fight.

"Get the gun!" he yelled again as he tried to subdue the man attacking him. Bryce basically ignored the development behind him, and when the sound of fabric ripping filled the air, Keiro had looked to Attia and Bryce immediately. He'd cut open the front of her shirt, his hands reaching to touch her bare skin. If Attia had a chance at all to fight back, it was then. Bryce was neither holding a weapon to her nor effectively holding her as his captive. But Keiro knew Attia had no chance of fighting back now that the man's hands were on her. Keiro quickly killed the man he fought with before he ran towards Bryce and managed to slash his back. Crying out, Bryce stepped back from Attia just enough for Keiro to pull her towards him. With one arm, Keiro pushed Attia behind him, fully aware she would not be capable of helping him should he crumble under Bryce's force.

Bryce only laughed as he produced his gun and pointed it at Keiro, but Keiro had no intention of stepping back. He could feel Attia's hand gently pressed against his back. He could even feel her tremble. In half a second, Keiro had lunged forward one arm going to Bryce's outstretched one. By the time he'd reacted and pulled the trigger, Keiro had redirected his arm enough so that the bullet missed him and Attia. Without second thinking himself at all, Keiro's knife sliced through the flesh of Bryce's neck. For good measure, Keiro had stabbed the man in the heart as well.

He was only vaguely aware that Claudia and Karen were watching and had never been subjected to the horrors of Incarceron. If they'd responded to the killing at all, he didn't notice or care. Quickly, Keiro let the body drop to the ground, knife and all, before he turned back to Attia. She'd tried to close the front of her shirt, but Keiro had blocked her from the four on the other side of the clearing once he reached her.

"I just froze," Attia said softly, but her voice carried in the quiet.

"I know. It's ok," Keiro replied quickly as he turned her towards the trees and walked with her out of the clearing. The two disappeared from the clearing before anybody could even respond to the scene that had just played out.