Trigger warnings: blood, concussion, injured animals, mentions of thoughts of death (not suicidal)

His lungs were stinging, shivers wracked his frame, the pounding of his head threatened to drop him off into the pit of unconsciousness he had only recently crawled out of…

He coughed violently, water pouring from his lips. His chest ached. Something was underneath him—no, he was being shoved against something?

He forced his mind to come to grips. He'd fallen, right? Fallen into the river, hit something—a rock?—nearly drowned, ran into something big, held on for dear life, just barely keeping his head above water. Then he'd blacked out.

His senses started returning, the first thing he noticed unfortunately being pain. Forcing his weary eyes open, he looked at the sun. He probably hadn't been out for more than a few minutes, but that was still too long. Turning his head, he could see that the structure supporting him was none other than the busted caravan.

Kiki and Kubwa skidded up to the edge of the river. Hector grimaced and pulled himself along the edge of the broken caravan, and the bearcat grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out onto solid land. He hacked up more water, the fire in his throat competing for attention with the throbbing in his head and the sensation of boulders crushing his abdomen. His fingers brushed against the side of his head, where blood mixed with the river water and matted his hair. He'd hit his head, right?

He turned to look back at the caravan. "Whe—az—t—" The broken attempts to speak caused a harsh cough to tear from his lungs. Weakly, he waved towards the caravan, which Kiki jumped on to and slipped in through a window. A moment later he returned, shaking his head.

It took Hector's dazed mind a moment to determine what was wrong with that situation. When it hit him, he yelped and tried to sit up, a sudden wave of nausea threatening to tear out his insides. He groaned and placed his forehead against the cold ground.

A concussion.

Great.

He tried to push himself up, but Kubwa gently nudged him back down. "C-can't," he rasped. "Tr—Var."

The animals looked up at the Tree in whose shadow they stood. Kubwa moved so Hector could grab the saddle and pull himself up, Kiki steadying him. As soon as he was on the rhino's back, Artemis flew down and rested on Kubwa's head, eyeing Hector judgingly. He probably looked like death, to be honest. He grabbed a canteen of water and downed about half of it in one swallow.

He tried to keep his balance on the swaying back of his loyal rhino, which was much harder than it should have been. He hadn't had a concussion in years, and this was the worst possible time to have one. Through the fog clouding his mind, he was dimly aware that Varian was in danger. Why? Riki was with him, wasn't he? He'd sent the bearcat with him to protect him. But if the invaders got to the Tree, which he was sure they must have by now, then Riki might not be able to fend them all off. Especially—

Oh, crap.

His sister was here.

She'd kicked him off the cliff. She was with the Sundrop. More than likely, Varian would garner no sympathy from her.

So it was one bearcat, one raccoon, and one child versus seven enemies. They had to hurry, before anything bad happened.

If his nephew so much as had a single bruise when Hector got to him…

He'd what? He was concussed, bloodied, and aching. If he tried to face Adira like this, she'd destroy him. He'd fought multiple opponents in instances when he'd been in much worse condition, but this was Adira. It took everything he had to best her on a good day. Plus there were the others.

He'd deal with that if the situation arose. Right now his priority had to be finding Varian and getting him to safety before the others discovered he was here.

Kubwa bore him up the path leading to the Tree. As they stepped through the arch, Artemis immediately started circling up toward the higher paths to search. Hector slipped off Kubwa's back and steadied himself against his side. He needed to be prepared, and that meant establishing just how badly he was hurt. All his fingers seemed to work; his arms moved okay, if a bit stiffly; his left leg ached, probably having been twisted when he fell. The only real damage appeared to be his concussion.

Despite the fuzziness in his mind, he could tell the Tree was too quiet. He didn't like it. Leaning against Kubwa, he examined the footprints in the soft grass. They had definitely come this way, and Adira had apparently taken time to explain the history of the Tree to them, judging my the now-uncovered mural of Zhan Tiri on the wall. He couldn't have been out for more than five minutes, so if they had stopped here, he was probably right behind them.

Kiki suddenly screeched and darted over to a bundle of gray fur halfway hidden by the dense foliage. He pawed at it anxiously until Hector stumbled over.

Riki.

He knelt to examine him. He was awake but dazed, his head leaned up against the base of a tree, skid marks in the grass where he had been thrown. A bandage was wrapped around his left foreleg, blood seeping through it.

Adira. His sister didn't have it in her to leave an injured animal untreated. Commit treason? Sure. But never let an animal bleed out. He stroked Riki's head. The bearcat attempted to get to his feet, but his wounded leg kept him down.

"Stay here, 'kay?" Hector rasped, his scratchy throat stinging. "We'll take care of this." He stood and kept moving, his rage burning a hole in his chest. Whoever had hurt his friend was going to get it.

How had his defense fallen so completely? Riki was injured, he was injured, Varian had no idea his betrayers were here, and his sister had led an invasion force into his home. In all his years of guarding the Tree, never had he failed so spectacularly.

The pit dropped away before him. He moved to go around it. But his feet had other ideas, carrying him to the edge, where the path stretched out below him. He shook his head and tried to turn away, but the force of the Heart's call froze him to the spot. It whispered, beckoned, invited. Slowly, he started down the path.

Kubwa shook his head and grumbled as he backed away. Kiki hissed but followed on Hector's heels. At the bottom of the path, the Heart glowed distant and dim, the spear glowing gently. Hector stepped forward and placed his hand against the smooth, polished wood.

It would be so easy to take it, to allow the remnants of Zhan Tiri's power to destroy the foolish princess and her followers. All he had to do was pull the spear out, and his problems would be solved. No more Sundrop, no more handmaid, no more Adira. No one would hurt his nephew. No one would disturb the Moonstone.

With a hiss of shock, he drew back, but his hand lingered over the shaft. What was he thinking? That Heart had the power to destroy everyone, not just the princess. He would be putting everyone at risk, not just his enemies.

He would be putting Varian at risk.

But he had no way of defending his nephew currently. The invaders were between them, and Hector was having trouble just keeping his eyes open. This could be the only way to stop them. His hand curled around the spear again, the wooden shaft slipping into his hand as if it were made for him, as if he were meant to wield it and release the vengeance of Zhan Tiri against those who would disturb the Tree.

Beside him, Kiki snarled. He blinked and stepped back again. Taking the spear could kill them all, including Varian. It wasn't worth it. He could fight them on his own.

… Right?

And if he couldn't? If Varian was hurt or killed because he couldn't fight Adira and her little entourage?

His fingers danced over the wood, the dark oak shining blue in the dim light, the Heart's call still ringing in his blurred mind.

Take it.

Protect him.

Protect the stone.

KILL THEM!

He groaned and put his head in his hands, releasing the spear for the first time. The world swam around him, leaving his feet unsteady. He looked back up at the blue glow.

Take it.

TAKE IT.

"Forgive me," he rasped. "I… Varian, forgive me. I'll find you, I promise." He stepped back from the Heart, trying to block out its enraged screeching in his mind, and limped back up the path, leaning heavily on Kiki. Sweat dripped from his braids, stinging the wound in his head. With a deep shudder, he dropped to his knees at the top of the pit. His hands tore into the grass, still craving for the feel of the spear to satisfy their emptiness.

Kiki helped him to his feet, and they kept moving, putting the pit and its evils behind them.

O‴O‴O‴

Not ten minutes later, a cold wave of soul-sucking energy drove him to his knees. His already strained lungs struggled to pull in air. Kiki and Kubwa were fighting, too. He leaned against the wall and focused on one breath at a time. What the dickens was that?

And was it affecting Varian?

Had they caused it?

As suddenly as it came, it went. He stumbled up and looked around. The others appeared to be no worse for wear.

It was all the more urgent that he find his nephew. If they had some sort of weapon that could inflict that kind of damage at a distance, it had to be worse up close. Was that part of the Sundrop's power?

A sharp scream echoed faintly through the Tree. Hector hated that he recognized the sound of his nephew's screaming. He hated even more that his nephew was screaming! Pushing himself to run faster, he readied himself for whatever he might find next. If Varian was hurt…

He gritted his teeth. Threatening vengeance was useless until he had whoever hurt Varian and Riki in his sights. He followed the noise up through the bowels of the Tree, following the footsteps.

Partway up, he came across a stunned Ruddiger. The raccoon was weaving around as if drunk. When he saw Hector, he screeched unhappily and pawed at his leg. Hector knelt to pick him up, almost falling over in the process. Ruddiger waved his paw anxiously in the direction the footsteps went.

"Yeah, I know. Come on." He kept moving, getting madder and madder with every step. There was no denying it now: Varian was in grave danger.

O‴O‴O‴

Artemis swooped down and flew in front of Hector's face to get his attention. Then she circled the base of one of the thick columns leading up to the higher levels of the Tree. The footsteps led up to the stairs.

"They're up there?"

Artemis nodded as she settled on Kiki's back, closing her eyes and tilting her head to mime sleeping. Hector scoffed. Their nerve! To hurt Riki and Ruddiger and Varian and to set up camp like he wouldn't come find them! Had they counted him out so easily when he fell?

They wouldn't live to regret that mistake.

He started up the steps, but a stab of pain flared up his leg. He hissed and stepped back, eyeing the path up skeptically. How was he to climb an open staircase with a concussion and a bad leg?

Off to his right was another pathway, this one leading up to another platform near the first. The sloping road would be easier on his weary body, and he could make the jump to the first platform. Plus, it would give them the element of surprise. He and his companions started climbing.

Once at the top, they looked out over the campsite. Eight humans, two horses, an owl, and… was that a chameleon? The princess lay near a brunet that must have been the fake Flynn Rider Varian told him of. The short-haired woman, Cassandra, sat nearby on watch. There were also a thug, a bald man with questionable choices in jewelry—seriously, a gold earring? Either he was begging to get robbed or had robbed someone to get it—and a wrinkled lump of flesh that looked like someone's great-great-great-grandfather.

Then there was Adira.

Varian lay tied up next to her, the rope around Adira's wrist.

Ruddiger squeaked and attempted to leap out of Hector's arms and get to his boy. Hector tightened his hold and placed his hand over the creature's mouth.

"Careful," he hissed. "I want him back, too."

He examined the terrain. A few trees grew on the opposing platform. If he could jump to one of them, he could slide down without the guard knowing. And what then? He had no way of fighting all of them plus Adira. Once past Cassandra, if he tried to take Varian, Adira would know, and she would wake the others.

There had to be a way to snatch Varian and get back before the others rallied. He ran over scenario after scenario in his mind. Jump down, cut the rope, grab Varian, jump back up. On his leg? Not likely. Slide down, kill Adira—yeah, that wasn't happening either. Sneak over, kill the guard, pick off the others one by one. Yeah, no way. His sister could practically smell blood in her sleep. If she was even truly asleep, that was. Cut one of the trees down to separate Adira and Varian from the others? No, they were too close.

Every plan he made ended the same way: disaster. Was there truly no way to rescue Varian in his condition? Riki had had to stay below, Kubwa couldn't make the jump, so it would be him and Kiki and Ruddiger and Artemis against their entire group.

He groaned and leaned his head against a rock. With the waves of dizziness still flooding his mind, it'd be a miracle if he even managed to make the jump without falling to the ground below. There was no help for it now. He would have to wait, at least for a few more hours.

O‴O‴O‴

It was a small mercy that Varian didn't get a nightmare. Keeping his composure around these people was hard enough. Although he wished his current circumstances would have been a nightmare. That would have been preferable to the harsh reality he awoke to.

Footsteps crossed near his head. He tensed, expecting the toe of a boot in his ribs. That was always the guards' preferred method of waking him up.

It never came. Instead, he heard a yelp and a thud. His eyes shot open, and he saw Cassandra sitting on the ground, looking up at Adira angrily. The warrior smirked and knelt next to Varian.

"Good morning. Sleep well?"

He pushed himself up and refused to meet her eyes. She sighed and stood. "Lance is making breakfast. Here, chew this." She handed him some sort of root. He eyed it skeptically. "Helps with morning breath."

He placed it in his mouth and chewed. It had a sort of minty flavor, almost. Scrambling to his feet, he followed her over to the others. The princess tensed as he came over, and Fitzherbert wrapped an arm around her as if the child trussed up like a steer on branding day could hurt her. The others, thankfully, looked indifferent. Lance handed him a plate of bacon and eggs.

"Morning," he greeted cheerfully. Varian said silent thanks for both the food and that at least one of the princess's friends wasn't a complete jerk. Maybe this man could be an ally against Cassandra.

Speak of the devil… The woman had picked herself up off the ground—where Adira had tossed her, if he read the scene correctly—and joined them. "We need to hurry up," she growled. "We've been here too long already. If Hector's following us, he's probably not far behind."

"Didn't Adira toss him off a cliff?" Fitzherbert questioned. Varian tried to hide the spike of fear that sent through his heart. Adira had hurt Hector? Was he alive? Had he survived the fall?

"It'll take more than that to stop him," Adira answered. "My brother's survived things that would kill any one of you in a heartbeat. He may be injured, but he's certainly not dead."

Cassandra looked down at Varian, where Adira was untying his wrists. "What are you doing?"

"Untying him," she answered bluntly, not looking at the bodyguard. "What does it look like?"

"I can see that," she fumed.

"Good. Then you'll also notice we're having breakfast. The princess established last night that we could untie him to eat. I'd suggest you get some breakfast and quit complaining, since you're in such a hurry."

Cassandra growled. Varian kept his head down to hide his smile.

"I don't like this," she declared. "He's too comfortable around you. Instead of treating him like a prisoner, you're treating him like—"

"Like family?" Adira smiled up at her. "Yes, I am. Besides, what's he going to do? Run away? Stab us with one of the knives you confiscated?"

"Speaking of things you confiscated from him, did anybody else notice he had a set of lock picks?" Fitzherbert noted.

"Of course you'd notice that." Cassandra took the plate Lance offered and sat down. "Is that how you broke out of prison?" she demanded of her prisoner.

He ignored her.

"I asked you a question," she growled more fiercely. He gave her a sardonic look and pointedly kept eating. Perhaps aggravating her was not the best idea he had ever had, but he couldn't muster up the mental energy to bring himself into a conversation with her. Not after last night. Plus, Adira was right beside him.

It was with surprise that he realized he was starting to rely on her for protection. Stupid. Don't let your guard down. She's with them.

Fortunately, for the time being, Cassandra seemed content to leave him alone and take his silence in stride. Possibly she just didn't want to incur Adira's wrath again.

All too soon, it was time to pack up and leave. Adira placed the rope around his wrists, keeping it loose. He noted with interest that she kept it slack enough for him to slip his hands out of if he tried. Best not to, though. Cassandra would have a fit, and he didn't have the energy to deal with that. He was physically tired, mentally tired, and emotionally tired. All he wanted to do was curl up and pretend none of this was happening. He wanted to wake up in his bed, with the sound of Hector's horrendous snoring coming from the other room.

Cassandra stood and put her hands on her hips. "Let's go. The sooner we get to the Dark Kingdom and get the Moonstone, the sooner we get back home and get this little psychopath locked up."

He couldn't fight the angry retort. "Do what you want. I'll die before I go back to jail."

She drew her sword. "Funny enough, I can arrange that!"

"Cassandra!" The princess jumped between them.

"What? He's an escaped convict resisting arrest! I can end him right now and save us the trouble." She lowered her blade but continued to shoot daggers with her eyes. "Listen, Raps, we need to deal with him before he kills us all, and I don't trust Adira not to let him!"

"We are not killing him. And Adira's helping us! She said she'd get us to the Dark Kingdom."

"And after that? What's to stop them from killing us once Adira gets what she wants?"

"A knight's honor," Adira answered. "Despite your obvious antagonism and your inability to treat my nephew like a human being rather than an animal, I agreed to get the princess, and by extension, the rest of you, to the Dark Kingdom. What happens to you after that is none of my business, but I sincerely hope you make it home to your families. And did a single one of you bother to ask why Varian might be more willing to die than being locked up?"

"Uh, because criminals don't exactly like to face the consequences of their actions," the bodyguard growled.

"But to prefer death?"

Varian winced. She wasn't going to tell them, was she? Part of him wanted them to know what they had done to him. The other part of him feared they wouldn't care. They hadn't cared about anything else he went through. Besides, he didn't like the thought of explaining his past to anyone other than Hector.

"I admit, I didn't expect Coronan guards to have the same standards that soldiers from my kingdom did," Adira continued, fuming. "But I would have at least expected them to have enough decency not to hurt a child. But I suppose if Short Hair here is any indication of the rest of her type, I shouldn't be surprised."

"What are you saying?" Fitzherbert demanded.

It was Lance who answered. "She's saying they abused him," he spoke quietly, as if the situation called for a gravity the others did not seem to recognize. "Am I right?"

They looked to Varian. He nodded slowly, refusing to meet their eyes.

"But… No, my dad promised to help you." Rapunzel shook her head as if that could magically erase the scars that littered his face and neck.

He gave her a scornful glare. "And how good is your family at keeping promises?" Her flinch brought him small vindication. "No, princess, he made my life a living nightmare. Six months. Without trial. Every day, wondering if that was the day he'd finally have mercy and let me die. So yeah, I'd rather die out here than go back, 'cause at least out here I can have the dignity of facing my death standing on my own feet instead of living under the heel of a tyrant for the rest of my miserable life!"

He held his head up and met their stares of shock and horror. A tremble ran through his bones. No, not here, not now. You will not let them see you shaking. Had he really just said all of that? To them? His anger warred with his fear. They had him at their mercy, which so far had proven to be quite lax. They could punish him for speaking out. Cassandra could punish him.

"Did they do that?" Lance asked gently, motioning to Varian's unseeing eye.

He nodded. "About three months after my arrest."

The others shared a glance for a moment. Finally, Cassandra crossed her arms. "I don't believe you."

"Cass," the thug with the hook—if Varian had heard correctly, his name was Hookfoot—spoke up.

"No. Coronan guards are honorable. I'd know. They wouldn't have done something like that."

Varian glared and pointed to the side of his face, where she had struck him yesterday. "Wouldn't they?" Shut up shut up shut up do you want her to hurt you again?

"You bit me!"

"I was panicking!"

"This is ridiculous," she snapped. "When we get back, we can ask the king what happened. My guess is the kid broke out and ran across some thugs or something." She ignored Hookfoot's exclamation of protest at the T-word. "I'm more inclined to believe King Frederic than the kid who committed treason, kidnapping, and attempted murder. Now can we please get out of here while we still have the chance?" She turned and stalked off.

The others looked at each other and followed. The princess gave Varian a look that, if it had come from anyone but her, he might have called regretful.

His steps dragged as they started walking, causing him to lag a few steps behind his guard. No, Cassandra was a guard. Adira wasn't like her. The warrior turned and gave him a quizzical look. "Varian, come on. We need to go."

He looked around at the Tree that had been his home for almost two months now. Why was this happening? Just when he had found a place where he could be safe, a family who loved him, suddenly it was all snatched away from him again. The princess came in like a storm and blew him off his feet, not even realizing how long it had taken him to stand in the first place.

Would he ever be able to return? Would Hector come back to Corona for him? Or would he save him before they got there? Would he ever sit and drink hot cocoa with his uncle and the animals again? Would he ever fully unlock the secrets of the scroll room?

"Varian," Adira interrupted his thoughts. She knelt down to be on eye level with him. "I know you're scared, but I won't let anyone hurt you. I need you to trust me. I'm going to protect you. But right now, Hector is on his way. We need to leave before he gets here."

Varian closed his eyes and reluctantly nodded. He still didn't dare voice to her or the others that he knew Hector. They'd think Adira was in league with him and let Cassandra guard him again. He followed on Adira's heels like an obedient dog, feeling Cassandra's glare on the top of his bowed head.

Lance dropped back to walk with them. Adira raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "Hey. So, that was a bit awkward."

He glanced up at the man, not even caring enough to ask him to leave.

"Look, sorry about Cass. She's a bit intense, but she means well. Threatens me all the time. You just have to get used to her."

"I spent six months 'getting used' to people like her. I don't want to get used to her. I don't want anything to do with her."

"Right, sorry. Anyway, I wanted to ask. I got their side of the story, but what about yours?"

He tilted his head. This one was different. If Varian played his cards right… "What do you want to know?"

Before Lance answered, a scraping noise caught the boy's attention. He kept his head low but glanced off to the side.

A pair of yellow eyes looked back at him.

Hector had found him.

O‴O‴O‴

Hector was tired of waiting. Hours of watching for an opportunity left him with nothing but a headache and no good options. He wanted to sleep, but he knew better than to do so with a concussion. So he waited and watched. And waited some more. And kept watching.

It galled him to have to sit and do nothing. When the faint gray of morning peeked through the Tree, the camp below started to wake. Adira was the first to wake, stretching and starting to walk around and observe the edge of the camp. The handmaid, seeing her move, stalked over to Varian. Hector nearly threw himself from his perch to fight her as he saw her draw back a leg to kick the sleeping boy.

Adira got there before he could move. She grabbed the woman's leg mid-air and threw her to the ground.

Hector watched in curiosity. Adira was protecting Varian? But she was the one holding him prisoner! Then again, she'd never been cruel, so maybe she just didn't want the handmaid abusing the child. All that mattered right now was that she had chosen to align herself with the princess and her entourage.

In pride, he listened to Varian defend himself mere moments later. It clearly pained the boy to talk about his abuse to his uncaring captors, but he held his head up and his shoulders back. For someone so small, he had the courage of men five times his size.

They started to walk towards the path leading to the outside, and Hector prepared himself to jump. He had no choice now; taking them head-on was his only option. It would probably get him killed, but if it saved his kid…

Varian and Adira had dropped to the back of the group. The bald man walked with them. An idea sprang to the forefront of the warrior's mind. It was a long shot, but it just might work. Quickly, he gave a series of motions to the animals that left Kiki nodding and Ruddiger scratching his head in confusion. Hector rolled his eyes and whispered the plan to the raccoon. Then he slipped his hand into one of the bags on Kubwa's saddle and grinned as he found what he was looking for.

Time to get to work.

As always, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Thank you and God bless!