N:   A pair of Prussian knights were patrolling, chatting to each other as the full moon lit the night sky, illuminating their path as they were near to completing their final check before they called it a night. Everything seemed perfect to them, nothing had come up, except that random squirrel that popped out of nowhere in their last round and scared the lights out of them. They dreamed about the warm homes they were soon going to return to.

As they approached the dungeons, one of them heard a rustle behind them in the woods, and both held up their weapons. "Wer immer da drin ist, zeigen Sie sich, sofort (whoever's in there, show yourself right now)!" They ordered, but nothing came. Slowly, they approached the tree line, and suddenly two daggers flew out of the bushes, impaling both of them.

Out of the shadows came an entity, donning his dark cloak and an eyepatch covering his right eye, he marched up to the dying knights on the ground. "Gentlemen," Saxon spoke softly, almost with pity, "you should not be talking so loudly at night. People are sleeping," with that he finished them off before taking the keys. Quickly and quietly, he sneaked into the Prussian stronghold, slowly turning the keys to the dungeon before entering.

"Why do you have to get captured, Wald," the entity grumbled to himself as he checked the cells, searching for the red aura of an insurgent, "I order you to mess with Prussia, and what do you do? You do just that and get caught- huh?" The entity peered through the bars of one of the cells and recognized the prisoner instantly. "Rowen?"

M:   The prisoner was sleeping on the thin cot in his cell, wearing nothing but rags, and a thick shackle was clamped around his neck and chaining him to the wall. He opened his eyes and looked at the barred door.

"Saxon?" Rowen said in surprise, but then his face turned fearful, "What are you doing here, you need to leave, if Prussia finds you here he'll make you wish you were dead, you got to go, now."

From deeper in the dungeon, a muffled growl could be heard, along with chains rattling and pained whimpers.

N:  "It doesn't matter why I'm here, why are you here?" Saxon whispered, checking the keys if one would fit the lock, "and I don't care what Prussia does. Why the hell are you here?" His eyes widened in realization, "is anyone else here?"

He soon got his answer when he heard the growl, so he quickly ran down the dungeon and his jaw dropped when he saw a large dragon. "No," he muttered to himself as he examined the injured Edel, "what did they do to you?"

M:   Edel didn't look much better than Rowen, there wasn't a spot on him that wasn't covered in shackles or scars, all of his limbs were chained to a wall or the harness he was wearing. A thick leather muzzle held his mouth shut and similar leather restraints covered his wings.

Edel raised his head at Saxon's voice and started purring when he recognized the entity. Since the cell was quite small for the dragon, he was able to poke the tip of his muzzle through the bars and softly nudge him.

While Saxon was occupied with Edel, someone heard the commotion from within his cell. Pale gray eyes opened as the broken countryhuman gazed at the familiar cell door in front of him.  He shifted his tired arms and cramped, clipped wings in their shackles as he listened to the voice.  He wanted to say something, to call out for help, but Prussia made sure that he couldn't use his voice, or mouth for that matter, thanks to the stitches holding it shut, so he just waited and prayed to be discovered.

N:    "I'm going to free the both of you," Saxon said quietly to Edel, gently stroking him until he heard a small voice behind him. He spun around and saw the red aura envelop the insurgent he was searching for.

"Wald," he whisper-shouted, moving to his cell as the tired insurgent looked up at him and weakly smiled. His shirt could barely be considered one as it just covered him, revealing the whiplashes all over his back, his hands and feet both shackled to the wall. "Hallo, boss," he spoke, although it was just above a whisper, "sorry for messing up."

"Do not say such things," the entity replied, "we can only practice, and practice leads to improvement." He checked through the keys and asked, "Are these the right keys?"

"Nein," he shook his head, "but I did see one of the guards an hour ago have the keys, and their post is not far from here." The entity nodded and was about to go until the insurgent called out to him, "Also, Prussia captured another Mandorian. He is a couple of cells to the right."

Curious as to who he was referring to, he checked and his face showed pure horror at the state of the prisoner.

M:   Mandoria's tired grey eyes stared at Saxon, a small smile tried to stretch across his face but the stitches restricted it. He didn't even have a shirt on, revealing scars, fresh wounds, and a brand mark in the shape of the Prussian eagle on his left chest. His arms were chained above his head and his wings chained to those, his once magnificent wings were ragged, pitiful remains of their former glory, the clipped flight feathers still there after years of captivity.

The country's shattered eyes were still fixated on Saxon, begging for release from the hell he had been confined to.

N:   "How are you not dead?" Saxon said to himself, "Didn't Prussia tell everyone he killed you and your sons?" He tightened his grip on the bars, painful memories resurfacing as he saw the brand, "why did we all believe him, Prussia of all people?" The entity stared back at Mandoria, "I am going to get all of you out of here, I promise."

"There is no point making that promise," a voice spoke not too far from him. Saxon walked towards the voice and recognized the boy he had seen many years ago, now grown up. The prisoner turned his face towards the entity, his green eyes no longer holding the energy they used to have, as he looked in disbelief at the countryhuman.

"It's too late," Johann muttered, hugging his legs in his attempt to cover himself as he wore nothing, scars old and new covering his body, "how exactly are you going to free us? I doubt any of us can walk properly, let alone run, and the Prussians would just catch up to us and we will be back here."

Saxon unclipped his cloak and threw it at the young man, "Cover yourself and warm yourself up," he ordered, "and when I say that I promise to free you, I intend to keep my word." Unsheathing his sword, he walked over to Wald's cell, "How many guards?"

"At this time," he replied, "three or four, excluding the ones you probably killed getting here." The entity nodded, and a small smirk crept on his face as he neared the corner. "This is going to be a blast," he spoke as he revealed himself to the knights and began to duel them for the key.

M:   No one could do anything while Saxon was fighting the knights, they couldn't even get up to watch the battle through the bars, so they just sat and waited.

"It's going to be ok Johann," Rowen called out to his son, "we're getting out of here, have faith."

To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure of that himself, he didn't even have his prosthetic as it was taken away, but he still held onto that sliver of hope, a feeling none of them had in years.

N:   After the short swordfight, Saxon came out victorious as he came around the corner with the keys, and he first went to Wald to free him. Opening his cell and his restraints, he handed him a spare sword and cloak from the now-dead Prussian guards, "Help the rest out," he ordered, and the insurgent nodded and did as he was told.

As the insurgent was busy opening locks, the entity went back to the door that the guards were guarding and barricaded it, knowing that since it is the main entrance any knights would go there first. Picking up some more cloaks and swords, he rushed back to the prisoners and watched as Johann wobbled out of his cell. He watched as the human first went to Rowen's cell, standing outside as Wald freed him.

"Here," Saxon said as he held out a sword, "you may need this." Johann wordlessly took the weapon, although his arm went limp, not having the strength to hold it up. He just emptily stared at his father, injured from the years of torture.

"Pass me the key for Edel," he said to Wald, who gave him the keys to the dragon's cell as he moved on to Mandoria.

M:   Rowen rubbed his neck as the shackle was removed, nodding his thanks to Wald. When Johann came closer to help him, the former knight hugged his son for the first time in a long while.

"I'm so sorry Johann," he said through tears, "you out of all of us never deserved this, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, I'm so sorry."

When it was Edel's turn to be freed, the first thing he did when the muzzle was removed was to give Saxon a small lick on his cheek, purring softly as the heavy chains were removed from his body.

As for Mandoria, his body couldn't hold onto energy like it used to, so he was beginning to drift to sleep when Wald came in.

N:   "It is not your fault, Hezyka," Johann said as he too cried, "The bastard came and we couldn't stop him."

"Um, boss," Wald called out as he approached Mandoria, "he is slipping." Saxon, as soon he had finished with Edel, rushed over to the insurgent and knelt next to the king.

"Hang in there," the entity spoke as the insurgent quickly loosened his chains. When the chains to his arms were done, Saxon carefully carried Mandoria down so he didn't collapse along with his wings, and he looked with despair at them. He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts when there was knocking at the doors, followed by loud thudding.

"Scheisse," Wald whispered as he finished with Mandoria, "we need to go."

"I know," grumbled Saxon, "head out back and go towards the woods. There you'll find an encampment of knights, announce who you are and that you are with me, and they will follow you here." He looked up to the insurgent, "Be quick."

"Bis bald (see you soon)," the insurgent replied before clutching his sword and running as fast as he could out of the door.

Saxon looked down at Mandoria, "can you stand at all? Just nod or shake your head."

M:   Mandoria shook his head, though it was barely visible, he could hardly even hold it up.  He was very emaciated and many of his wounds were infected, even if he wanted to move he would not have had the strength or willpower to.

Edel moseyed his way into the cell and started nudging Mandoria's body, whimpering at his friend's state. The former king managed to gather enough strength to gently pet the dragon but otherwise didn't move.

N:   Saxon clicked his tongue, "not good," he muttered to himself, and he shuddered when the thudding increased and sounded more like something was trying to smash into the door.

"Rowen, Johann, go through the back and wait for us out there. I doubt guards would come through there as it's the longest path to the dungeons, and hopefully, you meet up with Wald." The entity said as he tried to stand up, supporting Mandoria with difficulty as he continued, "Go ahead and Edel and I will come with Mandoria after you."

"I'm not going," Johann said adamantly, "as long as Mandoria is here, I am staying." A loud thud followed by the sound of wood splintering came around the corner as the voices drew closer.

"This is not the time to argue," Saxon growled, "you two going would be two people less that Prussia would have, and you need to get to safety." He pointed at the swords, "Each take one, two if necessary, and just bloody go." The entity turned to the dragon, "Edel, do you think you have the strength to carry Mandoria?"

M:   Edel rumbled in his throat, he backed up out of the cell and waited for Saxon to come out, and while he did, he blew fire toward the direction of the incoming Prussians, effectively blocking them from coming any closer.

He turned back to Saxon and knelt low so he could get Mandoria on his back, who tried his hardest to hold onto the harness that was still attached to the dragon. Once Edel was sure that Mandoria was as stable as he was going to be, he carefully made his way towards where Rowen and Johann went, which was easy to catch up to them since Rowen couldn't move very fast while being supported by his son.

N:   Saxon ran after them and once outside, the entity barricaded the door, essentially stopping the Prussians from chasing them, but he knew it wasn't safe yet. He turned around and saw Wald approaching followed by a small band of knights, "Wald, come with me," he ordered, "the rest of you, make sure not a single Prussian leaves that dungeon alive." The knights saluted and got into position while the insurgent followed his Head.

When they were about to enter the tree line, a lone Prussian knight found them and ran towards them, but he stopped at the sight of Edel. "Drachen," he muttered, his blue eyes staring in fear at the reptile, who in turn blew fire at him. Dodging the attack, he unsheathed his sword and his eyes flickered between the escapees until it landed on a certain young Saxon man, "Jo? Bist Du es? (Is that you)" he asked but was swiftly cut off by an attacking entity. Johann watched with pure surprise all over his face as Saxon fought the knight, and when he was about to land the finishing blow, he called out, "Saxon, wait! Don't kill him!"

"Why not," the entity asked, his foot on the knight's chest as he tried to escape.

"Just. Don't." Johann wasn't in the mood to explain further, and Saxon grumbled in response. Looking down at the knight, he used the hilt of his sword to knock him out.

Turning back, he gave Johann a side eye before walking past, "Follow me, I'll lead you to the encampment."

M:   Rowen was also confused, wondering who that was that knew Johann, but he did know that they couldn't stick around to find out, not that he could with Johann leading him. Edel on the other hand decided that they shouldn't leave any witnesses that could lead the Prussians to the encampment, so he quickly doubled back and grabbed the knight in his mouth, being careful not to hurt him, and hurried back to the others.

"Good boy Edel," Rowen said when the dragon caught up, "if we're letting him live, we can't leave him behind, he would just warn the others of where we went."

N:   It took them a while to reach the camp, which was necessary so that they were not too close to the Prussian dungeon. The whole time Johann stole glances at the knight, watching as his blond hair covered his eyes while he swayed from Edel's mouth.

Saxon grew increasingly suspicious about Johann, but he dismissed it when they reached the camp. It wasn't a large one, only a couple of tents set up and a dozen humans walking around a bonfire in the center. Once they were in view, the people saw them and a murmur spread amount them, eyeing the company that Saxon brought.

"Don't be afraid," the entity called out, "yes, it turns out that King Mandoria is alive, and this dragon here is friendly," he glanced at the remaining knights who were reaching for their swords, "if you don't provoke him."

The people calmed down a bit, but Saxon could see that they were a bit anxious, "I need someone to set up a place for our guests and have them treated to, empty out a space for Edel, and get some clothes for them all." He was about to walk towards his own tent when he remembered, "Oh yes, Wald, take the knight and keep an eye on him. Also, make sure you are also treated to." He turned to the rest, "I will come back," before walking away.

The insurgent dipped his head, "I'm fine for the time being," although he planned to get some bandages anyway, "and sure thing." He walked up to Edel, arms outstretched, "Pass him over."

M:   Edel handed the knight to Wald and lay down so the others could take Mandoria, they were cautious of the dragon obviously, some still had their hands on their weapons as they approached him. Edel was a little scared by their tension but remained calm and still so nothing would start.

Mandoria was conscious somehow, he didn't have the strength to open his eyes, but he could still hear and feel everything, how Saxon's knights carefully transferred him from Edel's back to a stretcher, and what surprised him most was that he could hear a few people speaking Mandorian, sounding shocked and horrified at seeing their king in such a state.

Rowen was also shocked at seeing the number of Mandorians there, some faces he even remembered fighting alongside with. They took him and Johann to a medic tent and explained things while the two were treated, how Prussia had wiped out the kingdom and many people had to flee, some of which joined Saxon so they could try to fight against Prussia.

N:   "Ok," Johann said after he heard them, devoid of emotion as he lay in his bed, his arm raised while one of the doctors wrapped his wounds on his hand. He flinched when the doctor touched his leg, "Hands and feet only," he snapped, but he instantly felt guilty for raising his voice. "Tut mir leid," he muttered, "please, only hands and feet, any more and that would invade my privacy." Closing his eyes, clutching to his clothes as the images of his personal space invaded over and over again resurfaced.

Saxon walked in, documents in hand as he came to check on them, "we need to get moving as soon as possible. No doubt Prussia would send out knights to try and find you, and although we are not close to the dungeon, we are no way far enough." He scanned Rowen's leg, or lack of it, "and perhaps we can make a makeshift prosthetic for you, Rowen, at least for the time being."

M:   "I'm fine with that," Rowen murmured, "and if all else fails I can always ride on Edel."

When his doctor did the same as Johann's and tried to treat Rowen's legs he flinched and crossed them, reflexively swatting the medic's hand away. When he realized what he did he apologized, "Sorry, I just don't want to be touched there, I can do it myself ... just please ... not again, never again ... please."

Further inside the tent, muffled struggling noises were coming from Mandoria. The doctors were trying to remove the stitches over his mouth but he wouldn't let them, it hurt so incredibly bad going in, he could only imagine how much worse it would be coming out.

N:   Saxon nodded but was generally worried about how they were going to leave as he didn't anticipate extra travelers.

He looked over to the doctors with Mandoria and walked over to him. "The stitches have to eventually come out," the entity spoke, "we can have the rest of your wounds treated first, but that cannot stay there forever." As soon as he finished talking, Wald walked right in with a map. "Are you not supposed to watch over the knight?" Saxon asked.

"Don't worry," the insurgent smirked, "he will not escape the prison I placed him in." He walked over to a nearby table and spread out the map, the entity walking over to him, "Anyway, I knew that you would have to plan where you are going to go."

"Aye, I do," Saxon replied, placing down the documents next to the map, "let's start off close. Austrian Empire?"

"Nein," Wald shook his head, "he's still too close with Prussia. And don't think about Kingdom of Italy, his alliance is, umm, unreliable. What about France?"

"Nein," Saxon denied, "the insurgent there told me that there is some serious unrest in the Kingdom, so it would be unsafe there." The entity scratched his chin as he thought about where to go.

"What about your home, the British Isles," the insurgent suggested, and Saxon raised a brow so he explained, "It's the safest place the Mandorians can go, and you can use the Flemish port to cross the Channel, and the last time I checked you are in good terms with the Low Countries."

"That could work," Saxon agreed, "but that requires us to travel through ... Saxony."

M:   Mandoria whimpered in his throat, everything hurt so much and the fact that he had enough energy to resist was surprising, even to himself. The doctors did decide to leave his mouth for last and start treating the rest of his injuries, but he didn't make that easy either as whenever they would touch him he tried to pull away, fearful and painful tears leaking from his eyes. The country had been tortured for so long that he reacted to the doctors with fear of being hurt.

"Lord Saxon, King Mandoria is trying to struggle against us," one of the medics said, "he seems afraid and his actions are saying that he thinks we'll hurt him worse. I don't know what Prussia did to him, but he doesn't seem to believe we are trying to help him. Since you are close with him perhaps you can calm him down, if he keeps moving he'll make us accidentally hurt him and that will scare him even more."

N:   Saxon sighed as he came over, bringing up a chair as he took off his eyepatch, revealing his other entity eye. Tying it to his arm, he retrieved a washcloth and basin from one of the medics and looked at Mandoria, "Just stay still, alright. I will do your arms first then slowly treat the rest of you." He leaned to the side as he saw Rowen treating to his own legs, as well as Johann although not as well, "but we will do your legs last. It seems that's the part you all are the most sensitive to."

He wrung the cloth and hovered it over the Mandorian's arm, "Deep breaths now." When he was sure he was ready, he began to clean the wounds. Whenever there was resistance, he would stop to allow Mandoria to recover before continuing. As a way to distract him, Saxon began to tell him stories.

"... and remember when Celtica learned that Ireland made you drunk, when we arrived home, she immediately banned him from whiskey for six months. Six whole months, and I'm sure Ireland wasn't the only one upset about the punishment."

M:   The stories did help a bit, if his mouth wasn't stitched shut Mandoria probably would have even laughed at a few of them. When any of the humans tried to help he would whimper and shrink away from them, so only Saxon was able to treat his injuries.

Slowly and surely all of his wounds were tended to except his legs and mouth, Mandoria still wouldn't let the stitches come out but he surprisingly gave no resistance when his legs were being cared for, in fact, he actually seemed to like it. Prussia had conditioned Mandoria to enjoy being touched in that area so he could better pleasure the tyrant, so while Saxon treated the injuries there, he was purring and getting red in the face, whining whenever Saxon would stop.

N:   Saxon was understandably uncomfortable from the reaction he was getting from Mandoria, so when he had finished with his legs, he completely retracted his hands. Seeing that the king wasn't happy with his action, he tilted his head, "What the fuck did Prussia do to you? This is not you at all."

Reaching for a pair of scissors and tweezers, he faced the country, "Mandoria, we really need to remove the stitching. I don't know how long it has been there but keeping it there any longer will only make it worse, especially if skin grows over it. Better now than never."

M:   Mandoria's pleasurable demeanor was instantly crushed and he shook his head vigorously, whimpering more.

Rowen, who was watching the two, sighed when he saw Mandoria's refusal. He slowly got up and hopped over, sitting in the chair Saxon was before.

"Mandoria, you need to let Saxon remove the stitches, they've been in there for a week and any longer you'll starve to death." He told the other, gripping his hand reassuringly, but when Mandoria shook his head again Rowen sighed again, "Please Mandoria, you'll die if they don't come out, you can't do that if we just escaped, and think of Derogan and Mandara, they think you're dead, we'll never be able to find them if you go, so please, for their sakes, let Saxon remove the stitches."

Mandoria stared at Rowen, fearful grey eyes into pleading amber ones. After a moment of staring, Mandoria exhaled deeply and squeezed his eyes shut, Rowen gave the go-ahead to Saxon.

N:   "You better hold on," Saxon warned, moving closer so he could better reach the stitches, "this is not going to be pretty."

The stitching was crudely done, crisscrossing over each other, and it took a while for the entity to find the beginning. Using the tweezers, he gently pulled at the knot, quickly snipping the threading beneath it, and using the tweezers again, he pulled the thread through the hole and out through the other side.

The stitching kept on weaving in and out of Mandoria's mouth, so there were times when the king had to open his mouth slightly so Saxon can reach the thread on the inside, snipping off the excess thread before pulling it out again. There were times when Mandoria would flinch from the pain, but Rowen was there to calm him down while Saxon made quiet hushing sounds before he continued.

In the end, the entity was able to remove the stitching completely, on the table nearby were short bloody sections of the thread, and he placed the scissors and tweezers back for them to be washed. Handing a washcloth and basin to Rowen, he spoke, "Wash off his mouth as best you can, I will get some extra bandages."

M:   Rowen nodded and dipped the tip of the washcloth into the water, gently dabbing the outside of Mandoria's mouth and having the country bite down on the cloth to dry the blood on the inside.

Mandoria wouldn't speak, and Rowen didn't expect him to, his mouth was sewn shut because he talked back to Prussia after all, it would probably take a while for him to start speaking again. When Rowen did all he could, he set the cloth down and just held Mandoria's hand, speaking soothingly to him and rubbing his thumb over the top of his hand.

Mandoria's exhaustion started creeping back now that the fear and pain were gone, so as he listened to Rowen's soft and tired voice, he slowly fell asleep, feeling safe and secure for the first time in years.

N:   Saxon soon came back with a pile of bandages and smiled when he saw Mandoria sleeping. Putting the bandages down, he came over to the pair, "You should also rest, Rowen, there will always be a doctor available during the night, but for now sleep. I doubt any of you have had a decent one for a long time. Tomorrow, you all will be fed, and if we can, start planning about moving."

Looking over to Johann, he added, "And we are going to have a conversation about a certain Prussian knight tomorrow." The young man only grumbled and rolled to his side, facing away from the group as he drifted asleep.

"As for the prosthetic," Wald spoke up, holding up a piece of paper, "after Prussia was done in your kingdom, I was able to scavenge and collect anything that he could have left behind. Admittedly, the overgrown bird was thorough, but I was able to find some valuables and what seemed to be a blueprint for your leg, sir." Holding it up to the light, he muttered to himself, "Ja, I could probably extrapolate it and get someone to make it."

M:   "Thank you, sir," Rowen simply said, "Thank you both, none of us have been in the outside world in years, it's almost hard to believe that we're finally free."

He looked to Mandoria and sighed, "Well, physically free at least, I don't think we'll ever be free of the horrors we've been put through, Mandoria especially. Prussia had broken and conditioned his mind to obey his every word and fulfill his every desire, sometimes he would even call to the guards and beg them to take him to the German bitch so he could break him more. While Johann and I resisted their influence, Mandoria accepted his new role as Prussia's personal sex slave, and I honestly don't know if he will ever be the same as before."

N:   Saxon clenched his fists when he heard what Prussia put them through, fuming that they were subject to him all this time, and Wald looked up worryingly at the entity. "Kill Prussia on sight," he suggested, and he took a step back when Saxon stared at him angrily, "alright, slow torture it is."

"And throw him into a vat of boiling oil," he growled but when he saw the insurgent's expression he calmed down slightly. He rubbed his temples as he tried to process everything, "I am getting ahead of myself," he mumbled, "Wald, get some bandages and treat yourself, check up on the knight then go to sleep." The insurgent nodded, and when he collected the necessary things, he bid everyone goodnight before leaving.

"We can only hope that overtime Mandoria will regain parts of himself, but I agree that I doubt he will be the same," the entity spoke, "experiences like these change a person, so we will help him and all of you as much as we can to start a fresh life after what you have been through." Saxon walked over to the candles that lit the tent and carefully blew them out, leaving only one to dimly light the place, "sleep now and we will further discuss tomorrow." With that, the entity took the documents and map and then left.

As soon as he left, Johann began to curl up into a ball, uttering a small whimper as the darkness seemed to suffocate him. "Nein," he cried quietly, "go away from me. Don't touch me. Nein."

M:   Rowen heard Johann's whimpers and was at his side as fast as he could, taking his son's hand and quietly hushing him, "It's ok Johann, we're safe now, we won't be hurt anymore, I promise."

He knew he shouldn't try to touch Johann too much, as that could scare him more, so he just sat down and held his hand, comforting him as best as he could until the first rays of sun started shining, at that point, he lay his head on the edge of the bed and fell asleep, exhausted after everything that happened.