Art by James Fenner (@JMFenner91 on Twitter)

I struggled to keep up since I had my hands tied together, but I managed to climb off the wagon without falling face down on the dirt road, and then Brutt and the two men that had been riding at the back all hurried to the front, with me dragging reluctantly behind them.

When they stopped ahead of the horses and I peeked over their shoulders to see what was going on, I saw what seemed to be the problem. Lighting ominously struck in the background on cue, illuminating the whole area and giving us all a clear image of what lay ahead, the dark bulk of a huge tree was toppled over the road, blocking the path.

One of the men on the wagon's rider seat held up a lamp to cast some light over us, while the other man beside him stepped down the wagon to check on the blockage.

While the gang mumbled among themselves about what to do, I stood behind them making mental notes to myself. It seemed like there were two men in the rider's seat and three more at the back, inside the wagon with me. Five total thugs for the count.

The one holding the lamp up at the rider's seat was a scary-looking man that was always barking out orders to the rest of them. He was most likely their boss.

The other guy riding by his side, who had just stepped down to join us by the horses, looked like his second in command.

That left three of them riding at the back of the wagon with me. The one who had been roughing me up was definitely the muscles and brawn of the gang. An old-looking fellow with yellow teeth and a malicious glint in his eyes had been the one who tried to stop Muscles from kicking me.

The last one was the youngest. If I had to bet, I would risk saying that he was their cannon fodder, an expendable man that could be thrown to the wolves if needed. He could be the younger brother of one of them too, or maybe an ambitious kid trying to bite more than he could chew. None of the men paid attention to what the kid said or asked about his opinion on anything, so he just sulked at the sideline, glaring at them in silence. But one thing they all had in common, they all seemed malicious and dangerous, each in their own way.

I couldn't fight them all, was the first thing I realized... even if my hands weren't tied together, which they very much were, I still wouldn't stand a chance. If I tried to run away, one of them would probably catch me without even breaking up a sweat. My chances of escaping were close to none.

All I could do was pray that I would get out of this alive. Muscles seemed to be the type of guy who got extremely aggressive when things didn't go his way, and things definitely weren't going his way at the moment.

As they all stood in front of the fallen tree, trying to figure out what to do, I lurked close behind and searched for a way out. All pairs of eyes were set on the tree, only mine was turned to forest, looking for a familiar dark shape moving somewhere in there in the shadows... but I couldn't see much though. There was no moon out tonight. Not even the stars were shining, it was just this thick, dense, black void taking up the sky and covering everything in absolute darkness.

If it wasn't for the lamp's faint light held by their boss at the head of the wagon, we wouldn't be able to see an inch in front of our eyes. The lamp rocked back and forth in the man's hand, swaying with the force of the wind as he shouted for them to stop gawking and to move the damn tree out of the way.

The men jumped into action and gathered around the trunk to try to carry it out of the way, but they couldn't lift the tree an inch off the ground, no matter how hard they tried, and after a lot of shouting, grunting, pulling and cursing, they all gave up.

"This fucking thing is rooted to the ground, it won't fucking move!" Muscles cussed out as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "It's a waste of time! We need to find another way to pass through."

"Maybe we could ride the wagon around it? There seems to be a side track over there, going around the trunk, look!" Second-in-command suggested as the Boss stepped down the wagon to join his men in debate.

"Yeah, it looks like a good idea." The boss commented, raising the lamp he was holding high above his head to see the path suggested.

"Can't believe they'll fall for this stupid sidetrack trap..." I mumbled to myself, but the boss overheard me and turned around to face me with a suspicious eye squint.

"What did you just say, boy?" He asked, his hard stare boring into me.

I shrugged and didn't make any attempt to answer him, so his brute of a goon came over to me, grabbed me by the hair, and yanked back hard. "Boss asked ya a question. Answer him, punk!" Muscles shouted at my face.

"I said, it sounds like a great plan. Sir." I grunted through clenched teeth.

This trail was treacherous enough on the main, but it was even worse on the sides. The wheels would break for sure if they pushed through the high vegetation riddled with sharp rocks and then they'd get stuck for good. Worst of all, they'll be stuck past the border. If they rode the wagon deeper into the forest, where the path seemed most providentially clear, well then... this was going to be most unfortunate... For us all.

"I tell you what, I'll just jump over this trunk and wait for you on the other side, while you ride the wagon around it." I quickly suggested, afraid that they would take me into the forest with them in that wagon. "It's less weight to carry, it's best if I stay out here waiting for you to circle back."

The boss narrowed his eyes at me, before turning to the youngest of his men. "Go have a look, Eilon, see if we can move the wagon through the side of the road."

The boy went to check, stopping a couple of feet away from the edge of the forest's border, and quickly returned with a grim look on his face.

"There's rocks all over on the ground, boss. We can't see them because of the grass. It'll be a miracle to pass through the side without busting up the wheels." he reported and his boss hissed in frustration. "We can try to go a little further into the forest, there's a clear path over there, but... I dunno. It doesn't feel very safe to me." The boy added, sounding reluctant.

"Feel safe?! We are outlaws! Thieves!" Muscles shouted at the boy, making him jump scared. "Are we making decisions based on safety now, is that it? Next thing I'll hear is that we should just confess our crimes and hand our asses peacefully to the rangers, 'cus that's the safest thing for us to do." He scoffed at the boy, giving him a mocking sneer. "Why don't you just confess that you're afraid of the forest, you little coward? I told ya that this soft baby hide was good for nothing. We should have left him behind on our last hit. He's useless, the stupid mutt."

"I'm just saying that I think this side track doesn't look safe, is all. When we bust up a wheel there I don't want none of ya looking at me for blame!" The boy snipped back, sounding irritated. "But I ain't no expert. He is." He said, pointing at me with a scolding glare. "Ask him. He'll know what we ought to do. Isn't that why we brought him along in the first place? To be our guide? He knows these grounds better than anyone here, he should tell us if it's safe or not!"

"Yeah, he's the expert." The boss was quick to agree, turning to me. "Now it's time for you to show your worth, boy." He told me in quite a menacing tone. "'Cus if we start thinking you're of no use to us, we can also start thinking about how we should be getting rid of your useless ass. I truly hope something good comes out of your mouth, or it'll be the last thing you'll ever say. Let's hear it."

I glared at him in silence for a quick second, before I spoke again. "The kid is right. If you circle around the dead tree, one of your wheels will get busted for sure. You'll be stuck for good."

They all grumbled under their breath, not pleased with the confirmation.

"What about the side track then? Seems cleared out of rocks and grass. We should ride quite easy through that track, don't ya think?" Second-in-command inquired, sounding hopeful.

"If you take that wagon deeper into the forest, you ain't coming out." I decided to tell them the truth, in case they forced me to go along with them. "I speak this taking my own safety into consideration. If we go into the forest, none of us..." I paused, trying to sound as convincing as I could because my life truly depended on it. "None of us will come out of there alive."

There was a ring of tense silence between the men, the weight of my warning hanging heavily in the air around us.

"So, what do you suggest we do, then?" The boss asked me, aggravated.

"I suggest you take an ax out and start chopping off that tree. The only way this wagon is passing through is straight ahead. No detours, no side tracks. And the only way that tree is moving out of the way is in many, many, small pieces." I said, knowing from experience how many bloody pieces it was going to take to remove a trunk that big from the road. Maybe while they were busy chopping it all off, I could find a moment to slip out of here unnoticed.

"But that's going to take forever!" Second-in-command protested, hunching down his shoulders in defeat. "We might as well surrender ourselves to the rangers already!"

"Not if all of you work together. That's five pairs of hands. Well, kind of five," I said, eyeing the elderly man. "But that one alone can chop off for two men," I noted, giving a head tilt to Muscles. "The five of you can tear apart that trunk in no time."

"You mean, 'the six of us'." Muscles corrected, giving me a pointed look.

"Oh, but I can't. On account of being all tied up." I countered, raising my tied wrists for proof.

"Well... then you have no use for us, with your hands tied up like that." The boss said, making a hand signal for the kid, who swiftly removed a knife from his belt and walked towards me with purposeful steps and a malicious smirk on his face.

I stumbled back a couple of steps, trying to get away from him, but the boy was already on me, swinging his knife dangerously close to my neck.

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