The mercenary pulled Lucian's ankle, dragging him through the carriage until he could grab him. Lucian tried to hold himself in the seats of the carriage, only that the force in his arms was miserable compared with the grip that practically threw him out of the carriage.
"Argh! Let me go!" Growled Lucian, struggling.
The mercenary wrapped his arm around prince's neck, causing a great choke. In his ear, the mercenary laughed only for increased his desperation to flee.
"Calm down, calm down. Behave yourself, little prince."
Looking over his shoulder, the mercenary checked whether his companions were dealing with the Grand Duke. Magnus was enraged trying to reach Lucian and not getting because of the other five thieves who kept surrounding and beating him. Even if he could use the sword to block the attacks and push them away, there was no way for Magnus to try to rescue his fiancé.
"Lucian!"
The prince pulled the arm of the mercenary with force, trying to leave his neck free. It was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe, and to make matters worse, Lucian lacked any self-defense technique. All he could do was hit the mercenary and hope that his elbow hit some of that damn's ribs.
Which was a bit difficult.
"No use trying to hit me, little prince", mocked the mercenary.
Lucian was dragged away from the carriage, he tried to drag his feet and kick to release himself, but the mercenary squeezed his neck and gave a strong pull that made the prince choke.
"Damn... you son of a bitch, let me go!"
"Don't give me trouble, little prince."
What if Lucian tried to leave the mercenary unconscious? All he would need is something heavy... no, for this he would need to be too close to the object and the chances of the mercenary to stop him was too huge. Even thought to push the mercenary against some tree, but he was dealing with a big guy who managed to drag him with one arm.
The mercenary took a small knife from his belt and used it to cut off Lucian's heel, who screamed in pain and lost strength in standing. Now he could barely walk, and would not go very far if he tried to run away. Thus, the mercenary managed to pull the prince into the closed forest by the side of the road, out of sight of Magnus and the other henchmen.
"Hahahaha, you're as weak as they say. That's so pathetic for a royalty."
Lucian tried desperately to give an elbow, but the body of that guy looked like iron! Lucian's elbow hurt and the thief did not give a sign of discomfort. And to make matters worse, he could hardly say a single word of so much that he was being suffocated.
Gradually, his vision was blurred and his limbs tingled, the wound in his heel hurt like hell. All Lucian could see were the shadows of the trees and a breeze hitting his face that, unfortunately, did not refresh anything and did not make him breathe.
His body was dragged as if it were cloth, and he could hardly discern anything beyond that thanks to the lack of air. His mind was slowly vanishing, with no strength to even call the name of the omega.
Nor was it necessary.
Sneaking through the woods unnoticed, Magnus looked like a snake eye on his prey to catch him by surprise. Lucian had already lost consciousness when the omega made a surprise attack that hit behind the mercenary's knees, which only retreated a few steps still holding Lucian.
"Whoa, whoa! Are you here yet?"
"Let him go, and I'll give you the fastest death."
"Ha! That is if you survive."
Magnus had to be careful when attacking the mercenary, precisely not to hurt Lucian. Therefore, the fight that those two fought really did not bring any winner. The only thing that guaranteed was tiredness for both. To the frustration of the Grand Duke, that guy moved very well even being at a disadvantage.
The mercenary still kept the knife in his belt and unsheathed his sword, making Magnus growl low.
"Now you intend to take it seriously, is it? What a joke."
The two returned to fight, Magnus studied the gaps he could use, only then the mercenary found a way to push him away with his sword. It was then that the Grand Duke needed to immobilize that subject, and for this it was enough to deceive the mercenary by making him believe that he missed his blows, and hit behind his knees and calves in a deep and clean cut.
"Argh!"
The thief barked as he fell to his knees without being able to get up, but still did not release Lucian. Before he could get up, Magnus kicked his back and kept stepping on it, preventing him from getting up. Only then was Lucian free.
"You bastard..."
"Who sent you here?"
"Ha! Do you really think that the heads of you nobles are not worth a buck?"
"I'm not asking the reason, I want names" Answered Magnus coldly, stepping hard against the back of the subject and pointing the sword at his neck. "Who is your boss?"
"I'd rather die."
Magnus looked coldly at the mercenary, noticing the movement in his mouth.
"Well, those were great last words."
And without mercy, as he did with the others, Magnus's blade slid through the mercenary gaining a reddish tone that resembled the villain's eyes. Life passed before his feet, and Magnus just watched silently without being affected by the weight of death.
Only when the mercenary stopped moving did Magnus go to Lucian and drop his swords on the ground. Quickly held the prince and checked his wrist to then check his injuries, and so can release a sigh of relief.
"Haa... just unconscious."
"My lord! Did you find Her Highness?"
Magnus turned to the coachman, who was panting with the little race. He had some superficial wounds on your body, but nothing that would put him in great danger.
"Yes, and I've also dealt with all of them. Stay here with the prince, I want to see something."
The coachman quickly went to the prince, laying Lucian's head on his lap. Magnus took off his coat and covered Lucian before he went to the body of the mercenary and began searching for information. That guy had nothing important but his gun. Magnus even examined the blade of the sword, noting that it was identical to the sword he had taken from one of the mercenaries.
Magnus left the forest and went to near the carriage to search the other bodies, finding only a card in one of them's pockets. The card itself was simple, containing only a message that made Magnus frown.
"Hunt the bird? What the hell..."
Sighing, he kept the card and continued to search the bodies without finding any great clues. Even wanted to do a more detailed investigation to find out where they came from, however could not take because of Lucian. Magnus returned into the forest and held Lucian in his arms, carrying him back to the road with the coachman on his tail.
"Was the carriage damaged?"
"They broke one of the wheels, my lord. And it seems that the door is also broken, it would not be safe to walk in it."
"That troublesome" Growled Magnus, lowering his eyes to the unconscious prince in his arms. "It would not be safe to walk with him in this state. But I don't have much to do. Come on."
The coachman stared at his master with regret, wondering if Magnus could carry the unconscious prince all the way.
"My lord, would it not be better to wait for someone to pass by this road?"
"We have no idea when anyone will be passing through here, Don. Also, I would have to look for wood to make a fire to warm Lucian and wait for him to wake up."
"So, let me go ahead and get help at the city entrance."
"You're also hurt" Magnus replied, but his coachman looked at him desperate to do something. Finally, the Grand Duke sighed without really being able to dispute an old employee of his duchy. "Let's just shorten a little the distance from the entrance of the city. Then I will wait for you."
"All right, my lord."
And so, Magnus walked silently carrying Lucian and being followed by his coachman. At dusk, they found a fireplace that served as a base. The coachman quickly collected some branches and used a match to light the fire, leaving his master to look after the eighth prince while he went to get help at the entrance of the city.
Staring at the flames of the fire, Magnus plunged into thoughts about what had happened. Your finger curled in the card in your pocket, not forgetting the words he read before. Unconsciously his eyes fell upon the unconscious prince, who had bruises on his target neck.
"It seems you weren't lying when you said they would come after you."