Imprisoned

The night had rolled in by the time the Knights had finished setting up the improvised prison.

It was set up some distance from the camp that was being used by the commoners, and was barely lit up as they didn't wish to waste oil on some prisoners. The way it was set up was also rather simple, with a bunch of stakes that had been buried in the ground firmly to which the chains of the Heretics were attached.

The heretics were then surrounded by the carriages, making a makeshift barrier with only one side open. This open side was where the knights were sitting and their personal tent was set up. 

This way the Heretics would have no way of escaping if they somehow managed to break their chains. 

Since the temporary prison had been set up, the steel carriage wasn't used to house the heretics. It would have been an extra effort on the knight's side to put all of them inside it, and they knew the crazy heretic would be a great pain in doing that.

Thus, rather than doing it tonight, they would just do it when it was finally time to depart from here.

"Ugh! If not for the fact that the crazy heretic knows more about their hideouts, we would've already killed him." One of the knights guarding the temporary prison complained. 

"Yeah, he's not worth the gruel we feed him. Let's just hope we can get to the city as soon as possible and hand him to the church." Another knight that was also guarding replied.

The two were stationed at the entrance of the prison and held torches in their hand while looking over the prisoners that were rather silent other than the occasional rattling of chains. They were still traumatized from the day and hadn't gotten over it yet. 

To them, the reality was simply too overbearing for them right now.

The same could be said for Asher, who was chained to a stake at the very back of the camp. His head was slouched while his arms were held back with chains. 

But he was not alone… 

~clang~

The sound of a chain being tugged was heard before a groan was heard.

~snap~

"Dammit…" The hoarse voice of a man was heard. 

"Need something more stiff to pick this." This was none other than the frenzied heretic.

Asher had the unfortunate chance of being chained together with the frenzied heretic to the same stake. Perhaps it was because he was the only one that didn't struggle much or didn't show any apprehension about being chained together with the frenzied heretic. The knights didn't think much before chaining the two together on the same stake.

"Hey, kid… You got something thin and stiff on you?" The frenzied heretic spoke in a low voice.

But he received no answer to his question.

"Hey, I'm talking to you." The frenzied heretic asked in a slightly higher voice. "Listen to me," he said, but Asher was still unresponsive.

~clang~

Seeing that he was still not being responded too, the frenzied heretic gave a firm tug to the chain.

~THUD~

"Ah!" This finally made Asher respond, or rather let out a cry of pain, as his head was hit against the stake.

"Now you can speak." The frenzied heretic scoffed. 

"W-what… What do you want?" Asher questioned, having been forced out of his daze.

He wanted to rub his head, but couldn't do so with his hands still tied.

"Do you have anything to pick these cuffs?" the heretic questioned. 

"Pick the cuffs? No." Asher denied. "But you really trying to escape? They'll just kill you." He said feeling surprised that the heretic would try something with the cordon of knights.

"Hah! I just need to get these cuffs off. Once that's done, it's the knights that'll die." The frenzied heretic said in a crazed tone.

Hearing him, it seemed like the man had delusions at first, but the look in his eyes said the opposite.

'He's serious…' Asher thought as he glanced at the man.

This made Asher feel strangely excited, as if the hope that had been smothered in his heart had turned into a red ember again.

It wasn't blazing, but at the very least, it wasn't cold anymore.

"How do you intend to do that?" Asher questioned. "There's too many of them." He said, counting the number of knights that he could see.

There were two standing at the only opening of the prison, and then several more in the tent ahead of it. 

"Hah! Even if there were twice as many knights, I'll be able to deal witch them." The frenzied heretic said. "I just need to get rid of these shackles first."

"But they're Two star warriors." Asher said in disbelief. "How would you defeat so many of them?" 

He had heard the knights talk and knew that most of them were Two Star Warriors while the mages themselves were three stars.

"Do you think just because they are two star warriors, they are above me?" The frenzied heretic chuckled. "If it weren't for these enchanted shackles, I could've killed all of them and, with a little more effort, the mages." He said with full confidence.

The man's words did seem crazy to Asher, but since he had no other option, he decided to probe this option first. 

'His shackles are really enchanted?' Asher wondered and looked at them with some difficult.

While Asher's hands were locked behind his back, they were still attached to a chain with some slack that allowed him to twist a bit and glance at the shackles. It was then that he spotted a few things under the dim light of the torches in the distance.

"Those marks… Is that the enchantment?" Asher asked, seeing tiny symbols carved into the shackles.

"Yeah, they prevent me from using my abilities." The frenzied heretic replied. "If those are removed, I'll have access to my power again." 

"Your power as a Heretic?" Asher questioned, a few dangerous thoughts sprouting in his mind.