Jacob’s uncle howled in pain before rolling on the ground and clutching his eyes.

"You damn monsters!! What the hell is that thing?!"

The water fell and scattered all over the ground, allowing Jacob to take in many deep breaths again. He grabbed Maria’s hand and darted towards Zeke and Lidia who were still incapacitated on the ground. Instead of helping Lidia up, he kicked her multiple times. Strangely, this allowed her to heal most of the wounds she received and gave her a small respite.

"Thank you, Jacob. You’re a great son."

She picked up Zeke and threw him over her shoulders.

"We have to get the hell out of this kingdom. There’s no way I’m being ruled by another tyrant."

Slade seemed to have finally reveal himself after crawling out of a small opening of broken stone. He was in terrible shape. His right leg seemed to be broken, his face was swollen and he was clutching his ribs tightly.

"I’ll hold him off. Everyone, make a run for it."

Maddy walked up next to him coughing up water.

"I’ll stay too. We need you people alive if we have any hope of keeping this kingdom."

"No. I can’t possibly agree to that!"

Jacob’s uncle started standing up off the ground.

"There’s no time! Just run!"

Out of instinct, Maria grabbed Lidia and Jacob’s hand and started dragging them away.

"Maria? Let go of me! We need to help them!"

Tears started to fill her eyes as she ignored Jacob’s pleas.

"Maria! Please listen to me!"

"Shut up and start running you dumbass! Don’t let their sacrifice be in vain!"

Even Lidia couldn’t retort her daughter’s words. None of them were in good enough shape to face such an overwhelmingly powerful opponent. Fighting him would be suicide.

They all dashed down the steps of the palace at full speed, running through the streets of the kingdom like crazy. They made it through the gate and looked behind them one last time to say goodbye to their old home. Soft booms of battle echoed in the distance, urging them to stop looking backward and start running forward.

Jacob looked at the plains in front of him. He could hardly recognize any of it. The green hills that he once knew were nothing but charred dirt and soot for miles. It looked like he had entered a wasteland.

"Where do we go? What should we do?"

Lidia panted heavily as she looked over the horizon.

"We just have to keep moving. We can’t be here anymore."

Suddenly, one final boom roared through the sky. A man riding a stream of water was barreling towards them at insane speeds. It was over.

Jacob’s uncle first pierced Lidia’s arms with high pressured water, causing her to bleed more. This made her drop Zeke on the ground. He took advantage of this and slowly sent a stream around Zeke’s neck. Everyone stopped moving and stared at him anxiously.

"You all will submit, or I behead your friend here."

In the setting sun, a strange silhouette of a man seemed to be walking towards them. As he approached, his figure only seemed to grow larger. It was the most muscular man Jacob had ever seen. He towered over his uncle in both muscle mass and height. Seeing his approach, his uncle seemed to bow his head slightly.

"General. I’ve successfully dethroned the Crimson King as you commanded. These are just some loose ends I am trying to tie up. After this, Iron Kingdom will be ours."

The man looked down over everyone and noticed Jacob and Maria’s mark. However, he didn’t seem to be affected by it in any way. A smile grew on the generals damaged face.

"You’ve caught yourself quite a prize here. Where’s your comrade, Monty?"

"Monty was defeated in battle, sir. Their forces were too great for him to handle. I believe this injured man is responsible."

Leo pointed at Zeke who was now laying on the ground after he dropped him. The general looked down on Zeke like he was a bug.

"How unfortunate."

A polished sword found its way into his hand as he slowly started walking towards Zeke. Lidia, Jacob, and Maria ran to get in between them.

"No! Don’t do it! Don’t-"

Strange stone pillars appeared out of the ground and constrained all three of them in their place. Maria used all her strength to try and break free, but it was no use. The general continued walking towards Zeke, who seemed to finally regain consciousness slightly. He looked over at the man approaching him with a sword and smiled.

"Ah. It seems I’m about to lose again. These past few weeks have really sucked. How long has it been again?"

The sword rested on Zeke’s chin. The man looked down on him with a cold expression.

"I’ll honor you a final word before you pass. Defeating Monty could not have been an easy feat. Do you wish to speak?"

Zeke never stopped smiling. Instead, he looked over at Lidia who started screaming and straining against the stones holding her in place. Tears fell down her face, her hair was a complete mess, and her eyes were hollow with desperation.

"Look after my family for me, Lidia."

With that, the steel sword held by the general bit through Zeke’s face, cutting it completely in half. Lidia stopped resisting. Her entire being felt empty. She had lost so much in such a short amount of time. She had no more fight left in her. She was completely and utterly defeated.

Jacob and Maria both held looks of anguish witnessing the scene in front of them. Leo walked over to the general and kneeled in front of him.

"Sir, that mark of theirs is dangerous. Do I have permission to kill them?"

"Permission denied. In fact, I need you to ensure they never leave your site."

Leo looked at the general with a crazed expression.

"Respectfully, I don’t have a good feeling about that mark on their arms. One look was enough to make me feel like I was burning alive."

The general put a hand on his shoulder.

"Keep them alive. And don’t let them leave your sight. If you think your missions over just because you accomplished your goal, then consider this your new mission. You can keep them all chained up if you wish."

"What about the woman? She isn’t marked."

The general looked at Lidia, gauging her strength.

"She shouldn’t be a threat to you. Even at her full strength. Keep her locked up with the others. Besides, she was one of the people who helped you overthrow this kingdom. The least you can do is show her some mercy."

Leo nodded his head.

"Understood, General. I will do as you command."

"Good. I will only stay to help you rebuild what is necessary, then I’m afraid the king needs me back home."

"Your help is appreciated, sir."

The general kept their limbs bound in stone while Leo used his rend ability to carry all of them back towards the palace. Once they arrived, the general seemed to have almost instantly repair every single broken wall and crack surrounding them. As they passed the throne room, Jacob saw the limp bodies of Maddy, Slade, and Cane. An even greater sadness grasped his heart.

Right as they were about to enter the dungeon, one final duo seemed to approach them. One of them was a woman dressed in Maria’s silver armor. The other was a man dressed in Jacob’s training gear, with his famous iron helmet on his head. It was Joseph and Eden who had come to rescue their prince.

Jacob cried out to them desperately.

"What are you both doing here?! Leave this place! The Iron Kingdom is defeated!"

They both ignored Jacobs cries and took a fighting stance.

"Let everyone go. This palace belongs to Prince Jacob and the nobles now."

The general looked over at the two armored commoners with curiosity.

"Interesting. You two do realize what you are doing, don’t you?"

Eden and Joseph took a step forward.

"We aren’t going to ask again. Let them go."

"I can take care of them, sir."

The general put his hand up.

"I will deal with this. I respect the courage they are showing. To make this as fair as possible, I am willing to even the odds a bit."

The general slowly took off his armor and dropped his sword on the ground.

"You two will be allowed to attack me freely for an entire minute. I won’t move, I won’t fight back, and if I so much as make the slightest movement, I will let them all go. However, if you both fail, I will kill you where you stand."

Joseph and Eden paled.

"That’s a crazy bet. There’s no way you will win that!"

"Do you not accept?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Eden took a step forward and drew a sword.

"We accept. You will regret facing the two of us. Not even the prince himself could keep up with our assault for long."

The general kept an emotionless expression.

"I’m hoping you both can show me what you are capable of."

Joseph was the first to make his move. He screamed and charged forward with a long staff. He swung it with all his might, hitting the general right in the head. However, he still stood completely still, unaffected by the strike. Eden was behind him to follow up. First, she swiped her sword across his throat, then she brought it up above her head and slashed at his torso with all her might.

However, when the sword touched his shoulder, it completely shattered into pieces. Eden stared at her hilt, frozen in fear.

’How...’

"There’s no time, Eden! We only have a minute!"

Eden snapped out of it and started sending multiple blows into his body. It didn’t make a difference. No matter how many blows they both sent into his body, no matter where they landed, he never flinched or moved a single time. It was as if they were fighting a sturdy tree. Joseph grabbed Eden in desperation. Using both of their body weights, he attempted to tackle the man into the ground. However, it felt like they just rammed themselves into a stone wall.

Before they knew it, the minute was already completely up. Joseph looked up at the man in despair.

"This can’t be possible. Are you even human?"

The general slowly bent down and picked up his sword.

"As human as I can be. But does it make me more or less human for giving you both a chance to win?"

Both Eden and Joseph remained silent.

"If you have anything left to say, I will let you say it out of respect. Just know, no matter what you say, you already agreed to the bet. There’s no escaping your part of the deal."

He slowly lifted the sword against Edens neck first. Joseph took off his helmet and stared at Jacob incredulously.

"Jacob. Please, do whatever it takes to carve your legacy into the heavens. I’m only sorry that I won’t be there to witness you achieve it."

He slowly put the helmet down next to him and lifted his chin high in front of him, ready to accept his part of the deal with honor. Eden had small tears run down her cheeks but still managed a smile while looking at everyone. She looked at Lidia in particular before saying her final words.

"I’ll say hi to Iris for you, Miss Lidia. I’m sure she misses you greatly, but don’t rush to go and see her."

The general reeled his sword back. Lidia started screaming at the top of her lungs with all the energy she had left.

"NO!!"

The hallway was painted with the blood of the two older servants. Their limp bodies fell to the ground immediately. Jacob’s helmet that protected him from dying earlier, had failed to protect his friend, and was now painted in his blood as a cruel reminder. The general whipped his sword to the side to clean the blood off of it as best he could. He looked at his reflection in his blade.

"I must admit, I’ve never met palace servants with so much courage before. Iron Kingdom is a lot stronger than I could have ever imagined. It’s unfortunate that I was destined to be your enemy."

The general slowly picked up his armor and put it back on himself before walking back to group. There wasn’t as much as a scratch on his flawless skin. Leo looked at him with bewilderment.

"Did you get stronger since last time I’ve seen you, General?"

"I’m always getting stronger. You know that we don’t have a choice."

They walked Jacob, Maria and Lidia down to the deepest dungeon cells they could find. A door creaked open, revealing three dark cages with hardly any space in them. One by one, they were all put in their own cage. Jacob’s cage in particular seemed to be a bit different than the others. One of the walls in it was completely busted, allowing dirt and small roots to poke themselves into the cage.

When his uncle locked all their doors, he looked at Jacob with disgust.

"You lucked out once again. I don’t know why I need to keep you alive with that stupid mark, but don’t you dare think this won’t mean I can’t treat you horribly if I feel like it."

He turned around and walked up to the general, took off the charm and showed it to him.

"This is a prize we earned in the battle. It’s a charm with an extremely powerful enchantment. It limits people’s powers when activated."

The general looked at it for a few moments before handing it back to Leo.

"There’s no honor in using such cheap tricks to win fights. You can keep it if you feel it’s necessary."

Leo wrapped the charm around his neck.

"Suit yourself."

Before leaving them for a while, Leo turned around to address all of them one last time.

"Oh, I forgot to say. If you think gaining your energy back will get you out of this mess, you are sadly mistaken. I will have one of my most powerful guard watching over you all around the clock with this enchantment activated. Just in case you get any hopeful ideas. Have fun rotting!"

He slammed the door shut as he left. The only sounds left in the room were Lidia’s soft sobs into her own hands. Jacob couldn’t see either of them, but he wondered if they each held a similar expression to himself. One that portrayed no emotion except pure despair.

In a mere day, everything Jacob knew, everything Jacob cared about dearly, had all been taken away from him. Those days of visiting Sarah in her shop, taking Maria to nice musicals, and running around in fields of flowers, were no longer possible. The paradise he grew to love and appreciate had been reduced to a living hell he would have to endure for the rest of his life. But if there was one thing that gave him a small sense of bliss, it was the thought of spending an eternity in hell with his two favorite people in the world.

Even if the sky fell, even if the earth split open, he had the people he loved dearly to witness the disasters with. That was the one thing that Jacob desperately hoped would never change for the rest of his living days.

Maybe it was the crazy day he had, or maybe it was his mind finally going insane, but Jacob could swear he heard a small dark chuckle coming from the mark burned into his flesh.

End of Volume 1: Lost From Paradise