Cayson swiped his foot under Sean’s, causing Sean to smash his face into the dirt. Mason snuck up behind Cayson, wrapping his arms around him and picking him off the ground. Cayson’s arms were pinned down by his sides. Sean jumped to his feet, sending his fist into Cayson’s gut.

Instead of doubling over in pain like he used to, Cayson reacted. Using Mason’s grip to hold him up, Cayson leapt into the air and sent his feet into Sean’s chest. Sean flew backwards, smashing onto his back with a loud thud as he let out an agonizing gasp.

Cayson’s feet returned to the ground as he stomped on Mason’s foot. Masons tight grip loosened and Cayson whirled around, elbowing him in the face. As Mason let go, Cayson spun around to face him. Mason sent his knee, hard, into Cayson’s crotch. Cayson crashed to the ground, holding his family jewels as he rolled around in the dirt.

“I thought we agreed the family jewels were off limits!” Cayson whimpered as Sean sat up.

“This was a fight. They’re not going to just avoid that area,” Mason shrugged. “Am I at fault here?” Mason questioned Zane, who stood behind them, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.

“I don’t see anything wrong with that. You're just trying to prepare him,” Zane shrugged with an innocent smile.

“I personally think you deserved it,” Sean smirked. Cayson put on a strong face and forced himself of the ground. “You’ve gotten a lot better though.”

“Yeah! Maybe we should call Emery out here so she can see?” Zane mocked.

“Oh shut up,” Cayson sneered with a laugh. “Why are you forcing me to train still? Aren’t we supposed to be, oh I don’t know, proving i’m innocent so Ezra doesn’t kill me?”

“We are doing that,” Mason reassured. “We have Emery, Roxanne, and Everly watching the food. We need to get you ready, just incase.”

“Just incase what?” Cayson questioned, wiping the dirt off of his jeans.

“Incase we don’t figure this out,” Mason replied with a heavy frown, sauntering over to Sean, helping him off the ground.  “Well he kicked your butt today,” Mason teased, attempting to distract Cayson.

However, it didn’t work.

Cayson was nervous for many reasons. One being the fact that at any moment Ezra could kill him. Another being the fact that at any moment a destroyer could come along and well . . . destroy everything. A third being getting Emery involved in this.

He remembered the worried look painted on her face when she had seen the cut on his lip. Cayson had found it comforting, relaxing even. He hadn’t expected her to want to jump on the ‘let’s save Cayson from Ezra’ train. What Cayson found even more shocking was the fact that Finley had offered.

Of course Finley was there first suspect. So Mason told him kindly to piss off.

Snapping his attention back to his friends, Cayson listened as Mason and Sean started one of their usual arguments, which consisted of Mason mocking Sean and Sean attempting to reply but not being able to come up with anything good or hurtful to say.

Cayson stood in the background, only observing with a laugh. It was only when something shined in the corner of his eye that his attention was diverted. Examining the woods, Cayson could see the outline of a person.

The sun reflected off the tip of their arrow. Cayson could see the arrow’s projection, it’s path aiming for Sean’s head. The person stretched their bow, ready to shoot.

“Sean move!” Cayson bellowed, leaping forward and shoving him aside. The arrow whipped through the air, and Cayson realized he didn’t have enough time to move himself. The arrow stabbed through his shoulder, coming out through the other side and pinning him to the nearest tree.

Cayson yelled in agony as his friends realized what was going on. Mason’s eyes followed the path of the arrow, watching as someone shuffled in the bushes. He latched onto them, throwing them against a nearby tree.

“Zane! Get out of here!” Cayson managed to scream through the cries of pain.  

“I can’t just leave you guys!” Two others emerged from around the corner. One had his arrow pointed at Mason’s back, ready to take him out.

“We need backup! Go!” Zane stood his ground for a moment, wanting to help. However, he eventually did as he was told and took off towards the Base Camp. “Sean!” Cayson warned. Sean had been in shock, trying to register what had just happened. However, seeing the Destroyer go after Mason was the slap in the face he needed. Sean sprang into action, tackling him to the ground.

Cayson touched the tip of the arrow, wanting nothing more than to remove it so he could help his friends. However, even the slightest touch was too painful for words. He hissed in agony, turning his attention to the Destroyer sauntering towards him. He looked to both Mason and Sean, seeing they were busy with the fights they had going on.

Instinct kicked in, and Cayson attempted to move backwards. He only crashed into the tree behind him, making everything more painful.

“You must be Cayson Winslow,” the Destroyer began, his cold emerald eyes shooting towards Cayson’s bleeding shoulder.

“How . . . how do you know my name?” Cayson wondered. The Destroyer had a sick , twisted, smile on his face. One that was worse than Ezra’s. One that said, I can’t wait to slit your throat.

“I can’t believe i’m standing before the infamous Cayson Winslow! You know, you're causing a lot of problems at our camp. Aaron just . . . doesn’t like you. You’re turning out to be more of a burden than he thought.”

“Aaron? Who the hell is that?” Cayson found himself breathing heavily, the pain causing his body to work overtime. Sweat dripped down his forehead as the Destroyer stood a few inches away from him, so close Cayson could feel his breath on his face. Cayson fought himself, standing tall. Well, as tall as the pain would allow him to anyway.

“Then again, you are doing exactly what he wants,” the Destroyer reached out for the arrow. Cayson swatted his hand away, but the Destroyer overpowered him. He latched onto the arrow and pushed it, forcing it further into Cayson’s body.

Cayson cried in agony, screaming at the tops of his lungs as the pain became too much to bare. Sending his fist into the Destroyer he was fighting againsts face, Mason found his heart breaking just hearing the sound of his friend in torment.

Cayson’s first reaction threw the Destroyer off guard. Cayson bit his lip, fighting through the discomfort as he sent his foot into the Destroyer’s crotch.

The man groaned, a few strands of his coal black flopping wildly on top of his otherwise perfectly groomed head, doubling over as Cayson used his free hand to send his fist smashing into his face. The man collapsed to the ground, head smashing against the nearest rock, causing the Destroyer to black out.

Taking in a deep breath, Cayson wrapped his fingers around the arrow.

He didn’t have the courage to pull it from his body. He did know, however, he couldn’t stay attached to this tree, sitting in plain sight. Cayson squeezed his eyes shut tightly, ignoring the tears he allowed to glide down his face and mix with the dirt staining his cheeks.

Wrapping his fingers around the arrow, he ripped himself off the tree like a band aid. The arrow snapped, half of it remaining in Cayson’s shoulder while the other half flew to the ground. He screeched a blood curling scream, gasping for air as the pain had labored his breathing.

His legs gave out, his body going weak as Cayson crashed to his knees. He, however, forced himself to keep fighting. His right hand dug through the leaves, wrapping around the broken end of the arrow.

Crawling, very slowly, over to the Destroyer in front of him, he was ready to stab him. Taking in a deep breath, he cocked his right arm backwards. As his arm began to fly forward, Mason grasped his wrist.

“Don’t,” Mason warned.

“Don’t? Why?” Cayson was confused.

“Think about it. Ezra thinks you're guilty. And if you don’t find an answer by the end of the week, you're screwed.”

“So?” Mason eyed the Destroyer.

“I think you just found your answer,” Mason let go of Cayson, stealing the broken end of the arrow from his hands and tossing it to the side.

Cayson pulled himself backwards, leaning against a nearby oak tree for support. Holding his throbbing shoulder, Cayson found his hand blanketed in his own crimson blood within seconds. Squeezing his mouth shut tight, he let out a painful yet muffled cry. Sean slammed the Destroyer he was fightings head against his knee, allowing the Destroyers body to crumble to the ground.

“Are you alright?” Sean asked, jogging over to him. Kneeling by his side, Sean removed Cayson’s hand to observe the wound. “It’s bad,” he shook his head.

“Way to motivate me,” Cayson sent a weak smile. He could feel his body slowly losing it’s energy. Cayson felt like he had run from Canada to Florida. His legs were sore, his breath was rapid, and he had to fight to keep his eyes open.

“We have to get him out of here,” Mason urgently decided. He could already see Cayson’s face drop a shade.

“I’ll get him to the medical tent, you get that guy,” Sean instructed. Mason nodded, stomping to the Destroyer who had been messing with Cayson. “The backup should get rid of the other two.”

Gripping his uninjured arm, Sean pulled Cayson from the ground with a groan. Sean led his friends towards the camp at a rapid pace. Cayson stumbled a few times, finding himself slowly losing his balance the further they walked.

“Hey, one good thing came out of this,” Cayson began. Sean raised an eyebrow to his friend as he wrapped Cayson’s unharmed arm around his shoulders. Cayson leaned against Sean for support, attempting to take in a deep breath.

“Maybe now Emery will choose talking to you over talking to Finley?”

“No . . . well yeah. That, and now Ezra won’t try to kill me!” Sean couldn’t laugh along though. He knew Ezra, he knew Ezra’s feelings towards Cayson. And even though Sean would fight to the end to stop him, he feared one day Ezra would win and kill Cayson.