The boys made there way back into the cave to free the hostages.
Asher attention was drafted to a side of a cave but was quickly called yo attention by nick
"Focus," Nick said, voice sharp. He led the way deeper into the cavern, torchlight casting long shadows on the jagged walls.
Ethan followed silently, his hand brushing the stone as if trying to feel something—confirm something.
They found the prisoners not far from the back of the cave, tied up and unconscious, but alive.
"Got 'em!" Asher called, slicing through the ropes with his dagger. The hostages stirred, groaning, confused.
"Are they all accounted for?" Nick asked.
Ethan knelt beside one of them—a young girl no older than ten. She flinched as he reached out, but calmed when she saw his eyes.
"You're safe now," he said quietly.
The boys freed the hostages and laid them back to the village.
Cheers filled the air as the villagers saw there long lost children right before them and they boys didn't know how to explain to some of the parents whose child were not seen but all they could do was give a short condolence to those whose children were gone.
The boys stood awkwardly as children hugged their legs and elders thanking and praising them
"You saved our people!" the village chief said, gripping Nick's hand with teary eyes. "We are forever in your debt."
"Just doing our job," Nick said.
Asher, of course, grinned and took a bite of bread. "I could get used to this part."
Ethan stood a little apart from the crowd, gaze distant. One of the hostages he rescued earlier approached him slowly.
"You were glowing," she whispered. "In the cave… like a shadow with fire inside."
The girl ran off immediately she said this to Ethan.
Ethan was confused by what the little girl meant by that but he attention was drawn to an elder coming to thank him