Nolan wanted to stand up and rush forward to try and kill Zack, but he knew that, like the other young man from moments ago, he would surely fail. But it seemed that the fear of death among the other boys would soon lead them to try something, giving him the opportunity he wanted, and that's what happened next...
While Zack slit the throat of the fourth person in line and threw him into the depths of the ravine, the three young men who were in line as the fifth, sixth, and seventh to be executed nodded to each other and stood up, running in different directions.
The eighth young man in the execution line, realizing what the other three had done, stood up and also tried to flee, but he wasn't very lucky, as he was too close to Zack's two henchmen and was quickly grabbed by them.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The two said together as they threw the young man forcefully to the ground.
Nolan didn't miss the opportunity these young men created; he also stood up, but instead of randomly choosing a direction to flee, his eyes were locked on Zack, who had killed his father and was now distracted watching the three fugitives. After all, Zack wanted to see how the cruel Viper would deal with them...
Nolan ran as fast as he could. He knew that a kick or a headbutt wouldn't be enough to hurt or threaten Zack, so, while he was just a few steps away from the young villain, he opened his jaw and prepared to bite the only place on his body not covered by several layers of protection: his face.
Zack was startled when he heard footsteps behind him and turned around. He saw one of the young men with light brown hair and amber eyes, blood trickling down the side of his face, his mouth open, full of white teeth, ready to bite his face. He barely had time to protect himself or retreat, but at that moment a sound cut through the air.
"Swish"
A perfectly aimed arrow shot from the dark forest towards Nolan by The Viper. It grazed him, severing one of his Achilles tendons, causing the bite that was about to tear off part of Zack's face to miss its target by inches. Nolan fell to the ground, feeling an enormous pain in his left heel, and doubled over, trying to protect his face.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
"Pow"
"Punch"
"You really tried to kill me?"
"Pow"
"Punch"
Zack unleashed all his fury on Nolan, first crouching down and delivering several punches to his back and head, then straightening up and kicking him repeatedly in the legs, head, and back, causing numerous bruises to instantly appear and making Nolan groan and gasp while his hands were still tied.
Before Zack ran out of breath, he partially lifted the battered Nolan off the ground, drew his dagger again, and slit his throat, throwing his body into the Crack in front of him.
Immediately afterward, the executions continued, with Zack eliminating all the escapees who were easily caught by the lethal archer, and the last two young men who hadn't moved during the chaos.
The only unusual thing that happened during these last executions was that one of them threw himself into the small ravine before his neck was cut, but soon after, his groans were heard as he fell, and Zack's two minions hurled enormous stones at the spot where he had fallen, silencing him in an even more cruel and painful way than the others who met a quicker end with the dagger…
***
Everything happened very quickly. Nolan not only failed to hurt Zack, but he also suffered several kicks and punches to his back and abdomen, had his throat cut, and was thrown into the depths of the Little Crack.
His body thrashed against the sharp rocks on the sides of the somewhat steep ravine, sustaining some additional injuries, but all were ignored due to the pain and shortness of breath from having his throat cut from ear to ear.
With a heavy thud, Nolan fell face down onto something soft; it was quite obvious that it was one of the bodies executed earlier, which prevented him from injuring himself further and losing consciousness immediately after the fall.
But for Nolan, who was only seconds or minutes away from dying due to blood loss and suffocation, remaining alive was considered a final torture because of what he could see.
The reason for this torture was just a few steps from where he fell. In the dim sunlight illuminating the bottom of the Little Crack, he saw another corpse. The corpse had long, light brown hair like Nolan's and wore a gray long-sleeved shirt full of patches and reinforcements at the elbows. It had three broken arrows stuck in its chest, and its eyes were filled with terror and disbelief.
"FATHER!"
Nolan wanted to get up and go to his father's body; he wanted to apologize for causing his death, he wanted to apologize for not having ambitions, to apologize for being so weak and not having the power necessary to protect him… But he no longer had the strength to do so, and as his vision darkened, he only wished he could reverse all the injustice he had suffered that day…
***
With all the young people and their families dead, Zack Blackwood, The Viper, and the others left the area near Little Crack and returned to Blackwood Village to await the arrival of the Kingdom official who would begin the Scar Granting Ritual.
As the sun set on the horizon and night fell on the outskirts of Blackwood Village, darkness completely covered the Little Crack, where the many fathers and sons who had died that day remained. Under the dim violet light of the moon, a mysterious golden light partially illuminated the dark ravine, making the black, irregular walls of the place seem almost as if they were made of gold; it was as if the most sacred light of the sun had shone there again at the beginning of the night, and this light… Came from Nolan's body...