CHAPTER 23 - THE KIDNAPPING
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The group of young narwhals made their way down those mysterious stairs. Surrounded by darkness, the pressure constantly weighed on them. They had discovered something they should not have, and were entering a world they should have left sealed. Perhaps they were making a mistake, but deep down, Natirra, among all of them, knew she had been wrong the moment she decided to go along with Gaid's plans.
She observed the surroundings with the group as they proceeded. The path was quite narrow. The ground was made of compacted, now grayish soil, and the walls were constructed from dirty pebbles, filled with mold and often covered with cracks. It was not uncommon to see insects inhabiting those cracks, using them as homes. Nor was it uncommon for at least one of the group members to get caught in a spider's web.
“Whoever uses this place surely doesn’t pay much attention to it.”
The stairs had ended some time ago, and now Natirra and her group were simply walking through a narrow tunnel that seemed to stretch on for a long way. They were clearly underground, and everyone looked around, trying to reason why such a place was created.
Gaid carried a torch, which he had brought as a precaution. He hadn’t expected to be in such a large group, but what he hadn’t expected beyond that was discovering an entire secret tunnel in the militia leader’s office.
Behind the group, everyone could hear Igre reading the document he had initially found in the office desk before unlocking the passage.
Igre maintained a monotone voice, but mostly because he was also focused on processing what he was reading.
«”Dear Pirate Council.”» He read aloud so everyone could understand. They all continued to look ahead, ensuring they saw nothing.
«”We confirm your agreement. In the event of your departure from our seas, and to prevent you from interfering with our trade, we are willing to exchange our young for your disappearance, provided that, respecting this, you never return to our seas. We will conceal the operation under a false pretense, implementing the plan after a month of ‘training’.”»
Everyone was stunned, unsure how to react to the situation they found themselves in. The first to speak was Monomia, who for once had a serious expression on his face as he contemplated the ground while walking. «”So it’s all a ruse. There’s no military expedition, it’s a farce to sell us to the pirates.”»
Riaca was openly shocked. «”But how could our village do this to us? It’s immoral!”»
Igre, on the other hand, understood and tried to provide a sensible and logical response. «”We are weaker than the pirates, there is no doubt that this is the motive. They are willing to trade some of their young to stop their attacks on their commercial ships.”»
Natirra remained silent but was equally terrified. If all of this was leading to her being captured, she was somewhat grateful to have discovered it in advance. She and Gaid remained silent. Everyone else continued.
Monomia wondered, brushing his hand against the wall and attracting some dust. «”I wonder where this tunnel leads, it’s really long.”»
«”I’d worry about something else if I were you.”» Everyone’s attention turned to Gaid, who also looked back. Among them, Igre seemed skeptical and began to ask questions.
«”You, you’re not being straight with me. Where are you leading us? How did you know about this secret passage? I still find it hard to believe in that spirit stuff, you know…”»
Natirra defended him, mainly because she was the most convinced. «”I think if we’ve even discovered the pirate plan, it’s thanks to him, so I wouldn’t be so angry.”»
Gaid, however, still responded. «”I think we’re crossing the island underground, we’ll come out at one of the extremes. It’s impossible that we’re just crossing so many meters of tunnel for no reason.”»
Riaca looked around, confused. «”I wonder why they built such a structure. What could it be used for?”»
«”To avoid suspicion, perhaps the pirates pass through here.”»
Hearing the mention of pirates, Natirra couldn’t help but feel a shiver run down her spine. She was already in the situation she was in, but she couldn’t avoid thinking that sooner or later she would actually have to face pirates. She was making a mistake, but it was better to make it with Gaid than alone.
Thinking about it, she wondered what had happened to Eneas; he could have met the same fate.
And Gaid… She observed him closely. He hadn’t yet scratched off the feeling that something wrong surrounded him, a sort of aura. He could speak with spirits, but surely what he was doing wasn’t for personal study. It was useless to press him on the matter; he wouldn’t tell her anything about it. Maybe they needed to bond a bit more, maybe that was it.
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The group began to advance. Their steps were the only thing breaking that constant silence, and the sound of their boots hitting the compacted soil echoed throughout the corridor; even a simple sneeze was repeated by the echo, likely audible from meters away.
At some point, the group, distracted by their thoughts and questions, was struck by something strange. The first to stop was Gaid, which consequently alerted the rest of the group with his spoken words.
«”Found Eneas.”» Those two words alerted the entire group, who looked at where Gaid was shining his light.
Natirra jumped back, and everyone else looked in shock as the wounded corpse of Eneas lay on the floor, being consumed by the same insects that inhabited the nearby cracks.
His body was lying face down and filled with wounds; it was clear he had been dead for some time. No one in the group dared approach, and among them, the only one with a clear expression on his face was Gaid, who remained staring. Everyone else looked around.
«”The pirates, they must have done this! We’ll die too!”» Riaca was losing patience but didn’t dare leave the group. Igre, among them, suddenly felt weak, overwhelmed by fear. «”We need to go back or we’ll end up like her.”»
«”No, it’s too late, we’re too far in. At this point, it’s better to move forward.”» Gaid replied, advancing.
The group felt obligated to follow him. And so they did, but they couldn’t avoid wanting to stay there a bit longer, because the guilt each of them felt was greater than anything else. They began to move forward.
Natirra’s stomach churned several times, and she felt her legs growing weaker. Pirates were capable of such cruelty. Despite being aware from her first conversation with Gaid and the explanation of the prophecies, with the dream, of Eneas’ fate, seeing him evoked an even stronger wave of guilt, one that could not be wiped away. She was the only one who had believed in him, but despite that, she had done nothing to prevent this from happening. At one point, during their continued journey, she placed her hands on her hair, trying to process the news.
Unlike the others, however, Monomia couldn’t stand the situation; he decided to take Eneas’ body gently, as if she were sleeping, which he somewhat hoped. Her body was light, making it easy to carry. He began to carry her with him, determined and inflamed by such a thing.
And while Igre and Riaca remained there trembling in fear and wondering who could have done this, and Natirra felt like the worst person in the world, Monomia stood there with a determined face, clenching his fists. He now knew that Algalunga was involved in the entire plan, and just the fact that he might have allowed him and his pirate gang to kill another narwhal filled him with incredible rage.
Seeing that body, he silently promised both to Eneas and to himself that he would avenge her.
And so the group continued to advance, this time more shaken than before. The only one who really continued forward without any change was Gaid, who was determined to reach the end of that tunnel, which he finally did when he saw the night light kissing stairs from a distance.
«”The exit!”» Riaca and Igre, both becoming paranoid and hysterical after finding the body, rushed to reach the stairs, which they climbed immediately. Natirra and Monomia felt they should do the same but were stopped by Gaid.
The three of them proceeded in a much calmer manner, Monomia, before exiting, decided to leave Eneas’ body on the exit.
«”I will come, and I will avenge you.”» Promised the Narwhal, with a determined expression. But as soon as all three poked their heads out of the secret passage, finally breathing the beach air where they had appeared, which was on the opposite end of the island, they encountered three swords that surrounded their bodies.
Natirra, looking around, saw a group of pirates, several ships parked on that beach, and a campfire.
Gaid announced, still with an apathetic face. «”We’re in their camp. They’ve been on our island all along; that’s what the tunnel was for.”»
Igre and Riaca were subdued and bound, and Natirra, among all, was sweating cold, realizing that this was her end.
Monomia clenched his fists.
«”Those bastards!”»
But Gaid stopped him as more pirates appeared on the horizon. «”It’s useless to fight them; there are too many.”»
«"Wise of your friend,"» said an unknown voice. All three turned to see him.
Algalunga smiled, accompanied by a small squad of armed pirates. «"Did you think you could escape, or were you trying to fight us?"»
None of them responded. Monomia was clearly agitated. Although Algalunga didn’t seem to recognize him, Monomia remembered the pirate’s face from the first time he had encountered him. The swords surrounding him were the only thing keeping him from attacking directly, and indeed, he remained still, his furious expression ignored by Algalunga.
«"And you are… Algalunga."» Gaid said, with a challenging tone.
«"I see you know my reputation."» The pirate boasted, scratching his beard.
«"We discovered your plan; you want to kidnap the island’s soldiers, and we will stop you."» But this only made the pirate smile more.
«"How amusing! The curious are always the first to fall. You must have seen what happened to the spy who discovered our plans…"» And imagining Eneas, Natirra felt an even stronger shiver, almost on the verge of tears.
«"But it’s too late, so I’ll give you a choice, since you’ve decided to entertain us in this way.”»
The silence approached everyone in that situation, soon broken by Algalunga again.
«“So? Choose, your life or your freedom, which one will you give up? If you remain silent, I’ll decide.”» None of them uttered a single word, none of them spoke, none of them knew what to say, and none of them made a sound; they were completely silent. The air was thick with death, an adventure that was supposed to go well and stop the pirates had ended with the opposite result; they were supposed to free the island, but instead, they would be captured.
«“Perfect, I’ll choose then.”» The pirates smiled, and moved menacingly closer.