Searching For You

Chapter 25: Pawns in a Game Called Death

The gate to Annie's cell opened with a loud creak. Chief Boral, along with two guards stood right outside.

"You're comin' with us little lady." He said staring down threateningly at her.

"No" she stated firmly, trying to stand her ground.

"Well, you don't have much of a choice." He gestured for the two guards to move forward. They grabbed her harshly by her forearms and pulled her forward. "Now now, be gentle. That's no way to handle a lady." Boral chuckled sarcastically.

"Get your hands off her!" Stoick roared.

"Oh hush up, Stoick. We'll take good care of her." He said through a devilish grin.

Both Stoick and Gobber were at a loss for words. They knew the screaming and throwing insults at the maniacal Chief would do anyone any good. It was more trouble than it was worth.

They could only stare as the guards trudged down the hall with Boral in toe.

Up until that point Annie had remained in a humanoid state. But her wings had appeared as she tried to fight against the men's death grip. But her efforts proved to be in vain. The Chief had pulled out a rope and tied it tightly around her wings, binding them together.

At that point she was helpless. She had no weapons, couldn't fly away, the area was too tight to use her dragon form to get away. Annie was smart enough to know that she couldn't physically overpower the two grown men who kept her moving forward.

What would she even do if she did manage to slip through her grip? She couldn't turn around, they would leave her cornered. She couldn't just keep running forward. Surely there were more people just outside.

So, with no other plan, Annie chooses to be compliant for the time being. At least until things looked better in terms of escape.

When they finally exited the dungeons Annie was somewhat pleased to finally get a breath of fresh air. The sky was dark. The sun appeared to have just set. A cool, early winter breeze filled the air. There were many people gathered in what she assumed was the town square. The two guards led her through the mass of people. As the trio walked through, the people parted to make a path. Whispers and gasps were heard throughout. Most of the previous side conversations had come to a halt, only making the sounds of disbelief more audible. As they continued to walk through the crowd she noticed how some were pushing their way past others to see her.

Annie put her head down and stared at the ground as they watched. This was exactly what they wanted. They wanted to make her feel ashamed of what she was.

A monster, a freak, an abomination.

Part of her did feel all of these things. Part of her felt all the judgmental and hateful eyes watching her every move. The way some of them even seemed disgusted by her existence.

Some other part of her felt like a failure. A failure to herself as well as a failure to her people.

But a small part of her still held on to hope.

When they finally reached the area where all the people had gathered around Annie felt sick to her stomach.

In the center of the large area were six wooden poles that had been dug into the ground. A single figure accompanied all but one. The entire space had been lit up by many torches that gave the whole field a red glow. The guards marched her over to the empty one and forced her onto her knees. Then they bound her hands tightly behind the pole. She grunted at how tight they had tied the rope.

Similar to her, a Hybrid accompanied the other five poles. But they were in much worse shape than her. They had bleeding wounds, ones that had barely begun to heal, and some that appeared infected. Two of the five seemed to be unconscious.

The injuries they suffered ranged anywhere from burns, cuts, and what appeared to be whip marks. Annie's mind felt hazy through all of this as she resisted the strong urge to throw up.

Annie had a strong suspicion that she wasn't the only Hybrid trapped on that hell hole of an island. Oh, how she dreaded the fact that she was right.

Suddenly a blonde-haired, brown eyed, muscular young man stepped forward. He adorned a dark bear skin cloak as well as a necklace with a Chief symbol that hung in the middle.

Chief Boral spoke up from behind them. "Now my son, Hester, will step forward and deliver a few words to these mutants." He laced the final word with venom.

Annie, along with the other Hybrids who had managed to hold on to consciousness, looked up at the Chief's son. He stood a few yards away from them and stood like a man in charge. He made it clear to everyone around them that he had the field now.

"Listen up you monsters," he spoke in a firm and loud voice, "who have plagued our world for far too long now. But soon your legacy will end. Generations to come will know not of your kind. Let this be your final reminder that you are not equal to us, you do not belong with us, you are below us!" The crowd cheered when he said that.

When they quieted down Hester continued. "Now, I hope you have accepted the end of your people. Because I have a deal to offer. You can either go down with them-" the crowd had leaned in, becoming intrigued by his proposition. "-or you could have the chance to live out your lives among us." Gasps echoed in the night sky.

Some shouted statements of disbelief at his offer while others were simply too dumbfounded to speak.

Once again Hester waited for the cores to silence before continuing.

"If you give up the location of your secret sanctuary then we will let you live here, as one of us. We believe your unique skills may serve some use to us. Skills that shouldn't be wasted. However, if you refuse to comply then we have no choice but to use you against your own kind, slaughtered with the rest of them. So, what'll it be."

All four of the conscious Hybrids remained silent. None of them wanted to give up the Hybrid's location.

"Fine." He stated, clearly angered. "I guess we'll just have to play the long game. In time we will draw them out, and you're the bait."

With that, he turned on his heel and walked back the way he came. The six Hybrids were left tied to the poles with no hope of being untied. It took a few minutes for the crowd to disperse. The entire time they were stared down and ridiculed. Hateful and nasty comments are thrown their way. But Annie did her best to block them out.

She remembered when she was younger her parents had always told her to never lose hope. Since then she always did her best to do exactly that. Almost as a sort of tribute to her parents. Something that made it feel like she was still holding on to them.

Surrounding the entire town square were lines of guards. Every which way she looked there would be another barrage of well-trained, armed guards who were ready for any move she dared to make. This also meant that Annie would most likely not be receiving help from the nice lady who snuck into the dungeons a while back.

With everything that had been happening, she nearly forgot about her.

If there wasn't so many guards then it would have been a perfect time to have an escape. But clearly, that was no longer an option