National Park

Chapter 17

"Where do we start? Do you guys know where he's been imprisoned? What's the plan? How do we break him out? What if we can't?" Sqwee fired the questions as he ran around Niya and then looked at Raja for answers.

Raja smiled at the idea that this wild beast from the park was asking for his opinion. I should not discount myself so easily; I am capable of doing anything, he reminded himself. Niya looked down at Raja and spoke before Raja could respond.

"I believe Niol has been imprisoned not too far from here. It's on the edge of the Umzantsi camp towards the north. I'm not sure what arrangements have been made to keep him detained, but I am sure it can't be much. We have never had to detain any animals before, so I am sure the most that we could find is group of guards."

Raja looked up at her and could tell that she was feeling apprehensive about their task, but also determined to do what she believed to be right. The day was still early, but the sun was already out in full force. The blue skies were void of any clouds, making the track to the detainment area a bit more challenging. Sqwee seemed to be full of energy as he continued to jump and question, enthusiasm and determination in every step. Niya appeared to be concentrating deeply and Raja could only hope that she was devising a plan of action to break Niol free!

Raja's imagination filled in the scenario: they reached the imprisonment area to find Niol trapped in a wooden cage. There were various scratches and marks on his body, as if he had been tortured. Cheetahs and lions circled the cage growling menacingly at Niol, while a group of buffalo made an outer circle, ready to charge if Niol managed to escape from the cage and get past the cats. In the trees were various birds of prey watching the enclosure below, vigilant for any form of attack either from the ground or in the air. In a small stream to the left of the cage, six large crocodiles lay motionless, their mouths open and their eyes locked on the caged lion.

Through the western side, a lone elephant stampeded in; to the eastern side, a lone wild dog ran in, and directly facing the group of buffalo stood Raja. A three-phased attack; Sqwee would run in, followed by Niya on the opposite end. Sqwee would slide through the legs of the buffalo and stand in the centre, allowing the buffalos from the different sides to charge inwards towards him! But at the last possible moment Sqwee would once again slide under the buffalo's legs, causing the buffalo charging from different directions to ram into each other! Then the buffalo charging towards Sqwee would create a gap in which Niya could enter and effortlessly lift the first cheetah in the inner circle with her trunk and use it as a baton to smack the other cheetahs and lions that attacked.

The Raja phase of the attack would now be possible, and, while Niya was swinging the poor cheetah around, Raja would quickly sprint in past the dazed lions, buffalo and cheetahs and, in what would feel like a slow motion action movie, he would spring onto the back of a fallen lion and leap forward, smashing open the wooden cage door. Niol would kick backwards, causing the cage to shatter into six equal lengths of broken wood. Each of these pieces would fly vertically into the crocodiles' mouths, preventing them from snapping them closed. The crocodiles would splash from right to left, vainly attempting to remove the wedged pieces of wood!

Raja would then jump on the remaining pieces of the cage, causing them to fly up into the air. He would then stand on his hind legs and, just like in the kung fu movies he watched with the family, he would kick the pieces of wood one by one as they fell. The pieces would fly through the air like missiles, knocking each attacking bird of prey unconscious. Raja would then drop to all fours, jump onto Niol's back and dash off into the bush, closely followed by Niya and Sqwee....

"Raja! Snap out of it! We're approaching the edge where I believe Niol is being held," Niya whispered as she grazed her trunk over Raja's head.

Raja blinked and shook his head in surprise. The area was not as far out as Raja had thought. As they moved closer, he was further disappointed, as there was no stream of crocodiles, nor were there any lions, cheetahs or buffalo. In fact, Niol was not even in a cage!