The World of Aonzahlia

Chapter 3

“I don’t get it,” said one of them while he brushed the sweat off his forehead. The men finished working and took a break for the night. “We still haven’t found any of those mutts anywhere!”

The rest of the group looked at each other with anguish. One said that they are hidden and that they will find them. Another said while he drank from his large pitcher that these creatures are merely just a myth and that they’re wasting time here. More words of whisper escalated to an angry debate until one silenced them all.

“I don’t know if I should believe it or not.” Elijah took a sip from his drink. “However I don’t think the captain just brought us here to waste time.” He took a last sip and splashed it on their campfire. The fire bursts high flames and calmed down again. “Come on we all heard about Captain Orrek. He’s known for the world’s greatest hunter of our time!” Elijah looked at everyone with enthusiasm. Everyone started to nod and realized who their captain was.

“No...” my whisper escaped from my fragile lips. This was not good, not good at all. Orrek was not just an ordinary hunter he was an ugly beast from the Darklands. All he ever brought was war and bloodshed to mankind. No one could ever face him even his own kind. Anyone who tried to defeat this monster never returned. Orrek was the king of mass destruction. Amon told stories about him when I was younger about how he would butcher children and women just for pleasure, how he would burn people alive- I shook my head as I got rid of the horrid images. If it was true that Orrek is really the captain of this ship. Then the end is near... 

I watched the men leave to their tents as they put out the fire. The barbarians grunted and stretched as they went in. I kept my eyes on them while I quietly sharpened my knife. The last few torches went out and the site fell into silence.

Maybe if I could take a look around. I could figure out if it is Orrek and what he plans on doing. It was a risk I had to take. I couldn’t just go back and tell them the important information that was only told by a word from some illiterate barbarian. I sucked in some air and then let it all out to help myself calm. I got up slowly but stayed low and walked forward to the campsite. I stopped at the last tree that ended the forest. Ahead of me there were no dirt but the golden sand and the blue sea. Orrek must be on the ship, leaders rarely stayed with his minions. The tents circled around the land. I looked past the tents and looked up at the ship. Circular windows were in two rows on the sides of the ship. The flag of a fiery lion was been blown in the slow winds. I realized that I had to climb it without getting caught.

Couple of minutes had passed and it started to rain hard on the land. I still had no idea on how I was going to get on that ship. First I thought I could go around the campsite and climb the ship but there were guards. Then I thought I could somehow distract them and silently attack them one by one but that was impossible. I don’t have time to think! Come on, Mirah, what would our warrior, Dimitrious, do?

I get another look at the grounds. Two built men stood with crossed arms at the end of the ship. The other two men stood at the opposite end. I crawled closer towards them. They seemed bored at their post. I picked up a rock and threw past them. The distraction woke and stunned the guards. I threw another in the opposite direction.

“What was that?” Said the one who looked quite stunned. “What if we are under attack, Heath?”

The other sighed heavily. “Yes, Al, we are under attack.” He said sarcastically as he smacked behind Al’s head. “There is no one except us. You are not the brightest sailor I have ever met. Anyway, I’ll go check out what caused that noise because we all know that you are a cock.” The guard made chicken noises and pissed off his mate.

Al glared at Heath. “Shut your pie hole!”

I threw another one just to annoy them even more. Except this time the rock took a hit on Heath’s head. Shit! I hid quickly and tried not to make a sound.

“What the hell?” Heath took out his weapon as he stared at the woods. “Al, go search down there and I’ll be here.”

Al ran off and Heath started to take his steps toward the forest. His steps were slow and long. I closed my eyes so that I could hear where his steps were taking him. I looked at a tree in front of me where his shadow reflected on. The shadow’s head turned to the left and then to the right. Heath sighed and said to himself that it was probably an animal. As Heath turned away, I continued to crawl to another tree and climbed. I sat on a branch and watched him walking away carelessly. I took out my dagger and waited for the right moment to capture my prey. I held my blade tightly and took a deep breath. Heat flushed through my veins. The adrenaline kicked in as I leaped onto Heath’s back. My knee pressed against him as he fell. My left hand took a hold of his head and shoved it into the muddy ground so that he wouldn’t be able to scream. In a quick second I stabbed in the center of his neck sliced it half way and blood splattered in my face.

Footsteps of the other guard were getting louder. I quickly leaned against the ship’s wall, closed my eyes and hoped that he wouldn’t see me. The sounds of the footsteps stopped. Did he find his friend or me? I took in shallow breaths so that he wouldn’t hear me.

“Heath, guess what I found?” He took another step and crack...

I opened my eyes to see him tilt his head down. He moved his foot to see what he had stepped on. He looked at Heath’s crushed skull with melted eye balls that oozed out. The man dropped his knife with fright knowing that his friend was just murdered.

And then I had the perfect chance to answer his question.