Awoman, Ali's wife, Zaleha, is getting ready for bed, when the curtain to herbedroom door is lifted. Ali walks into the room. Zaleha is shocked for amoment, before she runs into his open arms, the reunion even more important because of the dangers lurking around them.
"It is too dangerous for you to be here," Zaleha tearfully informs Ali.
He silences her before quietly requesting, "please, let me see our son. It has been so long."
Zaleha brings him to their son's room, the sonsleeping peacefully. He marvels at how big his son has gotten. They spend a fewmoments together as a family, before Ali has to leave.
AsAli is stepping out of the house, Zaleha is about to warn him, "Tuffa......"
Before she can finish her sentence, Ali spots the Portuguese soldiers standing in front of them, with Tuffashana in the lead.
Ali pushes his wife back into the house, making sure she has locked the door behind him, before turning to face the soldiers in front of him. A brief struggle ensues, though Ali is no match for the dozens of soldiers that have surrounded him. His hands are bound and he is brought back to the center of the compound where the soldiers have gathered the rest of the islanders.
The soldiers make Ali kneel in front of Tuffashana, who by the way, is sitting on a chair. "Finally, I've managed to capture the Utheem brothers, or one of them at least," Tuffashana starts to gloat.
He leans forward in the chair. "But where is the Princess and the rest of your motley crew? Why, has your leader Mohd abandoned you? Is that why you are here all alone, well you, your wife and your little boy? All defenceless?" Tuffashana continues, mocking Ali.
Allthis while, Ali has kept quiet, his eyes blazing in anger and defiance, hiseyes darting back and forth to size up any opportunities he might have.
The islanders surrounding the compound are deathly quiet. A commotion occurs at the fringe of the group when a few soldiers bring forward Zaleha and Ali's son. Zaleha is struggling against her bounds, while the son is crying, desperate to run to his mother.
Tuffashanasmiles at the new arrivals. "I think maybe you should tell me what I want to know, or," Tuffashana points to Ali's family, "they will pay the ultimate price. So which shall it be?"
Ali, now furious, lunges for the nearest soldiers weapon and starts lashing out at the soldiers who have sprung into action. Ali is about to reach Tuffashana to kill him, when another soldier steps forward and stabs Ali. Horrified gasps emerge from the islanders as they see Ali fall to the ground, still trying to kill Tuffashana up to his last dying breath.
Ali's motionless body is splayed on the ground, in front of Tuffashana, who gets up from his chair and steps over the dead body. The soldiers release the wife and son, who rush up to Ali's body, cradling it.
Nearingthe beach, on the opposite side of the island, in the dead of night, the KFcomes to a stop on the shore. They have seen the Portuguese ship sailing away.
"If the Portuguese are leaving the island, something must have happened," Hassan muses out loud.
"Hush those negative thoughts. We need to investigate and find Ali first," Mohd instructs. Hewarns everyone to be careful as there could be some leftover soldiers on theisland.
Heturns to Sitti and Aisha. Mohd asks, "would you prefer to remain on the KF, as it might be more dangerous if you followed us."
The women decline, saying it was as much their fight as it was his.
Mohd nods, and they all trudge up the beach quietly, their weapons in their hands.
None of them were prepared for the brutality of the scene before them. Bodies of the islanders were strewn all over the compound, with the bodies of Ali and Zaleha in the middle of it. Ali's son is nowhere to be found.
It is daylight when every single islanders body have been laid respectfully, their bodies covered with white cloth.
Royston is curious as to the proceedings, to which Aisha explains the custom of Muslims mourning the dead for 40 days.
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Freeing Maldives - A Hero in Time
AdventureBased on the novel written by Royston Ellis, my interpretation tells the tale of how a mourning Englishman gets swept back in time to a period when the Portuguese had invaded the nation of Maldives, culminating in the historic guerilla battle, that...
