SPIRIT ANIMALS FANS MUST READ!!! I created a idea for Spirit Animals series #3

Chapter Twenty: Kirat

The cold night air hit the exposed flesh of Kirat's neck as he was dragged outside, the rough fabric of the bag over his head suffocating him with each breath. His heart pounded in his chest, panic surging through him as the reality of the situation settled in. He could feel the uneven ground beneath his feet, a dirt road carved with craters from how little attention it got despite its use rather often. The sound of horses clopping against the ground reached his ears, mixed with the low murmur of men chatting nearby. The clinks of armor and distant laughter reminded him that they were still in the vicinity of the building. People were preparing to leave, packing up their belongings and heading in the direction of home. The sounds of normalcy made the situation even more surreal, amplifying his fear as he was led further away from the safety of the crowd.

If I yell, would they hear me? He thought, Would anyone come? Doesn't matter, at least try to escape. I have spent too long training to be taken out by someone coming in the night.

But as they moved further, the voices began to fade, and Kirats plan was replaced by the hum of crickets that filled the night air. The ground beneath him softened, turning from packed dirt to something more yielding, like the earth of a field. The tall grass brushed against his legs, and he heard one of his captors stifle a sneeze, the sudden noise startling in the otherwise quiet night. They were far from the camp now, the solitude pressing in on him, heightening his sense of dread.

A monotonous voice murmured beside him, a jumble of words that were indistinct, broken up by the pounding in his ears.

"He said to—cellar by the—and—harm them." The stranger said.

"I don't care what he said—my money is—forget it. Just keep them quiet until we get there." A new person responded, his tone harsher but weak, as if he was in dire need of sleep. The exhaustion in his voice was almost palpable, but it carried an edge of impatience, like he was tired of everything, including this job.

The group walked forward for at least an hour, the soft ground beneath Kirat's feet becoming bumpy as they entered a forest that crunched with each step. With nothing else to focus on, he began counting his steps, each number echoing in his mind like a steady drumbeat, a lifeline in the darkness. One...two...three... The numbers climbed higher, giving him something to grasp onto as the minutes stretched into what felt like hours.

Every once in a while, he could mix steps into one, or forget what came next, but by the time he reached 2,800, the rhythmic counting had become a ritual, a way to keep the rising panic at bay. The world around him was a blur of muffled sounds—the crunch of boots on gravel, the occasional rustle of fabric, and the low murmur of voices too faint to decipher. The bag over his head turned everything into a dark, featureless void, making it impossible to know where they were or how far they had come.

Finally, they stopped. Kirat stumbled slightly, caught off guard by the sudden halt, but managed to stay on his feet. He heard the captors move to the side, their footsteps receding as they whispered to each other. The words were indistinct, but the tone was tense, urgent.

Taking advantage of the moment, Kirat leaned forward slightly and whispered, "Tasha, are you okay?"

Her voice came back brittle, "I'm okay, but I don't know where Ninani is." The concern in her voice was palpable. Kirat's own heart sank as he realized that his spirit animal, Cabaro, was also missing. Yet, even in the darkness, he could feel a faint connection, a sense that Cabaro was somewhere close, watching, waiting. The boy was unsure what was keeping the feline from attacking though, because normally he was more than willing to get his claws busy gutting someone, unlike now where two very-much-alive strangers stood.

"We need to escape," Tasha murmured, her words barely audible. "There's a way—"

But before she could finish the rest of her sentence, it was muffled and she groaned in annoyance. Kirat tensed, the brief moment of connection snatched away as the strangers spoke up again.

"Quiet," one of them hissed, his voice sharp with warning. "We're almost there, and everything will make sense. No need to make this complicated."

Kirat's mind churned, trying to piece together how to act. The urgency of their predicament loomed like a shadow, growing darker with every passing moment. So with a surge of unexpected adrenaline, Kirat leaned his weight forward and kicked behind blindly, his foot connecting with something solid—a leg, perhaps. His captor sucked in an aggressive breath and grunted in pain, the grip on his arm loosening for a split second. Hope flared in Kirat's chest, the brief opening urging him to act. But before he could even get his balance back to escape, a heavy blow landed on the side of his head. Pain exploded in his skull, the sharpness of it nearly blinding as the world tilted. He was thrown to the ground, the impact jarring his senses. The last thing he felt was the cold earth against his body, the chill seeping into his skin, before everything went black.

. . .

"Get up."

Next thing Kirat knew he was looking at a man's face, his sharply crooked nose wrinkled as if he smelled of rot. The stranger had sunken eyes and lips that were cracked, as well as a missing tooth in the back of his mouth that Kirat only noticed because of how close he was leaning over.

"Are you ready to cooperate, yet?" The man spoke. Kirat also noticed he wore a dark mark across his forehead that seemed to turn a small tuft of his dark hair white, sprouting from the side of a poorly split hairline.

The boy whined, his eyelids fluttering as he tried to get his bearings. The bag had been removed from his head, allowing him to finally see Tasha, who sat cross-legged beside him. She was tied up, same as him, but her expression was calm, almost serene, as if she knew something he didn't.

"Tasha..." Kirat muttered, his voice hoarse. "What... what's going on?"

TO BE CONTINUED...