SHADOWS OF THE BEASTS ( SENTIGINX ONE)

Chapter Twenty Nine

“Let us go!”

Cindi and Andrew screamed in unison, their voices echoing through the dense forest. Their cries were filled with desperation, but their pleas were met with cold indifference. The forest seemed to absorb their voices, muffling their words until it was as if they hadn’t spoken at all. The oppressive silence that followed was suffocating, only broken by the faint rustling of leaves and the distant caw of a lone crow.

The oppressors, unmoved by the cries for mercy, moved with a calculated precision. Their faces remained hidden in the shadows, their expressions unreadable, but there was a cruel efficiency in their actions. One by one, they surrounded the cage, their hands gripping the iron bars with a practiced ease. With a synchronized effort, they lifted the heavy structure off the ground, as if it weighed nothing at all.

Cindi and Andrew were jostled inside, the sudden movement causing them to lose their footing. They stumbled, clutching at the bars for support as the cage was hoisted into the air. The realization that they were entirely at the mercy of these merciless beings sent a fresh wave of fear through them. They were helpless, caught in the grip of a nightmare with no end in sight.

As the oppressors carried the cage, the forest blurred around them, the once familiar trees and underbrush becoming an indistinct backdrop to their terror. The sound of their captors’ footsteps was a steady, rhythmic thud, a reminder of the inevitability of their fate. They were being taken somewhere, and the ominous silence of the oppressors offered no clues as to where—or what awaited them when they arrived.

With grim efficiency, the oppressors carried the cage toward a large, ominous-looking chariot that stood waiting at the edge of the clearing. The chariot was unlike any they had seen before, its dark wood gleaming with an unnatural sheen, as if it had been carved from the very heart of the forest. The wheels were reinforced with iron, each spoke decorated with strange, arcane symbols that seemed to pulse with a faint, eerie light.

The oppressors carefully lowered the cage onto the bed of the chariot, the iron bars clanging against the wood with a dull, final sound. The cage fit perfectly within the confines of the chariot, as if it had been designed for this very purpose. Cindi and Andrew could only watch in helpless horror as they were secured in place, the last hope of escape slipping away like sand through their fingers.

The oppressors moved with swift precision, securing the cage to the chariot with thick chains that clinked ominously as they were tightened. Each link of the chain seemed to vibrate with an unnatural energy, further reinforcing the sense of dread that hung heavy in the air. Cindi could feel the weight of the chains pressing down on her spirit, crushing what little hope remained.

Once the cage was securely fastened, the oppressors mounted the chariot, their movements eerily synchronized. The lead oppressor took the reins, their dark, shadowed form barely visible in the dim light filtering through the forest canopy. With a flick of the reins, the horses—massive, muscular beasts with coats as dark as midnight—snorted and began to move.

The chariot lurched forward, the sudden motion causing Cindi and Andrew to stumble once more within their confined space. The forest began to pass by in a blur as the chariot picked up speed, the wheels crunching over leaves and twigs with a relentless, grinding sound. The oppressors rode in silence, their focus solely on the path ahead as they guided the chariot through the winding forest trails.

Cindi clung to the bars of the cage, her knuckles white as she tried to steady herself. The reality of their situation weighed heavily on her, each bump in the road a cruel reminder that they were being taken deeper into enemy territory, far from any hope of rescue. Andrew, equally shaken, kept his eyes fixed on the horizon, searching for any sign of an escape, but the dense forest offered no solace, only the certainty of their impending doom.

As the chariot sped through the forest, the once-familiar landscape became increasingly alien, the trees growing taller and more twisted, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers. The path grew narrower, the underbrush thicker, until it felt as though the very forest itself was closing in around them, trapping them in a nightmare from which there was no waking.

Time seemed to stretch as the chariot journeyed deeper into the heart of the oppressors’ territory. Cindi and Andrew, exhausted from their earlier struggles, could only sit in silence, their minds racing with questions and fears. Where were they being taken? What fate awaited them in the oppressors’ clan? And, most hauntingly, would they ever see the light of freedom again?

The answers lay somewhere ahead, shrouded in the dark unknown that awaited them at the end of this harrowing journey.