[My turn, my turn! Hey, no pinching, Tina!]
Basically, I have two modes in sticky situations: Inappropriate Sarcasm and Wit. If all else fails in either modes, I kill the target. But I swear you can trust me with children.
I went for quick wit mode first, "Kamehea, I respect you, man, but you're a great big bag of di-"
Dylan rudely cut me off, "You do not speak to him like that."
I turned to look at Dylan and instantly I wanted to tear his face off. He had robes on with the spear and snake symbol on the front and a red colored wand and staff hooked to his belt. He kept his eyes on Christina and I started formulating tortutre plans in my head. Kamehea, though, angrily stared at me.
"Why..." He clenched his fist, "Why is it that you still breathe?!"
I stared him right back, "Because every time you have us in your grasp you proceed to make unesscesary questions and threats! You are not brave enough to kill us!"
Kamehea smiled coldly before saying, "Well then, Lloyd, lets see how you do apart from your group," four magicians came up and forced me to my knees, bounding my wrists, "and lets see if you can make it. You've got, say, 2 days before I move in on your precious Nome. I will slaughter your brothers and Sam's pregnant girlfriend."
"What?! Pregnant?! She's not-" I tried but one magician gagged my mouth and Christina tried to call out to me but Tyler grabbed her arms and forced her to his side.
"Maybe," Kamehea had to shout over the noise of my friends struggling to fight back, "Things were kept from you. I know more about your family then you do," He shot the magicians holding me a glance and said, "Take him to St. Petersburg. Break his will."
The last thing I heard was Christina's scream before I blacked out from one magician knocking me out cold.
I awoke chained to a cold stone wall, a tall thin man standing over what looked like a surgical table, robes adorning his body. I struggled against the chains as my head throbbed and the man turned around. He held out a palm as he approached me, and sparks shot out from it. He pushed his hand on my chest and I screamed from the pain of the electricity. My vision darkened around the edges and I fought to sink into sleep. The man retracted his hand and looked me up and down. I spat on his shoe and he growled, then shocked me again. This time, I couldn't stay awake, and I slumped unconscious in my chains.
A Russian man woke me up in a cell when I came to.
"Hey, boy," He said in a crackly Russian accent, "Hey, you're still alive. Get up."
I opened my eyes and looked up to see an older boy, maybe 16, standing above me. His face looked old; scars lined it and his eyes had dark circles around them. The man saw my eyes open and he offered me a hand.
"Who...are you?" I asked as he helped me up. My ribs felt like they'd been used for lightning rods and I winced as I stood.
"The name's Leonid. You're a friend of Sadie Kane, no?" The boy, Leonid, asked me. I tried to place his name but I couldn't.
"Yeah, I'm Jake Lloyd," I racked my brain for a memory then said, "You were the guy who helped fight Apophis with Sadie."
Leonid laughed, "It's funny how people never remember the people who helped out. Yes, that is me. I have heard much of you from the guards. They say you are Bast's host."
I showed him my bracelet, "That'd be me."
Leonid nodded before saying, "Then we need to get out of here. A partner has been what I needed, someone to watch my back. Do you have a weapon?"
I didn't know if I could trust this kid, but I reached into the duat and grabbed him a wand and staff. He held the weapons in his hands like gold before he said, "It's good to be back. Now, when you've survived Apophis like I have," he growled as he kicked a section if the flimsy concrete wall and it cracked, "You aren't going to spend your life in a prison. Help me, Lloyd." He had found two steel beams in the wall; and he needed godly strength to get rid of them. I kicked the flimsy wall hard and it crumbled into oblivion. The wall lead into a vent that Leonid crawled into.
'Follow him,' Bast said after I hesitated, 'He will show you the way.' I crawled in after him and followed as he crawled down turns and judged the direction we were going in. Finally, he came to another vent grate and he used a spell, 'Fah,' on it to loosen it up so he could push it out. I followed him as he crawled out and momentarily I staggered at the light. We were in a bathroom which didn't smell great and there was an open door at the other end of the room. Leonid took the lead and I followed him through the door and into the corridor. We were in a Nome, no doubt, by the Egyptian look and feel but that didn't seem to matter to Leonid. He sped up, turning rapidly at corners and just narrowly avoiding patrolling magicians. We came out into a bigger hall and Leonid dashed for the huge double doors at the end of the hall. He burst through them and we dashed right out into a snowstorm. The cold was terrible, and I tugged my sweatshirt around me tighter. Leonid didn't care. He fell to his knees and laughed and smiled. He kept muttering "Freedom" as he cried tears of joy and I patted his shoulders.
"Hey, Leonid, does a man named Dylan live in St. Petersburg?" I asked and my panic level went upwards as I rembered Christina. I'd told her I loved her, and I'd look really bad if she'd died. But Leonid nodded warily.
"He lives not far from here. He's despicable, vile, and cocky. We could portal from his home," Leonid got up and brushed the snow off his pants, "I will lead you there."
It didn't take that long to walk to the old, rundown house. We crept inside and into an old, trashy living room. But at that moment, we heard a girl crying and a boy shouting. We went to the bedroom door and pressed ourselves against the door to listen.
"...You're lucky I'm keeping you alive, girl! Now, do as I say!" Dylan's voice was loud and clear and all my anger bubbled to the top.
Christina's voice came out in a choked sob, "No...no, please no, please!"
I kicked down the door. Leonid looked even taken aback as the thing flew off he hinges and smashed into pieces against the bedroom wall. Inside, Dylan had a knife pressed against Christina's throat as he held her. Christina was wearing only her underwear and bruises lined her body. Dylan, however, looked clean as could be and he only had his jeans on. He saw me and growled.
"Come to pledge your allegiance, Lloyd?" He hissed and tightened his grip on Christina. I summoned a knife to my hands and growled right back.
"Let her go!" I shouted. Leonid stood at my side, his wand and staff at the ready. We easily outnumbered him.
"She's mine," Dylan responded coldly, "And I get to use her however I want."
I was about to react but a catlike female voice said from behind him, "I don't agree."
He turned and standing there in all her glory was Anna the tiger. She had flurries of snow in her fur but she looked just as vicious as she growled in a human's voice, "Drop. Her. Now."
"No!" Dylan shouted and pressed the knife harder against Tina's throat. That was the wrong answer. Anna pounced, tackling Dylan to the floor. Christina broke free and I grabbed her small body and held it close to me. Leonid, Tina, and I stared on as the tiger pinned Dylan and tore out his throat. I saw the life fade out of his eyes and Anna came over to Christina and rubbed her nose against her bare leg.
Leonid stood, gaping, "What the Horus just happened?"
