No way in Heaven or Hell - Afterlife Series Book 1

Chapter 8 - A journey made longer than you'd like - part 3

They looked burly and mean, too.

"I don't see the ocelot..." Eliana whispered.

"They mustn't have caught it..." Khyros answered in a low voice.

"I count three... we coul-"

Before she could go on, however, more voices came from the right, as well as loud growling. Two of the men hurried out of sight. A few long minutes later, they came back into view with three more men, hauling a ocelot. One of them was even carrying its baby.

"No...!" Khyros snarled.

The ocelot was fighting hard to break free... No, not break free, they realized, save its cub. It was mostly flailing at the one holding the cub. Eliana and Khyros could only watch helplessly as the cub was put in one cage and the mother in another.

"... Khyros..."

"I know, but we can't take them all at once!" He whispered.

"We don't have to, we just have to distract them long enough to get the animals out. And if it does come to a fight... We'll just improvise."

Khyros stared at her.

"Well, d'you have a better suggestion? Because I refuse to let those animals be treated like that any longer."

"..."

Khyros glanced at the cages, then at Eliana, and nodded.

"You think you can distract them?"

Khyros nodded. So they watched at the six men clambered into the back of the truck, still talking loudly. Eliana glared at them.

"Maybe we won't need to distract them," she said. "Come on, let's go!"

They quietly slipped forwards.

"I'll try and bust the padlocks, you keep an eye on the truck." Eliana whispered.

He nodded and she crouched down near the nearest cage. Inside was a giant anteater.

"Hey, little guy," she whispered, trying to calm it. "Don't worry, I'll set you free."

"Hurry!" Khyros hissed.

Eliana decided not to waste time in answering and held her hands around the lock. Then, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Then, Khyros glanced curiously at her and saw a bright blue light. Seconds later, the padlock burst open with a clang. Eliana and Khyros looked at the truck. And sure enough, they heard voices and footsteps.

"Come on!" Khyros mouthed.

He hurried out of sight, but Eliana stayed behind to release the anteater. It was too scared to move.

"Come on, get out of there! It's okay, you're free now!"

Finally, it peered gingerly out of the cage. Eliana gave it a gentle nudge and it shot out and disappeared into the trees. Before Eliana could turn to the next cage, the six men were towering over her, nasty grins on their faces.

Eliana took one look and tried to get to her feet and step away but one of them grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back. She let out a cry of pain. But as she did, Khyros surged forwards with a yell and knocked them aside. Eliana fell to the ground and looked up, slightly confused. Khyros was glaring at them furiously. Without looking, he held out a hand to Eliana.

"You okay?" he asked.

"... Uh... yes..." she said, and took his hand before getting to her feet.

Her hair was a bit sore from where it had been pulled so hard, but otherwise, she was okay.

She looked at the six thugs, who had now raised their machetes. Eliana and Khyros glanced at each other, then drew their own swords. It happened in a split second. Eliana and Khyros raised their swords to block the machetes, and had to move to avoid the ones that hadn't been stopped. They had no shield, but would have to make do. As it was expected, soon, it was three on one for both of them. But fortunately, Eliana and Khyros had quicker reflexes and stronger bodies. However, it was still not an easy fight. Eliana's armw as wounded, and Khyros's shoulder was bleeding too. They had to finish this soon. Eliana then got an idea.

"Khyros, get back!" she called.

He looked at her in confusion, but didn't argue and stepped back. Eliana looked ahead, concentrating. She'd never used this much of her power at once, and wasn't even sure she could, but she couldn't think of any other solutions. Her sword glowed blue, and all of a sudden, a burst of energy shot out of her sword and knocked both her and the poachers to the floor. Khyros stared in astonishment.

"... How did you do that?" he asked, stepping forwards.

Eliana was the only one who wasn't unconscious.

"... It's a Cethielite thing... energy projection." Eliana said as she got to her feet.

She was a little breathless, but okay.

"You're bleeding," Eliana said, looking at his shoulder.

She suddenly realized what she was doing and flushed slightly.

"You too," he replied.

"I'll do yours, then you do mine?" Eliana offered.

He hesitated a moment, then nodded. Eliana pulled out the first aid kit she'd always had in her backpack. Soon, their wounds were cleaned and bandaged. Then, they pulled some rope from the truck and tied the poachers before dumping them in the back.

"Okay. Now, come on, I can't stand seeing these poor animals in cages anymore." Eliana said.

There were several animals. Three golden lion tamarins, another giant anteater, a group of spider monkeys, the ocelot, and even a couple of toucans.

"It's barbaric..." Eliana said fiercely as she took to setting the animals free.

"No kidding..." Khyros answered as he broke the locks with his sword.

Eventually, they got through all the cages. The last was a spider monkey. It hopped out quickly, then looked up at Eliana before clambering up her leg and onto her shoulder.

"Hey!" Eliana laughed. "What are you doing, little critter?"

It played with her hair for a few minutes, making her laugh even more. She glanced at Khyros, who for once, seemed happy too. Just then, he felt something rub against his leg. Looking down, he gasped. The ocelot was looking up at him, rubbing its flank against his leg like a cat. He stared, almost unable to believe it. It was thanking him, in a way. The little cub demanded Eliana's attention. She let the spider monkey go and stroked the cub.

"You're welcome, little, guy," she said with a smile.

The animals didn't take long to follow their instincts and go their own way. Khyros and Eliana watched the ocelot catch her cub by the back of the neck, take one last look at the two of them, and disappear into the trees.

"Come on, let's go," Khyros said.

So they sheathed their swords and walked away.