Orona (Book 1)

Chapter 5 - Captured

Chapter 5 - Captured

I woke with a start.

"HELP! HELP ME! HEELLP! SOMEBODY!"

One of the other survivors I didn't know well, Sean I think his name was, was lying down next to me, tied up and struggling. I tried to move my arms and feet but quickly realized I was strapped down to the wooden cart too. I attempted to wiggle free, but the leather straps just dug into my skin. The man next to me continued to scream.

" Hey, you! Be quiet. Dude, shut up!" Finally, he stopped screaming. I made sure he was looking me in the eyes. "No one is going to help us but ourselves. Now try and get your hands free." My head was pounding; likely some sort of drug-induced hangover from the poisoned darts.

"It's no use," said Freja, who had been in charge of the fish. "I've been trying for hours. I saw one girl get loose in the cart behind us and they just stopped the wagon, shot some more darts in her, and tied her back up."

I had to try anyway, so I wiggled and jerked until I realized it really was impossible to get free. All I could do was lift up my head enough to see out. With my hands, legs, and body tied down so tightly to the wagon, I felt every bump in the path.

JACK! CUBBY! DREW! ANY YOU GUYS OUT THERE.

TROY IS THAT YOU?

YEAH, CUBBY YOUR ALIVE. HAVE YOU SEEN DREW OR JACK?

NO.

At least I knew one of my brothers was still alive. These were my best friends. The only constant companions I had throughout my life as our family moved from state to state because of my father's job. To hear one of their voices gave me a glimmer of hope.

That hope soon turned to panic once again. A powerful feeling of grief washed over me as I thought that Jack and Drew were most likely dead. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I felt helpless. I thought of what might happen to us. Would we be tortured, sacrificed, or something horrible? I turned my head to the side as best I could and threw up as the anguish took control of my body.

I was snapped out of my grief-stricken trance as mud splattered my face when the large elk pulling our cart struggled up what looked like a narrow, winding mountain path.

I counted twelve of us tied to the small wooden cart I was in. Some were unconscious, while others cried and moaned softly. I thought I could see Larry's long, blond ragged hair near the front of the cart. He wasn't moving.

"Larry? Is that you? Larry, you okay?"

The noise from the cart getting pulled up over the rocky and uneven path was so loud I could barely hear myself speak.

"Yeah," he yelled back after a few seconds. "I think my wrist is broken, but I'm alive."

"Have you seen any of my brothers?"

"I saw Jack get tied down to the cart in front of us. Have you seen Aly?"

"No, I haven't. So Jack was alive then? I don't know how long I've been knocked out. Do you—" My words were cut off by the sound of a trumpet blasting from behind us.

What looked like a large fox went dashing by the left side of the cart, kicking up small rocks as it ran by. It happened so fast that I didn't get a good look, but I could tell one of the Elden was riding on top and that the animal had a big bushy tail.

"What was that?" asked Larry.

"I'm not sure. Maybe the one in charge? So you saw Jack? Was he alive? Did you see Drew?"

"I don't know if Jack is alive. He looked knocked out. I haven't seen Drew," he yelled back through the growing noise.

A few minutes later the sound of the trumpet came again. This time I was able to get a better look, turning my head in anticipation. To my surprise, the same Elden, dressed in bright blue leather with a dark blue hat similar to a beret, rode by again. It rode a large, brown fox-like creature that was also dressed in what looked like decorative leather armor.

Another few minutes passed and then our cart came to an abrupt halt. I turned my head the other way and could see snowcapped mountains surrounding us, and I knew then that we had climbed to great heights. The trumpet sounded again from behind.

I watched as that fox-riding Elden sped by. However, this time at least two dozen mounted elk followed him, while an arrow formation of huge eagles flew overhead. One of the elk-like creatures inadvertently bumped into our cart, causing the back of the cart, where I was, to slip over the edge. I looked over the cart in terror down hundreds of feet to the rocks below. Several of my cart mates screamed and our driver quickly pulled the cart back and yelled at the black and brown spotted elk to move forward again.

I continued to try and break my bound hands-free to no avail, and after a while I just laid there and tried to conserve my energy. Up and around bends, the elk strained to pull the heavy carts. They led us over several mountain passes before making a descent into a forested valley. We passed under a large waterfall and then went through a long, dark tunnel. The only light came from small holes in the rock.

"I see smoke up ahead," yelled Larry as we exited the tunnel. He was tied down at the front of the cart and had a better view.

I turned my head and saw puffs of dark black smoke slowly rising up from the forest. We passed by another large waterfall and wound down to a path that ran alongside a meandering river. Our cart was pulled over a small wooden bridge, and through where the heart of the fire must have been; the heat brushed against my cheeks, uncomfortably hot. It was eerily silent. The ground still smoldered and hissed. The air was thick with the smell of smoke and a terrible stench filled my nostrils as our cart slowly passed by.

One of the women on the other side of the cart began wailing in fear.

I turned my head to see what was wrong and spotted what looked like burnt and charred bodies mixed in with fallen debris. Hundreds of small houses had been burnt, and judging from the way the debris was, they had fallen from the scorched trees. I watched with numbness while the cart continued for the next ten minutes through an entire charred and demolished village. We passed countless dead Elden. Men, women, and even small children had been burned alive, many of their blackened remains riddled with long arrows and spears.

I didn't even know what to think anymore. Again the feelings of fear and total confusion returned. Here I was in a world I didn't recognize, being dragged through the mud by creatures I'd never seen before, and now this... complete and utter slaughter. Who had done this? I actually felt relieved for a moment, feeling lucky to be alive and captured by these little men and not whoever did this. Whoever did this didn't seem very interested in taking prisoners.

Sean, the man next to me began screaming again. "Help! Help! Help us!"

"Shut up, man!" yelled Larry. "You've got to calm down!"

"We're going to die! Help!"

The cart came to a sudden stop, and I saw one of the Eldens dismounting her elk. She too had very long curly black hair and wore a similar leather outfit. She walked back towards us, mumbling under her breath. Moochi ga la..imbdi taga too. She then climbed up on the cart and on top of the screaming man. She was covered in mud from head to toe and had a pissed-off look on her face.

"Codi dak leak!" she said as he stretched out her blowgun. With a little thwack!, she shot a dart into Sean's neck.

She then looked over at me. I tried not to look into her pale green eyes. However, when our eyes connected, she mumbled something else that I couldn't really hear, and I felt a dart enter my neck. Instantly my eyes started to blur as I once again fell into a drug-induced sleep.