Trapped in Time 1: The Time Takers (18 page)

Jenak nodded and waited on Karon to finish dressing. Chatan went down one of the ropes as Jenak grabbed the rope and waited for Karon to grab the rope above him. She smiled and said, “I think I can handle the going down piece of this.” Jenak looked at her and she said, “Harvey, please tell him what I said.”

Harvey interpreted and Jenak said, “It’s better not to take a chance.” Harvey told Karon what he said and she smiled. She grabbed the rope and began moving down the cliff with Jenak staying close all the way down to the ground.

T
he women were rushed out of the cave in silence. They had learned that any noise would lead to a beating. They gathered in a group twenty yards from the entrance and the two guards sat down on the lip of the cave’s opening. “It would really be nice to be able to sleep late once in a while.” The second guard nodded. “Which ones will we play with today?”

The second guard opened his mouth but then pointed at the cliff wall to the north. The first guard turned and said, “Well I’ll be a burning bridge. How is she still alive?”

The two guards stood and went to meet Karon as she casually strolled toward them. They looked at each other and silently agreed she was going to be the first one sent to the river. Karon stopped ten feet from them and smiled, “I hope you’re having a good day.”

The first guard tilted his head to the left and said, “Why would you wish that?”

Suddenly both guards’ heads snapped forward and they fell face first into the sandy soil. The women watched the guards go down and Karon quickly put her finger up to her lips and said quietly, “Be silent and follow me.”

Karon turned and started walking along the cliff wall to the north. The women were stunned and no one moved. Karon turned around and said, “You’re wasting time; come on!”

Several women jumped up and ran toward her and the others immediately followed. They saw a man dressed in a blue and white uniform at the base of the cliff wall and they wondered what was going on. The women gathered around Karon and she grabbed the closest woman and pulled her forward. She wrapped a sling under her arms and pulled the rope. The woman’s eyes grew big as she was rapidly pulled up the cliff wall. She grabbed another woman and put her in a sling as well. The women looked at the wall and then looked at Karon. She smiled and pointed to the ropes. The women rushed forward and began pulling the slings over their heads. There were fifteen ropes and the women waited their turn. Suddenly, twenty more ropes came from the top of the cliff and women were going up at an incredible rate. In less than thirty minutes, all of them were pulled to the top of the cliff.

• • •

Linnae waited on the cliff top and greeted each woman with a hug and pointed for them to move down the path away from the archers that were pulling them up. When all of them were sitting in a group, Linnae smiled and said, “Does anyone here speak English?”

Six women raised their hands and Linnae said, “Please tell your friends that we are going to move you to a place of safety. Before we can leave, we must remove the evil that lives in the cave.”

Renak came forward and repeated what Linnae said in the Atlantan language. The women listened to Renak but watched Linnae pull up something that covered her upper body and put something on her head; she disappeared. They saw a rope start moving and they knew she was going down. They looked closer and saw all the ropes were moving. The women rushed to the edge of the cliff and looked down at the clearing. The only one they saw was the man in the blue and white uniform.

Jenak helped Karon remove her outer clothing and then took off his camosuit. Karon put her hand on his arm and he saw her fear. Jenak put his hand on her cheek and smiled. He put on an archery suit that Linnae had brought with her and he turned and heard, “I’ll keep her with me.” Jenak smiled as Linnae told Karon in English to stay close to her. Jenak took her skull cap out of her hands and pulled it over her head. Karon saw Linnae standing next to her and men were coming down the cliff wall in large numbers; but not as many as the evil ones in the cave.

Jenak put his camosuit in a packet and walked forward to join Andy. Andy was standing beside the two guards and when either of them stirred, he kicked them in the head. Andy saw a head stick out of the cave and look around. He smiled and waved. The head disappeared and he could hear the shouting in the cave clearly. Jenak arrived next to Andy as he said, “It looks like they don’t like guests.”

The shouts grew louder as Atlantan troops began pouring out of the cave and lining up in formation. Jenak adjusted his quiver that was covered in camomaterial and was invisible to the rapidly increasing numbers of troops. He kept his bow pushed behind his back. He looked at Andy and saw him shake his head. “What?”

Andy sighed, “You’re sure we should kill them all?”

“I am unless you have a way for any of them to show they’re not evil.” Andy nodded.

• • •

Herek took the two plates out of the entrance to the cave and didn’t see the women. That was unusual. He looked to the left and then to the right. He saw two men in blue uniforms standing over the two guards. The women were nowhere to be seen. One of the men waved and he raised his hand to wave back and stopped himself. He dropped the plates and ran into the cave yelling, “All of the women are gone and our guards are down. Two men are standing over them.”

The High Royal moved forward, “What are you saying?” Herek repeated what he saw; the High Royal yelled, “Grab your weapons and form up outside!!” The cave was a mad house as the men grabbed their cutters and stormed out of the cave. Two hundred and twenty six armed troops rushed out and formed five lines with forty one warriors in each of them. Once the lines were formed; the six Royals walked out of the cave and stood behind them. The High Royal saw Andy and Jenak and said, “Kneel.” The lines of warriors in front of him knelt down to provide the High Royal a clear view. The Atlantans saw one of the guards at the feet of the two men move and the taller one kicked him in the head. The High Royals face turned grim.

Andy said, “Repeat what I say.” Jenak nodded, “One would think that he would have learned by now not to move. I guess you’re dumber here than I thought.” Jenak repeated Andy’s words and the High Royal’s expression changed.

“Are you one of us?”

Jenak said, “I once was…but not anymore.”

“Why is that?”

Jenak looked at Andy and told him what the Royal said, “Answer him.”

“I could no longer be a part of something as evil as what our civilization had become. You’ve only proven it by attacking the other cave and your brutality with those you captured.”

The Royal looked around, “What did you do with our women?”

Jenak translated what the Royal said quietly and Andy smiled, “We’ve sent them where they will be safe.”

The Royal sneered, “There’s no place safe here.”

Andy shook his head, “It appears almost every place is safer than being held here as a captive. We’ve decided to put a stop to your cruelty.”

The King laughed, “And just how are the two of you going to do that?”

Andy said, “I’m going to give you one chance to save your lives; there will not be another. Put down your weapons, step back, and we’ll allow you to live.”

One of the Atlantan captains said, “Please allow my company to go and remove this intolerable slug.”

The High Royal nodded, “Make them die slowly.”

One of the lines of warriors walked out of the Atlantan formation and moved toward Andy. Andy put his hand up and raised it to shoulder height. He held it there and watched the forty one warriors moving toward him. The line did a left turn and formed a line thirty yards in front of Andy and Jenak. The Captain said, “We will try to hold them off long enough for you to escape. You should run now.”

Jenak was shocked. Andy said, “Why are you doing this?”

“We can no longer be a part of this. We’d rather die than continue the hideous things we’ve been forced to do.”

Andy smiled and said, “Captain, did you not hear me say I was going to kill everyone that didn’t put their weapons down and step back.” The Captain’s brow furrowed and he nodded. “Well, you’re standing in the way of us doing it. Please put your weapons down and move over to the cliff wall.”

The Captain couldn’t believe what he heard. He said, “May we take our weapons over to the wall with us. They’ll be coming to kill us along with you.” Andy nodded and the forty one troops walked over to the cliff wall.

The High Royal saw the Captain talking with the two men and he couldn’t hear what was being said. He looked at the Senior Advisor and he said, “I suspect he’s telling them how he’s going to kill them slowly.”

“They don’t seem to be bothered by what he’s saying.” The Senior Advisor shrugged. When the line of troops moved over to the cliff wall the Royal screamed, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING? CARRY OUT YOUR ORDERS!!!”

Jenak yelled, “They have chosen to leave your service. We will spare them.”

The Royal said loudly, “Activate your weapons; kill those traitors at the wall as well as those two impudent trespassers.” More than a hundred and sixty cutter blades appeared over the four lines of Atlantans and the Royal yelled, “Attack!!”

Andy dropped his hand.

• • •

The women on top of the cliff saw their former captors charge toward the two men standing alone in front of them. They jumped up and saw the unbelievable. The front rank of the Atlantans didn’t take a full step before they fell to the ground. The second rank stumbled over them and fell on top of the first line. Thirty Atlantan warriors that charged toward the warriors against the cliff wall didn’t make it half way to them. A few moments later, the only Atlantans left standing were the Royals.

The Royals looked at their dead and dying warriors lying in front of them. One of the Royals turned and ran toward the cave and was hit in the head with an arrow. Karon was amazed at Linnae’s accuracy. “Great shot!”

“You’ll be doing this soon, kiddo.”

“I really hope you’re right.”

Jenak looked at the Royals, “I trust you’ll stay where you are.” The High Royal didn’t make a move. Jenak looked at Andy, “What do we do now?”

Andy looked over his shoulder, “Karon, please come here.” Karon looked at Linnae and saw her nod. She moved forward and Andy said, “Take off your skull covering.” The Royals suddenly saw a woman’s head appear floating above the ground and one of them collapsed to the sand in disbelief. Andy looked at Karon, “Where are the ones that made you go to the river?”

Karon sneered, “They’re lying on the ground in front of you.”

Andy had allowed the two guards to regain consciousness and he grabbed one of them by the front of his shirt and yanked him to his feet. The Guard saw Karon’s face and knew he was in trouble.

Jenak smiled, “You know the drill.” The guard looked at Andy and saw he was looking at a bucket just outside the tree line. He looked at Jenak and saw the anger on his face.

“You can’t do this.”

Jenak snorted, “Did you ever stop to tell yourself that when you sent the women?” Jenak notched an arrow so fast the guard saw a four bladed arrow head appear a foot from his face. Jenak said, “Who knows; you might actually make it back.”

Karon said to Andy, “Please let me kill him!”

Andy looked at Karon, “It is not in my nature to kill an unarmed person.” Andy turned and pointed toward the river. Jenak drew the arrow back and the guard started slowly walking toward the bucket. He had watched the women make the run to the river numerous times and he knew that if he ran, he was dead. He picked up the bucket and slowly walked to the River’s edge. He dipped the bucket and filled it with water. He could hear the Raptors moving in the underbrush and his mind yelled for him to run. He forced himself to slowly stand and start walking back.

Karon said through gritted teeth, “The scum is going to make it.”

The guard arrived at the edge of the tree line and smiled just as six Raptors jumped him. The first one dug the deadly hooked claws on its hind legs into his back and ripped him apart. The Raptor rushed in and pulled the guard’s body apart and ran into the brush with their prize. Loud cheers could be heard from the top of the cliff and the Royals looked up and saw the women staring down at them.

Jenak looked at the second Guard, “Your turn.”

The guard sneered, “I will not go to that river!”

Andy looked at Karon, “Do you have a cutter?” Karon activated her cutter and the blade was six feet long. Andy looked at the guard, “Tell him what I’m saying Jenak.” Jenak nodded, “I am going to allow this young woman to start cutting off pieces of you until you decide to go to the river. I want you to guess which pieces she is going to cut off first.”

The guard looked at Andy and then at Karon. The rage on her face was clear and he knew she was waiting for the leader to turn her loose on him. He stumbled to his feet and began moving slowly toward the river. He didn’t make it to the bucket, which had been dropped just outside the tree line before ten Raptors rushed out and tore him apart. Once again the cheers were loud from the top of the cliff. Andy looked at Jenak, “Are you sure about the Royals?”

“Andy, they will always be a danger to us if you don’t remove them. They’re more evil than you’d ever fathom.”

Andy nodded and said, “Tell them that due to their lofty status that they may take a cutter with them to the river.” Jenak told them and suddenly the entire tree line was covered in Raptors. The High Royal said, “None of us will be alive momentarily.”

Andy lifted the whistle from around his neck and blew it. Half of the Raptors turned and ran away at their fastest speed. The other Raptors watched them run and after a moment, turned and ran away with them. The High Royal and the forty Atlantan warriors standing at the cliff wall were stunned. Jenak looked at the High Royal and said, “Don’t tell me you never got around to training your pets.” Jenak’s face turned grim, “You heard our leader. Pick up a cutter and head for the river.” Andy spoke and Jenak said, “He says that if you can make it to the river and swim across, you should be safe.”