Chapter 20: Captive
It had been eerily quiet in the forest as it was approaching night. Adonis had wondered where the day went, and him and his team searched for the missing siblings, Shera and Shawn.
"Shera! Shawn!" They would all call, straining their voices to the best of their ability. There had been no sign of those two since Adonis last met them, which, ultimately, flooded him with guilt. He looked behind the static trees, he listened in on the whistling wind, but alas, he couldn't gather any notion whatsoever.
He ran several blocks away from his friends, separating them once again. He didn't think anybody noticed. Most of the time, they never do.
He thought void thoughts. He didn't know why he put himself through this just to find the exact persons he despised. Nonetheless, he almost fell over himself trying to find the place he left them in. Eventually, he slowed his pace, getting a feel for his surroundings. It looked somewhat familiar... Was he on the right track? He had to be, this forest wasn't that big. It was just an illusion.
He remembered the last time he ran away from his friends. A mysterious predator presented himself to be a threat, though through death did he part from him. Adonis had no intention to mend a nonexistent friendship with his extended colleagues, though. The emerald was clean of bruise, and Adonis chose to keep it that way. He knew it would be best to stray away from the siblings for as much as possible, so as to maintain order in the forest.
He felt something incoming, inching closer to his head every second he didn't bow.
He ducked, afterwards hearing a significantly dangerous object collide with a lesser thing. He glanced up, viewing the dagger he knew way too well merging with the tree placed in front of him. He quickly looked around, bracing himself for any stray weapons that would decide to cut his expedition short. "Who's there!" He said. The silence irritated him tremendously.
"If you're that much of a coward to fight me face to face, why even bother to kill me? You're not worthy!"
Mocking didn't do any good either. The sun was beginning to fade behind the wispy curtains of cloud, and Adonis had to wrap this up quick and find the others. Him and his friends couldn't continue their journey if they didn't have an escort.
"Adonis!" He heard a voice call. He started, whipping his head around. He was highly relieved to lay his eyes on Shera's. She had been supporting her brother, his hand over her shoulder. Shawn seemed to still have blood on his lip from earlier confrontation.
Adonis ran over to his escort and hugged her for quite some time. He didn't miss her. Surely not...
After a while she asked him to remove himself, which made him blush a little. "I was worried you.." He began, but trailed off. She smiled, "I'm tougher than that. Were you attacked as well?" She asked. His eyes widened, "As well?... You were attacked, too?!"
"It seems as if there are settlers whom do not like our kind here. You and the others are fine, correct?" Adonis nodded, as well as her. "Great, let's pack up our things and go."
"Yeah, quick question though," said Adonis hesitantly. Shera raised her eyebrow. "Uh.. What did you do to the person who attacked you?" Shera had gone quiet for a while, making Adonis think twice about asking her, of all people. He knew she would be skeptical of his question.
"I did everything necessary to defend myself."
Adonis was taken aback. He stared into her eyes with the intention of questioning her further, but she stared straight back into his with an authoritative, but respectful, look that contrasted his decision.
All of a sudden she leaped forward, whipping out a sturdy shield behind Adonis and blocking something from meeting his body. He turned around, being stopped by Shera. "I dropped Shawn!" She spoke, "Protect him while I fend off this idiot!"
He looked back, seeing an unconscious Shawn sprawled out on the ground. Adonis kneeled down and shielded the escort with his arms. "What's going on?!" He asked fervently as he heard constant collision between flying objects and Shera's shield. "We're being attacked! Nomads!" She responded, but Adonis wondered whether or not to cover his head instead of his rival. He opposed the thought.
"Give me any sharp object you have in your backpack!" Commanded Shera. He quickly searched through his pack while having one arm over Shawn, pulling out the only true "weapon" he had, and handed it to her right away.
"Axe, perfect!" Shera said. Adonis felt special, then. She chucked it at whatever she was shielding them from, making their offender yelp in pain. "Ha!" She cheered, "Straight in the face!" Adonis couldn't help but smile, but his smile didn't even make it to 3 seconds without him slowly looking upwards.
He was met with a crossbow pointing right at his forehead. The same moment from a week earlier flashed through his head, when he was caught by the Pillagers and sent to the President's office. He knew this scene way too well...
"Hands up," demanded the cloaked foe. It was a woman, but she looked just like the archer from earlier, except ten times more intimidating. He knew he couldn't mess with this one now.
Adonis reluctantly raised his hands up. The woman, who's face was completely shadowed by her hooded attire, grabbed him forcefully and pulled him up. She spoke in a language he couldn't understand, though he knew it wasn't directed toward him. Just then, he watched as more cloaked people emerged behind the trees of the forest, some even emerging out of the trees.
He was shaking with fear. How were they camouflaged so well that you wouldn't even be able to differentiate their outline that protruded from the tree? Adonis had never seen anything as stealthy as this. And just as he was beginning to think he was special...
"You have committed a heinous crime. We watched as you killed two and injured on member of the Emerald Lady's court. You will await your trial under temporary captivity."
CAPTIVITY?! Adonis repeated over and over inside of his head. "No, you don't understand, the guy who attacked me was the only guy who died! I didn't even do it!" As he spoke to keep his innocence, he felt something tie around his wrists tightly. He looked down to see a rope that wasn't there before. It had also appeared around his whole entire top half.
"We know for certain that exactly two members of the Emerald Lady's court have perished. You are untruthful." The woman had absolutely no sympathy inside of her commanding voice. Adonis looked back at Shera, whom was without a shield, but wrapped up inside of a rope as well. He was without his axe, and he couldn't grab his backpack.
She had the most panicked look rest upon her face. "Please, we have to nurse my brother to health," Shera croaked, gesturing her head towards Shawn. "He'll die if he loses too much blood... Please!" Tears rolled down her face, and she couldn't say any more.
The woman looked down at Shawn. "The man will be healed. He will be joining you in the trial."
The other cloaked members grouped around the two and pointed their weapons towards the two's heads. "No, no, no! I need to get back to my friends! We can't stay here!" Adonis declared. The people did not answer, and the silence and ultimate ignorance boiled Adonis' blood so much...
He latched his teeth on the other cloaked member that was stationed right next to him, which he could tell was a man. The man stumbled, making his crossbow go off. A strong force met Adonis' head, completely shocking his system. His neck was struck with multiple points.
Adonis wearily double-stepped... Triple stepped... Fell over himself...
Blacked out.
End of Chapter 20.
I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter!
(Please tell me how good my descriptions were, I tried XD)
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Love ya'll
nobodyimportant out—
