Mission Impossible

I had approached the group of children, who were playing ball, inadvertently asking if any held the name of Jeremy. None did, but the little girl with the doll was pulling on my pant leg. Jeremy was her brother. This, was Celia, or Cici, as her sister, who looked at me suspiciously, called her. Aileen pulled her away from me toward the safety of one of the huts. I followed.

I had found the children. Now all I had to do was get them out, without them kicking and screaming, and me being caught. I wasn’t sure how to get it. Certainly I couldn’t just walk into a home that was not mine and whose owner I did not know. Or .. could I?

The door was open, a semi invitation, and I peeked in, my shoulder pressed against the jam. I told her that I had just been passing by, and wanted to compliment her on how beautiful her children were and that she and her companion must be very proud. I needed more information. Was there a man? And if so, would he be home soon?

She had no companion. That was good. I stepped further inside, much to the woman’s dismay, telling me to leave. I stepped in further, not to be deterred. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting. Not the children to be handed over to me of course, and I tried to be sociable, never a strong skill to begin with, which only drew more of the woman’s distrust to me. Cici had started to cry and I instinctively moved towards her, wrapping my arms around her in an effort to comfort, crooning soft words and telling her my name. Meanwhile the woman, with wooden spoon in hand, was coming towards me, in a not so friendly stalk.

I was crouched, turned away from the woman, which offered me perfect opportunity to draw the blow gun from beneath my tunic. All I could think was .. please don’t let the children scream. By the time I turned around, the woman, who was three times my size, was hovering over me menacingly. I blew, then apologized. She teetered, the look of surprise on her face carved like stone. The wooden spoon cracked over the top of my head and she fell forward, deadweight across my legs.

I immediately began to try to roll the woman off, while speaking as calmly as I could to the children, inundating them with an overload of information on who I was and why I had come. I had my work cut out for me, because Jeremy, as I was to find out was quite a pretentious child, who was sure the mamba would kill them.

It was only by the description of his father and the reason they had come that I had convinced him and I was overjoyed at the fact that he, along with his sisters, would come willingly.

I still had darts, and my knife, and Jeremy held his own, refusing to give it up. I could understand his motives, and since there was little time left to argue, I did not. We four made it to the river in silence, while I was trying to figure out how I could get them into the jungle without being seen. One woman, coming out near the water, had been easy. But taking children into the jungle, without being seen, would not.

I had grabbed a bucket when we had left, our reason to go back to the river, handing it to Jeremy. A guard followed us, and I lifted my eyes to the sky, trying to gauge the time. Tehre was no time to lose. I had turned to the guard, dart in hand, but for just an instant, lar torvis had blinded me, something I hadn't taken into account when debating the angle. Their was a soft his and the dart escaped its cylinder suite of refuge, but it would not hit the target of guard, instead, buzzing past his ear, a fact that wasn't known straight away, until I realized that he was drawing his sword and coming towards me.

Aileen and Celia were pushed out of the way, so that they would in no way be harmed by an errant thrust of sword, and Jeremy dropped the bucket in the water, to which a wafting current immediately caught, dragging it slowly downstream. I was fumbling, trying to load another dart, hoping the guard wouldn't call out before I could fell him, if I could fell him at all. I yelled to Jeremy to take his sisters and run towards the tree line. The an's arm lifted, and for just a fraction, the sun was blocked, casting a long wavering shadow over the moving water. A fraction, all that was needed, I sucked in a breath, and blew.

The dart had hit him in the neck, at so close a distance, a target that could nary be missed, but his arm was already up and poised for a strike, that, and it would take a few seconds for the darting to take effect. Two steps, three, and he was looming over me, staggering for his balance, his sword arm suddenly unsure. His expression was one of amazement and his mouth opened, as if he was about to speak, before the mountain of man began to topple, but not before he called out. But this time, it was not pounds of flesh that would find me, but the razor tip sharpness of steel.

Had he been only one step closer, the wound might have found a fatality, but I had instinctively taken a step back and to the right. As it was, the blade had drawn down from shoulder and over the outside of my left arm in a mere graze. I didn't wait to see where he landed, instead, turning and half limping, half running off after the children, who by now had almost reached the tree line.

I was silently praying that there was still enough time to get back to camp.

The closer I got to the jungle, the louder the sound of.. hoof beats became. I turned to see August riding towards me on the largest tharlarion I had ever seen, with Silas behind him. As promised, he had come for me.

By now the call of the first guard had drawn others, but August had divided the children from them. Matthew was there as well, swooping his children up to him, Jeremy and Cici, while Silas snagged Aileen. I wasn’t so lucky, still in the throng of three men, who did not wish to let me go. You have what is mine, August told them, and he would take me and leave now. I expected bloodshed, but it was Matthew who had pleaded with them, and they had at last, relented and we were free to go. All of us.

We said our farewells to Matthew and his children on the beach. Jeremy had given me his knife, saying I needed it more than he did, which brought hoots of laughter. It was endearing. Not funny, but very endearing.

After we had parted ways I had realized that Tukuli had saddled me with what he thought an impossible task. He did not expect me to be successful.

I almost believed him.