Chapter 7: The Road to Eastport
Midway on the Road to Eastport Village
The sudden arrival of a red pigeon shook all of them. The red color meant bad news, or that something had happened to Mira or Hina.
Grandpa was unconscious, and Grandma was trembling in fear. She took the letter from its claws with trembling hands and started reading.
"Help us," she whispered, and instantly fell unconscious. Vibho caught her before she hit the floor and read the letter himself.
"Help us, Grandma," Vibho read in a serious tone, but before he could say more, the coach driver came closer.
"This must be Mira's or Hina's pigeon, and red color means bad news."
"We will escort Grandma and Grandpa safely to their home, then go and check the village. You go and find out what happened to them," the driver said in a serious tone.
"Okay," Vibho said. He entrusted the driver with Grandpa and Grandma, and ran towards the village at full speed.
In Eastport Village
The sun had set. Orange light was still present in the sky, but it was not the sun's light—it was the light of fire burning all the houses in the village. Houses were on fire, and people were desperately trying to put out the flames. Many others were fighting bandits who were trying to loot houses when no one was inside them. The whole village was like a battlefield.
In the backyard of Hina's restaurant, Karnol, an aged man in old armor and with a sword, was fighting Timminy , who was trying to protect Hina. Hina was crying, looking at a boy who was unconscious in front of her, fully wounded and covered in blood-stained clothes. Timminy was getting injured fighting Karnol and was clearly weak on land compared to in the water, so Karnol had the upper hand.
"Hahaha, a fish trying to protect her friend, huh? Let me see for how long you can protect her."
And he was right. Timminy was heavily wounded. On top of that, she was almost out of air and was breathing heavily. She swung her tail right at Karnol's head.
He dodged the tail, then kicked her with full force.
Timminy was only a seventeen-foot whale, but her weight was more than sixty tons, so it was almost impossible for Karnol to send her back with a single kick.
He became irritated by the lack of result, but then he started punching Timminy and finally sent her flying toward the edge of the sea on his twenty-fifth punch.
"See, not even you or your friend can save you, nor were your villagers able to save their peace. But don't you fear—when I kill all of you, no one will fight again in this village, and everyone will live in peace—at least all the hunters," Karnol said in a creepy tone, mocking Hina, and began laughing loudly.
"No! You will not be able to do any of it. I have already sent the flash pigeon to Grandma, and Vibho is with her. Just wait until then!" Hina said, trying to control herself despite her tears.
"Oh, so he will stop me from killing all of you, will he? But before he comes, I will have already killed all of you. Let's see then how he will stop me," Karnol said, laughing creepily and kicking the boy near Timminy .
Then he unsheathed his sword and brought it near Hina's neck. He was about to swing when a man came up behind Karnol's back.
"Karnol, someone is trying to stop our men from killing the girl at the port," it was Gilbo. He was dressed in green pants and a shirt with a bandana, like a bandit. "You go deal with him, and I will take care of this one," he said, drawing a knife from his pocket.
"I just need one second to finish her, then we will go," Karnol replied and swung the sword.
But Gilbo stopped it. "Hey now, if you kill all of them, then what about me, huh? I will kill this one; you go and deal with the other one. I don't want to run, that's the only reason I don't want to go, okay?" Gilbo said in a serious tone.
"Okay, fine, but finish her faster before anyone comes," he said to Gilbo, then looked down toward Hina. "I have already killed your flash pigeon, so don't think someone will come and save you. This night will be your last night—just like the one fifteen years ago when I killed your mom and dad. I hope you haven't forgotten that night when I killed them in front of you." He started laughing and left them.
"How can I forget that night? You came into our house and killed them in front of my eyes. I can't even forget it in my dreams—how cruelly you killed them while laughing loudly!" Hina started crying again.
Gilbo looked toward Hina, who was in the same burgundy-and-white shirt with its sleeves neatly rolled to her elbows and a snug black vest, with red hair and red eyes. She was stained with blood and had sword scratches on her beautiful face, crying and losing all hope.
"I hope it all ends here," he said, but in a fearful tone, like he was scared of someone.
On the Other Side
On the other side, Karnol had just arrived at the port, where Valmo, a man with black and brown hair and brown eyes, in blood-stained clothes, was beating Karnol's men with a soldier-like body. Mira was alongside him, also attacking bandits with a mace.
"Mira, I will handle them. You need to go and ask for help from the Kingdom guards; they are the only choice we have."
"But if I leave, you will get cornered. I already sent a help message to Grandma; she will be here soon with Vibho."
"Oh, is that so? Then I think I don't need to help you guys finish faster. Hahaha…" Karnol said in the same creepy tone, laughing mockingly from behind the bandits.
The sudden voice of Karnol distracted Valmo and Mira. Suddenly, a bandit ran towards Valmo, hitting him with a sword and making a big cut on his chest. Valmo was already injured, but this sudden attack made him drop to his knees. The bandit was not done yet; he raised his sword for another attack.
"Valmo!"
Mira shouted, then she threw her mace at the bandit with full force, knocking him out and saving Valmo.
"Mira, don't worry, Karnol is here. He will save us," Valmo said as he tried to stand up with Mira's help.
Karnol smiled widely, then said in a sweet voice, "Yes, yes, I am here to save you. Come with me, Mira. Your uncle will save you and Valmo. Just let me finish these weaklings first." Then he unsheathed his sword and cut all of the bandits down in just ten seconds, one by one.
Slash! Bruge! In a few seconds, he had killed all of them.
"Let's go, Mira. We need to go and see if your sister is doing okay or not. He came to save us, so she might be alone there," Valmo said as he stood up, barely supporting his weight.
But Mira picked up her mace once again, her hands clenched with more force, her face furious, like a volcano ready to blow up after many years—a sight that shocked Valmo.
"Hey, Mira, we don't need to fight right now. Karnol has already killed them. For now, we need to save your sister. There might be bandits there. Ask him for help. He will help us."
"No, he will not, Valmo. He will not help us, and he is not helping us. He is just killing them because they were unable to kill us," Mira said in a furious but low voice.
"Oh, so you understand why I am killing them? You are smart," Karnol said, smiling. "No, but wait—you are not that smart. Then how do you know?" He raised his hand to his chin in a thinking gesture. "Did she tell you about me? Or did you know from the start? From that day when you took me to your parents—"
But before he could continue, Mira lunged at him with her mace.
BAM! She hit him in the face, but Karnol didn't even step back; the mace only left a scratch on his cheek.
"You damn girl, don't cross your boundary!" he said in a loud, furious voice. Almost everyone in the port could have heard him, but no one was left alive. Only Valmo, Mira, and Karnol were there.
Kick! He kicked her in the stomach.
"Ah!" Mira was thrown through the air like a football.
THUD! But Valmo saved her by using his body, protecting her from crashing into some barrels on the port.
Mira stood up, heavily wounded, blood dripping from her mouth and with many cuts. "I will kill you, even if it costs me my life. Today you will die, or I will die," she declared and started walking towards him.
"Oh, is that so? Too bad. Looks like you forgot about your sister, or do you want me to kill her like your parents—with my own hands?" he said, smiling and placing his finger to his chin in a thoughtful gesture, like a maniac.
This made Mira scared and trembling, but she didn't cry, as if her tears were too frightened to come out. She stopped her advance.
"Oh, you stopped. But what can I do now? You said only one of us will be alive. Looks like I need to kill her," he paused for two seconds. "Or… you can kill yourself, and I promise I will not kill her," he said, smiling like a total maniac. "Do it. Drop to your knees and kill yourself, and I will not kill her."