New Perspective
Discord uncoiled himself and observed his surroundings. He was not in the room he had seen in the pool. In fact, he was in an entirely different environment. Around him were bizarrely colored trees, details practically etched into their leaves and trunks. The dirt was like tiny granules, crunching when something landed on it. He felt slightly dismayed. “Well.” he said. “This is different.” He heard voices behind him.
Going past the treeline, he came across a most odd sight. It was a white building, made of stone. It clearly wasn’t well made, as there were folds and cracks all over the walls. There were plants growing out of the cracks, which was of course normal for a building in the wilderness. The voices sounded out from the top of the building. He launched himself up to investigate this most unusual of places.
At the top, he was met with a highly unanticipated sight. Before him, but not facing him, were two bipedal creatures. They resembled monkeys, but were much, much larger. They wore clothing, baggy and very concealing. Discord got closer to observe more. They had no tails, and from what exposed areas he could see, they definitely had less hair than monkeys. Over their clothes were vests with strange looking items in pouches. They were long and curved, and opened at the top. In the opening was a brass rod with a pointed end. They were boxes of some kind. In their hands were large, curiously shaped items. They were long, had parts that jutted out, and seemed cumbersome. Discord noticed that each of the devices had a box from the vests attached.
“Hello.” he said. The creatures before him made startled shouts of surprise. When they turned to look at Discord, they screamed. “Can you tell me-” he started. One of them pointed their device at him.
“Non movent daemon!” He realized that he would need a translation spell. He cast it quickly.
“What?” he asked. The two creatures looked at him, dread consuming their expressions.
“Don’t move or we shoot!” one warned. Discord understood, now, that the devices were dangerous. He snapped his fingers. This got their attention.
“I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to know more about this world.” he explained. The two creatures just kept staring and pointing their weapons at him. “If you aren’t gonna answer me...” he began. He took a step forward. This prompted the creatures to back up. “I’ll just find someone else.” The men screamed, horrified, and their weapons made clicking noises. They looked down at them, even more terrified than before. Discord made a clicking noise with his tongue. “I was wondering if those were weapons. I guess I was right.” The creatures removed the boxes only to find them empty. “Looking for these?” Discord said balefully as he dropped the rounds. The creatures looked truly terrified. One dropped to his knees. The other did so as well. “You tried to hurt me.” he said. One of the two spoke up.
“We tried to kill you, but we know know that you are too powerful for us. Please, spare us.”
Discord was shocked at this revelation. “They tried to KILL me?” He thought to himself. “Not okay.” He looked at them, rage filling his eyes. “You know, there are only a few things that go outside order and law that I’m not okay with.” he began. The two before him trembled and shuffled backwards, still on their knees. They reached the edge. “One of them is the unwarranted taking of a life.” He snapped his fingers, and the vests, the weapons, and all their associated contents laid before Discord. The two men realized what was about to happen and tried to get up. Before they could, Discord blew a gust of wind at them, blowing them off the roof. As they fell, they refrained from screaming. “Strange.” Discord said to himself. When the two landed, one hit the ground head first. His neck made a loud crack as he hit. The other landed on his back, but on a rock. After an equally nasty crunch, he began to cry out. As several other creatures filed out of the building, his screams faded.
Looking down, Discord saw more men who were exactly like the first two. He snapped his fingers once again, and twirled his arm around. “Perhaps it would be best if they didn’t see me.” he thought. He became invisible and descended upon the group below him.
They were all gathered around the body of their compatriots. They all murmered their own comments, only intending for one or two to hear. “I never liked him anyway.” one said. Another commented on their lack of gear, but was thoroughly ignored. The others wished their condolences. Several went back into the building, but some stayed to move the bodies.
Discord made his way inside, careful not to hit anything. When he entered, he found himself in a long hall. As he floated down it, up by the ceiling, he looked into the various rooms he passed. Some had creatures, others had gear. Remembering the stuff he forgot, Discord snapped his fingers, and it appeared before him. Before any creatures could notice, he turned it invisible. He placed the gear on various parts of his body to prevent it from getting away from him and continued. At the end of the hall was a staircase going down. At the base, he went through a door with the aid of one of his spells.
Through the door was a bland looking room with many different little areas. One seemed to be for eating, as it had a fire. Another was for casual time, as it had chairs. The others were also casual, it seemed; what a monotone theme. “This place could certainly liven up.” Discord said. Nothing was around to hear him, so he knew he was safe. He walked over to some doors at the other end of the room. “I wonder...” He used a spell to poke his head through the door. Behind this door was a small room with maybe three more creatures. These ones, however, were different. They were dirty, ragged, and curled up in the corners of the room. He moved onto the next room; this one had five of them, equally as rough looking. Then it dawned on him. “They’re prisoners...” he realized. “Those other ones are holding them captive.”
Having come to that conclusion, he decided to move onto the last room. None of these creatures were of his concern, though. He had no reason to think they deserved his help. He poked his head through the final door. What he saw gave him pause.
Before him was the two from the pool. They were on either side of the small room. Nothing else was present. They looked awful. The other creatures must have done something to them. He stepped inside to take a closer look. The one on the right sat with its legs out. It had dull blue eyes; they displayed a particular lack of any hope. His expression was blank. It simply stared forward at the other.
The other was folded into a fetal position, still on its hind. It had its head in its knees, not looking up. Discord sat and looked at it. He reached out with his mind. “Sit straight.” he ordered. It did just that. Taking a good look, he noted its features; heavy, hazel eyes; sunken face, like its cat died or something; a necklace dangled from its neck. It had bandages wrapped around its arms. He felt pity for the creature. “I will show myself to the two of you.” he explained to both of them. The sunken one looked up and around, not knowing where the voice came from. The other looked around in a panic. “Promise me you won’t freak out.”
“Alright.” the sunken one said. The other seemed to calm down at its companions lack of fear.
“Fine.” it thought.
Discord released his invisibility spell. The sunken one looked up, confusion spread over the whole of its face. The other stiffened at the sudden appearance of Discord. “Who’re you?” the sunken one asked.
“My name is Discord.” he answered. There was pause. The sunken one took the cue.
“I’m Ryan.” he replied. He pointed to his friend. “That’s Harris.” Discord turned and bowed. Harris was looking pretty scared. “What on Earth are you?” he asked. Discord floated into the air.
“I am Discord, spirit of... well, discord. Might I ask what you are?” he answered. Harris got up slightly.
“We’re just regular humans. Prisoners, at the moment.” he answered. Discord hmm’ed.
“Why are you here?” Ryan asked. Discord turned to face him. He had gotten all the way up.
“Well, I’m on the run. Thought it would be fun to stop by.” He smiled mischievously. Ryan scowled and looked hard at him. “There is no fun here.” he said. Discord’s smile vanished. “Why not?” he asked seriously.
Ryan gave him the whole story, Harris jumping in at points where Ryan had trouble. At the end, and hour later, Discord considered where he was. “This is definitely an adventure.” he thought. He loved adventures; seeing new things, meeting new crazy, unusual situations. “Even if a bit dangerous. And I don’t want to be found, lest I become stone again.” He thought hard for several moments. “Alright! I think I’ll stick with you guys!” he announced. This caught both boys off guard.
“What?!” Harris yelled. “Why would we let you, the ‘spirit of discord’, stay with us? And why would you want to stay?” he asked. Discord chuckled and looked at him.
“What fun is there in making sense?” he asked. Unable to find a counter, Harris sat down, admitting instant defeat.
Ryan still stood. “Why should we trust you? If you are really the spirit of discord, why on earth would we let you stick with us?” he asked.
Discord got up in his face. “As if you have any choice.” he said. Ryan scowled again.
“Fine. I guess we have to let you stay.” he said.
“Hoorah!” Discord said. Ryan simply looked at him.
“Can anyone else see you?” he asked. Discord stopped his movement. He remembered what the other men did when they saw him. Others would likely react similarly. He clapped his hands, rubbed them together as if cold, and threw some sparkles into the air.
“There.” he said. Ryan looked at him confused. “Now, only the two of you can see me.”
Ryan huffed. Harris groaned. Discord smiled stupidly. The three of them were in this together now. “So, before we do anything, I want to know more about this strange world of yours.” Discord said. Unhappy with their new companion, Ryan and Harris began to teach Discord all that they knew, all that was relevant at least, about the world they lived in.
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Luna had spent the last two days dealing with collateral from the Discord incident. There was no more chaos, but there were still castle staff members to reassure. This had not been the easiest task. “He nearly ate us!” one chef had complained. Luna had to spend an hour explaining to him that he was never in harms way. This had to be repeated for dozens of staff members. Starstep helped out, too, when he could. Being a guard, he came off as tougher than Luna, so his words were more reassuring. Luna had to agree; he always did have a way of making things seem alright.
She sat on her bed, exhausted from walking around so much and having to try and calm down so many of her subjects. She heaved a sigh. “Why did this have to happen?” she wondered. She had been so busy that she didn’t have time to check up on Ryan. How was he? “I do hope everything is alright.” she said to herself. There was a loud banging at her door. Someone shouted.
“Sir, she is resting! Don’t disturb her!” she heard Starstep yell.
“Out of my way, guard!” another voice sounded.
“Ugh.” Luna thought. It was the voice of her nephew, Blueblood.
“I must speak with her!” he yelled. Starstep raised his voice.
“No. She is resting. Whatever petty problem you have this time, it can wait. Leave.” he ordered. Her door burst open.
“Hey!” Starstep yelled. He got in a stance to attack.
“You would dare attack the prince, you lowly guard?!” he yelled. Starstep growled and released his stance.
Luna stood and stepped off her bed. “You will not speak to him in such a disrespectful manner.” she ordered. Blueblood shrank down. “What could you possibly want that you must disturb me during my rest?” she asked. Blueblood stood up again.
“I must know; is it true that Discord has returned? Is there any danger I should be aware off?” he asked Luna sighed.
“Yes, he is free. No, there is no danger you need to be aware of. He has disappeared; no signs of him are evident anywhere.” she said. Blueblood looked twitchy. “That is not why you came.” she said matter-of-factly. Blueblood shuffled in place. She waved Starstep out of the room. “Why have you come to disturb me?” she asked. Blueblood raised his head.
“I have heard rumors about you.” he said. Luna cocked an eyebrow.
“Oh?” she asked. “What kinds of rumors?”
Blueblood shuffled his hooves. He was clearly not comfortable with what he was about to ask. “Is it true, that... you... um, fornicate, with one of the guards?” he asked.
Luna instantly fumed. Never had such a rumor been spread about her! The nerve! “No, nephew, I do not!” she yelled at him. Blueblood shrank down again. She was seriously pissed off. “The nerve that you have to ask me such a question! Is it not clear that I have no time for such ridiculous things?” she asked. Blueblood whimpered. “I have no interest in such scandalous activities! You, of everyone, should know that! That you would pay any mind to such rumors offends me in the greatest capacity!” she yelled. Starstep flew in, thinking there was a battle about to happen. Luna raised a hoof to stop him, and he floated in his place. “You should be ashamed. For anyone to accuse me of such activities... Get out.” she said. Blueblood wasted no time escaping his aunt.
Luna, still ablaze, grunted angrily and went into her library. Not having heard the whole exchange, Starstep followed. “What happened?” he asked.
Luna turned to him. “It would seem that some of the guards believe me to be... ‘shameless’, in a manner of speaking.” Starstep did not understand. Luna sighed. It was about to get awkward. “They believe that I fornicate with a guard. Likely you.” Starstep stopped. His expression went blank.
“What?” he asked. Luna only nodded. “Well, I’ll have to talk to them, then. Clear the air.” he said. Luna looked at him.
“Do you know who would spread such a rumor?” she asked. Starstep put his hoof to his chin, thinking.
“I can think of a couple, but I’ll need to do some investigating. Don’t worry; I’ll clear this up.”
Luna smiled. “Thank you.” she said. Before turning to go down the steps, she had to ask one more thing. “You would never say such a thing... would you?” she asked. It pained her physically to have to ask such a thing of her favorite guard and closest friend. Starstep shook his head.
“No, ma’am. Wouldn’t bother thinking about it.” Luna looked relieved. “I’ll go talk to the other guards right now.” he said. With that, he turned and walked off.
Luna made her way down the stairs, thinking about what had just transpired. “Starstep would never spread such rumors. He cares too much.” The thought gave her pause. Shaking her head, she opted not to think about it. She turned her mind in Ryan’s direction. “He is likely still in that room.” she thought. If he was, than she would simply observe. If not, she would go in and help. “It has been two days.” she thought. “He should be transported today.” She stepped off the stairs and walked over to the pool. In it was an image of Ryan and Harris, being spoken to, in front of the building, by Narendra. “Let us see what is happening.” she said.
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Ryan was only slightly listening to Narendra as he spoke to the group before him. There were about ten prisoners. This was highly unfortunate, as these guys would only need five to seven.
Narendra had been talking to the group for a few minutes. Just above Ryan, Discord was growing bored with the monologue. “How much longer is this gonna be?” he asked. Ryan tapped his head three times to signify mental communications. Narendra noticed this and stopped talking. He walked up to Ryan.
“You want to say something?” he asked darkly. Ryan shook his head.
“No. I’m having trouble hearing today.” Narendra did not believe him one bit. He gripped Ryan’s arm hard over the bandage. Searing pain splashed up his arm as Narendra twisted his chemical-burned skin.
“Can you hear me now?” he asked, releasing Ryan from the pain. Ryan nodded. “Good.” He turned around and walked over to some men, with whom he began to speak.
Discord looked down on Ryan with pity. He didn’t deserve that. “Are you alright?” he asked. Ryan didn’t look up. “Fine, just fine.” Ryan responded. With significant effort he stood back up. “To answer your question, no, I don’t know how much longer this will be. No one does, so don’t ask.” he was clearly frustrated with Discord. Without another word, Discord decided to just wait. The vests and equipment of the men from earlier dangled off of him heavily.
Ryan was looking around, taking in his surroundings. Off to the front a dirt road surrounded by trees. To the left or right was trees. Behind him was the white, nasty looking building. He turned to look at it. This place had been the site of the worst events of his life. “I will destroy this place, someday.” he thought. He turned back around.
Before him stood Luna. The wind caused her mane to slowly float above her head, obstructing Ryan’s view of his captors. He looked up at Discord. He was looking at Harris, seemingly talking to him. Ryan looked back and tapped his head. “Ryan.” Luna started. “Is everything alright?” she asked. Ryan just looked at her. She nodded. “Alright.” she said. Ryan spoke next.
“We’re moving today. Off to Sumatra. No idea how long it’ll take.”
Luna nodded again, slowly, in deep thought. “Is there anything I can do?” she asked. Ryan racked his brain for an answer.
“No, it doesn’t look that way at the moment.” he responded. Luna let out a breath she had been holding. Why couldn’t she help? “There may be an opportunity later, though. We’re obviously gonna be on a boat, so not much there. But when we approach the next compound, there may be something.” Luna’s expression lit up at hearing this. She could finally help him in an actually productive way!
“Good. I will stay for a while, then. In case something comes up.” Ryan nodded and looked forward.
Several cars drove up. “Line up!” one of the guards yelled. Already in a line, the prisoners stood frozen. “Into the cars!” Narendra yelled after. There were three white vans. Harris and Ryan got into the middle one with one other person. He was young, mid twenties, black hair, big build. He sat across from Ryan and Harris. When the doors shut, and they were alone, the new guy displayed his panic.
“Where are we going?!” he asked. Ryan looked at Harris, who looked back at Ryan. “Sumatra.” Ryan answered. Harris looked startled; this information wasn’t made available to him. He figured Ryan must have been told when he was taken from the room. “Really?” the guy asked. Ryan nodded, and the guy went silent.
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Discord watched from above as the prisoners were loaded into the cars. He felt enormous pity for them; to be owned by another of your own kind, have absolutely no freedom save that of the mind... a terrible fate. He took note of the types of vehicles they transported prisoners in. They were large, white, and had tinted windows. The backs all had two swing doors, and had the word Chrysler on them. “I wonder if they only use these Chrysler vans?” he thought to himself.
The vehicles began to leave the compound. Discord floated on after them. The vests and gear dangled from his body. “Ugh!” he yelled. “These are getting way too annoying!” Contorting his body, he let the long instruments fall into the forest below, as well as all the boxes that went with them. He kept the vests, which had several smaller instruments. Deciding to hold onto them, he looked at whichever one he could gab. It was very small, compared to the others. It was yellow, light, and had some kind of designation on the side. “P22”, Discord read. Figuring it would be easy to carry, he put it back into its spot on its vest. He pulled the other. As much as he looked, there were no letters or numbers on this one. It was big, though, close to twice the size of P22. He put that one back.
The other vest also had two of the smaller instruments, but they were different. Pulling the smaller of the two, Discord read the side. “P99.” Discord put it back. “Must be the same manufacturer.” he thought. He pulled the other. This one had a designation on its side. “Automag”, he read. This one was at least twice the size of the previous one, and was easily twice as heavy. He put it back, clueless as to what exactly these devices were.
He continued to follow the vehicles. They drove through the forest for a time. Now, they were approaching some coastal town.
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Luna sat quietly in front of Ryan in the van. He had not communicated with her once during the ride. He just sat there, frown dominating his face, looking down at the floor. He was slouched over, seemingly read to fall asleep. Luna took the time to observe him. He had bandages wrapped around his arms. They were slightly red, indicating some bleeding from whatever wounds were beneath them. His face was bruised and had clearly gotten some small cuts on it, as there was dried blood on his forehead. Luna leaned forward. “What happened to you, exactly?” she asked. Ryan tapped his head. She plunged herself into his mind.
“I got the living hell beaten out of me.” he said. She waited for him to continue. He didn’t.
“Would you mind giving me details? You don’t have to...” she said, speeding up toward the end. Ryan shook his head.
“I don’t think you should hear it.” he responded. Saddened by his reluctance to share, she thought about other things she could do. The van hit a rock or something, and the three people inside flew into the air. They came crashing down. Ryan grunted.
“I can take some of the pain away,” she began. Before she could continue, Ryan responded.
“Please do.” Her horn glowed bright, and she “touched” it to Ryan’s forehead. His body lost a lot of tension, and he fell back. “Thanks.” he said. Luna smiled. “Think nothing of it.” She had helped him.
With a new lack of pain, Ryan took on a thinking position. Luna watched him intently as he processed something through his head. Eventually, he looked back up. “Luna, I need to ask something of you.” he said. Luna nodded, giving the go-ahead. “I have a plan to escape.” he said to her. Luna fell back slightly; he planned on escaping such dangerous people?
“Ask, then. But if I believe that it is too dangerous, I will not be able to help.” she said back.
Ryan nodded. “I need to know what the route to the next compound will look like when we hit land. Long roads, turns, how many cars, everything. Can you do that?” he asked. Luna nodded. “Good. At the docks, look for anything that will tell you these things. It’ll probably be in the boat we take.” Luna sat straight up.
“I shall not let you down.” she told him.
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Discord continued to watch from above as the vehicles entered the town. The road was bumpy. It couldn’t be pleasant for anyone in the vehicles. They continued through the town to a small marina, where there was only one large boat. The others all looked like dingies or small fishing vessels. Not wanting to pass up a chance to create confusion, Discord moved the water just enough to move the small vessels just out of reach of the docks. He chuckled, then turned his attention back to his new companions.
They filed out of the vehicles. Ryan and Harris got out of the middle one. Discord teleported down to them. Once there, he noticed that Ryan was staring at a spot in the air in front of him. Thinking that Ryan was just spacing out, he paid it no mind. He got just above Harris. “Well, I guess they’re moving you.” he said. Harris looked at him with his eyes only.
“No shit.” he whispered. Discord frowned slightly.
“No need for that language.” he said.
Harris sighed quietly. “They’re sending us to somewhere in Sumatra. Not sure where. After, we’ll be heading straight to Cambodia to be sold.” Discord looked to the boat.
“You know,” he started. “I only know of one guy who kept slaves. He ended up disappearing a long time ago.” Harris looked up.
“So?” he asked. Discord looked back down at Harris.
“His slaves disappeared with him.” Harris gulped. “But he had magic.” Discord added quickly. “These guys don’t.” Somewhat reassured, Harris looked back forward at the men who held him captive.
Discord looked over at Ryan. He was still focusing intently on something. What could it be? “Hey, Ryan.” he said. He was ignored. “Ryan!” Still no response. Giving up, Discord floated over to the boat and went up, happy to just wait for whatever was about to happen.
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“And that is my situation.” Luna finished. She had just told him about how rumors were spreading about her and her guard. She had told him about this because she wanted to get Ryan’s mind off of what was currently happening. In a situation this grim, the mind is one’s only solace. At the same time, the mind can be one’s worst enemy. Ryan nodded, chewing his lip.
“I have no experience or particular insight to help you.” he said. Luna huffed. She had still hoped that he might be able to help. “Still,” he said. Luna’s ears perked up. “I can tell you that those guards ought to be disciplined. They can’t go spreading rumors like that about those who are technically their Commanding Officers.” he said. Luna listened carefully. “You want my opinion? Put them through the harshest physical training regimen you can think of. It should dissuade them from doing this in the future.” Ryan just thought of the punishments he had heard of men doing for breaking the rules in SEAL training. He had no desire to be mean. “Make them hard, but not impossible.” he said. Luna nodded.
Narendra walked forward from the boat to the group before him. Luckily for him and his outfit, there didn’t seem to be anybody at the marina right now. “Alright!” he announced. His men stood at the ready. “You will all board the boat. Once inside the room, which you will recognize,” he said malevolently. “you will sit and be quiet. The boat ride will be roughly 7 hours. Any resistance, and you will be thrown from the boat. To ensure that you get the message, you will be shot first. Any questions?” No one raised their hand. Narendra smiled. “Good! Onto the boat!”
Everyone boarded the boat quietly and quickly. Luna walked next to Ryan in order to avoid losing where he would be. Once Ryan was in the room with the other prisoners, she left him to look for the information he wanted.
The first place she looked was in the quarters of the crew of the boat. Not being familiar with the boat, it took some time to find it. When she did, she got nothing of use. There were only dirty magazines, weapons and ammo, and beds with sheets. She moved onto the next area, the navigation room. When she reached the door, she heard two people talking inside. “This route is shorter, sir. Would it not be better to use it?” some asked. Luna popped her head in. Narendra was looking down at a map.
“Knocking a few hours off the trip won’t help us.” he said. “I don’t want to take unnecessary risks. Not with this cargo.” Luna stepped into the room. The two men before her continued their conversation, clueless that they were being watched.
She walked forward over to the table. On it, she saw a map of a large island. The top was labeled Sumatra. “There we go.” she said. She looked down at the map. There was a red ink line going from the coast to some spot inland. The line had many curves, and looked like it could take at least a couple of hours to drive. If one walked as the crow flies, it might be right around one hour, the curves were so severe. A number of rivers, small and large, covered the area, frequently intersecting with the roads. One was right up next to the end point. “Interesting.” Luna said. She left the room and went back to Ryan.
Upon entering the room, she noticed that Harris was intently looking at something in the air. Not knowing or caring what it was, Luna stepped forward to Ryan. He raised his head, tapping his temple with his fingers. “I’m glad you’re finally back. Now I can stop paying attention to his ridiculous tales.” he told her. Luna looked around.
“Who’s tales?” she asked, confused.
Ryan shook his head. “Never mind.” he said. “Anyway, what do you have for me?” he asked. Luna recounted all that she found.
“The road is very curved, to the point where, if you walk as the crow flies, you could get there before the cars. There are many rivers on the way.” she told him.
Ryan looked forward, deep in thought. “Alright.” he said. “I can work with this.”
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Discord had been floating above the boat for close to three hours. With nothing around him to look at but seawater, he quickly grew bored. He decided to go down to the boat.
He landed on the bow of the boat. Before him were two men, armed with the long instruments of death. “What were they called?” Discord wondered. “Aha! Guns!” he remembered. He went around the boat to get a good look around. He found more of the same; men with guns, walking around like nothing of significance was happening. Discord frowned. “I may be evil,” he thought. “but even I can’t approve of these acts.” He continued around, eventually finding the navigation room. He went through the door.
Inside, he was greeted by many strange looking machines, beeping and buzzing, flashing lights. Discord did a double take. “Well, this room is certainly different.” he said. He looked around. To his right was the man who had spoken to everyone earlier. Discord went over to him. He was talking to another man.
“Sir, why are those two boys of such particular interest to you?” one asked. The one called Narendra looked out the window.
“I have a much more personal connection with them. I know them better. So I want them to suffer more.” Discord almost dropped to the floor. This was highly unexpected.
“What?!” he thought. He continued listening.
“I forced the one with the necklace to kill his friend and a little boy. The other is clearly his close friend. I want to see them through to the end.” Narendra chuckled, then added, “And they’re Americans. They’ll be worth a lot more.”
Discord was beginning to grow angry at Narendra’s words. He enjoyed causing intense suffering of others. He sold his own kind for profit. He forced a boy to kill his friend, and even a toddler. Discord looked at him. He raised his hand to snap his fingers.
Then he stopped. He looked hard at Narendra. Lowering his hand, he got a malicious grin on his face. “No.” he thought. “I won’t kill you.” he floated away from Narendra to take his spot in the sky above the boat. “I’ll make sure that Ryan does.”
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The boat came to a halt. It was about seven when they hit land. Nothing, thankfully, had happened on the boat ride. Ryan and Harris stepped off the boat. They were followed by the other eight prisoners, then the armed guards. No one ran because Narendra was already off the boat, and no one wanted to be shot by a fifty calibre pistol.
The prisoners all formed up in a line and awaited orders. They stood on a beach. The boat hadn’t gone to a Marina this time. The sand shifted under their feet, making it difficult for the exhausted people to stand. But they had to.
Narendra walked up to the group. “Alright.” he began. “Here’s how this is going to happen.”
Ryan thought to himself, “I can already tell you, this is not how it’s gonna happen.”
“We have four cars, but we can only transport two of you in each car. So you two,” he said, pointing at Ryan and someone else. “will be transported last.” Harris displayed panic in his eyes. Ryan stayed calm.
“Calm down, Harris.” he thought. “I got this.” Harris just swallowed hard and kept his mouth shut. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. Narendra was still talking.
“You will wait here for one of the cars to come back. The rest of you are getting in the cars when they get here.”
The cars arrived soon after Narendra finished his announcement. All the prisoners got into the cars quickly. Except Harris. “Move.” he was told. He looked back to Ryan.
“Don’t worry.” Ryan mouthed. “We’ll be fine.” Harris nodded, an reluctantly got into the car. Getting into the last car with Narendra, the convoy left, leaving Ryan and his new partner with one armed guard.
They waited for what must have been five hours before the cars came back. “Wait, I thought only one would be coming back...” he thought. He began to panic; this could ruin his plan.
Two cars had come back. Out of the back one, Narendra and two guards came out. “Aku harus pergi ke depan.” he said to the guard who had stayed with Ryan and the other guy. “Membawa mereka ke kompleks.” The guard said somehting that sounded like a confirmation, and Narendra took his men to the boat. The guard grabbed Ryan by his bicep and dragged him forward. The other prisoner just followed. Ryan was thrown into the van. After the other prisoner got in, the guard climbed in and closed the door. As they drove off, Ryan could hear the whine of a boat’s engine as it started up.
“Ryan.” Luna said. He gasped in, being startled by the unexpected sound of her voice. He had completely forgotten that she was there.
“What?” he asked. The guard just looked at him funny.
“I am on top of the car right now. This is the road you wanted to know about.” she said. “Do you have any kind of plan?” she asked hopefully.
“Yeah.” Ryan replied. “Soon.” he said.
After about an hour of driving, Ryan decided that it was time to enact his plan. He looked to his right; the guard had fallen asleep. While not expected, this made his plan that much easier.
Ryan slowly undid his necklace, loosening the adjustable leather strip that functioned as the chain. It now spanned the length of his forearm. The other prisoner noticed this and gulped. He looked afraid. Ryan looked in his direction and brought his finger to his lips. “Shh.” he said. The other prisoner stopped breathing to stay quiet.
Ryan slowly made his way over to the guard. He got one end of the leather strip in each of his hands and held it taut. Being painfully careful not to make noise, he got about a foot from his guards neck.
Murphy didn’t feel like letting anyone break his law, though. In that instant, the car hit a road bump, send the guard flying into Ryan. “Apa?!” he yelled. Ryan had to move fast.
He brought his fist around in an arc, slamming it into the side of the man’s head. He hadn’t generated enough force to do serious damage, though, and the man was only slightly dazed. Still, to take advantage of this, Ryan threw the man off of him. While he tried to get up, Ryan got around him, kicking the rifle he was holding out of his hand. Once behind him, Ryan brought the necklace around his neck. Pullin hard, Ryan garroted the guard. His eyes were bulging, drool dribbled out of his mouth, and after about five seconds, he stopped moving. Ryan dropped him to the floor.
He picked up the rifle from where it had landed. Before continuing with his plan, though, he had to make sure the guard was dead. He set him up so that he was sitting against the back door. Ryan opened the window, and the guards head hung out of it. With a swift sideblade kick, Ryan snapped his neck backwards. His head was bobbing up and down outside the car, his hair flowing in the breeze.
The other prisoner gasped loudly, but muffled, through his hands. Ryan looked at him for a second, then turned back. He went to the front area, right behind the driver. He couldn’t get to the driver because of the little wall, but that wasn’t a problem. He had an AKM Assault Rifle.
He knocked three times on the wall. “Apa?” he heard. It came from the left side. Pulling up the AKM, he opened fire on that side of the front of the car, releasing twenty rounds into it. As the car slowed down, Ryan fired the other ten into the other side. Can’t take unnecessary risks.
Luna must have heard all the noise. “What happened?!”” she asked. She was terrified that something had happened to Ryan.
“Exactly what I wanted.” he replied. Luna’s relief could be felt through the connection. “If I come out of the back of the car, which direction to the compound?” he asked. Luna took a moment to answer.
“Facing away from the car, you take a left, through the trees. After you pass another road, and find a river, head south. Another left.” she said. “Thanks.” Ryan said.
He kicked open the door, the guard with it, and hopped out of the car. The other prisoner came up behind him. “What are we supposed to do now?” he asked. Ryan turned.
“You do whatever you want. I have to go get my friend.” he replied.
“What?” the man said, flabbergasted. “No! I can’t survive out here alone!” he said. Ryan turned around and shrugged.
“Sucks to suck, bro.”
********************************************************************************
Luna’s jaw dropped at hearing Ryan say this. “Hang on!” she said. Ryan looked over at her. “You’re just going to leave him alone out here?” she asked.
Ryan dropped his shoulders and looked to the sky. “Yeah, I am. He’s not my problem, Harris is. I need to go get him.” The other prisoner looked around frantically.
“Who are you talking to?” he asked. Ryan ignored him.
“He needs help!” Luna yelled.
“I don’t care!” Ryan responded, also yelling. He walked over to the driver’s seat of the car. Luna watched him as he interacted with the car.
A bloody body fell out. Luna fell back. “What the-!?” she yelled. Ryan didn’t seem to care. He just rummaged through the front area of the car. Luna remembered all the noise she had heard from the car earlier. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. “Did you,” she tried to ask. Ryan kept rummaging, seeming to have found something. “Did you... kill, that man?” she asked. She felt a tightness in her chest. Ryan turned away from the car, holding an instrument of death.
“Yeah.” he replied. “So?”
The other prisoner had clearly had enough of hearing Ryan talk to something that wasn’t there. “Shit, you’re crazy!” he yelled, stumbling back. He fell on his butt.
Turning to him, gun pointing at the ground, Ryan said, “Get lost.” The man wasted no time turning around to run.
“Hey!” Ryan yelled. The man stopped. “It’ll be easier if you use the car, you know.” The man looked confused, but did as Ryan said. As he passed Ryan, he looked wary, but still quickly got in the car and drove off. Ryan turned to Luna. “Happy?” he asked sarcastically. He began to make his way into the trees.
“Hold on!” Luna ordered, weak-kneed. Ryan turned, sighing the whole way. “Why? Why did you kill these men?” she asked.
“Because I had to!” he yelled. He walked over to Luna and got in her face. “They would have killed me just as readily! They deserved to die!” he yelled. Luna wouldn’t be intimidated. At least, that’s what she told herself.
“Who are you to decide who lives and who dies?” she asked, angry. “What is your right to-” she was cut off.
“AND WHY DO THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO ENSLAVE AND MURDER PEOPLE?” Ryan yelled. Luna backed off. “You have no idea what it’s like to have to kill your friend!” he ranted. He stayed in Luna's face. “They made me kill my friend! They made me kill a six year old boy! They fucking tortured me! Since when do you understand any of this?” Luna fell to her knees, jaw quivering. “You don’t get to criticize me. You don’t understand. You never will.”
He turned to go back to the forest. Luna tried to stand, but couldn’t. She called out. “So that’s it, huh? Become like them to get your worthless revenge?” Ryan stopped. “You would allow yourself to become a monster, like these wretches, just to get back at them?” Ryan turned, somber.
“No.” he said. “I just want my friend back.” Luna stood up and wobbled over to him.
“Killing isn’t the way. There is always a choice.”
Ryan held the rifle by the butt, leaning it on his shoulder. “I don’t know what world you’re from,” Ryan said. “but here, in this one, there isn’t always a choice.” He turned and walked past the treeline.
Luna fell back down, eyes watery. She looked back. Two bodies were on the ground. One with two dozen massive holes ripped through his body, the other with a neck bending disturbingly far back. Tears flowed from her eyes. Not wanting to spend any more time here, she cast her spell and returned home.